hello and a warm welcome to our viewers here in the united states and all around the world, i'm paula newton ahead right here on "cnn newsroom." >> the honorable kevin mccarthy of the state of california, having received a majority of the votes cast, is duly elected speaker of the house of representatives. >> 15 ballot votes later, and kevin mccarthy is finally the new speaker of the house. when you look at all the drama and of course the historical background of this long battle. and new details on the group of murder investigation in idaho. look at the painstaking hunt that finally led the suspects to capture. plus, cnn's andy scholes joins us here live on the set to

discuss damar hamlin's remarkable recovery and what he said to his buffalo bills team. live from cnn center, this is "cnn newsroom" with paula newton. so it took 15 ballots and an evening of high drama, but kevin mccarthy finally secured enough votes to become speaker of the house. never in modern times has a leadership contest taken so many votes over so many days to resolve. out of 222 republicans in the house, it only took six hard line conservatives, six, to derail mccarthy in the 14th ballot on friday night. now i a vote he had believed in fact that he had it won, that he had it, but right wing matt gaetz who had sworn to never vote for mccarthy cast in fact the deciding vote that doomed him on the 14th ballot.

now we get to the 15th ballot and that was the charm. all six including gaetz voted present, assuring the gavel would go for mccarthy. here's some of what the new speaker had to say afterwards. >> it is time for us to be the voice and worthy of their votes. let me close with this. i may not know all of you. some of you are new, but i hope one thing is clear after this vote. i never give up.

i make this promise, i'll never give up for you, the american people. and i will never give up on keeping our commitment to america. our nation is worth fighting for. our rights are worth fighting for. our dreams are worth fighting for. our future is worth fighting for. >> president joe biden quickly congratulated mccarthy on becoming speaker saying, quote, as i said after the mid-terms, i am prepared to work with republicans when i can and voters made clear that they -- that that's what they expect. republicans should be prepared to work with me as well now that the leadership of the house of representatives has been decided, it is time for that process to begin. u.s. senate majority leader chuck schumer was much more reserved in his response warning that mccarthy's dream job could turn into a nightmare for the

american people. he added, in fact, that americans want bipartisan cooperation in congress, not more gridlock. now that that marathon battle is over, cnn's manu raju has the details on how the final vote went down. >> reporter: after the longest speaker vote since 1859, kevin mccarthy finally secured the speaker's gavel following a chaotic several days, including a near altercation on the house floor late friday night when he was surprised that he ultimately did not get the votes angering some of his closest allies leading to a feud on the floor but ultimately getting to where he needed to go, getting the votes to become the next speaker of the house. mccarthy claiming the speaker's gavel after making a range of concessions to members of the far right part of his conference who are not convinced that he would lead them amid changes to this institution. he did offer several changes on

policy issues as well as giving them more power throughout the legislative process, including giving them the power of one member to call for a vote to oust the sitting speaker and raising questions about how long he may be able to hang onto the job he fought so hard to get. now the day started off with kevin mccarthy flipping 15 votes to a side. he had 20, he lost 20. he could only lose four in this narrow house republican majority. he left the floor after the vote where he had 214 votes, four shy of what he needed. he told me, yes, he did have the votes. he was confident on the following ballot. on the 14th ballot he would get there. when that vote happened, things went awry. some of the members voted ways that he was not expecting, including at the very end it all came down to congressman matt ga gaetz who is a fierce opponent. he needed gaetz to vote yes. gaetz voted present. that was not enough to secure

the speakership. mike rodgers lunged at matt gaetz on the floor. he was restrained by one of his colleagues and things got very, very tense. ultimately gaetz at the time wanted the house to adjourn until monday. the house was about to adjourn until monday until the deal was struck. donald trump called some of the members on the far right block of the conference and some of those members changed their mind and decided they were going to vote present also and by voting present it effectively lowered the threshold of the now amount of votes that kevin mccarthy needed to become speaker ultimately allowing him to become speaker with 216 votes and he has secured the job after going through that 15 ballots that stretched from tuesday until early morning saturday to finally get the job. now it will be up to him to put the -- to govern this narrowly divided institution and badly divided republican conference, put together a policy agenda and

