take his time this time around. the circus went on as he was making that decision i'm sure left a mark. >> yeah. i think there might be a little more to unpack on those decisions, especially the last one. that was a big swing in the headlines, that's for sure. carolyn manno, thank you so much for joining us. i'm whitney wild. "cnn this morning" starts right now. until we got here, it was canceled, our 4:20 flight, and they said we had to rebook and the line's like four blocks long. we're just going positive recheck into a hotel, because they said if you go through this line it might be up to new year's before you get a flight. >> i'm still on hold. good morning, everyone. so glad you're with us.

it is tuesday, december 27th. don is off. we are glad to be here. what a day. you got home okay yesterday. >> yeah. but airports are insane so i feel for people like that passenger there, on hold over six hours. >> unbelievable. plans unravelled for airlines. more than 60% of flights already canceled today. the death toll is rising in buffalo, new york, after a blizzard crippled the area and residents are still digging themselves out of the snowstorm this morning. we're live on the ground where officials say conditions remain dangerous. and china taking a big step reopening its borders after shutting out much of the world nearly three years. the other covid restrictions they plan to lose ahead, plus this -- >> i'm not a criminal. not here. not abroad, in any jurisdiction in the world have i ever committed any crimes, but he is

admitting to embellishes his resume. congressman santos is admitted to lying about parts of his past but will still take office next week, though. and cancellations for people across the country. the cancellation boards of lighting up again at the world's busiest airports especially for people or southwest airlines. thousands scrambled as flight after flight in city after city have been canceled. listen to this overheard announcement at the airport in houston. >> unfortunately, our next available seats for rebooking are on the 31st and beyond. once again, our next available seats for rebooking customers at this time is at the 31st and beyond. >> the 31st of december. that is five days away. southwest airlines ceo tells the "wall street journal," "this is the largest-scale event that i have ever seen." the airlines will most likely

even have to cancel more flights today. begin with gabe cohen live at the airport in baltimore this morning. can you help people understand, gabe, why this is happening to southwest in particular when much of the bad weather is gone? >> reporter: well, poppy, that's a great question, and first off, as you mentioned, southwest airline passengers can expect this meltdown to only get worse. they've already cancelaled more than 60% of their schedule for today. close to 2,500 flights and the ceo of the company told the "wall street journal" they're only expecting to fly just over a third of their schedule in comes days as they try to regroup after what they're really blaming, which is the winter storm and the holiday rush saying they're trying to get things back into place ahead of new yeear's holiday. the airline canceled more than 2,900 flights, more than 70% of

their schedule leaving passengers stranded across the country creating huge lines in airports everywhere, including here in baltimore. as you saw before, people sitting around for hours trying to rebook flights. take a listen to a father stranded in the orlando airport who was sleeping on the floor, for the third straight night with his family. >> i feel very, very upset, really, to be honest. very, very upset, because, i mean, we keep looking at the flights, the chart, and everything's literally canceled or delayed. there's no flights going out. >> reporter: poppy, southwest, again, largely blaming that winter storm saying they ended up with flight crews spread all over the country largely in the wrong cities and scrambling to figure out where people are and get pieces back in the right place. that's why they're canceling so many flights. again it is important to note and to stress that they are the

only major u.s. airline that's dealing with this issue of mass cancellations. so many days after this winter storm. in places where there really is no weather issue anymore and the union that represents southwest pilots says this is really not about the winter storm. this is about outdated processes and outdated i.t. so, again it is a messy situation only expected to get worse in the coming days, and certainly messy for tens of thousands of passengers stranded mostly just trying to get home. >> and the company concedes that, too, saying there's a lot to fix on the system that tells the pilots and flight attendants where to go, but what pain for travelers as a result . gabe, thanks for the reporting. also the death toll in new york's erie county has risen to 27 amp governor hochul said it is the blizzard of the century. thousands of people left at home without power or heat and

hundreds of drivers stranded in freezing temperatures. even the emergency and recovery of vehicles sent out to help also got stuck in the snow and officials warn that up to 12 more inches could fall today. cn cnn's polo sandoval is live. what are emergency efforts looking like this morning? >> reporter: kaitlan, with that death toll continuing to rise, what we are seeing are other new york state communities that are sending in reinforcements, sending in resources here to buffalo, which is still experiencing a driving ban that's expected to remain in place through today at least. those reinforcements minutes to provid to assist those stuck in their homes for days now and plows to get the streets cleared, safe and drivable as well. also getting food into the city, particularly to warming shelters and facilities where the first responders working for days now

