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CNN This Morning

At Least 177 Killed In South Korea Plane Crash, 181 On Board; 2 Dead After Tornadoes Slam Texas, Mississippi; Severe Thunderstorms, Heavy Rain Expected As Storm Pushes East; South Korea's Acting President Declares Week Of Mourning; Musk Stokes MAGA War Over Foreign Worker Visas; Israel Prime Minister Netanyahu Undergoes Prostate Removal Surgery. Gaza's Last Hospital Closes; Schools Advises International Student to Return; 179 Killed in South Korea Plane Crash. Aired 7-8a ET

Aired December 29, 2024 - 07:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:00:18]

AMARA WALKER, CNN HOST: Good morning and welcome to our viewers in the United States and around the world. I'm Amara Walker in Atlanta. Victor Blackwell has the morning off.

We begin with breaking news. At least 177 people have been killed when a South Korean plane crashed at an airport. 181 people were on board. Two crew members were pulled alive from the wreckage, from the tail of the plane, and rescuers say the rest of the passengers and crew are presumed dead.

Now, video into CNN shows the plane dragging on the runway, careening on the runway, on its belly, with no landing gear before bursting into flames. Local fire officials and aviation experts say some sort of landing gear malfunction was likely. The pilot also made a mayday call shortly after the control tower warned about birds in the area.

According to FlightAware, the Jeju airliner was listed as a Boeing 737-800 traveling from Bangkok, Thailand, before it crash-landed at the Muan airport in the southwest of South Korea. It is the country's worst air disaster in decades.

CNN's Mike Valerio is joining us now from Seoul with the latest. Mike, from the live pictures that we have been seeing, emergency personnel are still on the scene. What's happening there? What's the latest?

MIKE VALERIO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, they're looking, Amara, for the two sets of human remains that are still unaccounted for. That is the hope that they can recover those remains for the family members who are gathered and are wailing in the main arrival halls of this airport that's about three and a half hours south of where we're standing in Seoul, South Korea. So you can see from the live pictures there, the floodlit setting as emergency crews are now working more than 12 hours on the scene trying to do this for the sake of the families who just want answers and want to know if their loved ones can be recovered.

Also breaking within the past couple minutes, Amara, we now have a national period of mourning throughout South Korea that's going to be lasting from this moment through Saturday. So that takes us through New Year's Day, New Year's Eve, celebrations in question perhaps being put on hold or even canceled as South Korea, you know, finds itself with a new pall that has been thrown over the country after December 3rd and December 4th when the country was put through a few hours of martial law, the political crisis that has unfolded, and now this.

So if you're just waking up and joining us, we're going to take you through what exactly we understand has happened. And the central question, as you alluded to, Amara, is simply what happened with the landing gear of this aircraft, those heart-stopping, certainly breathtaking scenes of the aircraft careening down the runway with its belly scraping the tarmac without its landing gear deployed is certainly the central element that investigators are looking at right now.

But in terms of what was going on, we have a plane that was headed to South Korea from Bangkok, Thailand, left just after 2l00 a.m. local time, was bound for here in South Korea the 9:00 a.m. hour. Just before 9:00 a.m., the control tower of this airport sends a message to the plane and says, paraphrasing here, Amara, hey, there are birds in the area. There's a danger of bird strikes.

Two minutes later, that's when the mayday message goes out. And just roughly four minutes or so later, that's when the plane crashes. Now, there have been several members of the emergency response teams that have been working on this crash mentioning the possibility of a bird strike leading to a chain reaction that caused this cataclysmic crash.

Potentially, potentially, it has been certainly unusual that we have people from certain ministries or even the fire department handling this case and this disaster mentioning that a bird strike so early on in the investigation could have possibly created this chain reaction.

But we do remarkably have two survivors, a man and a woman who were part of the flight crew, sitting as far back in the airplane as you possibly can in the wing section. They're both being treated at hospitals, one of whom is already here in Seoul.

Video that's coming into CNN, we're going to put it on the air shortly, shows the man on a stretcher. The woman crew member is on her way here to a level one trauma center in Seoul. So simply remarkable that they survived.

