ask your doctor or pharmacist if paxlovid is right for you. the morgan stanley client experience? listening more than talking, and a personalized plan ♪ to guide you through a changing world. ♪ ♪ ♪ start your day with nature made. the #1 pharmacist recommended vitamin and supplement brand. low come on to all of you watching around the world, i'm kim brunhuber ahead on cnn newsroom. >> guilty verdict. verdict, guilty.

verdict guilty. verdict guilty. >> a disgraced former attorney, alex murdaugh, will be sentenced after being found guilty for murder. we'll break down the verdict just ahead. and -- >> it sounded like a freight train. just like -- going by the house. >> a powerful storm system moving through the southern u.s., bringing the threat of tornadoes and damaging winds, tracking the severe weather plus, in the coming hours, the u.s. will announce more systems for ukraine as ukrainian fighters are struggling to keep russian forces out of the eastern city of bakhmut. disgraced former south carolina attorney, alex murdaugh, will be sentenced in the coming hours after being convicted of killing his wife and son. >> guilty verdict, verdict, guilty. verdict, guilty. verdict, guilty.

>> the jury deliberated less than three hours thursday before returning their decision, one welcomed by the lead prosecutor. here he is. >> justice was done today, it doesn't matter who your family is. it doesn't matter how much money you have, or people think you have. it doesn't matter what you think, how prominent you are. if you do wrong, if you break the law, if you murder. justice will be done in south carolina. >> murdaugh won't face the death penalty, prosecutors have indicated they will see life in prison without the possibility of parole. in a separate case, murdaugh faces dozens of financial crimes charges for defrauding clients, his former law firm and the government. for more on this, let's bring in areva martin, she's a civil rights attorney and legal affairs commentator, she joins us from los angeles. thanks so much for being here with us on this. the verdict came so quickly, was that a surprise to you?

>> very surprising, kim. the jury only deliberated for about three hours. particularly given how many witnesses testified on behalf of the prosecution, and a voluminous amount of evidence that was presented both by the prosecution and defense. i was not expecting them to return in just several hours. >> yeah, letting alec testify, was that a big mistake do you think? >> i think the defense did not have a choice. with the prosecution put on, almost ten or so witnesses, that testified that they could identify alec murdaugh's voice in that video. that was taken or reduced just moments before the cell phone of his son paul, went dead. that was a big problem for alec, he had told the police for months, he was not at that candle before his wife and son were killed. no, you have ten witnesses

coming forward, by the prosecution saying, yes, that's his voice. he was there. just moments before the murders occurred. he had to, i believe, he felt he had to get on the witness stand and try to explain why he had lied to police. >> that video you're talking about from his son on his cell phone, proving that he was there, within five minutes of the murder and then lied about it, essentially, the son helped solve his own murder. >> so many ways, kim, he was painted -- penned into a corner. he had to explain how it is that his voice could be on a video, as you said, five minutes before the murders occurred, yet, he consistently told police he was not there. so jurors were, i think, had he not taken the witness stand, maybe they would've come back in 30 minutes or less. it was a calculated risk on his part, with defendants take the witness stand on their own behalf, oftentimes, it doesn't

go well. this was one of those cases where he was drilled by that prosecutor. the prosecutor, over and over again, during that cross examination saying, you lied, when he said he didn't take money, in this case this litany of lies that alec murdaugh had told to others and basically got to the conclusion that if you lied in those situations, how is it that we expect the jury to believe you in this situation? basically saying, you lied then, and you're lying now. >> even though the evidence was circumstantial, i guess, he wasn't credible in the end. what were you expecting at sentencing? >> oh, i expect him to get the harshest sentence possible. i talked to several folks on the ground there, in south carolina, folks who are familiar with this judge. they say this is a judge that tends to give out heavier sentences. when you think about the nature of the crimes, a man killing his own wife, killing his son,

