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Austin Tice's siblings still hoping to find him in Syria. American Airlines grounds all flights due to a technical issue. NASA's Parker Solar Probe traveling near sun to gather data. Hawaii volcano Kilauea erupting. Ski lifts collide at Lake Tahoe ski resort. Aired 8:30-9a ET

Aired December 24, 2024 - 08:30   ET

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

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[08:31:47]

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: This morning, as a huge transition of power plays out in Syria, one American family is still stuck in a painful purgatory. They still don't have the answer to one question. Where is their loved one, Austin Tice?

Tice, a journalist, went missing in 2012. The State Department says he was imprisoned by the Assad regime. His family has been in pleading for help ever since he disappeared.

Earlier this week, we learned from top U.S. hostage envoy, that the group that has overthrown Assad was, quote, being helpful in the ongoing search for Tice, kidnapped 12 years ago.

Here now for an update are Austin Tice's siblings, Simon Tice and Megan Tice Malone. Thank you both for joining us.

I want to talk to you about the United States sending their top hostage envoy to Syria just last week. Have you learned anything new about Austin's status in Syria from Envoy Roger Carstens, who was on the ground in Syria and talking to the new leadership there trying to get some answers?

I'll start with you, Simon.

SIMON TICE, BROTHER OF HOSTAGE AUSTIN TICE: Yes, thank you so much for having us. So, we have been very encouraged by the fact that Roger has been on the ground in Syria. And we are just continuing to push everyone who has any ability to do so to help us find Austin and bring him home.

SIDNER: You now have, like the rest of the world, seen this sort of overthrow that happened so quickly. And you've seen the jails that have been opened up. And worse, the morgues and mass graves in Syria. Do you have any thoughts, Megan, and the family talking through this for all these many years, as to exactly where Austin might be? Any ideas that you have come up with? MEGAN TICE MALONE, SISTER OF HOSTAGE AUSTIN TICE: We haven't had to,

you know, kind of come up with our own ideas. We've had intel that has been provided through different sources for the last 12 years. You know, this is not - we're not chasing a white rabbit. We know that he is alive. We know that he is well. You know, his exact location is something that can change at any given moment. So, you know, that is not so much our focus as much as connecting with the people who can help bring us home - bring him home to us.

SIDNER: Your mom recently sent a letter a Vladamir Putin, asking for his help finding Austin. And he responded, publicly, saying he would ask Bashar al-Assad about Austin. Assad is now in Russia. What do you make of this? And do you think that there is any chance that Assad would be cooperating or knows where he is, Simon?

TICE: Yes, I mean, unfortunately, we just don't have the perfect clarity that we want, in terms of knowing where Austin is. And so, we are put into a position where we have to ask anyone who we think would have the ability to help us.

[08:35:02]

And so, with Putin and knowing that he has such a large amount of influence in Syria and with Assad being in Syria, we're hoping that this commitment from Putin to ask Assad about Austin will lead to, hopefully, some big breakthroughs in the case.

SIDNER: Megan, I want to ask you about this because you were talking about different leads that you guys have been able to get throughout all these years. Saher al-Ahmad told NBC News that he was in a prison cell, just recently, with Austin. And the last that he saw him alive was in 2022. Have you been in contact at all with him?

MALONE: With my -

SIDNER: With Saher?

MALONE: -- with the other gentleman?

SIDNER: Yeah.

MALONE: With Saher? No. I - not - I have not personally. He - you know, he has been in contact with different people that we are working with. And hearing his story and sharing what he knows, which we are very grateful for.

SIDNER: I do want to get your thoughts on what you thought when you saw another American, another American male who was - who was found in Syria, a lot of people did not know that he was there. He emerged in a video. His name is Travis Timmerman. That day when that happened, Simon, what were your thoughts? Because there were a lot of details coming out and people were not sure exactly who they were looking at when they found him.

TICE: Yeah. Yeah. And that was, definitely, a time of kind of a high emotions, I would say. There was the kind of absolute joy and excitement, enthusiasm for Travis, and the fact that he is safe and was being well taken care of by the people who found him.

And then, of course, there was that kind of devastating disappointment in knowing that it wasn't Austin and that we are continuing to look. And we are incredibly thankful to our partners on the ground in Syria. So, that's Hostage Aid Worldwide has been helping tremendously in looking for Austin. And so, we just would hope that the search continues and we're very thankful to see that Americans are being treated well when they are being found.