And hopefully with the voice and data recorder that comprise the black box, those two survivors can shed light on just what happened here, Amara.

WALKER: Absolutely right that it's remarkable. We're talking about two survivors out of the 181 --

VALERIO: Yes.

WALKER: -- who were on board this plane, where the rest are presumed dead.

Mike Valerio, we will continue to follow this story with you. Thank you very much. Live for us there in Seoul.

[07:05:09]

Well, video of the crash shows the plane skidding on its belly, as Mike was mentioning, before hitting what looks like a wall and then bursting into flames. I spoke with CNN Safety Correspondent Analyst David Soucie last hour, who expressed his own questions into the layout of the airport that the plane crashed into.

(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)

DAVID SOUCIE, CNN SAFETY ANALYST: Airports are supposed to be designed where an aircraft can land without landing gear. And if it veers off the runway to one side or the other into the grass, that there isn't obstructions and barriers of this type that are close to the runway.

In this case, I haven't quite been able to determine yet, but there's no answer as to why that lighting facility, which is a large piece of concrete equipment, is located exactly where it is. No reason in my mind for it to be there.

So that would be my next question is, is the airport -- does the airport meet the standard design criterion for an international airport? So those things will be looked at very closely by the investigators.

(END VIDEOCLIP)

WALKER: All right, let's turn now to the weather this morning. And a severe weather system is on the move after spawning deadly tornadoes that slammed Texas and Mississippi. At least two people are dead, a high schooler in Mississippi and another person in Texas.

More than 220,000 people are without power this morning, most of them in Georgia and Mississippi. Emergency crews are still climbing and sifting through the rubble, assessing the damage. Typically, tornadoes are less common in December. But this year, we are seeing above average numbers.

One woman in Texas watched as the storms swept through, flattening her shed out back and destroying homes in her neighborhood. She says she's lucky that she survived as she scrambled into her hallway for cover.

Katt Lomison is a resident and owns a construction business in Porter, Texas. She's joining us now on the phone. Katt, first of all, I'm happy to hear that you're doing OK. Update us on how you are doing, your roommate and your pets.

KATT LOMISON, PORTLAND, TEXAS RESIDENT: Yes, ma'am, we're all doing great.

WALKER: Can you tell me where you were when you realized that the storm was hitting and how you ended up in the hallway and what happened -- what you heard and saw while you were there?

LOMISON: I was watching the news in the little square where the tornado was, was fixing to be over Porter Heights, and the newscaster said if there's not a tornado in Porter Heights already to be expecting one. So I went to the back door and then that's when I seen it come down and it started rotating right in the backyard with rain and wind and it flattened my shed and I came down, came in and got my dogs and went in the hallway and told my roommate there's a tornado.

And he said, I'm good. And then he said the window just broke. So we went into the hallway. We heard some banging in the other room and a tree come down. So we waited about a minute and then went outside. And then the whole neighborhood was just trees down everywhere. This one home was completely gone down the street.

The neighbors, their garage is gone, their roof is off. And it just caused havoc and destruction from there all the way down 13th, 14th -- over 13th, 14th and down the New Caney and Splendora.

WALKER: So Katt, you saw your shed basically get flattened when this tornado hit and then your house was also damaged. How much of your home is left?

LOMISON: Oh, I really got blessed. Mine, everything is still here. It's the neighbors down the street that are in trouble, you know, because the neighbor was actually in there and he was hit by a door. And when I went outside about five minutes later, the ambulance was trying to come through.

The fire department were cutting the trees down the road that were blocking the road so they could get there to him and get inside because he was trapped and get him out and get him off to the hospital.

WALKER: What was it like for you as you stood in that hallway with your cat and your roommate as this tornado hit?

LOMISON: Well, I had three dogs, and it was just so quick that you really couldn't even tell. But I watch that tornado channel a lot, so I knew that I was actually inside the tornado because of watching that program because it's not like whenever you just look up and you see one in the sky. When you're in it, it's completely different.

