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Connect the World

CNN International: Finland Seizes Oil Tanker Suspected of Causing Outages; Storms Could Disrupt One of the Year's Busiest Travel Weekends; Unticketed Passenger Caught on Delta Plane at Seattle Airport; Bidens in St. Croix for Winter Vacation; NASA: Parker Solar Probe "Safe" After Making Closest-Ever Approach to Sun by Human-Made Object. Aired 9-9:45a ET

Aired December 27, 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]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MAX FOSTER, CNN HOST, CONNECT THE WORLD: Yeah, exactly. Wasn't a lot. Storms in the south of U.S. could impact travel into and around the U.S. on

this big travel weekend. It's 09:00 a.m. in Atlanta, it's 02:00 p.m. here in London. I'm Max Foster. This is "Connect the World". Also coming up,

Azerbaijan airlines now blaming external interference for the Christmas Day crash.

South Korea has impeached its second leader in less than two weeks. And Delta Air Lines is dealing with a new attempted stowaway. The New York

Stock Exchange is open after the Christmas holiday after about -- in about 30 minutes. Let's have a look at the futures. Pretty negative there,

hopefully they'll be up for the start of the year.

Meanwhile, new details are emerging from the investigation into a deadly Christmas Day plane crash in Kazakhstan killing at least 38 people.

Azerbaijan Airlines said preliminary investigations have found the disaster occurred, quote, as a result of physical and technical external

interference, according to Azerbaijani state media.

A U.S. official offering a more direct assessment, that source says early indications suggest a Russian anti-aircraft system may have downed the

passenger jet. The U.S. official says it may have been a case of mistaken identity, in which poorly trained Russian units fired negligently against

what they thought were Ukrainian drones.

CNN's Nada Bashir following this story for us. What are the Russians saying about this? They must know surely.

NADA BASHIR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well at this stage, they are still waiting for the result of the investigation. They have been calls for no

speculation, we've been hearing from Russian authorities who have said that the flight the pilots are actually offered landing in other airports as

well due to bad weather conditions.

But again, there are a lot of questions around what actually led to this crash, as that investigation continues. And as you mentioned, both black

boxes have now been recovered, and that will provide investigators with crucial information as to what led to this crash the moments ahead of it,

including flight data as well as recordings from within the cockpit.

But we've heard from authorities say it could take around two weeks before there is a full assessment completed of that black box data. But again,

we've been hearing from other officials as well, one U.S. official telling CNN yesterday, as you mentioned, that this could well be the cause of

Russian anti-aircraft systems that echoed earlier reporting from Reuters.

They were citing multiple unnamed sources familiar with this investigation, saying that they also believe this could have been caused by a Russian air

defense system. So that is certainly a key point of investigation at this stage. Important to note, of course, we've seen the images in the video of

the wreckage as well, showing perforations, holes and the fuselage.

So that has raised some questions around perhaps shrapnel. Coming into the plane as well, and what may have caused that. And of course, we've been

hearing reports and questions around nearby drone activity. So, for many there will be concerns around the safety of flying in a region where there

is an active war nearby.

We know that the plane crashed shortly after a drone strike in Southern Russia. So, whether or not it's even safe for commercial flights to be

flying in this region, that will be a question as well.

FOSTER: Yeah, because that part that air space was to be closed because of that, wasn't it? But obviously a suggestion. You know, we can't -- even if

there was some sort of Russian involvement here. Wouldn't suggest we wouldn't know the motivation. The context of this appears to be that if

there was some sort of missile, some system that went off.

It was in response to a drone. I mean, that no one suggesting that they wanted to shoot down a plane.

BASHIR: No potentially, as we've been hearing from one U.S. official, a case of mistaken identity, perhaps focusing on drone activity in the region

and then accidentally targeting or hitting a commercial flight. But again, this is all information that investigators are examining right now.

We don't have any firm conclusions just late. A lot of speculation, and of course, for over the next few days, potentially weeks, this is something

that the Kazakh Commission, which has been set up specifically to focus on this plane crash, will be investigating.

We know that Russian and of course Azerbaijani law enforcement officials won't be able to carry out any forensic examinations that will be tasked to

the Azerbaijani officials, but again, a lot of time before we might see any final results from that investigation.

