scooby-doo. apparently he owns more than one "d," thank you for that, chelsey. and all of the moments in between when your tireless work insight makes us all better journalists. how do you pull it off with four kids at home, it's a mystery to me, because i know it's your beautiful wife chelsea. we have something for you. >> that's really nice. this was really nice and delightful in the university of michigan cupcake. >> yes. >> andrew, i feel, judas, if you call -- >> it was actually my idea. don't blame andrew. and here's love from the viewers at home. >> happy birthday, dad. we love you so much. >> that's pretty cool. >> here's your actual birthday present. >> wow, now we're talking. >> i worked all weekend to make it. but i was freaking out this

morning, i thought did he go to ohio state or the other ohio? am i right? i know. >> we got to go. i appreciate it, guys, brooke, t.j., carter, paige, i love you guys. thank you, "cnn news central" starts right now. ♪ the largest deportation operation in american history. talk of migrants poisoning the blood of the united states. that is where donald trump is focused right now. his republican opponents call it dog whistling. but a dog whistle is supposed to be subtle. isn't this far beyond that at this point? and right now, u.s. defense secretary lloyd austin is back in tel aviv for a critical diplomatic visit. the white house urging israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu to change course, as civilian casualties in gaza mount. and millions of americans up and down the east coast are

facing serious and severe weather today. the powerful nor'easter already has hundreds of thousands in the dark this morning. i'm kate bolduan with sara sidner, john berman is off today. this is "cnn news central." ♪ immigration and fearmongering. donald trump the current front-runner in the republican primary race, hammering home his message on immigration to voters with just four weeks left before the iowa caucuses. but it's the language he's using that is raising eyebrows and alarm bells this morning. donald trump is doubling down on his dehumanizing rhetoric about foreigners. just listen to what he said at a fair of campaign stops in new hampshire and nevada over the weekend. >> they're poisoning the blood of our country. that's what they've done. they've poisoned, mental

institutions and prisons all over the world, not just in south america, not just the three or four countries that we think about. but all over the world, they're coming into our country from africa, from asia, all over the world. it is only common sense that when i'm re-elected, we will begin, and we have no choice. the largest deportation operation in america. we must use any and all resources needed to stop the invasion of our country, including moving thousands of troops currently stationed overseas in countries that don't like us. >> the white house call those comments fascists. and accusing donald trump of, quote, parroting adolf hitler. and they come as new polls show donald trump with a commanding lead against republican rivals in key early states. cnn's omar him mjimenez is joins

with the story. omar, we had donald trump use disgusting words to describe migrants in the past. but this is different. >> yeah, sara, he appears to be doubling down on this hyper rhetoric, despite any criticisms he might be getting. look, we're a month away from the iowa caucuses, look at the past two campaign events in iowa and new hampshire, it's clear this is somewhat we're going to see in the runup, again, to the two first set of votes that are cast. now, it bears some similarities to how he won the nomination in 2016, when he focused a lot of his immigrant rhetoric, parent building the wall, trying to gin up it appears some of that same support. i want to comment out he made the poisoning of that a comment the day after his wife melania was at the white house applauding those becoming citizens. we're seeing those rhetorics playing out.

take a listen to how he's framing a potential general election matchup between he and the current president joe biden. >> joe biden is a threat to democracy. he's a threat. even vladimir putin -- has anybody ever heard of vladimir putin? of russia, says that biden's -- and this is a quote -- politically motivated persecution of his political rival is very good for russia because it shows the rodttennes of the american political system which cannot pretend to each others about democracy. >> now, as you can imagine, the biden campaign did not agree with that. specifically, they said that donald trump channeled his role models as he parroted adolf hitler, praised kim jong-un and vladimir putin and running as a dictator and threatening american democracy. now, to this point, former president trump has led in the polls but i was talking to the

head of the university of new hampshire survey center, he reminded me many voters don't make up their minds the final week before the election. there's still a lot to change. it's an uphill battle for the candidates. and if inroads are made, it shows messaging like this is vulnerable and what will happen, we will see. >> ohm hard gimenez, thank you for that. new polling showing trump is still dominating in i, was ahead in new hampshire but as harry engle is going to walk us through. there are signs that nikki haley is gaining significant ground. harry enten is here, taking a look at the numbers. talk to me what you're seeing from nikki haley in new hampshire. >> yeah. so iowa is one thing, new hampshire is something else. this is the cbs poll. take a look. in december, trump, a nearly