So it was really kind of scary, but it was also kind of like not really real.

WALKER: Have you spoken with your neighbors?

LOMISON: Yes, ma'am. We were all up and down the street yesterday. It was real nice. Everybody was coming together and coming outside with their chainsaws and everything. You know, a nice little community effort to help all the neighbors with each other. WALKER: Well --

LOMISON: And the Red Cross showed up fairly quickly too.

[07:10:06]

WALKER: Well, it's obviously going to be a tough recovery ahead for you. We do wish you the best.

Katt Lomison, thank you so much for your time. And I'm really glad to hear that you --

LOMISON: Thank you.

WALKER: -- and your roommate are doing OK and your dogs. Thank you.

LOMISON: Thank you. Thank you very much. You all have a blessed day.

WALKER: You as well.

Well, the storm system is still on the move. CNN Meteorologist Elisa Raffa is tracking its path. I mean, it's really harrowing to hear about this woman, Katt's experience, as she saw this tornado touchdown. Are there any risk areas still, and will there be any relief soon?

ELISA RAFFA, CNN METEOROLOGIST: We're still dealing with tornado watches as this same line of storms continues to charge eastward. After today, things will calm down, but we're still not done yet. We have a stretch of tornado watches from Charlotte down through Savannah, including Charleston, Columbia, South Carolina, all of this until 1:00 this afternoon as this line continues to move east.

The tornado watch has stretched down to the panhandle this morning, where we still have some severe thunderstorms. This line, again, has just been intense with damaging winds. Looks like we have a tornado warning right there in upstate South Carolina, just to the west there of Greenville.

We've got this line of severe thunderstorm warnings stretching from Greenville, South Carolina, all the way down to Augusta. This entire line has a push of 60-mile-per-hour damaging winds. That's what we're most concerned about, and we can find embedded tornadoes along this line.

Another push of damaging winds from Panama City. When you have this line of storms kind of bending like that, that's when you really could see some wind damage out of this, something that we'll need to continue to watch. Now, this is coming after we've got more than 160 reports of severe damage yesterday, including more than -- about 35 tornado reports across.

You can see much of the south here. That threat, again, shifting east as we go through the day today. Now, it's not quite as intense as it was yesterday. We're looking at a level 2 out of 5. But as we're seeing this morning, we're looking at that line packing damaging winds and embedded isolated tornadoes as we go through the afternoon.

So it continues to charge eastward through the Carolinas through midday and into the afternoon, making it towards Raleigh later on this afternoon. Finally exits offshore. The parent storm to the north will start to swirl, bringing some rain, possibly even some snow showers to the Great Lakes.

That will get you about an inch or two of rain as we go up and down the east coast, making things pretty soggy, also have some fog that has been keeping visibility pretty low. So as far as your travel goes, obviously some problems in the south. Atlanta, Raleigh could have some of these delays.

We are also looking at the possibility of delays because of rain and some fog up in, you know, New York, Boston, Kansas City has had some of that fog this morning. And we still have problems in the Pacific Northwest. Rain, snow, gusty winds has been nonstop at that atmospheric river.

So travel problems there today, travel problems up and down the east coast as we go through the afternoon as well. Then that storm that's currently in the Pacific Northwest tries to work its way across the country as we go through the rest of the week. There could be some showers because of that in New York City at midnight on New Year's. Amara?

WALKER: All right, Elisa Raffa, thank you.

And still ahead, we will continue to follow the breaking news out of South Korea where a plane crashed at Muan International Airport in the southwest of South Korea.

Also, trouble in paradise for Trump and his MAGA base. The president- elect defends foreign worker visas, siding with Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, igniting backlash from his most loyal supporters.

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[07:17:56]

WALKER: This just in to CNN, South Korea's acting president just declared a week of mourning after at least 177 people died when a passenger jet crash landed at an airport in the southwestern part of the country.

This video shows the moment the plane touches down, skidding down the runway on the belly of the plane before hitting navigation equipment on the runway and then crashing into a wall and bursting into flames. Officials are reporting the youngest victim of the crash was a three- year-old child and the oldest was a 78-year-old.

