>> this rebrand, it worked. >> it did. it appears to be at least according to the most recent results where the company is increasing its guidance, essentially telling investors we expect to be doing better than we initially thought, and it is interesting because a lot of companies would like to rebrand. and some aren't able to do it successfully. i talked to the ceo rolls-royce yesterday about their successful rebrand and they have gone from a much older clientele to much younger clientele with an average age of 42 and part of it is just figuring out what people want and, look, abercrombie had a problematic past, sort of troublesome past, but they have been able to figure out what people want and they're more inclusive. >> anything else you want to share about abercrombie? >> not right now, don. >> putting me on the spot, don. >> documentary is so fascinating. >> it is. >> it is so obnoxious. she's mad at me. >> don putting me on the spot here. >> we'll find out during the break. thank you. top of the hour, let's

reset. good morning. parts of america's largest state under water as millions face a flooding disaster in california. dramatic rescues under way now as roads buckle, cars submerge and downtown l.a. at risk. we'll take you there live. more classified documents and another investigation, this time it is a different president. the current one. what president biden's team has discovered in his private office, but also why his case is different than the one playing out at mar-a-lago. rudy giuliani subpoenaed as the special counsel follows the money. chilling discoveries in the search for a missing mother. what her husband searched online and what he bought after her disappearance. deborah norville will join us live. and new twist in russia's war, why the united states is making a significant change involving the weapons it is sending to ukraine. we have new reporting just moments away. "cnn this morning" starts right now.

and thank you for joining us, everyone. we're going to begin with the dangerous storm battering california again, forcing thousands of people to evacuate and putting 34 million people under a flood watch. flooding, mudslides, debris flows and the threat is not over. the storm is moving south from central california toward los angeles, ventura counties today. at least 14 people have died in the storms over the past few weeks. that's according to governor gavin newsom. we know that one driver died on a flooded roadway in san luis obispo. a 5-year-old is missing after being swept away in the floodwaters. rescuers searched for the child for hours. but even the search had to be suspended because of weather, it became too severe. rescuers answering hundreds of calls. the man being pulled up to the helicopter there, he said he and

his wife were getting ready to evacuate but before they could get out, their home became an island. and we're taking you to montecito right now. look at that. recognize that face? that's ellen degeneres becoming an impromptu weather reporter. >> we're having unprecedented rain next to our house. this never flows, ever. >> be safe. that water is really raging behind her. this is ventura county. boulders the size of cars came crashing down in a rock slide, shutting down this highway. look at that. my goodness. kyung lah, that is my word of the day, she joins us now from ventura county, california. this is a mess. it is very dangerous. >> reporter: very dangerous. and parts of this entire state

are paralyzed. i'm standing on a major freeway. i'm actually going to keep an eye on this emergency vehicle that drives by. this is the 101 freeway. if you've been in california, you've probably been on the 101 freeway. it is completely shut down. this is the ventura river that is normally below the 101. it is crested. and it is now covering parts of this section of the freeway. and the mess that it leaves behind, i mean, it is this. this sticky mud. while emergency vehicles can somehow get through it, a lot of vehicles can't. and that is the problem that is facing southern california right now. that is why this is so dangerous. just a little bit further north of where i am, you saw ellen degeneres talking from montecito county. it is the burn areas, where there isn't a lot of foliage to sort of grip that ground and you get this. you get all this mud. so, just from where i'm standing, don, it is really an extraordinary sight to see this

major freeway shut down, but, again, just getting up here, don, there were streets flooded, intersections completely frozen, houses that are pumping out water. this is impacting so many millions of californians this morning, don. >> you're on top of it, thank you, kyung, appreciate it. new this morning, u.s. officials tell cnn there has been a, quote, substantive change in the type of weapons being sent to ukraine as the nation closes in on one year since russia's invasion. this comes days after the u.s. announced its largest military aid package for ukraine to date with new systems that one official says give ukraine much more capability. let's turn to cnn anchor and chief national security correspondent jim sciutto. good morning. you know all about this. you were on the ground when the invasion happened a year ago now. can you explain what is different about what they're getting now in terms of weaponry? >> for sure. i think it is always important to look at this not just one weapons system, but the collection of weapons systems over time and what that tells us

