president biden hitting the trail as his campaign takes a more aggressive approach on abortion. why they believe the fight over reproductive freedoms will be critical to mobilizing voters in november. defense secretary lloyd austin is in the middle east as attacks to commercial vessels continue in the red sea and as israel's military says operations are ramping up in southern gaza.

we're going to go live to tel- aviv. just incredible mesmerizing pictures out of iceland. a volcano erupting after weeks of earthquakes, lava and toxic gas shooting into the sky. we're following the major developing stories and many more. coming in right here to cnn news central. it's not just republican candidates hitting the trail today. president biden will soon be heading to a maryland campaign event as a central part of the reelection pitch takes shape, focusing on abortion rights. >> ever since the dobbs decisions polls show abortion clearly a winning issue for democrats. that is why biden's running meat, vice president kamala harris will be touring the country for what they dubed a reproductive tour. mj lee is live at the white

house. mj, an aggressive strategy here. obviously they think when you look at what we've seen it's going to work. what can you tell us about it? >> reporter: the biden white house and the campaign have both believed for some time that reproductive issues and abortion rights issues are incredibly politically salient. the latest sign is the reproductive freedom tour that kamala harris will be launching. the very first stop of the that will begin in wisconsin on january 22nd. and that marks the 51st anniversary of the roe v. wade decision, which of course nationalize abortion rights across the country. this, of course, was overturned back in 202. and so dramatically ended up changing the political landscape across the country on abortion rights, on reproductive rights.

what the white house and the campaign both believe is they have been validated over and over again since that landmark decision that these issues are issues that motivate voters. that they are incredibly politically salient and issues that can be used to mobilize members of their base. now what the white house is saying about the vice president's tour is that they're going to be focused on sort of telling some of these real life stories of the affects of the supreme court overturning roe v. wade. what that decision has done in terms of impacting women's access to reproductive rights, abortion rights, obviously we have covered those stories across the country. of women struggling to sort of have control over their health decisions or reproductive decisions. so that is going to be a key focus for the vice president as she launches this tour. there's no question that

heading into 2024, this is going to be a central theme for the president and his reelection campaign. >> mj lee live from the white house. thank you so much. let's get perspective with david challion. this is an issue that democrats can run on right now without having to wait to figure out who the republican nominee will be. right? this gives them a head start? >> reporter: well, it does no doubt. up and down the ballot. i noticed today democrats are formulating a campaign strategy in a special house election on long island. the election replaced george santos and trying to frame him as an antiabortion rights candidate. this is something you'll see in nearly every race. it's no mistake, obviously, that kamala harris is kicking it off in wisconsin. they have 10 votes they want to keep in its column. >> we've seen it on the sort of down ballot races. do you think it translates for biden? is there any concern it doesn't? >> reporter: well, it certainly

seems to be bringing out more and more abortion rights supporters to the polls when abortion is literally on the ballot. in seven states since the dobbs' decision, including red states, bryanna. like ohio and kentucky and kansas, we have seen abortion rights having the winning side on all seven when it was on the ballot since the dobbs' decision. that is why you're seeing the white house lean into it. yes, it is also true we see in those states abortion rights outrunning the democratic candidate on the ballot. it's bringing more people than just what the democratic support level is. you'd rather be biden with this than without it. it's one of the bright spots politically he and his team have to lean into. >> it's not just the white house leaning into it, it's abortion access groups in other states that have put forward initiatives and petitions to have the actual issue of abortion on the ballot.

right? >> reporter: no doubt. again, i'll use michigan as an example in the 2022 midterms. it was hugely beneficial in that race for governor gretchen to win the election that abortion rights was literally on the ballot. arizona, florida, nevada, colorado, those are battleground states in there potentially. you're seeing efforts to get abortion as an issue on the actual ballot in some of those states. even nebraska. it's not a battleground state, but there's a single electoral vote in the omaha area that is up for grabs that biden has won in the past and is going to want in the past to 270. >> is there a more animated issue than this? >> reporter: i haven't seen it since the dobbs' decision. a lot of public opinion polling also showing over the last year and a half or so that the issue of democracy, voting rights, election integrity is also

