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Trump Urges U.S. Supreme Court To Pause TikTok; U.S. Official Says, Russia May Have Mistaken Downed Jet For Ukrainian Drone; Safety Concerns After Another Stowaway Caught On Delta Flight; Trump Urges U.S. Supreme Court To Pause TikTok Ban; Mega Millions Jackpot Climbs To Fight Largest At $1.22 Billion. Aired 6-7p ET

Aired December 27, 2024 - 18:00   ET

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

WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: Happening now, breaking news, President-elect Donald Trump is now urging the United States Supreme Court to pause a controversial ban on TikTok that's set to take effect next month.

[18:00:05]

Standby for details on the brief that was just filed with the court and the possible legal and political ramifications.

We're also following breaking news on the deadly crash of an Azerbaijan Airlines passenger jet, a U.S. official now pointing to signs that Russian anti-aircraft defenses may have downed the jet after mistaking it for a Ukrainian drone.

Plus, major concerns right now about airline safety here in the United States after another stowaway is caught on a Delta flight this holiday season. How did the culprits sneak on the plane without a ticket?

Welcome to our viewers here in the United States and around the world. I'm Wolf Blitzer. You're in The Situation Room.

Let's get right to the breaking news, President-elect Trump weighing in on one of the most significant cases before the U.S. Supreme Court right now involving a ban on a very, very popular social media site, TikTok.

CNN's Alayna Treene is near Mar-a-Lago, down in Florida, covering it all for us. Alayna, tell us about the brief that Trump just filed with the high court.

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN REPORTER: That's right. So, this is breaking news, what we've heard from President-elect Donald Trump, who is now urging the Supreme Court to put a pause on this controversial ban on TikTok that is set to take effect next month. He's arguing in this legal brief that such a pause would allow his incoming administration to try to find some sort of negotiated resolution with TikTok.

Now, all of this relates to a new law that Congress approved earlier this year. Biden signed it into law that would effectively put a ban on TikTok come January 19th if TikTok does not divest from its Chinese owner, if they do not sell the company to a non-Chinese owner. And this has caused, of course, a lot of controversy, and now it's before the Supreme Court.

Now, what the Supreme Court has before it, the decision that they are weighing, is essentially whether or not this ban would violate First Amendment rights.

Now, Donald Trump, in his legal brief today, did not go into whether or not, you know, this I don't know if this violates First Amendment rights or what his opinion on that is, but this is what he did say in this brief. He said, quote, he suggested that the court should pause this to allow his incoming administration to pursue a negotiated resolution that could prevent a nationwide shutdown of TikTok, thus preserving the First Amendment rights of tens of millions of Americans, while also addressing the government's national security concerns.

Now, to be clear, Wolf, Donald Trump has kind of given mixed messaging on his view of all of this regarding TikTok in the past. We know that when he was first in office during his first administration, he had supported a ban on TikTok. He was very concerned about China's influence on young people in this country and its influence through the app.

However, throughout the last several months on the campaign trail, Donald Trump kind of started to say that he wasn't so sure if a ban was the right move. And then we also heard him in a press conference earlier this month, essentially say that he was warming to TikTok because many young people voted for him who used the app. I want you to take a listen to how he phrased that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT ELECT: We'll take a look at TikTok. You know, I have a warm spot in my heart for TikTok because I won youth by 34 points. And there are those that say that TikTok has something to do with that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TREENE: Now, Wolf, notably after he had made those comments at Mar-a- Lago just hours after that, he had met with TikTok CEO Shou Chew, excuse me, at Mar-a-Lago as well. And we know as well, that exact same day, TikTok had also filed this lawsuit with the Supreme Court asking them to put a pause on the ban, all to say it's very unclear what is going to happen from here. But Donald Trump is officially weighing in now asking for this ban to be paused so that his administration can take a deeper look at it.

BLITZER: We'll take a look and see what the Supreme Court decides.

Alayna, I know you're also following the backlash within Trump supporters in the MAGA movement against Elon Musk. Give us the latest.

TREENE: That's right. We're really seeing this divide kind of forming around many of Donald Trump's most fervent supporters. You have on one side, you know, some of Donald Trump's most loyal part people in the MAGA movement who really have been attracted to him in many cases for his hardline immigration views. But then you also have some of these, you know, Silicon Valley latecomers who support Donald Trump but also rely on H-1B visas and high skilled foreign workers to work at their businesses.