about the battle on the ground. so let's look at these latest parts of this package. bradley fighting vehicles, i'll focus on that in a moment. more capable surface-to-air missile systems and artillery systems that are more accurate and have greater ranges. that's the collection of things we have seen recently. let's look at bradley fighting vehicles in particular. these are going now. it is an armored personnel carrier, carries troops into battle, but it also crucially has a tow missile, antitank missile attached to it. you heard the reluctance throughout the war of the u.s. and its partners to send tanks. this is not a tank, but it does have the ability to attack and destroy russian tanks. and that's important. particularly important on the battlefield and in the east. i'm told by u.s. officials that this is in response to what ukrainians are asking for and the u.s. and its partners trying to be responsive to what ukrainians are asking for now. >> can you speak to, jim, what

these changes reveal about the battlefield in eastern ukraine? >> it is a couple of things. let's look at that battlefield. one thing that is different about out there, it is flatter ground, more wide open ground than we saw, for instance, around, say, kyiv and the early stages of the war. and that makes you think world war ii tank battles, poppy. you got wide open areas here where you have an artillery battle, and you can have these bradley fighting vehicles and tanks really go into open conflict there. the other piece of this that i'm told, poppy, is this. that is that the u.s. is concerned that russia's going to attempt to regroup, launch more aggressive offensives here and they want to get ukrainians the equipment they need now to push back. >> that's what bob gates and condi rice were warning about. jim, thank you very much. >> thank you. also this morning, the justice department is now looking into this matter. classified documents from president biden's time as vice president that were found at a private office. the special counsel to president biden who works in the white house now says that a small

number of documents with classified markings were discovered in what they say was a locked closet by president biden's personal attorneys as they were clearing out the offices of the penn biden center on november 2nd, before the midterm elections. it goes on to say the white house counsel's office has notified the national archives, which took possession of the documents the next day. at a summit in mexico city yesterday, president biden ignored shouted questions from a cnn reporter on the classified documents. democratic congressman adam schiff responded to the news telling cnn, obviously if there are classified documents anywhere, they shouldn't be, that's a problem and a deep concern. another democrat jim heims on the intelligence committee echoed the seriousness of the situation. >> classified information needs to stay in secured spaces. we'll wait to see the facts.

but, you know, classified information needs to be in secured spaces. >> in september, after former president trump's mar-a-lago residence was raided by the fbi, they were searching for classified documents that he was refusing to turn over. president biden weighed in saying this -- >> when you saw the photograph of the top secret documents laid out on the floor at mar-a-lago, what did you think to yourself? looking at that image? >> how that could possibly happen, how anyone could be that irresponsible. and i thought, what data was in there that may compromise sources and methods. by that, i mean, names of people who helped, et cetera. and it just totally irresponsible. >> joining us now to do discuss this is cnn's chief law enforcement and intelligence analyst john miller and cnn's anchor and correspondent and host of the cnn podcast "the assignment" ari cornish.

there are differences here, but i want to start with what we do know about these documents from biden so far. we have questions about what was in them, what they look like. what concerns do you have, though, about this situation? >> well, the first concern is, i mean, according to the initial statement from the white house, the documents were found by lawyers who were cleaning out the office. generally when you move stuff from one office to another, you don't send a team of lawyers over. so, i think there was some anticipation that there might be sensitive material there in the first place. in the how does this happen category, which is a topic the president just raised in his own sound bite, you're in office, you're in government, you have classified documents, but you're starting a file on a certain subject, you have unclassified assessments in there too, they get mixed together because where you're working is okay for classified documents. when i was in the dni, i worked in an entire floor that was a