animated for democrats. but that is for the republicans, too. this one is a clear cut winner. >> please standby. we want to get your issues on. let's talk about the situation in the middle east. the israeli defense forces say operations are ramping up in southern gaza. that the israeli army is focusing on located underground infrastructures being used. >> we have cnn jeremy diamond joining us from tel-aviv. the idf is advancing activity in southern gaza at the same time facing pressure. we see that by the international community to reduce civilian casualties. what are you seeing? >> reporter: yeah, that's exactly right. the israeli military now says it is enhancing and advancing their operations in southern gaza. they have added a whole bear good day and an additional forces to the area. the israeli military has been advancing in southern gaza. that is nothing new.

but certainly the context in which this is happening. of course, with the united nations security counsel potentially set to vote on a resolution calling for a suspension of hostilities. one that the united states may not stand in the way of this time, unlike they did earlier this month with a resolution calling for an entire cease fire in gaza. of course the military operations are coming as the, rather the advance in the southern part of the gaza strip is coming as the israeli military is operating in northern gaza as well. in fact, according to doctors without borders, the israeli military since sunday has been in control of the hospital in northern gaza. following a 12 day siege. according to doctors without borders, they also removed and stripped and interrogated any males above 16 years old who were in that hospital. israeli forces entering that hospital on sunday. amid all of this, the unicef

spokesman is saying there is no place that is safe for children and families in gaza. saying even hospitals are not safe. as we saw over the past 48 hours, allegations that the israeli military shelled the hospital in southern gaza. really an overall really a concerning picture, but the israeli military, amid the international pressure and amid the international outcry showing this evening it is pressing forward with its offensive. >> jeremy, what about efforts to get more hostages out? what do we know about that at this point? >> reporter: well, there has been a flurry of activity over the last several days involving u.s., israeli and gatar officials. they met with the families of 15 hostages and he told them during that meeting that he had dispatched david barnaya, the

head of the hasad and they have been taking place over the last couple of days as u.s. and israeli officials look to see if a potential deal could be possible. what is clear is there's more israeli willing to engage in the talks particularly after they mistakenly shot and killed three hostages in gaza. and so these discussions are certainly pressing forward. the question now is whether hamas is going to be willing to come to the table. publicly hamas said they won't engage in negotiations until all hostility cease. the families are waiting as the negotiations or the potential for these negotiations begines to play out. >> jeremy diamond live from tel- aviv. thanks so much. we've got david who has been standing by with us. david, there's new polling that

indicates broad dissatisfaction with president biden's handling of this issue. specifically among younger voters. >> reporter: yeah. the broader satisfaction is widespread. there's no doubt about that. if you look at the approval ratings, only 33% of registered voters approve of the way that biden is handling the israeli palestinian conflict. 57%. 6 in 10 disapprove. your point about 18 to 29 years old, young people, it gets worse for the president. nearly three out of four young voters say they disapprove. so, you see among young voters 72% disapprove. only 20% approve. and it is also true, you see there, among joe biden's own fellow democrats. so he overall is at 75% approval among democrats versus job performance. on this issue he's at 55% approval. it's majority but these are

democrats. it's 20 points below the job approval in terms of handling the conflict. >> what does it say when you put him up against former president trump on who handles it better? >> reporter: donald trump has an edge. they asked that question. who do you trust more to handle this issue? donald trump is at 46% of voters who say he would do a better job handling this conflict. biden is at 38% and an 8% advantage there. in the overall horse race, it's a dead heat between these two guys. it's a margin of error race with no clear leader. clearly this issue is weighing down biden's numbers because there are key pieces of his coalition who are not happy with his performance on it. >> really significant numbers there. david, thanks so much. still to come, just wild pictures out of iceland. a river of lava flowing. >> really mesmerizing images.

love watching that. rescuers battling sub zero temperatures after a powerful earthquake hits northwest china. the latest from there. 15 months after fiery crash, blue origin flying high following a successful test launch of the space tourism rocket. those stories and much more when we come back on cnn news central.