And we kind of saw this all play out this week with a series of posts from Elon Musk on X, where he was set essentially calling and defending H-1B visas and calling for more high skilled workers into this country, high skilled foreign workers, I should say. And then we also heard from Vivek Ramaswamy, who will be leading alongside Elon Musk, Donald Trump's new Department of Government Efficiency Initiative.

[18:05:07]

I want to read for you some of what Ramaswamy said, because this really sparked a lot of backlash from far right pundits, like Laura Loomer and Ann Coulter. I'm going to read for you what he said. He said, quote, our American culture has venerated mediocrity over excellence for way too long. A culture that venerates Cory from Boy Meets World or Zack and Slater over Screech and Saved by the Bell or Stefan over Steve Urkel in Family Matters will not produce the best engineers.

Now, part of the reason I think this has, you know, really struck a nerve among many of Donald Trump's supporters is because we've seen people, including people like his former U.N. ambassador and primary rival, Nikki Haley, argue that Americans should be able to have these jobs first. They should be the ones who are prioritized.

Now, one person we have not heard from in all of this, Wolf, is Donald Trump, who himself has kind of been ambiguous on this issue. We know during his first term, he saw a decline in H-1B visas, but now he's also been arguing that he does believe that immigrants who come to this country, attend the United States university, should be able to get a green card.

So, again, unclear where he stands on this, but it's definitely something he's going to have to address at some point, especially once he is in office. Wolf?

BLITZER: Yes, good point. Alayna Treene reporting for us, Alayna, thank you very much.

I want to bring in our political experts for some analysis. Jasmine Wright, I'm going to start with you. Is the president-elect's opinion on a law already passed by Congress signed into law by the sitting president, something the U.S. Supreme Court would even consider?

JASMINE WRIGHT, REPORTER, NOTUS: I mean, I think it's significant for him to weigh in. Of course, as Alayna said, he had kind of been closer to it, saying that he had warmed up to it. If you kind of look back in history, Wolf, his campaign first joined TikTok in June after his son, Don Jr., joined, and it was basically them arguing that they would not be willing to cede any ground to the then-Biden campaign on any of these platforms that reach more voters, which is potentially these young voters. And then his followership exploded on that app after he entered it.

And so I think him weighing in on this point is significant. I think it's the trajectory of what has happened is significant. And he says, he's warms up to it and then he meets with the TikTok CEO, and then he continued to kind of speak favorably of it, kind of winking and nodding that he may weigh in before he actually enters office.

So, it could be something that they consider particularly because this is a right-leaning court. But, again, we will just have to see, I think even if they move to ban it come January 19th, I think that we could also still see some -- a push from the then-Trump administration to change some of the rules because they do find it incredibly powerful to get out the message because of all the people that are on there and because of the following that the president-elect has.

BLITZER: You know, it's interesting, Lance Trover, that Trump long warned about the potential national security concerns of the Chinese Communist Party's connection with TikTok, but now he credits it with helping him win the election. So, is he putting his political benefit ahead national security concerns?

LANCE TROVER, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: Well, I don't think it's an unreasonable ask for the incoming president. And if you look, Donald Trump's a dealmaker, he's a consummate dealmaker if he believes he can come in and fix this. Look, there are a number of issues here. You have an app that affects millions and millions of Americans, people who make their careers and lives off of this app, but then you also have a national security concern and we have a First Amendment concern. And so there's no guarantee. of what the Supreme Court's going to do.

So, I don't think it's unreasonable to ask for this president to say, Hey, can I come in and broker a deal? I think the Supreme Court should at least give us some credence and some thought and maybe take him up on it.

BLITZER: Ashley Etienne's with us as well. Ashley, this ban passed with 352 votes in the House of Representatives and 79 votes in the U.S. Senate. So, what does it say that Trump is opposing a ban passed with this much bipartisan support?

ASHLEY ETIENNE, FORMER SENIOR ADVISER TO PRESIDENT BIDEN: I think you're absolutely right, Wolf. You know, that bill was supported in a bipartisan fashion, primarily because of the national security concerns from the intelligence committee, to the NSA at the White House. There's been a lot of concerns about China's influence on the American public and their control over this particular app.

So, I think it's going to ruffle some feathers of members of Congress, but the president has a prerogative to say, I want to put a pause on this and really dig a little deeper to determine whether or not I want to go down the same path.

