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CNN This Morning

At Least 28 Survive Christmas Plane Crash, Dozens Feared Dead; Thousands Gather at Vatican for Pope's Christmas Day Address; Weather Clears after Light Snow on East Coast, But Storms Slam the West; Lessons from the 2024 Election & Trump's Victory; Big Moments that Defined the 2024 Race. Aired 6-6:30a ET

Aired December 25, 2024 - 06:00   ET

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

[06:00:30]

KASIE HUNT, CNN ANCHOR: It's Wednesday, December 25th, Christmas day. Merry Christmas to those who celebrate. Right now, on a special edition of CNN THIS MORNING.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm hoping for secure borders. I'm hoping for economic change.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Donald Trump meant what he said. He's going to do what he said.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNT: Getting the message. The voters have spoken and will soon find out if Donald Trump and his team were listening.

Plus, making history. The president-elect's second inauguration will be unprecedented in more ways than one.

And --

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FAISON LOVE, ACTOR: Santa's coming to town.

WILL FERRELL, ACTOR: Santa! Oh, my God. I know him, I know him.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNT: Holiday blockbusters. From traditional favorites to modern classics, which Christmas movie are most Americans turning on today?

Good morning, everyone. Merry Christmas to you and yours. I'm Kasie Hunt. It's wonderful to have you with us. We're going to have all of that and more that we just ran through ahead with our panel. But first, let's get a check of this morning's headlines.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

DANNY FREEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT/ANCHOR: Thanks, Kasie. I'm Danny Freeman in New York. Merry Christmas to all of our viewers out there.

We start with breaking news out of central Asia, where we know at least two dozen people have survived a Christmas morning plane crash.

This video on your screen was taken moments after the crash as rescuers raced to help those on board.

Now the Azerbaijan Airlines plane went down near the coastal city of Aktau, Kazakhstan. CNN's Nadia Bashir joins me now from London.

Nada, what more do we know about this crash?

NADA BASHIR, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, look, Danny, the investigation is still ongoing into the details of what may have caused this crash.

According to authorities, preliminary information at this stage suggests that the pilot may have been forced to attempt an emergency landing as a result of a bird strike.

But again, we are still waiting to get more details around this crash and what may have caused it.

We have seen video emerging from eyewitnesses and those at the scene, videos just moments before the crash, in fact, showing the plane encircling the airfield quite erratically before attempting that emergency landing, but indeed crashing. And then moments after, showing the plane bursting into flames.

And there is distressing footage showing members -- passengers on board the plane emerging bloodied from the wreckage.

And remarkably, as you mentioned, there have been survivors following this crash. At least 28 people, according to authorities, including two children, are said to have survived. They have been taken to hospital now for medical attention.

There were, of course, emergency teams quickly at the scene, attempting to extinguish the fire and provide support for those survivors emerging from the wreckage.

But of course, dozens are also feared dead, and we are still waiting to hear more from authorities with regards to the status of the remaining passengers on board the plane. There were, of course, 67 believed to be on board the plane in total. So still waiting to hear more details around that.

And of course, this will be a distressing time for family members, for relatives and loved ones of those who were on board that plane. Still waiting to hear more information. And we will, of course, be tracking that as we do get more details -- Danny.

FREEMAN: And again, the video just so scary and incredible, that anyone was able to walk away from that alive.

Nada Bashir, thank you very much for that report. All right. Now let's move over to live pictures at the Vatican, where

in just minutes on this Christmas morning -- you see right there -- Pope Francis delivering his annual Christmas blessing.

Thousands have gathered as the pope celebrates his 12th Christmas as the head of the Catholic Church.

CNN Vatican correspondent Christopher Lamb joins us now.

Christopher, I'm wondering what more can we expect to see this morning?

CHRISTOPHER LAMB, CNN VATICAN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Danny, as you can see from the images, the pope is giving his Urbi et Orbi address and blessing, which means "to the city and to the world." It takes place each Christmas day.

And the pope is going to be, I expect, addressing global conflicts to make appeals for peace, as he often does during these messages. You can see the Vatican nativity scene set up in St. Peter's Square.

The pope has been quite busy this Christmas, because, of course, it's a special celebration as the pope has launched the Catholic Church's Jubilee Year, a year dedicated to forgiveness and pilgrimage.