government officials in iceland say that a massive volcanic eruption on the southwestern peninsula is starting to diminish. >> they'll need several days to assess the situation before allowing thousands of residents to return home. plumes of smoke, hot lava, toxic fumes pushing through a

crack two miles long. way different than 2,000. >> way less than 2,000. >> i get distracted by this video. look at that. >> it's beautiful. >> meditate looking at that stuff. the eruption happened late last night following weeks of trimmers. we have chad myers with a closer look. fortunately not a 2,000 mile crack. officials say the lava flow down to a quarter of last night's levels. that's got to be an encouraging number. >> reporter: it true will is. there's five of the mountains left. when i was watching mesmerized and terrified really. depending on how close you were. some of them were 500 feet tall. spewing hot lava. now why did this all happen? well, because there's something called a mid atlantic ridge. there's an area in the atlantic ocean that separates north america from europe. that split goes all the way down through here. north america is going that way.

europe is going that way. and along that split, right through iceland, because it's there. that's why iceland is there at all. that's where the earthquake and all of those earthquakes and the volcano happen. as we zoom in, we'll take you closer to where this happens. up here to the north where there have been earthquakes and volcanos before, in fact, some of these shield volcanos are still there. we have a power plant here and something called the blue hole here. right here, about two miles, as you said, right down through there, that's where the earth split. i know it's a little bit gross. if you pull on anything long enough, you're going to crack it. whether it's your skin or a balloon, whatever. that's what's happening. this is going this way. this is going this way. it cracked right down through here. as we take a look at what's going on, if the lava continues to flow like it did yesterday, there is a town in the way.

3600 people live right here. for now, the flow of the lava is going down. about 25% of what it was yesterday. so not as much lava coming out. if it does continue to come out like yesterday, what's downhill? that town right there and this big harbor here that's been here for hundreds and hundreds of years. the people of iceland are holding their breath. not only because of the toxic gases that are coming out of this but also they don't want this town inindated with lava. that's a possibility. this could go on for months. it could go on until tonight. it depends on how much more mamma gets out of the crack. >> we hope not. we talk about how beautiful it is. so far so good. we're looking at this diminished flow. how do you know -- these are live pictures by the way. this is diminished flow here. how do you know if they've

gotten past the worst of it here? >> reporter: there is absolutely no way to tell. in a couple of weeks they may allow the residents to go back. if it continues to diminish. if the lava coming out, the pressure from down below continues to go down. last night, all the way from the left side of your screen to the right side of your screen are the same fountains you're seeing on the left. it was a wall of lava spewing into the air. i was watching at home on my tv on you tube and i was mesmerized. thinking about all the people living there that were terrified. without a doubt. now this is not very big. when it comes to iceland, if you're going to go there, please don't cancel. this is a small little area on one of the peninsulas. there was the crack through here. we widen the view. there's much, much more of iceland than that little spot that's really right there.

so, not everybody is in trouble here. flights are still happening. and 99% of iceland is carrying on. it's this one spot. all those people there that have their livelihoods in jeopardy. >> i'm sure the iceland tourism board is grateful for those clarifying remarks. so there is a frantic search and rescue effort underway in northwest china after a 5.9 magnitude earthquake killed 120 people and injured a hundred more. >> this quake happened monday night and is china's deadliest in a decade. it toppled multiple houses. it knocked out water and electricity. state media reports rescue teams are scrambling in sub zero temperatures trying to reach any survivors trapped beneath the rubble. mark steward is in beijing with more on the search and rescue efforts. mark, what is the biggest challenge here that first

responders are facing? >> reporter: hi, brianna. without question, the weather is proving to be this lofty challenge. not only are we seeing sub freezing temperatures but many parts of this earthquake zone are seeing record setting lows. that's impacting rescuers and the work they do and could impact the chance of finding survivors. at one point we saw people gathered on a playground around what amounts to be a campfire. just in an attempt to stay warm. also, we should point out that this is a part of china that is considered to be high altitude. it makes this very difficult job of going through rubble, of moving people, of moving debris that much more physically strenuous. it's a tough set of circumstances. >> and mark, what about getting resources there to help? have we gotten any word from chinese president?

