Remembering Jimmy Carter
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It's New Year's Eve, Tuesday, December 31st, right now on CNN This Morning. I think he would be remembered for just being an honest man. Remembering Jimmy Carter. Funeral preparations underway to honor the 39th president as America and the world pays tribute. Plus this. I'm really humbled and honored to have President Trump's endorsement for speaker again.

Thrown a lifeline, Donald Trump endorses Mike Johnson in the House Speaker fight. But will it be enough to save him? And this. The program from top to bottom is a scam and a con. A MAGA civil war. The president elects advisors versus his base fighting over immigration policy. Now Donald Trump is weighing in. Then later.

321. Happy New Year. It's the biggest party of the year. Final preparations underway right now for the ball drop in New York and it's officially 2025 in other parts of the world. It's 6:00 AM here on the East Coast. Here's a live look at Auckland, New Zealand, where it is now officially 2025.

Good morning everyone and Happy New Year's Eve. I'm Paula Reid in for Casey Hunt. It is wonderful to have you with us as neighbors, friends, former colleagues and even everyday Americans are saying farewell and will have the chance to say more goodbyes to Jimmy Carter for six days next week. America's 39th president died Sunday at the age of 100, surrounded by loved ones at his home in Plains, Georgia.

A state funeral for Carter is now scheduled for January 4th in Plains. Over a two-day period, he will lie in repose in Atlanta before he is brought to Washington, where he will lie in state at the U.S. Capitol. Carter's funeral at the National Cathedral is set for January 9th, where President Biden will give his eulogy. He will then be returned to Plains for the burial.

The late president is being remembered as a statesman and a humanitarian who restored ethics and integrity to the White House after the Watergate era.

He was genuine, he was honest, and that was transmitted in how he behaved with everyone. I think that genuineness is what came through. He was good, he was ethical, he spoke his mind. He sometimes said things that people didn't agree with, but those were, you always knew where he stood.

Carter came from humble beginnings, starting out on the family peanut farm before sending to the White House. But in Plains, Georgia, he will always be remembered simply as a neighbor and a friend. To most of us, he was Mr. Jimmy and would wave to us and talk to us when he walked by or rode by on his bicycle with Miss Rosalynn. And it was just wonderful.

A great, great place to live and a large part of that is because of the man that Jimmy Carter was. CNN's Eva McKend has more on the reaction to Carter's death in the place he called home.

- All a mix of sadness and pride here in Plains, Georgia, as the residents in this small town reflect on the life and legacy of President Jimmy Carter. And while over the coming weeks, we will hear about his lifetime of service, his courage, his commitment to social justice,

When you speak to people here, they remember him as their neighbor. It wasn't that long ago when you would see him walking on the main street here or teaching Sunday school at Maranatha Baptist Church. Take a listen to how the people here in Plains are remembering Carter.

He was someone that all, everybody in the community always looked up to. Somebody that always brought positivity and somebody that was spiritually strong. And this is somebody from worldwide that we're going to miss. And he left a very good example for us to live by. Let's face it, the Carters will always be alive in Plains. So we want to continue the spirit and continue the good.

in the world. To go all over the world, he could have chose to live anywhere, but he comes back home. You know, I take it personally. I said, well, he came back home to let me know that you can do the same thing. There are going to be multiple celebrations of life over the coming days. He will return here to Plains before ultimately a funeral will take place in Washington where President Biden will eulogize the former president. Paula.

Even we can thank you now. Let's bring in CNN politics senior reporter Stephen Collinson, Megan Hayes, former White House director of message planning for President Biden and Matt Gorman, former senior advisor for the Tim Scott presidential campaign. We're going to want to start with you. As you know, for the former President Carter, he took a lot of pride and be able to reach across the aisle. And I want to take a listen to something he said about bipartisanship. Now this was in the 90s, so long after he left office. But let's take a listen to what he said.

I think our American society now is divided worse than it has been since the war between the states. And the division is dramatized by the division in Washington. There's practically no harmony now between the White House and the Congress. And the American people look at this as kind of a comedy of errors or farce. And it's very disgusting to see it.

So there he's issuing a warning about the cost of partisanship, but clearly folks didn't really listen.

Right. And I think that, you know, President Carter reminds me a lot of President Biden where he reaches across the aisle. They were getting things done. But unlike our incoming president, where it's very divisive and very, you know, not for the times, Jimmy Carter did do that. He did have a diplomacy about him and a statesman about him that did reach across the aisle to get things done and whether people liked it or not. And he did have a lasting legacy where he was able to accomplish things that we probably would not be able to accomplish today in our environment. Yeah.

