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President-Elect Trump, Along With 50 Other World Leaders, Visit Paris At Invitation Of French President Emmanuel Macron To Attend Reopening Of Notre Dame Cathedral; President-Elect Trump And French President Macron Meet With Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy; South Korea's President Survives Impeachment Vote Days After Declaring Martial Law; Authorities Continue Manhunt For Killer of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson In New York City; Friends And Family Hold Vigils For Two Kindergartners Shot At Their School In Northern California. Aired 2-3p ET

Aired December 07, 2024 - 14:00   ET

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

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[14:00:00]

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN HOST: Hello everyone. Thanks for joining me. I'm Alisyn Camerota in for Fredricka Whitfield.

We want to bring you live to Paris where the long awaited grand reopening of the Notre Dame Cathedral is underway. President-elect Trump is among the global leaders and dignitaries attending this very celebratory event. Earlier Trump met with French President Emmanuel Macron and Ukrainian President Zelenskyy at the Elysee Palace. So today's triumphant reopening comes more than five years after the iconic cathedral was ravaged by a devastating fire. Many thought it would never be rebuilt.

CNN's Melissa Bell is outside. It's a cold and rainy Notre Dame, French day outside of Notre Dame there, but set the scene inside and out for us.

MELISSA BELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, what we saw with this incredibly moving ceremony, as you say, all of those many dignitaries inside, a reminder of what this cathedral means to the world, as is the fact, Alisyn, that it is 340,000 donors from 150 countries that have contributed to this restoration. In fact, what we just saw a short while ago on the front of the cathedral were in big lights, "Merci", "Thank you," in many different languages in the world.

What we saw it kick off with was the archbishop of Paris, once all the dignitaries, those 50 heads of state, were gathered inside, knock with his staff three times on the grand doors that they could be opened. The choir replying to him. We also saw in another very moving moment, once the organ had been brought back to life and the choir once again was filling Notre Dame with its song, was the very many firemen and women who'd taken part in trying to save as much of Notre Dame as they could on that fateful night of April 2019, thanked, as were many hundreds of those men and women who took part in her restoration. They were applauded as they made their way through the church. Now this opening ceremony now shortly to wrap up the actual first mass

will only take place tomorrow, but clearly a great deal of emotion here tonight, Alisyn, at Notre Dame, not only inside for those fortunate enough to be part of those very moving moments that we had in song and prayer and chanting, but also outside. There are thousands of people lining the banks of the river Seine and dealing with this weather just to get a glimpse, or to get a moment to hear what's happening inside.

This was a fire that really impacted the world, and its reopening, and this was the plan, I think that this organization of this ceremony should have been so grand that its reopening should speak to the world as well, Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: Melissa, it's beautiful to watch. But of course, there are two things going on at the same time. Theres the pageantry that we're seeing on our screen, and then there's the politics. So tell us about these meetings between President-elect Trump and President Macron and President Zelenskyy.

BELL: That's right. We understand that it was with a certain alacrity that President-elect Donald Trump agreed, accepted this invitation extended by President Macron to these 50 odd heads of state. Remember, he'd been in office at the time, had immediately tweeted about needing to do everything that could be done to save Notre Dame and apparently holds it dear to his heart.

But what we hadn't known until they got to the Elysee Palace was whether President-elect Donald Trump would actually meet with President Zelenskyy, the Ukrainian president. They did. The three leaders with Emmanuel Macron had a half-hour long meeting. We understand from President Zelenskyy that it was a positive meeting.

It was certainly, in its timing, Alisyn, an important meeting. We heard from President Zelenskyy only yesterday in an interview that he gave to British media, the closest he's come so far to acknowledging the possibility that he might have to relinquish those parts of Ukraine already in Russian hands. And so it was a meeting between these three men, even as the world begins to look ahead to the next Donald Trump term in which it is expected, not least by President Zelenskyy, who spoke of the end yesterday of the hot phase of the Ukrainian war, that negotiations will start to figure out what kind of solution can be found to bring the war to an end, Alisyn.

[14:05:07]

CAMEROTA: OK. Melissa bell, thank you very much for being there for us. It is beautiful to see.