go up against the senate democrats who control their chamber across the capitol, not to mention the democrat in the white house that will have the power of the purse as well as the senate but they also have investigative powers in the house. i expect them to wield subpoenas very early on in their new majority. for kevin mccarthy, he is relieved that after this very, very tense several days he finally has claimed the speaker's gavel. manu raju, cnn, capitol hill. joining us now is natasha lucet. she is a professor of government at the university of england. at times i felt we were doing a sport play by play just on the floor with everything going on. what did you take from this extraordinary process? i mean, it's been called many things, chaotic, historic. what do you think is the underlying message here what we're about to see in congress? >> well, like you and i agree,

it was pretty riveting. it was a train wreck. it was embarrassing. it makes me very concerned for our democracy in some ways. i know the republicans are trying to spin it that this was really great for democracy, but democracies really need political parties to function and political parties to some level need to have some kind of party discipline in order to come together to achieve outcomes, to overcome collective action problems and to be really focusing on representing and actually legislating. i think what we see is this is the residue of trumpism, of trump's championing of personalism over any kinds of acts of service. we see politics as really detear or rated. it's personality driven. it's about an unrelenting quest for power and fame. it was almost like watching a game show. it was a spectacle. and you see that you have very far right fringe elements of the

party able to take it hostage. and so what do we have in the aftermath? we have an incredibly weak speaker. who knows how long kevin mccarthy is going to last, and we have a weak legislature. we'll see a lot more paralysis and extremism. we don't really want six people to be holding the entire country hostage, and that's in effect what happened here. so i think actually in the end this wasn't particularly good for democracy and it's very concerning what they're going to be able to accomplish in the next two years given the way that they -- they couldn't even really decide on the speaker. >> you know, i want to touch on a point that you made there, was that this was embarrassing. i mean, many around the world have commented that political power has just become so fragmented, especially when you look at the use of social media plat forms. does it mean though that these fringe radical elements have more agency, that they will

continue to have more agency governing and not just in the united states? >> right. that's a good point you bring up about the effect of social media which i think some originally thought was going to be good with democracy. we're seeing it's more of a mixed bag and in some cases not particularly good for democracy. it gifts a platform for those that don't do the leg work, the ground work that is often required to gain a following. and they can -- it basically allows independence to flourish. independent candidates aren't that good for democracy because they don't have to be part of a party, which is a building block to democracy. they can go and do their own thing. it becomes very much of a free-for-all. if you decide you don't like something one day, then you don't really want to do it. we see with some of the concessions that kevin mccarthy made with his far right group that only one person could vacate or file a role to vacate the role of speaker.

this means if one person decides they don't like him, they're not getting along with him, they could up end be his role as speaker and we need more stability in a democracy. i think that's one of the elements that social media brought in is it attracts different types of candidates, different types of characters to work in politics. >> we will leave it there now. thanks so much for being with us on this historic day. >> thanks for having me. now friday's drama on the house floor came exactly two years after the january t6th on the capitol. they marked the anniversary by honoring the it officers who defended the capitol on that day. >> david sicknick. >> the names of officers who died after the riot were read out at this ceremony outside

capitol hill. president joe biden recognized them as well as others who resisted efforts to overturn the election. he said history would win over courage. earlier friday police arrested the mother of a woman who died during the capitol attack. police say nikki whitlock was protesting on capitol grounds friday without a permit. she was charged with two violations of illegally blocking traffic. now we are getting in the meantime new details about the evidence police uncovered in the murder of those university of idaho students two months ago. law enforcement source says the suspect of bryan kohberger thoroughly cleaned his car and was seen several times wearing surgical gloves while doing so. that was just days before he was finally arrested. and as the families of the victims try to come to grips with this tragedy, one father told cnn it's clear the killer singled out the victims far in advance.

gary tuchman looks at what we know how the police cracked the case. >> reporter: in the probable cause affidavit amos could you, idaho police said after finding the victims who were killed, i noticed what appeared to be a tan leather knife sheath laying on the bed. the idaho state lab later located a single source of male dna left on the button snap. the dna was suspect bryan kohberger's. >> this is the house where they were killed. when police arrived they went through the door where the christmas wreath is. on the second floor to the right of the door is the beth room where xana kernodle and ethan chapin were killed. on the second door to the left, according to the affidavit, that's where the witness bn was.

