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News Central: Police officer finds abandoned Amazon packages. Vendor technology issue delays American Airlines flights. Trump teasing U.S. territorial expansion. House Ethics Committee reveals texts from Matt Gaetz Aired 9-9:30a ET

Aired December 24, 2024 - 09:00   ET

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

[09:00:00]

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Returned a huge stash of abandoned Amazon packages. The officer made the discovery while patrolling a wooded area early Sunday morning. And police later learned the packages had been left behind by what they are calling a stressed-out Amazon driver.

Officers returned the packages to Amazon.

Stress getting everybody these days.

A new hour of CNN News Central starts now.

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: A Christmas Eve miracle. The glitch is gone. The FAA has cleared American Airlines flights for takeoff after all of their planes were grounded for a bit this morning.

So what caused that technical glitch? And will there be a trickle-down impacting travelers?

Reaction to President-elect Donald Trump's comments on controlling Greenland, Canada, and the Panama Canal. The strong message from Panama's president.

Plus, a woman is killed after being set on fire on a New York City subway. What we are learning about the victim and the man now charged for this horrific crime.

I'm Sara Sidner with Kate Bolduan. John Berman is out today. This is CNN News Central.

Breaking this morning, flights are resuming for American Airlines after the FAA lifted the ground-stop the airline issued due to technical issues it said. This happened during the busiest travel time of the year, as people are rushing home for the holidays. We spoke with our affiliate WFOR in Fort Lauderdale, Florida last hour. Here is what she says they were experiencing during that brief ground stop.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

UNKNOWN: The flight was supposed to leave at 7:00 a.m. We got there, we're waiting to board the flight and then the announcement came over the loudspeaker saying that there was going to be a delay. They were having serious technical issues. Saying that they weren't able to scan tickets, not able to board luggage onto the flight. And then we were told that we're going to get updates every 15 minutes. So people were sitting there patiently. A lot of people wearing Santa hats. There were so many children there as well. A lot of parents really concerned about getting home for the holidays.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

SIDNER: All right, we have our Lucy Kafanov, looking off into the wilderness because she looks very calm. Things don't seem too terrible there at Chicago O'Hare Airport, which is busy on any day of the week. What are you - what are you seeing there, Lucy?

LUCY KAFANOV, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Sara, I was looking off at the actual boards here, the departure boards. Most flights are delayed. But none look to be canceled. And, of course, the usual hustle and bustle of Chicago O'Hare Airport, of course, a hub for American Airlines. You can see things returning back to normal.

But it was definitely a scary start for this - on this Christmas Eve for some holiday travelers, after that brief outage grounded all of the flights. The airline said a vendor technology issue briefly affected flights. They also said that they began boarding again around 8:00 a.m. Eastern. This is according to an American Airlines spokesperson.

Now a lot of folks learning about this outage on social media when they saw reports that some flights were returning back to their gates and delays were about 90 minutes. But a lot of folks, like I said, learning about this online.

Take a listen, including two passengers that we spoke to.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNKNOWN: We saw it on - well, we saw first on our phones and then we saw an Instagram, like a news -

UNKNOWN: Some (inaudible).

UNKNOWN: -- a news report, yeah, that said all planes grounded for American in the U.S. So, we were like, what's going on? And she like recently watched a movie that like a cyberattack happened. So, she thought it was like crazy, be like Christmas Eve crisis.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAFANOV: So they're getting to grandma in Vegas. A lot of folks are getting to their destinations on, again, one of the busiest travel days of the year. I think one aviation analytics firm estimated that American was going to have 3,330 - sorry, 3,300 domestic flights today. So, thankfully this ground stop, this travel delay has been averted.

Sara?

SIDNER: It's a heck of a lot of flights. But we see it is getting busier and busier there behind you. As we expect, supposed to be record record-breaking travel season this year.

Lucy Kafanov, thank you so much for spending some time with us on this Christmas Eve. We appreciate it.

Kate?

BOLDUAN: All right, Donald Trump just weeks away from assuming office. And he is teasing U.S. territorial expansion. The president- elect has spent some of the days leading up to Christmas talking about retaking control of the Panama Canal, accusing the country of charging excessive fees for ships utilizing this critical waterway to cross between the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans.

The rhetoric clearly not sitting well with Panama's president, for one, who told CNN that Donald Trump's stance is, quote, "Totally irrelevant."

[09:05:04]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOSE RAUL MULINO, PRESIDENT OF PANAMA (voice-over): That is a manifestation of gross ignorance of history. The Canal will celebrate 25 years under Panamanian hands, under Panamanian's (ph) administration on December 31st.