FOSTER: OK Nada, thank you so much. Now to the Baltic Sea, where Finnish authorities have seized the tanker carrying Russian oil suspected of

causing undersea internet and power cable outages. That's according to a report from Reuters. The vessel is believed to belong to Russia's so called

shadow fleet, trying to avoid oil sanctions.

Countries around the Baltic are on high alert for sabotage after a string of disruptions with power communications and gas. CNN's Former Moscow

Bureau Chief, Nathan Hodge, joins us now. What do you make of all this, Nathan?

[09:05:00]

NATHAN HODGE, CNN FORMER MOSCOW BUREAU CHIEF: Well, Max, you correct. I mean, there's been a lot of concern in the Baltic region in general about

what we call hybrid warfare. And of course, there's been considerable alarm about the vulnerability, for instance, of undersea communications cable.

Just last month, there was an incident where a crucial link between Lithuania and Sweden was cut.

This has prompted alarm as well in Washington, where U.S. officials have also been concerned about the potential for acts of sabotage by the

Russians, and they've been watching very closely. And he signals that the Russians may be trying, sort of, to prepare any kinds of acts of sabotage.

And it's interesting because you mentioned this ghost fleet, this sort of fleet of tankers, that's basically there to elude the international G7

sanctions that have been slapped on Russia following the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Think of it sort of like -- it's kind of like having

offshore shell companies to hide your transactions.

These ships are often flying under flags of convenience that obscure where they're from, and there are ways that they can -- the Russians can get this

oil to market and evade these sanctions, basically, essentially through this fleet of sometimes very poorly maintained ships, Max.

FOSTER: In terms of, you know, the vibe in Moscow, obviously, a big anniversary coming up for President Putin soon, everyone looking ahead to

next year and, you know, Trump hitting the White House. What are you looking at there?

HODGE: Right, Max. I mean, you sort of hit it on the head. We're coming up on a quarter century of Putin in power in Russia. It was on New Year's Eve

of 1999 when then President Boris Yeltsin of Russia essentially handed power over to this relative political unknown of Vladimir Putin, just an

obscure former KGB agent.

And that has sort of set him on the course for 25 years of rule, both serving briefly as a prime minister, but most of that time is the President

of Russia. But you know right now we're at a time when Russia and Putin are trying to signal their strength, very mindful of the fact that President-

elect Donald Trump has said that he wants to see a quick end to the war in Ukraine.

Now how that exactly will happen, we still don't know. The road map to that negotiated settlement is still really very far from clear, but at least in

terms of the sort of the messaging that we're seeing coming out of Russia, there's been a lot of sorts of, you know, posturing, both, you know,

talking about, you know, Russia's nuclear deterrence or its new weapons that it wants to test out and some of which it's used on Ukraine.

Basically, as a way of signaling strength ahead of any kind of negotiation. But of course, with these sorts of acts of sabotage, which we can't

attribute right now, you know, there is a lot of concern that there could be acts of what's called sort of hybrid warfare also happening on the on

the margins, as a way to keep Russia on the front foot, Max.

FOSTER: OK, Nathan, thank you so much for your insights, today. More political upheaval in South Korea, in a contentious session, on Friday, the

nation's parliament voted to impeach the Acting President Han Duck-Soo, after he refused to appoint new justices to the Constitutional Court.

That court will decide the fate of the previous President Yoon Suk Yeol, who was impeached after imposing martial law. South Korea is looking at its

third president this month with finance -- with the finance minister currently in charge. CNN's Hanako Montgomery has more for us.

HANAKO MONTGOMERY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I mean, we're talking about two impeachment votes in the span of less than two weeks. I mean, this is

unprecedented, not only for South Korea, but also, frankly, much of the democratic world. Now, there are a number of reasons why the Acting

President Han Duck-Soo was voted to be impeached today, but what really stood out is actually what the main opposition party leader said during

today's vote. Give this a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LEE JAE-MYUNG, SOUTH KOREA'S DEMOCRATIC PARTY LEADER: We will remove Yoon Suk Yeol from office, uproot his loyalist forces and fully suppress the

insurrection. Until that moment, we will pool all our resources and fulfill our historic responsibility.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MONTGOMERY: Now, some background on the events leading up to today's vote. As you described, South Korea was plunged into a political crisis earlier

this month when the President Yoon Suk Yeol declared a very short-lived martial law. Then shortly two weeks after that, the country's parliament

voted to impeach the president and he was stripped of his duties.