All right, new today, South Korea's president surviving an impeachment vote days after his stunning move to declare martial law, though most of the lawmakers from the ruling party walked out of parliament and boycotted the vote. CNN's Ivan Watson was among the crowds of protesters as it happened.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE) IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It's pretty chaotic right now here in the halls of the National Assembly. The crowd is chanting "Impeach Yoon Suk Yeol!" the president of the country. An impeachment vote was supposed to take place. We're now hearing that the president's party, their lawmakers, left the chambers and were abstained from participating in the impeachment vote, which could be a reason for the anger that we're seeing exhibited here by people holding up signs accusing the president of insurrection when he declared short lived martial law earlier this week.

Why do you want to impeach President Yoon?

KIM JOON-HYUNG, NATIONAL ASSEMBLY MEMBER, REBUILDING KOREA PARTY: Because he did it, he violated the constitution, because, you know, he actually, you know, this martial law, declaration of martial law is not the conditions, constitutional conditions are not met. But he did it for gaining of his political power. And we almost lost the last resort of democracy.

WATSON: Who is leading Korea today?

JOON-HYUNG: That's the problem. Officially, he is still president, but he has no power or no governability. Then if he resigns or impeached, somebody will at least acting president or acting leadership. Now, exactly what you're saying is right. It's the absence of leadership here.

WATSON: Tonight's impeachment has failed. The conservative party abstained, and there weren't enough votes to oust the president. The opposition is vowing to hold another impeachment vote possibly as early as next week.

But President Yoon is not out of hot water politically. Come look out here. Beyond these demonstrators, in the distance there, at the entrance to the National Assembly compound, police say tens of thousands of demonstrators have protested peacefully on a freezing cold night in Seoul. The president has very low approval ratings, and more than 70 percent of Koreans polled are in favor of impeachment. Meanwhile, the president's own ruling party, its leadership, has said that there's no way he can finish his term in office. This political crisis in Korea is far from over.

Ivan Watson CNN, Seoul.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

CAMEROTA: Back here, the FBI is asking for the public's help in identifying the man suspected of fatally shooting UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson. Police released this poster offering a $50,000 reward for information leading to his arrest and conviction. Police in New York are digging through what they call a, quote, huge amount of evidence as the manhunt for the gunman enters its fourth day.

CNN national correspondent Gloria Pazmino joins us now from outside the bus station in New York. So what's the latest with the investigation? GLORIA PAZMINO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Alisyn, what's clear now is

that this manhunt is more than likely extending far beyond New York City, because now we know that police have video evidence showing that the suspect entered the bus terminal here behind me but then was never seen leaving the terminal. So they're working under the assumption that he made his way out of town on a bus that he took right here at the bus station behind me.

Now, police, as you said, have been combing through several pieces of evidence. But another thing that's become incredibly clear this morning is just how quickly all of this happened. From the moment that the gunman opened fire, killing the CEO of UnitedHealthcare, Brian Thompson, to the moment that he got here to this bus terminal, it all happened in less than an hour. He opened fire. He killed the United CEO. He took a cab, drove through. He got on a bike. He rode through Central Park. He ditched his backpack. Then he got into a cab and he rode up here. All of that happened in less than an hour. So by the time police were responding to this crime scene in the first place, he was already making progress getting out of New York City.

[14:10:00]

Now let's talk about the evidence that they do have so far. As you said, they have recovered a backpack that was left behind in Central Park, believed to belong to the suspect. They are processing that evidence at the crime lab for the NYPD. They're also looking at DNA evidence they were able to collect from a bottle that was left behind. They believe this bottle was purchased by the suspect at a nearby Starbucks not far from the crime scene.

And then, of course, we have what police here have referred to as the money shot. That is the photo of the suspect where you see him briefly bringing down his face mask. He flashed -- his face mask, he flashes a smile, and we can for a moment see what his face looks like. That is the biggest piece of evidence so far.

But still, considering we can now see what he looks like, we have yet to learn what the identity of this person is. That is the biggest clue that remains outstanding. The murder weapon has not been found. The bicycle has not been found. And of course, police are working to try and identify just where he might have gone after he likely boarded a bus at this terminal here behind me.