So all those speculations and all that range of eventualities that are not going to happen, well, I leave them there as totally irrelevant issues and quite bordering on historical incoherence with what the Panama Canal has been, is and will be.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: It's not just Panama, the president-elect is also reigniting his push to buy Greenland, all in the name of national security he says.

CNN's Steve Contorno has the very latest for us.

Panama isn't having it, Steve. But what are you hearing about why this push from Donald Trump now?

STEVE CONTORNO, CNN SENIOR REPORTER: Well, it's a fair question, Kate, because for a lot of Trump's inner circle, this has certainly come out of left field. This is not something that he talked about during the campaign at all. And he has not, necessarily, made it a priority up until the point where he just suddenly posted to Truth Social about it.

And he, obviously, doubled down on Sunday. And it's sort of part and parcel with the rhetoric we have seen from Donald Trump in recent days, not just Panama and not just Greenland, as you say, but also teasing this idea that Canada could potentially absorbed as a 51st state now. That appears more as an attempt to needle the Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. But it does seem like this idea that Trump wants to buy Greenland and wants to pressure Panama and potentially take over the Panama Canal are serious endeavors.

And as you said, it's not just the Panama president that is pushing back, but also the people there as well.

Take a listen to what some of them told CNN en Espanol.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNKNOWN (voice-over): That will never happen. That will never happen because you will have to kill all the Panamanians who live here.

UNKNOWN (voice-over): All Panamanians of all ages, of all classes, and of all social conditions, and with all political beliefs have to close rank at this moment when the country demands that we defend the canal.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CONTORNO: Those are harsh words from the people of Panama, coming just a week before the country is set to celebrate 25 years of ownership and control of the Panama Canal. And look, they're not the only ones pushing back on Trump's expansion plans. The - Greenland has also said the country is not for sale, though they are open for cooperation with the incoming administration. Kate.

BOLDUAN: Steve Contorno, thank you so much for the reporting.

Sara?

SIDNER: All right, joining us now to discuss, CNN Political Commentator Maria Cardona and Founder and Principal at Bluestack Strategies Maura Gillespie.

Okay, Donald Trump certainly did not run on any of this. And I know you all remember back in the day when he talked about buying Greenland before. Now he's added taking control of the Panama Canal and making Canada the 51st state.

Why is - why is he doing this, Maura? This is not what the American public, not what he ran on, certainly. Why is he talking about this right now?

MAURA GILLESPIE, FOUNDER AND PRINCIPAL OF BLUESTACK STRATEGIES: It certainly has Republicans, like myself, concerned because this certainly doesn't follow along with his America First platform. Kind of deflecting to land grab issues that were not what the American people voted on, on Election Day.

Just gives us pause about what it is that his plan is for addressing the real issues that Americans were concerned about and voted for him in November, you know, mainly with immigration and with border control and with the economy. And by picking at Panama and Greenland as a landgrab thing as opposed

to actually having policy issues addressed, it's concerning and I think it just goes to deflecting because he knows that right now there is a lack of leadership in the White House. There isn't much being said, and so he's seeking any and all attention and trying to deflect from the fact that he doesn't currently have a plan. And that should give cause for concern for a lot of Republicans right now.

SIDNER: All right, I want to ask you this, Maria, because I know you've talked about this nauseum with our dear Kate this morning.

We are hearing discontent about House Speaker Mike Johnson. Thomas Massie has come out publicly saying that he doesn't think he'll support him. And then there are several other Republicans who have said things privately. One of whom said that he's in trouble.

What does this say about the Republican's capacity (ph) to lead if the first thing they have to do when the term starts is go through another battle for speaker, Maria?

[09:10:00]

MARIA CARDONA, CNN POLITICAL STRATEGIST: I think this underscores what Democrats have been saying for a very long time, which is Republicans have no idea how to govern. Seems like they have no interest in how to do it either.

And that the Republican Caucus is way too divided, way to fractured, they are too many people in that caucus that aren't interested in actually governing for the American people and are going to only stand up for their own pure idealistic vision, which is not how you run government. It's not how you pass laws in the best interest of the American people.

And I think it's a great opportunity for Democrats to underscore that to the American people, that it's Democrats that understand what needs to be done in order to negotiate and compromise and focus on the best interests for America's families, working families, middle-class families and put those ahead of anything. And it's frankly what allowed President Biden, even with Republican Congress and a Democratic Senate helping him, to pass the most consequential pieces of legislation in the last four years.

And so, Democrats are going to continue with that message going into this Congress, underscoring the crazy chaos that Republicans bring to the American people.

SIDNER: You know, but it is the Democrats who did end up losing the Senate and the House and the presidency.