and the reason being, trying to avoid having to expose or having to reveal his own financial misdeeds? miss doings, reveal his finances? i can't imagine this judge giving him a lighter sentence, i suspect he will get life in prison without the possibility of parole. it's important to note, kim, he still faces criminal charges related to the financial wrongdoings that we heard so much about during this murder trial. even if he didn't get a steadfast penalty in this case, he's still facing legal jeopardy in these other financial crimes cases. >> before we go, i just wanna ask you something about what the lead prosecutor said in the press conference after the verdict paraphrasing him here, he said essentially, it doesn't matter how much money you have, doesn't matter how prominent your family's, justice will be done. what do you make of that message? >> i think it's an important message to send. many folks in south carolina

believe that because of who alec murdaugh was, because he had three family members who were prosecutors in this town, because of a legacy that his father, grandfather and great grandfather had, perhaps he would get a break. he wouldn't be held to account in the way that someone less affluent, less popular, would be. i think the prosecutors wanted to send a message, your education, your money, your privilege and your status, don't make you above the law. >> we'll leave it there, we'll be watching for that sentencing later today. attorney areva martin in los angeles, thank you so much. appreciate it. >> thank you, kim. >> parts of the southern u.s. getting pummeled by strong storms. more than 60 million people across the region are facing the threat of severe weather. they've been at least 90 storm reports so far, this apparent tornado in louisiana. you can see some of the damage it caused, buildings torn apart,

cars getting crushed. two children were in that car when winds start getting stronger. listen to this. >> that's when the wind started picking up, this lady said, my babies are in the car. she wanted me to help or. i said, let's go. all of a sudden, the wind got so bad, i said no ma'am. don't go out. that's your car underneath that sign. if we hadn't got out there, we would've been hit by that sign. >> once the wind dies down, the two children inside the car were rescued, luckily, they were unharmed. this is the damage from another storm, in alabama. and some of the strongest winds hit texas with gusts of 80 miles per hour in the dallas-fort worth area. the faa ordered a ground stop for flights leaving to dallas, also to austin in san antonio. more than 180 flights departing texas were canceled on thursday. police these storms sent parts of buildings flying and knocked that power to more than 260,000 homes and businesses across

texas. the storm system is now marching eastward, cnn meteorologist -- joins me now. what are we expecting, alison? >> a little bit more of the same, honestly, cam. here's a look at a live look at the radar. you can see that strongest line of storms is making its way through a portions of arkansas. as well as louisiana. we do have a tornado watch, that large red section here, you can see valentin atm central time, we also have a tornado warning, just south of little rock right now. this intense line of storms is going to be continued to progress eastward, as we go through the day on friday. many of the same threats will continue. a few tornadoes, damaging winds, and the potential for some isolated large hail. this includes city like cincinnati, nashville, even stretching down into atlanta, georgia. the system as a whole, is going to start to slide off to the north and east. when it does, it's going to encounter some much cooler air. which means a lot of those areas along the great lakes and into the northeast, you're going to see that transition

from rain into a bit of a snow, ice, freezing rain and rain all mixed together at some point. overall, the heaviest rain is going to be on the south side, yes, the potential for 2 to 4 inches is possible. snowfall is going to be heaviest, up across areas of new england, in excess of a foot of snow is possible. widespread flash flooding is also possible along the ohio and mississippi valley river areas. excuse me. winds are also going to be a big concern, even after the system moves through. apologies here. we are still going to be looking at some wind advisories across many of these states. one thing to note, out to the west, we're getting a little bit of a break right now, but another system is going to be making its way into the west coast, as we head into the weekend. this does include california, which has received so much snow and so much rain in the last few days, that next system is going to bring additional snow, yes, measuring 1 to 3 feet.

across the sierra, and some pretty high rainfall amounts right there along the coast. kim? >> appreciate it, alison chinchar, thanks so much. as allison just mentioned, this lengthy winter storm is already created chaos in the west across california, several days of heavy snow, knocked out power to thousands, made roads impassable in trapped residents in their homes. joining me now is -- the sheriff corner of california. thank so much for being here with us. your community is situated between the nevada border and yosemite national park. which has been really hard hit by all the snow. describe the conditions in the dangers out there that folks have been facing? >> well, thank you for having me on. the dangers have been astounding how much snow we received. i live in the town of mammoth lake, about 8000 feet -- we've had over 500 inches of snow here. that's half of mammoth mountain, over 600 inches of snow.

