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CNN This Morning

At Least 29 Survive Christmas Plane Crash, But Dozens Feared Dead; Pope Francis Delivers Annual Christmas Day Address; Washington Readies For Trump Inauguration. Aired 8:30-9a ET

Aired December 25, 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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[08:30:46]

DANNY FREEMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back on this Christmas morning. I'm Danny Freeman in New York with your top stories.

We're following breaking news this morning. At least 29 people survived a Christmas day plane crash near Aktau, Kazakhstan, but dozens more are feared dead. We want to warn you, some of this video may be disturbing.

Now, this was taken moments after the plane crash as rescuers scrambled to pull people out of the burned wreckage. Drone footage shows the scope of the devastation on the ground. Now, it's not known for sure yet what caused the crash, but there are preliminary reports. The plane tried to make an emergency landing after a bird strike.

And this Christmas morning, Pope Francis is urgently calling for peace and the end of the wars in Gaza and Ukraine. The pope delivered his 12th annual Christmas blessing from the balcony of Saint Peters Basilica. Thousands were in the crowd. You can see right there, as the pope prayed that leaders would negotiate peace in war-torn Ukraine and the Middle East.

Now, this Christmas is a special one for the Catholic Church because it marks the start of its jubilee, which happens every 25 years.

Meanwhile, the British royal family is also getting in the Christmas spirit today after a year of health challenges for King Charles and Princess Catherine. They, along with Queen Camilla, Prince William and other royal relatives, attended their traditional Christmas service in Sandringham. Charles and Catherine both underwent cancer treatments this year. The king will break tradition later today when he delivers his annual Christmas message from a chapel at a former hospital, instead of from the traditional setting of Buckingham Palace or Windsor Castle.

And this now, happy holidays and merry Christmas from space. Four NASA astronauts on board the international space station recorded a video message to send back to earth. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) SUNI WILLIAMS, NASA ASTRONAUT: It's a great time of year up here. We get to spend it with all of our family up on the International Space Station. There are seven of us up here, and so we're going to get to enjoy company together from all of us to all of you, merry Christmas.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FREEMAN: Just incredible. And again, can't get over that floating candy cane there. Two of those astronauts, Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore, were not supposed to spend Christmas in space. They were stranded by issues with their space capsule back in June. They're expected to return to Earth no earlier than February.

All right. That's a look at your headlines. Now, back to Kasie.

KASIE HUNT, CNN ANCHOR: Just as soon as the White House wraps up its Christmas celebrations, they'll start preparing for the next big event in Washington, President Donald Trump's inauguration in just under a month. Perhaps he'll strike a hopeful tone as some presidents have.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RONALD REAGAN, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT: We shall reflect the compassion that is so much a part of your makeup. How can we love our country and not love our countrymen? And loving them, reach out a hand when they fall.

BILL CLINTON, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT: My fellow Americans, as we stand at the edge of the 21st century, let us begin anew with energy and hope, with faith and discipline.

BARACK OBAMA, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT: On this day, we gather, because we have chosen hope over fear, unity of purpose, over conflict and discord.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNT: Or will Trump's second inaugural speech carry a similarly dark tone as his first one did?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT-ELECT OF THE UNITED STATES: Mothers and children trapped in poverty in our inner cities rusted out factories scattered like tombstones across the landscape of our nation. And the crime and the gangs and the drugs that have stolen too many lives and robbed our country of so much unrealized potential. This American carnage stops right here and stops right now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNT: All right. Joining us now, presidential historian Doris Kearns Goodwin. She is also the author of "An Unfinished Love Story: A Personal History of the 1960s".

Doris, it's so wonderful to have you on the program on this Christmas Day.

DORIS KEARNS GOODWIN, PRESIDENTIAL HISTORIAN: I'm glad to be with you on this very day.

HUNT: So let's start with what you expect perhaps to see from Donald Trump's second inaugural address.

This, of course, is a rare time in American history where you've got nonconsecutive inaugural addresses.