50-point lead, haley back at 11, desantis, 13. look at where we are right now, nikki haley jumping up 29%, just 15 points behind the leader. i will note this 29% is the best percentage in a poll for a nontrump candidate anywhere, iowa, new hampshire, wherever, since all the way back in june. and i will also note that candidates have come back from 15-point deficits even this later in the campaign, gary hart and patrick buchanan as well. >> is she taking from trumble or other candidates? >> at this point, we're seeing that number go down, so she's taking a little from trump and also a little stuff from desantis as well. christie and her have something going on there, they're also looking at the same similar voters. when you look back at the last unh poll, take a look at voters, this gives you indication that maybe haley can gain additional

strength. she's getting 60% of those prior voters. christie right now is 10% in that yougov poll. that ceiling she's not met yet. >> so, there's something going on in new hampshire for sure? >> yeah. >> why do you think that's not translating in other states for nikki haley -- i will say -- yet? >> yet. i want you to take a look at the electorate. the moderate share of the gop primary. this is the group that trump zs worst with and nickly haley the best. and in high whatty nikki haley is well behind, it's just 17% of the electorate. new hampshire is the perfect state for her. and i will note, however, that national gop front-runner who won iowa and lost new hampshire, dole. >> and new hampshire voters

decide late. this is important. great to see you, harry. thank you. >> having harry in the morning is better than two cups of coffee. i just want to let you know that right now. let's turn to our senior political analyst and anchor john avlon. john, trump using this language that is straight out of the white supremacist playbook. i want to go back to what he said in september, because if people think it's an accident or him spewing, it's a talking point. listen. >> we know they come from prisons. we know they come from mental institutions, insane asylums. we know they're terrorists. nobody has ever seen anything like we're witnessing right now. it's a very sad thing for our country. it's poisoning the blood of our country. >> poisoning the blood of our country. that's the second time. it's clearly a talking point. it's chilling language.

why? you're up in the polls, why is he doing it? >> because he wants to. because he believes it. because he's trying to base his campaign on this kind of divisive demagoguery. to your point, it's not a one-off with criticism. this has been used by dictators by history in the past -- no, that's not really what i mean, so i'll adjust it. it's in the teleprompter. quoting vladimir putin this weekend was in the teleprompter, when it's in the teleprompter, it's not just rhetoric and red meat, it's policy. mass deportation in history, mass migrants put in camps. i mean, this is very different from anything we've seen in political history. it's a huge mistake to play the well, i'll take him seriously but not literally game. >> literally, policy comes out of these words. we've actually seen it when he was in office. >> yes.

>> the biden administration being clear and saying look he's parroting adolf hitler, calling him fascist statements and a fascist, am si right? >> i'm a big believer you shouldn't call your opponents hitler, even using a metaphor. with past dictators. i did a segment, a number of people, january 6, happened to be about nazis, what do you do? what happens to god's love when that occurs? you know, calling them socialists and communists is completely insane. you want to have a debate about socialists, we'll have that all day long but that's clearly not what they're doing. you need to look at the language and tactics being used. when people start talking about blood and soil appeals. >> right. >> that's a telltale sign that you're delving into something dangerous, judging by history,

human history. i'm a big believer in applied history. harry truman used to say, the only history is history you don't know. >> from the fear of brown people, black people, from other countries, people who have emigrated from here. it's endless. >> it's divide and conquer. it's the worst form of politics. which is your problems can be solved by demonizing the other guy. >> i have thousands of questions but i'm going to leave it there because it's an important issue every single time. john avlon, pleasure to have you. defense secretary lloyd austin is in israel right now, expected to deliver a tough message to israeli partners. he's set to speak minutes from now, after meeting with the israeli prime minister, we're going to bring that to you live. more than 40 million people are under flood alerts this morning in the northeast, as a powerful storm system is moving

through. we're tracking the weather and the travel delays and cancellations coming with it. and a manhunt is under way in texas. they're looking for an inmate convicted of child sex abuse who escaped from state prison. police now have two people under arrest. yet this man, the fugitive, still on the loose. we'll be back.