But in order for the formal impeachment process to actually end, a Constitutional Court ruling upholding this decision is required, but

critically, and this is the problem facing South Korea right now. They don't have enough judges within the constitutional court to issue such a

ruling.

And actually, it's the job of the Acting President Han to fill those vacant spots, but he's refused to do so, which has led to this political deadlock

we're currently seeing in the country.

[09:10:00]

FOSTER: Now in Northern Gaza, Israeli forces are besieging a hospital in an order the evacuation of all patients there, according to the hospital's

director. CNN has also heard audio messages from a nurse and a journalist inside Kamal Adwan Hospital who say it's surrounded by Israeli forces.

It follows reports of a nearby air strike late on Thursday, which the local health ministry says killed about 50 people, including 5 medical workers.

Israel's military says it's investigating the allegation. Elsewhere in the region, Israel's military says it intercepted a missile launched from Yemen

early on Friday before it entered Israeli territory.

That comes just hours after Yemen's Houthi rebels vowed retaliation for a string of deadly Israeli air strikes on the country on Thursday. The

Houthis say the attacks on Yemen's main airport, a power station in two ports, killed at least six people and wounded dozens more.

Israel says it hit what it called military targets belonging to the Houthis. The Head of the World Health Organization says he and a U.N. team

were about to board a plane at the Sanaa airport when it came under Israeli bombardment. Elliott Gotkine is in Jerusalem with more

ELLIOTT GOTKINE, JOURNALIST: The Houthis have logged ballistic missiles towards Tel Aviv for four out of the last seven nights. Sending millions

scrambling to bomb shelters. On Thursday, Israel responded launching its first ever attack on Yemen's main airport and hitting two power stations.

The strikes that the Israeli military said targeted infrastructure, the Houthis have been using to bring Iranian weapons into Yemen, among those

hurt a crew member for a plane for the World Health Organization, whose director general says he was just meters away from the impact.

This was the fourth time Israeli planes have attacked the Houthis, who say they're firing on Israel and international shipping in solidarity with

Palestinians in Gaza. On Wednesday night in the war battered enclave five men, all of them journalists, according to hospital officials and AlQuds

Today TV were killed while sleeping in their van.

The channel affiliated with Palestine Islamic Jihad, which the U.S. and others proscribe as a terrorist organization, says the men were carrying

out their journalistic and humanitarian duty. Israel says they were Islamic Jihad militants posing as journalists. For evidence, it provided what it

said was a list of operatives it picked up during operations in Gaza, edited to translate names and details on which four of the men's names

appear along with their roles.

And as the war in Gaza rumbles on, cease fire talks aimed at securing the release of the 100 or so hostages still being held captive appear to have

hit another snag. On Christmas Day, Hamas accused Israel of moving the goal post to negotiations, and said this was why a deal had yet to be done.

For its part, Israel said Hamas was lying and reneging on understandings that had already been reached, whatever the case, despite renewed optimism

that a deal could soon be done. The reality is the two sides appear no closer to reaching an agreement that could end the year long war and bring

all the hostages, home. Elliott Gotkine, CNN, Jerusalem.

FOSTER: Israel's Attorney General has ordered an investigation into Sara Netanyahu, the wife of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over allegations

that she harassed opponents. This comes after the Israeli media outlet Channel 12 alleged the prime minister's wife intimidated a witness in her

husband's criminal trial.

The report also alleges she indirectly harassed the attorney general and deputy state attorney. Hours before the investigation was announced, Mr.

Netanyahu defended his wife in a video released by his office. He condemned the report as, quote, biased and false propaganda. The prime minister is

facing corruption charges in three separate cases.

Still to come, bad weather in parts of the U.S. could help make one of the busiest travel weekends of the year a real mess. More on that straight

ahead. Plus, new evidence that the H5N1 bird flu has mutated in a way that could make it more transmissible to humans. What you need to know?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:15:00]

FOSTER: In the U.S., more powerful storms expected this weekend for the lower Mississippi Valley, possible hail and tornadoes, we told the small

twister was spotted just south of Houston, Texas on Thursday. Forecasters want people in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama to be on alert.

