so, clearly, the taiwan government very upset over this decision to take what was formally taiwan's property and give it to china. insult added to injury after the severing of diplomatic ties between the two countries. matt rivers, cnn, mexico city. >>> 2021 brought the u.s. everything from an assault on democracy toparalysis. the ten top stories in american politics when we return. you're a one-man stitchwork master. but your staffing plan needs to go up a size. you need to hire. i need indeed. indeed you do. indeed instant match instantly delivers quality candidates matching your job description. visit indeed.com/hire to support a strong immune system your body needs a routine. centrum helps your immune defenses every day, with vitamin c, d and zinc* season after season. ace your immune support with centrum. now with a new look! >>> welcome back, everyone. 2022 might just be looking up, if predictions are true. the annual tradition took place at a ceremony in lima with indigenous religious leaders making their predictions. now, the first one, an economic crisis mainly in europe. an escalat

>> i think we're prepared to defend taiwan if necessary. we don't think we should see any forceful invasions of any country around the world, whether that's ukraine, with the russians, or taiwan by the chinese. and so this is something that we all recognize that we have seen in the last century, when countries start rolling across borders and using tanks and armies to go in and create some of these conflicts, and that led to world wars. we don't want any of that to happen. so we're trying to deter them, part of that is by being strong. >> yeah, listen, history has shown folks like to invade one place, they kincan invade anoth. the chinese and russian governments perceive the u.s. as weak today. divided at home, political dysfunction at home, and also a tendency to withdraw from the world stage. as you were visiting taiwan, do you believe china judges the u.s. to be weak? >> i think every day they're making a risk calculus, and part of that calculus is how strong is the united states? how strong are we internally? how committed are we to the

what does this mean here for taiwan? >> reporter: yeah, it means for taiwan it has one less formal diplomatic ally. it was on thursday when nicaragua made this announcement it will no longer formally recognize taiwan. it has switched allegiance to china. that means right now taiwan has only 14 formal diplomatic allies including 13 countries and the vatican. the united states has responded, especially during this time when it's hosting a forum on democracy. i should add the united states does not formally recognize taiwan, but through the state department it issued the following statement. let's bring it up. quote, we encourage all countries to value democratic institutions, transparency, the rule of law, and promoting economic prosperity for their citizens to expand engagement with taiwan, unquote. i have been talking to chinese observers. they say this move by nicaragua is a manifestation of china's economic clout and china's power. back to you. >> and it's growing indeed in latin america. kristie lu stout in hong kong,

. >> many fear that xi's next target could be taiwan. >> china sees taiwan as a break away province that needs to be brought back into the fold. >> bringing the island democracy of 23 million under beijing's iron fist would be a crowning achievement for xi, the capstone of china's great rejuvenation. and while the risks of an invasion are sky high, there are reports that xi's military advisers have told him it would succeed. >> this problem is much closer to us than most think. >> could america aid taiwan? >> we have a commitment to taiwan? >> yes. but in more than a dozen war games over taiwan authorized by the pentagon, china triumphed every time. and t-mobile is paying for them both! oooh and i get a free year of apple tv+ and this is for new and existing t-mobile and sprint customers. like me! back to you. uh, hello!? we are going to t-mobile! upgrade to the iphone 13 pro and airpods both on us. only at t-mobile. ♪day to night to morning,♪ ♪keep with me in the moment♪ ♪i'd let you had i known it, why don't you say so?♪ ♪didn't even notice,♪ ♪no punches left to roll

but, you know, the united states has an agreement with taiwan. the taiwan relations act. um, that obligates the united states to have a relationship with taiwan simultaneously with the prc. now, president biden let the cat out of the bag when he stated emphatically, of course the united states would come to the defense of taiwan which i think frankly was a mistake because we wanted that strategic ambiguity to hover over all of that. so, there's -- there are some connections but there are some significant differences. um, the key here is that nato -- we need to shore up our relationships on our leadership position in nato. the president, i think, is trying to do that with france and germany and italy and the uk, certainly. but the challenge that we see is that sanctions, alone, unless they are incredibly draconian, is not -- those sanctions will not necessarily affect putin. >> right. >> the problem is that, you know, putin enjoys tremendous support internally but if the oligarchs who he relies on for support are starting to feel the pain, then there may be some success in