What I find very interesting, though, is when it, when Donald Trump thinks that it doesn't work to his advantage, he wants to kill it, destroy it, get rid of it, right, like he thought it wasn't going to work to his advantage. Now, he has won young people. So, now he wants to reconsider. The CEO has shown up to his estate and has, you know, negotiated some deal, I'm sure of it, because Donald Trump is one who can be bought.

[18:10:01]

Everyone knows that. All around the world, we've been hearing that. So, I think this is very interesting. But I'm going to be curious to see how members of Congress react to where Donald Trump stands on this particular issue.

BLITZER: We will find out fairly soon.

Jasmine, I want to turn to the divided Trump world right now over these H-1B visas. Listen to what MAGA Firebrand Steve Bannon said about this H-1B issue earlier today. Watch this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEVE BANNON, FORMER TRUMP WHITE HOUSE STRATEGIST: We are not going to be some anarcho-libertarian, you know, big tech -- run by big tech oligarchs. That is not going to happen, okay? We haven't fought all these wars and haven't gotten here to give it over to a bunch of geeks that you would stuff and that they're all reacting and being stuffed in the locker in high school.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: What do you think? How do you see this MAGA divide that is now emerging playing out?

WRIGHT: Yes. Well, I think it's really interesting, Wolf, because to win the election in November, Donald Trump had to go beyond his base, folks who want to be more conservative on immigration, folks like Steve Bannon and others that have been with him since 2016 and before, and expanded to folks like the tech bros to be able to win both the Electoral College and the popular vote. And so it's not surprising that they're having these types of discussions within the party because the tech community thrives off of foreign workers, and it's something that kind of goes against the base of what at least folks in 2016 wanted the then president-elect to do and now president-elect again.

I think what's most notable is that we haven't heard from Trump, and we haven't heard from anyone that's directly on his staff, Elon and Vivek Ramaswamy, and I think that that is really the consummate question is when is Donald Trump going to weigh in and what does he believe? We obviously know that earlier this year, he sounded more favorable to at least letting some folks in who had gone to college. But, of course, it's a larger conversation going on.

And I would just say my last thing here, Wolf, is that it's not just going to be limited to immigration, but there are going to be conversations like this on criminal justice and other issues.

BLITZER: Lance, why do you think Trump has been silent about this, at least so far?

TROVER: Well, look, I think the severity of this is a tad overblown. This is a small disagreement amongst a larger policy issue in terms of immigration. And my guess is the Trump administration's number one priority will be exactly what the voters sent him to do. That's, A, get the border closed, B, get the illegal immigrants, particularly the criminal illegal immigrants who have spewed into this country over the last four years out, and, C, figure out overall what's going on with our immigration system. Who is coming in? Why are they here? How long are they staying? That to me is the top priority. Then we can figure out H-1B visas.

BLITZER: Ashley, what's your response to that?

ETIENNE: I mean, I fundamentally disagree with Lance. I mean, I think what this really demonstrates is a pattern that we've been seeing over the past few weeks, which is that it's Elon Musk that's in charge, not Donald Trump. I mean, Elon Musk is setting the debates, the terms of the debates from the shutdown to now he's establishing policy. You know, it's also one of those things that I think Trump's voters have to get adjusted to.

It's a classic Trump bait and switch. He said he was going to prioritize American workers. And now he's got senior advisers that are basically calling them mediocre. He's saying that they're not up to the task. So, this is going to be a part of. It's a problem that we're going to see going forward and it should be a concern for all of them. But it's going to be Democrats and his supporters that are going to have to hold him accountable to his word. He said he was going to invest in the American workers. Let's see if he actually does that.

BLITZER: We shall see. All right, guys, thank you very, very much.

Just ahead, there's breaking news on Russia's possible role in the deadly crash of a passenger plane. And we're also learning that Veteran Sportscaster Greg Gumbel has died. We have details just ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:15:00]

BLITZER: There's more breaking news right now. The sportscaster, Greg Gumbel, has sadly died of cancer at the age of 78.

I want to go to CNN's Veronica Miracle right now. What are you learning, Veronica?

VERONICA MIRACLE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, the legendary broadcaster's family has confirmed that news to CBS and Marcy and Michelle Gumbel said in a statement to CBS that, quote, it is with profound sadness that we share the passing of our beloved husband and father, Greg Gumbel. He passed away peacefully surrounded by much love after a courageous battle with cancer. Greg approached his illness like one would expect he would with stoicism, grace and positivity.

