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 better

reading faces, biological and environmental reasons why that could be, but that's what they found. poppy, kaitlan? >> elizabeth cohen, thank you. fascinating. "cnn this morning" continues right now. we didn't get any texts or any message telling us it canceled before we came. >> flight's canceled. >> hang out with pops a couple more days. call my boss and tell him, i'm sorry. hope this wasn't a bad decision. good morning, everyone, who's not at the airport today. don is off this morning. as you can see there, it has just been chaos at the airports over the last several days and it's not changed as flights have been canceled, travelers have been stranded. southwest airlines forced to scrap more than 60% of its flights today.

also, the death toll is rising amid a record-breaking blizzard in buffalo, new york. we're live on the ground there. also this morning, ukraine's foreign minister is aiming for a peace summit in the new year. could russia potentially be invited to the table and will they show up? also taking you this hour to el paso, texas, where border officials say they are encountering more than 1,500 migrants a day. first, we start this morning with a major meltdown for southwest airlines during a very busy holiday travel rush. the airline canceling about 60% of its flights today. thousands of passengers have been left scrambling to make alternative plans as flight after flight and in city after city canceled. southwest airlines ceo telling the "wall street journal" this is the largest-scale event i have ever seen. the airline says it will most likely have to cancel more flights today. as thurgood marshall airport,

and also at chicago's international airport, start with you, gabe. how are things looking this hour? i see a lot of people behind you. we've heard from passengers on the phone for hours, waiting at airports for several hours. what's happening as of right noi? now? >> reporter: kaitlan, we're hearing a lot of that frustration. people arrives to the airport just to realize their flight is canceled. look behind me. that's the southwest ticketing counter. it's not the zoo it's been in recent days. the story is on the board. canceled, done preemptively last night cancels 60% of the airline's flights today. more than 2,500 of them. vast majority of all canceled flights across the country and the ceo of southwest told "usa today" they're only scheduling

flights and regrouping after the winter storm and holiday rush. take a listen to one of those southwest officials speaking last night about this issue. >> first and foremost, we absolutely apologize. hospitality is, i'll say number two behind the safety aspect, as it should be, but we do apologize to our customers, will do everything we need to do to right the challenges we've it right now including offering hotels, ride assistance, vans, whatever that looks like. rental cars to make sure these folks get home as quickly as possible. >> reporter: now, again, southwest has largely blamed that huge winter storm last week saying that most of their flight attendants, pilots, left in incorrect cities and trying to regroup, get pieces back in place. why they're canceling so many flights in the days ahead. a lot of people question that explanation given the fact they are the only major u.s. airline dealing with this issue of mass

cancellations, really days after cities like baltimore had any sort of weather issue. if you look at flightaware, the flight-tracking website, southwest is responsible for more than ten times the number of any other u.s. airlines cancellations just yesterday. certainly today. they're responsible for the vast majority, guys. >> yeah. what a struggle. not just for passengers, for flight attendants, for everybody. gabe cohen. thank you. from baltimore go to chicago, and standing by in chicago midway international, southwest flights in and out of there as well. right? i mean, i wonder what you're hearing from folks there? >> reporter: oh, we are hearing a lot and gabe laid out one element of the story. the other challenge passengers are dealing with, finding their luggage. you can take a look for yourself, poppy. just look over here. a sea of bags. as far as the eye can see. one gate agent told me she's

never seen so many bags here. this is where travelers normally come to get their luggage. normally travelers are here waiting for their luggage, but the luggage is just here waiting for people to find it, as, you know, know, luggage, not a human. anyway, the other thing they don't want to see. showing all the canceled flights in and out of the u.s. data shows at least 2,800 flights have been canceled. and along with the cancellations and not being able to find their luggage, travelers are frustrated. listen in. >> so my family was headed to punta cano friday morning, weren't able to make connecting flights. pulled us all the flight but sent our luggage to fort l

lauderdale. one in punta cqana and the othe still missing. >> no one could tell me where my luggage is. >> problem with southwest they don't give any answer. they don't answer the phone. so we don't know where our luggage is. >> reporter: another day of packing patience in addition to all of these bags, we've also seen strollers and car seats. so families traveling with small children don't have the their belongings but also don't have an essential item that they need to leave the airport. meanwhile, i spoke with a southwest representative here at midway international airport after a traveler told us she couldn't even go on the other side to get her bag. the rep said, that it's right. midway, if it's not the final destination for a passenger, they are not releasing those bags. >> even if someone wants them back there?