skiff. classified documents were everywhere. you forget that it is a mixed file and it ends up being moved with other unclassified files. so that's how that happens. best case scenario they have been locked up in that office and they are of little consequence because of the small number of them. worst case scenario is because this is going to happen, they're going to look at what was the subject matter of the documents. they're going to look at what pertained to. and if it turns out that at a time when he was not in office, he had classified documents related to china or ukraine or any of the entities that paid his son, you know, millions of dollars as a lawyer during that time, people are going to take that politically and run with that ball and it is just not a good look for democrats who spend an entire season howling about donald trump and classified documents, even though the differences are significant. >> james comber, who is the new

house oversight chairman, said this is a further concern there is a two-tiered justice system. we don't know that. the question is what this leads to, what the documents were, how it is handled, but there are legitimate questions that the biden administration needs to answer on this. and it also comes at a time when the situation for merrick garland, the attorney general, just got a lot more complicated. even though there is a special counsel handling the trump mar-a-lago documents, doesn't this optics-wise and just process-wise complicate things for him? >> one thing i'm hoping the media sort of has learned a lesson from the hillary clinton investigation and the emails on the server and sort of how the media would run with that in terms of comparing candidates, right, and saying this is the same thing. president trump, the former president, is in trouble because of obstruction. because he took the documents and because he fought the whole way in terms of giving them back, okay. so and then saying i can declassify things just by

thinking it. that's a totally different scale in terms of response. that's an important distinction to make. the other thing is that in particular, this seizure of documents was incredibly, i guess, catalyzing for republicans to make the argument you're talking about. and one of the concessions out of the mccarthy negotiations, the speaker of the house, is a subcommittee that is going to investigate weaponization of the federal government, which means regardless of whether this happened at all, there was going to be an interrogation by house republicans into the fbi, into the irs, into the justice department, over a variety of topics because fundamentally they're now taking the position that the federal government does somehow treat conservatives or republican politicians differently. >> i think that james comber is being too -- it says james, right? first name, james comey. i think it is -- to say it is a

two-tiered justice system because it was referred to merrick garland, they referred it to the justice department, merrick garland referred it to someone to investigate. >> trump-appointed -- >> a person in chicago. to say that is just -- they have to know better. >> that's on balance. we're talking about political street fighting here that is going to go on with control of the house now at a fairly high pitch and, you know, if you take the pure legalistics out of it and get into the optics and the politics, what happened here is going to make it almost impossible to charge donald trump with any violation of classified -- >> it puts merrick garland in a very odd position. do they know this was coming? this is november. i said, you know, listen, i'm just asking here. maybe merrick garland didn't -- they wondered why he didn't act. >> the white house knows how to get news out fast and how to get news out slow. the idea that we went through the attempts of last week and once that was all clear, you know, they announced this.

probably, you know, speaks for itself in terms of analysis. >> i'm so interested you said it helps trump. i was talking to people close to his legal team yesterday, and they were saying this is a huge gift to them because they believe, you know, politically speaking, of course, the obstruction is the big part of the trump story, he resisted for so long turning them over. they believe it helps make the argument it is pretty easy actually to innocently and mistakenly perhaps take classified documents. does that hold up in court? >> so, it doesn't hold up in logic. >> does it hold up in court? >> let alone court. >> sure, it holds up in court as an argument. but, you know, the law is clear on both. it is just, you know, the balancing act of you got a special prosecutor, jack smith who is going to make a recommendation, and then the attorney general is going to have to make a decision and these developments have put him in a very awkward place in terms of -- >> this is not his only legal trouble. there is the fake electors, there is things going on in

georgia, so in context -- >> in some measure, a more minor issue. >> thank you, both. john miller, audie cornish, appreciate it. a mother is missing and we're learning her husband did a very disturbing google search and bought $450 worth of cleaning supplies the day after her disappearance. deborah norville joins us live on all of these recent developments. couldn't use cpap. now i have this. inspire is a sleep apnea treatment that works inside my body with the click of this remote. no mask, no hose, just sleep. learn more and view important safety i information at inspiresleep.com. gronk speaking. great news gronk! you're going to be in the fanduel super bowl commercial. nice! so i just lift up my phone and say, “new fanduel customers bet $5, win $150 bucks?” actly! and fanduel is putting up a $10,0,000 payout when you kick a field goal during the ser bowl. wait, i don't kick, i catch. and it's going to be live. live!? it's called the kick of destiny, good luck, don't miss!

