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Iran Offers Solidarity After U.S. Seizes Ship Off Venezuela Coast; U.S. Seizes Second Ship Off Coast Of Venezuela; Trump To Blockade Oil-Sanctioned Ships Going In, Out Of Venezuela; Peace Talks To Try To End Russia's War On Ukraine Resume In Miami; Lawmakers Slam DOJ For Failing To Release All Epstein Files; Stefanik Ends Bid For New York Governor And Would Not Seek Reelection To House; Search Intensifies For Motive In Brown And MIT Shootings; Australia Marks One Week Since Shooting; Seven Killed In North Carolina Private Jet Crash; Vice President Vance Expected To Speak At Turning Point Conference; Powerball Jackpot Climbs To $1.6 Billion. Trump Tries To Claim Credit For Cooling Inflation Despite Economists Warning Of Data Distortion; Source: Trump Admin. Plans To Require Fewer Shots For Children; Heavy Rains Pummel Northern, Central California; AAA Expects 122M+ Travelers, Breaking Records "I'm Chevy Chase And You're Not" Airs New Years Day At 8P ET. Aired 6- 7a ET

Aired December 21, 2025 - 06:00   ET

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

[06:00:39]

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: It is Sunday, December 21st. Welcome to CNN THIS MORNING. I'm Victor Blackwell.

Here's what's new this morning. The U.S. seizes another vessel off the coast of Venezuela. We've got that dramatic new footage. It's released by the Trump administration. We'll break down what's next in the escalating tensions between the U.S. and Venezuela.

And you know it. This is the season. Holiday shopping, travel in full swing as well. We have your dos and don'ts in the run up to Christmas.

And if you're just waking up. Sorry to say, you probably didn't win the Powerball, but you'll get a new shot at the grand prize soon. We'll tell you when one person who is excited to take a shot Allison Chinchar.

ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Mother nature is not going to make it easy for your holiday travel plans, especially in the western half of the country. We'll take a look at the timeline of not one, but three separate systems that are on their way in.

BLACKWELL: All right. All new this morning, Iran is getting involved. Trump and the administration, they're ramping up pressure on Venezuela. On Saturday, the U.S. seized the vessel off the coast of Venezuela. This is the second ship the U.S. has seized near the coast this month. Later, Saturday, Venezuelan foreign minister, he announced Tehran offered solidarity and cooperation in all areas to confront U.S. actions. CNN's Kevin Liptak has more on both those seizures.

KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Good morning, Victor. The Homeland Security secretary, Kristi Noem, said that this incident occurred in the predawn hours. I'm told it was in international waters off the coast of Venezuela when personnel from the coast guard, aided by the U.S. military, took steps to seize this tanker that was carrying Venezuelan oil.

Now, this comes 10 days after the U.S. seized another tanker called the Skipper, also carrying Venezuelan oil. I'm told that the ship that was seized on Saturday was sailing under the Panamanian flag, that it was ultimately headed towards Asia. Of course, most of Venezuela's oil exports end up in China.

Now, this comes after President Trump announced what he called a total and complete blockade of ships carrying oil sanctioned vessels going in and out of Venezuela. What's interesting in this instance is that according to a U.S. official, this vessel was not covered by U.S. sanctions, which I think illustrates the attempts here by the administration to really cut off Venezuela's main economic lifeline, to really go after what has allowed the leader, Nicolas Maduro, to retain his grip on power.

And you've seen this pressure campaign mount in other areas, whether it's the strike on those drug boats, those alleged drug boats. There have been 27 strikes so far, killing more than 100 people. You also see massive military buildup in the region, 15,000 American personnel, more than a dozen warships, all according to American officials, meant to create this pressure campaign that ultimately results in the ouster of Maduro from power. And of course, we heard explicitly from the chief of staff, Susie Wiles, earlier this week in that interview with "Vanity Fair" that that is the ultimate objective here.

Now, the next steps, President Trump says, will be land strikes in Venezuela. He says those will be coming soon. But he's been saying that really for the last several weeks and so far has stopped short of ordering them up, Victor.