a lot more stricter in taiwan. a lot more stricter. there's mass regulations and pcr testing and so on and so forth. the u.s. is more relaxed and with more people being vaccinated here they can ease their restrictions more than taiwan. >> so jessica, you heard all the challenges and the differences between the different countries. a lot of people talking about what it took for them to be able to get on these flights to see their family and friends, but they all told me they were going to do whatever they needed to do to see their family because for many people it's been since before the pandemic, since christmas in 2019 that they were able to see their family and friends. jessica. >> years without seeing them. nadia romero for us. thanks so much, and the rapid rise in cases remains a major concern. senior medical copter elizabeth cohen is here now to break down these numbers, and elizabeth, the cases are rising, but we're not seeing the same steep jump in hospitalizations. walk us through what we're seeing here. >> what we're seeing he

for the record taiwan is a self-discovered democratic island. these apologies are relatively commonplace if cowardly as you can see. what we don't see as much is full throated defense of vladimir putin in u.s. media, but tucker carlson provided that with a 12-minute recital of russian talking points the other night that would have embarrassed anchors. take a look at the banners. nato seems to exist to torment putin, and putin just wants to keep his border secure, and mocking the idea of territorial integrity. this might as well be counted as an a contribution to the kremlin, but tucker is not all alone in this. take a look at the cover of news max magazine which says post trump, putin becomes master of the world. this is sick stuff. it's part of the authoritarian fetishizing. this kind of hyper-partisan fever along with trump's big lie and the attack on the capitol po for autocracies to point to democracies. that's exactly why partisan sipicism and moral relativism here at home play right into their hands. it's also why we need to defend the int

especially in terms of taiwan. what we have seen is the chinese military has been menacing taiwan sends dozens, if not hundreds of planes over the island. it's a direct threat to the freedom and democracy that existed on the island. that is a conundrum. what do we do? if we stand up to it, it will make china more angry. if we don't, maybe china will be more emboldened. what they have decided to do is not back down as to express support and increase support for taiwan. that makes beijing only more and more angry. we can pretend we have this month of olympics where everything is hunky-dory. but the truth is tensions are rising high. >> yeah. it is something the white house will not deny. josh, you also write basically china and the west are talking to each other with ships and warplanes, leaving both sides unsure of how their messages are coming through. so this level of communication, what does that entail going forward for what this is going to look like once the olympics are over? >> reporter: right. that's the ke

if biden is able to draw a red line on ukraine, that may dissuade china from aggression against taiwan. >> it's good to see you in person back in the studio. john, get to d.c. we'll get to see you in person as well. thank you so much. >>> the omicron variant now detected in 21 u.s. states, and the first study of the variant in vaccinated people could be a warning sign. unlike ordinary memory supplements, neuriva plus fuels six key indicators of brain performance. more brain performance? yes, please! neuriva. think bigger. my hygienist cleans with a round head. so does my oral-b my hygienist personalizes my cleaning. so does my oral-b oral-b delivers the wow of a professional clean feel every day. with age comes more... get more with neutrogena® retinol pro plus. a powerful .05% retinol that's also gentle on skin. for wrinkles results in one week. neutrogena®. for people with skin. i'm jonathan lawson here to tell you about life insurance through the colonial penn program. if you're age 50 to 85, and looking to buy life insurance on a fixed budget, remember the three ps. what are the

taiwan has been invited to this summit and that is a sensitive subject for them. they don't want them on that guest list. it really irritated them when they were invited. i think the guest list is also getting a lot of attention. the question is kind of what was the criteria of who was invited to this. because if you look, pakistan was invited, philippines were invited, but other nations like hungary, a member of the european union, turkey, nato ally, not on the guest list. you talk to the white house, they say the guest list was one of the most challenging aspects of this, of who do you -- how do you narrow this down and who do you invite, who made the cut who didn't make the cut, because a lot of the nations that didn't weren't happy. singapore not making it, even though you saw the vice president travel there the defense secretary went there as well, talking about that relationship. so i think that is another factor that will be kind of looming over this. >> i think this is fascinating today, and the timing is fascinating. i'll be listening very closely to whet

