can find pink if you are into that sort of thing. now, broadly speak for the holiday shopping season the national retail federation expects sales to be strong, 3 to 4% higher than 2022, expects barbie to be a popular toy for boys and girls. yeah, this is a wave, this pink wave that mattel is trying to keep riding even into the holiday shopping season and 2024. >> we may or may not have purchased a holiday barbie in our household. they were onboard with this movie and they have ridden it, the retail part of it? >> yeah, a significant success for them. i went to the last earnings report and you see in their north american segment and international segment a strong growth between 9 and 10 texas rangers. they mention barbie, the strength of the dolls. i should say yesterday their stock popped 2.5% because they announced they are developing an american girl doll movie. >> trying to recapture the

barbie success. >> samantha for life according to my producer in my ear. >> i was to old. i would love a stevie nicks barbie. if santa is listening. >> you can take advantage of that. >> thank you. "cnn this morning" continues right now. discuss ongoing efforts to promote stability in the west bank, including confronting terrorism to support the palestinian authority security forces through the u.s. security coordinator for israel and palestinian authority through ongoing efforts to revamp and revitalize the palestinian authority. >> we are glad you are with us. the white house right there making it clear that israel must be more careful with civilians in its war against hamas. a u.s. official tells cnn the biden administration wants to transition to a lower intensity war within weeks, a stark

difference from that israeli officials are saying. they say the fighting will last, quote, for several months. >> nikki haley gains steam in her 2024 presidential run k she take over trump's spot at the top of the party. chris sununu will be joining us here to discuss haley's chances. exclusive cnn reporting on highly classified intelligence that went missing at the end of the trump administration. that intelligence related to russian election interference in the united states. the case of that missing binder ahead. this hour of "cnn this morning" starts right now. right now president biden's national security advisor is in the west bank to meet with the head of the palestinian authority. earlier today jake sullivan met with israeli leaders and told reporters the u.s. wants to see results in reducing civilian casualties in gaza.

he did downplay any rift between the white house and israel over how this will proceed. >> senior u.s. official telling cnn they want them to tarransitn to targeted phase by the end of the year. the defense minister says the fighting will last, his words, more than several months. alex marquardt asked jake sullivan about that timeline this morning. >> we are now in the middle of a high intensity phase with ongoing ground operations, military operations in both the northern half and the southern half of gaza. but there will be a transition to another phase of this war. one that is focused in more precise ways on targeting the leadership. we are not here to tell anybody you must do x and y. this is our perspective as your partner, as your friend. >> this is what we believe is the best way to achieve your tactical and strategic goals. >> senior advisor to israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu.

of course, former israeli ambassador to the u.k. good to have you with us. there is a lot of back and forth on this timeline here. as we look at this, u.s. officials hoping to see this transition in a matter of weeks, perhaps by the end of the year. i know you can't give me a gate i date. can you give me a better sense of the timeline from israel's point of view? >> yeah, we will need more time, but the signs are positive. we are seeing the hamas military machine in the northern gaza strip being destroyed as we speak. maybe close to the end of that. we are seeing increasing numbers of hamas terrorists coming up with their hands up, holding their aqi 7 ak-47s above their head. we are seeing the collapse of the machine. in the south where we started more recently will that will take a bit longer but we are moving ahead. to paraphrase churchill, we are at the beginning of the end, and i think that will allow us when

we finish the first -- this stage that we are in at the moment to move to the next stage of the conflict b but we have to finish the stage we are currently in. if we see hamas collapse in the north, we have to see them collapse in the south, too. >> a u.s. official noting that they weren't entirely clear when israel says the goal is to eradicate hamas what that translates to. is it seeing the collapse as you are seeing now? is it doing away with leadership? is it literally going after every single hamas supporter in gaza? what do those words mean in terms of eradicating hamas in this moment? >> it means that we dismantle their military machine as a fighting force. we deny them the capability of attacking us ever begin the way they did on october 7th. that's clear. in other words, as i say, dismantle their military terrorist capabilities. and, of course, on the political