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in pieeabody, massachusetts, digging through trash, brought there last week. a source with direct knowledge of the investigation tells cnn that the investigators also put crime scene tape outside around dumpsters located in an apartment complex near the home of ana's mother-in-law and brian walshe said he was visiting his mother after his wife's disappearance. prosecutors said in court that investigators found a bloody knife in the basement of the couple's home, and they say he spent about $450 on cleaning supplies including mops, a bucket and tarps. and that's not all. sources tell cnn investigators are going through the husband's internet history and found a search for how to dispose of a 115-pound woman's body. he's charged with misleading investigators. joining us now, deborah norville, the host of "inside edition" celebrating its 35th anniversary. congratulations for that. good to see you. i wish we were talking about

something better. thank you for joining us. good morning. your reaction to this news in the context of its proximity to the place brian walshe told investigators he had visited? >> yeah, this is a case that is developing pretty quickly now that authorities are actually having the opportunity to investigate it. the big news overnight is being reported that evidence linked to the disappearance of -- was found in that garbage transfer facility in peabody. that's the latest place where cops have been looking. across the board, the story that brian walshe told investigators since his wife was last seen by someone outside the family on new year's eve, actually about 1:30 on january 1st, has simply not added up to what the facts are that they're developing. they had had a friend over for dinner, the friend left about 1:30 in the morning, the friend said everything was just fine. brian walshe told investigators that his wife had to suddenly go to washington, d.c. where she worked as a real estate executive on january 1st, and

then later didn't show up to work. she wasn't reported missing until january 4th. it is what happened between january 1st and january 4th that investigators are looking at. and they're able t movements of brian walshe because he was already under house arrest for a federal fraud case for which he was awaiting sentencing. during that period he went to, as prosecutors told the judge in court yesterday, he went to a home depot, where he wore surgical gloves, had on a covid mask, and paid cash for $450 worth of cleaning supplies. that fact really got investigators' attention. they then were able to do a search of the gentleman's home, and that's where they found not only the bloody knife in the basement, but also blood in the basement, presumably efforts would be made to clean that up, that hadn't happened yet and subsequent to that they got the arrest warrant for impeding the

investigation because statements brian walshe made did not back up to the facts they had from surveillance that they were doing. >> what about the google searches, deborah? how specific they were, when they were made? >> the google searches -- yeah, the google search is very troubling. i can't tell you exactly when the google search was made. that hasn't been reported. this is a source that cnn has that developed this information. but there were two things that were troubling to investigators. not only did he look up allegedly how to dispose of a 115-pound woman, he also allegedly looked up how to dismember a body. and this is yet another example of, you know, we all have seen crime cases where you have to wonder don't people who are contemplating committing crimes realize the digital footprint they leave behind is impossible to erase. they will be discovered if they have looked these things up. >> that's what we were talking about this morning, the fact that those are the searches that have been found here in

evidence. he has been charged, but just with misleading investigators. do you think that's just in order to hold him as they are figuring out more things, learning about the actions he took and where he was in the days after her disappearance? >> exactly. and it also puts a pin on any other actions that he might be contemplating taking. as we said, there was blood in the basement of the family home. if you have committed a crime, that is something you would want to get rid of. i was surprised when the prosecutor was detailing the items that were purchased at home depot. if these were the actions of a guilty individual, you would think you would be purchasing cleaning supplies including bleach or something to actually get rid of any dna material that may be there. i should note we don't yet know what the results of the dna testing on that bloody knife might be, but that's something that investigators are obviously working right now to try to develop. >> deborah, you know, we do these stories and focus on the clues and who the suspect is. we have to remember there are families involved and friends