>> reporter: she cannot get her bag back. she says she has her son's active duty uniform in that bag. they were trying to get to another relative's wedding today, but they can't get it. sending the bag to its original final destination. even though she's not going there anymore. >> i mean that is -- i'm speechless, adrienne. thank you. well, let's talk more about this. we've got captain michael centura, vice president of the southwest airlines association with us. been a southwest pilot more than 13 years. i wonder what is your understanding of what went wrong here? >> well, thanks for having me, kaitlan. so the storm that hit last week was the catalyst of this, but what went wrong is that our i.t. infrastructure for scheduling software is vastly outdated. it can't handle the number of

pilots, flight attendants that we have in the system with our conflicts throughout the network. we don't have the normal hub and spoke like the other major airlines do. we fly a point-to-point network which can put our crews in the wrong placesairplanes. mismatched. that's what happened and our software can't keep track of it. they don't know where we are, where the airplanes are. it's frustrating for pilots, for flight attendants and especially passengers. we tired it of apologizes for southwest, the pilots of southwest airlines and our hearts go out to all of our passengers. really does. >> yeah. i can see how frustrating it is. seems like you're saying it's a problem they could have predicted essentially? >> so, yeah. they should have technically canceled more flights coming out of denver that day. you know, wind, weather was really bad there. but -- we have been timing this

for years. we have a meltdown like once a year the past five or six years and every year we go in do an after-action, and the union leadership, go in, talk to leadership and tell them you guys need to fix your scheduling software. the scheduling systems and how you operate our schedules. and -- to no avail. they never update. never invest the money and resources they need to, and so we continue to have this, these issues. of course, this is the largest destruction i've seen at my history with the airline. >> largest you've ever seen? >> sure. it's embarrassing. >> seems this is just as much trouble for the pilots, in that i was reading pilots have had to book their own hotels, when the airline didn't assign them. flight attendants, some spent the night on cots in crew lounges. what's the difficulty there?

essentially didn't know where pilots were because of being displaced all over the country? >> yes. so we have, you know, over 10,000 it pilots altogether. not that many flying at one time, but imagine everyone is in the wrong city without hotel assignments and trying to find hoeb hotels? the phones, can't get through to schedules people or hotel desks. yes. pilots resort to finding our own accommodations and we certainly encourage them to do that. so, you know, after 30 minutes of trying just say, go find your own accommodations, get some rest. obviously, safety is number one, biggest thing for us, important and a rested pilot is essential to that. >> yeah. remarkable to hear that we've heard from customers saying waiting for hours to speak with representatives, even pilots are having trouble getting them on the phone. also heard from the transportation department saying that they are concerned about what they say is this unacceptable rate of cancellations and delaying and reports of a lack of prompt

customer service. they say they're looking into this. what kind of acction do you wan to see here? >> well, i mean, i know what i want to see. we have a lot of systems in place in our contracts that we've actually, have expired over two years now and we're negotiating. a lot of things in place to fix the issues in our contract with work rules to help alleviate some of theirs and i want to see series investments and changes in our scheduling department to make this work. >> yeah. it's clearly not working now. captain micha thank you for you shedding some light on this. >> thanks for having me. this morning western new york is bbracing for up to 12 m inches of snow today after what is deemed the blizzard of the century. it's left 28 people dead. officials fear that number will rise after the storm dropped

nearly 50 inches of snow, leaving thousands of customers with power or heat, leaving emergency vehicles to help. live in buffalo, new york, we have more. polo sandoval, thank you to you and your whole crew. you've been dealing with all of this and it just continues. >> reporter: now those frigid temperatures, poppy, with that rising death toll, the reality is people here in buffalo will always remember this as the blizzard of '22. what we also know is that resources are now coming in from other new york state communities, for one. resources to plow and help clear out the streets to make them more drivable, and also resources and first responders to be able to get the people who still have been stuck in their homes, since late last week, so that kind of gives you a sense what the situation's like. the driving ban is still actually in place this morning. they did scale back on some of those mesasures in surrounding