>> reporter: we are hearing from the central government and from the chinese president. he is saying right now there's an attempt to make all out efforts to help the people in this region. about $28 million have been committed to the areas that have been hardest hit. some progress is being made. especially when it comes to restoring electricity. the electricity in the region has been brought back. that's certainly helping. especially in the early morning hours, considering it's 4:00 a.m. here in china. we should point out that the electricity has been restored and, you know, we are getting some response from some of the neighboring countries expressing their concern and condolences. the fact that it is so cold is proving to be very, very lofty. >> mark, thank you. up early for us in beijing. the work continues there in the 4:00 a.m. hour. we appreciate the report.

up next, google agrees to pay hundreds of millions of dollars and to allow greater competition on its app stores. what does this mean for you, consumers? what's it going to make for app makers? we have that ahead.

you're probably not easily persuaded to switch

mobile providers for your business. but what if we told you it's possible that comcast business mobile can save you up to 75% a year on your wireless bill versus the big three carriers? did we peak your interest? you can get two unlimited lines for just $30 each a month. there are no term contracts or line activation fees. and you can bring your own device. oh, and all on the most reliable 5g mobile network nationwide. wireless that works for you. it's not just possible, it's happening. now to a major antitrust court settlement. tech giant google agreed to pay $700 million and allow more

competition on its play app store. >> there's actually about 102 million u.s. consumers eligible to receive $630 million in compensation as part of the settlement. google harmed competition through the app store terms and fees. we have brian fun on this story. what does this mean for consumers? >> reporter: brianna and boris, this is an important story. basically consumers are going to get refunds, as you said. google is going to have to make changes to the app store business that could potentially lead to lower prices for consumers when they pay for apps and content. starting with the refunds, we're talking about $630 million being distributed across 102 million consumers. android users of google's play store. that could mean a few bucks per

person. google and the states part of the settlement said everyone involved will get a couple dollars and maybe more depending on how much you bought from the play store. that could mean whether you spent a lot of money on in-app subscriptions, you might get more than $2. now, google is going to have to make changes to the business. one of the biggest changes is that it's going to have to allow apps and app developers to give you a choice to choose a different billing method. until now, you've had to go through google's own billing system and they charge a 30% fee for that. so now, you're going to be able to choose a third party payment provider. when you buy stuff on apps or buy subscriptions and things like that. theoretically it could mean lower prices for in-app subscriptions and content. that could be a real benefit to

consumers. and also, for app developers who have long said that google has charged fees for in-app content they have to pass to consumers. this could be a huge change to apple's business and it could be, you know, really good for consumers. >> absolutely. brian fun, thanks so much. now to some of the other headlines we're watching this hour. a federal judge has ordered a halt to the removal of a confederate memorial in arlington national cemetery days before it was set to be fully removed. the temporary stay comes one day after the groups defend arlington and save southern heritage florida filed a lawsuit claiming the removal of the memorial violated the national environmental policy act. a court hearing is set for tomorrow. in kentucky, human remains found at the bottom of a lake 25 years ago have finally been identified as a missing fugitive. thanks to advances in dna,

investigators now know that roger dale parum was found in a lake in 1999. at the time of his disappearance, parum was on trial for several criminal charges and has been on the fbi most wanted list for years. his case being investigated as a homicide. and an atmospheric river. these things, unbelievable. could bring heavy rain to california. there's a flood watch being issued for over 11 million people in southern california, including los angeles that begins tonight and will last through late thursday. total rainfall estimates are two to four inches for most of the forecast area. four to eight inches possible across south facing foothills and coastal slopes. the cdc is warning of a new covid-19 variant rapidly spreading. we'll talk about what you need to know about it. next.

a new covid-19 sub variant is currently the fastest growing strain in the country. jn1 is causing 20% of all new infections. >> more than doubled in the united states from late november and mid december. seemingly getting an assist from holiday travel and waning immunity. now it's becoming the dominant strain in the northeast accounting for a third of new infections in that part of the

country. let's discuss with meg terrell. is jn-1 making us sicker? >> reporter: well, the good news is it doesn't appear to be causing more severe disease than other variants of covid. but the bad news about it is it appears to have an advantage over previous variants. that's how it's really taking over here in the united states and around the world. if you look at the cdc's estimates of the prevalence of this, it's about 4% of new cases as of early to mid november. that's jumped to more than 20% in the last month. that's couldn'ting to increase. the expectation is it'll become dominant here and worldwide over the coming weeks. the thought about this are it can better evade the existing immunity and that's how it's getting this advantage. >> so the vaccine, how does it square off against this? >> reporter: so even though it does have the changes in the spike protein that give it that