Check out this water spout over Lake Houston in Texas on Thursday, water spouts are often called tornadoes over water, and can be just as damaging

as the ones on land. These storms could make one of the busiest travel weekends of the year messy for travelers.

Transportation security officials say today and Monday will be among the busiest at U.S. airports. They expected to screen nearly 40 million people

between December 19 and January 2. The American Automobile Association predicted more than 119 million people would travel 50 miles or more this

holiday season.

That's 3 million more than during the same period last year. Let's check in with CNN Meteorologist Elisa Raffa for the latest on those storms. Is it

good news for travelers, Elisa?

ELISA RAFFA, CNN METEOROLOGIST: We've got two trouble spots that we're watching as we go through the weekend. One across the south, for that

severe weather, and the Pacific Northwest has had constant rain and snow with an atmospheric river. You could see some delays possible there, from

Seattle to Portland down towards San Francisco.

The problem spots across the south, really increase going into tomorrow as some pretty strong storms ignite, that severe storm threat is on the lower

end today. You can see by tomorrow, we have a level three of five enhanced risk for Saturday, where we could have damaging winds, large hail and even

some tornadoes.

And then that risk shifts to some bigger cities along the East Coast, from Charlotte down to Atlanta, something to watch out for. Now, that tornado

threat tomorrow is pretty healthy, especially for December. We're talking about the likelihood of strong EF2 tornado. So again, could be pretty

significant, especially given that December is one of our least likely months for tornado development.

We average only about 40 a month much different than our more active months, April and May, where it's 200 or more reports that we get in that

those springtime months. Now this year, we have been way above average for tornado reports, more than 1700 it's been a very active year, one of the

most active in more than a decade.

So, you can see where the showers and storms ignite today. The rain stretches up to the Great Lakes, but the storms really explode going into

tomorrow. These storms that are capable of that severe weather would be very tall. If it can produce a tornado, it's a tall thunderstorm with a lot

of lightning.

So that means any planes would need to fly all the way around this, so could take you longer, and it would definitely be a bumpier ride. You can

see where you've got some of those travel problems across the south on Saturday with those storms. The rain stretches up the East Coast by Sunday,

so travel problems from Washington, D.C., New York and Boston.

And then notice the Pacific Northwest doesn't stop with these delay problems, because the rain and snow just continues to kick as that

atmospheric river just continues. So that will be a problem spot as we go into the weekend as well. So, you could see where the storms continue to

ignite and move east, definitely a soggy, messy ride home for a lot of people trying to get back to their destinations, Max.

FOSTER: OK. Thank you so much for that update. Now the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention tracking cases of a highly pathogenic bird

flu. Samples from a patient in Louisiana show the virus may have mutated, becoming more transmissible to humans. For more we're joined by CNN Medical

Correspondent, Meg Tirrell, how concerned should people be, Meg?

[09:20:00]

MEG TIRRELL, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Max, there is some good news about this information, which is that the mutations of the CDC has found

here appear confined to this patient. It does not look like the patient got these mutations from the backyard flock where they're suspected to have

contracted the virus, nor does it look like the patient has passed this version of the virus on to anyone else.

So that is all the good news. The bad news is, and the CDC does call this concerning, is that with this severe case where this patient was

hospitalized with H5N1 bird flu, it appears that the virus mutated within the patient to acquire the ability to potentially be able to infect human

cells in the upper respiratory tract better.

One of the things about this bird flu virus is that it isn't very good at infecting humans. We haven't seen person to person transmission, and that's

because it doesn't infect the cells that we have in our upper respiratory tract. We have seen these mutations in another severe case of bird flu and

a teenager in British, Columbia, Canada, very similar situation.

It appears that while they were hospitalized, the virus mutated. Again, they didn't spread it to anyone else, either. So, this does raise a level

of concern, you don't want to see these mutations happening, but because it has not spread to anybody else, the CDC is still saying the general risk to

people, is currently low.

We've had about 65 cases reported here in the United States of bird flu. Most of those have been acquired from either dairy cattle or from poultry

flocks, from workers in those agricultural settings. And there are a couple cases this one in particular, they caught it from a backyard flock.

Others where we don't actually know where they got it, but so far, we're not seeing this person to person spread, which would really raise the

threat level, Max.