can actually have something to eat. you see all of those grocery stores, everything's been closed here. you do have big chains announcing they are going to open as soon as it's safely possible to do so. but still, there is so much uncertainty right now, kaitlan. my team and i sheltering in place in a hotel with buffalo residents for four, going on five days now, and residents here tell me they've experienced pipe bursting in their homes. so even after given the green light to return home, this ordeal will be far from over for so many residents who live here and experience what they will always remember at the blizzard of '22. >> yeah. more snow still coming today. stay safe, polo. we'll check in later. and chad myers, meteorologist, joins us now. it's amazing to see it is still snowing in buffalo. >> yes. yeah. west seneca, all the way down to south of buffalo proper but that

band of snow, back up into buffalo proper, another two to four inches likely today. more downwind, ontario, watertown, but buffalo, like they could use anymore. 50 inches so far from this storm. it's still cold, but the warm air is on its way. a little help. warm air in the west right now getting pushed to the east by another storm system that's coming onshore there. now, this warm air is going to warm things back up into the 40s and 50s, and yesterday at my apartment temperatures were about 34, and we were doing very well. hey, warming up. guess what, though? the pipes were already frozen and cracked, and that weather that warmed things up made those pipes melt and all of a sudden that little plug that was a little plug of ice is no longer there, and the water was pouring out. ice everywhere this morning as temperatures went back down. this freeze thaw/freeze thaw thing will go on for days and days and days. just because you're warming up doesn't mean you're out of the

woods. we could see significant amounts of those pipe burst problems across the east coast. could be millions or billions of dollars worth of problems here with that flooding. there's the next storm from the west coast. the european model over the next ten days in places in the sierra puts it down, i'm not stuttering, 20 feet of snow in the highest elevations. that will cause travel problems and also avalanche issues as well, poppy. >> 20 feet of snow. chad myers, new snow. thank you very much. >> yeah. all right. the weekend is not just at the airports, upended retirement plans of our next guest. michael mothershed set to officiate his final game but wasn't able to make the game after his first southwest canceled, second delta flight severely delayed also. >> and jeff is actually the

backup referee. he was called in. he's from midland, michigan, about two hours away on christmas day, because the referee, michael mothershed, supposed to be here missed his flight. michael, if you are watching this game you are certainly missed. 28 years as a referee and i know you're retiring. wish you well in the future. >> michael mothershed's replacement but joining us is michael himself. michael, thank you for being here. we were so bummed by this story. i mean, talking about the implications of this travel nightmare, but what a bummer for you to have to miss your final game. tell us what happened to you as you went to the airport over the weekend. >> good morning. well it all started on christmas eve. i had a flight on southwest, scheduled to take off at 6:30 a.m. i arrived at the airport, probably before 5:00.

and -- you know, i looked at the board. it indicated that my flight was canceled, but there was another flight that was leaving at 6:40. i was scheduled to leave san diego, arrive in dallas-ft. worth and then proceed on to detroit. so i went to the gate, and there was no one there. eventually said if i needed to cancel, reschedule, rebook my flight, i had to go downstairs to customer service. i proceeded downstairs. there was a line already there, and it was probably about 5:15 when i entered the line, and i was there for approximately 4.5 hours waiting to talk to an agent. >> oh, my -- in line, for 4.5 hours? >> in line, 4.5 hours. >> on christmas eve? >> on christmas eve. yes. i did not expect that. >> when kaitlan told me about your story, because this a big

college football fan over here, i couldn't believe it! >> okay. >> and i thought, he's going to have to go back to work, work another year and have another final day. but in all seriousness, hope you have a happy retirement, but what was it like to watch someone else officiate that game, given why now we know why all this happened. it wasn't just weather. >> yeah, you know, a little different. and it was -- you know, i'm sitting there on the couch watching my crew work, and a different referee and i'm thinking, god, here i am. i am watching the game that i am supposed to be, supposed to work, and it was -- you know, it was strange. and, you know, things happen. i did not expect this to happen. at all. at all. and, you know, it's just -- it's one of those things you experience, and chalk it up and