Gumbel spent 50 years as a sports broadcaster calling some of the most high-profile games for CBS News, including multiple Super Bowls, March Madness games. He was also the host of NFL Today, Sundays on CBS, and these are just a few examples from his very storied career. He also comes from a family of broadcasters. His brother is Bryant Gumbel from NBC's Today Show. And the president and CEO of CBS Sports, David Burson, also said in his statement, the CBS Sports family is devastated by the passing of Greg Gumbel. There have never been a finer gentleman in all of television. He was beloved and respected by those of us who had the honor to call him a friend and a colleague.

Gumbel died at the age of 78. Wolf?

BLITZER: So sad, indeed. Veronica Miracle, thank you very much for that update.

I want to discuss this sad news with the legendary sports commentator, Bob Costas, who's joining us on the phone right now. Bob, thanks very much.

I know you worked with him at one point in your career. What's your reaction when you found out that he has now passed?

BOB COSTAS, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Well, first of all, profound sadness. He was a colleague. I did not know him as well as many other people in the business did, but he was universally well-liked and respected. He was a very good broadcaster, also a genial man. In retrospect, he was missing from CBS' coverage of March Madness this past spring, which in the latter stages of his career, was kind of his signature event. And now, it's reasonable to assume that that absence, which was ascribed to, quote, family health issues, as they tried to keep it low key, had to do with his own health.

As a broadcaster, Greg was very versatile.

[18:20:01]

He could host. He could do play-by-play. He was involved in a wide variety of sports. He was the prime anchor of the Winter Olympics for CBS in 1994. And he anchored the NFL as well as college basketball. He did baseball. I worked with him on NBC Baseball in the mid-90s. And then he succeeded me as the host of the football coverage for a while on NBC in the 90s, just a very good at what he did.

Obviously, when people think of Greg, they think of his brother, Bryant Gumbel, and Bryant was a bit more of a boldfaced name, and that's no disrespect to Greg. Bryant's one of the most important people in television history because of the way he pioneered a certain kind of sports coverage and then picked it up later in his career with Real Sports with Brian Gumbel on HBO, which was the gold standard of broadcast sports journalism. And in the middle, he was a pioneer as the first African-American anchor of the Today Show.

So, naturally, Bryant's name was in the headlines more than Greg's, but Greg was, especially within the business, universally respected.

BLITZER: He certainly was. And I was one of his great, great fans. I've had the pleasure of meeting him on a few occasions at various sporting events. He was always so nice to me. I'm sure he was so nice to you, so nice to everyone. Give us your sense of lasting mark on the industry.

COSTAS: You know, maybe this is the way to put it, perhaps. There are some people in sports who get to the Hall of Fame by doing spectacular things. And then there are those who get to the Hall of Fame by being consistently very good or consistently excellent over a long period of time. He wasn't the guy who grabbed you by the lapels and shook you. But he was a presence, every time you saw him, you were happy that, in effect, he was in your living room.

It's very hard to find anyone that has a bad word to say about Greg Gumbel. He wasn't so far as I can remember ever controversial, but he was consistently excellent at his job.

BLITZER: Do you have a favorite memory, Bob?

COSTAS: You know, we both loved baseball. And if it's just a personal memory, he hosted the pregame shows around all star games that I did for NBC with Bob Bucher and Joe Morgan in the mid-90s. And I would think it'd be our shared love of baseball. He grew up around Chicago. He was born in New Orleans. He and Bryant and their family grew up around Chicago. So, he had a sense not only of baseball history but of the long suffering nature of it. This is before the Cubs broke through in 2016 and the White Sox had their ups and downs. So, he had a pretty good sense of how baseball can lift your spirits and also break your heart.

BLITZER: So, so sad indeed. Bob Costas, thank you very much for your thoughts. We appreciate it very much. And to Greg Gumbel's family and friends, our deepest, deepest condolences. May he rest in peace and may his memory be a blessing.

And we'll be right back with more news.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:25:00]

BLITZER: We're learning more about suspicions that Russia may be responsible for a deadly passenger plane crash. A U.S. official is zeroing in on the possibility that Russian air defenses shot down the jet, mistaking it for a Ukrainian drone.