BLACKWELL: All right. Kevin, thank you very much. Happening today, the talks aimed at ending Russia's war in Ukraine. Those will resume in Miami.

Russia's lead negotiator arrived yesterday in Miami for those talks. He met with U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff and the president's son-in-law, Jared Kushner. He said talks are moving along in a constructive manner.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is not at the negotiations in Florida. He was hosting Portugal's prime minister yesterday about support for Kyiv once Russia's war on Ukraine is over. But Zelenskyy revealed that the Trump administration is proposing a new format for talks between Ukraine, Russia and the U.S. Zelenskyy says those negotiations would, quote, "probably" include European representatives.

CNN's Barbie Latza Nadeau is following all of these developments for us.

[06:05:04]

Barbie, good morning. What do you know?

BARBIE LATZA NADEAU, CNN REPORTER: Well, you know, I mean, these talks happening in Miami are a world away from the actual war going on here in Europe. And European leaders are incredibly concerned that they're not at the table and that Ukraine is not at the table. President Zelenskyy is listening closely, watching for any details to come out of it which have been scarce so far. Let's listen to what he had to say about the talks.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PRESIDENT VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINE (through translator): Peace is better than war, but not at any price, because we've already paid a high price. For us, it is important that peace is fair and strong, so that it cannot be violated by another desire of Putin or by another Putin.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NADEAU: And, you know, Victor, when you listen to that, there is a lot of concern there that these talks are really sort of geared towards appeasing what Russia wants from this war. And, you know, I can't stress enough the frustration here in Europe, especially among the European leaders who don't always agree on what the next steps should be, but they all agree that they should be part of whatever negotiations are going on. Victor.

BLACKWELL: All right. Barbie Latza Nadeau for us. Thank you, Barbie. The Justice Department is facing backlash over the partial release of the heavily redacted Epstein files. Democrats and some Republicans are livid. The DOJ was required by law to release the files in their entirety, with some limited redactions. By Friday, that did not happen. And that has prompted pushback from lawmakers.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. RO KHANNA (D-CA): Thomas Massie and I talked about it. He's working, as am I, on drafting articles of impeachment and inherent contempt. We haven't decided whether to move it forward yet, but we're in the process of doing it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: Epstein survivors, they're disappointed and frustrated by the rollout. One of them, Lisa Phillips, tells CNN that she was not surprised by the outcome.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LISA PHILLIPS, EPSTEIN SURVIVOR: Victims want answers. We want -- we want to know -- we want to connect the dots. We want our stories to make sense. We want to know a lot of different things. So, I mean, of course they're just going to say that that just buys time, but they're protecting themselves, not the victims.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: And so adding to all the questions surrounding the release, there's the image containing a photo of President Trump. It appears to have been removed from the Department of Justice's Epstein's library.

Now, it's not immediately clear why that photo may have been removed. CNN has reached out to the department and the White House for comment. And to be clear, the president has not been accused of any wrongdoing or charged with any crimes in connection with Epstein.

Let's bring in Errol Louis now. political anchor at "Spectrum News." Errol, good Sunday morning to you. Let me start on this question of impeachment. I want to take it in two parts, the Republicans and the Democrats.

You heard from Ro Khanna there that Thomas Massie's office is working on articles of impeachment. They have not decided to move forward yet, but for, let's say, the Republicans first. Do you think there are enough who are livid or either maybe worried that this could weigh them down going into the midterms to support it?

ERROL LOUIS, POLITICAL ANCHOR, SPECTRUM NEWS: Good morning, Victor. I'd be shocked if anything resembling a majority of the Republican conference would move forward with articles of impeachment. In some ways, it's just kind of loose talk at this point.

Remember the discharge petition that enabled this law to get passed that resulted in this latest dump of information, it was like pulling teeth. I mean, they barely got four Republicans to come on board with all of the Democrats. So, I don't think the numbers favor going forward.