Two crew members survived, they were rescued, and two people remain unaccounted for but are presumed to be dead. We, of course, will continue to follow this breaking news story and bring you any updates as we get them in. To politics now, and a new Republican-led Congress will be on Capitol Hill Friday, eager to take on President-elect Trump's ambitious new agenda. But Republicans will first have to agree on a few key issues. One of them is the feud that is brewing between Elon Musk, Vivek Ramaswamy, and the MAGA faithful over immigrant work visas for highly skilled workers.

Musk, who once held an H-1B visa, and Ramaswamy, they've come out in favor of expanding the program. But that is flying in the face of Trump's fiercest defenders who are promised a crackdown on immigration.

Joining me now, Washington Bureau Chief for the Chicago Sun-Times, Lynn Sweet. Lynn, it's good to see you this morning. Let's start with this feud. I mean, it started out as this online debate that erupted over Christmas, you know, over these foreign workers immigrating to the U.S.

You had Elon Musk and Ramaswamy on one side and MAGA loyalists on the other who, you know, do not support this kind of immigration. That's a key issue that Trump was elected on. And now you have President-elect Trump weighing in for the first time, siding with these tech billionaires, defending foreign workers. What's going on here?

LYNN SWEET, WASHINGTON BUREAU CHIEF, CHICAGO SUN-TIMES: Well, good morning. What we're seeing here is a civil war being triggered by the unelected advisers to President Trump. So let's just see where this goes.

[07:20:08]

Immigration is the most important issue to the MAGA base, and now the doji (ph), the, you know, these appointed Musk and Ramaswamy to reform government, have waded into an area of making policy. So not only is this a fight Trump did not need, it is needlessly dividing the base.

And on that point you made of Trump defending what Musk is doing and saying he will fight to the death to expand or keep H-B visas, so while it's true that it seems that Trump is backing him, the reason he's giving is incorrect.

Trump has said that I have many H-1B visas on my properties. Well, he is not referring to the highly skilled workers who qualify for those visas, but what Trump has used on his properties, including his vineyard and his other resorts, are workers who qualify for visas under their status as hospitality or agricultural workers.

So in one swoop here, Musk has muddied waters and created a problem he didn't have to. And we'll see if this -- if Trump will continue to tolerate this kind of troublemaking, unnecessary troublemaking.

WALKER: Trump also said in this New York Post interview that he's always been in favor of these visas, which is actually not true, because in his first term he did restrict access to, you know, foreign worker visas. I do want to show a tweet from Elon Musk, because the way in which he is going to war with Trump's base is really extraordinary. He posted this on Friday night, saying, "The reason I'm in America along with so many critical people who built SpaceX, Tesla and hundreds of other companies that made America strong, is because of H-1B. Take a big step back and blank yourself in the face. I will go to war on this issue, the likes of which you cannot possibly comprehend."

This is the head of the Department of Government Efficiency, who is speaking in this way and making threats against those who oppose him.

SWEET: Well, I would think it would -- perhaps at some point Trump reminds him when it comes to war, there's only one commander in chief and it is not Elon Musk, it's Donald Trump. So this policymaking on an issue that is clearly financially beneficial to Musk, I think further feeds the fury of the MAGA loyalists who are very influential around Trump and have a much longer track record than Musk in dealing with him.

So the idea that Musk will use, OK, we all know he owns X, he has a powerful, powerful platform, but now the thing to watch is how much Trump will tolerate him going out on his own, making policy and igniting feuds that don't have to be fought -- battles that don't have to be fought right now.

WALKER: Let's talk about what's coming up. And on Friday, on January 3rd, you'll have the new House that will be sworn in and the first vote will be whether or not to elect Mike Johnson as speaker once again. A lot of some Republicans are not happy with the way he handled the stopgap spending bill. What are Republicans saying? What will happen?

SWEET: Well, we're not sure what will happen. And this is going to be a drama that will play out on Friday because Republicans only hold control of the House by a few votes. If Johnson cannot keep everyone happy, he can't afford to lose more than a handful of Republicans. And there's already a few who have said they will not support him.