Yeah. Now, I also want to talk that Senator Amy Klobuchar echoed some of this sentiment. Let's take a listen to what she said.

As usual, Jimmy Carter ahead of his time. What he identified is the fact that in the old days, you'd try to work things out and end up friends later. He himself worked with Republicans, and he knew how important it was. I continue to believe in the hardest of times that while you stand your ground—and he certainly showed us how to do that. He was stubborn, as you just pointed out. But you also look for common ground when you can.

Of course, he did look for that common ground. He was able to find it, but he also lost his bid for reelection. I mean, how hard is it to find common ground? Well, it's a lot easier if you're Jimmy Carter and have over 60 Democratic senators and never had to deal with a Republican House who's entirely Democratic. So I think we keep it in context of that perspective as well. But look, I mean, Jimmy Carter was a good man. And I think one of the things we're going to have to reckon with as we get into more of the more modern presidencies

It's rarely will legacies be entirely good or entirely bad. They're going to be mixed bags when we look at certain things. And I know, Stephen, you wrote a piece on that this morning a little bit. But look, I think he had a tremendously effective post-presidency. I think some of the things he did, particularly around Hamas.

literal and figurative embraces of them did not age well. But that being said, I think he was out of his depth as president in a lot of respects. However, I think what he did looking back, deregulating the airline industry, the trucking industry, the home brewing industry, essentially deregulating the beer industry, you know, it does look good in retrospect too. And that's one of the things we're going to have to grapple with. It's hard to say entirely good, entirely bad in a lot of these things.

And Stephen, you have a new piece on CNN.com about the global impact of Carter's presidency. You write, "The depths of Carter's experience on the global stage and achievements that endure to this day in the Middle East, Asia, and the Western Hemisphere hold important lessons and point to opportunities for his 21st century successors,

starting with Trump, in his second term. So what is the lesson that Trump should take away? Well, I think you make a good point when you talk about mixed legacies, because we tend to think of one-term presidents as failures. But over the years, their achievements spool out and they've come to look a lot more significant, of course.

Carter lost in the landslide to Reagan. That was seen at the time as a disastrous presidency. But what I think we can take away from it is that a lot of the issues, especially globally, that Carter dealt with, Iran, the issue that ended his presidency with the hostage crisis, how to deal with the Kremlin, managing relationships with China, a lasting peace deal in the Middle East, which no other subsequent president has managed,

uh... these are things that trump is going to deal with on his first day in office and we saw recently for example how the president-elect reopened one of the most settled

aspects of Carter's legacy, the Panama Canal. If the president-elect decides to throw away the Panama Canal Treaty, he's going to deal with exactly the same issues about instability in the Western Hemisphere, American power, how you defend the canal that Carter dealt with and led to him making the Panama Canal Treaty in the first place, handing back the waterway to Panama.

going back to the middle east in 2019 our colleague wolf blitzer sat down with carter and talked about the camp david accords which of course brokered the the treaty between israel and egypt and wolf asked him if he had if he had served a second term what he would have wanted to happen next in the middle east let's take a listen to what he said there's still a peace treaty to this very day between israel and egypt it never has i don't think a single word has ever been violated in that in that particular thing but i think we still need to

to remember that the Palestinians don't have the promises that were made to me during the Camp David Accords. And if you had been re-elected, what would have happened? It's hard to say, but I think that had I been another term, I would have implemented completely the Camp David Accords, including the relationship between Israel and the Palestinians.

Well, that seems pretty timely today. Do you think this is something we could see the U.S. try to approach in the next four years? The Palestinian issue is going to be at the center of President Trump's attempt to broker this alliance between moderate Arab states, Israel, and the United States to try and further isolate Iran.

The question is, will Trump and more importantly, will Prime Minister Netanyahu take steps that the Saudis are requiring to go forward with that negotiation to give at least some hope to the Palestinians of some self-determination in the future? That was the big issue that they couldn't get past.

Egypt and Israel and the Camp David Accords, it's still a central issue in the Middle East today. All right, stay with me. We'll have more because up next on CNN this morning, the latest layer of MAGA infighting. Trump comes out in support of visas for high-tech workers. How his stance on the issue paints a broader picture of his upcoming term.