SIDNER: Yes, we should know that Austin was just there doing his job as a journalist, trying to cover the story in Syria when he was - when he was taken.

Megan, to you, how are you and the family getting through this on a day-to-day basis? I know it has to be so, so heavy, and especially, as we are you know coming towards Christmas and the holidays.

MALONE: Yes, it's been weighing so heavily on my heart, on all of us, I think, to be so close for this many weeks now. You know, we really feel like this is a window of opportunity. And windows don't stay open forever. And I think just it's been such an interesting space to be in. I have two young children. They've never met Austin, you know, and having this big heavy thing and being on the verge of our seats just waiting any moment now.

And also, you know, being in this time that, you know, creating holiday magic and trying to keep the spirit of Christmas, it's been a really, really challenging time this year, especially. I'm so grateful that so many of us were - you know that we were all together in D.C. when we were. And I am just really still hoping and praying for a Christmas miracle.

SIDNER: And we will do the same, Megan Tice Malone and Simon Tice. Let us hope that you hear from your brother, Austin, for Christmas. Appreciate you guys.

All right, still, to come this morning, ski lifts collide, spilling skiers down onto the slopes. Why one witness says they were lucky it happened when it did. We will explain.

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[08:43:15]

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: New this morning, an update on our breaking news really at the top of the hour. American Airlines has resumed service now, after abruptly grounding all of its flights this morning over what the airline called a technical issue.

A local reporter in Fort Lauderdale telling us a short time ago that - who was at the airport there, that the gate agents announced they could not scan tickets and they could not board luggage. A rough start for so many trying to get on their way this Christmas Eve. We're still waiting to see what kind of impact this stoppage could have, the ripple effects, on what is to be one of the busiest travel days of the year. One measure of just how busy it's all going to be, AAA reports 119

million people will be traveling 50 miles or more from home, which is more than the previous high set in 2019.

Joining us right now is travel expert and managing editor of The Points Guy, Clint Henderson. It's great to see you. Thanks for jumping on.

A ground stop for a major airline, like American, even short-lived, how far are you seeing or could the ripple effects go in terms of the disruption even after they renewed (ph) service, Clint?

CLINT HENDERSON, MANAGING EDITOR THE POINTS GUY: Yeah, well, just to give you one example, I've been tracking a flight leaving JFK going to San Francisco. That flight's now delayed three hours. So it does have a ripple effect.

The good news is it seems to have been resolved fairly quickly. So hopefully, there won't be any kind of cascading issues. American Airlines said they are sorry for the inconvenience to passengers.

But the good news is, like most fallout we've seen from these incidents lately, it's being resolved fairly quickly and it hasn't had the domino effect that we saw back in 2022, for example.

BOLDUAN: Yeah, I think everyone's still, I feel like, like they're hurt from that example. But that things have been resolved -

HENDERSON: Correct (ph) -

BOLDUAN: -- little traumatized from that one for sure. That was so wild.

[08:45:03]

More broadly, Clint, looking at the numbers, the busiest day that ever in airports was, I believe it was Sunda after Thanksgiving. TSA screened more than 3 million people then. TSA also saying, 10 of the busiest travel days on record just - had happened in just the past six months. What are you expecting for Christmas -

HENDERSON: Yeah.

BOLDUAN: -- and New Year? And what should travelers be preparing for?

HENDERSON: So more of the same. And, you know, this is why I recommend, especially during the holidays, that you get to the airport a little earlier than normal. I'm the three-hours-early kind of guy. But, you know, airports now have so many amenities, lounges, restaurants, shopping, that I don't mind spending a little time at the airport. And, of course, I have all those clear and TSA precheck. But there's even some free screening things you can do, like getting a place in line at Orlando Airport and things like that. So definitely check into that stuff.

But overall, the airlines are handling things better. You know, we've only really seen one major meltdown this year. That was the crowd strike and that was an I.T. failure. So, fingers crossed that we're on the upswing. I think the airlines, the airports have the staff they need now. So that's a relief.