Our Pentagon Correspondent Oren Liebermann is covering this breaking story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT (voice over): From the fiery wreckage, a key piece of the puzzle emerges. The second black box recovered from the crash of Azerbaijan Airlines J28243. Authorities now have two key pieces of information, the instrument readings and the cockpit voice recording.

MAJ. MIKE LYONS (RET.), U.S. ARMY: I do think that will show that the pilots will say that they were hit with something that came out of nowhere, likely air defense systems and the pilots' miraculous were able to save some of the passengers there.

LIEBERMANN: On board the doomed jet, this passenger prayed for that miracle, recording this video in the flight's final moments. At least 38 of the 67 people on board the flight died in the crash. This man was one of the survivors.

SUBHONKUL RAKHIMOV, PLANE CRASH SURVIVOR: I started saying words. I started to remember the Almighty. I thought that those were probably my last words, so I thought I need to get ready for a meeting with the Almighty.

LIEBERMANN: The airline says an early investigation shows the jet that crashed on Christmas Day experienced what they called physical and technical external interference, though the cause of the crash has not been confirmed. Potential evidence of the interference visible even after the crash withholds peppering the remains of the fuselage. A U.S. official says the early indication is that a Russian air defense system struck and downed the passenger jet.

In the hours before the crash, Russia's air defenses in the region were active, trying to repel a long-range Ukrainian drone attack. The U.S. official says Russian air defense units potentially misidentified the commercial airliner believing it was an attack drone instead of a passenger jet. That confusion may have proven deadly.

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN AVIATION ANALYST: In this case, the aircraft had what we call a missed approach, which means it would have had a deviation from the norm. And so the aircraft would have been in a place that they would not have expected it. And in a hair trigger environment, that could have led to what you saw.

LIEBERMANN: The debris from the crash littered a field, the blue cloths each covering a body. The search for evidence now running together with the hunt for answers.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LIEBERMANN (on camera): There is a multinational investigation into the cause of this crash, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, and Russia. The U.S. has said they're ready and willing to assist in the investigation. But so far, it doesn't look like they've taken the U.S. up on that offer of assistance.

Wolf, given how quickly the Russians came out and said this may have been bird strikes, an explanation that was fairly quickly dismissed as virtually impossible, it's worth watching this space to see if Russia recants that explanation and/or assumes any responsibility here.

BLITZER: Our Pentagon Correspondent Oren Liebermann, thank you very much.

[18:30:00]

Joining us now, the former U.S. defense secretary, Leon Panetta, who also served as CIA director. Mr. Secretary, thanks for joining us.

If it does turn out that Russia did mistakenly shoot this passenger plane down, what does that reveal about the way the Kremlin is conducting its war against Ukraine?

LEON PANETTA, FORMER DEFENSE SECRETARY: Well, it's very typical for the Russians when they get engaged this way to oftentimes be careless about the targets they go after. When you look at all the preliminary evidence here, I don't think there's any question, but that the Russians used some kind of air defense system that brought down that airliner. Look at the area where this took place. The Russians had been going after drones in that area. The night before, they brought down something like 59 drones. So, they clearly were using systems in that area.

Secondly, the people on the plane heard the explosion outside the plane before shrapnel started going through the body of that plane, which is very typical of air defense missiles and how they're used. And lastly, the evidence on that fuselage is pretty damning because those holes were caused by shrapnel or by munitions of some kind. They certainly weren't caused by a bird strike.

So, we'll wait for a formal investigation, but I think it's pretty clear that the Russians here were responsible for what happened to that airline.

BLITZER: I think that's emerging as a consensus right now. Mr. Secretary, do you see any prospect, big picture, for an end to Russia's war against Ukraine as Trump gets ready to take office? What are you anticipating in terms of his relationship, Trump's relationship, with Putin?

PANETTA: I think it's very important that that President Trump understand that Putin is not just going to simply sit down and negotiate without knowing what kind of deal he's going to get. Putin's going to continue to fight. Putin understands force. And for that reason, it's very important for President Trump, the United States, our NATO allies to continue to provide support to Ukraine so that they can gain an initiative against the Russians. Why? Because it will give Ukraine leverage in order to go into negotiations.

So, it's critical, I think, that the new president understand that we're at a point where if we remain consistent, if we continue to support Ukraine, that creates a better chance or some kind of fruitful negotiations resulting in some kind of resolution.