But your underlying point is exactly right, which is that Republicans are going to face a very, very hard time because they're going to get blamed for all of the recalcitrance from the White House, all of the games that they've played, the jumble of information they just dumped, all of the redacted pages. It's starting to look like a Republican problem, and not just a White House problem.

BLACKWELL: And so let's talk about the Democrats, though, because voters say that the economy and affordability are their top issues. And describing this as a distraction, I think, would be wrong. But do voters want that to be the focus and impeachment of the attorney general to be the focus ahead of the midterms?

LOUIS: Well, yes. I can't imagine, other than as a headline, that people would pay much attention to it because, you know, trying to get your groceries for the week is always going to be job one for most American households.

We now know from a lot of polls, including a recent Fox News poll, that a solid majority, really a super majority of Americans think that the economy is being mishandled. Democrats have to their advantage -- their political advantage really seized on that. And by and large, people see Republicans as leading and doing a better job on immigration and border security and crime, whereas they're looking to Democrats when it comes to health care and affordability and the climate.

[06:10:05]

I would take that second bet. Democrats are in a much stronger position to have very serious political support. And I think most Republican elected officials at this point recognize that.

BLACKWELL: All right. You're in New York. Let me ask you a New York question here. One day after Congresswoman Elise Stefanik announced that she's dropping out of the race for governor, she's not coming back to Congress or at least running for reelection. The president endorsed her, I guess, now former primary opponent, Nassau County executive Bruce Blakeman. What's going on here?

LOUIS: Well, look. Elise Stefanik has been wronged by the president and his political operation not once but twice in this year alone. First, remember, she was supposed to be the U.N. ambassador. And that was pulled back and they said, no, go back to Congress and we'll create a seat for you. Even though at that point she'd said goodbye to her staff and had really sort of started rearranging her personal life.

OK. She went with that. And then she decided that Congress wasn't suited for her and that she had a pretty good chance of becoming governor. She declared for that, she was endorsed by the chair of the state party. So, it looked like everything was going her way. And the rug got pulled out from under her all over again, that the president, apparently his other friend Bruce Blakeman, got the nod.

And so she is not just dropping out of the race for governor. She's leaving Congress. She's basically leaving elected politics because life in the Trump Republican Party has not worked out for her. And we all just watched it happen.

BLACKWELL: Yes. The president posted on social media, Elise is a tremendous talent, regardless of what she does, she will have great success. I am with her all the way.

I mean, there is a scenario in which she ends up in the administration, there could be some future for her with the Trump administration.

LOUIS: My guess is that when he says he's with her all the way, he's with her all the way as he escorts her to the door, as she leaves politics. I'd be very surprised if she took a job.

BLACKWELL: OK, maybe not. Errol Louis with me this Sunday morning. Thanks so much.

All right. There are more questions. After the deadly shooting at Brown University and the murder of an MIT professor. The suspect is dead, but authorities are trying to figure out what motivated those attacks. We'll have the latest on the investigation.

Plus, it's been a week since the massacre at Bondi Beach. Vigils are happening right now to remember the victims of this targeted terror attack. We'll take you live to Sydney.

And a chilling text message sent moments before a plane crash in North Carolina that killed NASCAR legend Greg Biffle and his family. What that text said and how it's affecting the investigation.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:17:34]

BLACKWELL: The search for a motive is intensifying as investigators are looking deeper into the killings of a professor at MIT and two students at Brown University. The suspect was found dead from a self- inflicted gunshot wound. He was described by former classmates as brilliant and exceptionally difficult. CNN's Michael Yoshida is in Providence with more.

MICHAEL YOSHIDA, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Victor, memorials continue to grow here on the campus of Brown University as the question of motive continues to linger over this community, as well as this investigation. An effort made more difficult by the fact that the suspected shooter is dead. Still, this is what we know right now.

Investigators going through his history, 48-year-old Claudio Neves Valente was a Portuguese national with a brief connection to Brown University, was part of a graduate program in the early 2000. And we also know potentially a connection to that MIT professor as well. They both were part of the same academic program in Portugal in the late 1990s.