KEARNS GOODWIN: Yes, exactly. And that may be what he's going to be able to learn from that first inaugural address. It was the most unusual one, perhaps in history, because normally you break with the grievances of the campaign, you break with looking at your base, and you're really trying to reach out to the nation as a whole. And they've almost always been hopeful, even in the hardest of times.

So maybe looking back at the fact that that did not get a good reception, he's got a chance because he's one of those two presidents, Cleveland and he, who are the only ones who came back after a loss to reflect on that and give a different kind of address that that will reach out to the country as a whole.

He had said in something a couple of weeks ago he wanted to be a president of all the people. So let us hope that the inaugural address will reflect that different kind of tone, which we just heard from these other characters.

HUNT: Well, and speaking of, you know, difficult or at least turbulent at times, let's play a little bit of that. Perhaps one of the most famous of these, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, talking about fear itself.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FRANKLIN DELANO ROOSEVELT, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT: Let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNT: I know you've thought a lot about this. I mean, where do you think that stands in the pantheon of history and matters today?

KEARNS GOODWIN: I think it's probably the most important inaugural address we had, because when he came in, people said to him right before he was about to speak, you know, if your program works when you get into office, you'll be one of the great presidents. If it fails, you'll be one of the worst. He said, no, I will be the last American president. That's how perilous democracy was.

And he comes in and he starts off saying, only a foolish optimist would deny the brutal realities of the moment. The country was in the worst stage of the Depression, one out of four, out of work, starving people wandering the streets, the political system, the financial system had collapsed. And he comes in and he says, not only the only thing we have to fear is fear itself. But he said, I'm going to put you to action. This is not your fault,

people. It was the fault of leadership. And I'm here to provide that leadership.

I have a program I'm going to send to Congress. If they don't act on it, I will act as if we were at war. I will get you to work.

Incredibly, Kasie, by the end of that speech, the mood of the country had changed. Headlines read, we have a leader. We have a government. The government still lives, and hundreds of thousands of telegrams and letters came into the White House.

My favorite one said, a man said, my roof fell off. I've lost my job. My wife is mad at me and our dog ran away. But now everything's all right. You are there.

The mood changed overnight. It's incredible. That's the mystery of leadership.

HUNT: It really is. And you know, speaking of FDR and his leadership, and celebrating, of course, the holidays, I actually was able to tour the holiday decorations at the White House this year with my family. It was a real privilege.

And one of the rooms on the tour actually, is the room where FDR held those fireside chats. And I know when you're thinking about observing holidays at the White House, it also kind of goes back to FDR and even to Winston Churchill, that whole era. Let's listen to a little bit of both of them. Watch.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

ROOSEVELT: How can we pause even for a day, even for Christmas Day, in our urgent labor of arming a decent humanity against the enemies which beset it?

WINSTON CHURCHILL, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: Let the children have their night of fun and laughter. Let the gifts of Father Christmas delight their play.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

HUNT: Just what remarkable comments at such an incredibly important point in our history, of those two leaders saying, yes, we may be at war, but let us mark -- let the children mark this time.

KEARNS GOODWIN: Yes, you're so right. I mean, just think of it. This is only a couple of weeks after Pearl Harbor. There's blackouts all through Washington.

The Secret Service told Roosevelt unconditionally he should not light the Christmas tree, that it would be a danger because the bombers could see it. He insisted that we have to do it. So when the tree was lit up and finally the air was -- people started singing. And then both Roosevelt and Churchill spoke. And what Churchill said after he said, let the children have their

night of fun, is that then tomorrow we adults, we will go about the problem of solving this formidable problem, of making sure that we give them the inheritance of a free and decent world.

So it was really an emotionally charged moment, and it got both the hope of the future and the recognition of we are in a war at that moment in time.

[08:40:05]

But Christmas still held. The lights were there. And the extraordinary thing is the lights then, that was the last time they had the electric lights. After that it was too scary. They just had brightly colored ornaments.

So finally in 1945, Truman comes and puts the lights back on. And when he puts the button and they go on, he says something about, this is what the war weary world has been waiting for in these long and awful years.

So that's the capstone of Pearl Harbor and the 1945, the Allies won that war, thank God.