Plus, House Speaker Mike Johnson gets the key endorsement in his battle to hold on to that gavel. And we're remembering esteemed journalist and CNN anchor Aaron Brown, who passed away at 76 years old. I think there was a pervasive sense of

Not so much what's happening, but what's next. What I would say about that is that to some extent that went on not for minutes or hours, but for days. The 2024 F-150 Lightning Truck gets dirty and runs clean.

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Do you have the votes?

I think we do, Kellyanne. I'm really humbled and honored to have President Trump's endorsement for Speaker again. He and I work so well together, so closely together, and we have a lot of big things to do. He recognizes that what we need right now, I think my colleagues recognize this as well, this could be the most consequential presidency and Congress of the modern era.

Mike Johnson fighting to retain his role as House Speaker ahead of Friday's House vote. And he's got President-elect Trump's full backing. Trump writing on social media, quote, "Johnson will do the right thing and he will continue to win. Mike has my complete and total endorsement."

But this morning, there's resistance among Republicans. And with a historically slim majority, Johnson can only afford to lose one vote, and that's if every member votes on Friday. So to break this all down, let's bring my panel back in. All right, Stephen, here's a brand-new test of Trump's grip on the GOP. He's just about 20 days out from his term. So his message appears to be to Republicans, don't blow this up. Right.

And I think it would be madness for the Republicans to engage in some prolonged speaker fight, given the fact that they've got a tiny majority. They want to get big bills done to get them on the president-elect's desk when he walks in the Oval Office in three weeks' time. But having said that, the majority is very fragile. It only takes one or two Republicans to hold out, to try and get a concession, sometimes on budget issues.

So Trump's endorsement, I think, is very important. But we saw in the way that the year-end spending deal blew up just before Christmas how difficult this is going to be for Republicans this year. And Matt, GOP Representative Thomas Massey, he's of course part of the Republican resistance, he posted this on X. Quote, I respect and support President Trump, but his endorsement of Mike Johnson is going to work out about as well as his endorsement of Speaker Paul Ryan.

We've seen Johnson partner with the Democrats and to send money to Ukraine, authorize spying on Americans and blow the budget. All right, there's a lot to unpack there. Bottom line is Johnson thinks he has the votes, but should he be so confident given this sentiment? Yeah, I don't think this is a surprise coming in for Trump. I think what one of the lessons of Trump throughout this whole, I would say next six to eight months, if he really wants to get some of these things done, he's going to have to get involved, I think himself and get his priorities over the line.

And I think, look, Johnson has stayed very close to Trump and has really allied with Trump in a major way. I think it's very fair to say that the Johnson agenda is very much the Trump agenda. So I don't think it's going to be a problem for him. And he does have a little bit more wiggle room because Mike Walz, Elise Stefanik have not yet resigned and will not, at least by the time the speaker vote happens. So he has a little bit more wiggle room than he does if they had.

So what do you think is happening behind the scenes right now to get these votes locked down? Well, I don't think it's a surprise that you have Trump, Jim Jordan, Elon Musk all coming on the same day, really reaffirming their support after the holiday, but before with enough time to then whip the votes in advance of Friday afternoon's vote. So I think, look, the team in the Speaker's office, I know, is working very, very hard. It's not a shock that you see Johnson

on a holiday week where maybe a Speaker of the House wouldn't be normally appearing on Fox News coming out there and I think kind of taking a victory lap over Trump. I would expect to see him on a few more shows between now and then. I think he will be close. Don't get me wrong. He'll be okay.

They also have to get this done before Monday, before the 6th, to certify the election. So it's like they don't really have a lot of space there. So I think that some of Trump endorsing Johnson, yes, it's for his agenda. But it's also a little bit selfish on his part because they need to certify the election on the 6th. A thousand percent, right? They don't have time. People were far more likely to mess around in 2023. Democratic Senate, Democratic president. There was nothing substantive getting done. Now you're on the clock. First hundred days, they're burning real time. Yep, acts.