The movements of the suspected shooter also a focus here. We know he rented a storage unit in Salem, New Hampshire, in November, was also in the Boston area, the back part of November and early December, eventually renting a car that he drove here to the Brown University campus.

And then last Saturday, the suspected shooter opened fire, killing two students, also injuring nine. Just days later and about 50 miles away, shot and killed, MIT professor before then going back to that storage unit in New Hampshire, where he was later found dead. That ended the manhunt, but still, so many questions remain, a source of emotion and frustration for those in this community.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ERIC DRAY, BROWN UNIVERSITY ALUM: I wanted to honor what happened and honor that it's over. But I wasn't anticipating how emotional it is to be here in person.

ALEX BROWN, MANAGER, CEREMONY CAFE: It seems like security was a lot more lax than it should have been. The fact that he had essentially gotten away and was really, you know, wasn't ever actually caught, just found after the fact, that feels unacceptable to me. (END VIDEO CLIP)

[06:20:02]

YOSHIDA: And as the investigation moves forward, we also now focus on the premeditation and sophistication of the efforts of the suspected shooter using an untraceable phone, credit cards not linked to his name, and also switching license plates as he passed through different states. All details that hopefully at some point can bring some closure to this community with an answer as to why this deadly violence happened, Victor.

BLACKWELL: Michael Yoshida, for us in Providence. Thank you, Michael.

This morning, Australia is marking a national day of reflection. This is a week after the Bondi Beach mass shooting. Thousands of people attended a memorial service to observe a minute of silence to honor the victims. Vigils are being held across Australia.

Last Sunday, two gunmen opened fire at a Jewish festival that killed 15 people. Angus Watson joins us now from Sydney. Talk to us about what happened there today on Bondi Beach and how people are reflecting over what's happened.

ANGUS WATSON, CNN PRODUCER: Well, Victor, here at Bondi Beach on Sunday, one week after this horrific antisemitic terror attack, the Jewish community led the nation in mourning here. Thousands of people came to hear from rabbis, to hear from survivors, to hear from the families of the victims.

Fifteen killed here when two gunmen on the bridge behind me opened fire on a party celebrating the first night of Hanukkah. The youngest victim, just 10 years old, Matilda. Her father lit the candle on the Hanukkah menorah for the eighth night of Hanukkah, something that should have been a celebration instead is a horrific vigil for his own daughter and for members of his community.

This is -- a moment of silence was held across the country today at 6:47 to mark a week since the attacks. Earlier, the prime minister had this to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANTHONY ALBANESE, AUSTRALIAN PRIME MINISTER: This has been the darkest week in Australia's recent history. The terrorist atrocity committed against innocent people celebrating Hanukkah last week at Bondi Beach, targeting our cherished Jewish Australian community has left our nation grieving and angry. The nation is carrying deep pain and sorrow.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WATSON: Now, the prime minister there Anthony Albanese has also announced several initiatives that he hopes will start to -- will keep the nation safer. In general, Victor, he wants stricter gun laws to become even stricter, including limiting the number of firearms somebody is licensed to have. And he's also doing a review of Australia's security services after the news that one of the gunmen had been known to security officials for years up until the attack, but deemed not an imminent threat, Victor.

BLACKWELL: Angus Watson, thank you. President Trump is touting cooling inflation, but are you feeling a difference and how will it impact your last minute holiday shopping? We're talking live with the former CEO of Toys R Us after a break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:27:45]

BLACKWELL: We're learning more about the private jet crash in North Carolina that killed seven people. Federal investigators say the plane was airborne for about 10 minutes after takeoff, and then it turned back and crashed on another runway. Officials say they're trying to figure out who was piloting that plane.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAEL GRAHAM, NATIONAL TRANSPORTATION SAFETY BOARD: At this time, we have been unable to verify who was flying the airplane. We do know three of the occupants did possess a pilot's license, but we have been unable to verify that at this time. But that's one of the things we're working on.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: Investigators also confirmed a passenger sent a text message reading emergency landing just moments before the crash. They don't know who sent the message yet. Former NASCAR driver Greg Biffle, his wife and their two children were among those victims.