it's the snow load has become too much. it caused traffic jams, caused the roads to be closed, when roads are closed, people want to ski, you're gonna find a way to get around it. they're gonna try to find a way to get around it. people have been stuck in their cars, on roads, that sometimes you can get -- now when there's five feet of snow in the wind blowing sideways. 17 people spent the night on one stretch of road that we couldn't get to them, because the roads were so impassable, it took another day to get them out. fortunately, everybody survived. but it's been a lot, and we've had avalanches, with the north south highway, which has isolated several communities. one of the avalanches took out a power source for our residents in -- bridgeport. they are isolated, they are still without power. they do have roads that are opening up, though, it's been quite an ordeal. >> you talked about being

trapped out on the roads out there. you tried to warn people, you put out a particularly blunt message on facebook, i don't want to read parts of it here. it's a blizzard, people. you cannot see your hand if on your face, let alone the snow staked guide -- stay home. we told you to make good choices. was there a sense, a pretty spicy message out there for the folks, was there a sense that people aren't taking those dangers seriously? >> not our locals, people here get, it they've chosen to live here in the understand the dangers are living here. but the travelers, people coming here just don't understand, maybe don't check the weather forecast, don't check the roads. and you start driving. they're not paying attention. and the apps don't help, today i, was driving on a closed section of road, because never emergency responder i could be on that road. a map popped up, it gave me a two hour detour to roads that have been clogged with snow for

months. it doesn't help. so i kind of lost my patients. and it a little sassy post. i don't regret it. >> there's also, obviously, a threat on the roads. but then people's homes as well, you talked about roof all inches, what do you mean? >> as the snow continues to pile up on peoples roofs, roofs that have ten, 20 feet of snow on them, really hard to shovel the roof. if you let the snow pile up, it starts to melt or gets too heavy, it will fall off the even of the roof. you could be standing underneath the eve of a roof, and not get crushed by the falling snow. you don't have to be in a mountain to be hit by an avalanche. you get hit by a rueful, inch or the way the snow could collapse and take on a building. we encourage people to clear their roofs as best they can, also clear their propane tanks.

the propane tanks need to get a little bit of air, they need to breathe. if they don't, sometimes they explode. then your house is gone. >> gosh. we just heard that there is more snow potentially to come. still dangerous to come even after that when that snow melts, or potentially, more worrying when you get rain on all that snow. you could see huge flooding here down the road? >> we could. once the spring comes around, and the snow starts to melt, 16 17 -- we had probably -- the creeks, the rivers, the lakes they will overflow. that can be a problem as well. that's something we have to watch for, and learn to mitigate. and to keep people away from the rushing water. turn around, don't drown.

>> yeah, great message to end on. thanks so much, and all the best of luck in helping all the folks who need the help out there. ingrid braun, thank so much for joining us. all right, still ahead. u.s. president, joe biden, will host the german chancellor in the coming hours. both leaders are under pressure to send more weapons and military aid to ukraine, we'll have a live report on the meeting, coming up next. plus, a man in pennsylvania will reportedly try to bring an explosive device onto a flight. we'll show you the images of the material, authorities say he tried to sneak onto a plane. coming up, stay with us.

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president biden will host the german chancellor at the white house in the coming hours, in the war in ukraine is expected to dominate the agenda. the two leaders are under pressure from ukraine's president to provide more powerful weapons, this comes as ukraine's military considers whether to strategically pull back from the eastern city of bakhmut. russian forces advanced further into the city on thursday, the u.s. is expected to ask for further military aid to ukraine in the coming hours. more on this, scott mclain joins us from london. scott, takes us through what ukraine is expected to get, and what they say they still need. >> yeah, so, this will be welcome news for ukrainians. especially as fighting really seems to intensify in eastern ukraine, specifically in bakhmut, as you mentioned, kim

