one! well, those aussies, they know how to do their fireworks. they do. too right, as they say. beautiful. yeah, sydney harbour there with the glow. kind of looks like my neighbor s house. i m sure. here s another plus, down there in australia, they are just kicking off summer, so ga-day. welcome to 2023. do you have any big plans tonight? no. it s 12:01, quick cheers and good night, everybody. us, too. cnn this morning continues now. and good morning. it is saturday, december 31st, here in the u.s. we ve still got a bit of time left in this year, happy new year s eve. thanks for waking up with us. i m martin savidge in for boris sanchez. glad to be with you, martin. i m amara walker. thank you so much for joining us. we began this morning with breaking news and sad news to end the year. pope emeritus benedict has died. his health had deteriorated over the last several days prompting pope francis to ask for prayers. for the
news out of the vatican. the former pope emeritus benedict has died at the age of 95. with sorrow, we inform you that the pope emeritus benedict xvi passed away, today, this morning, at 9:34 in the mater echess yamon tia mona stare. he was the first pope to resign, rather than stay in office for life. he was a controversial at times member of church. let s go to barbie nadeau in st. peter s square right now. barbie, i m curious, there were a lot of people already in the square and then the news breaks. so what s the reaction? what are people talking about there? reporter: yeah, you know, it s a mixed reaction, because a lot some people didn t know. some people here in rome enjoying a day. the square is empty behind us right now, they re doing a security check because pope francis is going to be coming out here in the next hour or so to visit the nativity scene there. we ve got a lot of pilgrims pushed off the square. they re coming back. but the mood is very solemn.
has died at the age of 95. we will have a live report from the vatican in just a moment. plus, new year and even more legal troubles for the former president of the united states after decades of flying under the radar was 2022 the year that accountability finally caught up to donald trump? plus, the halls of congress will be crawling with election deniers in 2023. with a divided republican party set to take over the house, you can put democracy at the bottom of the gop agenda. good morning. it is saturday, december 31st, new years eve. i am mehdi hasan, sitting in for my friend ali velshi this morning. not only is today the last day of the year, it also marks the official end of the january 6th committee. it s a series of blockbuster public hearings dominated the news this year with its many revelations about donald trump s desperate and anti-democratic attempts to cling on to power. the committee repeatedly made the case that trump was culpable and liable for the insurrec
i am in the west. i m mehdi hassan filling in for my good friend ali velshi. i want to start this morning with a little bit of a quiz for you. do you know where and when he went to college? do you know if you attended college? do you know where he worked? do you know if you are jewish or not? of course, you know all the answers to those questions. for republican congressman elect george santos, there have been tough questions, we really tough questions. over the past couple of weeks, he s been caught lying in spectacular and fantastical fashion about each and every one of those things and more. george santos did not attend or graduate from any institute of higher education. he did not previously work for citigroup or goldman sachs. he did not found an animal rights charity. he tweeted that, quote, 9/11 claimed my mother s life. five months later he, tweeted a conflicting statement saying his mother died only five years ago in 2016. we don t know when exactly george santos s m
peter s basilica. it says the rosary began, the fog began to live. i don t know that is a divine prominence, i don t know. it s very interesting as they began the rosary, the fog began to let. it is a very emotional day and i want to show you the vatican newspaper. it is a special edition. featuring pop emeritus benedict giving his date of death, which was last saturday december 31st. on the back, it says his words, which i think are really incredible. it says in italian, the direction is decided. we believe in the love of god. those are the final words we would like to that he wanted to live with us, and one other thing that is very important about benedict, and because everyone is talking about he is a great theologian. i read many of his books. one of the things he talks about is that doctrine was easy, but helping a billion people live it out is the hard part. i think that it was heavy on his heart that he wanted catholics do not just know that doctrine, but to have a r