I've been walking around the neighborhood, Alisyn. A lot of cameras not only at this bus terminal, which of course, is monitored by the port authority, by the port authority which controls the terminal, but of course, all these businesses in the surrounding area, residential buildings, all of them have video cameras, likely much of what police are combing through to be able to piece together every single footstep. Alisyn?

CAMEROTA: OK, Gloria Pazmino, thank you very much. Come back to us with any breaking information.

Up next, a California community comes together as two kindergarten students fight for their lives after being shot at school. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:16:29]

CAMEROTA: A community unites for two kindergartners who were shot at their school in northern California. Friends and family held a vigil last night for the five and six-year-old boys who underwent surgery and remain in critical condition. CNN's Camila Bernal joins us now. Camila, this is awful. What do we know?

CAMILA BERNAL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It really is, Alisyn. And it was such an emotional weekend in Oroville and in Butte County as this community came together to pray for these two boys, and not only pray for the boys, but also pray for everyone involved and everyone impacted by this shooting, because you have a church, you have a school, you have teachers, students, a lot of people who feel like they were impacted. So you see people there, they were crying. They were holding hands doing everything they could to put these two boys in their prayers.

And the aunt of one of the boys is speaking out, saying that they do need those prayers and saying that this was a miracle, and also that her nephew's childhood is essentially changed forever. Take a listen to how she described it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TAWNEE PREISNER, NEPHEW WOUNDED IN CALIFORNIA SCHOOL SHOOTING: He did wake up a little bit and was able to communicate with his dad. And he was he was making the sign of like a gun and trying to tap his dads arm like, I got shot. So it's just really, really devastating for kids to go through this.

It's a wonder he's alive, and it's a miracle.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERNAL: It's hard to hear that from this family member. This was a five-year-old, a six-year-old. Both of them still in critical but stable condition. The sheriff even saying that this is a long road ahead for these two boys, saying there are many surgeries coming. And so it will be difficult for the boys and really for their families. I mean, this is a life changing event.

In terms of the shooter we know he was found dead at the scene with a self-inflicted gunshot. And we also know that the FBI is investigating and getting involved in this and trying to figure out specifically why he targeted that Christian school. We know that he had a long criminal record. He had a history of mental illnesses. And so they are looking into his past and what he had in relation to this school in particular.

They also say that this shooter went into the school saying that he wanted to enroll a family member in the school, but authorities now saying that was a lie and essentially his way of getting into the school, getting access to that school. The children, they were on their noon break, and it was as they were

coming back into the classrooms that this shooting started. Authorities were there within two minutes after the call, but of course, when they got there, they had to take care of these two boys that had been injured. The rest of the students, they were sent to a nearby church to be reunited with their parents. That was also a very emotional, very difficult time for those parents reuniting with their children.

And it is also really sad to point out that this is not uncommon anymore. In the U.S., at least 78 school shootings have been reported this year, and guns are the leading cause of death for children in the U.S. So two very stark, very somber statistics when it comes to these school shootings, Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: Yes, it's important to remember those stunning statistics, and to pray for those little boys and their recovery. Camila Bernal, thank you.

BERNAL: Thank you.

CAMEROTA: Major developments by the hour in Syria. Rebel forces are on the outskirts of Damascus. Where is Bashar al-Assad? We have a live report next.

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CAMEROTA: We're following breaking international news. Sources tell CNN that Syrian president Bashar al-Assad is nowhere to be found in the capital of Damascus as rebel forces move closer to that city. Earlier today, Assad's government issued a statement saying Assad had not left Damascus.

Video appears to show regime forces leaving the neighborhood close to the presidential palace. The rebels say they are now at the gates of the city.

CNN's Julia Benbrook is live at the White House. Julia, does the Biden administration think the Assad regime could fall?

JULIA BENBROOK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We're learning new details about how long the Biden administration thinks Bashar al-Assad can hold on to power.