and loved ones waiting to find out what happened to this woman and they're all -- >> the children. three children. >> absolute hell right now. >> there are three little boys and it is interesting, the woman is the -- the missing woman is from serbia and her mother granted an interview and said her daughter called her just after christmas and asked her to please come to america to visit, she said i'm 69 years old, i can't move on the dime, i got to get my medication, et cetera, she now has expressed regret that she didn't honor that request and get to this right away. you're right, there is families involved. >> thank you, deborah. appreciate it. make sure you check your local listings for "inside editions," congratulations, 35 years. >> don't think i didn't notice that georgia hat. i know you're a georgia girl. i know -- i see that hat in the background. >> 65-7, a beautiful thing. on a much brighter note. >> i was going to tell you

during the break, but kaitlan spotted it as well. >> i was in indianapolis recovering -- >> you know me. >> all right, deborah, thanks so much. >> go, dogs. house republicans approving a rules package for the 118th congress. lawmakers still don't know the full extent though of what now has speaker mccarthy promised to those hard-liners to get that deal across the finish line. a republican in his conference will join us next. hi, susan. honey. yeah. i respect that. but that cough looks pretty bad. try this robitussin honey. the realal honey you love, plus the powerful cough relief you need. mind if i root through your trash? robitussin. the only brand with real honeyand elderberry. for people who are a little intense about hydration. neutrogena® hydro boost ghtweight. clinically pven. 48-hour hydration. for that healthy skin glow. nerogena®. for people with skin. introducing e new sleep number climate360 smart bed. only smart bed in the world that actively cools, warms

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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. the house narrowly approved a rules package last night amid the concerns of the concessions that kevin mccarthy made in the fight to get the speaker's gavel. one republican voted no as the gop united to pass the rules changes which make it easier to remove the house speaker and harder to raise taxes. there is helps them establish new investigatory committees and could potentially slow ethics investigations. also in its first piece of legislation as the new majority, house republicans voted for a bill that will roll back funding

for the irs. that was part of the big social spending bill passed by democrats last year. it is a messaging bill. it is not going to be taken up by the senate. would not get president biden's approval. joining us now to talk about this new gop majority is republican congressman dusty johnson, who is from south dakota, and chairs the centrist laning main street caucus and sat on the agricultural and infrastructure committees. good morning. thank you for joining us. one big question coming out of this week has been whether or not you and your fellow republicans have an understanding of the full scope of what was actually agreed to by kevin mccarthy do you feel like you have an understanding of that? >> i do. i think the contours of this thing have been very well reported. and i get it, this is human nature. if there is a piece of paper you can't see, oh, my gosh, i want to see it, i got to see it, this is nothing new. nancy pelosi, two years ago, had a very narrow majority to get the votes she needed. she was willing to have conversations with her members. okay, hey, you really care about

the environment, i'll do what i can to get this bill on the floor. that's what kevin mccarthy has done. remember, nothing outside of the rules package binds anybody. kevin mccarthy doesn't have my vote. this addendum is him trying to tell members that he'll try to do what he can to build unity. >> but why not release, as you suggested, on exactly what he did promise people when it comes to the really critical spots on certain committees or certain promises that he made to these members? >> well, let's be clear. kevin mccarthy has not promised any specific person any specific spot on any committee. and i get it. in hindsight, of course, had they released this thing last week, it would have been old news by now. but at some point this is just kevin mccarthy being honest with individual members he's talking to about he's going to do what he can to bring their term limits bill to the floor or to bring the balanced budget amendment to the floor and i

know i really want to see it because they can't see it, because it is not any different than what other speakers have done. did we see a list of what nancy pelosi, every conversation she had with members as she was getting her votes? we didn't. >> of course. but, just because of how remarkable this was and how much it was about the concessions that he made in order to get that gavel, but i want to follow up on what you just said, kevin mccarthy has not promised a committee seat to any republican. >> no, that's right. ultimately the steering committee, which is not kevin mccarthy, he gets four votes out of 30 on the steering committee, they decide who gets these slots. now, there are a few speaker-appointed positions and it is possible in those conversations somebody said, hey, i would really like to be on intelligence and he could say you would be a good fit for intelligence. but the kind of slots people are interested in, those are made by steering and not the speaker alone. >> you said you like the rules that were passed yesterday. i wonder if you have a concern