So he became speaker after, I think, what, 15 rounds of voting that took days and days. But he -- the Republicans don't have that luxury because what happens next? Friday, you need to organize the House and get a speaker because Monday, January 6th, is the day that Congress is supposed to certify the election.

WALKER: Well, we'll see how this plays out then, Lynne Sweet, and if the Republicans will be unified on that first vote.

Lynne Sweet, thanks so much.

SWEET: And thank you.

WALKER: Up next, the Israeli military raids one of North Gaza's last hospitals before setting the entire facility on fire.

SWEET: It worked out? Thank you.

WALKER: And why U.S. universities are urging their international students to return to campus now before Trump takes office.

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[07:29:15]

WALKER: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is undergoing surgery to remove his prostate, according to a statement from his office. There's no word yet on who is temporarily taking over as interim prime minister during Netanyahu's surgery, but a government meeting previously scheduled is set to happen as originally planned.

The World Health Organization says that Northern Gaza's last major hospital has now closed. This follows Israel's raid on the hospital, which the IDF says resulted in more than 240 arrests. Witnesses tell CNN one of the people the IDF detained was a hospital's director whose whereabouts are unknown.

CNN's Elliott Gotkine has more.

ELLIOTT GOTKINE, CNN JOURNALIST: The Israeli military's operation in and around the Kamal Adwan Hospital ended on Saturday morning, according to the IDF. It informed journalists of that on Saturday evening. It arrested more than 240 of what it described as terrorists belonging to Hamas and Islamic jihad and made an unspecified additional number of arrests. But the result of this operation is that, according to the World Health Organization, the hospital is now empty and that the last remaining large medical facility in the northern part of the Gaza Strip is no longer operational.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GOTKINE (voice-over): A hospital on fire and encircled.

WALID AL BUDI, NURSE AT KAMAL ADWAN HOSPITAL (through translator): The situation is extremely dire tonight. The (Israeli) army is present at Kamal Adwan Hospital.

GOTKINE (VOICE-OVER): Patients and staff gather anxiously at the entrance of Northern Gaza's last major functioning hospital. Others fight flames.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translation): The army are surrounding us from every side, our situation is very difficult. Dr. Hussam was directly threatened with arrest. They might arrest him at any time.

GOTKINE (VOICE-OVER): Words from a nurse at Kamal Adwan Hospital in the midst of an evacuation order from the Israeli military. Doctor Hussam Abu Safiya, the hospitals director, is one of the last doctors in Northern Gaza. He had been documenting the horror inside his hospital in the wake of an Israeli offensive that began in early October.

DR. HUSSAM ABU SAFIYA, DIRECTOR, KAMEL ADWAN HOSPITAL (through translation): We had spoken and appealed to the world to protect and neutralize the medical system. But unfortunately, this is the grim reality we are witnessing. GOTKINE (VOICE-OVER): On Friday, he was assaulted and detained by Israeli forces, witnesses tell CNN. On Saturday, the IDF said he was being questioned in Gaza, suspected of being a Hamas terrorist operative, but didn't provide evidence for the claim.

Meantime, video shared widely appears to show the front of Kamal Adwan Hospital with people walking between a number of tanks. Many appear to be holding their own clothes with hands held above their heads.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translation): From Kamal Adwan Hospital to al-Fakhoora, they made us strip down to our underwear. It was a tough situation and they assaulted the wounded and women.

GOTKINE (VOICE-OVER): In a briefing, an IDF spokesperson said people were asked to remove clothes to ensure no one was carrying explosives.

SHUROUQ SALAH, NURSE AT KAMAL ADWAN HOSPITAL (through translation): They separated the men from the women and took the women in groups. Those who refused to remove their clothing were beaten and they took our phones.

I didn't have a phone, but those who were refusing to hand over their phones were beaten. And those who refused to take off their clothes were also beaten.