authorities. buffalo, a driving ban in place. i have seen some vehicles on the streets. basically in place four going on five days, poppy. and so many are hearing their pipes burst back their their home. even finally after they can leave a hotel and head for home, it's far from over for them. everybody is certainly looking forward to, though, that 50 degrees in reach. that also mean as massive snow melt. right? >> it will. and dangers that come with that. >> on the air yesterday, death rate 13. about to update it higher. officials think that death toll will rise even more? >> reporter: absolutely. we've heard from the executive of the county of erie basically saying that the medical examiner's office receiving bodies and then they are the

ones that ultimately have to decide whether or not the death of an individual is directly linked to this storm. and that includes individuals suffered cardiac event shoveling the snow. obviously people that were found in their vehicles, 13 of the one whose have been counted so far were found outside. ultimately it is the medical examinal office will decide if it fits that criteria. sadly, the number is likely to rise but already surpassed what was seen here in '77 with the blizzard then. >> it surpassed that. polo, thank you for the reporting. ahead, a drone strike hitting deep into russian territory. there is a particular significance to where this strike happened, at a military facility. we'll talk about that, ahead. also ahead, we are going to be joined by the el paso county commissioner david stout as officials are working to shelter and process the latest influx of migrants.

think about the best night's sleep you've ever had. at tempur-pedic, we're dedicated to helping you sleep like that. every night. so you get the deep, comfortable, undisturbed rest you desererve. experience the mattress rankeded #1 in customer satisfaction by jd power, four years in a row.

a must in your medicine cabinet! less sick days! cold coming on? zicam is the number one cold shortening brand! highly recommend it! zifans love zicam's unique zinc formula. it shortens colds!

zicam. zinc that cold!

welcome back to "cnn this morning." ukrainian air force has not yet claimed responsibility for a drone strike that killed three russian servicemen on monday but also not denying it. the attack happened hundreds of miles deep into russian territory at the port city of engles, the second attack on the city this month, which house as strategic russian bomber air base. talk to david sanger, security analyst and white house national security correspondent for the "new york times" about this. so foreign for many viewers. help explain the significance where this strike was in russia? maybe comparing it to the united states and what it would be like in the united states? >> reporter: sure. so first of all, this base is pretty far from the ukrainian borders. it's about 300 miles in. so this is one of the furthest

strikes in to russian territory that the ukrainians have launched, and it looks like they did it with one of their own drones. the u.s. has said, no striking into russia with american-provided weapons, but they haven't put in restriction on using ukrainian-developed weapons. we don't know how much damage it did but the nature of the target is pretty interesting. engles air force base is in fact a strategic bomber base. that is, that's where they keep some of the bombers they would use if they attacked the united states. so to answer your comparison question, it would be a little bit like somebody hit moffett air force base in nevada, omaha, where the u.s. keeps some of its strategic bombers and where its strategic command is headquartered and then said, but don't worry. we weren't really going after your nuclear assets. going after the other assets. i'm not sure we'd completely believe them.

in this case the worry is the russians would say, well, this is beginning to infringe on our nuclear deterrent. >> david, what does this mean for russia in the sense, are they being forced to move planes? how does this complicate what they've been doing in ukraine? >> kaitlan, two forms of complication here. one, they have to move assets around. that's, of course, what the ukrainians are trying to force them to do, because we think from this base they have launched some of the planes that sent cruise missiles into ukraine, which have done huge destruction to the cities and to the infrastructure. the concern, kaitlan, is this -- that at this point the ukrainians are basically betting that the russians are throwing everything at them except nuclear weapons, and they think the russians won't cross that -- that line. that basically russia will not make this a nuclear confrontation. we spect they're probably right, but you don't know that for a

fact, and the question is whether putin at some point will feel as if he is losing so on the conventional battlefield that he has to change the nature of the game by using a tactical weapon, and that, of course, is what the u.s. has been war-gaming, scenario-planning for, for moss but it's not clear. >> given your report after president zelenskyy addressed congress, you said for all of this talk about victory, reveals hints what's ahead and a few days later hear from the many russian foreign minister they would like a peace summit in february. what would that look like? >> poppy, it's great they are looking for a peace summit, because all wars, or just about all wars end with a diplomatic solution, but in this case there are many reasons to be a little