what president biden is doing, and the messages he's sending to president putin and with respect to taiwan, the sum total of the efforts we have taken over the past eight months in the indo-pacific, have also all been geared towards avoiding any kind of scenario where china chooses. >> is there any promise from the russian side to use leverage to change iran on its position. >> the president and president putin had a good discussion on the iran issue. it was productive. russia and the united states actually worked well together, even if tense circumstances back in the 2014, 2015 period to produce the comprehensive plan of action. this is an area where russia and the united states can continue to consult closely to ensure iran -- >> why did ukrainian officials first deny there was a troop build up and start putting off the information, then change their tune after the meeting. >> so i'm not going to characterize the decision making of the ukrainian government only to say that we are in daily contact with senior officials in the ukrainian government. i'm in nearly daily contact with my count

and a flag of taiwan patch and paramount's replacement patch, decidedly not taiwan for next year's sequel. here's disney in the credits for "mo "mulan," thanking them for it and where the genocide is happening. disney, of course, bought the rights for the streaming service. and this shows tiananmen square, the site of a brutal crackdown on protesters, a sign reads in "the simpsons" -- on this siete in 1989 nothing bad happened. disney has not responded for request for comment. that episode in hong kong disappeared like peng shuai, and journalists that china locked up for telling the truth about covid-19, disappeared like the consciousness of the millionaires of hollywood and billionaire and ioc and wall street are so eager for chinese cash, they're pretending none of this is happening. there's no amount of money that can buy enough soap to wash that blood off their hands. thanks for spending your sunday with us. "gps with fareed zakaria" is up next. [laughing and giggling] (woman) hey dad. miss us? (vo) reflect on the past, celebrate the future. with the season of audi. hey, angie! you fo

i don't think they want to attack taiwan. they have the capacity to do it. if not now, within a reasonably short period of time. so what we have to do is get back to diplomacy and say how do we reach accommodations with these two powers? beijing is more powerful certainly, in terms of economics, but its growing military power in russia is a military power. how do we accommodate their interests without selling out our values and our interest? and that's why joe biden is sitting in that office. >> and that's why we love having you here, to hear your wisdom. thank you very much. >>> gas prices dropping. dropping after the october boom. how long will the relief last? stay with us. healthier is getting all the stuff you may need to feel better get the door! ♪ ...from the comfort of home. ♪ this is what healthier looks like ♪ (vo) for fourteen years, subaru and our retailers have been sharing the love with those who need it most. now subaru is the largest automotive donor to make-a-wish and meals on wheels. and the largest corporate donor to the aspca and na

china has been putting mill tai pr -- xi stressing with joe biden, on taiwan, the u.s. is playing with fire. biden, trying to calm the tensions. >> our responsibility as leaders of china and the united states is to ensure that the competition between our countries does not veer into conflict, whether intended or not. >> reporter: that's easier said than done. a deep-rooted geopolitical battle is lingering into the new year, citing widespread allegations of human rights abuses against china's uigher population -- >> what kind of country does this to innocent people? >> reporter: the u.s. announced a diplomatic boycott of the beijing 2022 winter olympics. >> the biden administration will not send any official representation to the beijing winter 2022 olympics. >> reporter: with allies following. calls for boycotting the games fuelled in chart by peng shuai, the olympian disappeared in november after she accused a top communist party official of forcing her into sex. the women's tennis association suspended tournaments in china, calling for peng to speak freely and openly.

xi, stressing in a recent meeting with president joe biden, that on taiwan the u.s. is playing with fire. biden trying to calm the rapidly rising tensions. >> our responsibilities as leaders of china and the united states is to ensure that the competition between our two countries does not bear into conflict, whether intended or unintended. just straightforward competition. >> reporter: that's easier said than done. they are citing human rights abuses against china's weaker population -- >> what kind of country does this to people, to innocent people? >> reporter: the u.s. announced a diplomatic boycott of the beijing 2022 olympics. >> the biden administration will not send any diplomatic or official representation to the beijing 2022 winter olympics. >> reporter: with allies following. calls for boycotting the games fueled in part by the case of chinese tennis star pung shaia. the woman's tennis association postponed any games. it won't halt any olympic games, these the first games to be held under president xi. 2022 setting the stage for xi to rule for an unprecede