Maura, when you - when you look at this situation, do you think and are you hearing that Johnson is, indeed, in trouble? Because we know from the Democrats, Hakeem Jeffries says, we are not going to help him this time. He's on his own with this own Party.

GILLISPIE: It's certainly a problem for Johnson because he did build a relationship with Hakeem Jeffries, which is important when you have a thin majority. And they'll still have a think majority going into this next Congress.

And, you know, being speaker doesn't mean that you just are, you know, a rubber stamp for everything that the Republican Party says and does. You are an institutionalist, you know, leader of the whole House, you're speaker of the whole House. So, that's an important role to remember, as being speaker.

And I think for Mike Johnson, this next few weeks, he's going to have to go back and probably explain to Trump why things work a certain way.

But I'll just remind people that, you know, we have a separation of powers for a reason. And what happened over the debt ceiling and debate, that's going to continue. But to shut down (ph) on the government, as Trump wanted to do, is really, really damaging. And that's now how you use your political capital going into this next, you know, change of government. Right?

You know, Republicans have a lot of opportunities here, especially in this first year, next, you know, two years, to really get their agenda across. But if they can't even get the most basic tenets of that, you know, passed, such as electing a speaking in January, that's a problem. And I think that for most of them should realize that they need to move ahead under Johnson to get things done.

Congress has a separate role for the presidency and it's important that they remember that.

SIDNER: I want to quickly get to this because it sparked a lot of people's interest, the incoming chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, which we don't talk about on a daily basis for sure, sending a stern message to the owners of television stations and networks. CNN obtained one of those letters to ABC, which reads in part, "Dear Mr. Iger, Americans no longer trust the national news media to report fully, accurately and fairly." ABC's own conduct has certainly contributed to the erosion in public trust.

What do you make of this, Maria? If you could give us just a quick idea of what you make of this because Donald Trump in the past has said - has talked about snatching broadcast licenses. Is this someone who he's pushing towards doing something like that, or at least making people believe that could happen?

CARDONA: Yeah, I think that the administration is making overtures to what we know Trump wants to do, which is exactly what you underscored. And I think what they have to be really careful about, both the FCC chair as well as everyone who is incoming heads of agencies, heads of the departments, is this massive overreach that the Trump administration is signaling that they want to embark on.

And I think it is - they are overconfident about the quote, unquote, mandate that they think they have, which is not a real mandate, Sara, like you pointed out, thank you. Democrats did lose the House, the Senate and the White House. But this is still a very divided country. Donald Trump didn't even get to 50 percent of the popular vote, 7,000

votes are what separates Democratic control of the House from Republican control of the House. And the Senate still has small margins for Republicans. And so, they have to be really careful about this kind of overreach because that is not what the American people voted for.

[09:15:00]

American people voted for Trump to bring down grocery prices, bring down housing prices and that's like the last thing that he's been talking about in these last several weeks. And I think it's a - it's going to be something that is a very big risk for Republicans.

SIDNER: Maria Cardona and Maura Gillispie, thank you so much for being here on this holiday weekend. Merry Christmas. Happy Holidays to the both of you.

CARDONA: Thank you, Sara. Merry Christmas. SIDNER: All right, Kate?

BOLDUAN: Text messages revealed in the House Ethics report on Matt Gaetz and they reveal what the committee describes at Gaetz's regularly paying women for sex and drugs. How the former Congressman is responding now today.

And we are standing by for an update on how Bill Clinton is doing this morning. The former president hospitalized after spiking a fever.

And $1 billion lottery winner finally coming forward to claim their eye-popping prize. Why it took nine months?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:19:58]

SIDNER: Former Florida Congressman Matt Gaetz is doubling down, denying allegations levied against him a House Ethics report that found he spent tens of thousands of dollars on sex and drugs while in office.

Gaetz says he's embarrassed about having partied. And as he put it, womanized. And he says, though, it's not criminal. But the report cites numerous text messages. They say prove he paid for sex and drugs for years.

CNN's Marshall Cohen is joining us now.

Marshall, give us the rundown of just some of the messages, as there are many, that you are seeing.

MARSHALL COHEN, CNN REPORTER: Good morning, Sara. There's a lot in there. It's a damaging and disturbing report on former Congressman Matt Gaetz from the Republican-run House Ethics Committee, which said that there was substantial evidence that Gaetz paid tens of thousands of dollars to women for sex and drugs all while he was serving in Congress.

Most importantly, the panel also found that Gaetz had sex with a 17- year-old high schooler in summer of 2017. The report concluded that this violated Florida's statutory rape laws.