[14:25:03]

Watching the remarkable speed of the Syrian rebel advance, Biden administration officials are growing increasingly sure, increasingly aware that the regime could fall within days. That's according to five U.S. officials who have spoken with CNN. And if that American analysis proves true, it would be a spectacularly fast fall from power for the Syrian dictator after a 14-year war that has remained relatively stagnant until this last week. Now, officials caution that there is no formal assessment being shared

here, and that opinions do vary. But one U.S. official tells our team, quote, "The emerging consensus is that is an increasingly plausible scenario." The Biden administration appeared caught off guard by the speed of the rebel advance that was launched last week, leaving a fragile shell of an army to defend the president and Damascus.

Now, this is, of course, a very complicated situation. The group leading the Syrian rebel advance, HTS, is a group categorized as a terrorist organization by the United States. While speaking with CNN last weekend, National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan highlighted how complicated that situation is, while emphasizing that the United States is of course, watching this closely. He said, quote, "We have real concerns about the designs and objectives of that organization. At the same time, of course, we don't cry at the fact that the Assad government, backed by Russia, Iran, and Hezbollah, are facing certain kinds of pressure."

Now, one of the U.S. officials said that the Pentagon, which has about 900 troops in Syria, is not changing force posture at this time. They're watching how things play out and taking additional force protection measures. Alisyn?

CAMEROTA: Julia Benbrook, it certainly is complicated. Thank you for explaining all of that.

It's been a week since rebels swept through Aleppo, and CNN's Jomana Karadsheh was among the first western journalists to enter the city after it was taken from the Assad regime and got reaction from the people there.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOMANA KARADSHEH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We are in Aleppo's old city, here by its historic, iconic citadel. And it's really surreal being in Syria's second city, just days after that lightning offensive by rebel forces, where they managed to capture the city in a matter of days. And you look around here, and it seems like business as usual.

Imam Ahmed never left Aleppo, and she says their homes were destroyed. Her children are in Turkey, and she hasn't seen them in years. And she's hoping, now that the city has changed hands, that this means that she could see her children again.

Abdo was in Idlib. He's been there since the start of the war. And this is his first time back to a city. He says they trust the rebels who are now returning them to their cities. And he says he's not afraid. Syrians have gone through so much, and they're resilient.

Just in the last few days, people have painted over this with the colors of the Free Syria flag. And this is something you see around the city, where people are trying to remove any signs of the Assad regime.

This is the Bassel roundabout, named after the deceased brother of the Syrian president, Bashar al-Assad. And one of the first things that people did when rebel forces took over the city of Aleppo was topple the statue of Bassel, a symbol of the Assad regime.

This is an area where there were fierce battles with regime forces. And since then, in the past few days, there's been an airstrike that killed many people. You can still see the aftermath of that, the blood on the floor here.

And speaking to people in the city, this is what they fear. They fear that there will be more Russian and Syrian regime airstrikes, that they will be back for the city of Aleppo.

Hamad, this is your first time back to Aleppo in 10 years?

MOHAMMED ALI JOUDEH, DISPLACED ALEPPO RESIDENT: Ten years, yes.

KARADSHEH: Did you ever imagine this moment possible?

JOUDEH: No. Actually, no, no. We had in our imagination that we were going to come back. Actually, we had a lot of dreams about getting back to Aleppo, but we didn't actually believe that this moment was going to be true.

[14:30:01]

KARADSHEH: But are you worried about what might be coming?

JOUDEH: Of course we are here. Here, all the people here are worried about what's going to happen because the airstrikes always attacked us.

KARADSHEH: But you can imagine living here again?

JOUDEH: Of course, of course. I love my country. I love my, actually, all of the Syrian place, the Syrian country, our country. We hope it's going to be clear from the Assad regime, all the Syrians, not just Aleppo.

KARADSHEH: Speaking to people here, you get this sense of joy and relief to see the regime of Bashar al-Assad gone, but also there's this apprehension, anxiety, fear of what might be coming. People don't really know what to expect from these rebel forces who've taken over Aleppo. But most people that we've spoken to say that their biggest fear is what the regime and its allies are going to do, a real fear of going back to the bloody days of the civil war in Syria.