pro-democracy activists and former lawmakers in hong kong and aggressive military maneuvers aimed at taiwan. >> this island is potential flashpoint for what their president calls a fight between authoritarian china and democratic taiwan, allied with the united states. >> reporter: number three -- >> protest rallies across russia in support of detained kremlin opposition activist, alexei navalny. >> reporter: russia's best-known opposition politician, sent to a penal colony, when he dared to return home, five months after a nerve agent attack. >> shortly before his detention, in a in a nalley saying he is not scared. >> reporter: number two, great hopes to end the covid-19 pandemic, ushering in widespread vaccinations. but the virus continued to mutate, killing millions of people around the world. the uneven vaccine rollout hasn't kept up with the speed of the spreading virus. especially in poorer countries. >> in deli now, you're never far from heartbreak. almost everyone in this city has been visited by grief. >> reporter: despite high vaccination rates, europe can center of the pandemic o

i don't want to get in a war in taiwan. i don't want to get in a war in ukraine, but the best way, and we've learned this centuries in and centuries out, the best way to avoid or to preserve the peace is through a clear demonstration of strength and resolve. >> okay. senator roger wicker, got to leave it there. thanks for taking the time to share your perspective. thank you. >> thank you, ana. >> telling all and backing out. trump's former chief of staff mark meadows now says he will not comply with the january 6th committee on the very same day that his new book revealed secret details about trump and his fight with covid so how can he explain executive privilege. finally relief with the prices you pay. why gas prices are now starting to fall and rapper travis scott officially responding to the slew of lawsuits filed against him for the deadly astroworld tragedy. you're in the cnn newsroom. we're back in a moment. because the nfl is connected. and at any moment, the fate of the season can come down to this. billions of sec

potential flash point for what their president calls a fight between authoritarian china and democratic taiwan, allied with the united states. >> number three. >> protest rallies across russia today in support of detained kremlin opposition activist navalny. >> russia's best-known opposition politician alexey navalny sent to a penal colony, dared to return home five months after a near-fatal nerve agent attack. >> shortly before his detention, navalny saying he's not scared. >>> number two. the new year brought with it great hopes for an end to the covid-19 pandemic. the ushering in of widespread vaccinations. but the virus continued to mutate, killing millions of people around the world. the uneven vaccine rollout hasn't kept up with the speed of the spreading virus, especially in poorer countries. in dehli now, you're never far from heartbreak. almost everyone in the city has been visited by grief. >> despite high vaccination rates, europe became the epicenter of the pandemic once again this winter, the fourth wave of covid-19 is now sweeping across the continent with lockdowns reinstated in

allegations of human right s aabuses in xinjiang, as well as aggressive military maneuvers aimed at taiwan. >> this island is potential flashpoint for what their president calls a fight between authoritarian china and democratic taiwan allied with the united states. >> reporter: number three -- >> protest rallies across russia today. >> reporter: russia's best known opposition politician alexei navalny sent to a penal colony, he dared to return home five months after a near fatal nerve agent attack. >> shortly before his detention, navalny saying he's not scared. >> reporter: number two, the new year brought with it great hopes for an end to the covid-19 pandemic. the ushering in of widespread vaccinations. but the virus continued to mu mutate, killing millions of people around the world. the uneven vaccine rollout hasn't kept up with the speed of the spreading virus, especially in poorer countries. in delhi now, you're never far from heart break. almost everyone in this city has been visited by grief. despite high vaccination rates, europe became the epicenter of the pandemic once again t

potential flash point for what their president calls a fight between authoritarian china and democratic taiwan, ally with the united states. >>> number three. >> protests across russia in support of alexi navalny. >> navalny send to a penal colony, who dared to return home five months after a near-fatal attack. >>> number two. the new year brought with it great hopes for an end to the covid-19 pandemic. the ushering in of widespread vaccinations. the virus continued to mutate, killing millions of people around the world. the uneven vaccine roll-out hasn't kept up with the speed of the spreading virus, especially in poorer countries. in delhi now, you're never far from heartbreak. almost everyone in the city has been visited by grief. despite high vaccination rates, europe bake the epicenter of the pandemic once again this winter, the fourth wave of covid-19 is now sweeping across the continent. lockdowns reinstated in some countries. across europe, protests against mandates and health passes that drew tens of thousands of people. >>> in november, south african scientists discovered the new omi