side, reduce them. they will no longer be able to govern the gaza strip. gaza will have, when this is over, a government that is not hamas. the israelis simply refuse to live next to this enclave, this terrorist controlled enclave on our southern border in constant fear of them butch ring our children. we will destroy their ability to inflict pain and murder upon us and we will end their rule of the gaza strip. >> as you know, president biden has been more public and perhaps more forceful in his language lately, yesterday saying urging israel to in his words, quoting here, be more careful, talking about civilian casualties. you know about the push in washington when it comes to conditions on aid for israel. are you concerned about dwindling support from israel's strongest ally because of the humanitarian crisis and the civilian deaths? >> so we had very good

conversations on these very issues yesterday with your national security advisor. i think it's understood, israel understands in, of course. why we pursue this campaign against hamas, and we will pursue the campaign and hamas will be defeated and destroyed. but as we do that in parallel, we will do everything we can to safeguard the civilian population. we don't want to see it caught up in the crossfire between the israeli forces and hamas. and to facilitate humanitarian aid for that civilian population to enter the gaza strip to make sure there is food and water and medicine and shelter and medical support field hospitals for the civilian population. who have suffered so much because of hamas. hamas that started this war. hamas that uses them as a human shield for the war machine. hamas that deliberately endangers them to try to keep itself alive. >> i know you saw the reporting because i know you spoke with my colleague kaitlan collins last night reporting from our

colleague clarissa ward at the field hospital. a young woman said to clarissa nobody is listening to us. nobody cares about us. we have been dying for over 60 days. you talk about getting aid in to field hospitals, food, water. the world food programme declared a catastrophic crisis ten days ago. how concerned are you about this growing humanitarian crisis in terms of getting that aid in, what can you prom it's this morning? >> i can promise we will beef up our efforts together with the international community to make sure that food, water, medicine, all the elementary school humanitarian supplies leach the people of gaza. we are going back now close to 07 days. we said the idf places no limitations on food, water and medicine going into the gaza strip. and we want to work very closely with our american partners, the united nations and other humanitarian groups to make sure

that that food, water, medicine enters the gaza strip and reaches the people. now, here we have a problem because hamas is in many case want to artificially manufacture a humanitarian crisis. they don't want food to reach the people. they want a crisis because that way they can have more pressure on us to scease our campaign. it's crucial that the aid reaches the people. >> what are those efforts this morning? people justing tuning in, they he hear about the need for fuel, the numbers of trucks. that doesn't always translate in terms of what that means for relief on the ground. 85% i believe is the current number of people in gaza displaced by the fighting. getting them to a place they can get that food, they can access it and go out safely as we know from our reporting and others on the ground is incredibly difficult. you can just put that in numbers for folks this morning, what that could look like and when? >> so i can tell you at the moment, as we speak, israel has

authorized and inspected trucks that are still waiting to go in. and there are logistic issues in southern gaza. this is why we think hamas is playing a negative role here. once again, we have authorized and inspected -- we have to inspect all trucks going into gaza. we don't want hamas receiving knew explosives, and so forth. the trucks that have already been inspected and authorized ever held up not because of israel. there might be objective logistic issues. there is the fact that hamas here, we believe, is deliberately causing problems. they know that their lifeline is a ceasefire that stops israel destroying their military machine and they want that international pressure. we have to make sure the civilian aid reach the civilians. >> before we let you go, president biden has been adamant that a two-state solution is sill necessary after this war.

in terms of benjamin netanyahu and the current israeli government, are they open to a two-state solution? >> so the formula that my prime minister uses is clear. he says the palestinians should have all the powers to rule themselves and none of the powers to threaten israel. and considering what happened on october 7th, i am sure you can be very understanding of the second part of the formula. none of the powers to threaten israel. on the basis of that formula, we are happy to move forward in discussions, the idea that palestinians should be able to rule themselves. that is open. that's possible. >> appreciate the time this morning. thank you. >> my pleasure. >> really important conversation this morning, especially after clarissa's reporting. new exclusive cnn reporting about highly classified intelligence that went missing at the end of the trump administration. the intelligence was related to russian election interference in the united states. it was so secret, it was kept