Jomana Karadsheh, CNN, Aleppo, Syria.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CAMEROTA: Our thanks to Jomana for being on the ground there for us.

And as we go to break, these are pictures from inside Notre Dame as the ceremony to reopen the majestic cathedral is just wrapping up. Dignitaries from all over the world, including President-elect Trump and first lady Jill Biden are there.

(SINGING) (MUSIC)

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CAMEROTA: OK, back to the manhunt for the killer of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson. Officials continue to process a large amount of evidence, including fingerprints, camera footage, and a backpack that they believe belonged to the killer.

The search is now in its fourth day, and guards along the northern and southern U.S. borders are searching for any sign of the suspect. Here' s the number. If you know anything, if you have any information whatsoever, here is the Crime Stoppers tipline, 1-800-577-T-I-P-S. There's now a $50,000 reward. You can also call them anonymously.

One former top police official estimated as many as 1,000 police personnel in New York alone could be working on a case like this, and it's far from the first time that a manhunt has captured the nation's attention. Lessons from other cases could offer clues to find the killer here. CNN's Brian Todd reports.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): An intense manhunt consuming the public's attention, putting increasing pressure on the police. A script with many similar dramatic chapters in American history.

JEFFERY IAN ROSS, CRIMINOLOGIST AT THE UNIVERSITY OF BALTIMORE: These kinds of investigations have a kind of a snowball effect in terms of people being interested in it.

TODD (voice-over): April 15th, 2013, two pressure cooker bombs explode near the finish line of the Boston Marathon, killing three people and injuring hundreds. A terrified city is placed on lockdown. The perpetrators slip away, but --

ROSS: The perpetrators were identified very early on due to lots of cameras that were present.

TODD (voice-over): A relentless manhunt was underway for two brothers, Tamerlan and Jahar Tsarnaev. Later that week, after they killed an MIT police officer and committed a carjacking, Tamerlan Tsarnaev was killed in a violent confrontation with police. His younger brother remained on the loose.

COL. TIMOTHY ALBEN, MASSACHUSETTS STATE POLICE SPOKESMAN: My message to the suspect is to give himself up, to stop any further violence towards anyone.

TODD (voice-over): A day after his brother was killed, a wounded Jahar Tsarnaev was captured, hiding inside a boat in a backyard in Watertown, Massachusetts. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have a clear view of a boat that seems to be shrink wrapped in some plastic, where they are focusing their lights on it. We can hear officers yelling.

TODD (voice-over): October 2002, the D.C., Maryland, and Virginia area is paralyzed by a series of random sniper attacks. Over three weeks, 10 people are killed in places like gas stations, shopping centers, and even a 13-year-old boy was shot and wounded as he was dropped off at his middle school. The shooters left a taunting note on a tarot card.

NEIL FRANKLIN, FORMER MD STATE POLICE COMMANDER: People were getting shot at gas stations. They were just anywhere you would go out in public. Everyone was on edge because, am I the next victim?

TODD (voice-over): In late October, John Allen Muhammad and his 17- year-old criminal protege, Lee Boyd Malvo, were apprehended at a rest stop in Maryland. Muhammad was later executed. Malvo remains in prison.

[14:40:03]

Last year, after he vertically crab-walked to a roof and then got away, prison escapee Danilo Cavalcante eluded police for nearly two weeks before his capture in rural Pennsylvania. Two other manhunts for two notorious killers each played out over a period of years.

After he planted a deadly bomb in Atlanta's Centennial Park during the 1996 Olympics, and after police initially suspected the wrong man, Eric Rudolph planted bombs at abortion clinics in Georgia and Alabama. He wasn't captured until 2003.

Over the course of 17 years, Ted Kaczynski, the Unabomber, mailed or hand-delivered bombs across the U.S. that killed three people. He was captured in 1996, after his brother tipped off law enforcement. Both Rudolph and Kaczynski had eluded capture by hiding and surviving in the wilderness.

FRANKLIN: They can find ways to live off of the land, especially if they're experienced, right? Rudolph was experienced.