china is acting more aggressive than ever towards taiwan. do leaders like putin believe that the u.s. is too caught up with domestic issues to step in, and are they right? >> i don't think they believe that the u.s. is diverted to only ndomestic issues. i do think, however, that the chinese are watching the united states' response to president putin's threat against ukraine. i think the chinese will be interested to see how strongly, what kind of pressure the united states can put. what kind of costs the united states can impose on russia if they do invade because the chinese have this, as we know, have designs on taiwan, and if they see that the united states is trying to accommodate the russians, are trying to appease the russians, the chinese will take a lesson. >> ambassador, thank you. john, i appreciate it. >>> so i want to turn now to cnn's exclusive reporting, the former chief of staff to the vice president, former vice president mike pence mark short is cooperating with the committee investigating january 6th, so joining me now cnn'

but, you know, i was just in taiwan over thanksgiving. the chinese did not like that. but the president of taiwan was really inspirational and she said, look, you know, these countries, they have much bigger militaries than we do, they have much bigger force presence, much bigger countries than many small countries in the world, but at the end of the day, people do not want to live under authoritarian governments. they want to live in freedom and they want to have democracy. and i think that while they showed this big demonstration of brotherly love yesterday, it is because i think they know that they have got to cling together as some of the only authoritarian places in the world, and we shouldn't take the bait. what i do think is we need to make sure if russia puts one more foot into ukraine, we slap them back with serious, serious sanctions and a serious response, even more serious than what is being proposed right now. >> all right, we'll be watching for that. congresswoman, thank you so much. >> thank you. >>> first lady jill biden and second gentleman doug inhofe

there is, of course, another military buildup around a sovereign country and that is china, around taiwan. do you fear a possible double shot here, right, that russia chooses to invade ukraine and china perhaps at the same time or soon after, makes a similar judgment and invades taiwan? is that something that concerns you? >> yeah. obviously it -- i think it should concern all americans. it certainly concerns me. the second and third largest military in the world acting in the same time, they both have the advantage of what we call the home court advantage. they're there. our armies and our allies aren't near there, would take some time. when i reference to what putin would do is something of a modern day blitzkrieg, it is concerning that china would do the same sort of thing and, again, opportunistically act as a duo because what would we be able to do? what would our allies be able to do? it is the nightmare scenario. >> a modern day blitzkrieg on today's anniversary, world war ii notable, notable description. >> and the 30th anniversary of ukraine's independence from soviet union. >> e

another came to atlanta from taiwan. listen to how they tried to navigate the omicron variant and holiday travel over the past couple of days. >> this year compared to last year 2020. >> last year was a lot easier. i came here last year for christmas as well. and it was a lot smoother than it is now. plus, with everything going on, i'm not sure how traveling is going to be affected so i want to make sure that while we can travel, take, you know, get it out of the way. >> so he was traveling from taiwan to atlanta. now headed to tampa. his flight was canceled but fortunately for him he was able to get on a flight two hours earlier so it didn't disrupt his travel plans altogether. jake, this has just been a domino effect. once you figure out that your flight is on, as soon as you get inside, you're seeing some of the longest lines we've seen since maybe the thanksgiving holiday, especially at tsa general boarding. taking people a long time to get through the other side to the security checkpoints. >> tell us about these fo

sticking the thumb and china sending provocative flights over taiwan and china with actions in the south china seas. seems like both sides are constantly testing each other and dancing up close to the line. >> i think what we've seen is a real ratcheting up clearly of the tensions, and we have seen i think president biden trying to show with actions but moderated action that he means what he says when he says he's different from donald trump than he wants to have a different approach it these issues. i think going back to the situation with putin in the call tomorrow, he said on friday and they have made clear considering these sanctions that he's talking very tough sand willing to take tough action to try to push putin back and try to discourage him, as you said, raise the price of any action that he might take. i think the other question, too, though is on sort of the point that the secretary was making, is there a series of actions or approaches that he's going to raise to try to pull putin back from the brink that's beyond sanctions that's about sort of an off ramp or a way that he c

we spoke with one couple who live in taiwan. they were coming back to atlanta to visit one of their families and the first time his girlfriend was going to meet his f family. they wanted to travel internationally despite the omicron variant. despite the fact there were cancellations and delays. they toughed it out. their flight was canceled, but put on an earlier flight from atlanta to tampa. they doing the round the world tour during the variant and season where you have the normal inconvenience. so many people told us they wanted to travel because they haven't seen family and friends since before the pandemic, since 2019, poppy. one woman said she was going to meet her grandson for the first time this weekend. it was worth all of the headache just to be able to hold him for the first time. poppy. >> i think clearly americans are making the calculations and a lot deciding to travel. n nadia, thank you. >>> the surge of cases come pined with the holiday season led to a shortage of covid tests. in some lplaces, long lines. we hav