about the u.s. being at a higher risk of defaulting on its debt given what we have seen play out so far within your conference. >> we're $33 trillion in debt. and i know people want to draw this massive distinction between the spending bills and the debt ceiling. i get it. there are different mechanisms, but clearly the debt ceiling is tied to the national debt. which is, by the way, a clear and present threat to the future of this country. we need to have these conversations. and the idea that, oh, gosh darn it, republicans won't budge so we'll go off the fiscal cliff, that's a little dramatic, a little extremist, i think what we should do instead is shift the conversation so that it is a buy cameral, bipartisan conversation, what are we going to do to try to bend these spending curves back in the direction of sanity? >> i guess -- so you don't have concerns that the united states is at higher risk of defaulting on its debt. is that right? >> there is nothing in the rules package that puts us in a higher likelihood of defaulting.

now, clearly having republicans in control of the house is going to mean we're going to drive a harder bargain when it comes to spending and driving the debt ceiling. but there isn't anything in the rules package that makes that a foregone conclusion or even more likely. >> do you agree that adam schiff, eric swalwell, those democrats should not be on committees and should lose their seats. >> i said when nancy pelosi did this last congress, she started kick republicans off committees, this would go to a bad spot. listen, i don't think that the speaker should just be kicking the opposition party off of committees willy-nilly. this is the new normal. this is what nancy pelosi has created. i think it is very difficult in this environment now where this is the new normal for republicans to unilaterally disarm. this is going to have to be a tool that kevin mccarthy uses in a very targeted and sparing way, or else we're just going to continue the escalation of weaponizing everything in this town. >> so you're saying he shouldn't

abuse that? >> he absolute ly should not abuse that. eric swalwell should not be on the intelligence committee. that guy could not get a classified rating in the private sector to view sensitive information. he absolutely should not be doing it for the united states of america. he has been compromised in a number of different ways. >> what about your new colleague george santos? does he deserve a seat on any committees? >> listen, if i was the speaker, i wouldn't put george santos on committees until we had a deeper and more full understanding of exactly what went on during his campaign. he should be referred to the ethics committee, there should be a full and complete investigation. and he should be held accountable for what he's done. the fact he's a republican doesn't keep me from saying he needs to be held accountable for whatever he's done wrong. >> thank you for that. and do you believe that the new republican majority is going to look into president biden's retention of classified documents, this revelation that we found out overnight?

>> yeah, that was incredibly unfortunate the fact that we have had now at least a couple of administrations in a row not handle classified documents well is a problem. and it is the kind of thing i think you'll see the republican house ask a lot of questions about, maybe we need new procedures in place. the idea that somebody could just take a folder of classified information and walk out the door with it, that is really problematic. >> james comber who is chairing the house oversight committee raised the questions yesterday saying does this mean the white house should be rated, referencing what we saw happen at mar-a-lago. can you acknowledge based on what we know now there is a difference when it comes to the volume of classified material that was taken to mar-a-lago and what president biden had as vice president and how it was handled in the sense of actually cooperating to return the documents to the federal government? >> well, first off, i would tell you clearly anybody taking classified documents out of a secured setting is a problem. and so, yes, with the previous

administration did, not good, not right. that's worth calling out. i don't know enough about the difference in the volume and the difference in cooperation. i think those are questions that we have got to have a committee ask. i guess at this point, i'm not willing to take the biden administration's word for it. let's ask a few follow-up questions. >> we will be asking follow-up questions. congressman dusty johnson, thank you for sharing your time with us this morning and weighing in on all of these very important topics. >> absolutely. thank you. >> that was really interesting. i feel like you made a lot of news there, especially on mccarthy and the committees. >> yeah, well, it is a big question of what they look like. obviously this is something that republicans said, they said there will be retaliation for members being kicked off and now we are seeing that. we'll see -- it was interesting, he said kevin mccarthy should not abuse that, though. >> also interesting they're not saying, well, you know, the people voted for george santos. he's saying he needs to be held accountable. >> should not be on a committee