BLITZER: Mr. Secretary, William Webster, a man you know, the only person to lead both the FBI and the CIA, is raising serious objections right now over whether Kash Patel and Tulsi Gabbard are qualified to join Trump's national security cabinet, writing, and I'm quoting him now, I urge you to weigh the critical importance of nonpartisan leadership and experience. The safety of the American people and your own families depends on it. Do you agree with him? What do you think?

PANETTA: Well, look, you know, my view on this is that you should select individuals for these very important posts not just on loyalty. I mean, loyalty is important. No question about it. But you also want to look at their experience. You also want to look at their knowledge of that institution. And you also want to look at their judgment and whether they have the right judgment.

I hope that the United States Senate exercises its responsibility to really look carefully at none and a few of these candidates where questions have been raised. Look at the background checks that the FBI are providing, but more importantly ask them the questions that relate to whether or not they have the experience and judgment to do a good job. I'm concerned, obviously, from what I see about these candidates, but I'm willing to have the Senate proceed with advice and consent and do it responsibly so that the American people are protected and we get the right people in the right jobs.

BLITZER: Good points. Leon Panetta, as usual, thank you very, very much for joining us.

And just ahead, a second stowaway and a Delta flight in just weeks, the passenger got through airport security and on to a plane without, I repeat, without a ticket. How it all unfolded, that's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:35:00]

BLITZER: Major questions tonight about airport safety here in the United States after a second stowaway was found on a Delta flight in just a matter of a few weeks. The TSA says an unticketed passenger went through airport security without a ticket, and then managed to board a plane, again, without a ticket, on Christmas Eve.

CNN's Carlos Suarez investigates this latest airport blunder.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CARLOS SUAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): A stowaway discovered again hiding on an airplane just moments before takeoff on Christmas Eve in Seattle. The unidentified individual cleared a standard security screening the night before the flight, getting past checks for identification and flight information without a boarding pass, an airport spokesperson tells CNN.

The following afternoon, they were able to board the Delta flight still without a boarding pass.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He must have been a sweet talker Betty Crocker because I couldn't imagine how you could ever do that.

SUAREZ: When the person was discovered on board, the plane returned to the gate to remove them.

[18:40:03]

According to the airport spokesperson, the suspect then, quote, ran out of the plane before police arrived and hid in a bathroom in the airport terminal. Port of Seattle Police used video surveillance cameras to find and arrest the suspect.

BRADY BLY, PASSENGER ON DELTA FLIGHT 487 WITH STOWAWAY: Nobody knew really what was going on, so we were kind of left in the dark.

SUAREZ: All passengers on board were deplaned and re screened by TSA, delaying the flight for nearly 2.5 hours.

BLY: This leaves you to wonder the worst. You're stuck on the plane and, you know, what if there was explosives or something.

SUAREZ: The incident elevating security concerns during one of the busiest seasons for travel.

O'BRIEN: I understand that the Transportation Security Authority agents are besieged, but these are the areas where the system is, you know, blinking red.

SUAREZ: So far, officials from the TSA, the Port of Seattle, and Delta representatives have not explained how this person was able to bypass so many layers of security. Delta apologized to delayed passengers in a statement saying, quote, there are no matters more important than safety and security. The TSA said it takes such incidents seriously and, quote, will independently review the circumstances of this incident.

O'BRIEN: I think the responsibility for the stowaway events so far has been sort of joint between the TSA for letting these individuals pass their I.D. checkpoints and the airline, in this case, Delta, for not being vigilant enough at the doorway to that jet way.

SUAREZ: It's the second time in weeks that a passenger boarded a Delta flight without a ticket.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Folks, this is the captain. We're just waiting for the police to come on board.

SUAREZ: Just before Thanksgiving, a woman snuck onto a Delta flight from New York's JFK Airport to Paris. It took three attempts to get her back to the U.S. to face charges.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SUAREZ (on camera): And, Wolf, there is still so much we do not know about what happened, including just how long this unticketed passenger spent inside of that terminal before boarding that flight.

Now, the TSA tells us that this passenger did not have any prohibited items and we're told again that this person was arrested on a criminal trespassing charge. And, Wolf, as of right now, authorities have not released the passenger's name.

BLITZER: All right. Carlos Suarez reporting for us from the Atlanta airport, thank you very much.

Joining us now to discuss what's going on, the former D.C. chief of Homeland Security and Intelligence, Donell Harvin. Donell, thanks very much for joining us.