right now, defense secretary lloyd austin is in tel aviv for meetings with senior israeli officials. he is expected to speak at any moment. you're looking at the podium there, where he will come up and make his remarks. he is there to get an assessment of military operations, as pressure is growing on prime minister netanyahu to change tactics in gaza. a senior defense official told cnn that austin wants to hear, quote, a very clear articulation

of israel's war efforts against hamas. the trip comes after huge protests over the weekend following news that the idf shot and killed three israeli hostages in northern gaza, after misidentifying them as threats. cnn's gnash tasha benat tashia is joining us now. there's great pressure. and what might we hear from secretary austin, and what is the u.s. looking for him to do there? >> well, sara, secretary austin is really looking for an assessment from israel's defense minister from israel's war cabinet about the current phase of the campaign against hamas in gaza. and more importantly, when it's going to wrap up because the u.s. wants to see this phase of operations in gaza which are high-intensity high operations that resulted in deaths of thousands of civilians end there this year or early next year.

because, not only do they feel like this, of course, is something that's not necessarily sustainable for the israelis to continue for an extended period of time, they also feel as though international support for israel's campaign in gaza is steadily waning. and that the time that the israelis have to complete their campaign in gaza and kind of eradicate hamas as has been their stated goal is really running out. so what the secretary wants to hear from the israelis is just what their plan is to transition into this next phase that is going to be more targeted, more focused on senior hamas leaders. and ideally something that, of course, is going to result if far fewer civilian casualties, something that the u.s. has been urging the israelis to do more about, for the last several months even, not just the last several weeks. so secretary austin is meeting with his counterparts there hoping to get assessment of the next phase of the war. and in the region writ large in bahrain and qatar, talking about

the broader force that led to dozens of attacks in the region as well as in the red sea in recent weeks, sara. >> i want to talk to you about what's happening in the red sea, a huge red flag, this morning, oil giant bp announcing it's temporarily suspending all shipping through the red sea after attacks there. what you can tell us about the effect and knock-on effect is may have? >> yes, three condition to three other shipping companies given the sheer amount of attacks that have been launched by the houthi rebels which, of course, are backed by iran, and missile attacks that have targeted ships relentlessly in recent weeks, forcing the u.s. navy to respond to distress calls. one thing that austin is hoping to set up is a multinational task force that is essentially going to be bolstered to protect ships in the region. using aspects of multiple ships in the region that is part of a

solidified task force. >> the fear of regional war is real. and it shows you there, the companies taking action. natasha bertrand, thank you so much. kate. joining us, cnn military analyst and retired general hertling. let's start with the big mission that secretary austin has in israel and back in the region. it was just this time last month that he offered blunt advice which is you can only win urban warfare by protecting civilians. you talked about this, general, the risk of replacing a tactical victory with strategic defeat. what do you think his main mission is this time? >> first of all, kate, what i'd like to show, the film you just showed of secretary austin in israel, i believe he was talking with beneny gantz the israeli

prime minister and gantz was also a chief of the israeli forces. so what you have are two former soldiers who understand battle. who understand the balancing act between a massive kinetic operation which israel has been going through over the last several weeks to an understanding of what the perception is by people in the population, as well as the world stage. so, i think we're talking about that. how you can potentially lose this fight, israel, if you continue to show that you are massively kinetically hitting targets, even though we know those targets are still there, much like the tunnel we're seeing this weekend. but how do you ensure that you're doing the right thing and messaging it the right way? secondly, i'd suggest -- you know, i know lloyd austin, and he is of the school of what comes after the fight. so, i think a lot of people are focused on him trying to control the operational battlefield right now in israel. ing but i think secretary austin

is also asking some really important questions about what are you going to do, israel, about gaza, after you complete this destruction of hamas, or attempted destruction of hamas. there are going to be 1.5 million people without homes, without electricity, without water. what are you going to do about that, and what's your proposal? so that's the critical part of any military campaign tied to politics, kate. >> and also, the idf chief of staff has now taken responsibility for the tragic deaths of the three israeli hostages in gaza, mistakenly killed by idf soldiers more details were coming out overnight. the three men were shirtless, waving a white flag when this happened. one of the men killed shamriz i actually spoke to his father. he said his biggest fear is what actually happened to his son. let me play this.