inside a safe within another safe at cia headquarters but in the final weeks of the trump administration a copy of that intelligence put in binder, brought to the white house as part of an effort to declassify documents related to the fbi's russia probe and from there the trail goes cold. katie helped to report on this. she joins us this morning. why is this significant to the american people? >> this binder brought to the white house contained raw intelligence that the u.s. and its nato allies collected on russia's efforts to meddle in the 2016 election, including sources and methods, some of those sensitive information in the intelligence world. what we're talking about here is the underlying intelligence that forms the basis of the u.s. government's assessment that russian president vladimir putin sought to help trump win the 2016 election. and the disappearance of this binder was so alarming to intelligence officials that according to our sources they

briefed senate committee leadership about the information last year. we are told by a u.s. official familiar with the matter this was not among the classified items found in the search of trump's mar-a-lago resort, not why the fbi searched trump's residence. two years after it went missing this intelligence still does not appear to have been found. >> i am so fascinated by this story and how the intelligence ended up at the white house. >> yeah, so trump had spent years trying to declassify material he said would prove his claims that the russia investigation was a hoax. this intelligence was part of a massive selection of documents that he ordered brought to the white house and there was this sort of fran particulars scramble in the final days of the administration to redact the documents to be declassified and released publicly. on his last full day as president, he issued a ski classesfication order for the materials but they didn't get released and there is a trump

ally filed suit over this hoping to force the federal government's hand. we in reporting this story cnn spoke to more than a dozen sources, my colleagues and i, all who described sort of how this intelligence was brought to the white house in the final weeks of trump's president aand then went missing. >> any clues about what happened to it. >> yeah, we don't know exactly what happened to the binder that went missing. there is one theory that has emerged from testimony from cassie hutchinson, the former top aide to former chief of staff mark meadows. she told the january 6th committee that she was, quote, almost positive it went home with mr. meadows. she said that the binder had been kept in a safe in meadows' office when it wasn't being worked on. hutchinson wrote about this classified intelligence in her book. she claimed january 19th final night of the trump presidency

she saw meadows leafed the white house with an unredacted binder tucked under his arm. meadows' attorney says he was keenly aware of and adhered to the requirements for the properly handling of classified material. any material has been treated accordingly and any suggestion he is responsible for any missing boinder or other classified information is flat wrong. we reached out to officials with the cia, the office. national intelligence and justice department all of who declined to comment. the trump campaign didn't respond to our requests to comment on the binder. the mystery of this missing binder remains just that. a mystery. >> all of which to say you are going to keep digging? >> yes. >> thank you. >> thank you. overnight a decision that could cripple ukraine on the battlefield. one european country blocking billions of dollars, tens of

billions of dollars in military aid into momentum making up for nikki haley. chris sununu just endorsed her and he is here to talk about it next.

. so we are exactly one month from the iowa caucuses. the remaining republican candidates, including nikki haley and ron desantis, facing a key question. can they break donald trump's grip on this early momentum in the early nominating states? the former president has overwhelmingly leads in iowa,

south carolina. despite being on the debate stage. >> the person i want to debate is donald trump. if get him on the show, that's who i want to debate. that's who we're looking at. >> haley has the momentum right now. big financial backers in a coveted endorsement from new hampshire governor chris sununu. we will speak to him in a moment despite his skepticism we invie him back if he endorsed her. >> you said a lot of nice things about ambassador nikki haley, about governor desantis, and i am so glad you came on the show to endorse one of them. where is your endorsement going? >> well, look, i don't know who i am endorsing yet. not yet. not yet. if i endorse today, you will never ask me back on the show, right? >> that is unequivocally not the case, governor. indeed not the case. he joins us now. new hampshire governor chris sununu. so nice have to you in person. >> nice to have me back. >> i loved your sit-down with

ambassador haley and dana in new hampshire. some of the criticism that nikki haley continues to draw. chris christie saying, quote, you can't keep threading the needle on trump. do you want to see her take on trump more directly ala christie? >> he has his own style. he knows trump very well. it's going nuclear on trump. there is a value to that without a doubt. nikki haley's focus is on what nikki haley is about, her resumé. when you look at that it's the most qualified individual, the best option to be president of the united states. that's why i endorsed her so strongly. no, she takes him on and all of her town halls should talks about the trump issue, the chaos that follows him, problems that he has. and how he affects the ballot. you can't have donald trump on top of the ticket. we tried that in 2022. >> but you think that approach, not going nuclear, that approach that she is taking is enough to beat him? >> yeah, because it doesn't just have to be from her.