HUNT: Wow. I had I had no idea that Truman did that. And the symbolism of the Christmas tree lights. It's really fascinating.

And, Doris, you know, I just have to ask you kind of big picture here as we wrap up and as everyone is, you know, gathering at home for the holidays, we've just been through such a historic year, a historic campaign. How do you -- how are you already thinking about the year that was, the campaign that was, the return of Donald Trump to the White House after the history-making events of January 6th, 2021? And what it all means and where it will stand when the history books are written?

KEARNS GOODWIN: Oh, I mean, I wish I were around 30 years from now to look at this year. It will be one that will form a large chapter, I think, in our history books.

Think not only of the comeback, I think not only of the campaign. Think of the two assassination attempts, and here we are. And this is the one thing the inauguration promises. A new year is coming. There's a chance to set a new tone.

You know, when Jefferson won after a hugely vitriolic campaign against Adams, and he came into the office and he said, we are all federalists, we are all Republicans. We have to find the common good.

I'm hoping that this 1940, 1945, now, this 2024 can be turned into a different year in 2025, and that the vitriol and the anger and the grievances and the fact that the country feels so divided and so polarized can begin slowly, slowly, slowly to come back to some common ground.

That's what inaugurations are. There are moments of hope. And then they're followed, of course, by the 100 days. And it depends on what happens. But at least at this moment, we can imagine that things can have a better tone next year than they've had in this last year.

We have to hope. We have to hope.

HUNT: Optimistic view, Doris.

KEARNS GOODWIN: Contagious optimism.

HUNT: But I appreciate that. You know, the Christmas spirit, shall we say.

Doris Kearns Goodwin, so grateful to have you.

KEARNS GOODWIN: Absolutely.

HUNT: Thank you very much.

KEARNS GOODWIN: Thank you.

HUNT: And you can get a copy of an unfinished love, a personal history of the 1960s, on sale now. If you didn't give it to your loved ones for Christmas, you know, maybe, maybe rectify that tomorrow.

All right. Just ahead here on CNN THIS MORNING, Harry Enten is here. He's been making some lists, checking them twice. Christmas movies and more, up next.

Hi, Harry.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED GIRL: Santa?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Scott Calvin.

UNIDENTIFIED GIRL: How come your clothes are so baggy?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Because Santa is watching his saturated fats.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

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[08:47:08]

HUNT: So there are so many difficult decisions we have to make for the holidays. For example, what are the best cookies, perhaps that you might bake? What is the best Christmas movie to watch and what to do with the gifts that you receive that you don't really like that much?

CNN senior data reporter Harry Enten is here to crunch all of the holiday numbers.

Harry, wonderful to see you.

Let's start with picking a Christmas tree. Do Americans, on the whole prefer real or fake?

I have to say I am an aggressive partisan on this subject, which is to say, it must be a real tree. It must be cut down. But I may I may be in the minority, I don't know. Tell us.

HARRY ENTEN, CNN SENIOR DATA REPORTER: Yeah, I was shocked by this one. Sometimes I get shocked by numbers in politics, but sometimes in pop culture and holidays, I get even more shocked.

I mean, look at this. Have a Christmas tree, the vast, the clear majority, the clear majority, look at this, 55 percent say yes, but it's artificial. It's artificial.

The girlfriend's family has always had an artificial tree. The mini tree in our house is artificial. Just 22 percent say yes and real. And then there's the 20 --

HUNT: I'm really in the minority.

ENTEN: You're really in the minority. Although I guess you're tied with no tree at 22 percent as well.

But it's artificial. People don't like going out there and buying that, throwing it out. It's just such a pain in the butt. And I know it's a pain in the butt, especially in New York City.

So artificial is the one. You could trot it out year after year, and it just makes much less of a mess.

HUNT: It does make less of a mess. I will, I will say it is actually a pain to bring it in, but I -- I'm very attached.

All right. So gifts harry. Apparently there's lots of people who, you know, get things that they -- they don't really appreciate. What do they do with them?

ENTEN: Yeah. I am not one of them. I love all of the gifts that the girlfriend gets for me. I want to be very, very clear on this. And I'm sure you love all of the gifts that you do as well.