kind of move on, but to close out my career as a referee on the field, i did not anticipate this. >> yeah. well, you've had 28 years where you were referee, 9 as main referee. since you didn't get to officiate your last game, any moments from the years, you want to share, biggest highlights that you've reflected on? >> you know, i mean in -- i worked the 2006 national championship game, and that was, that was fantastic. that was between florida and ohio state. this year i had the opportunity to work oregon and ucla and that was number nine versus number ten, and, you know, we worked a great ball game. it was a fantastic crowd, and, you know, it's really -- a privilege to be able to work as an official and to work at this level. so i really had a great game as

a referee and as a crew, and that was probably one of the highlights for this year. >> congrats on an amazing career. instead of people yelling at refs all the time we should say thank you for all that you guys get right! >> i don't know. i feel like -- >> i appreciate that! i appreciate that. >> this is my message to kaitlan when she thinks the refs get it wrong. >> yeah. michael grateful you joined us and sorry you missed your final game, but thank you for coming on to talk about it and thank you for your years as a referee. >> you're welcome, and thank you. i appreciate your time. >> ah. all right. incoming republican congressman george santos is now finally admitting to lying about really significant parts of this resume. what he is saying in two interviews. that's ahead. also, china is making some big changes to the country's travel policies as they are now easing covid restrictions. we'll tell you what's different.

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♪ ♪ this is how we work now ♪ this morning, incoming republican congressman george santos is breaking his week-long silence amid discrepancies about hid education and employment history. he now says he never graduated from any college or university despite saying he had, and that he never worked for citigroup or goldman sachs, despite saying he had. he says he is apologizing for

embellishing his resume. >> i'm not a fraud. i'm not a, a criminal who defrauded the entire country and made up this fictional man who ran for congress. i'm not making excuses for this but a lot of people overstate in their resumes or twist a little bit or ingradiate themselves, if i embellished, mi'm sorry, . >> covering this story. this seems a lot more than embellishing a resume? >> reporter: he's finally admitting he lied about key details in his resume but still really falls short of a robust explanation why much of what he

said on the campaign trail as it pertains to his personal biography is false. he said in an interview with the "new york post" and a local radio station that we heard there he did not actually work for citigroup or for goldman sachs, even though previously on the campaign trail he repeatedly said he did. he tried to explain this away by arguing he worked for them through his company calling it a poor choice of words to claim he worked directly for those firms. santos also conceded he never graduated from any college or university, after previously claiming he received degrees before both nyu and baruch college. he says he's embarrassed, suggested it's not uncommon to lie on a resume trying to downplay the severity of an incoming member of congress caught in so many lies, but kaitlan, he maintains he's not a criminal and still intends to serve in congress. >> what about the claim, though, that he said he lost employees

during the pulse nightclub shooting? >> reporter: kaitlan, this, too, appearing to have been a lie and this is significant. this is not just about a personal biography, a deeply tragic event that occurred in this country and now says the victims of that shooting never worked for him. take a listen. >> did anyone who worked for you perish in the pulse nightclub shooting. >> that worked for me directly, no, but we did have people who were hired to work for the company at the time who during ---i was in florida during the pulse nightclub shooting. at another nightclub that evening not too far away but, yes, we did lose four people who would be coming to work for the company in orlando. >> no, congressman -- >> so this is sort of a word soup salad here, but it is a lie. this morning we are left with more questions than answers. questions remain about his charity, claims that his grandparents died in the holocaust.

his financial disclosures. i mean, it's just endless. a litany of other issues. for sure, though, republican leadership kevin mccarthy has to rely on that key vote for house speaker is keeping quiet and praying this whole thing blows over. kaitlan? >> seems unlikely given the new congress it set to start next week. thank you. let's talk about all of this with political commentator and political anchor at spectrum news. not only are you great on all things new york politics you interviewed him. >> i did. shortly after the election. i did. >> and he was -- not honest. >> no, he was not honest we me or anybody else. i asked him what committees he'd like to serve on, due to my financial background i'd love to be on financial services. that's the problem. lies start to compound and one leads to the next. overall problem, he may have violated any number of local or federal laws yet on track to