TODD: Some notorious manhunts have been resolved when relatives of the suspects came forward to give law enforcement crucial information that led to their capture, as what occurred in the Unabomber case. Analysts say that's a possibility with the New York manhunt, but that could depend on whether this suspect might have tried to avenge a relative who may have had a bad experience with UnitedHealthcare.

Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

CAMEROTA: Well, weeks before President-elect Trump takes office, two federal judges decide not to retire, instead, to stay on the bench. Why some in Congress are angry.

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[14:00:00]

CAMEROTA: Two U.S. judges, district judges, scrapping their plans to retire, effectively denying President-elect Donald Trump the opportunity to replace them. Judge Algenon Marbley and Judge Max Cogburn backtracked on their retirement plans shortly after Donald Trump won the presidential election. The move ruffling feathers on Capitol Hill.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL, (R-KY) SENATE MINORITY LEADER: Never, never before has a circuit judge unretired after a presidential election. It's literally unprecedented.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: Joining me now is Russell Wheeler, senior fellow of Governance Studies at the Brookings Institution. Russell, isn't it the judges' prerogative when they want to retire?

RUSSELL R. WHEELER, SENIOR FELLOW OF GOVERNANCE STUDIES, BROOKINGS INSTITUTION: It sure is, whenever they want. They usually wait until they are eligible to retire on salary, but not always.

CAMEROTA: Is it unprecedented, as Mitch McConnell characterized it?

WHEELER: Well, the clip you ran, he was saying it's unprecedented for a circuit judge, judge of a court of appeals. I'm not aware of any court of appeals judge who has retired after the president that the judge presumably wished had won the election did not. He's referring to two district judges. And that's rare. It's not unprecedented. In fact, McConnell referred to two who had done so earlier. He said a Republican and a Democrat. It was actually two Republican appointees in 2009, 2004.

So it doesn't happen very often at all. Judges sometimes withdraw their retirement plans, not necessarily after an election, but they just withdraw them when it appears to them that the person nominated to replace them is not someone to their liking. There's a couple of examples of that in past 10 years or so. But by and large, once they say they're going to leave, they stick to it.

CAMEROTA: Have these two gentlemen, these two judges said what motivated them to not retire?

WHEELER: I'm aware that the judge in Ohio, Marbley, said something rather obliquely. I mean, he -- once he saw, I think he said once he saw the election, he decided not to call it quits. I don't know if Judge Cogburn said anything or not. But it's pretty clear why they did so.

CAMEROTA: Well, the judiciary is supposed to be nonpartisan. So does this fly in the face of that? WHEELER: Well, it certainly has the appearance of flying in the face

of it. But the selection process has become so polarized, the whole process of picking judges so polarized in the last 15 or 20 years that two judges out of, you know, out of well over 700 reneging on their plans, I don't think, is a momentous affair. In fact, judges oftentimes -- it's not always, but often judge judges decide to retire when they like the idea of which president is going to be replacing them. Back in the end of the first Trump administration. Senator Graham went public about it and urged Republican appointees in the court of appeals to consider taking senior status while then President Trump could still replace them.

So, and I was going to say, Senator McConnell himself has contributed a lot to this polarization of the selection process. So it's a little rich for him to be criticizing these judges so vehemently.

CAMEROTA: Oh, just to remind our viewers, lest they forget, I mean, for what you're referring to, Mitch McConnell, back in 2016, he denied President Obama's choice of Merrick Garland to replace Justice Scalia. So listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL, (R-KY) SENATE MINORITY LEADER: It is a president's constitutional right to nominate a Supreme Court justice. And it is the Senate's constitutional right to act as a check on a president and withhold its consent.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[14:50:07]

CAMEROTA: So what do you think of now him calling foul?

WHEELER: Well, Senator McConnell has an amazing ability to invent historical precedents now and then. I think it's -- I think it's a little unseemly what the judges did, but I don't think he's in any position to be criticizing them.

His real goal, obviously, he made it in a statement. He wasn't as concerned about the district judges. I think it was really a shot across the bow to discourage two judges on the courts of appeals on the Fourth and Sixth Circuit Courts of Appeals, who have announced their retirement but not given a date. I think he was basically telling them that we're going to come after you if you if you renege on your retirement plans.