Absolutely. And Megan, I want to listen to what Republican Representative Don Bacon told CNN. Let's take a listen. Oh, sorry. It's actually not sound. I'm going to be the sound here. To oppose Johnson now weakens the GOP and strengthens Hakeem Jeffries. It also puts at risk the Electoral College certification that you were just talking about scheduled for the 6th of January. These guys serve as a fifth column for the Dems. So to that point, Democrats are watching all this. What do you think their

their thinking as this all plays out? Well, they know they have a lot of power going into the next Congress. They know that the Republicans are going to have to figure out a way to negotiate with them. They have a one or two seat margin here going into the next Congress. So I think with the speaker fight, that will be done. Johnson will get reelected as speaker. But I think when it starts to come to some of the Trump policies, they will have to work with Democrats. Democrats hold a lot of power here to hold up

Trump's agenda. It's so interesting, so much action even before Inauguration Day. We have a lot coming up in the next few weeks. Everyone stay with me straight ahead on CNN this morning. Families in anguish as investigators search for answers in the South Korea plane crash that left 179 people dead. Plus, how soggy conditions may put a damper on tonight's New Year's Eve celebration in the Big Apple.

New overnight, CNN and the whole journalism community mourning the loss today of the renowned CNN anchor Aaron Brown, who passed away on Sunday at the age of 76, according to his family. Brown, who shaped this network's evening news format, gained prominence for bringing the country some of its most consequential news of this century.

For those of you just joining us, let's just briefly recap what we know. About an hour ago, about 8:45 Eastern Time, one plane crashed into the tower, the World Trade Center tower on the right.

Brown later receiving the prestigious Edward R. Murrow Award for his 9-11 coverage. His former colleagues here remember him as a thoughtful, diligent broadcaster with a biting sense of humor. We here at CNN send our condolences to his family and loved ones.

Now turning to this. Mourners looking for answers following the deadly South Korea plane crash that killed all but two people on a 181-person flight. CNN International correspondent Mike Valerio has the latest. It is the unmistakable outcry of grief heard throughout South Korea's Muon International Airport.

Families unable to absorb the anguish of the Jeju Air catastrophe. Hundreds of relatives huddling in the departure hall waiting for news of whether their loved ones remains are found.

A friend of a couple killed in the crash said he came here to confirm for himself his friends of 30 years are simply gone. "I have nothing to say, but it's tragic," he told us. "I watch the news all day, and for now they say bird strike could be the cause. I'm so shocked and hurt, I cannot even put it into words."

Now, so many people have chosen to stay. They're not going anywhere, and that's seen, evidenced by all of these tents that go from here pretty much to the end of the terminal. They go back three tents to the edge of the check-in counters. You see food deliveries throughout the day. Let's keep going this way. And the echoes of grief.

The scenes inside are just a short drive from the cataclysmic crash site, the tail of the doomed airliner still jutting above the field, a mountain in the middle of the debris. More than a thousand people now mobilized to sift through pieces of the plane.

The crash scene is absolutely harrowing. Just a few steps away, you can see where the doomed Jeju Air jetliner careened through the embankment and burst into flames. And more than a day later, you can still see forensics teams in their white suits combing through the debris along with members of the police force as well as members of the South Korean military.

Now to my right, you can see soldiers looking through the fields and around them. To give you an idea of the force of this crash, a full football field away from where we're standing, you can see mangled, twisted chairs thrown from the jetliner. A representative of the victims' families urging an even larger response. What I want to request from the government is to increase the manpower so that the recovery can be carried out more swiftly.

I hope my siblings, my family can be recovered and returned to us even if only 80 percent intact. Mike Valerio, thank you. And preparations well underway for the iconic New Year's Eve celebration in New York City's Times Square. Three, two, one, Happy New Year! An estimated one million people are expected to ring in the new year. City officials say there's an extensive safety plan in place for the festivities.

Security is everyone's responsibility. So if you see something, say something. But most importantly, do something. Notify any uniformed personnel that is in the area.

Going live now to Times Square from Earth Cam, where tonight the famed crystal adorned ball is set to drop at midnight regardless of the weather. So what will that weather look like? Well, let's go to meteorologist Allison Chinchar. All right, Allison, how is it looking out there for all these folks who want to ring in the new year? So the good news is that we're going to be able to see some of the

news is it's not going to be that cold. In fact, given comparison comparing to other years, it's actually going to be on the mild side. But yes, we are going to have some showers to contend with, not just in the early end of the festivities, but really through most of them from eight p.m. All the way through midnight. You do have those shower chances in effect, but the chance the temperature itself is going to be in the upper forties to lower fifties. When we compare that to other years,

That's not too far from, say, the top five warmest of the New Year's Eve ball drops. So again, it could be worse. It could be a cold rain. At least it's going to be on the milder side. Now, the rain itself is all coming from this system right here that's currently in the Midwest, bringing rain to portions of Chicago, Indianapolis, and even a few rumbles of thunder across Cincinnati. That's going to continue to slide to the east.