become a lawmaker. >> what laws? and i guess who would it be up to if mccarthy's speaker? >> just at the local level. the state is looking into some of the things. one thing that even just mentioned, he started something called friends of pets united. apparently, ran it several years. took many from people supposed to help pets. no record with irs of the thing actually existing and the "new york times" reported somebody who was supposed to be beneficiary of this good work, he's claimed to have saved thousands of pets say they never got any money. charities in new york are monitored and regulated by the attorney general who is looking into it. we don't know where that's going to go, but probably not going to work out the way george santos wants. then generally with the federal -- something called the false statements act. just tripped up a number of people like martha stewart and others, when the federal government comes asking you can't just write down any old thing to on a form and say my company paid me $1 million last

year if the company doesn't exist. apparently george santos did exactly that. >> putting the legal aspect of this aside, that's a big part, but the political backlash. him saying his grandparents survived the holocaust, and then now saying, oh, i never said i was the jewish, i said i was jew-ish? >> yes. comedy writers are often put out of work by these politicians. you couldn't make that up. i know a little about the district and know some people out there. it's a heavily jewish district. no hyphen. there are a lot of holocaust survivors and children of holocaust survivors out there. each piece of the fabrications by george santos if you looked at a closely are targeted towards a group of voters. whether pet lovers, lgbtq voters, holocaust survivors, jewish community and so forth. the problem, it's a tissue of

lies that unraveling when you look at it. >> is this like the age that lots of people do? >> is this the world we're living in now? flat out lying about huge parts of his resume saying, oh, i just embellish. everyone overstates, i'm embarrassed, but he flat-out lied and silent for a week on this and now is speaking out? >> i don't think he's finished, by the way. more questioning come up. like the pet charity and so forth and so on. the whole question of him saying, because he's on the record saying that he's never had a problem with sexuality and so forth, that he's a gay man and turns out he was married until just a few years ago and then says this is quiet. you can't put it on your website, talk about it in public speeches and run for public office are and when asked about it, hey, straighten out the timeline if nothing else and run behind a cloak of privacy. >> he's been invited and remains invited to come on cnn.

>> sure. i'd love to talk with him again. >> asked many times, and maybe he still will, because who we didn't talk be to is the "new york times" for either of these pieces and in this interview he went after the "times"? >> right. he's said consistently from the beginning even hi lawyer, without denying any specific charges says, well, the "new york times" is a liedist and hides behind that. this questions aren't going away. "news day" has questions, the local newspaper out there, spe spectrum, your company, my company, what's going on and can you be trusted? will anybody in congress sit with you, make deals with you and trust your word? hard to see how these going to function as a member of congress

if all he is, is a vote for kevin mccarthy to become the next speaker and publicly said he supports kevin mccarthy, that might be the easiest and maybe only vote he gets to cast without a cloud over louis, no. see what is to come. okay. missi miami dolphins quarterback to back on the concussion protocol. what we're learning this morning. and this -- these are the faces of listerine. the face of millions of germs zapped in seconds. the face of clean. the face of whoa. some are of intensity, othe, joy. all are of - ahhhh.

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plus ask how to get up to a $750 prepaid card with qualifying internet. welcome back to "cnn this morning." we're glad you're with us. coming up, impacting more than just nor new year's plans, also, ukraine wants a peace summit by february. what is russia saying? and who is more empathetic? men or women? i'll let you guess. what a new study is revealing. all right, also today president biden is headed for vacation and while he is

expected to sign that just passed $1.7 trillion government spending bill at some point this week, he's also bracing for a reshaped washington in the new year. it's going to be buzzing with questions about 2024 and his potential candidacy and it is also going to be a washington where republicans have control of the house. just a little bit, but still, control. cnn's phil mattingly joins us live from the white house. phil what are you hearing how the white house is preparing for what washington is going to look like by the time president biden gets back from this vacation? >> reporter: yeah. i think there's a keen understanding that it's going to be a very different town. a very different political atmosphere when president biden comes back, just one day before house republicans are expected to vote on the speaker's race. i think that race itself kind of gives a window into some of the preparations going on behind the scenes here at the white house and the fact they don't actually know who's going to be the next speaker. the expectation long been kevin mccarthy would win that race, as

