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CNN Live Event/Special
CNN's New Year's Eve Live. Aired 7-8p ET
Aired December 31, 2024 - 19:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[19:00:00]
LAURA COATES, CNN HOST: That was good. That was good.
ISA SOARES, CNN HOST: More time with family is great. My mom --
COATES: Oh, my gosh, its coming.
SOARES: Mom and dad in Lisbon --
COATES: Home is coming. Okay. Our parents we love you.
SOARES: We love you, guys.
COATES: All of our friends and family. And to everyone watching. Here it comes. Oh my gosh!
SOARES: It's best. It's coming.
(NEW YEAR'S COUNTDOWN)
(CHEERS)
(FIREWORKS DISPLAY)
(MUSIC)
COATES: Oh my God.
SOARES: Happy New Year.
COATES: Happy New Year. Wow.
SOARES: London --
COATES: London -- I mean, London understood the assignment, everyone. This is incredible. It was unbelievable.
SOARES: Unbelievable. Unbelievable. Congratulations to Darryl Fleming, the director.
COATES: Wow.
SOARES: Twelve thousand.
COATES: Twelve thousand? SOARES: Twelve minutes, 12,000 fireworks. That was exciting.
COATES: I mean, honestly, I can tell you this. That did not do it justice.
SOARES: No, it does not.
COATES: Seeing it in person --
SOARES: You feel your paw shaking.
COATES: You did.
SOARES: You're watching wherever you may be, happy New Year to you.
COATES: Happy New Year.
SOARES: And to your loved ones.
COATES: Oh my gosh. What? I will never forget this night. It was magical to hear it all. I feel it.
SOARES: And the silence from the crowd and they taking it all in.
COATES: I know. I mean, and people over there are dancing. They're hugging around us. They're kissing. Auld Lang Syne was here.
Look at this. The London eye.
SOARES: Magical. A magical items right here.
COATES: Wow.
SOARES: Lighting the London skyline. And look at those crowds.
COATES: Boris, unbelievable, to watch it here, Boris. I mean, really, happy New Year, officially from London, Boris.
BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: What an incredible spectacle. A light show, really unreal. Just to watch. And the big Ferris wheel behind you. I know I've been calling it the big eye the entire night. I've been corrected numerous times. Shout out to all the people who texted me the corrections.
The London Eye that looked incredible, especially the graphics and stuff inside of it. What a magical moment. Were all envious of you right now, being there in London to celebrate with all those folks.
But the night isn't over yet because soon were going to take you back to Copacabana beach in Brazil, where the party is just heating up and get ready for this. The one and only man of soul, Al Green, is going to perform for us live. You will not want to miss that. Will take you back to Mississippi in just moments.
CNN's special live coverage of New Year's Eve continues after a quick break. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:18:28]
SANCHEZ: Welcome back to CNN's special live coverage of New Year's Eve.
You are looking at a stunning fireworks show in Lisbon, Portugal. And while we watch this, here's Sixpence None the Richer performing their hit song "Kiss Me".
(SIXPENCE NONE THE RICHER PERFORMING "KISS ME")
[19:22:10]
COATES: I love that song. That was so nice to hear. I know were all singing along, everyone. Weren't you out there in the crowd?
Well, earlier, Madrid hit midnight and here is Pau Mosquera ringing in the brand New Year from the flamenco capital of the world.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
(FIREWORKS DISPLAY)
PAU MOSQUERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Again, happy New Year from Madrid, feliz ano nuevo.
This is the way that we welcome 2025 in the country. And we did it as we told you before, in a very special way, with the 12 grapes of luck it in one place for each bell chime.
Behind me, you can see all the people enjoying with friends, with their families. It's very exciting for all of them waiting that their dreams will come true for this year.
Actually, I'm also wishing all of you that this 2025 will bring true peace and joy to you and to your family.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SANCHEZ: A very special show there in Madrid, in Spain. I hope Paul survived eating those 12 grapes. Glad to see him doing well there.
We want to take you now live to Copacabana Beach and Julia Jones.
Julia, the party there, we hear, is really starting to pick up.
JULIA JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It is, Boris. You can see behind me. People are really getting into it at this hour. But I'm going to take you to the other side over here on this marvelous ocean.