there are other folks. the memo is out on donald trump and the issues and chaos that follow him. >> she told dana in that interview when she pushed trump is fit to be president. he is fit. >> yeah, i think most people agree with that. we don't want him to be president. it's a 50/50 within the republican party right now. he beats biden by a couple of points. nikki haley beats biden by 17 in the latest poll. >> that was in "the wall street journal" poll a couple days ago. tell milley me why you didn't endorse chris christie. >> he is a great guy, as is ron. great governor. great friend. at the end of the day, new hampshire can't be a launching pad to nothing. chris put a lot of effort in new hampshire and i respect that. i am not as much in iowa and south carolina. what nikki haley is doing is making a case in every state. >> the strategy is wrong for christie? >> it's different. >> sounds like that's what you are saying. >> he has done a great job connecting with folks. end of the day, i think nikki -- i spent more time with ron, nikki and chris than anybody in

the country. dozen ds of their events, gotten to know them well. i keep coming back to who has that connection, the trust, who is listening to people as individuals not just saying here is my big government solution. >> you said back in august that you thought that trump's lead would fall, quote, as we get to around christmas. as my children reminded me last night, we were ten days now, nine days away from christmas. why hasn't that happened? >> well, the gap is closing. you see nikki surging before my endorsement and afp and fundraisers coming onboard. none have led a ground game very strong. >> nikki haley hasn't? >> not quite yet. with afp, you will have hundreds of volunteers. folks in new hampshire don't make the decision until about now and this is where the momentum is. we were at the town halls where typically you get a couple hundred people in the room. that's good. they turned a thousand people away at the door the other night for nikki haley. when she says raids your hand if

you never heard me speak, they are all new voters, new individuals. there is desantis people, trump people, christie people, new people coming to engage in the conversation. the fact this it's all new, ththis is where the momentum and energy is, this is where you will see the gap close. >> you are friends with chris christie. i assume you will be friends after this. >> of course, chris is a great guy. >> are you planning to have any difficult conversation with him about dropping out? >> no. look, chris is smart. if there is a time to drop out, that's a choice for him to make. >> folks have to drop out? >> they have had had this consolidation happen. you think it will happen before before or after iowa i am not 100% sure. as republicans we have this to two or three candidates. the psychology of choice is different. >> ramaswamy? >> we don't count that. >> come on he is a conspiracy theory nut. nobody cares about ramaswamy. he is a surrogate for trump. that's what's happening there. the fact that you a have four

candidates there being trump, desantis, chris and nickty. nikki is the one with the momentum, the one that again with her background as a governor that turned around a state, the international experience. people are appreciating she has more international experience -- >> in the midst of two wars, you know, she was vocal on the issue of israel while at the u.n. let's talk about a huge issue for voters, including suburban women, that can be the deciding vote. abortion. chris christie keeps saying he just doesn't think she is clear enough on abortion and even some of her supporters say this. let's listen to his criticism where she falls on this. >> this is a continued disturbing pattern on governor haley's part. if the question is really hard, is she wants to make everybody happy. >> do you think she is that way? >> she is crystal clear. >> how is she crystal clear by

signing a six-week ban and also talking about having compassion -- >> she talked about a six-week ban if you are a governor. she is saying -- she was asked if she was governor of south carolina. again she is pro-life and unapologetically. i am more pro-choice. her answer is the same as mine. this is a state issue. what california is going to do is different than mississippi or south carolina or new hampshire or new york. and that's just where it is. and you let the voters have the say. what you will see the states start to kind of tweak. what you saw in texas was terrible this week and nikki -- >> the supreme court blocking kate cobs's ability to vn abortion despite her doctor saying -- the law was wrong? >> are the supreme court said this is the law. according to the law, that's it. so i think that the lawmakers have to go back in texas and say we have to tweak this law pause this is a problem and i think we all agree -- >> the reason people pay attention when nikki haley says as governor of south carolina i will sign a six-week ban, she

s said it in the contention of governor. if you are president and it gets 60 votes -- >> they will never get 60 votes. >> a lot of people said roe would never be overturned. >> they will never have 60 pro-life centers ever. it hasn't happened in 100 years. that's beyond a hypothetical. that's not gonna happen. at the federal level, where do we find the consensus? late term. not demonizing and putting women and folks in jail because they had an abortion. she finds those areas of consensus that the vast majority of americans agree on and that can probably past. the rest will be handled at the state level. that's the exact right answer because that's the way the founding fathers designed it. you saw what happened in ohio. people saying, whoa, whoa, whoa. >> every ballot in red states. >> so, no, i think her answer she is pro-life, i am pro-choice, she is spot on. let the people have the say.