sort of evasion ability around our existing immunity, the vaccines are still expected to provide good protection. particularly against severe disease. so early research into that is pretty reassuring. at the same time, we're at a time hospitalizations are climbing from covid. and they are getting into the mid levels and even higher in some areas of the country. the cdc has a map that shows some areas are turning into the yellow and even the orange, which signify higher levels of hospitalizations from covid. they're emphasizing as we're going into the winter season, if you haven't gotten your updated booster you should. >> go ahead and get the updated booster and get the flu vaccine while you're at it. this is a tough season for respiratory diseases. >> reporter: it is. >> all right. meg, thank you so much. the second time apparently the charm for jeff bezos's blue

origin company that catapults people to the edge of the world and back. >> a day after the first attempt yesterday had to be screw upped. this marks the rockets' return to space after a fiery crash last year and like that launch, the latest mission also unmanned. carrying only science experiments on board. tom, how big of deal was the test mission? >> reporter: it's a big deal because it had been more than a year since the last time they tried this. you have to prove to yourself and the aerospace community you're still in the game and doing well. for them to take off. didn't last long. only seven minutes up there. it's like most of the flights. quick up and back down. but it proved they could do it. this could restart their space tourism program. that's what they're aiming for here. >> the coolest parabala you can spend more on. what happens next with the

tourism space flights? >> reporter: one of the things they emphasized before is they had six successful flights with people on board. they tried to point out that even when it failed last year in that launch, that the capsule got back to earth safely. it didn't have people on board. jeff bezos talked of the idea if you do this, you're not feeling like you're taking your life in your hands. you have an exit strategy for all of this. we don't know. we do know they want to get back to taking people up. they said that after the test. we don't have a time line on when that would happen. >> we know bezos is working on a different program. called the new glenn. >> reporter: this is done through the united launch alliance. this is different. this isn't about space tourism. this is about a big powerful rocket that would compete in that arena of taking heavier things into space. remember, space is all about making things light. one of the big quests is being

able to take heavier things up there for moon bases and an attempt at mars. so when they put the new glenn rocket up, next year they have a couple launches scheduled for that to show what it can do. that's more of the serious side of space aside from the tourism. a big day for blue origin. >> if he's looking for more names for publicity sake, the three of us could go. >> you guys could go. someone has to stay home and cover it. >> reporter: you think we could stand seven minutes in a small space together? >> i think you guys could do it. i'll be here cheering it on. >> we should be on there together. >> i'm a little . economists predicted the u.s. would be in a recession. why it's extremely unlikely that the country's economy will go in reverse.

the u.s. may have pulled off the impossible. a soft landing. avoiding for what awhile looked inevitable to experts. a recession. the feds spent the last 20 months doing everything in its power to slow the economy, to fight inflation without costing americans their jobs. >> this time last year, top economists were predicting a recession and now that's increasingly unlikely. how is this accomplished? we have vanessa and chief

economist mark zandy with us. vanessa, i want to begin with you. explain why a recession hasn't happened. >> the economy is doing a lot better than even he expected. and while we don't see a recession this year, we certainly can't rule it out for the future. let me give you the cliff notes on why we haven't seen a recession. as you mentioned, the federal reserve has raised interest rates by 11 times over the past two years or so. and what that has done is cooled down inflation. you can see it right there. the interest rate hikes we've seen, there's been a pause in the last few months, but the big question was whether or not that was going to throw the economy into a recession. but we have not seen that. it was a big concern about what it would do to unemployment. but over the last year, we have seen 2.6 million jobs added. the unemployment rate is below