This is where a lot of Brazilians are coming at this hour to start doing a very important tradition of New Year's Eve, that is, to jump the seven waves. If you've ever been to Brazil on New Year's Eve, this is what you do. And it's not that easy at this hour, but I'm going to try. The trick
is you got to make a wish and jump a little wave.
Make a wish and jump a little wave. Okay, there's a good one coming. There's a good one coming.
We're going to try for this.
I'm going to cap that at two.
But there's a bunch of other traditions that I want to share with you guys. One of them, its similar to what people do in Spain, which is you eat seven grapes -- seven green grapes and making a wish every time. I mean, if I keep on making wishes that I keep doing all of these, I think I'm going to be really lucky in 2025.
This, of course, has to do with Brazil's multicultural background, cultural background, right? A lot of these earlier today, I threw flowers into the ocean for the goddess of the sea. That's something that comes from Brazil's African religions, that has kind of seeped into the general culture. And now everybody does it.
The colors are really important. I'm wearing white. That's for peace. I'm wishing peace for the world in 2025. And then this one, I believe my producer is telling me this is for good luck, right.
So I'm going to take a little bit. And money, money. So take a little bit of powder cinnamon. You make your wish and blow it into the air.
The last wish that I'm going to make with you guys hear on this lovely glass. Not going to drink it. Don't worry. We're still working here tonight.
You make a wish. SANCHEZ: That looks like an incredible time in Rio de Janeiro, in
Copacabana Beach.
JONES: Happy New Year, guys. Happy New Year from Rio.
COATES: Wow.
SANCHEZ: Happy New Year, Julia Jones. Thank you so much. Oh, wasted, wasted. I hope there's some caipirinha, some caipirinha in her future. Yeah. And I hope some of those folks that were trying to jump the waves succeeded. Some of them seem to get underwater very quickly.
Julia Jones, thank you so much for that.
Coming up, we have something truly special -- yeah, we have something truly special for you from Morgan Freeman's blues club in Mississippi. Omar Jimenez has been there all night hitting the keys. We should note with the band that's on stage.
And, Omar, we have a huge name, a legend coming up soon.
OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah. And by the way, I got pressured to be on stage earlier by this guy right here, Morgan Freeman. You own the place. And I heard your voice. I didn't know if I could deny what you were asking me to do, but I hear right now we're actually making one of your dreams come true. What is it here?
MORGAN FREEMAN, ACTOR/PRODUCER: I got to correct it here, Omar.
JIMENEZ: Correct me.
FREEMAN: One of my dreams come true. Yes, but it's about what I've been doing for years.
JIMENEZ: Yeah.
FREEMAN: Can I admit that? Can I say what that is?
JIMENEZ: You can admit and say whatever it is, go for it.
FREEMAN: Okay. Every time I have a long drive, my car, I'm singing along with Al Green, his entire album. So, if you say bucket list in person --
JIMENEZ: Yeah.
FREEMAN: -- I'm just intimidated.
JIMENEZ: All right, all right. We got Morgan Freeman and Al Green coming up on stage together.
FREEMAN: On stage.
JIMENEZ: Stick around.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:32:10]
COATES: All right. In less than 30 minutes, Boris and I are going to hand over the New Year's Eve party reins to none other than Anderson Cooper and Andy Cohen in New York's Times Square. And if past years are any indication, it's going to be a wild ride.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HSOT: And happy New Year, everyone. We are live in Times Square.
ANDY COHEN, TV HOST: It's going to be a lot of fun.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm going to show you a quick juggle if I can.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Okay? Whoa, whoa!
COOPER: Do not try that at home.
COHEN: Yeah. No.
COOPER: Not a good idea.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Carrot top is now beating Stephanie.
RICHARD QUEST, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Look at it. King of the world. I'm terrified of heights.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I like it here a lot. It seems like a fun vibe.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's about who you invite, really.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have a lot to celebrate this year.
COOPER: What do they look like?
COHEN: We are going. Don't worry about it.
Pickle juice.
COOPER: I've never had a pickle.
COHEN: You've never had a pickle? What?
Miss Patti Labelle, our Gemini twin.