>> governor sununu, great to have you. have a good holiday. >> thank you. there is growing number of indicators to show the economy is getting stronger. why do most americans belief it's getting worse? harry enten is going to break the numbers down.

the economy is only getting stronger. talk to most americans, though, and they will tell you they are not feeling it. u.s. marshals soaring higher yesterday on the heels of pretty strong economic data, the fed signaling three possible interest rate cuts next year. the latest data shows the u.s. adding nearly 200,000 jobs last month. unemployment dropped to 3.7%. while inflation has cooled to 3.1%, down from 9.1 last summer. the vast majority of americans say the economic conditions are poor. so the question is, why? harry enten joining us now to dig into this. why, harry? >> why, why, why? you mentioned the stock market. when judging the u.s. economy, you look at what? stock market index, only 4 # 2% of americans look at that when judging the economy.

the national data 66% of americans look at that. your own experiences, 85% of americans look at that when judging the economy. and take a look here. think your income is keeping up with inflation? 24% of americans say yes. the vast majority 76% say no. >> in your feeling, right? this is your gut on this. as an american answering the survey, how does that figure into the reality and what the numbers show us? >> if you look at the disposable income, the change in disposable income, that is the weakest economic measure out there. from the first year of a president's term to now in a term, look at this. we've actually had negative growth. we have decreased the amount of disposable income 2.7% for the biden administration. look at that. the average for the president since jfk, plus 4.5%. and even in the last few months, the last six months, the growth that we have had just 0.2%. the average six months since

1961.1%. >> it's kind of depressing. >> yes. the one last thing, wages here not going up. minus 1 since biden's last year. wages stag nen and it's continuo be so. >> thank you. new developments overnight in ukraine's war with russia. hungary blooking the eu from approving 50 billion euro owes in financial aid. in the united states, funding for ukraine also stalled on capitol hill. we also have new cnn reporting about how critical this reporting is. calculating how long ukraine can hold out against russia without more aid. one senior u.s. military official warns that, quote, there is no guarantee of success with us, but they are certain to fail without to us. straight to nick paton walsh in ukraine. nin some of these analyses from

western u.s. intelligence officials are months that ukraine can hold off russia if they don't have more aid from europe and the u.s.? >> reporter: yeah, look in the words of one ukrainian medic, someone who buried a friend recently, without this aid we are finished. that was said to me last night. it's a bleak private assessment you get from pretty much everyone on the front line. stoically they say, yeah, we will fight to the end. some ukrainian officials are saying salaries for doctors, first responders, they are going to be propaganda problematic by january. what happened with the eu is part of a busbysmal week for president zelenskyy. moments of success, the european union said they would begin negotiations, membership talks with ukraine. that's a big symbolic victory. the practical problem he's got now is the european union, one of their members, hungary, close to vp, it's a leader, vetoed

that european union aid. billions, frankly. the european union are being sunny in their disposition we will have another go of voting in january. the signal there is europe is not speaking in one voice and the money will be delayed certainly. the worse is the u.s. situation because of the military side of i it, and the inexhaustible funds the u.s. can lthrow at issues. that's not going to happen this week. january they have another chance. there is no sign of some kind of political deal on congressional -- to get this to happen. so, yeah, ukrainians are looking at the money running out possibly, running out soon and re invigorated on the frontrunners to love forward. i have never seen such billing moment since the war began. it's a dark time and ukraine's allies are letting them down. >> quite an assessment from you who spent so much time on the ground.

thank you for your reporting. in a couple of hours melania trump will swear in 25 new american citizens. also, on verdict watch this morning in the defamation case against rudy giuliani. court is set to resume at 9:00 a.m. how many millions of dollars could giuliani be forced to pay to former gegeorgia a election workers?s? stay witith us. .