>> right now, the idf and military is in attack in gaza, and i'm afraid that they might hurt him while coming in, in gaza. and he might be injured from that. >> he, we know now, was killed. this is just a horrible situation all around. from your experience, what does this do to the war effort to the unit, to the idf? >> well, it's fascinating that he said that, because i think that's the fear of anyone who has a loved one being held hostage. that, you know, military operations will be confused, that there will be smoke and fire and darkness. and closed quarters, where a rescue attempt might be made. but in this case, it's even more horrific than that. that these individuals were in

the open. what i tell you, kate, having experienced fratricide in combat, it not only devastating the family of those killed but it actually devastates those who pulled the trigger and killed them. and it ripples through. i've read the message that the chief of idf sent to his troops, and how he talked to his troops saying we can't allow this to happen, we're better than this. but sometimes, truthfully, soldiers on the battlefield are frightened, they're scared, they're anxious. they're in a fire fight. adrenaline is rushing. and it's very difficult in these kind of fights to determine, you know, civilians from hostages from terrorists. they're not wearing uniforms. you don't know what their actions are, and you're fighting in conditions where if you're a friendly force going in like the israeli soldiers were, you're receiving sniper fire, anti-tank sapphire. and all you're worried about is

getting the first shot off so you're not killed. all of those things combined with the smoke and the dark to create these kind of situations. that's not explaining it away. i'm sure israel will investigate this and take a hard look and get it out to their soldiers. but it's just really touch if you've never been in a situation to understand what might have happened. i haven't read the final report of what happened in this fratricide incident. so i don't know, but i'm sure the conditions on the battlefield were extremely tough and soldiers' adrenaline was pretty high. >> general hartling, it's always great to have you, thank you, sir. there are new details when a vehicle collided with an suv that was part of joe biden's security detail. the president was nearby at the time of the incident and was whisked away shortly after this moment. take a listen.

you can hear the crash there. the incident happened last night around 8:00, as the president was leaving his campaign headquarters in wilmington. cnn's arlette saenz is following all of this, arlette, what are you hearing from the secret service, was it an accident or something else? >> well, sara, we actually minutes ago learned new details into the wilmington police department investigation of the incident. they said it was an accident and that the 46-year-old driving the car will face charges. a spokesperson told our colleague d.j. judd that the wilmington police have determined this was an accidental collision and charged the driver of the striking vehicle. a 46-year-old wilmington driving a vehicle under the influence of alcohol and unattentive driving. the secret service has released a statement saying this was unintentional. there was no protected interest associated with this event and the president's motorcade

departed without incident. it was a startiling moment. you can see the look on his face as he heard that bang when a car crashed into an suv in the president's motorcade. secret service quickly moved him into the car. but today, we are learning from the wilmington police department, they determined this was an accident, that that driver is now facing charges. >> arlette saenz, thank you so much for that. good to know the news there, it was an accident but a dui. kate. coming up just as the holiday rush is kicking off a severe winter storm slamming the northeast, widespread delays, we'll have an update for you.

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taking live to washington right now. you're looking at live pictures of cass ket of the late supreme court justice sandra day o'connor arriving at the state of the supreme court where the state justice will lie in repose today. she was the first to serve on the the high court. she will be remembered for so many things. she'll be remembered in a private ceremony at the court. afterwards, the public is able to pay their respects to this trail blazing woman in justice. tomorrow there will be a funeral for sandra day o'connor at the national cathedral. you see them walking her casket

walking her up the steps. en aintense storm system making for a really rough morning for a whole lot of us up and down the east coast. about 58 million people from north carolina to maine are dealing from heavy flooding and rain and storms this morning. the powerful nor'easter is bringing everything but snow, one is small highlight. up in maine, the winds were whipping at the beaches. cameraman having a hard time holding his camera steady. one man described the conditions like this. >> feels like a sandblast right now, with the combination of salt, the sand is going very high. >> and in north carolina, extreme flooding near raleigh. police say a car went around barriers and drove right into floodwaters getting stuck. let's go to polo sandoval in rockaway beach. polo, you're always in the middle of this, first, it was

buffalo. now, it's here. what are we trying to do to you? >> reporter: yeah, i have a lot of stripes, right, for each storm we cover. and all the folks behind the camera. what we experienced before sunrise is quite literally night and day difference. what i mean by that, long before sunrise, we experienced heavy winds, extreme downpours leading to isolated flooding. and then the sun rises, and that weather has cleared out throughout portions of the region. now, that being said, the destruction is certainly still being felt with hundreds of thousands of people in throughout new england still in the dark. right now, utility crews certainly trying to get people back online. you may have heard about a flight departure at jfk, they're trying to get back online. in terms of rescue, several in northern connecticut, fortunately, no injuries to report there. and in new jersey, some school