But I mean, the bottom line is this holiday gifts don't like. Get this, 49 percent say they keep them. Oh my God. I mean, I know we want to make the people around us happy, but we can be honest with each other, right? Apparently not. You get 31 percent who say return. And I think that's the right answer.

And then get this, 16 percent say they regift it. They give it away to somebody else. Oh, yeah. Here's your secondary gift. Here you go.

No, no, no, no, no, return is right. But I guess about half of us feel like we have to keep everyone around us happy.

HUNT: Is this a bad time to admit I have a regifting closet in my basement now. This is the right time. I collect all you know things that come in the house that I don't have an immediate use for. It's actually great for, you know, don't tell, don't tell my kids that sometimes I intercept extra gifts for them. And then I have great birthday presents.

Anyway. All right, so next up, Christmas movies. What are the favorites?

ENTEN: Yeah. What are the favorites here? I will say that my favorite is not in the top three. So number one, "It's a Wonderful Life", 9 percent. Obviously, that's a classic.

HUNT: Love it. It's a classic.

ENTEN: It's a classic, right.

"How the Grinch Stole Christmas", I actually remember seeing that in movies.

[08:50:01]

That comes in at 7 percent in second. And then of course, "A Christmas Story" comes in at third, tied basically with "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" at 7 percent.

I mean, as a kid, you couldn't avoid this, right? It was on PBS every freaking minute. I bet it's on PBS right at this exact moment.

So, look, these are the top three. But my number one, "Die Hard". Unfortunately, it is a Christmas movie. It came in though at --

HUNT: I was going to say, that's the survey I want to see. What -- what percentage of Americans think "Die Hard" is a Christmas movie.

All right, next one. Harry, you've got cookies. America's favorite cookie. What is it?

ENTEN: Yeah. All right, so what is America's cookie when it comes to the holiday season?

I mean, how -- I don't understand this. I mean, you know, where's ginger on here?

What is going on? What is going on? But chocolate chip is number one.

HUNT: Fudge is not a cookie Harry. Why did you put fudge on the list? It's not a cookie.

ENTEN: A fudge cook -- I mean, a fudge cookie. It's a fudge cookie. But, you know, you want to make it clear what's going on here. It's a fudge cookie. I want a visual to sort of represent, but it's a fudge cookie. You've had a fudge cookie before.

Two is --

HUNT: No, but --

ENTEN: You've never had a fudge cookie. They're so fantastic.

HUNT: So -- ENTEN: They combine two great desserts, fudge and a cookie. There you

go. A fudge cookie.

Two is sugar. I like I like a good sugar cookie. Three is the fudge cookie. I love chocolate, so a fudge cookie kind of brings it all around. Chocolate chip.

HUNT: Why don't you just eat fudge though? I don't understand.

ENTEN: Because some -- because sometimes you got to make compromises in life when you're in a relationship, Kasie.

HUNT: That's fair. Fair enough.

All right. And lastly, Harry, this Hanukkah actually starts tonight as well. Pretty rare for Christmas and Hanukkah to line up like this. No?

ENTEN: Yeah. If you've ever watched me on air, you might notice that I say shalom a lot. So this is rather important to me. Its Chrismukkah time, baby. Hanukkah first -- first night on Christmas. It only happens 4 percent of the time, 96 percent of the time since 1900. It doesn't.

So this is a great melding of two American traditions right here Christmas, Hanukkah, big shopping season. So I like it 4 percent of the time.

And one little last nugget to go -- to go out on its bottom line. This there are in fact 16 different ways to spell Hanukkah. So no matter what way you spell it, Kasie, you end up being correct.

HUNT: This is why we love you, Harry Enten. Merry Christmas, happy Hanukkah. Thank you for that.

ENTEN: To you as well.

HUNT: You're a gem. See you in the New Year.

ENTEN: See you.

HUNT: All right. Okay. Our panel is back.

You know, lots to chew on there, but let's go with your favorite Christmas movie. Brad, I think we have a clip from yours. Let's watch it.

(MOVIE CLIP PLAYS)

HUNT: Okay, brad, you're going to have to explain this. What is this?