welcome back. in a couple of hours melania trump will speak where 25 people from 25 countries will officially become american citizens. it's a ceremony she knows well having gone through the same process when she became a u.s. citizen in 2006.

the nationalizatio ceremony is meaningful for the first lady. she largely stayed out of the public eye since leaving the white house. kristen holmes from washington with more. she is doing this event while her husband has pledged to expand his hard line immigration policies in many ways if re-elected. that's an interesting contrast. >> it certainly is. we are told meshe was invited, e two worked together when she was in the white house historical association and melania is a naturalized citizen but there is a bit of irony here, particularly given the fact as you noted she is not somebody who was ever in the public space. we have rarely seen her. she is often behind closed doors. her focus is on her son, baron. and yet she is choosing to do this event as her husband has pledged if re-elected to expand his hard line immigration policies that would really

restrict the legal and illegal immigration. i want to point out that it was the national archives and record administration that asked the department of justice to look into trump's potential mishandling of classified documents after he left office, resulted in the special counsel probe and eventually an indictment. despite that, we are told by a source close to trump he is supportive of her speaking at this event and i will note that the head archivist now was not the same one when all of that happen. >> thanks for the reporting. the effort to create green energy has produced remarkable results. how do you store that energy though? one company says it found a simple solution when, making a significant impact. >> people feel like they are insulting us by saying that sounds simple and we say, no, that's exactly the point.

and wind as alternatives to fossil fuels. >> recently thanks to a california company called rocks, rocks are being used to fuel thermal batteries for clean energy. bill weir has more. >> reporter: for the first time in human history, the two most affordable forms of energy do not come from burning fossil fuels. >> wow! >> reporter: but from catching onshore wind or clean abundant sunlight. >> most days in the middle of the day in california energy is free. electricity on the wholesale market is worth zero dollars, sometimes negative dollars because there is so much solar now installed in california. >> reporter: the same happening in the american wind belt. while andrew was the kind of kid who built solar panels in the garage, he realized renewables are great for topping off batteries and cars and homes.

but the factories which make everything from steal to baby food need a lot of energy all the time. >> the problem is you can't shut down your factory when the sun goes behind the cloud or the wind stops blowing. >> reporter: so with $80 million in investment from backers, including bill gates, he started a company called antora to store clean energy with -- thrjts is it. >> reporter: a box of rocks. >> a hard time explaining to my kids what nuclear fusion is. but this is just a hot rock in a box. >> exactly. >> reporter: heated up by the wind or sund? >> people feel like they are insulting us by saying that's simple. that's the point. there is a steel box with insulation and carbon blocks inside of that. >> reporter: the batteries heat up blocks of carbon like this until they glow like little suns for a full day. >> what's in the box right now is about 1,600 degrees celsius. so this is hotter than the

melting point of steel and just a couple of feet inside that shell. >> reporter: by cracking open the box he says they can release enough heat to make a factory steam and enough light to generate electricity as glows into a special kind of solar panel. while the box is tricky it build, the rocks are cheap and abundant. >> there is plenty of production of this, even just 1% of the current production of carbon blocks would be enough to make tara watt hours of watt reese, enough to power the united states. >> reporter: a competing company uses cheaper bricks in their thermal batteries to create megawatts of power for a factory without the need for a grid upgrade which means place was a lot of sun and wind could become magnets for new industry. they were present at cop28 in dubai where big oil had a big presence. andre came back convinced clean, simple ideas are the future. >> the transition is inevitable.

it's going to happen. if you talk behind closed doors to most of the team in the fossil fuel industry, they say the same thing. they understand that. but i am confident that we are going to be able to take that huge tool in solar and wind and displace fossil fuels faster than most people think. >> reporter: why? what gives you that faith? >> because of the technologies that are coming down the pipe. if you asked me five or ten years ago i would have said i am not sure we have everything we need to decarbonize. today we have the tools we need. we just deploy them. >> one of our ancient ancestors at one point took a hot rock next to the fire and moved it to the colder part of the cave inventing the heat battery essentially. this is the same idea but advanced with modern technology to where you can use a hot rock to make steel perhaps in the future. right now i think it's just such an elegantly simple idea. there is more energy in a thermos of coffee than in your phone, it's just a matter of getting it in and out.