He opened the proceedings last night by throwing open the doors of the St. Peter's Basilicas Holy Door, which is normally cemented shut.

[06:05:11]

He did that last night, Christmas Eve, during a celebration. He opened the door, and after that, pilgrims processed in. It's customary for those people visiting the basilica during a holy year to go through those doors. They did so after the pope opened them last night.

So, expect the pope to this morning be focusing on his big message to the world, which he wants to link into the Jubilee Year, which he is dedicated to hope.

He wants this year to offer concrete signs of hope, whether it's richer countries forgiving the debts of poorer countries, or for prisoners being given amnesties and pardons. The pope wants this special celebration to have an impact across the globe -- Danny.

FREEMAN: Christopher, I understand King Charles will also share his Christmas message today, but he'll break tradition, to some extent, when he does. What can you share?

LAMB: Yes, well, the king is going to be giving his Christmas message from a chapel that's connected to the hospital. Of course, the king has been battling cancer, the cancer treatment this year.

So, the king is obviously trying to send a message by deciding to give his Christmas day message from the Fitzrovia Chapel, which is linked to the healthcare -- the healthcare industry.

Christopher Lamb, thank you so much for that report. Appreciate it and merry Christmas to you.

LAMB: Merry Christmas.

FREEMAN: All right. Well, technically, it is a white Christmas for the first time in 15 years in New York City. There is still some snow on the ground from a Christmas Eve morning snowstorm.

While New Yorkers enjoyed some winter weather fun -- You see it right there -- people on the West Coast faced an unrelenting storm train.

Chad Myers has our Christmas day forecast.

Chad, merry Christmas to you.

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Merry Christmas.

FREEMAN: And let's start with the nice weather. How about that? Not the naughty. Because listen, millions finally got their white Christmas, right?

MYERS: Finally. I mean, here's a picture out of Staten Island.

Now, the problem is, it did get to 36 after this snow. So, some of it melted, and now it's 27. So, some of it refroze. Be careful with your first steps or your first couple of miles out there today.

Yes, we did have a white Christmas. That is one inch or more still on the ground Christmas morning. And although a lot of it did melt off the roadways, a lot of it stuck to those grassy areas. So, we'll take it.

This is the area that had all the snow. I mean, obviously up North into -- into Michigan, also into New York City.

This morning, though, we are seeing some severe weather possible here into parts of Southern Louisiana. Part of all the storm system, if you were -- had a bad night's sleep in Houston, that's because there was lightning and thunder for most of the night, even toward College Station yesterday.

And the snow right now is going to be in the Rockies. Pretty good. I mean, all in all, not too many people drive on Christmas day. They go short distances like, you know, across town. But all in all, pretty good travel.

We're not going to see great travel across Seattle or even toward Portland. That's where the next storm system you mentioned is, is another atmospheric river bringing significant rain and snow to the Cascades, to the Sierra. We're talking about the Sierra, and they have had so much snow this year.

If you just happened to book your Christmas vacation in Tahoe or Reno or wherever with all that snow, you're going to get more. It's not done yet. There's still more snow on the way.

Also, a little bit of snow, some new powder for Colorado. And that's the area here from the Sierra all the way down, not yet to Southern California, but we will see that precip in the Pacific Northwest -- Danny.

FREEMAN: All right, Chad. You and I, we're heading to Tahoe. Get our skiing on.

MYERS: I know. Right?

FREEMAN: I love it.

MYERS: Love it.

FREEMAN: All right. Thanks, Chad. Appreciate it. We'll talk to you soon.

All right. That's a look at your top stories on this Christmas morning. Now back to Kasie.

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HUNT: 2024 nearing the end. What a year. What an election year.

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DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT-ELECT OF THE UNITED STATES: It is now clear that we've achieved the most incredible political thing. Look what happened. Is this crazy?

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HUNT: Four years after he lost the 2020 election, after he attempted to overthrow the results of that election in ways that resulted in dozens of criminal charges after a violent mob stormed the Capitol to try to prevent the certification of his defeat, and after being injured in one of two assassination attempts against him, Donald Trump prevailed in the 2024 election, winning the Electoral College, and for the first time, the popular vote.