BOLDUAN: I have personally gone a 180 on this. I used to be screaming at the last minute, jumping on the plane at the last second. Loving to see if I could kind of beat the buzzer. And I'm complete - I'm now the three-hours early person. I'd rather not have the stress. And I'd rather sit and drink several more cups of coffee before taking off. So, I have taken your advice for sure.

Let's look back at this past year in travel. As I mentioned, it's just been a huge year for travel. What were the biggest travel trends that you saw in 2024?

HENDERSON: So people are traveling farther, to more exotic destinations. And they're going for longer. We've done some polling. We've been tracking the trends very carefully, obviously. Average length of vacation, instead of four and half days is now five and a half days.

So I think what you're seeing happen is a lot of people are extending trips because of work-from-home policies. So, whereas they could maybe could only get away from the weekend before, they're now extending those trips by a day on either side. So that's a big trend that I expect we'll see continue.

And also, just the popularity of travel. I think social media has really impacted that. I think people see their friend's selfies in front of the Eiffel Tower or in Tokyo and they want to - they want to copy that trip. So, I think - I think you're seeing a lot of excitement around travel. And really this is - this dates back to the pandemic when people were stuck at home. I think a lot of people decided that the - what they wanted to do was to travel more.

BOLDUAN: And so, what do you then - what are your predictions for 2025? I - because I find it interesting because it was such a huge year for travel, but also we're - this was the year of inflation. And this the - I mean, one of the years of inflation and people struggling to pay for their groceries. And so, you kind of have this combination of factors. And I'm wondering what you think it all means for the year to come.

HENDERSON: Yes, I think that's one area that folks are - they don't care how much it costs. We haven't seen a lot of price resistance from consumers. I will say over the last five years airfares have actually come down slightly overall. And I regularly see deal alerts. So there is deals to be had out there and people are taking advantage of those.

But people are just not as price-sensitive as they used to be when it comes to travel. I think that's the one area people are willing to splurge on right now. The other interesting thing that's happening is the strong U.S. dollar is certainly helping for international travel in places like Tokyo, in places like Europe, the U.S. dollar just goes further. It can be cheaper to go to Europe than it can be to go to Las Vegas, for example. So, that's one of the things that I'm watching. The return of business travel is a big - is a big part of this. And

then, no let-up in demand for leisure travel. I just, you know, American Airlines just added a direct flight to Bozeman, Montana for leisure travelers. So airlines are making more decisions based around the consumer who loves to travel.

BOLDUAN: Oh, I love that. I like learning more about more direct flights. Fan of more direct flights.

SIDNER: Wait a minute, before you go -

HENDERSON: Please.

SIDNER: -- what are your thoughts on gate lice?

BOLDUAN: Oh.

SIDNER: You have the time (ph)? Because one of us -

HENDERSON: I -

BOLDUAN: I'm proudly, I don't -

SIDNER: Skips lines.

BOLDUAN: I am - I am an adorable louse when it comes to -

SIDNER: She is.

BOLDUAN: -- I'm okay with it. Clint, tell me I'm fine. It's one -

HENDERSON: Yeah.

SIDNER: She's been going into the wrong group. But now we know why. Because miss -

BOLDUAN: It is called - it is called harmless rebellion. It is hurt - it hurts no one and it just gets -

HENDERSON: Yes.

BOLDUAN: -- it just scratches that itch of like, can I get away with it. And now, apparently, I'm called lice.

SIDNER: Clint's like -

HENDERSON: Yes, and -

SIDNER: -- I'm not.

HENDERSON: No. I think it's - I think it's fine. But the airlines are instituting technology to catch you. American Airlines is trying out this thing where they beep if you're in the wrong boarding group and you scan your boarding pass -

SIDNER: Oh, shame. HENDERSON: -- it'll alert the gate agent and it's embarrassing.

SIDNER: Shame.

HENDERSON: So they're sending you to the back of the line. So, just be aware, they may - they may catch you.

BOLDUAN: I have just realized I am going to be flying American soon, and it's not like this is a private chatroom that we're -

SIDNER: I'm going to go.

BOLDUAN: -- having this conversation on right now. So, Clint, come help me. And whatever airport -

SIDNER: I'm going with my camera -

BOLDUAN: -- Vale is.

SIDNER: -- to film the beep that happens and then screen shame, shame, shame.