GOTKINE (VOICE-OVER): The IDF says that it had carried out targeted operations around the hospital based on intelligence regarding the presence of terrorist infrastructure and operatives there. CNN cannot confirm these claims.

On Friday, the World Health Organization said the raid took the last major health facility in north Gaza out of service. Adding that, the systematic dismantling of the health system in Gaza is a death sentence for tens of thousands of Palestinians in need of health care.

Many patients now evacuated to Gaza's other hospitals, which medical staff say are not fit for purpose. This critically ill man evacuated from Kamal Adwan, still in an ambulance Saturday after he was evacuated a day earlier.

Inside another hospital, this man tries to explain what happened to him, appearing to make signs of gunfire and beating.

All the while, Gaza's healthcare system, in a seemingly never-ending freefall.

Elliott Gotkine, CNN, Jerusalem.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GOTKINE (on camera): Now, of the more than 240 terrorists, as the IDF puts it, that it arrested, it says that some posed as patients, others tried to flee in ambulances. And of those that it arrested those that it merely suspects of being militants, the IDF telling CNN that it will release those that it finds have no case to answer. And one can only assume that it also applies to the director of the Kamal Adwan Hospital, Dr. Abu Safia, who, as of Saturday evening, we were told by the IDF, was still being questioned inside Gaza.

AMARA WALKER, CNN ANCHOR: Elliott, thank you. And happening now, urgent warnings from the U.S. universities, international students warned to return to campus now before Trump takes office. We'll have details after the break.

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[07:35:00]

WALKER: Several U.S. universities are urging international students to return to campus before Trump's inauguration on January 20th. Fear and uncertainty are spreading on college campuses, with many international students worried about another travel ban, like the one that stranded students abroad at the start of Trump's first term. Universities like Cornell and USC are warning students to be in the United States by the time Donald Trump takes office in January.

Joining me now as executive director for the National Foundation for American Policy, Stuart Anderson, Stuart, really appreciate your time and talking to us about this very important topic. Remind us of what happened in 2017 in Trump's first term when he imposed this travel ban and the logistical nightmare that many students and faculty members face trying to re-enter the country.

STUART ANDERSON, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, NATIONAL FOUNDATION FOR AMERICAN POLICY: Well, this becomes a big issue, and it was a big issue in 2017, because international students are so important by providing an opportunity for many U.S. students to have courses available and for being the majority of graduate students in the key technical fields at U.S. universities and also, starting many of our cutting-edge companies.

[07:40:00]

And so, in 2017 when the travel bans went into effect, and they affected someone being able to enter the United States, and that's why universities today are warning students to come in -- be in the United States. So, the travel ban wouldn't affect them.

The first travel ban did affect students from seven different countries, primarily some majority Muslim countries. Later -- the later version that the Supreme Court supported did not include students. And so, at this point, all of us are wondering what a new travel ban would look like. Will it include international students? And for that reason, many universities are encouraging their students to be inside the United States.

Although, I would say, I did talk to a university administrator over the weekend and they did not issue such a warning because they were concerned about being inflammatory towards the new administration and also possibly scaring students unnecessarily. So, there are some different, differing opinions among universities.

WALKER: It's incredible what these universities have to consider now. I do want to play some sound from Trump. Back in October of 2023, after the start of the Israel-Hamas war that sparked terror. Those widespread protests on college campuses, and this is what he said at a campaign event.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT-ELECT: We will aggressively deport resident aliens with jihadist sympathies. We will revoke the student visas of radical anti-American and anti-Semitic foreigners at our colleges and universities, and we will send them straight back home.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WALKER: As you know, President-Elect Trump has also campaigned on mass deportations and such. Can you talk to me, because you're -- you've been talking to some universities, just about how widespread these concerns are of a potential travel ban, because obviously, we don't know what that would potentially look like right now?

ANDERSON: Well, the universities are really faced with three separate issues that are connected. One is the travel ban. The second is whether the new administration will try to do deportations of undocumented immigrants who are actually students on campus. And the third is a whole series of potential restrictions on international students, and really, those restrictions are actually connected to the types of things that Elon Musk and other tech executives are worried about because they affect whether international students can work after graduation.