with those troops amassing there close to the ukrainian border, but then also the chinese as far as taiwan is concerned, some of the moves, the military moves china has made there. both of them very eager to demonstrate that very close relationship. in fact, vladimir putin has already said in his opening segment that he gave, which was actually on a live stream, that russia will not be participating in the u.s.'s political boycott of the beijing olympics. in fact, vladimir putin says he will be very happy to attend the opening ceremony and meet with xi jinping there. vladimir putin then went on to say that he considers the relations between china and russia to be a role model of inter-state relations in the 21st century. so you can clearly see that these two nations, these two leaders, who have been vastly criticized, not just the united states, but many of the u.s.'s allies, very much demonstrating how important they are to one another. and, of course, the other thing that is probably going to come out of the summit is those relations will become even deeper in an economic since and in a

open with the geneva talks because no one wants this to escalate, with the rise of china or focus on taiwan. we can't push russia into china's arms nor could we have a two-front conflict so i think they're handle it exactly correctly. >> here at home biden is ending this year with at least for now appears to be a loss on the signature build back better plan. how problematic is it for the democratic party heading into the midterms if you don't get substantial chunks of it passed if not the whole thing. >> poppy, we have to get something done on it. we already have passed, as you know, the american rescue plan, we've passed the infrastructure plan, that is said we have to compromise and get something done. i believe universal preschool and parts of climate are things that we could come to a consensus on and we need to move forward with a compromised win. >> so let's talk about one of the key sticking points because it was the child tax credit which is going to expire tomorrow morning. you told wolf last week that expanding that is one of the most important things that we could do. of course i

you look at 2008, it will be an incredible performance, it goes beyond xinjiang, you have concerns in taiwan, the self-governing democracy, you have covid-19 origins and the mystery surrounding that, and the cover ups that happened early on. there are so many issues that have continued to plague these olympics that china is struggling to move forward and just focus on the sports: it's not going to end up that way, alisyn and victor. >> fred, let's talk about what's going on with russia. president biden has this video call coming up with putin, and what are the possibilities, and, we understand the economic sanctions including putin's own circle. so what does it look like there. >> it could be massive economic sanctions, and i think that's certainly something that the russians understand -- very much understand is in the cards, and it was interesting to hear president biden saying that he's going to make clear to putin that any sort of invasion to ukraine would carry serious consequences with it, and i think the interesting thing about it is the russians have come out and essentially said exa

the virtual conference of global leaders, notably including taiwan, a move likely to annoy beijing which has already criticized the summit. the central themes of the event, fighting authoritarianism and corruption while promoting human rights. >>> bob dole's funeral will be held in just a few hours from now at the washington national cathedral. the long-time senator and decorated war veteran lying in state at the capitol rotunda thursday. president biden remembering him as a jigiant of our history. he died at the age of 98. >>> the suit alleges the shooting that left four students dead was entirely preventable. one shot in the neck, one of seven students injured in the attack. >>> a group message on snapchat disrupting what could have been another mass school shooting. this one in florida. police say 19-year-old john hagins of the aeronautical university planned to shoot up the campus on the final day of class before winter break. fellow students alerted authorities about a troubling message he posted on snapchat. he is now in custody. >>> in arkansas a jury found josh duggar guilty of c

violations with uighur muslims to the crackdown on pro democracy protests in hong kong, to issues with taiwan, to covid origins. you name it, we've been through several issues that are facing china and the u.s. and really the world at this point. but china is using this as a moment to step up its nationalistic rhetoric and bolster its support domestically. but this could pose a bigger problem for china because what is worse than not having u.s. athletes attend but having them attend and to be here in the mainland on chinese territory and to use these human rights issues as potential platforms to vocalize their concerns with how the chinese government has been acting. that would be a major issue. >> sure, especially the situation with the concerns about culver, thank you so much. >>> a top official is warning that u.s. is losing ground to china with space capabilities and china could overtake the u.s. by the end of this decade. kristin fisher is joining me now. you moderated a panel of expert this is weekend. they have been warning about chinese progress for a number of years now. what in part