Do these stowaways expose major weaknesses in airport security?

DONELL HARVIN, FORMER D.C. CHIEF OF HOMELAND SECURITY AND INTELLIGENCE: They do, but I think this is also a good opportunity to talk about the good work that TSA does. In 2023, they screened 850 million people in one year. That's about 2.4 million people in a day. It is a zero failure mission, unfortunately. And back in 2015, an undercover investigation found that they had failed 95 percent of what we call penetration testing to find and detect prohibited items. That means that only 5 percent of the time they actually found items that were going through.

That number increased a little bit better in 2017, went down to 70 percent. There's still a lot of work to be done. And, unfortunately, TSA does not publish their failure rate. So, this is a concern.

BLITZER: What's concerning to me is how does someone get through TSA security without a ticket? Don't they have to show a ticket first?

HARVIN: You and I do, as much as we fly. We know that you have to show a ticket and usually a form of a government-issued I.D.

You know, you can take this both ways. It's really concerning this person was able to get all the way through those security measures and board a plane. But the good thing is that the last line of security, which are those flight attendants who were actually just doing a head count, detected this.

Now, it shouldn't get to that point, right? But, certainly, there was some diligence on the flight crew and they turned around this plane. But, you know, it really reveals, as you've mentioned as the lead in room talks about, that there's multiple levels of security that failed in this instance and in the previous incidents.

BLITZER: Do we need a post like post 9/11-style overhaul in the way we fly? What do you think, Donell?

HARVIN: I think we deserve it, right? So, we've had TSA for about two decades. I mentioned the failure rate that was exposed in 2015. The GAO, the Government Accountability Office, has mentioned in multiple reports that the TSA is failing their mission writ large. Congress has talked about this. I think the public deserves it.

There's one thing that we deserve to have post-9/11 is to be on a plane and feel safe that we're going to get to our destination without incident. And these two incidents, these recent incidents, really draw light to some of the things that many passengers are scared of.

You know, there are people who are not supposed to be on planes, and they're on a list called no-fly list.

[18:45:04]

And, you know, if they're sitting at home watching this, they may try to take a stab at trying to get on a plane without a ticket, without getting vetted. And this is a concern. So yes, I think Congress and the administration need to look at this closely in 20 --

BLITZER: They have to find out what happened to make sure it never happens again.

Donell Harvin, thank you very much for your expertise.

Coming up, Democrats will be in the minority in both the House and the Senate next month. How are they going to work with President-elect Trump? We'll ask a high ranking Democrat about the path forward. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: We're getting new reaction to the breaking news. President- elect Trump now urging the U.S. Supreme Court to pause the controversial ban on TikTok that's set to take effect next month.

Joining us now, Representative Debbie Dingell, Democrat of Michigan.

Representative, thanks so much for joining us.

Like so many other members of the House and Senate, you voted in favor of this TikTok ban.

What's your reaction to Trump now urging the Supreme Court to pause this law?

REP. DEBBIE DINGELL (D-MI): So, you know, this was a very difficult vote for me, Wolf. And it is national security versus the millions and millions of users that we have in this country. But the fact of the matter is, is that a significant majority of both the House and Senate, in a very bipartisan way, voted for this because of the briefings that we got.

[18:50:05]

And we have a responsibility -- yes, I understand that young people voted for Donald Trump and that they used it, Twitter. And that may be one of the reasons he's looking at this. But they also don't understand how much of their information is being tracked, how it could be used in the future, et cetera. So the Supreme Court needs to make its findings on a constitutional basis. The presidents got a right to express his opinion, and I hope the Supreme Court makes its findings based on the law that was passed in the Constitution.

BLITZER: Amidst all of this, Congresswoman, parts of President Trump's MAGA base are now fighting bitterly with each other over this H-1B visa issue for foreign workers wanting to stay here in the United States.

Do you see this divide as a sign, potentially, of future conflicts?

DINGELL: I think it's most definitively a sign of future conflicts within the Republican Party. They're finding immigration reform is a very difficult issue. And while Elon Musk is concerned about Silicon Valley and technology, we have a lot of farmers. We have a lot of small businesses that also are looking at these kinds of issues.

We need to make sure were investing in the American worker. We're doing the kind of training, investing in the training that we need to be doing. We need engineers in this country. We need those skilled trades, but there's also a need for workers.