bit skeptical if not cynical about the offer. the first is that his next line, the ukrainian foreign minister, i believe his next line was, and the russianless have to face war crimes trials. i don't think any of us would doubt that war crimes trials are in order here, but it's lhard t imagine the russians entering a negotiation if that's a requirement. the russians have said, we're happy to negotiate anything, but, by the way, we have annexed parts of the territory, the port provinces. so those aren't up for discussion. well, what do you debate if not the territory and the lines of ukraine, and, of course, one of the things that the ukrainians keep saying is that their boundaries have to go back to february 23rd, the day before the war started. which would essentially mean the russian would have to retreat. it doesn't seem right now as if

either side believes that they have enough of an advantage that either one would enter serious negotiations. >> seems unlikely that you think anything is changing in that sense in the near future, david? >> well, i think the ukrainians think, probably rightly so, that it's better to be in the position, kaitlan, of offering the talks, and making the russians be the ones who didn't show up. at various points the russians have said they're open to negotiations, but, of course, not on territory. so you know, it's one thing to say you're ready for negotiations. it's another thing to have conditions right that both sides are actually willing to come to the table with significant concessions, and i just don't see that right now. >> that's key. david singer, thank you so much for helping us understand what's happening and what's ahead. >> great to be with you. all right. next we'll take you live to el paso, texas, where border agents say they're encountering more than 1,500 mig grrants a day.

how they'll dealing with this and what he wants to see from the biden administration. (limu squawks) he's a naturalal. only pay for whahat you need. ♪liberty. l liberty. liberty. liberty.♪ the first time your sales reached 100k was also the first time you hit this note... ( screams in joy) save 20% with the lost transaction fees and keep mor of what you make. with a partn that always puts you first. godaddy. tools and support for every small business first.

when a truck hit my car, the insurance company wasn't fair. i didn't know what my case was worth. so i called the barnes firm. i was hit by a car and needed help. i called the barnes firm, that was the best call i could've made.

i'm rich barnes. it's hard for people to know how much their accident case is worth. let our injury attorneys help you get the best result possible. ♪ the barnes firm injury attorneys ♪ ♪ call one eight hundred, eight million ♪

morning." coming up, travel chaos. thousands of flights again today canceled in the united states. most of them coming from southwest airlines. plus, new york congressman-elect george santos speaking out for the first time admitting to lying about a number of things he said as he tried to win his election. and the death toll rising in buf buffalo, new york. we will speak with the city's deputy mayor just ahead. we start with officials in el paso, texas. attempting to fortify the border putting up more fences. approximately 22,000 migrants are sleeping in shelters, on the street, in make-shift tents across northern mexico. live in el paso our reporter is on the ground. rosa, what are you finding as

they deal with the surge in recent weeks? >> reporter: kaitlan, the biggest concern is a migrant could die out in the streets and a concern on both sides of the border. i want to show you around, because i'm in el paso just outside a church that serves as a shelter, but they only take about 120 people. look around me. on both sides of the street will are individuals who be sleeping on the bare concrete. a lot of them with their children. i talked to some yesterday who say that what they do at night is they wrap themselves with their children in their blankets to try to keep their children safer. all this, as you mentioned, that we're hearing that there are about 22,000 migrants that are waiting on the mexican side of the border for title 42 to lift. we learned this from advocates and city officials in a few cities. the cities, other cities, about

13,000 migrants there, what you see there are what you see in those cities. those cities just across the border from the rio grande valley and in tijuana, mexico learning from officials about 9,000 migrants waiting for title 42 to lift. kaitlan, there's a mix of individuals here in el paso. some individuals who turn themselves in to authorities, border authorities. others who are deciding, because they're so desperate to cross the border illegally. that's why some of them end up out on the street, because the city says for them to be allowed into shelters that are run by the city, they have to follow the law. those have to be individuals actually documented, and so what you see here is what a lot of city officials here fear is that -- that the temperatures drop. it's very cold in el paso, and a migrant could die. there could be -- this -- this humanitarian crisis could turn

tragic if that happens. kaitlan? >> i see you bundled up there. how cold is it in el paso right now? >> reporter: right now it's 36 degrees. and you can see that a lot of the individuals who are sleeping out here on the street, all they have are american red cross blankets. that's all they have for the night. i talked to a family yesterday who says that they feared that their daughter was going to die after they crossed the rio grande, because they crossed overnight. it was very cold. they're daughter was completely wet. their daughter is only 1-year-old, and she says that this couple was so desperate, because their child wouldn't stop crying. they knew they needed to warm her up and they had absolutely nothing. so what they did was, they walked around this neighborhood and desperately knocked on doors asking for help, and they said that -- someone from el paso helped them out.