TODD: It's a Patricia Neal movie from the early '70s. It's called "The Homecoming". It's about an Appalachian family during the Depression. And I grew up in east Tennessee, in rural east Tennessee, in a very large rural family.

And this rang true to me as a kid. And so I have continued to watch it. Now I have to watch it alone. No one in my family will watch it with me. My kids think it's the weirdest thing ever, so I've got the award for the most boring Christmas movie, but it's mine.

HUNT: It is a deep cut, but you know, I love the explanation.

All right, let's roll Kate's, please.

(MOVIE CLIP PLAYS)

HUNT: This one is self-explanatory.

BEDINGFIELD: I mean, I just the moment in the end where the dad gives him the BB gun, it just. It is so sweet and kind, and I just love it. And like everyone, my family, we watched it every year, and I probably.

HUNT: Is it bad to admit I've never seen it?

BEDINGFIELD: You have never seen it?

HUNT: I'm going to have to watch it.

BEDINGFIELD: You don't get it when people say fragile? What do you think people are doing when they say that?

HUNT: I've never understood it. Now I do. Thank you.

All right. Elliot, let's see it.

(MOVIE CLIP PLAYS)

HUNT: All right. I've never heard this one either, but that was pretty good.

ELLIOT WILLIAMS, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: So that's Emma --

THOMPSON: Dropping the mic.

WILLIAMS: I'm dropping the sharpie. "Emmet Otters Jug-Band Christmas" is this sleeper hit that people who like "Emmet Otters Jug-Band Christmas" really like Emmet Otters Jug-Band Christmas. And it's sort of -- it's a Muppets film. It's Jim Henson.

And the powerful thing about the movie is its Emmet and his mother make huge sacrifices for each other. No spoilers, I won't tell you. And it's all about the holiday season.

And the songs are bangers like that. That song there, barbecue, it slaps all of them.

HUNT: Yeah, I've seen it. I'll have to check it out.

WILLIAMS: You trust me.

HUNT: And Alex here apparently shares this. It's a -- it's a real, like, sliced up little electorate there on Christmas movies. But many people many people love this one.

Watch.

(MOVIE CLIP PLAYS)

HUNT: Every time a bell rings, an angel gets its wings, Alex.

THOMPSON: I mean, the very -- I'm a man of the people. So I pick number one.

But, you know, every single time that at the very end, when his brother comes in and cheers to George, the richest man in town, I only literally cried at two movies. And I do cry to that movie.

HUNT: It's -- I mean, it's worth crying over it now.

So I'm going to take the anchor's point of personal privilege and give you two favorite Christmas movies.

[08:55:01]

One is from my childhood, "White Christmas". Let's watch it.

(MOVIE CLIP PLAYS)

HUNT: I mean, what is not to love about this movie? And, of course, the Bing Crosby classic that came from it.

But then I have to say, the modern -- sorry, mom -- version of me loves this movie. That was not a huge hit in the very beginning, but this is Nancy Meyers' "The Holiday".

(MOVIE CLIP PLAYS)

HUNT: I mean, Kate, it's a classic.

BEDINGFIELD: A hundred percent. I'm with you. We are -- we are right on the same page on this one.

HUNT: I made my husband watch it with me this year. He doesn't usually. Usually, I have to watch it by myself.

THOMPSON: Did he like it?

HUNT: Yeah, he likes it.

THOMPSON: Yeah, I was skeptical, but I actually think it's pretty great.

HUNT: It's aged really well. Kate Winslet, Jack Black are amazing. Jude Law is really good. Cameron Diaz, of course, with some funny moments. Anyway.

(CROSSTALK)

HUNT: What's that? TODD: You're going to be watching it by yourself one day.

BEDINGFIELD: You're going to be like --

HUNT: I have done that a couple of years already.

BEDINGFIELD: Like, this is a Jude Law movie from the mid-2000s.

HUNT: Exactly.

All right. Thanks to our panel.

Thanks to all of you at home for joining us. Merry Christmas. Happy Holidays. I'm Kasie hunt. Have a wonderful rest of your day.