>> reporter: based on the affidavit he was near the house. kohberger's cell phone signal was detected 12 times near the house over a period of five months prior to the murders. all of these occasions except for one occurred in the late evening and early morning hours of their respective days. it wouldn't necessarily be suspicious if bryan kohberger drove past this house 12 times over the last five months if they were busy or prominent streets or streets on the way to the other neighborhood but to come here, you have to be looking for it. these roads are winding, narrow, curvy. in short, it seems difficult to accidentally end up here. the affidavit states one of the students who survived with the initials dm heard crying and opened her door three times. she saw a figure clad in black clothing. dm described the figure as 5'10" or taller, male, not very

muscular but athletically built with bushy eyebrows. the man walked past dm. the male walked past the sliding glass door. dm locked herself in her room. dm did not state that she recognized the male. this turned out to be critical information because november 25th, shortly after the murders, moscow police asked law enforcement agencies to be on the lookout for a white hyundai elantra that had been seen near the murder site. >> four days later police discovered a white elantra in this parking lot just across the state line in washington. according to the affidavit it was registered to kohberger who lived up these stairs in this town house complex. police acquired his driver's license information and they say according to the affidavit that it was consistent with dm's description of the man she saw who was wearing black clothing and a mask. >> reporter: the affidavit does not contain any information about the motive or if the alleged killer knew any of the

victims but this they have information about the topics that are not publicly being released yet. next thursday in this courthouse bryan kohberger will have another hearing. this will be a status hearing to discuss scheduling. within the next couple of weeks he will be arraigned. gary tuchman, cnn in moscow, idaho. 6-year-old boy is in police custody after an elementary school teacher was shot and badly wounded. it happened on friday in newport news, virginia. the police say the child shot at a female teacher inside the classroom. >> the individual is a 6-year-old student. he is right now in police custody we're working through our partners and resources to address that situation. we have been in contact with our commonwealth attorney and some other entities to help us best get services to this young man. >> now police do not believe the

shooting was in fact an accident and said that there had been an incident between the teacher and student. officials are investigating. the police chief said the teacher is now in critical condition, thankfully showing some signs of improvement. after a brief break from the rain, californians are gearing up for another round of severe storms. just ahead, a look at the storm damage and what communities are trying to do to prepare now. plus, wages in the u.s. continue to rise but at a slower pace. we'll explain why wall street considers that a good sign for the economy. good news, great news for the nfl player who collapsed on live tv after a hit during a game. an update on damar hamlin's condition. you'll want to hear this. tic oa. it's clinically proven to moisturize dry skin for 24 hours. aveeno® i've never been healthier. shingles doesn't care.

but shingrix protects. proven over 90% effective, shingrix is a vaccine used to prevenshingles in adults 50 years and older. shingrix does not protect everyone and is not for those with severe allergiceactions to its ingredients or to a previous dose. anwas observedisk after getting shingrix.me fainting can also happen. the most common side effects are pain, redness and swelling at the injection site, muscle pain, tiredness, headache, shivering, fever, and upset stomach. ask your doctor or pharmacist about shingrix today. and it's easier than ever to■ get your projects done right. inside, outside, big or small, angi helps you find the right so for whatever you need done. with angi, you can connect with and see ratings and reviews. just search or scroll to see upf on hundreds of projects. and when you book and pay throug you're covered by our happiness it's easy to make your home an a check out angi.com today. angi... and done. living with metastatic breast cancer means i cherish my memories.