Vice President JD Vance is expected to speak at Turning Point USA's AmericaFest in Phoenix today. It's a conservative conference and they're wrapping up their annual meeting. They're celebrating the legacy of Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk. Now, House Speaker Mike Johnson, border czar Tom Homan, Donald Trump Jr., and several Republican lawmakers also are expected to speak today.

The Powerball jackpot soared to an estimated $1.6 billion after no big winners in Saturday night's drawing. That makes it the fourth largest Powerball jackpot ever. Next drawing, tomorrow night.

Cash option worth about $735 million. Powerball officials say the massive prize has given players a chance to dream big this holiday. But here are the odds about one in 292,000,000. So you're saying there's a chance.

All right. President Trump is trying to take a victory lap for cooling inflation last month. The consumer price index did slow to 2.7 percent in November, down slightly from September. But the numbers are likely incomplete or distorted because of the government shutdown.

Meantime, as we enter the last days of the holiday shopping, Americans seem to be feeling worse about jobs and inflation. A new report shows consumer sentiment hovering near lows, falling more than 28 percent since this time last year.

[06:30:04]

Let me bring in now Gerald Storch. He's the former CEO of Toys R Us and the former Vice Chairman of Target.

Jerry, good morning to you.

So, I talked about the consumer sentiment showing substantial decline higher prices unemployment up now at the highest since 2021, 63 percent of people in the newest CBS/YouGov poll say the economy is bad. Are things that bad?

GERALD STORCH, FMR CEO, TOYS "R" US: Well, there's definitely a frustration of expectations that prices would come down but consumers aren't going to let it spoil their Christmas. Every report I hear is that holiday spending is actually pretty good.

You know, the issue is somehow they got over promised, you know the world here that prices would actually deflate come down when they've been up, you know, huge for years and now we still have inflation continuing. So the rate of growth may be, you know, 3 percent give or take a couple of tenths, but the absolute level is not coming down deflation almost never occurs.

The only time it's occurred in history is during the Great Depression or one once or twice during other major recessions for short periods of time.

So, I don't know where people got that idea. Maybe they were over promised to but it's not happening. And so that's a big issue.

BLACKWELL: Well, I'll give you an example of where they're getting the idea of prices coming down and fast. This is President Trump in Rocky Mount this weekend in North Carolina.

Let's play what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF UNITED STATES: Denounce that inflation is far lower than anybody expected. I told you beating everyone of the 61 forecast from the so-called geniuses the experts. We're the geniuses not them.

We now have the lowest core inflation since March of 2021 and we're just getting started. It's unbelievable.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: The President's taken a victory lap after those 2.7. Should he be?

STORCH: Well, if that he's talking about the rate of increase not an actual decrease, which is what people are looking for and, you know tariffs, you know, didn't cause this inflation. Maybe it's a few tenths one way or the other, but it certainly didn't help to solve things.

And you know, instead of instead of focusing on that at the beginning, maybe it would have been better to focus on some of the things that can be done to affect prices. So, he's -- you can't do it across the board as I said without a major economic turmoil, but you can affect for example gas prices by making gas more available. It's supply and demand. Pharmaceuticals by changing the supply dynamics and now he's trying to do that by negotiating pharmaceutical companies.

So there are ways to affect some major pain points in the economy, even though as I said, you're not going to bring inflation into the negative or deflationary zone without a major economic contraction, which nobody wants.

So, you know, they can they can do certain things to have an impact, but those have yet to be seen in the overall numbers. What we still see is persistent inflation on top of years of inflation.

BLACKWELL: Jerry, what do you think of the messaging? I heard you talk about, you know, the over promise of deflation, but the President returns off into this. Maybe your daughter needs one doll instead of 37 or buy two pencils. I don't even know you can buy pencils individually. I always thought they came in a pack of 10.

But what do you think about that messaging we're hearing from the President?