one couple was coming in from taiwan and another woman saying she was trying to go to hawaii, and they had to switch up their travel plans and be extra on alert because of all the delays and cancellations. take a listen. >> they called us and said that there was some malfunction, whatever that may be, and so our flight's leaving earlier now. >> we changed our flight to a nonstop flight. it hoelps for maybe not having cancellation. >> it was a little stressful because of covid and everybody taking precautions, but, you know, we're ready. >> reporter: poppy, we heard from the tsa that they saw fewer people go through the screening checkpoints on christmas eve and christmas day, but i would bet we would have prepandemic levels at least, if not record-breaking levels, just by the sheer number of people coming in and out of this airport. it reminds me of the sunday after thanksgiving with those long, long lines at tsa. poppy? >> it does look like that. nadia, thank you for that reporting. joining me to answer some of your biggest questions about all this, the associate chief medical officer

here is tom cruise's bomber jacket with pair mourpt's replacement patch, decidedly not taiwan for next year's sequel. here's disney in the credits for "mulan," thanking them for it and where the genocide is happening. disney, of course, bought the rights to "the simpson's" for its streaming service. this 2005 episode whiches shows them in tiananmen square, the site of a brutal crackdown on pro-democracy protesters, a sign reads, on this site in 1989 nothing happened. disney has not responded for request for comment. that episode in hong kong disappeared like peng shuai, and the citizen journalist who the chinese government locked up for telling the truth about covid-19, disappeared like the consciences of the millionaires and billionaires of hollywood and ioc and wall street are so eager for cheese niece cash, they're pretending none of this is happening. there's no amount of money that can buy enough soap to wash that blood off their hands. thanks for spending your sunday with us. fareed zakaria gps starts next. ♪ >> man: so i'm not taking any chances when something happens to it. s

hong kong celebrates right behind taiwan, singapore, south korea and australia. of course, we'll be celebrating in a couple of hours. tonight's ball drop in times square will be a vaccinated and masked affair. ite connick new year's eve celebration will go on with some new safety measures in place despite in a nationwide snurnlg co covid cases. it will be 15,000 revelers, about one-fourth and everyone will have to show proof of vaccination and wear a mark of. i'm joined by the president of the times square alliance tom harris. i'm interested in the calculation here because there were some calling for the event to be cancelled. what made you guys to decide with the mitigation efforts in place you could move forward here? >> well, first, thank you very much for having me. we felt that it was important to show the world that we have moved a little bit forward in our recovery from this pandemic. last year we had very few people. some honored guests in times square. that was before vaccinations. that was before the expanded testing that we have now. in new york city o

eventually into the early parts of the workweek for hong kong and out to sea before it dissipates near taiwan, bringing showers to that particular region, by the middle of the week. this is good news, because the storm is going to be on this continued weakening trend over the next 36 to 48 hours, but we still have to contend with a very blustery sunday across the coastal areas of vietnam. monday and tuesday, from haiku into hong kong and eventually into the taipei region. look at the forecast accumulation. this area being spared the heaviest of rainfall, as well, which continues to be on the east-northeasterly quadrant of the storm. will bring in some showers into hong kong, again, for the middle of the workweek. let me bring into malaysia. they've had rough weather lately with some flooding across this region. enhanced by this tropical activity. in fact, we had a depression move at just 4 degrees north latitude, very rare for this time of year. this wasn't even a named storm and produced rainfall totals in ku kuala lumpur, higher amounts to the north of there. interesting weather taking plac

backlash from the likes of russia and china especially after infuriating beijing with an invitation to taiwan. >> democracy needs champions. >> reporter: biden also speaking with the ukrainian president zelensky today following his tense conversation with president putin amid fears of a russian invasion and as the final element of a $60 million u.s. security package arriving in ukraine. >> president biden was also intending to discuss deep concerns with russia's build up on ukraine's borders. >> reporter: in between calls with world leaders the president paying tribute on capitol hill to the late republican senator bob dole who died sunday at the age of 98. >> he did have great wit. they once asked him why in god's name did he vote to continue to fund amtrak. he said because if he didn't biden would stay overnight and cause more trouble. i commuted every day. >> and, jake, we're learning a few more details about how long the call went between biden and the ukrainian president. it lasted just over an hour. the white house did not reveal any requests the ukrainians made. we are expecting a full