they gave them something to wrap their child in and said she used her body heat to try to keep her child warm. kaitlan? >> no parent should have to do this. rosa, thank you for that report. >> wow. talk about what we just saw from rosa's reporting with el paso county commissioner, david stout. no parent should have to do that, as was said and this is happening in your city right now. what is going to be done? how do you help them? >> well, you know, the images are terrible. the stories, you know, are just gut-wrenching, and you know i know el paso county is committed to remain treatment of migrants. we are working as hard as we can with the city, with local ngos to try to get people shelter but we need support from the federal government and the state government. not naturalization but through support helping sheltering, feeding and getting these folks

taken care of. >> let's talk about specifically what that aid looks like, and what you'd like from the biden administration. you are a democrat, i should note, and according to numbers from u.s. customs and border protection, just look at them. i mean, pull them up on the screen. there has been a huge increase in the number of migrant border crossings at the southern border. this past fiscal year. look at that number. almost 2.4 million. crossed. and -- i wonder what you need and what your message is to the biden administration? because those numbers are indisputable. >> we need continued resources. you know, i think the biden administration has been upholding and reimbursing the county and the city for expenditures we've been making for shelters, for transportation of these folks, but obviously, we need as much help as we can get. you know, this is a crisis that

really is a mismatch between the reality of the people who are coming to contribute to america and the lack of a system that's prepared for that. >> yeah. >> and it doesn't help when you have demagogues like the governor of the state of texas preventing a solution by presenting the border as an existential threat for political purposes. so we are continuing to try to collaborate with all of those authorities on the federal level, but the ngos, i cannot thank enough the ngos really doing the lord's work in this situation, and we are going to continue to do as much as we can to take care of these folks as they're coming through here. >> i hear you pointing to governor abbott. it is the biden administration, democrats, controlling the white house, and both chambers of congress right now. i want your take on what democratic congressman henry cuellar, who represents texas'

28th district told kaitlan just about a week ago. listen. >> do you think the biden administration understands that sense of urgency? >> you know, i -- i don't think they do, or if they do they just have a very different perspective. look, it's okay to listen to immigration activists. it's okay to do that. that's one perspective, but who's listening to the men and women in green and blue? and more importantly, who's listening to our border communities? i don't know why they keep aborting the border and saying there's other things more important than this on the border? if there's a crisis can, show up. just show up. >> as the commissioner of a border community in texas, do you agree with him? >> you know, i do agree with the fact that -- the biden administration needs to listen to us locally here on the border, and come through with the requests that we're making.

that's -- there's no doubt about that. you know, whether a visit to the border would make things better or worse, i'm not sure about that, but i do think that, you know, the biden administration has been in contact with at least county officials. >> yeah. >> here locally, on a pretty regular basis. we do need to make sure that those requests that we're making, both to the federal government and to the state government, are coming through. >> and to that point, david, look what rosa just showed us. reporting of those migrants lined up, wrapped in red cross blankets with their children in them in 36-degree temperatures on both sides of the road. should the president come? he has not come at all as president to the southern border? should he come see it for himself? >> sure. you know, i think -- i think that it would be great if he would come, but what's more

important, in my opinion, is that we have resources to be able to ensure that those people are not out in the cold, and that the ngos have the support they need, that the city and county of el paso have the support that they need when it comes to sheltering them, feeding them and transporting them to wherever they're final destination may be. >> on your point about resources, though. the supreme court is about to make a decision one way were or another on title 42. and the biden administration's position is that, you know, at this point, title 42 should end. that's going to mean a bigger number of migrants crossing the southern border and into el paso. is resources really the answer at this point? i mean, it has been so many decades -- decades -- since we've had comprehensive immigration reform from congress? >> sure.