he's continued to be short of votes, white house officials are watching. not getting involved or put their thumb on the scale in any way, shape or form but using it as an illustration what a house majority will look like and how to interact with that majority. you know this building as well as anybody right now. they are planning how to operate in a new legislative environment, in a new political environment and, of course, hanging over everything is president biden's decision about whether or not to run for re-election, but doing so with a clear momentum in their view behind him in the wake of legislative victories including that $1.7 trillion spending bill and a real sense president biden's theory laid out in the campaign and into the first couple months of his time in office essentially has come to pass. that should kind of define how things operate in the next two years. >> yeah. we'll see what that looks like when it comes to those it investigations as well. phil mattingly, thank you. a really significant change in china. this morning the country is taking a big step to reopen its

border for the first time in about three years. in the new year beijing plans to drop its quarantine requirements for inbound international travelers and also removing restrictions on airline capacity and number of flights that had let's into the country. let's go to cnn's selina wang from beijing. a huge deal following end of zero cove ed policy and follows an ending of releasing any data, regarding the numbers of covid cases there. how significant is it that they're lifting all of these restrictions? >> reporter: poppy, this is huge and people breathing a sigh of relief. biggest change from january 8th the country is dropping quarantine for all international arrivals. authorities promising to gratly restart tourism for chinese citizens. inbound need a 48-hour negative covid test before boarding but dropped all the our super

cumbersome requirements. these changes ending china's three years of isolation and also points to a formal end to zero covid. to understand why it's such a big deal look at the reality whey china has been. this country severely limiting throughout the pandemic. who can go in and out of the country, flights extrtremely expensive and limited. i went through malt pot quarantines myself including 21 days earlier this year and talking harsh quarantines. no choice in what facility you go to, no opening your door except for food pick-ups and covid tests. all gone. an emotional moment for so many waiting three years or more to finally go home, reunite with family and finally so many people i'm talking to say they are seeing that light at end of the tunnel. >> another huge change. they, china has not allowed foreign-made vaccine into the country. right? so pfizer's vaccine, for example, moderna, but when it

comes to anti-virals, treatments, like paxlovid, they're changing now? >> reporter: yeah, poppy. this is significant, because it has been so hard for people to access anti-virals in this country, but in a major move beijing just announced it will start distributing paxlovid to community health centers in coming days. we don't know how much will be given, but this is much-needed relief. even basic medicine like fever and cold medicine are nearly impossible to get at drug stores across the country. some local governments even resorted to rationing the amount of medicine for sale, down to the exacts number of pills. all of this is coming as the medical system is under a huge amount of pressure. even in the capital here in bei beijing, some of the best medical resources in the country, doctors say they are overwhelmed with elderly patients with covid symptoms, poppy. >> big changes. reporting live from beijing, thank you. also new this morning, taiwan is preparing to extend

its mandatory military service for all young men amid rising threats from china jumping from four months to a year starting 2024, inkedably significant for taiwan, recently shortening this going from one to four months then. now taiwan's president says four months can no longer suit the needs of taiwan's defense. also this morning, thousands of passenger flights have been canceled this holiday season. but what about those flights carrying gifts and other last-minute deliveries? rahal solomon here to talk about it. that's next. ally p roven. 48-hour hyhydration. for that healthy skin glow. neutrorogena®. for people with skin.

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i'm beyond frustrated. and hurt. because i can't see my dad. so, yeah. it's very disappointing. >> the real impact of what is going on with southwest airlines right now. they are canceling even more flights this morning. about 60% of them today, they think, amid a major meltdown that has left thousands and thousands of passengers stranded and scrambling to make other plans, or missing their familiar in these plans altogether, and deadly winter storm that disrupted travel for so many has also forced shipping companies to ground planes and keep trucks off the road during those critical last few days before christmas. bringing in rahel solomon. start with southwest, because i don't want to -- like, this is

beyond the weather. for southwest airlines. >> sounds like it, because even still today most of the cancellations are by and large southwest. right? if you're at home wonderchancea? southwest says they expect delays to last into the weekend. >> especially can't rebook unti. madness. i wonder how this impacts people getting to and from certain places but also deliveries and other impacts we're seeing? >> right. so this is the busiest time of the year for the retail industry and people are waiting on those last-minute christmas gifts that they bought. but u.p.s., fedex, the postal service, amazon, they've all had major disruptions to areas where the storm impacted. u.p.s. said yesterday that 898