As we go through the day today and on the southern side, we also have some very gusty winds up around 40 to 50 mph. That includes Knoxville and Lexington, KY. We also have the potential for some strong to severe storms today across the mid Atlantic, looking at mainly strong wind gusts. You're talking Philadelphia, Washington DC, Baltimore, even Atlantic City, New Jersey.

The system itself will continue to slide to the east again around the evening rush hour tonight, really starting to spread more of those showers into the mid Atlantic as well as the northeast and some snow starting to see that change over there across portions of Michigan as well as Wisconsin and Illinois. By tonight in time for the ball to drop. Yes, we do have some rain unfortunately in New York, also around Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, even around Hartford, Connecticut.

Also looking at some showers, so don't forget to take that poncho with you because remember, most places do not allow umbrellas. Good point, Allison Chinchar. Thank you. And it's New Year's Eve, so you know what that means. The boys are back for the biggest party of the year. Join Anderson Cooper and Andy Cohen for New Year's Eve live. Coverage starts tonight at 8 on CNN.

And coming up on CNN This Morning, redefining post-presidency, how Jimmy Carter's decades of humanitarian work away from the White House became his enduring legacy. Plus, Donald Trump's change of tune on the visa program at the center of a debate between some of his staunchest supporters.

What I want to do and what I will do is you graduate from a college. I think you should get automatically as part of your diploma, a green card. If you graduate or you get a doctorate degree from a college, you should be able to stay in this country. The epic story. She was going to kill everybody. Do I look like a monster to you? Concludes. The man's are a cult. We need to get her out of there. With one heart.

Oh, there she is. Blast. I hear like moaning. Like a porno. Twist. What are you hiding? Can we cut? The Curious Case of Natalia Grace, the final chapter. An ID documentary event. Starts Monday, January 6th at 9.

Welcome back. The holiday feud between factions of Trump's MAGA base over H-1B visas came to a head over the weekend with the president-elect coming out in support of the program that allows the brightest foreign workers, many of them engineers and computer scientists, to live and work in the U.S. The broader debate reveals a significant rift in Trump's MAGA base just weeks before he is set to take office. CNN's Brian Todd has more.

The president-elect finally weighs in on a controversial issue that pits two of his top advisers against his MAGA base. Donald Trump now defends the H-1B visa program, which allows thousands of highly skilled foreign workers to immigrate to the U.S. every year to fill specialized jobs. Trump told the New York Times...

Post, quote, I've always liked the visas. I have always been in favor of the visas. That's why we have them. I've been a believer in H-1B. I have used it many times. It's a great program. It's one of the first signs of disunity or disharmony in the folks who support Trump and who are going to make up his administration. And this is likely to be an ongoing point of tension.

Trump is now siding with billionaires Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, who Trump has tapped to lead the new Department of Government Efficiency. Musk and Ramaswamy have defended the H-1B program, Musk posting recently that it's the reason he's in America, and quote, "...take a big step back and blank yourself in the face. I will go to war on this issue, the likes of which you cannot possibly comprehend."

But Musk and Ramaswamy's stance is being slammed by Trump's MAGA supporters, like his former White House strategist Steve Bannon, who said on his podcast that H-1B takes jobs from American citizens. The program from top to bottom is a scam and a con. There is nothing in this program that should continue to exist. Nothing. These coders are going to work for a third of the salaries and work like indentured servants. That's not American citizens.

Trump's comment that he's, quote, always been in favor of the H-1B visas isn't true. He previously opposed those visas and restricted access to them several times during his first administration in an effort to curb legal immigration. But in the 2024 presidential campaign, Trump had changed his tune on skilled workers coming to the U.S. What I want to do and what I will do is you graduate from a college, I think you should get automatically as part of your diploma a green card to be able to stay in this country.

Musk, who was born in South Africa, came to the U.S. as a foreign student, later worked in the U.S. on an H-1B visa. And it's his companies and those of other tech giants who've recently courted Donald Trump which stand to benefit from more H-1B workers in the U.S. At least at this early stage, some of the tech leaders, including Musk, who bet on a Trump administration to deliver them policies that would be favorable to their industry and to their businesses, may be seeing some return from them.