i mean, obviously, comprehensive immigration reform would be -- would be the greatest thing that could happen to help curb some of these issues, but i think you know, it's difficult to do that, and i think there's some improvement when it comes to certain types of legislation that have been proposed to, you know, help with the situation. whether it's, you know, allowing more low-skilled workers to come in. dreamers, those type of things, but i think there's improvement needed as well when it comes to, when title 42 goes away and that is making sure that there's an orderly and timely process that's taking place when you have these folks coming asking for asylum. right now you have cdp agents at middle of the bridges downtown keeping people from crossing, stepping foot into the united states, as for asylum, pushing

them to outskirts or to scale the wall, to go across the river, to run across busy highways, all very dangerous, and i think something that could be done there to make sure that these people's lives are not put in danger as they're trying to come to this country legally. because asylum is a legal way to migrate to the united states. >> a very important point that you make. asylum is and a record backlog of processing those petitions as well. david stout, we wish you luck and thank you for your time. >> thank you so much. all right. in the u.s. you can see look at the world's busiest airport in atlanta. that's a long line of people just waiting for answers this morning about when they can get home, if they can get home. what that's going to look like. we're going to talk to a travel expert on how to deal with all the disruptions. not just the ones there at the atlanta airport, which had a water main break yesterday. if you're worried about cancellations affecting your new

year's plans, stick around. we'll telly what you can eventually do. it's the subway series menu. 12 irresistible subs. the most epic sandwich roster ever created. ♪ it's subway's biggest refresh yet!

♪ what will you do? ♪ what will you change? ♪ will you make something better? ♪ will you create something entirely new?

♪ our dell technologies advisors provide you with the tools and expertise you need to do incredible things. because we believe there's an innovator in all of us. well, we fell in love through gaming. but now the internet lags and it throws the whole thing off. when did you first discover this lag? i signed us up for t-mobile home internet. ugh! but, we found other interests. i guess we have. [both] finch! let's go! oh yeah! it's not the same. what could you do to solve the problem? we could get xfinity? that's actually super adult of you to suggest. i can't wait to squad up. i love it when you talk nerdy to me. guy, guys, guys, we're still in session.

and i don't know what the heck you're talking about. as a business owner, your bottom line is always top of mind. so start saving by switching to the mobile service designed for small business: comcast business mobile. flexible data plans mean you can get unlimited data or pay by the gig. all on the most reliable 5g network. with no line activation fees or term contracts. saving you up to 60% a year. and it's only available to comcast business internet customers. so boost your bottom line by switching today. comcast business. powering possibilities. it has been an incredibly frustrating few days for those flying home for the holidays, trying to fly home and now

trying to get back home. already today more than 2,800 flights have been canceled into or out of the united states. that's after 4,000 flights were canceled yesterday alone. so what can you do if you're one of the thousands who have been stranded ahead of new year's, trying to get back? we have travel expert and spokeswoman, katie nastro here with us. does exactly what's in the name. talking all morning what these delays look like trying to bring people good news. maybe ideas what they can do differently, and so if you're at an airport, watching this, and your flight has just been canceled or delayed, what are options people have of how to rebook, how to get a new flight? what's the quickest way for people to do something like that? >> sure. i mean, the last few days have just not been so holly and merry for a lot and my heart goes out for those dealing with long

customer service lines and basically not any options at their fingertips. you know, one thing i would recommend that people do obviously, yes. speak to a customer service agent as soon as possible. lut but a lot of people are flooding domestic lines. one thing to do calm the international customer service line. a lot of airlines, even southwest, have a foreign customer service line, which those acts will be able to help you just the same. able to get you rebooked, and those wait times for those lines drastically less than the domestic line at the moment. so that's one thing that you can do to help yourself in the immediate. number two, get out your credit card. some credit cards if you issue travel protection in scenarios such as canceled or significantly delayed flights. that hotel room that you might have to book, if stranded, and, you know, maybe in a connecting city, get your credit card out. see what they cover and hotel

reimbursement might be part of that. thatic tas not even a minute to type in your card issuer into google and see what travel protections might come up. >> very good tips. thank you for those. i think the question regarding southwest airlines, because their flight issues now, more than half their flights canceled today, is no longer because of weather. it's because of their i.t. system, their antiquated 1990s-style system, admitted that in terms of getting pilots and flight attendants where they need to be. is there any reason for people to believe this won't happen against with southwest airlines until that is overhauled? >> look, i mean, going into a peak holiday season like the winter holidays, you know, the systems already are stressed. due to the fact that, you know, a lot of airlines, not just southwest, are operating 15% less flights and, you know, couple that with technology issues. yes, this is a serious issue that we hope in the future

southwest will rectify and they've even put out communications stating that they know that they are failing people, and, you know, they know they're failing their staff as well and they want to rectify this and make it right in the future. so fingers crossed we hope it won't be an issue moving forward, but something needs to be done. even the d.o.t. is looking into this scenario, because these cancellations and delays are significant without really the weather being a factor, as you stated. so it's -- it's something to watch for sure. >> yeah. the department of transportation with that. thank you for the helpful tips, katy. appreciate it. >> thanks, since departments outperformed expectations in the midterms, the biden white house has been quick to call out republicans. does this mean president biden is gearing up for a 2024 re-election? we'll talk about that and a lot more ahead. together we support immune function. supply fuel for immune cells and sustain tissue health.