100,000 troops on the russian-ukraine border and also with the continuous flyovers from china taunting taiwan. i'm concerned about paying down debt, too, so whatever we raise i want to make sure there's money going towards paying down debt. >> i get inflation. i get the debt, sure, but how would providing home care or more child care or taking some steps to protect the climate impact 100,000 troops on the russian-ukraine border? can you help me with that one. >> i wish i could. what i am not hearing is that this will get me to yes. i know they don't like to negotiate with the press, that's fine. we disagree, but you're not hearing that this is what's going to get me to yes and you're not hearing that from behind the scenes and you're hearing more problems and more problems and more reasons to say no. >> that's stayed consistent throughout. we have both, you know, him not revealing what will get him to say yes, rirngts and the things have changed is that we've had now things for senator manchin to point to to continue to delay this. inflation is not new. what we do have is a report that came o

., taiwan, and the philippines, called the pacific light cable network. hong kong was excluded due to u.s. security concerns about possible chinese surveillance. the tech giants say they will work with various government agencies to protect americans' personal data. >>> and finally, the red planet seems to be a wetter place than we thought. scientists say eruptions found significant canyons of water on mar, the chasm is emitting hydrogen and that suggests 40% of the material just below the ground is likely water ice. >>> well, that wraps up this hour of cnn newsroom. i'm kim brunhuber. i'll be back in just a moment with more news. please do stay with us. these are the faces of listerine. the face of millions of germs zapped in seconds. the face of clean. the face of whoa! some are of intensity, others joy. all are of... various: ahhh... listerine. feel the whoa! clerk: hello, how can i? sore throat pain? ♪honey lemon♪ try vicks vapocool drops. in honey lemon chill. for fast-acting sore throat relief. wooo vaporize sore throat pain with vicks vapocool

it's also how china views what happens in ukraine as china is figuring out next moves in taiwan. and finally, germany is standing up a new economy, a coalition. the government is reconsidering the nor stream 2 pipeline deal. they can't be too reckless here. . >> how do you assess how this went? >> obviously, the messaging i thought was good. however, it results in a sternly worded memo to putin. we don't have a lot of options. when he said we would do these things if you invade, there were things we should do now. more exercises in poland and czechoslovakia with nato troops to show the seriousness of the event. if you do this, we will be really mad at you and come and get you with some of these other sanctions. they do have teeth. not access to the swiss system and banking means commercial commerce gets much more difficult for russia in the sense in which they have it now. that calculation is going to fall a little bit down on his decision, his being putin, about do you do it or not. the troops being there accomplishes one very important mission. he did not want ukraine to move t

we've seen debates over whether china is going to try to intimidate or eventually try to take over taiwan. these are all pretty deep cold war-like behaviors with both countries. and, of course, we're seeing these two countries try to show that even while the u.s. gathers the western allies, they, too, can create a system where they hope to set some rules globally. so right now, the question is, is there an off ramp here for biden so that we're not simultaneously in a low level conflict with our two major adversaries? >> this morning, on a different topic, but related because national security, this morning microsoft issued a warning that china and other adversaries like iran and north korea is trying to exploit a software flaw that the biden administration has come out and said could affect hundreds of millions of devices globally. how serious is this? what should people know here, david? >> so this is a flaw that was not created by the chinese or russians or iranians that actually existed by accident in open source software that is used in a very wide variety of applications, including i

100,000 troops on the russian-ukraine border and also with the continuous flyovers from china, taunting taiwan, and these are all concerns of ours that we're very much concerned about so we're very, very careful about what we've done and i've always said the unknown is really great and want to make sure we don't take care of anything that does come at us. >> some of these unknowns, is this edge legislation becoming more imminent and when are your conversations around the possible deadline or urgency to get this done? schumer says december 31st that we would like to see this? >> i know people have been in a hurry for a long time to do this and basically we're seeing things that unfold that allows us to prepare better and that's what we should do, take advantage of what we're doing in a way to make sure how we do it and for what period of time we do it and something that we can maintain and manage. my grandfather used to say unmanaged debt will make a coward out of the decisions you make, and we're now at 29 trillion and we'll be pushing on to 30 trillion and i'm sure that mr. powell with the fe