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wow, this mega millions jackpot has crossed a billion dollars for the fourth time in a little over four years. our senior data reporter harry enten joins us now with more on this morning's number. these giant jackpots, hello, sir, it keeps getting bigger and bigger and bigger. >> this morning's number is the tuesday estimated jackpot, $1.10 billion, with a "b." you could take the lump sum, the nice tidy $568.7 million. as you pointed out, don, these seem to be getting more and more frequent. all within essentially the last few years we have over a billion dollars. $1.5, 1.3, 1.1, 1.1, the

question is why is that happening. why are these mega millions jackpots going through the roof? it turns out there was a 2017 rule change that made it more difficult to win driving up the jackpot. so essentially the megaball, which must be matched in order to win, went from 1 to 15, to 1 to 25 and the odds of winning went from 1 in 259 million to 1 in 303 million, don. now, the whole question is why did they want these jackpots to be higher? you seem a little confused there. >> i get it, yeah. >> so the question is why is it? because think about the last large jackpot back in july of 2022, the money the states got from the tickets sold, 2.1 billion, the prize, they took home the lump sum, so it works for the states, the jackpots rise ever higher. >> if you won, would anybody know? >> i would tell you, don, and nobody else. >> i wouldn't tell anybody. i would show up like nothing

happened. >> share a little with me, though. >> no. >> thank you. mortgage rates skyrocketing. home sales are down. up next, we'll talk to the stars of hgtv's "married to real estate" on the state of the housing market. there they are in the breakfast nook over there. tual. they customize your car insurance, so you only pay for what you need. and by switching, you could d even save $652. thank you, libertyty mutual. now, contestants ready? go! why? why? only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty.♪ bath fitter is a better way to remodel your tub. a custom-made watertight fit and high-quality materials mean a beautiful tub, and a great value. bath fitter. it justits.

♪ ♪ ♪ voltaren. the joy of movement. ♪ right? that is the hope at least for mortgage rates in this market. what a roller coaster. let's recap. overall mortgage rates skyrocketed remaining just under 6.5%. sales of existing homes were down 35% in november compared to a year ago. housing prices, though, just keep climbing, up 40% nearly from the spring of 2020 to the spring of '22 as a new home buyer i can attest to all of this and the pain. despite all the fluctuations our next guests have made it their mission to give their clients

their dream home. here is a preview of season 2 of "married to real estate." >> let me see your face. >> working with your spouse has its challenges. >> am i in trouble? >> a little bit of trouble. >> but we wouldn't trade it for the world. >> hey, it's looking good. >> yeah, it's getting there, right? >> yeah, babe. >> mike and i are obsessed with finding value in homes and sometimes you find the most value in the ugliest ones. >> are you crying? >> i'm totally crying. >> it's so open and bright. >> wow. >> this is amazing. >> well done. >> egypt sherrod and mike jackson are here now. i love that dark kitchen. we just chose the paint color for our kitchen. >> what color? >> it's like the color of your sweater. >> so you have an aqua smooth kitchen. >> yes. >> that's what i deem it. >> feel free to come over. >> whatever, it looks great. that one. >> talking my language, babe,

okay? >> that time they put all the different white swaths on the wall. my husband was like, i don't know, babe, they are all the same. >> there are over 300 different shades of white. >> this is obviously a therapy session for poppy. >> are you billing her for this? >> it's been a whole journey. kaitlan can tell. >> you congratulations on going on it. >> so what is up with this housing market? >> oh, my goodness, do you want to get cerebral or do you want to have fun with it because i choose fun. if you ask 200 economists what's happening right now in the housing market, they will tell you 200 different answers. nobody really knows. we don't have a crystal ball, if we did we would all be retired at this point, but what i will say is if we look back ten years to when we had the last recession we know on average housing prices dropped by almost 30%. >> yeah. >> right now we're seeing about a 2.5% drop. obviously it's because of interest rates because so high, but these are not historic highs, this is really the norm.