The former president made gains across the country in blue states, in red states, in rural areas, in cities. And in fact, my colleagues here at CNN wrote the day after the election, this: quote, "Trump made gains with nearly every demographic group compared with his 2020 loss, CNN's exit polls showed And his apparent near-mirroring of the 2016 map would indicate that he paid no political price for his lies about fraud in that election, his efforts to overturn it, or the criminal charges he has faced since then."

[06:10:09]

And that is the crux of it. Enough of the electorate decided that change was more important than any concerns over Trump's behavior. And it's why, in part, this moment from Harris was so damaging.

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Would you have done something differently than President Biden during the past four years?

KAMALA HARRIS, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: There is not a thing that comes to mind in terms of -- and I've been a part of -- of most of the decisions that have had impact.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNT: "Not a thing that comes to mind."

That was, according to CNN's exit polls, almost the exact opposite of what voters wanted to hear. Almost three-quarters of voters said they were either dissatisfied or angry with the way things were going in the United States. And as incumbents, President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris were unable to change, as they might say, the vibes.

Trump, by contrast, was able to seize on the anger and dissatisfaction by promising major radical change.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: We're going to pay you back. We're going to do the best job. We're going to -- we're going to turn it around.

Nothing will stop me from keeping my word to you, the people. We will make America safe, strong, prosperous, powerful, and free again.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNT: All right. Our Christmas day panel is here: Alex Thompson, CNN political analyst, national political reporter for Axios; Elliot Williams, CNN legal analyst, former federal prosecutor and "Star Wars" fan; Kate Bedingfield, CNN political commentator, former Biden White House communications director; and Brad Todd, CNN political commentator and Republican strategist.

Welcome to all of you. Thank you for being here.

Alex, I actually kind of want to start with you on this, as we look back at just an incredible campaign, much of which you covered as you were covering then-candidate Joe Biden.

And just -- you know, I'm interested in your reflections on the arc of it, especially for the outgoing president and his decision to -- there were so many unbelievable things that happened in the course of this campaign. But really, his decision to drop out of the race, hand it to Kamala Harris, was such an unprecedented moment for all of us.

ALEX THOMPSON, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: And his decision to run in the first place at 80 years old, I think will also be one of the more consequential decisions of this election cycle. And I think actually, when we look back, we'll probably think of -- this election was over in June and July.

The combination of that debate performance and then the assassination attempt, which you saw in the favorability ratings, Trump sort of had his highest favorability of his entire political career after that moment.

And then, you know, the Kamala Harris of it all, I think you can -- you obviously pointed out some mistakes that she made. You could say she should have gone on Joe Rogan, all these little, little tactical things.

But in the end, the Kamala Harris 107-day campaign was a Hail Mary pass. And I think they actually got closer than some Democrats expected. She only lost across three states by 250,000 votes.

Now he still won the popular vote, but she had a chance to, you know, pull the inside straight. I think that's how we'll look back on this election.

HUNT: Well, and Kate Bedingfield, I think the popular vote piece of it is one of the things that has led to a feeling that Donald Trump will enter office with a significant mandate, because it really kind of showed a -- a significant switch from 2016 where, yes, he won the Electoral College, but he lost the popular vote.

How do you think -- what message do you think Democrats took away from that piece of it? And what should they be taking into the future?

KATE BEDINGFIELD, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yes. Look, I think there's no question that the political winds are at Donald Trump's back.

I do think, as we have gotten farther and farther from the election, I think Democrats are absorbing it a little bit less as of, you know, to use Obama's words, "a shellacking" and a little bit more of a look at where voters are dissatisfied with the status quo and how Democrats can -- can think about really tacking to their concerns, particularly on the economy.

I think, you know, there -- this is not a great moment for the Democratic Party. They are in the political wilderness, but out of wilderness can arise opportunity.

And I do think there are a lot of hard conversations happening about what the direction should look like. And I think there will be, I hope, positive growth from that. When you have those hard conversations, when you take a look at what isn't working, you come to, you come to a new -- a new direction.

So, you know, I don't think that all hope is lost for the Democrats. And I think there were people on, you know, November 6th, 7th and 8th who were saying, all hope is lost for the Democrats. I don't think that that's true.