All right, well, my panel is back to discuss all this further. Stephen, I want to start with you because you had a big picture piece for CNN.com on this where you write, in the coming weeks, Trump's ability to reconcile the differing interests among conservative budget hawks, hardline MAGA lawmakers, and comparative moderates who may be vulnerable in the 2026 general election will dictate the fate of his aggressive legislative plans on immigration, budget trimming, and tax cuts.

So, this is a test. Right. I think this issue does show the fissures in the new Trump coalition. It's very interesting this time around it's not just the MAGA grassroots working class base. You've got this new tech Silicon Valley aspect

to it. That said, you know, all presidents have to manage their coalitions. This is nothing new. I think the question is going forward, will Trump side on more issues with Elon Musk and people, the millionaires and the billionaires in his cabinet, who've got strong self-interests as they go into the government for their own businesses?

or will he step back and be worried about alienating some of his most loyal supporters? In his first term, we didn't see many occasions when he was willing to get out in front of that core support.

Ed, Stephen, I want to start, I want to bring to you this from the Wall Street Journal editorial board backing Trump on Sunday, writing, Trump may be wrong in trying to save TikTok, but he has right to endorse the value of H-1B visas in the dispute between Elon Musk and Steve Bannon. Mr. Trump is choosing the side of enlightened nationalism as opposed to the blinkered, declinist version.

So how do you square this with his America first mantra that arguably propelled him back to the White House? Well, I think this goes to my point I made with talking about the Johnson raid. He's going to have to get involved, I think, a little bit more deeply. A lot of the disagreement happened over the holiday when he really wasn't involved. And once he did, it has declined to him. And even the people who are still opposed are attacking Musk, notably, not Donald Trump. I think that's a very notable tone and message change.

And I think, look, it's really important, as we're also seeing, again, to bring it back to Congress. I think Republicans are very, very keen on the fact that their first priority is they need to be things that unify. So, look, H-1B is an important immigration part. I don't think it'll be in that first package, especially with this fissure. You're going to be seeing things that, like, whether it's border funding, wall, things that they know could pass relatively easily. I think it's Trump's objective to get points on the board as quickly and as effectively as possible.

And Megan, some Democrats have called Elon Musk, quote, President Musk, of course, during the spending fight. But what does this controversy, the visa controversy, tell you about Elon Musk's role within the larger MAGA movement? I think he has a substantial role in the larger MAGA movement. You see that. You saw that with the funding fight. You see that here. He's always normally the first person out. And it's interesting that you say that people are attacking Musk over Trump. They understand that attacking Musk is getting underneath Donald Trump's skin as well. As he put out a statement, he talked about it.

And so I do think he has a large part to play here. And I think that we will see how he impacts sort of some of the policies going forward. And to Stephen's point, is it gonna be for the working class or is it gonna be for the millionaires and billionaires? 'Cause so far it's for the millionaires and billionaires like Elon Musk. - And the New York Times reports this, federal data shows Mr. Trump's companies have received approval to employ over a thousand workers through the two H2 programs in the past 20 years.

Mr. Trump's companies have applied for a dozen H-1B visas since 2019, but then most of these applications for quality control manager positions were subsequently withdrawn. Currently, Mr. Trump's winery in Charlottesville, Virginia is seeking 31 foreign vineyard workers under H-2A program, offering them $15.81 per hour. So does Trump have a vested interest here? Is that potentially why he flipped?

I can't speak to that. It's a good winery. It is a good winery. It's a really nice winery. Yeah, it is. Their cider's named Donny Appleseed. Fun fact. But no, look, what I would also push back is this dichotomy between the MAGA base and the millionaires and billionaires if siding with H-1B. For example, the Democrats support H-1B expansion. I mean, I don't know if you would characterize them siding with millionaires and billionaires over that. Same thing, almost everyone, when I worked for Jeb Bush in 2016 primary, aside from Donald Trump and others,

We're in support of H-1B expansions as well, or at least keeping the status quo. So I would push back a little bit on this dichotomy that it's either MAGA-based or H-1B is millionaires and billionaires. That's not the case.

All right, where do we see this going? Really quickly, I'm going to do a quick round, Robin. Where do you see this going in the next few days? Do you think they can resolve any of these issues? But I think to what end, right? I think this is a little, it's a holiday disagreement because I think there's a slow stuff on X. When we actually have the speaker fight going into the first 100 days, this will not be an issue.