we just got spoiled over the last decade with interest rates. >> can you say that again? i've been telling people that. it's not that bad. >> right. >> if you want to buy a home it is tough, i don't want to down play it. >> it's like 12%. >> remember when our parents were buying homes the interest rates. >> there you go. >> my parents bought their first home at 14.85% and that was ecstatic because my grandparents bought it at historic highs of over 22% interest rate. if you think this is high just imagine where they were. i say if the numbers make sense, if you can afford it, if it makes better sense to buy than to rent then jump in because at the end of the day you're still paying yourself versus paying somebody else. >> what about when it comes to renovations, though, the price of lumber, labor, all of those things that people struggled with, what is that looking like now? >> that is extremely high as well. for instance, one piece of plywood that used to be $7.99 has been fluctuating between $36 and $65. >> wow. >> so that is designating some of these quotes. you know, in their mind-set the average customer is thinking this is probably going to be a

$30,000 job and i have to burst that bubble and say, no, probably about $50,000, $60,000. they are like why? they start saying i will find somebody cheaper and everyone gives them the same price. >> they come back like i'm so sorry that i asked for a requote. i think we are all in this together. that's what we have to accept is we are in an inflationary period, everything is cyclical, this is not brand-new but we're going through it together. tighten your belt for a bit and hopefully it will be over before it starts. that's what we're hoping. >> can we talk about your show. getting to season 2. season 2 the success of season 1 on your show, 19 million viewers. >> wow. >> it's all because of him. they want to see him in a tight shirt. that's it. >> listen -- hold on. >> we will take 19 million. >> listen, we are extremely grateful, we appreciate it, we are blessed to even be a part of the experience, you know. you know, people approach us in the street or in the market and

they say, listen, you relate to me. the transparency. we see ourselves in you. >> our family, yeah. >> and that's what keeps us going. >> although people also stop us in the market and want to tell me how to potty train. that's what happens when you open your door to america. everybody, especially the grand moms, they come up, baby, let me tell you how to potty train that child. >> say it again. how do they do it? >> baby. >> that's what sets your show apart is that it is so much about your relationship and your family and that's the other dynamic that people like. >> it's just this is an amazing roller coaster to go on right now in our careers and lives. it's obviously done immense things for our business, but also to be able to do what you love with the person you love, that's -- i wasn't talking about you, i was talking about the kids. >> you guys are very positive. people at home, people are a little depressed i'm sure about the interest rates and whatever, so give us some hope. >> they are. you know, at the end of the day what i will say is this, real estate just like everything else

is cyclical. i don't have a crystal ball. i can't tell you when they're going to come down, but what i will tell you this -- is this, rental rates are higher so what you can do is keep your debt low, make sure you work on your credit, pay those bills on time and those that you can't, work out a deal, you know, with the creditor as well and just, number one, buckle up. okay? don't spend on things that you don't have to right now, discretionary goods are something that you can put on the side. >> good to see you. congratulations. >> thank you. >> you as well. by the way, i can party with you anytime on new year's eve. >> come here. thank you. come on down to new orleans. >> poppy will bring you over to her house to help. >> come to the kitchen. >> easily. >> thank you, guys. >> we like to eat so that's no problem. >> thanks so much. mike jackson, egypt sherrod, thank you. the new season of "married to real estate" will premiere on thursday on hgtv and stream it the same day on discovery plus.

today's morning moment, two sisters in boston helping cancer patients who are also women of color. they created this company from scratch to design wigs after diane said she could not find a curly hair wig while fighting breast cancer. they found a manufacturer, they did a few fittings to make sure the quality was good and perfect, they launched coils to locks. it is in 15 hospitals and medical salons across the u.s. amazing story there. thank you for joining us this morning. "cnn newsroom" starts right after this break. (vo) sail through the h heart of historic cities and unforgettable scenery withh viking. unpack once and get closer to iconic landmararks, local life and cultural treasures. because when you experience europe on a vikg longship, y'll spend less time getting there and more time being there.

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good tuesday morning, i'm erica hill.