FOSTER: OK, Meg, thank you so much for that. Now, this concern about other species cross over too. More than half the big cats at one Wildlife

Sanctuary in Washington State died after contracting the virus. CNN's Randi Kaye reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): That's Thumper, a 10-year-old Eurasian lynx who used to love to play and scratch the decks high above the

foliage. The video from August was taken at the Wild Felid Advocacy Center of Washington. A big cat sanctuary where Thumper lived. Thumper is one of

20 cats from the sanctuary who died in recent weeks from bird flu.

MARK MATTHEWS, DIRECTOR OF THE WILD FELID ADVOCACY CENTER: We thought we were doing everything we could to avoid anything like this from happening.

The cats are pretty well split up into 30 by 40-foot habitats.

KAYE (voice-over): The Sanctuary's Director and Co-Founder, Mark Matthews, says the cat's enclosures are spread out among five acres. He told me their

first cat got sick on November 22. The 17-year-old cougar named Hannah Wyoming stopped eating and died the next day.

A day later, this African caracal named Crackle also got sick and died. Others they lost included this cougar named Holly, and Tabby, a Bengal

tiger.

MATTHEWS: Tabby, the tiger was very fun, loving tiger. She had a super personality. Every time I came up, she come running to meet me.

KAYE (voice-over): This Bengal cat, Pebbles also succumbed to bird flu, as well as mouse, a Jeffrey cat. Only 17 of the 37 cats once housed here are

left. Nico, an African serval, is still in critical condition, fighting to regain the use of his back legs.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Feeling devastated, kind of in shock, and just taking really good care of those ones who are recovering.

KAYE (voice-over): The disease spread rapidly, and they still don't know how exactly the bird flu entered their facility.

MATTHEWS: Initially, we thought it was the bird droppings from water fowl. We are in a flight pattern for migratory birds. So, I don't know if that's

part of the equation or not. So, we don't really don't know at this time if it was food related or not.

DR. DEAN BLUMBERG, INFECTIOUS DISEASE EXPERT AT UC DAVIS CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL: Although we don't know exactly how it got there, it just makes

sense that it's likely due to migratory birds, because we know bird flu is transmitted through the migratory bird population.

KAYE (voice-over): Dr. Dean Blumberg is an Infectious Disease Expert at UC Davis.

BLUMBERG: That spread through the bird saliva, the feces, the urine, and so you really can't protect against that in the natural environment.

KAYE (voice-over): The staff at the sanctuary are working tirelessly to disinfect the habitats while also protecting themselves from getting sick.

They are wearing PPE, including N95 masks, and doing foot baths when they enter and leave.

BLUMBERG: The virus may mutate and become more easily transmitted person to person. So, the more this virus circulates, and specifically, co circulates

with human strains, that's going to increase the odds of the virus evolving to more human-to-human transmission, and that, of course, could signal

another pandemic.

KAYE (voice-over): Randi Kaye CNN, West Palm Beach, Florida.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: Coming up, a super-size lottery jackpot of the United States to round out the holidays. We'll tell you just how much someone could actually

win.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:25:00]

FOSTER: Now how's this for holiday windfall in the States. The Mega Millions lottery jackpot has surged to an estimated $1.15 billion for

tonight's drawing. It's happening after no one won the billion-dollar jackpot on Christmas Eve. The top prize has been rolling over since

September, when a ticket in Texas won more than 800 million.

Now, for the second time in a month, someone without a ticket has been caught trying to stowaway on a Delta flight. The bad -- the person

apparently managed to get on a plane in Seattle, Washington without a boarding pass, but was arrested before the flight took off, as if aviation

doesn't have enough on his plate over the busy holidays.

CNN's Carlos Suarez is Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport. Just want to ask you, first of all about this survey. It does happen every

so often, but it's the fact that he managed to get through without a boarding pass again.

CARLOS SUAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, that's exactly right, Max, not only was this passenger able to get onto this plane, but it appears, from what

authorities are saying, is that this passenger actually cleared a TSA security checkpoint in Seattle the night before this Christmas Eve flight,

meaning that this passenger spent some time in the terminal before the Delta flight on Christmas Eve.