Now, over the past few years, as Gaetz has faced this legal scrutiny, he has vehemently denied that he has ever paid anyone for sex. He also denies any illegal drug use. And in a social media post yesterday after the report came out here's how he responded.

He said, quote, "There is a reason they did this to me in a Christmas Eve eve report and not in a courtroom of any kind where I could present evidence and challenge witnesses."

But look, Sara, there was a lot of evidence here. The Committee examined 14,000 pages of documents. The Committee interviewed many of the key eyewitnesses. The report even includes detailed text messages that Gaetz allegedly sent, asking women for drugs and haggling over payments.

Let's look at some of the right here. There are texts from one of these women, you can see it on the screen, telling a friend, quote, "Matt never paid me. How much did he pay you?" The friend said that she got $400 and offered some advice. Ask him for the money, quote, "before you have sex with him."

There's even a very specific and detailed ledger of payments between Gaetz and multiple women using Cash App and Venmo. Some of those women later testified that those payments were, indeed, for drugs or for sex. And I should point out, Sara, that the Justice Department looked into many of these allegations for the past several years but they never filed any charges against Gaetz.

SIDNER: And now the Ethics Committee is alleging there may be the possibility, if Florida wanted to, of state charges. But we will see what happens there, as Matt Gaetz, over the weekend before all this happened, was floating the idea of running for office there.

Marshall Cohen, thank you so much. I appreciate it.

Ahead, Luigi Mangione's attorney claims he's been treated like a, quote, "ping pong ball between two warring jurisdictions," as he stands accused of killing the UnitedHealthcare CEO. How a judge responded in Mangione's first state court appearance.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:27:12]

BOLDUAN: The judge now has set a next court date for alleged CEO killer Luigi Mangione for February 21st. He was before a New York judge yesterday, just yesterday, for his first chance to answer to the 11 state charges against him, with cameras rolling in the courtroom.

And CNN's Kara Scannell was there.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KARA SCANNELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Mangione entering a plea of not guilty to the 11 New York state counts he is facing, which include murder in the first degree and murder in the second degree as a crime of terrorism.

KAREN AGNIFILO, LUIGI MANGIONE'S LAWYER: I'm very concerned about my client's right to a fair trial. Like every other defendant, he is entitled to a presumption of innocence. But unfortunately, the way this has been handled so far, he - his rights are being violated.

SCANNELL (voice-over): His attorney, Karen Friedman Agnifilo, telling Judge Gregory Carro that Mangione was being used like, quote, "Political fodder."

AGNIFILO: He's a young man and he is being treated like a human ping pong ball between two waring jurisdictions here.

SCANNELL (voice-over): Saying last week's now infamous perp walk with Mangione stepping off a helicopter surrounded by heavily armed law enforcement officers and New York City Mayor Eric Adams trailing behind was inappropriate.

AGNIFILO: Frankly, Your Honor, the mayor should know more than anyone of the presumption of innocence.

SCANNELL (voice-over): Noting Adams' own legal problems over federal charges, including bribery, to which he has pleaded not guilty.

AGNIFILO: I submit that he was just trying to detract from those issues by making a spectacle of Mr. Mangione.

SCANNELL (voice-over): Agnifilo also asking for expedited discovery. But prosecutors warning that may not be so easy.

JOEL SEIDEMANN, DISTRICT ATTORNEY FOR NEW YORK COUNTY: I have never seen a case with such volume of evidence.

SCANNELL (voice-over): Saying there are thousands of hours of video tracking Mangione.

Mangione is also facing four federal charges, including murder through use of a firearm.

SEIDEMANN: As we understand that we have primary jurisdiction. And we have been informed by the U.S. Attorney that they intend on allowing us to try our case first. We will comply with our ethical obligations with respect to trying this defendant's guilt in this courtroom and this courtroom alone.

SCANNELL (voice-over): Mangione has not entered a plea yet on the federal charges. Prosecutors could decide to seek the death penalty in that case.

Members of the public filling four rows of the courtroom to watch the hearing unfold. UNKNOW: Luigi, want to say something?

SCANNELL (voice-over): While outside, protestors rallied in support of Mangione and against insurance companies like United Healthcare.

(CHANTING)

Kara Scannell, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BOLDUAN: Kara, thank you so much for that. And let's talk more about this. Joining us right now is Nick Ackerman, former Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York. It's good - thanks for coming in, Nick. Really appreciate it.

NICK ACKERMAN, FORMER ASSISTANT U.S. ATTORNEY FOR NEW YORK SOUTHERN DISTRICT: Thank you.

BOLDUAN: You heard the prosecutor there in court say he's never seen a case with such volume, in terms of the evidence. You say that based on the evidence in.