CAMEROTA: All right, Russell Wheeler, we appreciate your perspective on all of this. Thank you.

WHEELER: Sure.

CAMEROTA: After days of frigid temperatures and snow, things are about to change. The forecast is next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [14:55:42]

CAMEROTA: The judge in the New York City subway chokehold trial dismissing the manslaughter charge against defendant Daniel Penny. That ruling clears the way for members of the jury to consider the lesser charge of criminally negligent homicide when they reconvene on Monday. The Manhattan jury twice said it was deadlocked on the manslaughter charge. Penny, a former Marine, now faces a maximum sentence of four years in the death of Jordan Neely last year.

The U.S. appeals court upheld the law that requires the Chinese company ByteDance to sell TikTok or face a ban in the U.S. More than 170 million Americans use the social media platform. U.S. lawmakers have expressed concern that ByteDance could share user data with the Chinese government, posing a national security threat. The ban is set to start mid-January. TikTok plans to appeal the ruling to the Supreme Court, which could delay or stop the ban.

And millions of people along the east coast woke up with freezing temperatures, actually below freezing, today. But that's about to change. CNN meteorologist Elisa Raffa joins us now. How's it looking, Elisa?

ELISA RAFFA, CNN WEATHER ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT: We're finally finding these temperatures warm up after the cold snap that we've had since Thanksgiving. You've got temperatures nearing 60 degrees in St. Louis, Little Rock, middle 50s in Nashville. We have that arctic air still bottled up in interior New England. But we're really finding temperatures on the uphill climb. You've got this cold air moving out where we have temperatures about 15 to 20 degrees warmer than they were this time yesterday as we start to thaw out.

Again, what's happening is, is that cold snap is starting to exit north and east. You've got warmer air that's coming in, and that will send these temperatures on the other side of average. We'll find these highs going into the low 60s. In Atlanta, average is 58 degrees. Even Washington, D.C., getting some temperatures in the 60s above average there. Little Rock and Nashville as well finding these temperatures on the warmer side of things.

Look at what happens, though. We'll find these temperatures go above average. They're in the 70s in New Orleans as we go through the start of the workweek here. Again, that's above the average of 67, but it's going to come with rain. What's happening is we have this storm in the Gulf of Mexico that's going to push out the arctic air, and it will bring in a flood threat. We're looking at multiple days of flooding possible along the gulf coast. We've got that slight risk level, two out of four risk for flooding for Lake Charles, New Orleans, New Orleans, and then even up towards the Atlanta area going into Tuesday. So you can see the same areas kind of getting hit over and over because the storm is kind of slow.

As it's slowly moving and developing, starting on Sunday it will pull in that moisture from the Gulf of Mexico. You can see where you can have some of that heavy rain along the Louisiana coastline. The problem is, is we could have rainfall come down two inches per hour. So a lot of rain in a short amount of time.

We'll have that continue as we go into Monday and Tuesday. Again, notice a lot of those rain bands kind of in the same spot. The front doesn't move too much, so we'll keep funneling that moisture into some of those same spots along the Gulf coast. We could be looking at rainfall totals widespread two to four inches, maybe as much as five inches. Some of these soils are already pretty saturated, and that could lead to some flash flooding. Alisyn?

CAMEROTA: OK, Elisa Raffa, thank you.

Hello, everyone. Thanks for joining me. I'm Alisyn Camerota in for Fredricka Whitfield.

We begin the hour with breaking news out of the Middle East. Sources tell CNN that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is nowhere to be found in the capital of Damascus as rebel forces move closer to that city. Earlier today, Assad's government issued a statement saying Assad had not left Damascus. Video appears to show regime forces departing the neighborhood close to the presidential palace, and the rebels say they are now at the gates of the city.

CNN's Julia Benbrook is live at the White House. So, Julia, how is the Biden administration responding to all of this?

JULIA BENBROOK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, we're learning new details about how long the Biden administration thinks Bashar al-Assad can hold on to power. Watching the remarkable speed of the Syrian rebel advance, Biden administration officials increasingly see the possibility that the regime could fall within days. That's according to five U.S. officials who spoke with CNN.