STORCH: Again, I'm not -- I'm not a political expert on a business person, but obviously I don't think any of that helps very much. What -- what -- what you know, whatever you tell people, people are not, you know, economic economists, right? They want to see prices go down. They don't want to see, you know, the increase is not as bad as you thought.

I think people thought they got kind of taken to the cleaners, you know, during COVID where he had a 25 percent you know, compound increase if you will in price points and that maybe some of that should come back down, you know at some point and that is just other than gasoline, which is a subject to other supply and demand forces. You really haven't seen that in any category whatsoever. All you see is different rates of increase based on what's going on.

So -- so that's what consumers focus on. It doesn't really matter what anyone says. You can't jawbone it, you know, you go to the store, you know what things cost. So that -- that's where the focus is.

And again, you're not going to have that deflation everyone's looking for across the board without having an economic recession and nobody wants that. So all you can do and that's what they're starting to do now, if they start earlier, it might have been better is focused on specific categories, you know, like pharmaceuticals like gas, you know where they can make a difference in the short term to prices for certain products. So that's what they're doing.

BLACKWELL: Yes, Jerry Storch. Good to have you with us this morning.

STORCH: My pleasure.

BLACKWELL: All right, major shake up to the childhood vaccine schedule. The Department for Health and Human Services said to recommend fewer shots. Will explain what's inspiring this overhaul and when it could go into effect.

[06:35:00]

ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST (on-camera): And two back-to-back days of flooding concerns for portions of the West Coast. Will detail where and how long it's expected to last, coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLACKWELL: The Trump administration plans to overhaul the childhood vaccine schedule. That's according to a source who says that Health and Human Services is expected to recommend fewer shots for children. But the plan has not been finalized.

CNN's Medical correspondent Meg Tirrell explains.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

[06:40:04]

MEG TIRRELL, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, in the Trump administration's latest move to pare back the number of recommended childhood vaccines in the United States, CNN has learned that the Department of Health and Human Services is considering overhauling the childhood vaccination schedule. And in fact, a person familiar with the plan suggests that this proposed new schedule could look something like Denmark's, if not totally identical to Denmark's.

Now, this is not finalized and could still change, but it comes after the President sent a memo to the Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and the acting director of the CDC, directing them to evaluate the U.S. childhood vaccine schedule. That's the list of vaccines that are routinely recommended for kids in the United States, and to compare that with the recommended vaccines in peer countries.

The President called the U.S. a, quote, high outlier in terms of the number of diseases that we vaccinate against in childhood here, and said that they should compare and come up with a new strategy for vaccination.

So this came about two weeks after the CDC advisory committee meeting on vaccines, where RFK Jr.'s handpicked group of vaccine advisors voted to pare back a recommendation for the hepatitis B vaccine birth dose in the United States. And we heard a lot of discussions at that meeting about comparisons with other countries' vaccine schedules, and in particular Denmark, where an FDA staff member who was put in place by the Trump administration had lived for several years. So she made comparisons between that country and the United States.

Now, if we were to adopt Denmark's vaccination schedule, we in the United States right now vaccinate against about 17 to 18 diseases in childhood, compared with 11 in Denmark. So if we were to change the recommendations, that would be removing potentially universal vaccination recommendations for diseases like RSV, rotavirus, flu, chickenpox, and other diseases.

Now, RSV is the most common cause of hospitalization among infants in the United States, and a new immunization for babies has reduced hospitalizations by 80 to 90 percent with RSV.

So experts are really scratching their heads about why the U.S. would change its vaccination schedules to match a country that really is unlike the United States in many ways. It has free universal healthcare in Denmark and a population of about 6 million people, which is smaller than the state of Missouri.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLACKWELL: All right, Meg Tirrell, thanks so much.

Heavy rain and wind expected to hit Northern and Central California today, and hopes for a white Christmas are dimming.

Let's go now to CNN meteorologist Allison Chinchar.

I'm OK with that second one.

CHINCHAR (on-camera): As I say, if you're the type that is dreaming for a white Christmas --

BLACKWELL: Wake up.

CHINCHAR (on-camera): -- keep dreaming, keep dreaming, yes.

