>> it's possible he ends up in some role that lets him fix froot loops, but not lets him be in charge of measles vaccines. >> also true also, the other question too, is, you know republicans have not traditionally been the party that wants more government regulation on ingredients in food and so when he comes before the senate and he is saying you can't have basically food coloring, even if there's no evidence that it's harmful in any way. >> and we're going to put all these, you know, additional regulations on what exactly you know, ingredients companies can use what the government considers healthy, what the thresholds are for that, i don't know how many conservatives are going to be on board with a really aggressive regulatory agenda when it comes to the food industry or any other. >> i mean, we could dig up the tape of when michelle obama was talking about children's lunches and what the things that were said on places like fox news about it really contradict what, especially in an environment where everybody's worried about cost of groceries and companies are going to argue, well, it's only going to make it more expensive and it's going to be hard to

to hold that coalition together for sure. for sure. all right, guys, thank you for spending your friday with us. i appreciate it. thanks to all of you for joining us as well have a wonderful weekend. i'm kasie hunt. don't go anywhere. cnn news central starts right now. >> breaking overnight, president-elect donald trump forced to make a new nomination for attorney general after matt gaetz drops out. >> the new ag nominee pam bondi, who has promised to prosecute the prosecutors at the doj. plus, new details about team trump's potential plan to shake up the fbi. >> the fbi is now investigating if home burglaries of several pro athletes, including patrick mahomes and travis kelce, are all linked. and if all the break ins are part of a transnational crime ring. a new warning for athletes this morning and a symbol of resilience amid devastation. deadly hurricane helene ravaged north carolina's christmas tree

industry, along with so much else now a tree from the region will stand tall at the white house this holiday season. i'm kate bolduan with sara sidner. john is out today. this is cnn news central >> some sighs of relief and new scrutiny and a whole lot of questions as president elect donald trump suffers his first cabinet choice loss in rapidly replaces him. this morning. the republican reviews so far so good as pam bondi florida's first female top prosecutor takes embattled ex-congressman matt gaetz's spot as trump's new attorney general pick gaetz his downfall. the question is, will he be the only one to fall and there is new scrutiny this morning over other controversial picks with four key cabinet positions still left to fill. cnn's alayna treene is covering it all for

us, elena. just hours after gates withdrew and people's jaws dropped, trump announced bondi will be his new ag pick. what happened behind the scenes and why bondi who is an ag in florida right. >> well, it was very clear and we had already started picking this up yesterday, just very quickly after matt gaetz had withdrew his name as the ag pick was that donald trump was going to put all of the other picks that he still has on the table aside and try to figure out who would be his next attorney general, because as we know, this is the most important role to donald trump. he wants whoever is in the department of justice running that department to be very loyal to him and also to kind of be his attack dog when it comes to a lot of the legal issues that his administration or his incoming administration is expected to face now, we have learned that pam bondi, her name, started circulating almost immediately after it was clear that matt gaetz was going

to be out of the picture. remember, she is someone that donald trump has known for years. she has very close ties, not only to him, but to also many other top people in donald trump's orbit and those working on the transition including susie wiles, who is of course, now donald trump's new incoming chief of staff, but also has been around in florida politics for a long time. she knows pam bondi very well as well as many others on the team now, donald trump has always liked her. her name had actually come up in consideration when he was first going through the slate of candidates before landing on matt gaetz. he had thought of her as well. he thinks she's very good on television. he thinks she has. the look, as we have heard, is part of his some of his requirements for some of these picks. but i'd also argue as well, if you look back at some of what she has done for donald trump in the past. she was previously a white house lawyer serving in part of his council when he was first in office, she helped defend him during his first impeachment during the senate. the senate trial. and also i will say one thing that is very clear in talking to my sources

who some of whom were in the room, some who are have been talking to donald trump about this, there's been kind of a collective sigh of relief. there was no question that they recognized matt gaetz was going to have a very difficult time going through his confirmation hearings. they believe pam bondi will be much better suited for that process, and she should have a much easier time, i'm told now, another thing i just want to point out is that he did meet donald trump, met with pam bondi before making his selection. he met with her at mar a lago and then offered her the position yesterday evening in person, we are told. and so very quickly, a new decision for donald trump. but i think this was something he really wanted to get off his plate quickly and have an attorney general pick in place. >> alayna treene thank you for going through all that with us. i appreciate you coming on this morning. happy friday to you, kate, and let's get the latest from the hill right now, because a big part of all of this is really a math game cabinet picks need to be confirmed and need republican senators to do that. >> the math for gaetz very clearly did not add up, and his exit now raises some new