we've just actually learned this morning, that according to our teams on the ground have spoken to local police, the last remaining supply route in and out of bakhmut for the ukrainians was a bridge, a key bridge, that was actually taken out by the russians overnight. ukrainians still have access in and out of the town through some dirt tracks and some field, it's not nearly as direct, not nearly as efficient as this previous wrote. this bridge. the ukrainians are under immense pressure right there. and we'll, of course, in the coming months, they are getting tanks from western allies, they've also asked for fighter jets, this aid package coming from the united states is expected to be announced today, is likely to have neither of those things. in fact, it is likely to focus on the basics of what the ukrainians need right now. listen. >> the focus on munitions, on ammunition, the kinds of things that they need for these long

range artillery, the himars, for additional systems that they're using. right now, they are in a vicious fight in bakhmut, standoff range is important to them. being able to for a long range fires is important. it's also part and parcel of our effort, this package coming tomorrow, of making sure that they're ready when the fighting gets even more intense in the weeks and months ahead. particularly in the spring, when the weather will prove, when we think the russians are going to go on the offense potentially in multiple places at once. part of the problem for ukraine, and by extension, its western allies. is that they are going through, they are burning through ammunition, faster than the west can actually produce it. in fact, recently, the nato secretary general, again stoltenberg, said the ukrainians were firing ammunition at many times the rate of production. all this is raising questions about u.s. stockpiles, about western stockpiles, and their own ready this, in their own ability to defend themselves. john kirby, the national security official you heard from just there, downplayed it

any concerns about that. also consider, kim, the last major aid package announced by the united states on the anniversary of the one year anniversary of the full scale invasion, was worth two billion dollars. largely committed to sending more ammunition, more shells to ukraine in long-range emission, that didn't actually take from u.s. stockpiles. instead, this was an agreement for the u.s. to broker contracts to have that ammunition actually produce and then sent to ukraine over a much longer time scale. one other thing to mention, that meeting between president joe biden and the german chancellor olaf scholz will actually be schultz's very first visit to the united states since the full scale invasion began a heck of a lot has changed in the space of one year, kim. you'll remember, germany, early on in this conflict, was really ridiculed in some by some over its rather modest commitments

to sending weapons to ukraine. they have since come around, they are now committed to sending tanks. but schultz and biden will have some common ground, and that both leaders have been extremely hesitant, at least at this point, to send fighter jets to ukraine. kim? >> we'll be tracking that meeting through the day, scott mclain in london, thank you so much, appreciate it. u.s. secretary of state, anthony blinken, is due to leave new delhi soon, where he's been attending with the g20 foreign ministers meeting. most recently, he's been holding talks with his counterparts from india, japan and australia, known within the g20 as the quad. on thursday, blinken met briefly with russia's foreign minister for the first time in more than a year. cnn's kanye wood has those details. >> a surprise meeting on the sidelines of this week's biggest diplomatic gathering. >> i spoke briefly with russia's foreign minister lavrov. on the margins of her g20 meeting today. >> u.s. secretary of state, anthony blinken, speaking direct russian foreign minister, sergei lavrov, face to face for

the first time since russia invaded ukraine. more than one year ago. >> we stand with ukraine, well it defends itself. >> blinken reiterating the need for cooperation on nuclear arms control. >> i urge russia to reverse its irresponsible decision. and return to implementing the new start treaty. which places verifiable limits on the nuclear arsenals of the united states in the russian federation. >> the two diplomat spoke for roughly ten minutes. also, discussed americans citizen paul whelan, who's been wrongfully detained in russia for more than four years. >> the united states has put forward a series of proposals. moscow should except. >> blinken stressing the world is calling for peace in ukraine. >> i told the foreign minister, what i and so many others said last week at the united nations, and what so many g20 foreign minister said today. and this war of aggression. >> the russians downplayed the conversation, as one that occurred on the go. tensions between the two countries have mounted over the last year. >> translator: this is a place

for frank dialogue, agreeing on approaches. until last year, when the west sacrificed its own ambitions in ukrainian affairs. >> despite the high-profile dialogue, a senior state department official made it clear, it did not represent a diplomatic breakthrough. saying, not to expect changes on the topics they covered in the near term. >> russians may be trying to make some hay into delved into some -- inside diplomacy. we are not going to engage in. that >> blinken and lavrov have actually been in the same setting at the same time in multiple instances over the last year or so. when asked about why the secretary of state approached the russian foreign minister now, and not previously, the spokesperson only said that this was an opportunity to deliver a clear and direct message to the russian foreign minister. did not describe why he took advantage of this moment now, where he hadn't in the past. kylie atwood, cnn, state department. >> u.s. authorities say michigan men planned to target