I mean, the exception to that is really going to be out West, where we're going to have not one, but three separate series of storms come in. That is going to bring a tremendous amount of rain and even some snow to the higher elevations. But again, that's going to be one of the few spots you see that snow.

Here's a live look at the radar. Again, you can see more of that rain really starting to funnel back into portions of Northern and eventually into Central California. As we go through the rest of the day today. Again, most of it is light. This is going to start to pick up this afternoon and especially into tonight. You're really going to start to see some of those heavier rain bands begin to push in.

Here's a look at what we're talking about. Again, you can see a lot of that funnel of that rain kind of sliding up through, but also notice a lot of the pink and purple indicating the snow. We are going to be measuring the snow in feet over the next few days. Then you start to notice once we get to Monday, it begins to shift a little farther southward.

So areas of Central California, San Francisco, Sacramento, they're going to start getting some heavy rain as well. And then by Tuesday and Wednesday for the next system, now we start to add in Southern California, Los Angeles, San Diego, looking at some rain. Overall totals up and down the West Coast, especially areas of Northern and Central California are looking at widespread rainfall totals of three to six inches. It is not out of the question for some of those areas that get into those really tight funnels to get seven to even 10 inches of rain before all of this finally moves out.

Now, one of the concerns is going to be flooding because that is a very high amount. Here's a look at the forecast for today. The excessive rainfall is really going to be focused over Northern California. As we go through the next couple of days, you'll notice that gradual shift southward starting to include more and more places. So that's going to be a concern the closer we get to actual Christmas day.

It's the one thing that's going to keep California on the cooler side because everybody else is going to see temperatures above average, literally all of the pinks, all of the oranges and the reds indicate above average temperatures. And we're not just talking five degrees, maybe 10, some of these areas are going to be 20 to 30 degrees above average, which means you're going to have some records. Every single one of these dots, there's over 40 of them on this map, has the potential to break a record on Christmas day.

BLACKWELL: So, you're saying we could barbecue if we wanted to.

CHINCHAR (on-camera): Yes, I think you could. Yes, I really do think you could.

[06:45:03]

BLACKWELL: All right, Allison Chinchar, thank you.

TSA is warning of increase in air travel between now and New Year, a significant increase. So we have some practical, useful information to make your air travel smooth and enjoyable.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLACKWELL: Most of the season for holiday travel. AAA is expecting more than a 122 million people to Travel from December 20th to the 1st of January. It would be a new record.

AAA also says that more than eight million Americans will take domestic flights. And if you're planning to enroll in TSA pre-check, there's a holiday special for families, the second person gets $15 off. That's nice.

[06:50:11]

Joining us now is managing editor of The Points Guy, Clint Henderson. Clint, good to see you again, especially now. So, let's start here. Are there any airports, airlines, you're worried about with such a surge of travelers headed to these airports?

CLINT HENDERSON, MANAGING DIRECTOR, THE POINTS GUY: Here is what I'm watching, I'm watching the continued shortage of air traffic controllers.

So, you know, that's one of the things that did not get resolved during the shutdown, when the shutdown ended. In fact, it got worse. So, we've heard that more air traffic controllers resigned. And so that's going to be an ongoing issue.

So once you start to get weather issues happening, like we saw earlier this week in New York with the high winds, that can start rolling delays. I will say the airlines seem to be recovering more quickly these days than they have in years past.

So that's the good news for travelers. Just make sure you're an informed consumer. Know what's going on at your arrival airport, your departure airport. You got it. You got to be cognizant of the news and make sure you're watching CNN and checking your airport situation.

BLACKWELL: All right. Good recommendation there. I promise people useful, practical information to help with travel. So, I'm going to tick through some here.

My flight is canceled or delayed and that it may mean I miss my connection. Should I get in the helpline at the airport? Should I call customer service or go to the app?

HENDERSON: You should do all the above. Make sure you have that airline app installed. But if you have lounge access, the airlines have -- if you go to an airline lounge, they have agents working to help you. So sometimes you can skip the long lines if you have lounge access.

