and his top republican rivals are swarming the campaign trail tonight with 2024 almost here. we re getting a new read on the former president s confidence heading into the iowa caucuses. his campaign already predicting when he ll clinch the gop nomination. also tonight, a major legal challenge to a strict and sweeping new immigration law in texas. will civil rights groups be able to block the measure that authorizes police in texas to arrest migrants? a stunning explosion of red-hot lava as a volcano erupts in iceland. cnn is right near the danger zone getting updates on the threat from the oozing inferno and the toxic gases spewing into the air? welcome to our viewers here in the united states and around the world. i m wolf blitzer. you re in the situation room. we begin with presidential politics at an all-out push for votes in iowa tonight. the top three republican candidates are getting ready to hold events in the lead-off caucus state. front-runner donald trump i
mexico. there s more long lines because of its closure. now the biden administration has decided to close the reports of injury and reassign those agents to process migrants. i want you to look over my shoulder because you will see there are thousands of migrants waiting to be transported for immigration processing. i can tell you from here, i can see women and children last check from sources on the ground and from the sheriff about 5000 migrants were waiting in eagle pass, texas. in the last 24 hours, 12,600 migrants were apprehended. just to give you a sense on december 8th, i interviewed jason owens. he said at that point in time, 7000 migrants had been apprehended within a 24 hour time period. that gives you a sense of the overwhelming number of migrants that have crossed who are waiting to be processed now, you are talking about the bottleneck when it comes to the number of migrants who are actually in custody. when you talk about these custody numbers. your not includi
Sound of ripping throughout the nation. Theres going to be a lot of ripping. Carley that sounds like a problem for you. Todd i got home yesterday, instead of saying welcome home, honey, we missed you. My wife says you were too loud during the 8 00 hour. Im going to ratchet it down a little this hour. Merry christmas to you and yours. Griff Merry Christmas. Thank you for having us into your living room now. I have confirmation in my living room, which is in washington now, i was questionable if santa was going to come, he apparently came to the jenkins household. You can see here with lots carley lots of gifts. Griff i got so many gifts. Carley are those all for you . Griff i assume so. Who else would they be for . Carley you have two daughters. Griff i do. Madeleine and mckenzie, Merry Christmas to you guys. Todd i called santa a dirty name yesterday, he didnt deliver to my tree as nicely as yours. Griff theres one thing about the tree. If we can show it quickly, that carley pointed ou
hello and welcome. the philippinejournalist and nobel peace prize winner, maria ressa, has been acquitted of tax evasion charges by a manila court. her news site, rappler, was also cleared of tax evasion. ms ressa, who was awarded the nobel prize alongside a russian journalist in 2021, is head of rappler, which earned a reputation for its in depth reporting and tough scrutiny of the former president rodrigo duterte. she was convicted in 2020 for libel and does face several other charges, which she says are politically motivated. she spoke a little earlier. today, facts win, truth wins, justice wins. a brazen abuse of power. voice waivers and meant to stop journalists from doing theirjobs, but. give me two seconds. these cases are where capital markets, where rule of law, where press freedom meet, right? so, this acquittal is notjust for us, for rappler, it is for every filipino who has ever been unjustly accused. lian buan isjustice reporter with rappler and has been closel
it s five weeks since nurses first went on strike this winter. yet there s no resolution in sight. in fact, the dispute is only intensifying. nurses are taking industrial action at even more nhs trusts today than they did before christmas. we want to make nursing a safe and sustainable profession for all. we want our colleagues and the patients we care for to receive the care they deserve. nurses at 55 trusts in england are on strike today and tomorrow. next month, the industrial action will be more widespread, covering 73 trusts. 12 health boards and organisations in wales will also go on strike. a decision on further strikes in northern ireland will be taken in the coming weeks, while in scotland industrial action remains paused as negotiations continue. the advice for people who have medical appointments on strike days is to assume they re going ahead if the hospital hasn t been in touch. nhs leaders are warning that the strikes couldn t come at a more difficult time for t