ELLIOT WILLIAMS, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: To your point about the popular vote, it was actually a relatively close election.

Now, to your point, Democrats ought to be alarmed when they're losing working-class black people in Queens and Bronx --

HUNT: Yes. WILLIAMS: -- and places that ought to be Democratic -- in Manhattan -- ought to be Democratic strongholds. Now, they still won, but lost tallies that they -- totals that they should have had.

But Donald Trump won by, I believe, it's 1.5 percent in the popular vote. By way of comparison, Reagan won '84 by 18 points. That is a shellacking. That is a national mandate.

[06:15:08]

And when it comes to the business of governing a country that is still very divided and still very close, regardless of what Congress looks like, it will just be interesting.

BEDINGFIELD: Biden also won 4.5 percent in 2020, by the way, so --

BRAD TODD, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I am all for Democrats under- reading this and just convincing themselves, you know, that this was -- this was really not as bad as it was.

I mean, the state that swung the most in the state legislature, from Democrat to Republican, was Vermont. Vermont, like the least religious, least conservative state in the country.

Democrats lost up and down the ballot. And Donald Trump took the gains that he'd made in 2016 with the white working class and extended it to working-class voters of color. That is a major, major change.

We're in the middle of a realignment, the end of the fifth political party system, as political science professors call it, is here. This is a pretty historic time.

WILLIAMS: And it's not -- and to -- to back that up, the alignment is not rich or poor, or left or right social issues. It's college versus not. It's what many would call, quote unquote, "the elites" versus everybody else. That is where American politics seems to be --

TODD: Well, and where you live. Do you live around people who are more college-educated than the rest of the country? It's not even really about your degree. It's about the kinds of people you choose to be around you.

THOMPSON: Well, I was just going to say, this is the debate about what Democrats do next. Do you under-read or do you overread? Do you, you know, sort of overcorrect?

And, you know, there are some data points that Democrats can point to. The fact is, they still won Senate races in Wisconsin and Michigan and Nevada.

But at the same time, no -- you know, Reagan did win by 18 points. But no Republican, no presidential candidate has had the headwinds, many self-inflicted, with you know, obviously, he had four different court cases going on. He obviously tried to overturn the last election.

The amount of headwinds he was facing and was able to overcome would also be a -- you know, suggest that maybe this is, you know, in some ways a more impressive victory.

BEDINGFIELD: And I think the idea that Democrats need to abandon the things that are core to their policy agenda, things like focusing on infrastructure, focusing on healthcare protections.

Now, absolutely, there needs to be a re -- a reimagining of the way Democrats communicate, the way they talk. Although to Alex's point, obviously, a number of Senate Democrats outperformed Vice President Harris.

So, when I say not all is lost, I think, you know, what is important is for Democrats to not lose sight of the fact that the backbone of the things that they have historically fought for do speak to those working-class voters. What they've got to figure out is how to better explain that.

HUNT: All right. Coming up next here on CNN THIS MORNING, Trump's second inauguration, now just a few weeks away. Doris Kearns Goodwin joins us with more on what that might look like.

Plus, the image that helped define the 2024 election. We'll talk to Michael Smerconish about his take.

And like the gifts that keep on giving, your favorite holiday movies.

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DARREN MCGAVIN, ACTOR: A lamp! Oh, wow.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

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[06:22:13]

HUNT: All right. We are joined now by great friend of the program, Michael Smerconish. He's usually with us every Friday.

And Michael, we wanted to know what you thought. Was there a moment or an image that really defined where we've been over the last year in politics and where we're going?

MICHAEL SMERCONISH, CNN HOST, "SMERCONISH": First of all, happy holidays and thank you so much. I love being your guest on Fridays. So, thank you for welcoming me so often onto your program.

HUNT: That's such a lovely gift this morning.

SMERCONISH: I do have an image.

HUNT: Thank you.

SMERCONISH: Yes. Thank you. And I dressed holiday-ish. My turtleneck look --

HUNT: You look great. SMERCONISH: -- that's holiday-ish, as far as I go.

HUNT: I was trying to. Go ahead. Tell us.

SMERCONISH: So, I do have an image in my head, and it's not the one you might be thinking of.