4%. it's been below 4% for two years now. and also, at the same time, you saw wages rising and consumers spending. and many consumers ended up sitting on the sidelines when it came to big purchases though. like housing. but just in the last week or so, when the fed announced it was pausing rates, we've seen mortgage rates come down below 7% for the first time since august. and we have seen really good news in the last two days from home builders. we've seen more people building homes, and we've seen home builder sentiment on the rise for the first time since august. you can see there just in november alone housing starts, which means new home constructions up 14.8%. and then inflation, the thing that's been plaguing so many americans for as long, inflation has been cooling. not exactly where we need it to be. at 3.1% and what producers have

been paying .9%. not where we need to be, but listen, there's a lot of paint strokes that paint this picture about the economy. the good news is that everyone seems to agree we are moving in the right direction. it's sort of the holiday gift that people weren't expecting but are getting this year and a lot of americans can feel really encouraged but the fight continues. it's not over yet. >> mark, are you surprised the u.s. was able to avoid a recession or has been able to avoid one so far? >> it was going to be tricky. i didn't think the economy, a year ago, if we had this conversation that we probably did -- i would've said no recession but it's going to be pretty darn close and we need a little bit of luck and some reasonably deft policymaking to get through without a recession and we got a little bit of luck and we got some reasonably good

policy making and navigated through. but there's a bunch of reasons why i think the economy hung tough here. i think at the very top is the fact that consumers, you and i, as spenders, we kept on spending and as long as that is the case, the american economy will continue to move forward and that goes to lots of jobs, low unemployment, four percent, below 4% unemployment for over two years. it goes to the fact that people were able to, high income households and middle income households were able to save a lot of money during the pandemic as they went out shopping and spending and they can use that to tide themselves over in the period of high inflation. stock market set a record high, housing values at a record high, a lot of good things came together to keep consumers in the game and as long as consumers do their part, the american economy will continue to move forward and one final point, the american economy is

not only key to you and i, but also key to the rest of the world. the u.s. economy, u.s. consumers driving the economic trade all over the planet. >> you see some of this sentiment, right? we look at these numbers and they are undeniably good and yet, some of this day to day spending power has diminished for people and they really feel it. so, what are you seeing there as we understand that a lot of americans are not looking at these numbers and celebrating and saying, i feel great, because they don't. >> yeah, they don't. you can see in the surveys and the poll numbers, people are really down on the economy. and i think, there's a bunch of reasons here but top of the list of the reasons for the poor sentiment is that people really got nailed by the high inflation. and that goes back to the pandemic which disrupted supply chains and labor markets in the russian war in ukraine which caused oil prices and food

prices to go skyward and that undermined the purchasing power of american households and consumers. here's a thing i really think is why people are so upset. most americans, i'm old enough to have experienced the high inflation of the 70s and 80s. i remember that but most americans aren't. they've never experienced anything like it and the other interesting thing about inflation and rising prices is, somehow it feels unfair. unjust. how could it be the case that i'm paying so much more for the same thing i bought a month ago or a year ago ? somebody's got to be ripping me off, so that makes people really upset and i think that's what the worse sentiment is in the polls. if i'm right and my diagnosis is correct, that means as we move forward here with inflation dropping back down and incomes rising, people will feel increasingly better. not next month or next quarter but this time next year, if

were having this conversation i suspect not only will the economy be okay and good but people will recognize that and feel it. >> let's hope. thank you so much for being with us. >> thank you. >> we will be right back.

i'm a little anxious, i'm a little excited. i'm gonna be emotional, she's gonna be emotional, but it's gonna be so worth it. i love that i can give back to one of our customers. i hope you enjoy these amazing gifts. oh my goodness. oh, you guys.

i know you like wrestling, so we got you some vip tickets. you have made an impact. so have you. for you guys to be out here doing something like this, it restores a lot of faith in humanity. today the nation is remembering the late supreme court justice sandra day o serve on onnor. america's highest court. today, her family, friends, and the nation's top leaders

gathered at the washington national cathedral to honor the trailblazing justice at her funeral service. she passed away earlier this month at the age of 93. president biden was on hand delivering one of the eulogies. >> gracious and wise, civil and principled, sandra day onnor, the daughter of the american west was a pioneer in her own right. breaking down the barriers of the legal and political worlds and the nations consciousness. to her, the supreme court was bed rock. the bed rock of america. it was the vital line of defense for the values and the vision of our republic. devoted not to pursuit of power, for power's sake, but to make real the promise of america. >> justice o'connor served on

the supreme court for re