districts, they're still in the dark, they're saying stay at home kid, we don't know when power will be back up so calling off classes all day. i have to say, the storm was moving quite quickly, the speed at which that weather has cleared out. at least from where we are right now is really quite remarkable. but, again, now comes the hard part. cleanup in some neighborhoods, downed trees, power lines. and again, we can't hit that point enough. power outages still an issue for millions of people. >> yeah, we could hear it howling last night. i did see a sliver of sun. there's hope, polo, thank you for you and your team. let's get to cnn's pete muntean tracking this from reagan national airport outside of d.c. pete, what are you seeing in terms of the ripple effects of all of this? >> reporter: there's always a cascading effect here, kate. the good news, here at reagan

national airport, most of the weather has moved out. it's gray and windy. winds up to 50 miles an hour at peak gusts. we're see according to the faa ground stops and ground delays going in. the faa put a ground stop for flights into boston logan and also flights there delayed on the ground due to heavy wind. the big story here is the fact that this is mostly rain. this is not a snow event. so, we could be seeing a very different story right now. the number of cancellations and delays remaining relatively low. here are the latest from flight ware, about 188 cancellations, about 100 delays. let's put this in perspective for the weekend, 10,000 delays but only 200 cancellations, airlines really repeating a story that we saw over thanksgiving when they were hit by big rain and there were a lot of delays but not any cancellations. the weather is the big "x" factor as we go into holiday

travel here. and it really begins to ramp up now, the numbers that we have seen, according to the airlines, is that these -- these rushes for christmas and new year's are getting longer. and so many people are leaving earlier. so, we're right on the precipice of what will be likely a record-setting holiday travel season. aaa says it's going to be one of the biggest ever. >> fingers crossed that the weather helps us out this time. because it definitely didn't last christmas season. good to see, pete. thank you. still ahead, the race to reach a deal. ukraine and israel aid hanging in the balance. democrats thought they could get to an agreement today. but after a weekend of dealing, has anything changed? also, a major manhunt is under way in texas this morning after an inmate serving life for child sex abuse escaped from prison. we'll have those stories and more, coming up.

so, they are still at it on capitol hill, trying to hammer out a border security and immigration deal, tied to ukraine and israel aid. senate majority leader chuck schumer, he delayed the senate's holiday break, keeping senators in town, as he vowed to hold a vote on this, this week, despite a whole lot of meetings and talk this weekend which is important, negotiators say a deal and a vote are still unlikely. cnn's lauren fox on capitol hill where you were also this weekend, lauren. what's the very latest? has there been progress, where is this progress? >> reporter: yeah, i think two things are true. the first is that, yes, they

made progress over the weekend. they continued to meet and they'll continue to meet today and into the rest of this week. but it's also true and senator kyrsten sinema has pointed this out over and over again, that this is really complicated. the details here really matter. as they get through decision after decision, as they make agreement after agreement, they realize there's even more beneath the surface. senator sinema said yesterday this is one of the most complicated areas of law he's ever tried to negotiate. and she's someone who has a lot of experience with these kinds df deals, these kinds of bipartisan talks. senator langford yesterday said it's more realistic they'll be talking about framework or deal in principle sometime in january. is there was a number of republican senators who sent a letter requesting a special republican conference meeting when they return january 8th. i think that does tell you, if you're reading between the

lines, that there is an expectation that this probably isn't going to get done and voted on this week. in fact yesterday, i asked senators s sinema and murph fy, there a framework, how are you going to make sure that the legislative text is written. and something that can be communicated to senators and people are ready to vote in a matter of three days. i think that's a really tall order at this point, kate. >> also, can i just say, i'm surprised they're not able to hammer something out right now. we're talking about changes in immigration policy which, again, we've said it a million times, it's been three decades since anything significant on that. it's not surprising even with the best of intention they're not getting there. which is why there's a question -- if they're going to get there at all. lauren, thank you for being there.