but i don't just look back on them, i look forward to the chance to make new ones every day with verzenio. verzenio is proven to help you live significantly longer when taken with fulvestrant. verzenio + fulvestrant is for hr+, her2- metastatic breast cancer that has progressed after hormone therapy. diarrhea is common, may be severe, or cause dehydration or infection. at the first sign, call your doctor, start an antidiarrheal, and drink fluids. before taking verzenio, tell your doctor about any fever, chills, or other signs of infection. verzenio may cause low white blood cell counts, which may cause serious infection that can lead to death. life-threatening lung inflammation can occur. tell your doctor about any new or worsening trouble breathing, cough, or chest pain. serious liver problems can happen. symptoms include fatigue, appetite loss, stomach pain, and bleeding or bruising. blood clots that can lead to death have occurred. tell your doctor if you have pain or swelling in your arms or legs, shortness of breath, chest pain and rapid breathing or heart rate or if you are nursing, pregnant, or plan to be. i'm making future memories every day with verzenio. ask your doctor about everyday verzenio. who's on it with jardiance? ♪ ♪

we're the ones getting it done. we're managing type 2 diabetes and heart risk. we're on it with jardiance. join the growing number of people who are on it with the once-daily pill, jardiance. jardiance not only lowers a1c, it goes beyond to reduce the risk of cardiovascular death for adults with type 2 diabetes and known heart disease. and jardiance may help you lose some weight. jardiance may cause serious side effects including ketoacidosis that may be fatal, dehydration, (that can lead to sudden worsening of kidney function), and genital yeast or urinary tract infections. a rare, life-threatening bacterial infection in the skin of the perineum could occur. stop taking jardiance and call your doctor right away if you have symptoms of this infection, ketoacidosis or an allergic reaction, and don't take it if you're on dialysis. taking jardiance with a sulfonylurea or insulin may cause low blood sugar. a once-daily pill that goes beyond lowering a1c? we're on it. we're on it. we're on it with jardiance. ask your doctor about jardiance. my moderate to severe plaque psoriasis... the tightness, stinging... the pain.

emerge tremfyant®. with tremfya®, most people saw 90% clearer skin at 16 weeks. the majority of people saw 90% clearer skin even at 5 years. serious allergic reactions may occur. tremfya® may increase your risk of infections and lower your ability to fight them. tell your doctor if you have an infection or symptoms or if you had a vaccine or plan to. emerge tremfyant®. with tremfya®. ask your doctor about tremfya® today. wow, look at that. a look at the strong storms that hit california. the region is preparing for another round. more than 50 million people across the state are now under flood alerts because of those approaching storms. northern california has already been hit hard.

two people were killed and tens of thousands are still without power. now they're getting ready for what is to come. this particular event is over but there's also significant weather that's still coming. we're also monitoring another weather system that is a little bit different but there's significant rainfall. we're going to have to look at that event that's coming up that's projected for this monday. tracking that next storm it will bring heavy rain in northern california and through next week. in our next hour we will have a live report from the cnn weather center and give you an update on that. i want to check out the live pictures coming from hawaii's kileaua's volcano. as frightening as this may be, the alert level has been downgraded. that's because the current activity started on thursday but authorities say they expect this eruption to in fact stay confined to the summit.

it has been erupting on and off since 2021. the u.s. stock market ended in positive territory. slowing wage growth and a downbeat report about the services sector led to a kind of bad news/good news rally. investors are getting -- are waiting or betting as well that the fed will raise rates by only a smidge next month. here's how the markets closed on friday. it rose by a quarter of a percent. and the s&p gained more than 2%. this is key, the tech heavy nasdaq rose more than 2%, a sign that investors believe inflation is moderating. now wall street's rally came after the u.s. economy capped off a strong year of growth. country added more than 220,000

jobs in december, and that is bringing the unemployment rate down to 3.5%. average hourly earnings though, this is what everyone watched, they increased by 0.3%, and that, in fact, is a slower pace that wall street -- yes, they liked it, believe it or not. earlier i asked analyst ryan patel why markets reacted so positively to just one data point. >> the market always wants to pick one data point to be happy about, and the data point that i think they're looking at isn't actually the unemployment rate because the unemployment rate went the other way. the chairman of the federal -- jerome powell wanted to go the opposite direction. it was the average hourly earnings that continued to kind of soften and that is what you saw the market kind of react hoping that it will be a softer landing. that word to me is not even in the vocabulary. the soft landing would be ideal but there's a lot more variables than this one data point that you know.