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welcome back to all of us you watching here in the united states, i'm kim brunhuber, this is cnn newsroom. here in the u.s., an incident is adding to growing concerns about threats to government officials and worries over antisemitic violence. the fbi says a michigan man threatened on social media to kill jewish members of the states government. michigan effort attorney general, -- confirms she was one of the people targeted. polo sandoval has more. >> the fbi foiling an alleged plot to kill jewish government officials in michigan. federal complaint filed in eastern michigan naming jack eugene carpenter the third as defendant. sources telling cnn, he was arrested just a day after allegedly posting disturbing antisemitic threats online, using the handle tempered reason. a law enforcement force telling

-- targeted by carpenter, michigan attorney general, dana nessel. -- heavily armed defendant in this manner, she wrote on twitter, court documents laying out the details on february 18th, the fbi in detroit was alerted by the bureau's national threat operations center, a post reading, i'm heading back to michigan now, threatening to carry out the punishment of death to anyone that is jewish in a michigan government. carpenters account also showing a bizarre declaration of sovereignty to a new country named, new israel, the carpenters property in rural michigan. according to the criminal complaint. that address revealing carpenter head 39 handguns registered in michigan, one of which had been stolen from his girlfriend, according to the complaint. that criminal complaint on corporate background. in early february. it had been arrested in december of last year, for assault. that unhinged watch several threaten attacked on lawmakers and officials in the united

states. as well as increasing antisemitic attacks. >> whether in michigan, or other parts of the country, we are seeing the confluence of, covid and other conspiracy theories combined with antisemitism. we see how this is animating people to action, it is not only operating spaces online, but in the fantasies of imagination of people who are willing to take action. >> governor gretchen whitmer the target of a kidnapping plot in 2020, the anti-defamation league reporting antisemitic attacks reached a record high in the u.s. in 2021, up 34% from the year before. >> this is right in the wheelhouse of what the fbi director wray have told us, they think is the most dangerous, the most concerning threat that they face on the counter terrorist side. he is heavily armed, he might be mentally unstable, but nevertheless, has decided to act out in his agreements towards the jewish --

>> polo sandoval, cnn, new york. >> and we just want to add that carpenters being represented by a public defender, and cnn has reached out to his attorney for comment. cnn has obtained an image of an alleged explosive device that a man in pennsylvania is accused of trying to bring on to a plane. officials say the device contains powder with commercial grade fireworks along with a fuse and other components. according to court documents, it was in a suitcase that checked out lee valley in national airport on monday for a flight to orlando, but tsa agents caught the explosives and he was later arrested in pennsylvania. the judge ordered him to remain in custody on thursday and faces to federal charges. another chapter in the very public feud between the british royal family and prince harry and meghan markle coming up when they do come duchess of sussex no longer of a place to call home in the uk. stay with us.

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>> more trauma in the very public spot between the british royal family and the duke and duchess of sussex. the couple have lost their uk home after being affected by king charles. cnn's max foster reports. >> this story has been bubbling up all week ever since the sun newspaper headline that harry and meghan are being affected from fort more cottage, a decision apparently made by the king after harry published his memoir. prince andrew, according to the, sun has been ants -- instead this was a cottage gifted to harry and meghan by the queen, there spent nearly $3 million renovating it, but in the future they won't be able to stay in it when they come in the uk, or benefit from the security that comes with it. the palace aren't saying anything about, this only royal

source telling cnn that this is a private family matter, but harry and meghan have confirmed to cnn that it has been requested that the vacate the residents. we will have to see whether or not they come over to the uk in may for the king's coronation, the king's office nor harry and megan's office have either confirmed harry and meghan have received an invite. max foster, cnn, london. >> thanks for joining us, for viewers here in the u.s. and canada, i will be back after a quick break for more news, but for our international viewers world sport is next. [narrator] why is aaron happy? well, carvana has tens of thousands of cars under $20,000.