zip codes in four states, there were service outages. those christmas gifts will wind up being new year's gifts by the time that employees can get in there. >> yeah. >> what do you think is the lesson here for just going back to what southwest is dealing with? because this is -- because of, and they're admitting, their own system. the system that relies largely on '90s technology of -- not talking about planes but communication and phones. >> right. >> to tell pilots and flight attendants where to go. not digitally updated and why we're in this predicament. >> interesting moving forward if southwest actually updates those systems. the lesson for us travelers, becomes a domino effect, weng system failure in the case of southwest, a weather issue, saw that with other airlines. takes one thing, one flight, one, you know, storm and then

you sort of see a domino cascading effect across the country. a few things to think about if fleur a flier. talked to brian kelly, runs the points system and said, look, if you have a really important destination you need to get to, unimportant it takes this, but probably have a plan b. right? the frequent fliers book a second flight as a backup, a plan b, using those. that's not -- >> not affordable for -- >> using points, if you have it. something to consider, but it's unfortunate, as i said, you would even have to think about that. >> and i think, also, this puts so much attention back on southwest when it comes to this actual systemic part of this and whether or not this is an issue they can fix, because if you were on a southwest flight, you heard that woman, not seeing her dad for christmas. why would you book a southwest flight again if this is the risk you're taking . >> by the way, a great point. heard from southwest travelers through different cnn reporters over the weekend who have said because of this they're never

flying southwest again. something for obviously company executives to think about. just the impact of are this and what it does in terms of are brand reputation, customer experience. look, this is going to have a pretty lasting impact for southwest for sure. >> talk about returns? you all were griping in the commercial about returning things. >> okay. well, a lot of people got stuff for christmas, me included. stuff you have to return, can't keep and now people will start charging for returns. >> so some major stores are going to start charging for returns we love free online returns. buy anything, bring it back, don't like the color or the size is too big, but the stores hate it. it winds up back on their shelves, or in their warehouses. they have to plmark it down and have to pay for us to ship the stuff back. you have anthropology, h & m, zara, aber gcrombie and stores

saying, they've had enough. >> nuisance for retailers. costly. nathaniel pointed out, and they have to figure what to do with it. resell it? discount it? adding friction to the return process. someone like me hates returns because i'm lazy, this means i probably won't return anything now. >> experience, folks. take someone out to dinner. >> buy them a bat. >> okay. >> i actually think this means some will buy less. you know it's going to be a pain to return it then people will buy fewer things. >> very true. >> all right. both of you, thank you for us. guess who's back? anderson and andy are back for another new year's eve celebration. join them live from times square starting this saturday night 8:00 p.m. eastern right on cnn. don will join as well from, hopefully, a warmer new orleans.

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miami dolphins quarterback tua tagovailoa is back in the nfl's concussion protocol for the second time this season. displaying concussion symptoms after sunday's game against the green bay packers while the coach couldn't pinpoint a moment in sunday's game where tagovailoa was injured. some poirnting to this play whee his head head the turf. tua went on to play the entire game sunday. >> i care very deeply about each and every player. i take that seriously, so i just want him to get healthy and to have peace of mind in that regard, and -- that's first and foremost, and then we'll, you know, whatever those circumstances are after, you deal with after, but it's about the human being, and making sure he's squared away. >> tagovailoa's last concussion

call after week four carted off on a stretcher and beefly hospitalized after his head hit the turf. four games later, in buffalo showed concussion symptoms, evaluated and stayed in the game. this is what he said first time he addressed media after those injuries. >> i remember the entire night up to the point where i got tackled. but -- yeah. after -- after i got tackled, i don't remember much from -- from there, getting carted off. i don't remember that. >> the nfl actually updated his con kaotian protocols earlier in the season mandating any player showing possible concussion symptoms sits out the rest of the game. another scarey moment in the