questions about the confirmation chances and the math for some of trump's other top picks for big jobs. lauren fox is on this one. she's all over this one, tracking this one today. what are you hearing right now, lauren? yeah, yesterday was a huge day for pete hegseth he has been tapped to lead the pentagon in the trump administration. >> and he met with a number of members who serve on the senate armed services committee trying to make his case to them with jd vance, the incoming vice president in the room. and i think one of the things that senators are trying to impress upon all of these nominees that are coming to capitol hill is a yes. they have an open mind about their nomination, but that this process is going to be rigorous this is a process that requires a public hearing background checks, vetting of these nominees as well as a series of questions that can range into the hundreds that they have to respond to. all of these senators in writing after the hearing has taken place. and so i think part of this process, and i talked to somebody who had met with gates the day before, is really

trying to keep a sense of how serious this process is for these members because, yes, members want to keep an open mind, but they also have some concerns. yesterday, kevin cramer who's a conservative from the state of north dakota, said that he does pete hegseth record especially related to that police report that came out yesterday so this is an issue that lawmakers are looking at. it is a long time for this vetting process to take place. and here is what senator mike rounds said about what he's looking at right now my first impression was that it was a good pick. >> you've got an individual who has experience as a prosecutor and was an attorney general in florida. those are good signs. i think he trusts her. i think he would feel comfortable with her as the attorney general i want an opportunity to visit with pete. i want to visit with him and see what his thoughts are, how he would handle the department. he's going to have to answer those questions with regard to

anything that's in his record i think one thing that can be overlooked sometimes is how consent role is for a lot of these senators. >> you know, i was talking to senator susan collins yesterday a republican from maine, and we were talking a little bit about recess appointments. and she said, you know one thing that i'm really concerned about is the fact that i have seen our power chip away in the senate over the course of the last decade that i've been here in washington. and i think, kate, we just can't overlook the fact that for senators, they do take this job seriously. they do have questions. and despite the fact many republicans do believe donald trump has a right to have who he wants in his cabinet, the underlying reality is they have some questions about these nominees they're going to be asking them. and this is not going to be a cakewalk for the folks who are going before these committees. and going through this process, kate, and you make a really great point. >> this is this is not a one week vetting, vetting experience for any of them. it is a long vetting and thorough vetting process that these senators and their staffs take on. it's great to see you

lauren. thank you so much. coming up for us the fbi is now investigating a series of burglaries at the homes of some nba and nfl athletes. we've been talking about this, but why they think this all may be connected and part of a bigger international crime ring. and a new warning from the faa. now, major staffing shortages among air traffic controllers could seriously be impacting holiday travel to come this year, and alive and well, the husband and father who went missing after his kayak was found overturned in a lake. a huge manhunt huge knot, manhunt, huge search for him ensued. well, it is now confirmed he did what police feared, faked his death and ran to europe. how did he and why week and ask questions like what is a comedy show doing on cnn that's too much fun. >> landslide! i want donald now. can you slice that have i got news for you?

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>> watch cnn's coverage of thanksgiving parades around the country with special appearances by chef bobby flay. jennifer hudson, t.i. and more host, cnn. thanksgiving in america live coverage starts at eight on cnn this >> the nfl and nba are warning their players to be alert after a string of home burglaries targeting professional athletes. the recent break ins include the homes of kansas city chiefs stars patrick mahomes and travis kelce and nba players mike conley and bobby portis. portis putting out a plea to his followers to help him get his stuff back yesterday, i had a home invasion and they took most of my prized possessions. >> any info that leads to the to the return of any of my belongings will be rewarded handsomely

>> the nba's memo to athletes overnight. cnn security correspondent josh campbell, following this story that is continuing to develop. what are you learning about the fbi and why the fbi might be involved yeah sarah, the federal investigators now working with local law enforcement because the concern here is that this may be global in nature. >> law enforcement sources tell us that one theory is that these are transnational gangs international criminal syndicates that are actually coming here to the u.s. >> in order to conduct these home robberies, as you mentioned. >> first, there was an nfl warning and then overnight. now the nba. i'll read you part of that statement. the nba telling its players they received a briefing from the fbi about these transnational groups. they say that, quote these groups are reportedly, well organized, sophisticated rings that incorporate advanced techniques and technologies, including surveillance drones and signal jamming devices. the groups are primarily focused on cash and items that can be

resold on the black market, such as jewelry, watches, and luxury bags. now, in that previous nfl alert, they told players that they are seeing several similar attributes with these home invasions. first, for example, burglars conducting this extensive surveillance, sometimes posing as delivery drivers or groundskeepers, and even sometimes scaling walls to enter the second floor bedrooms now, i've talked with law enforcement in the past about these groups. they've been of great concern i'll let you listen to one prosecutor who explained that these aren't keystone crooks. these are professional criminal operations they lie in wait for days at a time in people's backyards they have wi-fi jammers to stop the alarm company from being notified, because a lot of people have wi-fi systems and then they have police jammers to jam the signal of the police department's and of course, what is of concern here, sarah, as well, is that these are not