So, there's a whole series of potential restrictions that could come in with a new administration. And that's why universities have anxiety overall. And really a lot of employers have the same anxiety because international students are a primary source of high skill labor in the United States.

WALKER: Yes. I mean, obviously, it affects a lot of these students' futures right when they think about reapplying to these schools and also trying to find work in the United States after their education. Stuart Anderson, we're going to leave it there. Thank you so much for your time.

ANDERSON: Thank you.

WALKER: And we'll get you caught up on a wild Saturday in football just ahead. The Pop-Tarts Bowl sure lived up to all the social media hype. Find out which team got to take a bite out of its mascot.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:45:00]

WALKER: Football fans were treated to a full day of college bowl games and NFL action yesterday. The Bengals may have had the biggest win of the day, beating the Broncos in a dramatic overtime affair. CNN's Carolyn Manno joins me now with how they did it. Carolyn.

CAROLYN MANNO, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Hey, good morning, Amara. Well, finding your stride at the right time is a big part of the formula for success in the NFL, and the Bengals had seemingly no chance at the playoffs earlier this month. But after four straight wins, there is hope heading into the final week of the year.

Because of performances like this, the Broncos could have clinched the final wild card spot in the AFC with a win, and they tied the game in the final seconds. Marvin Mims, Jr. with a leaping grab over two defenders, it was just incredible, to send the game to overtime.

So, the Bengals had a chance to win it with under three minutes left. But look at this. A short field goal doinks off the crossbar. So, Joe Burrow and company would get another chance. Burrow hooks up with Tee Higgins for their third touchdown connection of the day. The Bengals win 30 to 24 in overtime and at eight and eight, there's still a game behind Denver for the final wild card spot, but they are in the hunt after a four and eight start.

The Broncos blew their chance to secure a spot in the AFC, but the Chargers were not going to be denied a chance to grab a bid. They rolled all over the Patriots, 40 to 7 in Foxborough. Justin Herbert throwing three touchdown passes, two of them to Ladd McConkey. And it has been quite a turnaround for L.A. Just a year ago, they only won five games, and now, they're in the playoffs in Jim Harbaugh's first season as head coach.

Let's go to college now where East Carolina was leaving NC State in the Military Bowl, but they ran it up the middle instead of kneeling down, and Wolfpack players took exception to that decision. Both benches emptied. It took almost 10 minutes for order to be restored in this game. Eight players were ejected in all, five from NC State, three from ECU, and we'll see if that blood -- bad blood, excuse me, spills over. These two teams facing each other to open next season. I'm sure that will be on their minds.

Let's go to the Pop-Tarts Bowl in Orlando, Florida now, which was back for a second year. It's quickly becoming a viral fan favorite, and for good reason. Miami star quarterback Cam Ward setting the all-time record for touchdown passes in a college career in the first quarter. It was a shootout. He finished with three to set the mark at 158. But the projected first round draft pick opted to sit the second half to avoid injury, and that really hurt his team a lot because the Hurricanes blew a 10-point lead.

[07:50:00]

Iowa State quarterback Rocco Becht sneaking in the go ahead score with under a minute left. So, the Cyclones winning a wild one. 42-41 the final. Becht named the MVP, got to choose which pop-tart would be baked in the giant toaster afterwards. Could have had Wild Fairy or Hot Fudge Amara, but he went with Cinnamon Roll. And after when the big toaster Becht and his head coach got to take a bite of it and well-deserved.

If you're wondering no humans were harmed in this process, just some good old fashion fun. Maybe some cinnamon falling by the way side, but that's about it. Back to you. WALKER: I would have chosen Cinnamon Roll as well. Good choice, everyone. Carolyn, good to see you. Thank you.