>> really? >> thermal storage, there is now ten times more thermal storage than the lithium batteries we think about for grid storage right now. the future is exciting and simple in some ways. >> this is amazing. i love this. i also love every story that you do. >> bill weir saving our planet story at a time. a growing number of black women are choosing not to give birth at traditional hospitals. abby phillip takes a deeper look at thehe issue in this latatest importrtant epepisode ofof " "t story." abby is wiwith us nextxt.

this sunday cnn is shining a spotlight on the challenges that face -- that black women face during pregnancy. according to the cdc, black women in america are two to three times more likely to die from pregnancy-related complications than white women and that reality is why a growing number of black women are choosing not to give birth at traditional hospitals or birthing facilities. >> cnn's abby phillip is among them. she chose to give birth at home and on this week's episode of "the whole story with anderson cooper" abby takes us on a personal journey to understand the decision she made and that others are increasingly making. >> hi. it's okay. >> hi, baby. >> reporter: this is the sound of new life being brought into

the world. >> there you go. >> reporter: the kind of moment most pregnant women dream of. yet this is the stark reality that most pregnant black women live with. >> i'm feeling pressure. >> i was scared. i had like -- i was crying. >> reporter: angel is in labor with her sixth child. >> what were you afraid of? >> coming in and not coming out. >> reporter: ashley is having her second child in one month. >> you know, moms are supposed to have this wonderful moment, we are not making it out alive out of the hospital. >> reporter: elaine gave birth nearly two years ago. >> we're preparing for the worst at the best time in our lives. >> reporter: three women, three pregnancies, one journey to

understand exactly what scares them about hospitals and why some black women like me are now redefining the oldest act in human history, childbirth. a few years ago i was pregnant with my first daughter. i knew the black maternal mortality statistics and i didn't want to take any chances, so i decided to skip the doctor and the hospital and with the help of a midwife, i gave birth in my own home. it may sound crazy, but it felt so much safer and, honestly, since then i've been surprised to meet a number of black women who decided to go down the same path that i did. >> cnn anchor and senior political correspondent abby phillip joins us now. abby, i've known for a long time you've been working on this amazing documentary, but you really took us into your life

and your decision. so let's start there with how you made that decision, abby. >> it was a difficult one. when i tell you, erica and poppy, i did not in a million years think i would be a mom who wanted to give birth at home. i just did not think that was in the cards for me, but when i got pregnant i decided i wanted, first of all, a safe birth. i wanted a birth with as few interventions that were unnecessary as possible and i just did not feel like i could be heard necessarily in a hospital. and so many moms that i've talked to as we were making this piece and just throughout my life say the same thing. now, i just want to be clear. it doesn't have to be that way and one of the beautiful things about this piece is that we talk about some ways that hospitals are trying to address that very issue, making hospitals as well a safer place where black women in particular feel more heard in the labor and delivery room, which we know actually has real

health results and that can keep them alive, frankly. >> absolutely. so drilling down on that a little bit, the cdc does say structural racism, implicit bias are the factors contributing to racial disparities in maternal health care. you talk about starting this conversation which is so important that can hopefully lead to change. what is the sense of what needs to happen to change what exists in the system today? >> yeah. there is no one cause of this problem and so there's no one solution. so when we talk to people across the spectrum here, they are all saying this has to be a multifaceted approach where midwives, doulas, nurses, doctors, work together to create more supportive care for black women. the biggest issue that we hear from both doctors and from moms is that when women say that they are experiencing something in labor and childbirth and they are not listened to, that can have deadly results.

and so when we talk about structural racism, some of it is about who is being heard in the labor and delivery room and how can we make that so that more women, no matter who they are, feel that their care providers are responding to them in this really vulnerable time. maybe the most vulnerable time for most women when they have the most interface with the health care system that they might have in their entire lives. >> abby, i know you also talked to a dad who lost the mother of his child, heartbreaking story. i'm so glad you did this. i cannot wait to watch the whole thing. abby phillip, thank you very much. >> thank you guys. >> you're going to want to watch the episode of "the whole story with anderson cooper." one whole hour, one whole story. right now national security adviser jake sullivan is in ramallah in the west bank. "cnn news central" continues our coverage now