We're told that the passenger was able to get on board this flight again without a ticket, and that the flight, the plane, the aircraft, was taxing

for departure when the flight crew realized that someone on board this aircraft did not have a ticket, and so of course, they made the decision to

go back to the gate

And Max, there's another detail in the story which is also raising questions, which is that when that aircraft gets back to the gate, the

passenger was able to get off the plane before authorities arrived. And so, when law enforcement goes out to the gate, they don't know where this

passenger is.

It takes a little bit of time to figure out, according to some surveillance video that they looked at that the passenger was in a bathroom, and so they

were able to detain that passenger after figuring out exactly where that person was. Now in a statement, Delta said a quote as there are no matters

more important than safety and security, Delta people followed procedures to have an un-ticketed passenger and removed, rather, from the flight and

then apprehended.

[09:30:00]

Of course, Max, the big question is just exactly how you even allowed that passenger to get on the plane, considering they did not have a ticket.

FOSTER: It's extraordinary, isn't it? A lot of concern, almost very busy time of year, you're at the world's busiest airport. I believe or the

U.S.'s at least. Yeah, we'll come back to Carlos when you can hear us. Pretty busy there. U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, meanwhile, naming

Kevin Marino Cabrera as his pick for U.S. Ambassador to Panama.

If approved, the Miami Dade County Commissioner would have his hands full amid Trump's repeated statements, he wants to reclaim the Panama Canal for

the United States. That's just one of the many Trump comments raising eyebrows worldwide right now. Alayna Treene reports on where they may be

part of a larger strategy.

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN REPORTER: Well, Donald Trump's fixation this week over wanting to take control over the Panama Canal, as well as the revival of

his desire to purchase green land a Danish territory, is really part of a larger negotiating tactic, I'm told.

One Trump Adviser told me his interpretation of what Donald Trump has been saying this week is really that he wants to force foreign leaders to the

negotiating table to bolster United States trade, but also to try and curb both Russia and China's larger influence over the global region.

Now, as it relates to Panama, specifically, Donald Trump believes that Panama, and as it relates to Panama Canal specifically, is taking advantage

of the United States and its companies. He really is pushing for a new agreement that would lower the price that different American vessels pay

for passage throughout the Panama Canal.

He also believes that many Chinese companies are controlling the ports around the Panama Canal, essentially giving them more control over which

ships can pass through, and again, what the prices are for other countries. Now, as it relates to Greenland, I'm told that Donald Trump's kind of

fixation on that has been about trying to curb Russia's influence in the Arctic region.

And that's part of why he's continued to say that he wants to buy Greenland, even though we know that its prime minister, who controls the

Danish territory, has said that Greenland is not for sale, just like it wasn't for sale, back in 2019 when he first floated this idea of trying to

purchase the country.

Now, all to say this is what one of the Trump advisers told me. They said, quote, everything has to be looked at in terms of curbing Russia and China

influence, while also protecting the economy. Now, to be clear as well, to go back to go back to the Panama Canal here, and what Donald Trump has been

saying.

Donald Trump has actually been fixated on this for several months now, I'm told. And I would actually point to an August interview he did with Tucker

Carlson on X where he brought this up. He said that he believed that the Former President, Jimmy Carter, who negotiated this treaty to give Panama

control over the canal, despite it being U.S. made, was a stupid idea.

He believes that Panama is taking advantage of the United States, and that he would potentially want to negotiate some sort of different deal with

Panama if he were to be elected president.

FOSTER: Now, some U.S. colleges are urging international students to return to campus before Donald Trump's January 20th inauguration. The warning

comes as the president-elect is pledging to implement even more hardline immigration policies when he returns to the White House.

Trump says he plans to expand his previous travel ban on people from predominantly Muslim countries, excuse me, and revoke the student visas of

what he calls radical anti-American and antisemitic foreigners. More than a million international students were enrolled in U.S. colleges and

universities during the last academic year.

Trump will be inaugurated for a second term as president in just 24 days. And corporations are clamoring to be part of the celebration, putting up

big money for the privilege a handful of fortune 500 companies, cryptocurrency firms and individual billionaires are promising donations as

high as seven figures were told.

President Biden is spending the final days of a tumultuous year vacationing in the U.S., Virgin Islands. He and his First Lady, Jill Biden arrived in

St. Croix on Thursday as the commander in chief prepares to leave office. CNN's Julia Benbrook is traveling with the president and has more.