we'll get back to you, sara. >> it's a mess, cnn white house reporter for the associated press sumlin kym joins us now. thank you for being here. when you look at this, did the white house show up too late to the negotiations? are republicans -- their plans just too far to one side? i mean, what is happening here? >> reporter: well, there's a lot of competing factors here at play. if you talk to some republican,, they will say, the white house did intervene in the sessions a little too late. if you recall, the white house did have success during president biden's time in office kind of stage out of the negotiations. and just kind of letting the senators, letting the lawmakers do the lawmaking. and then kind of having biden there at the last minute to sign the priorities into law. it's a little different here. obviously immigration has been incredibly complicated and complex which is why the white

house and dhs officials are in the room, pretty much as we speak. you know, hammering out these negotiations, but i talked to a lot of republicans who are involved in these negotiations, and they say there's no way you can close a deal in the white house is fully engaged because the president and the white house really needs to send a signal to other lawmakers, particularly democrats, what the president is willing to do on the border. >> yeah, i mean, those are really good points, in the end when you put this together and it's vetoed what is the point. but how far apart are these negotiations? and what are some of the sticking points that you have sort of seen play out here? >> well, there are several outstanding issues at play right now. and a lot of it resovolves -- first of all, this isn't like the traditional negotiations where there's all this talk about border security and perhaps a pathway to citizenship and it's more of a balanced approach. this really focuses on the

border, on sort of scaling back these migrants' ability to apply for asylum which has been causing the rising number of people arriving at the border. so, you have a lot of sticking points inside the room. for example, you have republicans for weeks insisting on provisions that would essentially scale back president biden's what we call parole authority, kind of an authority, kind of power by the president, to allow in certain types of immigrants. or basically, republicans say that should be handled on a case-by-case basis. and the president and this administration have not been doing that. there are certainly areas of agreement. already, there are agreements inside that room on making basically the asylum interview process a little harder so it's a little harder to pass these procedural steps to get to, perhaps, apply for asylum in this country. but this is a really complicated technical issue.

and also if the law is not written right, if this law is not air tight, that it could -- the administration could open itself up to numerous legal challenges and that's going to cause serious problems down the road. >> we only have a couple weeks in the year, do you think one last thing, yes or no, any chance this is going to get passed before january 1 rolls around? >> i mean, it has to be a no right now because obviously there are two chambers of congress. even if the senate group makes progress and the senators pass this legislation, we have a house to contend with. they've already gone home for the holidays. >> right. >> so it doesn't look possible at this point. >> good luck getting them back, seung min kim, thank you. this just in, that major manhunt for an escaped inmate just has come to an end. the inmate serving a life sentence for child sex abuse just caught after escapiping fr prprison.

wewe'll have an updatete from auauthorities s there.

and especially to your dad, john, whom your sons adore and

made the greatest of sacrifices to follow her to wrgd. the world, the country and our court owe all of you a debt of gratitude. i know how precious you were to her. each of you had your own unique relationship with her, and she cherished that relationship. she was especially grateful for her wonderful daughters-in-law, and it is not hard to imagine why. for a long time the only woman and mong men, sandra appreciated you, her daughters in law for bl breaking up some of the homo jen t nay ti -- homogeneity in her life, and i wanted you know that she lived her life to leave her legacy particularly to you. she was devoted to making a

better world, and that is what she did. some years ago, my colleagues and i were at lucnch discussing -- >> we were listening to supreme court justice sotomayor speaking and honoring late justice sandra day o'connor at the supreme co court, and we showed that her casket being walked up into the tundra to be laying in repose. she will have a funeral tomorrow at the washington cathedral. we wwill bring you those moment. and now, we are hearing from the cdc that respiratory viruses are hitting a large portion of the country, and they are saying

that we have not seen the worst of it and it has not peaked. meg tirrell is joining u and what are we hearing from the cdc about these respiratory diseases. >> we wondered when we would get back to normal and now we have that with covid on top of it, and so this could be overwhelming by end of the year. if you are looking at the cdc map of where things are hardest hit, we are showing you the emergency departments from all three of the viruses, and overall, they are spike flu and covid together and flu is rising quickly. you can see it here the geographic distribution is bad in the south here, and moving north and covid in particular in wastewater is detected in the highest levels in midwest which can portend to be the highest levels and concerns in icus and

emergency levels if they are overwhelmed by the respiratory illnesses. >> and i know that one thing i have heard from folks, we are in the middle of the season, and did i miss the opportunity for should i get vaccinated at that point? what are you hearing from the doctors on this point? >> they will tell you to get vaccinated for the flu and covid for everybody over six months and for rsv there is a vaccine ard and a protection for baby, and if you have not gotten it yet, you should go out and get vaccinated. >> thank you, meg. sara. we are to hear from general lloyd austin to talk about the changes strategies in as we are hearing the secretary-general speaking to -- is that benny from a moment ago?

yes.