Still to come, ahead of CNN film "Luther: Never Too Much," our Victor Blackwell gets exclusive access to the Luther Vandross exhibit at the Grammy Museum in Los Angeles. We will take a peek after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:55:00]

WALKER: We want to get you an update now on the breaking news we've been following all morning for you. These are live pictures out of South Korea. And South Korean officials are confirming that only two people survived this fiery plane crash. 179 people are now confirmed dead after a Jeju Airline plane crash landed at an airport in the southwestern part of the country. You can see that emergency personnel are still on the ground there. It is nearly 10:00 in the evening in Muan, South Korea.

South Korea's acting president has declared a week of mourning in the wake of the crash. Officials say they have recovered both of the planes' black boxes, but they caution that the investigation into the cause of the crash could take years. We of course will continue to bring you updates on this breaking news throughout the day right here on CNN.

And coming up on New Year's Day, a new CNN film follows the legendary singer Luther Vandross through his -- throughout his life and his career. CNN's Victor Blackwell got access to the opening of the Luther Vandross exhibit at the Grammy Museum in Los Angeles, where he spoke to Luther's lifelong friends and collaborators.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Singer, songwriter, producer, eight-time Grammy winner with 11 consecutive platinum or double platinum selling albums.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. Luther Vandross.

BLACKWELL (voice-over): Millions of fans around the world know his unmistakable voice and classic love songs.

(MUSIC PLAYING)

BLACKWELL (voice-over): But what you may not know is the story of how he became a star.

FONZI THORNTON, MUSICIAN AND FRIEND OF LUTHER VANDROSS: The day that I met him It was clear to me, this dude is going to wind up being on the radio. First of all, he sang better than everybody. He had a vision about how he sang.

LUTHER VANDROSS, SINGER: I try to do songs that I think I can do differently, you know, and -- that I think fit me, you know, sort of like what somebody chooses to wear.

BLACKWELL (voice-over): Luther was inspired by the icons, the Supremes, Aretha Franklin, Dionne Warwick. And before his solo career, Luther grew to be a top background vocalist.

VANDROSS: I used to sing background vocals for Roberta Flack on the road. And Roberta sometimes would have interviews and sometimes she'd be unable to show up at sound checks. So, I would for her in sound checks to test her microphone.

BLACKWELL (voice-over): And throughout his career, Luther kept those friends from the early days close.

DAWN PORTER, DIRECTOR, "LUTHER: NEVER TOO MUCH": One of the many, many things that's so impressive about Luther over the course of his life is how his friends have remained so constant. I really wanted to have people who were could tell you how he laughed, could tell you how he was silly, could tell you about him as a person.

BLACKWELL: What memories come back about Luther when you see these relics, these artifacts from that period?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's people who can sing, there are people who can arrange, people who can play. But Luther wanted to be, he had a vision of the entire world.

BLACKWELL (voice-over): What most fans probably don't know is that Luther meticulously designed every aspect of his shows, the costumes, the lighting and choreography.

PORTER: I love talking to people who are the like, OG Luther fans. And they're like, you cannot tell me something I don't know. And then they're all like, what, what, what? That's a really interesting thing with a black artist is he literally was everywhere. He just wasn't always visible. I really like to think of this as also a celebration of black music.

(MUSIC PLAYING)

BLACKWELL (voice-over): And that's what this film is, a celebration of Luther's artistry and a deeper look at the man, professionally and personally.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He called me from L.A., where he was living. He said, listen, I'm nominated for Best R&B vocal. I'm not going to win anyway. Why don't you come and hang out with me? And we went to the Grammys and he won for "Here and Now." This is the dude I met in the projects and he is winning a Grammy.

PORTER: When you kind of travel through time with this movie and with Luther's journey, you remember these moments, these spectacular moments. This is all part of American culture. It's not just black culture, it's American culture.

BLACKWELL (voice-over): Nearly 20 years after his passing, Luther still inspires artists and fans through the power of his voice. Victor Blackwell, CNN, Los Angeles.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WALKER: And be sure to tune in to the all-new CNN film, "Luther: Never Too Much." It premieres New Year's Day at 8:00 p.m. Eastern and Pacific.

And that's my time. Thank you so much for being with this morning. I'm Amara Walker in Atlanta. Inside Politics Sunday starts right now.

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