I agree. I don't think this will be in the top 100 days issue. I don't think this will be part of their major immigration package. I think this is just another food fight that's, like you said, for the holidays. It just gives us all something to talk about. Everybody.

Everybody's fighting for family in a foreign country. No matter what form that takes, how about you? What do you see in the next three weeks? They've been trying to fix H-1B visas since George W. Bush's immigration plan. So the chances that it's going to get done anytime soon are pretty slim. Touche. Up ahead on CNN this morning, the new year down under. Sydney, Australia gears up to usher in 2025 with their world-renowned fireworks show in just a matter of hours.

Plus, how the legacy of America's 39th president extends far beyond his four years in the Oval Office. War may sometimes be a necessary evil, but no matter how necessary, it is always evil, never a good.

It's 49 minutes past the hour. Here's your morning roundup. A federal appeals court has denied Donald Trump's request for a new trial in the civil lawsuit bought by E. Jean Carroll. The court also upheld the jury's verdict, which found that Trump sexually abused Carroll and awarded her $5 million for battery and defamation.

And China is denying the U.S. accusation that it backed the hacking of the Treasury Department. Officials are calling it a major incident carried out by a suspected agent for China. CNN learned that Treasury workstations and unclassified documents were breached earlier this month. Treasury officials plan to hold a classified briefing about the hack next week.

India has launched its first space docking mission using an Indian-made rocket. The launch was deemed successful after reaching an altitude of about 292 miles. India plans to test the docking technology around January 7th. And it's officially 2025 in New Zealand. Australia is next. Just a little over an hour from now, the city of Sydney will ring in the new year with its world-famous fireworks show.

CNN will be live from Australia at the top of the hour.

And this morning the nation remembers a legacy that much like Jimmy Carter himself, couldn't be bound by expectations. Carter did not let his work be confined to four years in the Oval Office, and he lived to see an age no president ever has. He was 100 years old. CNN's Phil Mattingly takes a look at Carter's work after his presidency. I intend to give our new president my support, and I intend to work as a citizen

as I've worked here in this office as president for the values this nation was founded to secure. For Jimmy Carter, a farewell address to the presidency that planted the seeds to a legacy reshaping four decades. Thank you all. Focused in his work at the namesake Carter Center, fighting diseases in developing countries and monitoring more than 100 international elections, but enhanced by his unofficial role as roving ambassador to the world.

An unappointed and, at times, in the view of his Oval Office successors, unwelcome cause. One that put him face to face with dictators and rewrote the book for a former president as only the original political outsider could. A role he never seemed to shed even within the most exclusive club in the world. But one Carter seemed to embrace, if not relish, as he offered advice and at times pointed criticism.

This administration has been the worst in history. During George W. Bush's presidency, Carter was especially vocal in his opposition to the Iraq war. You believe the United States under this administration has used torture? I don't think it. I know it, certainly. So is the president lying?

The president is self-defining what we have done and authorized in the torture of prisons, yes. Carter's 1994 trip to North Korea during a period of tension over their nuclear program put the Clinton administration in a difficult spot. The words that I used with President Kim Il-sung was that, in my opinion, the sanctions effort was being held in abeyance. Carter cutting a deal with North Korea and then talking to CNN before President Bill Clinton.

I don't know what he said and I don't know that you know what he said. All I know is what I said and what I said is the policy of the United States of America. And yet, while Clinton was angry at the time, years later he awarded Carter the Medal of Freedom. Grateful nation says thank you. Carter once candidly responded to a question about whether President Barack Obama called him for advice. Unfortunately, the answer is no.

President Obama doesn't, but previous presidents have called on me. As for his relationship with President Donald Trump... Does America want kind of a jerk as president? Apparently, from his recent election, yeah. Phil Mattingly, CNN, Washington.