ensure with h twenty-five vitamins and minerals, and ensure complete with thirty grams of protetein.

welcome back. as president biden decides whether he will run again in 2024, the biden white house has certainly been hitting back harder, responding quickly and more forcefully too republican controversies and actions. a new "washington post" report highlights several examples of the administration hitting back including immediately calling out president trump after he hosted a holocaust denier for dinner and antisemite.

"the washington post" also reports, quote, the rapid responses come as some democratic strategists see a political advantage in pointedly and frequently drawing a contrast with trump, the republican party, and the republican lawmakers poised to take over the house. let's talk about this and a lot more with cnn political analyst and senior editor at "the atlantic ," ronald brownstein. we'll get to your unknowns for 2024 in a moment. this is interesting reporting from "the washington post," and he laid out all these sort of ways that the white house is hitting back now without reporters like kaitlan there to press him for the answers without reporters even saying, well, what do you make of this? what does it tell you? >> yeah, right. good morning, happy holidays. in 2022, biden executed a subtle but significant shift in the way that democrats -- that he had been talking about former president trump.

in 2020, biden dealt with trump the way hillary clinton did, treated him as this anomaly, this unique threat, who was not representative of the republican party as a whole, and when he came into office as you alluded to, their usual reaction was not to mention trump by name, to argue about looking forward, but what became clear over '21 and '22 is how much influence trump had within the republican party i how many were following the path that he laid out on election denial, and the way that they dealt with cultural issues. so in 2022, there was a different tone from the white house where they basically talked about the breadth of the maga strain in the republican party. and that proved a very effective line of argument in swing states and i think what you're seeing in that piece is the white house recognizing that and continuing to push in that direction. i think we'll see that an awful lot heading into 2024. the question will be whether other republican presidential candidates, if they are introduced to the public by running against trump, can be portrayed as effectively under

that same umbrella, the same way as it did to tudor dixon or cary l kari lake or herschel walker. >> they can use this, with this slim republican majority that will be investigate them, but there has been concern and we heard this from democrats outside the white house and people inside the white house of what this looks like when there are other republicans in the 2024 field dealing with trump, but also how biden himself is preparing if he does, and expectation is he will announce he's running for re-election in short order. how did they deal with that, when there is a ron desantis or there is someone who is that alternative to trump? >> well, kaitlan, i think the core question is whether what we saw in the swing states and the blue states was a recoil against trump personally or a recoil among voters against trumpism. ron desantis is not trump, but he's running on a lot of trump-like themes and we're going to see over the next two

years in the house with kevin mccarthy, because they have a narrow majority, much more dependent on the right than perhaps many in the leadership of the republican party had hoped and you are going to see figures elevated like marjorie taylor greene and jim jordan who are going to reair trump grievances or kind of pursue trump-like themes over the next two years. i don't think it is going to be hard for the white house to portray this house majority as essentially following in a trump-like path. their internal dynamics guaranteed that will happen. the bigger issue as i said is if you have people introduced in '24 as running against trump, will voters seem them as an extension of trumpism, even if that's the agenda they're offering. >> you have this great piece and you take us back to the donald rumsfeld days and you talk about what he coined and made so famous the known unknowns. what are the big ones for you heading into 2024? >> right. there are a lot of questions we

can't know the answer to that are going to influence '24. we know which questions are the key ones to know about for 2024. the known unknowns. the biggest is what happens in the republican party. do they nominate trump again or do they tear themselves apart and not nominating him? second, what happens to the economy. we know voters are dissatisfied with a economy of high growth, unemployment, but high inflation. all the predictions are we'll have the opposite in a year. much lower inflation, but higher unemployment. will voters be more satisfied with that? what do they think about biden's health. do they think he's up to the job for another four years? can either party break out of the demographic and geographic trends that we have seen that have essentially left us in something very close to a stalemate over a decade. and finally, does that republican house do more damage to biden through their investigations? or they do more damage to the gop brand through the way they -- byti