I will say you're more likely to get a hold of someone via social media or on the airline app itself and rebook yourself. If those lines are an hour and a half, two hours line long, like we've seen, I don't even bother with that. I just book myself and get a hotel room, take care of myself and then ask the airline to reimburse me later.

That's why it's important to have a credit card that has trip delay and cancellation insurance because then you can submit to the credit card even if the airline won't pay for it. But it never hurts to ask as well.

BLACKWELL: How soon do I need to start thinking about parking at the airport?

HENDERSON: Immediately, especially during the holidays because parking lots fill up and you can reserve a space. So definitely reserve a space if you can ahead of time.

BLACKWELL: Is CLEAR still worth the investment? HENDERSON: Yes, absolutely. So what I do is I check the CLEAR line, I check the TSA pre-check line and then I check biometric lines at the airport has that because that's often the fastest now, but I love my clear. It saved me hours in over the time that I've had it. So, I definitely recommend it.

And if you don't have pre-check right now, you mentioned it TSA is offering a buy one, get one. So, you get $15 off a second membership and you don't even have to be a family member. You just ask for the family discount when you sign up together.

BLACKWELL: Can I pack wrapped presents?

HENDERSON: Yes, if you're checking the bag, but be aware if you're taking them through security, security has the right to unwrap them. So better to check those in a bag.

BLACKWELL: If my mama made fantastic macaroni and cheese and I want to put it in my carry-on and bring it home. Do I need to freeze it first? How do I get it back to my house?

HENDERSON: I would freeze it first macaroni and cheese is one of those things that you know, it depends on the agent that's checking it (INAUDIBLE) --

BLACKWELL: It's not a liquid. It's not a solid, you know.

HENDERSON: Exactly. It's one of these weird things like turkeys. You can bring a turkey through but if it's -- if it's melted or liquidy, then they're not going to get you through with it.

So, I'm looking forward to the end of the liquid rules. I think that's coming sooner or later.

BLACKWELL: Scale of one to 10. How opposed are you to checking a bag this time of year?

HENDERSON: This time of year, is the only time of year, I check a bag because I have presents that I'm bringing back and forth between the coast.

So I'm team carry-on only but in these situations if I had kids, of course, I would be checking a bag and remember some airlines give you a checked bag guarantee. So if the bag is not at the -- at the -- at the carousel within 20 minutes, you can get miles or even cash from some airlines.

BLACKWELL: I don't know what I'm doing those 2,500 miles if I don't have clean underwear in the morning. I mean some of these air that problems we've seen over the past few years have gone beyond a little bonus they give you.

HENDERSON: If they lose your luggage, they have to give you some money for incidentals like underwear.

BLACKWELL: All right, Clint Henderson with all the practical information we need. I appreciate it. The Points Guy. Thanks so much.

HENDERSON: Happy to (INAUDIBLE).

BLACKWELL: All right, to you too.

Chevy Chase helped define a generation of comedy and became a widely recognized name. The "CNN FILM, I'M CHEVY CHASE AND YOU'RE NOT, "explores the man both on and off the screen.

Here's a look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mr. Chase (INAUDIBLE).

[06:55:02]

CHEVY CHASE, COMEDIAN: I appreciate that. Thank you. Would you like a signed picture?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do you have one available?

CHASE: I might. I might have one.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We were at the AFI tribute to Gregory Peck. Way, way in the corner, Mary Hart was interviewing someone live. And Chevy said, I wonder if I can hit her with this roll. And he whipped it as far as he could and hit her right in the head in the middle of the thing. And then he had to sit down like a kid.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was at an event. And this young caterer came up with a tray full of chocolate mousse, like shots of chocolate mousse. And she went, you guys like some chocolate mousse? And Chevy looked at it and he stuck his finger in one. No, thank you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLACKWELL: "I'M CHEVY CHASE AND YOU'RE NOT," premieres New Year's Day at 8:00 p.m. Eastern and the next day on the CNN app.

We'll be right back.

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