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experience the elevation of electrification at the invitation to lexus sales event. >> a high republican gathering is underway in maryland, cpac the conservative political action conference has long been considered a major stop for republican u.s. presidential hopefuls, but some key figures are skipping the event this, year including the -- greatest threat to former president donald trump's candidacy. cnn's kristen holmes explains. >> okay, so here we go, i have spoken to a lot of voters here on the ground republicans, it has been very, very interesting. first of all, i want to note one, think this is a very trump -centric event. not only that he is the keynote speaker tomorrow, but it seems

to be almost completely branded by the maga movement. there are flags, there are trump 2024 bumper stickers, there are even people here who have spoken to who don't believe that joe biden is the actual president. they believe trump's election denial, many of the speakers here are trump supporters. we just heard from devin nunes who was talking about truth social, his own social media platform, however while we did speak to a number of avid trump 2024 supporters, we also spoke to several people who said they were not sold on trump 2024, they actually wanted to hear from other potential 2024 hopefuls. now as i believe you mentioned, i did not hear, you but they probably won't get that chance, where at least they won't here at cpac because so many of these major names that are potential 2024 republican hopefuls are skipping this event. they will be at that private donor retreat in florida, that includes ron desantis, former vice president mike pence, south carolina senator tim scott, but i do want to play

for you what we heard from voters, because this sentiment is actually two sentiments. we heard it over and over again, take a listen. >> i think we are all a little disappointed by ron desantis, came here specifically for trump, we want trump 2024, we want the other republicans out there that might want to run against trump not to run against trump, and endorsed trump so we can have a gigantic maga movement. >> now, the other thing i want to point out here, is that even the people who were die hard trump 2024, many of them refused to say anything negative about desantis. they say they're actually really like, him and many said they wish that former president trump wouldn't attack him so much. what they said is that they believed he needed to wait his turn, me run for president later, but again they said they liked, him and they like the policies. so a very interesting talking to these republicans on the ground here.

>> all right, for more on this, i want to bring in political analysts -- who is the president of the global policy at loyola marymount university. he joins us from los angeles. thanks for being here again, so are you surprised how maga and how trump-centric cpac is given the large majority of americans overall do not actually want him to run? >> no, this has been territory for donald trump since day one, they fell in love with him early, they -- from the very beginning. for cpac, though the bloom is off the rose, as you mentioned, a lot of the republican potential candidates did not show up, that is because they have been tainted by the allegations of -- the head of cpac, and so i think a lot of them used to go there to be seen, and to be heard, now they are trying to avoid it because it is somewhat toxic. and so, it is prudent to stay

away but that is emblematic of some other problems there republican party is having right now in trying to figure out what their identity is. >> so then, turning to the other event, the event desantis is attending, the club for private donor retreat in florida, that is a hugely influential thing in republican politics, and trump was the only major 2024 hopeful not invited. so it points to that huge divide in the party we were talking about, which side do you sense as the upper hand here? >> well, the club for growth would be the grown-ups, where cpac would be the maga republicans. the club for growth, a lot of business, folks in lot of people who do international business. so they look beyond the horizon, they look long term. so i think for those folks, donald trump is the past. they want to put it in the rearview mirror. they think of him as a liability. as they are looking for the republican party to find a

voice, a face, and a message they can take to the next two years, because they want a republican in the white house. >> on that, you know, trump is the headline speaker later today, but he is having trouble lining up endorsements from some of the republican regulars. what do you think that means? is that what you were talking about? those grown-ups hedging their bets, waiting to see if the outcome of trump's legal troubles, or just hoping he will implode? >> you know, even as trump declines, he still has the republicans walking on eggshells. they still fear him, and that is a power he has. they may want to push him, out but they are afraid to take that step, because the fear that donald trump may be a disloyal child who gets angered, and then bolts of the party, maybe around says a third party candidate or as an independent and so they still fear him. but really, all the republican