just, you know, wealthy homes but if you think about nba and nfl players they're also away from home a lot of the time for perhaps providing a window for these groups to actually conduct these attacks or these robberies what what advice are players getting that they can use to try to to to try to deal with this well, the leagues are asking players to have a relationship with local law enforcement in your area. sometimes police will, you know, conduct additional patrols around some of these neighborhoods. if you have someone who might be a lucrative target to some of these burglaries but they're also telling players to look avoid social media, so-called check ins. you know, if you're going to go somewhere, don't go on social media and say, hey, i'm here because that tells burglars i'm away from home. and then also, this doesn't just apply to athletes, but to anyone you know, don't post images of your homes and expensive items. you're essentially telling potential burglars out there here are all the things that you could possibly get. you know from my home. if you were to stage one

of these robberies and you know, at the end of the day, they're saying that, you know, have a home security system, do some of the basic things to protect ourselves because they know that so many of these groups are now going online to research everything they possibly can about their targets. >> josh campbell, thank you so much for that reporting. this morning. ahead this morning, a crucial vote in texas will decide if elementary school curriculums will include bible infused lesson plans. and we're wondering why you can't stop snacking. it might not be morning we have new answers from a groundbreaking study on ultra processed food. those stories ahead >> find out who will be named the cnn hero of the year. >> sunday, december 8th at 8:00 on cnn it is a entire transformation. >> it's like we have a new home real customers share their stories about empire today. it's just that above and beyond that empire is known for

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whether or not to blend christian bible lessons into elementary school education. the issue is a new proposed statewide school curriculum, one that relies on teaching materials that focus on christianity over other religions. if adopted, the new curriculum would follow republican led efforts in neighboring states to make religion specifically christianity, a bigger presence in public schools. cnn's rosa flores is following this one for us from houston. she's here with us now. rosa, what's expected to happen today with this vote education is expected to vote today. >> and so far kate, the votes have been very tight. so we'll have to see if this passes. but many in this state are expecting for this controversial curriculum to be approved by the state board of education. >> but let me get you up to speed about what all of this means because what's happening today is the state board of education is voting on a menu

of curriculum for k through 12 schools in the state of texas. >> one of those materials is the state created material. it is called bluebonnet learning. it was created by the texas education agency. and critics say that it is infused with christianity more so than other religions, and that it just has a lot of references to the bible now, throughout this week, there have been dozens of people who have gone to austin and presented public comment on both sides of this issue. some say that this is a violation of the separation of church and state. others say that there's nothing wrong with biblical teachings and that they should be included in school curriculum. here are some of those individuals who have spoken out in their own voices. take a listen you see, i'm jewish. >> i believe my grandkids should share our family's religion. i need help stopping

the government from teaching them to be christians. >> these biblical references do not constitute an establishment of religion. instead, they serve as good examples of what we hope we all are respectful helpful, and brave defending their curriculum sending us this statement saying quote, religious source material the product and includes information from multiple faith traditions including islam christianity, judaism greek and roman polytheism, and native american religious traditions. >> now, in journalism school, they teach us to follow the money and this story has a very nuanced money angle, and that is independent school districts in the state of texas decide, kate what they teach in their independent school districts

but this particular state funded curriculum comes with state monies. so any independent school district in the state of texas that chooses this controversial >> strapped school districts that could decide to use this curriculum kate rosa. thank you so much for the reporting. let's see what happens with this vote today. >> coming up for us for the first time. the price of bitcoin is reaching nearly $100,000. new reporting on what is causing the crypto surge and some answers. if you're thinking you should probably. if you're thinking that you want to get into crypto now,

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morning, starting tomorrow at 8:00 on cnn jerry? >> you got to see this saying that trust me, after 15 walks gets a little old. >> yeah, that really should be retired by now i wish i invested when i had the chance to the moon unbelievable >> start investing. e-trade from morgan stanley. >> this cnn business update is brought to you by e-trade from morgan stanley. >> trade commission free today with no account minimums >> this morning. bitcoin is on a roll. the cryptocurrency was hovering near a price of $100,000 thursday, rallying on the hopes of a friendlier, looser regulatory environment. when donald trump returns to the white house. cnn's matt egan is tracking this for us. he is here right now. what are

you seeing? >> well good morning. happy friday kate. listen bitcoin there on the one yard line of a major milestone $100,000. it's just about 1% away. bitcoin was having a pretty good year. and then boom look what happened. the election up 44% since then. just a massive move. investors are betting that the president elect is going to be much friendlier to the bitcoin industry. >> that is so clearly cause and effect like oh it's so obvious. >> but it's also ironic because trump he used to bash bitcoin right. he said in 2019 that it was based on thin air even in 2020 fun of it. >> yeah. >> he even called it a scam against the dollar back in 2021. but like a lot of people on wall street, he's totally turned around. he's actually made a series of promises to the crypto industry. he's said that he wants to make america the crypto promised to create a strategic national crypto reserve, a stockpile of bitcoin, and he's also talked about firing one of