PATTI LABELLE, SINGER: Hi, Anderson.
COOPER: Wow.
Katy Perry is joining us.
Katy, welcome.
KATY PERRY, MUSICIAN: Hi, guys.
COHEN: Neil Patrick Harris.
NEIL PATRICK HARRIS, ACTOR: Hey, Andy.
COHEN: Wow. Look at you.
HARRIS: What's up, gentleman? How are you?
COHEN: He is good.
COOPER: Gina -- Gina King, we are such fans of yours.
GINA KING, ACTRESS: Hey, you know I love you fellas. You know I do.
COHEN: In the bar, and there are cats everywhere.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. It's a cat bar. I mean, I don't know how much more clear I can be about the objective of this place.
(LAUGHTER)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's perfect TV. (END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: You can expect many more moments just like those tonight.
Yeah. Anderson and Andy are going to keep the party going in Times Square at the top of the hour, just about 20-ish minutes away.
And speaking of Times Square, the excitement there is ramping up. As you might imagine. Let's check back with CNN's Coy Wire.
Coy, what's it like there right now?
COY WIRE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yo, got you. Oh, we're up. Oh, we're up right now.
We are literally up right now. There's a party going on here at Times Square. I'm meeting a whole bunch of my closest new friends and what a wild year it has been, right? 2024 it was an impactful year for some of the top trends in fashion, in music, in art, in sports.
In fashion, the western kind of cowboy vibe has had its moment, and also in music, some of the top music superstars like Beyonce releasing a country album.
Now, in the art world, it was literally bananas. Do you remember when a banana duct taped to a wall sold for more than 6 million bucks? It's incredible.
Now, sports, we had the summer Olympics and remember breaking breakdancing made its debut in Australian Raygun. She went viral for her very interesting take on dance.
[19:35:02]
Now, speaking of dancing, we had the Trump dance that took social media and the sports world by storm, fairly simple, yet very effective. Now dancing on social media always makes for some fun trends.
Mamushi by Megan Thee Stallion was one of the most viral. It goes a little something like this. Check it out.
Are you guys ready?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Okay, here we go.
REPORTER: Safest area of New York City. Really the country on this day. Tell me why?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Because there are so many --
WIRE: All right, so I'm here with some of my new closest friends all the way from Japan.
You guys know about Mamushi dance?
Yeah, I know, all right, let's do this. Let's do this.
Are you ready?
(MUSIC)
(CHEERS)
WIRE: He's a star. As everyone's here, were going to have a great time tonight. That ball is about to drop. And we're going to ring in this New Year right. Oh and I got a little fancy for y'all since you were giving me some, you know, stuff about it earlier. Oh, were going on here.
COATES: Oh, wow. Coy Wire, you stay warm out there.
SANCHEZ: I think Coy has found his niche.
COATES: And you clean up good in the tuxedo. That's a good one. I love it. Okay, here we go, Coy.
Well, look, listen, more than a million people are going to jam in Times Square today, tonight, to ring in the New Year with Anderson and Andy. And as usual, the NYPD will have a massive presence. They spent months, literally months, preparing to make sure that tonight's celebration is safe and also secure.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REPORTER: I love it when we say this is the safest area of New York City, really, the country on this day. Tell me why.
REBECCA WEINER, NYPD DEPUTY COMMISSIONER OF INTELLIGENCE & COUNTERTERRORISM: Because there are so many officers who are here to protect all the crowds. Some you see, some you don't. All of our aerial resources, people on the ground. We have radiation, chem, bio detection equipment. We have our bomb sweeps, our canines, our heavy weapons teams. Everybody here to ensure that the night goes off without a hitch.
REPORTER: You bring out all the tools.
WEINER: We bring out all the tools. And then, of course, this is not something that we just do for this day. We've been not only doing the planning, but also the practice.
REPORTER: Right.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: They certainly have had quite a bit of practice. It is one of the biggest events in the world, and you will see it live on CNN tonight.
But we are not done just yet, Laura and I. Much more ahead on our CNN's New Year's Eve special.
We're back in just a moment.
(MUSIC)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:42:43]
COATES: Welcome back, everyone. Let's head back to Morgan Freeman's blues clubs in Mississippi, where the party is going strong.