the other thing to pay attention to is as of november, we're talking about 1.7 job openings for every available worker. the labor force participation is 62.3%. still a full percentage point below where we were february 2020. so there is still a lot of room. it's one data point we want to get happy with. >> absolutely. yet as we were just showing, the markets did like it. i do want to get to what the imf has been saying in the last few weeks because they're not optimistic about global growth. most economies remain in fact more vulnerable than the u.s. economy and just see what's going on in china or in europe. some economists believe that a good u.s. labor market and a confident u.s. consumer, that it can actually help lift the global economy. do you think that's too optimistic an outlook in 2023. >> i love the key word, help. how much help is the question? yes, the u.s. is in a better position. would that help? sure it will. i have to be very honest here.

we are more interconnected than before. the u.s. is having its own issues in trying to get there. that doesn't mean it's going to lift everybody out of 1/3 of recession that the imf has said. i would be very careful here. yeah, if the u.s., the consumer, it will really help. we are really deep in many of these issues especially when you think about eu, it will have the economic spillover as well as asia with china. southeast asia will have that. so the u.s. by itself will not be able to uproot all of that. will it be helpful? sure. i can say that. of course it is. we don't know how much. >> ryan patel, thank you so much. good to see you. >> good to see you. kevin mccarthy finally came out on top after the longest speakership battle in modern times. we asked an historian to try to put it all in context for us. plus, heavy weapons in the battle in ukraine on a day when russia's president promised to keep the guns silent.

it not onlnly cleans, it hydrates my skin. as a dermatologist, i want what's best for our skin. with 1/4 m moisturizing cream, doveve is the #1 bar dermatologists use at home. trying to control my asthma felt anything but normal. ♪ ♪ enough was enough. i talked to an asthma specialist and found out my severe asthma is driven by eosinophils, a type of asthma nucala can help control. now, fewer asthma attacks

and less oral steroids that's my nunormal with nucala. nucala is a once-monthly add-on injection for severe eosinophilic asthma. nucala is not for sudden breathing problems. allergic reactions can occur. get help right away for swelling of face, mouth, tongue, or trouble breathing. infections that can cause shingles have occurred. don't stop steroids unless told by your doctor. tell your doctor if you have a parasitic infection. may cause headache, injection site reactions, back pain, and fatigue. talk to your asthma specialist to see if once-monthly nucala may be right for you. and learn about savings at nucala.com there's more to your life than asthma. find your nunormal with nucala. dry skin is sensitive skin, too. and it's natural. treat it that way with aveeno® daily moisture. formulated with nourishing, prebiotic oat. it's clinically proven to moisturize dry skin for 24 hours. aveeno®

pst. girl. you can do better. at least with your big-name wireless carrier. with xfinity mobile you can get unlimited for $30 per month on the nation's most reliable 5g network. they can even save you hundreds a year on your wireless bill over t-mobile, at&t, and verizon. wow. i can do better! -yes you can! i can do better, too! see how easy it is to save hundreds a year on your wireless bill over t-mobile, verizon, and at&t. talk to our switch squad at your local xfinity store today. 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. and welcome back to our viewers here in the united states and all around the world. i'm paula newton, and this is "cnn newsroom." now the u.s. house finally has a new speaker after days of chaos and republican in fighting. kevin mccarthy secured the top spot in a 15th round of voting saturday, but he had to offer a series of concessions to get key holdouts to finally fall in line. among them, allowing any single member to call for a vote to oust him and adding more of ultra conservative freedom caucus members to the rules

committee, and that's significant. former president donald trump also helped mccarthy seal the deal apparently. the new speaker gave him credit after being sworn in. listen. >> i do want to especially thank president trump. i don't think anybody should doubt his influence. he was with me from the beginning. somebody wrote the doubt he was there. he was all there. he would call me and he would call others and he really was -- i was just talking to him tonight -- helping get those final votes. what he's really saying really for the party and the country, that we have to come together. >> now democrats officially have a new leader as well as house minority leader hakeem jefferies, the first black lawmaker to lead a party in congress. listen. >> out of many we are one. that's what makes america a great country. and no matter what kind of

haters are trying to divide us, we're not going to let anyone take that away from us, not now, not ever. >> listen up. there's a history lesson. this isn't the first time in history the house has struggled to elect the speaker. it's taken multiple ballots on 15 different occasions since congress first met in 1789. most of them took place before the civil war. the last time though was a century ago when it took nine ballots for republican frederick gillett of massachusetts to be elected speaker in 1923. the parallels between then and now are in fact striking. opponents of the eventual winner angled for rule changes to give them more influence and more committee slots, that's sounding familiar. just as hard right republicans have done now.