BOLDUAN: And you know who (inaudible) embarrassed, my daughters are going to be like -

SIDNER: Fair.

BOLDUAN: -- we knew you were the most embarrassing mom ever.

What are we doing now? Oh -

SIDNER: You're going to talk -

BOLDUAN: -- continue. Clint, you just - thank you for anchoring with us. We really appreciate your time.

Sara (inaudible) -

HENDERSON: Anytime.

BOLDUAN: Yes, yes, I'm going to do (inaudible) now. Coming up for us, Donald Trump has his eye on the Panama Canal. What the president of Panama is now saying in response. And does non-negotiable really mean non-negotiable in the next Trump term?

And going where no manmade object has gone before. What we could learn from our closest look at the sun.

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[08:55:25]

SIDNER: Well, Santa Clause might be speeding through the skies tonight, a fast flying manmade object made history just hours ago during a trip near the sun. Look at that, so cool. NASA's Parker Solar Probe flew within 4 million miles of the sun, the closest humanity has ever come to the massive star. And the fly-by happened at 430 miles per hour. That is fast enough to fly from Tokyo to Washington, D.C. in under one minute.

CNN's Space and Defense Analyst Kristin Fisher is joining us now. I love that idea of getting to D.C. under a minute. Anyway, okay, so what are some of the things scientists are hoping to learn? And exactly how close is this probe getting?

KRISTIN FISHER, CNN SPACE AND DEFENSE ANALYST: Well, Sara, you gave some great stats. But just to kind put this in perspective, imagine the distance between the earth and the sun were about the size of a football field, right?

What this would mean is that NASA's Parker Solar Probe just got to like the four-yard line. So, it's really, really close. It's still, as you said, about 3.8 million miles away from the surface of the sun. But that's okay because it's still the closest that any humanmade object has ever gotten to a star.

And the point of this solar probe is to try to figure out why the sun's corona, that's the outer atmosphere of the sun, what you see kind of like whisping out during a total solar eclipse, they want to fly this probe right through the corona, not the surface, because they're wanting to figure out just why the corona is millions of degrees hotter than the surface of the sun. So, that's one of the things that scientists are trying to figure out today.

SIDNER: One of the many mysteries that we still don't have answers to. I am curious, even though there is a, you know, a few million miles in between the probe and the sun, it's still closer than we've ever gotten before. How does it not just like burn up?

FISHER: So thanks to some engineers and scientists at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory in Maryland, they've come up with a pretty cool way to keep this probe cool when it's this close to the sun. They actually have water pumping through the solar arrays that, you know, power this probe as its making these close approaches to the sun. They also have a several-inch wide carbon foam shield that protects it from these really hot temperatures. So even if it's getting to be about 1,800 degrees Fahrenheit on this closest approach to the sun, inside the probe it's still only just about 340 degrees Fahrenheit. So that's how they keep it all functioning.

But Sara, they still lose comms (ph), the mission control looses communications with the Parker Solar Probe during this close approach. No - total blackout for several days. Hopefully, they'll hear back. They're going to get like a beacon signal that they're going to be waiting for on Friday. That's when they'll know if the Parker Solar Probe survived this close task that just happened.

SIDNER: Yeah, the Parker Solar Probe could change the whole idea of flying too close to the sun if we are able to get communications with it and it survives all this and sends back, God knows, untold pictures. Kristin Fisher, thank you so much. Really appreciate it. I love these

stories.

Kate?

BOLDUAN: So, Hawaii's Kilauea volcano, one of the most active in the world, erupting again. On Monday it was erupting lava nearly 300 feet into the air. It was the first eruption in three months. The spectacle on Hawaii's Big Island drew crowds to Volcano's National Park to watch it all in real-time. It is always so beautiful and scary to see when you see those images from a distance.

Authorities say nearby communities not in danger, thankfully.

And scary moments at a Lake Tahoe ski resort when two chairlifts collided. Specifically, witnesses say that one chair on the lift slid backward. We can see it there, slammed into another, sending skiers falling to the ground. At least five people were hurt and taken to the hospital. The resort says it is now investigating what caused that very scary malfunction.

And a Massachusetts police officer is being credited with saving Christmas for dozens of families after he found and returned a huge stash of abandoned Amazon packages. The officer made the discovery while patrolling a wooded area early Sunday morning