Kasie, let me approach it this way. You know what it's like to grow up in the Philly burbs, and you go to the Jersey Shore for hopefully a week of vacation. Or, as we put it, "down the shore."

And each one of those Jersey Shore towns has a distinct personality.

Wildwood, New Jersey, is a working-class shore town. When Donald Trump went to Wildwood, New Jersey, last spring and drew 80 to 100,000 people in a boardwalk appearance. And there's this image of Trump, and he's in front of a Ferris wheel, and he's walking out on stage. And it's a little carnival barker-ish, because that's Wildwoods boardwalk.

But that was stunning to me, because here was a billionaire attracting tens of thousands. We always argue about how many people were there. There were a hell of a lot of people there that day.

And Trump comes out, and he tells a story about how Frank Sinatra said, you never eat before you perform. But I just -- I just ate an enormous hot dog. And the crowd roared in its approval.

And I thought to myself that he could attract so many people in a state he's never going to win, no matter what he says. He's not competitive in New Jersey.

But to go to Wildwood, New Jersey and put on a show and attract the number of people that he did, that struck a chord with me. That was a moment where I said, this populist appeal by a Republican is really something to behold, especially after he's been twice impeached and four times indicted. And the conviction and so forth.

That was a moment. That was a moment where I said, you just can't count him out.

HUNT: Well, and you know, Michael, it's so interesting that you mention this, because while yes, he didn't have a chance of winning New Jersey, I was on the air overnight on CNN, on election -- election day into Wednesday morning through to 9 a.m.

It took us at CNN until about 4 in the morning to call the state of New Jersey. I mean, that would have been normally a call that would have been made right at the close.

I mean, it's interesting that you pointed that -- you felt that at the time, but some of what you saw there was borne out by what happened.

[06:25:11]

SMERCONISH: Yes, I think that's true. And -- and maybe, you know, the fact that he was able to throw the Harris campaign off-guard and make them compete, make them defend. That's a better way of describing it. Make them defend in places that should have been in the bag was -- was also very telling.

I mean, I -- I never ruled out that he could win the election. I did not see coming that he could win the popular vote.

HUNT: Yes. Agreed. That was something that, you know, stood out -- stood out to me, as well.

And Michael, I do want to ask you, because I will say, I think the one image that stands out in my mind from the campaign was the image of what happened in Butler, Pennsylvania.

This was where Trump's putting his fist in the air. He's yelling, "Fight!" This is right after that would-be assassin's bullet hit him in the ear. You can see the blood on his face.

And obviously, a very difficult moment for the country to be, you know, facing political violence, but also really an example of how Donald Trump reacts to the camera and steps onto the stage, that even in a moment where there is violence directed toward him, his instinct was to do this, was to interact with the crowd.

What does that say about him and about why he won the election?

SMERCONISH: Can I just say that, as you're walking us through this recollection, it -- for me, it was one of those I know exactly where I was and what I was doing. I was at the breakfast counter in my kitchen at home, and I was watching that rally in real time.

And there was one other person in the house. It was our youngest son, and I remember -- I saw what was happening and immediately appreciated, this is an assassination attempt and shouted up the stairs and said, you've, you've got to come watch this.

And the way in which, to your point, Trump controlled the moment and rose up and, you know, and wanted to put his fist in the air and so forth, and had the -- the presence of mind. Who knows how any of us would react in such a terrifying encounter. I don't think I'd have the presence of mind to take control of it and make sure that the image that I'm projecting from it is one of strength. But that was a seminal moment.

HUNT: All right. Michael Smerconish, I always enjoy our Friday conversations. I'm so grateful you take time out --

SMERCONISH: Thank you. Me, too.

HUNT: -- of your very busy day to be with us every Friday. And of course, viewers can tune in --

SMERCONISH: Thank you.

HUNT: -- this weekend. "SMERCONISH," it's Saturdays at 9 a.m. Eastern right here on CNN. All right. Ahead on CNN THIS MORNING, Donald Trump will become just

the second president in U.S. history to be inaugurated for nonconsecutive terms in the White House. Doris Kearns Goodwin joins us next.

And what do most people do with holiday gifts they don't want? The answer could surprise you.

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