cnn's presidential historian joins me now. he is the former director of the nixon presidential library. is there any magic to this snb they say the concessions they extracted they claim are transformational. they claim it will bring more accountability to congress. is that true? and is that something that they're going to be able to sell to the american people given historically what the speaker's role is supposed to be and what the role of congress is supposed to be? >> that's a great question because it depends how you define accountability. after all, every single member of congress is accountable to the american people. the that includes democrats. and what the ultra conservatives have achieved is they're trying to get a veto power. that's a small minority, a sliver of the american electorate wants to get a veto power over the actions of the entire house. i'm not sure that makes the house more accountable.

it makes them more accountable to the base that voted for the small, narrow group of ultra conservatives. so what's going to happen -- i mean, what is likely to happen is that speaker mccarthy is either going to have to rely on a few democratic votes for major votes like continuing resolution. that's what the house has to pass in order to keep funding the u.s. government in the absence of a budget or if the house of representatives wants to avoid a default on the american -- on the american obligations abroad, the -- they'll have to vote for raising the debt ceiling. in those instances where it's clear ultra conservatives are not going to vote for business as usual. mccarthy may have to rely on democratic votes. now that doesn't mean that the house is more or less accountable. the issue here is how much power the ultra conservatives can get so that they can prevent

establishment of republicans and democrats from achieving what is better for the nation. i think that's accountability and obstructionism. >> clearly they think that obstructionism is working and continues to work. i want to point out all of this unfolded on the two-year anniversary of the january 6th insurrection. an anniversary as you just said, you described them, this is a new brand of insurgents now that seemed to win the day on the floor of the house, they continue to win the day by disrupting that status quo that you described. i want to ask you, do you see this as weakening american institutions, changing them? do you see this as an actual blow to the pillars of governance in america? >> i see it as a blow to governance in america. it's not necessarily a blow to the institution of the house because the house has evolved. the rules for speakers have evolved. there are -- there have been times in american history when the speaker's been extremely

powerful, more powerful than speaker pelosi, for example, and there are times in american history where the speaker has been very weak. speaker, soon to be or likely speaker mccarthy is going to be one of the weakest speakers in american history. the issue is whether we can have compromise in washington. we've just had the 117th congress a series of bipartisan successes moving the ball forward for the nation, moving the ball forward on issues like support for some green policies, support for infrastructure, support for marriage equality, support for ukraine. there have been a series of remarkable bipartisan achievements in the 117th congress. what the ultra conservatives want to prevent in the 118th congress is any similar bipartisan achievement. if we can't seek compromise as a country, then we all suffer. the ultra conservatives don't

get this. it's unfortunate and it's going to make governance for both democrats and republicans much harder in the 118th congress and apparently the ultra conservatives don't care. >> yeah. that really helps us to see what this fight for the role of the speaker means in the here and now as we see, you know, the incredible events unfold there in congress. thank you very much. we appreciate it. >> thank you. thank you very much. a pro russian official says a drone was shot down over the occupied crimea this morning and it happened during what russia promised would be a peaceful orthodox christmas during a unilateral cease-fire. something ukraine said it never really took hold of. that was a ukrainian tank opening fire as russia reportedly attacked ukrainian positions across the country's east and south.

kyiv says some of those a being at thats happened during a cease-fire. it never agreed to the cease-fire and russia accused ukraine of being the attackers. meanwhile -- something that never happens. an orthodox monastery held a service in the ukrainian language. it happened after a lisa agreement backed to amos could you backed wing of the church in ukraine expired. we are following the ceremony. we now have word that this drone was shot down. what more do we know? >> reporter: that's right. thank you very much, paula. what we know is the russian ip stalled governor said that a drone was shot down over the

city's north pier into the black sea on saturday evening. that would have been during the cease-fire, 36 hour unilateral cease-fire proposed by russia, repeatedly rebuffed by ukraine as a ploy to mobilize more men and to restock its munitions there. but this appears to have been evidence that they say ukrainian drone made its way into russian occupied territory at the same time as you said before. ukraine says that it has suffered incoming fire from russian troops as well even hours into this 36-hour cease-fire as well. now when it comes to ukraine, they say that the heaviest of the fighting or this targeting has been in places like dnipro in the south and donetsk as well. both of those two cities as well, dozens of civilian settlements have been targeted either by a missile strike or also by rocket fire as well.