candidates we have been talking about, in one way or another, are products of donald, trump or maga republicans. so, they are as close to donald trump as -- so who is going to be the, face and who is going to be the voice going forward. >> all right, we will be watching in the meantime, let's flip it over to the democrats, president biden and the congressional democrats, they have been meeting to talk about implementing his agenda, messaging going forward to help them hold the white house, take back the house, what do you think that message is likely to be? >> well, the message is pretty, clear it has been consistent from the white house, which is stick together, but joe biden is vulnerable, he is a vulnerable because of his age, and because of his low popularity comparatively speaking. but i still can't imagine any democrat challenging him. he seems to get little credit when things go well, and i think that is a function of the

change in popularity that we live in an age of harden views, but 45% will go with republicans no matter what, about 45% democrats no matter what, and there are very few persuadable voters nowadays, so i think joe biden's message is do not rock the boat, stick together stay the course. >> all right, appreciate your analysis, michael in los angeles, thank you so much. yes congressman george santos will face a house ethics investigation new york republican confronted with legal issues and calls for resignation for lying about much of his life history during his campaign last year. on thursday, the health ethics committee voted to move forward with the investigation, to look into a range of issues including whether santos in geisha and unlawful activity during his campaign, and whether he engaged and sexual misconduct with someone applying for a job at his office. u.s. senator diane feinstein has been hospitalized in

california with shingles. according to a spokesperson, the 89-year-old democrat was diagnosed with the virus late last, month and expects to make a full recovery, it could influence democratic strategy in the senate, senator john fetterman also hospitalized, there are 49 democrats, 49 republicans working in the chamber. all right, we want to give you one last look here at the international space station, where the spacex crew dragon has successfully docked, to americans a russian astronaut from the uae will spend the next six months they're working on science experiments and maintaining new 20 year old station. this is the sixth man trip to the iss for now's commercial crew program. their journey lasted just over 24 hours after the last out from the kennedy space center in florida. not long after lufthansa flight for 69 had taken off from -- at least seven people on board

were badly hurt. they were taken hospital after the plane made an emergency landing at an airport in alexandria, virginia. cnn's pete wanting reports on the dramatic scare in the sky. >> the in-flight thrashing came on without warning, wednesday night german airline lufthansa flight for 69 was in route to frankfort, from austin texas, federal investigators say as the flight flew over tennessee at an altitude of 37,000 feet, the crew reported in countering severe turbulence, the result, according to passengers, like unexpectedly free falling for five seconds of the top of a rollercoaster, planes and glassware were up at the ceiling. >> and about 3:30 -- four reported severe -- 70 -- >> the flight diverted to washington dulles international airport outside d.c. where first responders met in the flight at the gate. the airport says, in all, seven people were taken to nearby hospitals. >> it is a significant concern.

>> national transportation safety board chair jennifer homendy says, this is the latest incident of severe turbulence on board a commercial airline. in december, 25 people were injured when this hawaiian airlines flight encountered turbulence on descent into honolulu. >> it is the most common issue experience on airliners, and it can be very dangerous, especially if you are not belted in. >> lufthansa attributes the incident to clear air turbulence, the faa says it occurs without visual cues to warn pilots of the hazard. in 115-page study of turbulence incidents on commercial airliners, and he has me findings were simple, wearing a seatbelt reduces the risk of serious injury. >> i would not be afraid, but at the same time you do have to be prepared for any type of injury, and make sure you buckle up. >> like in this latest case, turbulence often comes with little or no warning, the ntsb says between 2009 and 2018, the

flight crew was taken by surprise 28% of the time. this is an especially big problem for flight attendants, the head of the ntsb says they are often the most at risk of getting hurt. pete one team, cnn, washington. >> all right, that wraps this hour of cnn newsroom. i'm kim brunhuber. i will be back in just a moment with more news. do stay with us.

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