Omar Jimenez, what's going on down there?
JIMENEZ: Well, first of all, first of all, I am blocking two very important people right now. So I'm going to step out of the way because I got Mr. Morgan Freeman and Al Green with me. They are about to go on stage and perform together.
Real quick. How are you guys feeling right now? You nervous?
FREEMAN: Huh?
JIMENEZ: Says enough right there.
How are you feeling, Al?
AL GREEN, MUSICIAN: Wonderful. Wonderful.
JIMENEZ: All right. Look, I'm not going to hold them back anymore, so lets go on out to the stage. Let's show people what you all are made of. All right, here we go. We're walking out of the green room into the stage right here. Yeah, here we go, here we go. Walking out into the beautiful --
ANNOUNCER: Morgan Freeman, but I think for everyone here. Exactly.
(CHEERS)
GREEN: Hello. Happy New Year.
ANNOUNCER: We've got two legends here. The Reverend Al Green and a guy here that we'd all pay to see, read a phone book, the voice of god, Mr. Morgan Freeman. Enjoy.
(MORGAN FREEMAN & AL GREEN PERFORMING)
SANCHEZ: Whoa!
COATES: Wow.
SANCHEZ: What a legend. Al Green.
COATES: I love it, I love it. That was so fun.
SANCHEZ: The voice is still there. The smoothness of it, performance.
And how about Morgan Freeman, Laura? Morgan Freeman hitting those high notes. I did not expect that.
COATES: I mean, he came in.
SANCHEZ: That was incredible. Laura, thanks.
COATES: Look, he can do anything.
SANCHEZ: Seriously.
COATES: That song made me feel so good. I loved it.
Omar, thank you so much. Wow.
SANCHEZ: Shout out to Omar Jimenez as well.
COATES: That made my year.
SANCHEZ: Ground Zero in Clarksdale, Mississippi. That was incredible.
Up next, before we go, we're going to take you one more time back to iconic Times Square. We're going to take a look at the crowds where you can see the excitement building. Stay with us. We'll be back in just a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:53:19]
COATES: That was so much fun to watch that. I cannot believe it. Isa, Boris, has been so fun.
Omar, can we just talk about the fact that he was walking to legends behind him onto a stage to perform an iconic hit? What were you doing? What was the crowd doing when they were singing these great songs? I was over here loving it.
JIMENEZ: Look, yeah, that was the easiest part of the night, actually. All I had to do was sit back and enjoy music that I already know people enjoy all around the world.
Honestly, the most nerve wracking part was we were standing back there in that green room and it was just the three of us standing there. And honestly, I wanted to stay out of their way. I was blocking them when the camera first came to us.
And I almost was thinking to myself, why am I blocking these guys? Why am I even here right now? Because what we just saw was incredible. Incredible.
SANCHEZ: Omar --
COATES: I mean, Boris, can you imagine?
SANCHEZ: -- I have to ask you -- no. It's crazy. I mean, you're standing in front of two icons. I too would have been like, what am I doing here? But, Omar, I have to get your reaction to hearing Al Green himself
with that voice, that iconic voice.
JIMENEZ: Oh, man.
SANCHEZ: It sounds like -- like silk. After all these years, he still sounds amazing.
JIMENEZ: You know, you know, the wild thing about that is a little bit earlier from this performance, I was sitting in the back doing some work, and I didn't see him walk in, but they started doing some sound checks and things like that. And as soon as I heard his voice, my eyes jerked up from my computer and I looked up and I said, there is no one else that could be. It was Al Green.
So then, of course, you come to this performance. I thought the sound check was good.
[19:55:01]
This was ten times what I heard in sound check, and you looked around. The crowd was pumping him up. I felt like he was trying more because he saw the crowd and yeah, unmistakable voice, unmistakable moment in a place that I think, as far as my experience so far, is an unmistakable place in Clarksdale, Mississippi.
COATES: I mean, I don't think that that Omar got the memo. Why is he working right now? What do you mean, you were working right now in the club? We're not working. We're just having fun.
Isa?
SOARES: Working, working, working.
COATES: Oh, oh. Oh, okay. You know what? I missed the quotation marks. You're right about that.