that was the latest we knew from yesterday evening. so far what we know is that obviously people on the front line there in the eastern and southern parts of ukraine had to celebrate christmas eve in bunkers sheltering from this kind of oncoming attacks. in kyiv, as you pointed out there though, obviously it's a lot safer picture and there has been the first sermons taking place in the ukrainian language in 1,000-year-old monastery. it falls under the auspices of a more independent future. another sign of the outcome of their supposed initial ten-day military operation that vladimir putin suggested which is headed into the 300 plus day. now what's going to turn the tables here is a big installment of u.s. military aid which has been announced in the last few days. $3 billion. that will include the crucial 50

bradley infantry fighting vehicles as well as howitzers, towed howitzers and those that don't have to be towed. what we know is president zelenskyy has pointed out that this is critical to the future of tdefending his country. this comes alongside the united states and france and germany as well. >> translator: for the first time, we will receive bradley armored vehicles, which is exactly what we need. we will get new guns and rockets, including high precision ones, new missiles, new drones. it is both timely and robust. this package of support from the united states totals nearly $3 billion. >> and just briefly, paula, that package comes on top of a big package at the end of last year with the patriot missile defense system is heading its way towards ukraine. all of this is a recognition

that the nature of the fighting is changing and also that the western forces and ukraine are preparing for a big onslaught against russia as we head into february and march. >> nina dos santos, thank you for that. british tabloids are having a field day as they publish exclusive excerpts from prince harry's book. next, the football player who had a cardiac arrest on live tv. here's how one of damar hamlin's teammates reacted to the news he's recovering. >> we got our boy, man. you know what i'm saying? that's all that matters. we got our boy. the excitement was beautiful. it was amazing. with 20 grams of protein for muscle health versus 16 grams in ensure® high protein. boost® high protein. now available in cininnabon® bakery-inspired flavor. learn more at boost.com/tv

u won't take a time-out. one dose of ubrelvy quickly stops migraine in its tracks within 2 hours. do not take with strong cyp3a4 inhibitors. most common side effects were nausea and tiredness. ask about ubrelvy, the anytime, anywhere migraine medicine. 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. last monday the buffalo bills damar hamlin collapsed on a football field in cincinnati with medical staff applying cpr

almost immediately. that was after a brutal hit to his mid-section causing cardiac arrest. his breathing tube has been removed and he's able to speak. hamlin surprised his team yesterday with, in fact, a face time chat. here's the bills head coach on what was an emotional moment. >> the thing that makes me laugh is he did this to the guys right away. he flexed. he flexed on them, i guess. he's just got some staple things that they know him for and that he does. he made the heart symbol probably more than anything. then he gave them a thumbs up. and then some were in the midst of that, it was a little bit hard to hear, but he -- as you can imagine he said, i love you, boys, and of course that got the guys. >> yeah. as it would.

cnn sports anchor andy scholes joins me now. i still have that vision, andy, of the team praying, the ambulance in the background. what happened on the field is really what led to this better than anticipated recovery, right? >> i know. paula, it's amazing that was only this monday. it's amazing where we are. the doctors are saying hamlin's recovery has been just remarkable. four days after going into cardiac arrest during monday night football hamlin is awake now, talking to his friends and family and teammates. he does though remain in critical condition but doctors said removing the breathing tube and breathing on their own, that's a very important step towards going home. all of this positive news meant the world to the buffalo bills as they prepare to take the field on sunday against the new england patriots. >> we got our boy, man, you know what i'm saying. that's all that ma ers it.