My panel is back to discuss the life and legacy of Jimmy Carter. We were talking earlier about how legacy is complicated. There's always going to be some good, some bad, always a mixed bag. But what do you see Carter's legacy as? I mean, look, to

To put it mildly, again, a man who was out of his depth as president, clearly. There were some bright spots. I think by and large, some bright spots after he left office, though it was controversial, I think, in many ways. I think, again, I'll go back to it. I think his defense and literal embrace at times of Hamas was repugnant. And I think he put the current administration, whether they be Clinton, Bush, in a bit of a bind by going and meeting with some of these dictators in 1994 in North Korea. But again, I think you also can't deny the good he did both

around the country with habitat for humanity around the globe with the carter center and also just being a genuinely good person is by all accounts whether it's planes or anywhere else a good human being so it's complicated yeah and it's always complicated and of course president biden is said to eulogize carter at his funeral next week the new york times peter baker writes this about the parallels between the two democrats

That Mr. Carter would depart the scene at this particular stage of Mr. Biden's presidency, however, evokes a certain sense of deja vu. Another one-term Democratic president whose aspirations for another term were damaged by inflation and struggles to win the release of hostages held in the Middle East before he leaves office. Mr. Biden and Mr. Carter, of course, are different in many respects, too, and the circumstances of their departures from the White House vary in important ways.

Not least that Mr. Carter was just 56 when he left office, while Mr. Biden at 82 is departing, trailed by doubts about his capacity to have even served another four years. What do you make of that assessment? No, I think there are a lot of parallels. I think one of the big parallels that we haven't really touched on a lot is they are both men of faith. They have taken, they're both served based in their faith. And I think that is something that should be noted with Jimmy Carter's legacy as we move forward. He, you know, he

always returned back to his faith. He taught Sunday school and that was like a big part of his of who he was and will be part of his legacy. And he actually talked about his faith with Wolf Blitzer talking about how it was a very important part of his marriage. Let's take a listen to what he said. The last thing we do every night is read the Bible aloud.

Rosalyn reads sometimes and I read sometimes. And when I'm overseas or when she is, we read the same passage in the Bible and we kind of communicate silently. We might be on opposite sides of the world, but we still know that we share the same Bible passage.

What's your reaction to that? Well, clearly his faith gave him solace in the later years of his life during his period of serious illness and the fact that he lived a lot longer than a lot of people thought. But he's also a Democrat from another age, an evangelical Southern Democrat.

he won states in 1976 like Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, South Carolina. That's impossible to imagine. The 1980 election, Reagan took away the evangelical vote and made that part of the Republican coalition. So when America says goodbye to him next week,

it's closing a chapter of democratic party history as well as american history and looking forward he really redefined the post-presidency do you think that any future former president could have a top his post-presidency career we'll see any look

Certainly leaving off stage 56 gave him a long runway, right? And you're seeing in a similar sense, though not as long, but Clinton having a long post-presidency runway. Obama will have the same. And even though we have an era of kind of older presidents right now, maybe not as long of a runway, but you're right. I mean, I think there is something to be said for when you reach the highest office in the land, how do you continue? How do you top it or at least continue to serve? And I think

President Clinton really probably took notice of what Jimmy Carter did and probably modeled his the Clinton Foundation and some of what they are doing from that and I think that that that will show you know that they do do that but I do think with these older presidents like

Joe Biden's just not going to have the runway. Donald Trump's not going to have the long post-presidency in their lifetime. No, and it's also interesting, we were joking about fighting with family earlier, watching the former president, Jimmy Carter, sort of off on his own. What do you think it will be like at the funeral next week? Presumably they'll all attend. I mean, what do you think the vibe will be? It'll be a fascinating dynamic because you'll have all the presidents together,

The funeral will almost coincide with another massive state occasion and inauguration

So it's very rare to have this. You know, you talk about post-presidencies. Donald Trump's post-presidency will be a new presidency. He unusually has a chance to start again, and that is the most unusual thing of all of this. Yeah, of course, the focus will be on Carter, but watching that row will be fascinating. Now, we also want to tell you about a new CNN film examining the storied career of one of the most influential artists of all time, Luther Vandross. Here's a preview. Like from out of a dream...

And in this dream, there was a major diva in the wings waiting for me. Oh yes, she will appear out of somewhere. I was so nervous because I had never probably played in a place that big before. It's the beginning of the performance and Luther's like, "I'm seeking out a diva and she's here and she's there." And I really was honored when he brought me out to sing with him.

Tune in. The all-new CNN film Luther, Never Too Much, premieres New Year's Day at 8 p.m. Eastern and Pacific on CNN. Thanks to our panel and thanks to all of you for joining us. I'm Paula Reid. CNN special coverage of New Year's Eve live around the world starts now.

Welcome to Times Square. Anderson Cooper and Andy Cohen are back together to ring in the New Year. Best night of my life! And anything could happen. Oh my gosh! So birds! That's perfect TV! New Year's Eve Live starts at 8 on CNN.