I see you, Omar Jimenez. I see you.
JIMENEZ: My mistake, I was trying to do some research. You know.
COATES: Oh, okay. All right, never mind. Okay. Great job, Omar.
SANCHEZ: Yeah, research, the all important research.
Omar, we'll let you get back to more research in Clarksdale, Mississippi, at Ground Zero. Thank you so much, Omar, for that report. That iconic moment with Al Green.
COATES: I know. Boris, it has been an incredible, incredible day of fireworks, of food, dancing. We had all these costume changes by our friend Isa Soares as well. A lot, a lot of fun. Take a look back with me at some of the best moments of tonight.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BECKY ANDERSON, CNN HOST: Happy New Year.
Can you see my jacket? You see what happened to the jacket? That is. That is the result of --
COATES: No.
SANCHEZ: Barbecue, yes.
WIRE: You do have a diaper in your survival kit. So, yes, I went and bought some diapers.
(MUSIC)
STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Here with me now. Come on in.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ta-da!
JIMENEZ: So why don't you guys kick us off? You ready? Let's do it.
COATES: What is this? What is this?
SOARES: Oh, this is my beautiful skirt. I'll give you a twirl. Oh, I've never had such a tiny waist in my life. I can't breathe.
FREEMAN: Hello, everybody. Happy New Year and all that. Welcome to Ground Zero blues club.
SANCHEZ: Merci.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Calves head.
WIRE: Y'all hungry?
CROWD: Yeah. Yeah.
WIRE: Yeah. Let's bring out the food. Bring it on out. We're going to have a party. A celebration.
COATES: Oh!
SANCHEZ: Senorita Laura.
(FIREWORKS DISPLAY)
COATES: This might --
SOARES: I do!
(MUSIC)
(FIREWORKS)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: We have had an incredible time sharing New Year's Eve with you around the world tonight. You had food. You had spectacle of light and sound, the fireworks. You had costumes. And I have to say, the MVP of the evening. When it comes to costumes is Isa Soares. I mean, Harry Potter, Ginger Spice, the Queen. That was intense. Mary Poppins.
COATES: Look at this, look at these, look at these.
SOARES: Queen Elizabeth. Queen Elizabeth, Mary Poppins. Look at that. Harry Potter for you. Mary Poppins, apparently my kids' favorite outfit for the day.
COATES: And you had Ginger Spice. Don't forget --
SOARES: Ginger Spice questioned the wig for a moment there.
COATES: Look, the wig --
SOARES: We'll leave that aside for now.
COATES: But you know what? You committed fully. And how proud were we of you, of all of it. And we had so much fun.
I'm so glad to be here with you. I'll never forget it.
SOARES: So glad you came on board. And glad. And guess what, everyone.
COATES: Up next, it will be me and Boris as dancing with the stars. I'm kidding.
SOARES: Give him a ring. Give him a ring. They've got potential.
COATES: Don't call us. We'll call you.
SANCHEZ: I'm not against it. I'm not against it. I -- well, well, I just got to get that spin down. I still haven't been able to figure that out, but we have some new challenges, possibly for next year.
We saw that that samba sort of thing that Julia Vargas was doing. We saw folks down here doing the cancan. I don't know, Laura, are you up for the challenge?
COATES: I don't tell you about it. All I know is it was great.
SOARES: I saw your salsa feet. You got some good salsa feet on you.
COATES: I have good feet. I have good feet. But you know what I don't have? I don't have the stomach to eat whatever it is you ate, Boris. Whatever it is you ate, Boris, I'm telling you, there is like a Kaopectate in your future, my friend.
SOARES: Yeah.
COATES: I don't know what to tell you.
SANCHEZ: I don't know, I don't know if there's a relationship between all that weird stuff that I ate with Saskya Vandoorne and how ill I felt a few hours before we went on the air. Again, shout out to that vaping doctor that hooked me up with all
these prescriptions, because I feel pretty good. I think it went pretty well. I got to say.
(MUSIC)
COATES: Well, wow. Anyway, everyone, thank you so much for joining us as we welcome 2025 in this part of the world. Do not go anywhere. Anderson and Andy Cohen pick up CNN's special coverage of New Year's Eve right now.