we got our boy. the excitement was beautiful. it was amazing. it has given us so much energy, so much, you know, bright, high spirits, whatever you want to call it. it has given it to us to see that boy's face, to see him smile, see him go like this in the camera. it was -- it was -- it was everything. so -- and then to hear him talk to us, it was literally everything. that's what we needed. literally, that's all we needed. >> hamlin's doctors say his recovery is a result of the incredible work from the first responders. denny kellington is being called a true hero for taking charge and administering cpr to hamlin there on the field. the bills gm says kellington and many others deserve so much recognition. >> a lot of heroes when we look at sports. we all have heroes on the field but there's so many people that saved this young man's life.

if you know any of these people, you're in cincinnati, take care of them and thank them. you know, they are heroes. >> they've just been incredible. obviously the doctors that i mentioned yesterday out there, the staff. it was funny, i was driving to work this morning. i'm listening to xm radio and i've got a country station on, it's called highway country or something like that. who are they taking about but denny kellington, the assistant trainer from the buffalo bills. i've got to imagine that's a national station. i shared that with denny this morning. he got a good kick out of that. the. >> brandon deane and sean mcdermott. they're going to do so many special tributes, it's going to be pretty awesome. >> such good news. we all needed it. thanks for bringing it to us, andy. we'll be right back with more news in a moment. formululated with nourishing, prebiotic oat.

it's clinically proven to moioisturize dry skin for 24 hours. aveeno®

why do dermatologists choose dove? the dove beauty bar, is gentle. it not only cleans, it hydrates my skin. as a dermatologist, i want what's best for our skin. with 1/4 moisturizing cream, dove is the #1 bar dermatologists use at home. - [announcer] do you have an invention idea but don't know what to do next? call invent help today. they can help you get started with your idea. call now 800-710-0020. the new memoir by brittain's prince harry "spare" won't be released until tuesday. they're trying to digest a

number of bombshell pieces from the british press. harry wrote about his time in afghanistan. his accounts are being heavily criticized by some military members. cnn's max foster has our report. >> reporter: from the serious to the salacious, harry's memoir "spare" has leaked and the excerpts are shocking to the u.k. we learned he lost his virginity to an older woman at 17. it was humiliating he said. one of my mistakes was letting it happen in a field just behind a busy pub. harry opens up about his mother's death. i thought driving the tunnel would brianne end or brief cessation to the pain, the decade of unrelenting pain, he writes. by harry's own admission, he may

be oversharing. that's what makes this book remarkable and these sympathetic. >> he's showing he's a real person and he's not afraid to embrace that. that's really brave. >> he's a good person even though i don't know him. >> i think more people should be like harry. >> reporter: the tabloids are having a field day and harry won't be surprised. it was a newspaper that exposed his relationship with meagan and since then it's been war. >> i have no idea the press were so tainted. i didn't see what i now see. >> but one revelation that he killed 25 insurge fwents as a soldier in afghanistan has created a backlash against some of his former comrades. >> publicly standing up and saying i killed 25 taliban, obviously he's got concerns about his own personal security and making such a public announcement just makes it worse. >> reporter: harry served in the british army for ten years and

he completed two tours in afghanistan. it's this criticism that may sting him the most. and there are more revelations to come. two big interviews this weekend, another on monday, all part of the buildup to the official book launch on tuesday. >> and that wraps this hour of "cnn newsroom." i'm paula newton. for viewers in the united states, "cnn this morning" is up next. for the rest of the world it's africa on guard. custom scans help you find new trading g opportunities while an earnings tool helps you u plan your trades and stay on top of the market dry skin is sensitive skin, too. and it's natural. treat it that way with aveeno® daily moisture. formulated wh nourishing, prebiotic oat. it's clinically proven to moisturize dry sk for 24 hours. aveeno®

save big during blendjets new years sale and crush your resolutions. the blendjet 2 portable blender gives you ice-crushing, big blender power on-the-go. throw in your favorite ingredients and blend up a delicious smoothie anytime, anywhere.

blendjet 2 even cleans itself. just add water, a drop of soap, and blend. recharge quickly with any usb port. order now from blendjet.com and make 2023 your best year yet. ♪ for skin as alive as you are... don't settle for silver. harness the power of 7 moisturizers & 3 vitamins to smooth, heal, and moisturize your dry skin. gold bond. champion your skin.

good morning, everyone. welcome to "cnn this