JULIA BENBROOK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This is no doubt, a bitter, sweet time for President Joe Biden as he says goodbye, not only to this role as

president, but to a decades long career in politics. The president and the first lady arrived in St. Croix the day after Christmas.

This has become a holiday tradition for them over the years, and I can see why. You've got beautiful beaches behind me. The temperatures have been

between the 70s and 80s since our team arrived. Now, this time last year, his trip was quite different. He was preparing for the election and seeking

another four years in the White House.

[09:35:00]

Obviously, a lot has happened since then. There were questions about his ability to serve another term. He stepped out of the race, endorsed his

Vice President, Kamala Harris, who then lost the election to now President- elect Donald Trump. Trump is now the one preparing to serve another four years in office, while Biden is focusing on preserving his legacy.

Over the next few weeks, we do expect Biden to give several speeches about causes and specific policies that he considers some of his best

accomplishments, talking about issues like climate, the economy and foreign policy. After he leaves St. Croix, he will spend New Year's Eve in

Delaware.

And then in early January, in the early part of the new year, he will have a foreign trip to Rome and the Vatican, where he speak with Pope Francis

about global peace efforts. And we don't expect a lot of policy advancement in these next few weeks. White House officials believe that most of what

they get would get done in this final sprint toward January 20 could be overturned by the incoming administration.

So again, the focus on protecting his key accomplishments and preserving his legacy over these next 20 some days. Traveling with the president in

St. Croix, Julia Benbrook, CNN.

FOSTER: Ahead in sports, a big pro football weekend in the NFL with the playoff picture coming into focus, and one team is looking to end a long

post season drought with the help of a rookie quarterback.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, I saved you some space, by the way.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do you really think this is fair?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I do not. I would promise a private suite, but thanks for asking.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: Still haven't seen it, but fans of wicked will be able to enjoy the hit film along with new bonus content from the comfort of home. Starting

next week, the musical will make its streaming debut December 31 on several platforms, including Prime Video and Apple TV.

Viewers can buy or rent the nearly three-hour long movie and check out additional features, including deleted and extended scenes, commentary and

a sing along version of the film. So maybe I'll do that. Now history in space, Nasa's Parker Solar Probe is safe and operating normally after

approaching closer to the Sun than any human made object ever before.

The agency said on Friday, it's on a mission to help scientists learn more about Earth's closest star. CNN's Aerospace Analyst Miles O'Brien explains.

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN AEROSPACE ANALYST: Imagine you wanted to cook a hamburger, and instead of using your oven, you turned on 100-watt light

bulb in the far corner of your kitchen and then took the hamburger into the living room and you were able to cook it. That's basically what how the sun

operates, because as it gets farther away from the surface, things heat up.

[09:40:00]

It's the opposite of the laws of thermodynamics as we understand them, it's a huge mystery. Why is the sun surface 100,000 degrees and the corona well

into the millions? This is the heart of what the Parker Solar Probe is trying to learn about. There's a lot of scientific reasons to understand

it, but it also has a lot to do, ultimately, with what we call space weather, which impacts our life on earth here significantly.

FOSTER: Well, the penultimate week of the NFL season is underway, and teams are fighting for playoff positioning. That includes the Atlanta Falcons,

who are looking for their first post season berth in seven years. We've got a crucial showdown just outside Washington on Sunday. CNN's Sports Anchor

and indeed, Former Falcons Defender Coy Wire joining me. How are you feeling about it, Coy?

COY WIRE, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: Well, I'm in a bit of a predicament here. I'm supposed to be an unbiased journalist. I used to play for them.

FOSTER: We --

WIRE: I'll do my best, Max. Look, these Falcons it's do or die time. They say, the games they remember, are played in December, and that's because

it's all on the line. They have to win this and their final game to make the playoffs. And they can absolutely do the problem is the Washington

commanders are led by this standout rookie quarterback that has just been absolutely tearing it up there on a three-game win streak.

And now the Falcons have turned from their 100-million-dollar man Kirk cousins to their own rookie quarterback in Michael Penix. So, we're going

to get this duel of these young gunslingers out there trying to push their teams into the postseason. That's what it's all about. We'll talk about

that last night's, Thursday night football game -- Lewis Hamilton conversation coming up, Max.

FOSTER: Intriguing. We'll be watching to see after the break. Thanks, Coy.

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[09:45:00]

(WORLD SPORT)

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