chargers game, both players now in protocol. joining us this morning is dr. chris knownowenski, leads a nonprofit dedicated to fighting concussions and bringing awareness around them, and thank you so much for joining us, chris. i wonder just what your reaction is after seeing the fact that tua is now back in concussion protocol again after seeing that play yesterday. i should note they don't know exactly which play where he sustained this concussion, just what do you make of this? >> unfortunately it's not a surprise, because each concussion will make you more likely to suffer nor concussion and his concussions were so badly mishandled earlier in the season i suggested when he got injured september 29th he not return this season and give his brain enough time to recover. this hit, it does look like that hit to the ground changed the way he played. hi performance before and after that play were very different. three interceptions in the fourth quarter. it looks like that third

concussion now has happened, and we have to worry about his future, not just, you know, as an athlete but as a person, and we have to worry now people will consider him concussion-prone when frankly i think the dolphins mishandle the c concussion leaving him open to this very possibility. >> won concussion in a season is terrifying. you're right. not just about whether or not he's playing in a game, it's tua the person here. what should the concussion protocol be like for him to play again this season? >> we're a very sort of dangerous pla is in time in terms how we treat concussions. 19 years ago i suffered multiple concussioning that weren't diagnosed as a wwe wrestling and left me with permanent symptoms. i was forced to retire from those. these days, most doctors will

say, when your symptoms cleared and you go through the concussion protocol you're safe to return. tua needs a doctor thatological say i could clear you but for your life, for your profession, i shouldn't clear you. the season should be over for him, if you were looking out for his long-term health. god forbid they clear him for some reason, comes back gets another concussion, we should already be aware, the more concussions the more likely to have depression, self-harm, these things are very real. i hope somebody will sit him down and say, look, you can't go back even if you clear protocol because the protocol is not amazing science. your brain needs months to recover from this many brain injuries in a short period of time. >> right. so many. concerning for his family, his friends. rg3 doesn't think tupa should

plashould -- tua should play at all this season. are these protocols stringent enough? we saw the play that happened sunday. tua stayed in the game the rest of the game. are the protocols where you think they should be as they are right now? >> the protocols are sort of negotiated between the players association and the nfl. so the players are very worried that if they hit their head, and they're going to be putted out even when they don't have concussions. so the protocol is designed to not pull out people too aggressively. if you did pull everybody out who was hit in the head you'd be pulling everybody out every game. that's not feasible. i think players are comfortable with this. i think the reality is that we have to consider that tua is the most watched athlete in the country for concussions right now, and everybody missed this. the spotters, the team, the doctors. his teammates. it's just a reminder how hard concussions are to identify, and i think the extrapolation should be, think about your child.

if you have your child in a sport like football and you think you can spot their concussions, i promise you, you cannot. most don't show outward signs that you'll ever be able to pick up. partially why we suggest parents don't let their children play football null high school. we can't control this concussion issue much as we think we can and tua is a great reminder we need to be more focused on prevention than just spotting concussions and moving players who already have brain injuries. >> yeah. a big concern for tua's parents, his family, his teammates, all the fans watching him. chris nowenski thank you for joining us with your expertise. >> thank you. all right. a new study is also maybe showing what some of us think we already know. elizabeth cohen explains why women may be more empathetic than men. also, i hope this isn't happening to you but it is to a lot of folks across the country. a major meltdown for southwest

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all right, sir. there's a new study this morning, a large new study, that shows women are better at empathizing with other people than men. this is something that the study showed was true around the world and in 57 countries. meaning that location, cultural or family differences or influences actually didn't change things all that much. joining us with the information from the study is cnn senior medical correspondent elizabeth cohen. some may look at this and say, yeah, i already knew that. didn't need the study to tell me that, but you're saying actual science shows the differences here, and i wonder what they studied, what they looked at and how they walked away with this takeaway? >> reporter: kaitlan what they looked at, they showed people

online pictures of people's eyes. just the eyes. couldn't see the rest of the face. just the eyes and said, what do you think is this person jealous? are they amused? irritated? bored? different choices. i took the test and went through all of them and apparently the researchers knew what that person was feeling in the picture, and so then they matched it up, and here's what they found. in 36 countries, women scored significantly better than men did. in 21 countries scores similar. in 0 countries did men score better than women, and this was across many different countries, as you mentioned. this was people ages 16 to 70. so this is a wide range of people from different cultures, and it really tells you something about how people read faces. for example, we know that people with autism have trouble kind of reading what the rest of us would see as very easy kind of queues on people's faces. apparently women are