I think we all agree that we want the criminals to be deported. But immigration, there's a reason we have not had comprehensive immigration reform for decades with Republican and Democratic presidents. It's tough and we're seeing it play out again right now.

BLITZER: Do you think there's a political opportunity here for Democrats, Congresswoman, to try and win back some of the working class and union voters who've drifted towards the GOP?

DINGELL: Look, we you know, that I'm someone that said that Donald Trump was going to win in 2016 because he was losing those union halls. We as Democrats do a lousy job at times, just talking to the working men and women of this country.

They're, you know, I said it this fall, I told you when I -- Kamala Harris had won Michigan yet, I go in that grocery store every week. I talk to the people buying eggs. The cost of a dozen eggs is high and worrying people.

We got to do a better job of just talking to working men and women about the issues that matter to them every single day. So we did a bad job of that. I think Donald Trump talked about a lot of issues. He did it on trade in 2016, but he's going to have a hard time delivering. And Democrats better learn that. We better do a better job of talking to them about the issues that matter, and maybe we can all work together to solve some of those problems.

BLITZER: Democrats, as you well know, will completely be out of power in Washington next month. The Republicans will be the majority in the House, the Senate, and clearly will control the White House as well. How do you think your party should navigate this upcoming new reality?

DINGELL: Well, particularly in the House, though, the Senate is closer than many people realize. But we're talking about 1 or 2 votes is going to be what makes a difference. So it's going to be a need for people to work together.

Look, I agree with Donald Trump on some issues. I'm probably one of those, you know, when people talk about tariffs, I don't think you want across the board tariffs. But I think tariffs are a tool in a toolbox. And we've got to work together on trade.

I did with Donald Trump on NAFTA, which was a poorly written bill that needed to be rewritten. It was bad trade policy and took Democrats too long to acknowledge it or work on it.

But if he's going to do things that are going to hurt the people of my district and the people of my state, another place that's very complicated is the auto industry. And how do we protect the domestic auto industry? How do we compete in a global marketplace? We all have to work together on these issues and recognize some of them are very complex.

But if he does things that are going to hurt the people in my district, in the industries, in my company, I'm going to work very hard to protect them.

BLITZER: Democratic Congresswoman Debbie Dingell of Michigan, thanks so much for joining us.

And coming up, we're just a few hours away from the next Mega Millions jackpot drawing, and this one is enormous. We're going to tell you how big the pot is and what your chances of winning are.

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BLITZER: All right. If you happen to pull the winning numbers on the Mega Millions jackpot tonight, get this, you'll be 1.2 billion with a B billion dollars richer. If won, it would mark the fifth largest jackpot ever.

CNN's Marybel Gonzalez is in California for us.

Marybel, how much anticipation are you seeing where you are, first of all?

MARYBEL GONZALEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, good evening, Wolf.

Tons of anticipation and that only growing right along with that jackpot.

As you mentioned, that prize now up to a massive $1.22 billion. Like you said, with a B, it's difficult to even say, right? And this after no one won during Christmas Eve's drawing. And in fact, no one has won in the past 100 days. Only three people have done so, so far this year.

Now here in Altadena, like in many other parts of the country, people going in and out, grabbing those last minute tickets, this place here, Joe's Service Center, considered lucky amongst the locals because two years ago, they sold a winning Powerball ticket valued at over $2 billion in prize money.

We spoke to one woman who says she traveled miles to buy a ticket from this place, especially after buying $600 in tickets. Previously, those to give away to her family during the Christmas holiday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHRISTINA LOPEZ, LOTTERY TICKET BUYER: I came all the way from Glendale, so I had to do it. I had to do it, you know, because why not? I mean, it's once in a lifetime no matter what. If I do win, boy oh boy, what a day, what a day.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GONZALEZ: What a day. Indeed. And the odds of winning are slim, even though this jackpot is so big. In fact, it's one in -- ready for this? -- 302,575,350. And just to put that into context, Wolf, you have a higher chance of winning the U.S. presidency or becoming a movie star.

But, you know, someone's got to fill those shoes. Someone's got to eventually win. And tonight people are hoping that it's them.

BLITZER: We'll see if someone wins tonight.

Marybel Gonzalez, thank you very, very much.

And to our viewers, thanks very much for watching. I'm Wolf Blitzer in THE SITUATION ROOM. I hope everyone has a very, very happy new year.

"ERIN BURNETT OUTFRONT" starts right now.