the crypto industry's biggest enemies that's sec chair gary gensler. well, look, just yesterday, gensler announced that he is stepping down on inauguration day. it's typical for sec chairs to do that when there's a change in power, but it's another reminder kate, that in just a few weeks, the president elect is going to be in a position to pick friendlier regulators to the crypto industry. >> and what what is this about trump's company getting into crypto in like a processing payment? what is this? yeah. so we're talking about truthsocial owner trump media. >> they filed paperwork trademark application indicating that they are thinking about getting into the crypto space. specifically, they filed an application for what's being called truthfi. it's a cryptocurrency payment processing application for digital wallet digital asset trading, financial asset management. this would be an expansion away from just social media. now we don't know for sure if they're going to do this, but clearly this indicates that they are talking

about it. i also think that this is another reminder of the thorny conflict of interest issues raised by trump's victory and his sprawling business empire. right. because it's not just trump media where he owns a $3.5 billion stake. this is the publicly traded company. but he and his family members also own other companies, including some that are in the crypto industry. so he's going to be in a position to make decisions, including about regulation for crypto. and those decisions could impact the financial interest that he and his family members have, including in trump media. i talked to former george w bush ethics lawyer richard painter, and he told me that presidents they are not criminally at risk when it comes to conflict of interest. but there are obviously ethical issues. and he said president trump ought to do what every other president has done divest personal assets. trump organization assets, everything that creates a conflict of interest with his official duties and that includes truthsocial and crypto. but

kate, he didn't do it first time around. and he's not likely to do it this time around. in fact, he's specifically said he has no intention to sell his true social stake. >> yeah, i think you could probably put money on that. yes. it's good to see you. thank you. sarah. >> here's something he did have to change this morning former congressman matt gaetz is out and pam bondi is in as trump's attorney general pick. trump's choosing florida's first female attorney general as his replacement cabinet nominee to head the doj. many republican lawmakers on capitol hill say they're breathing a sigh of relief after gaetz withdrew, but questions remain about trump's pick for defense secretary pete hegseth. joining me now, anthony scaramucci, former trump white house communications director and founder of skybridge capital. thank you so much for joining us this morning. um let me just first ask you about about gaetz, you know, sources at cnn told us that gaetz simply did not have the votes in the senate. he was not going to be confirmed. and then our paula reid broke the story that the ethics committee heard testimony that gaetz had sexual

relations not once, but twice, with a 17 year old at the same party. and the second time was a threesome. plus gaetz is not well liked in congress by his colleagues. when you look at all these things, what does it tell you about the senate stomach for defying trump on his nominations, going forward with it. >> obviously, a lot of the things that representative gaetz did was disqualifying, but i think the tide has changed a little bit. i think there's been a shape shift by the republicans in the senate. you know they see trump as a lame duck. they know there's one more election that he can have lots of influence on, which is the congressional election in two years. and i think they are fortifying themselves to block some of the things that he's done in the past. and so the trump season, you know this is the apprentice white house edition season two. i think the cast members up on capitol hill are ready for donald trump this time. i don't think they were as

prepared as they are now. and i think the messaging was behind closed doors. you're not going to make it. don't embarrass the president and withdraw. now, the other questions are, you know, about some of these other candidates. well pete hegseth ended up having to do the same thing. and i will predict if there's more information about pete that comes out. he'll be number two to go that way. but i think pam bondi, by the way will do well. pam bondi says the things that donald trump likes to hear, but she won't do the things that donald trump likes to do. and so i think that's someone that respects the system. and i think she'll get it. i think she'll get through skyrizi it's interesting that you say that, because i want to let people hear some of the things that pam bondi has said. >> she said this about the doj last year. listen white house, you know what's going to happen. >> the department of justice. the prosecutors will be prosecuted. the bad ones, the investigators will be

investigated because the deep state last term for president trump, they were hiding in the shadows, but now they have a spotlight on them and they can all be investigated i mean, does that tell you that her focus will be on retribution? >> and if so, how does that serve the american people yeah. >> so listen, i'm not i don't want to repeat myself but obviously she said that. and trump loves that. and that's red meat for his base. but she's a very system oriented process oriented person she has been an attorney general before. she understands that there are systems in place to create fairness and objectivity and justice. so yes, she did say all those things, but i predict she will do none of those things. and so that's the dilemma with donald trump. you know, you've got people in his midst that want to say things to curry favor with him but down deep, they know they really can't do those things if they want to maintain the integrity of our system. so yeah, no, those those things shouldn't be said but she's

working for donald trump. these people have to literally their tongues come out of their mouths like bow ties. they have to twist themselves. i mean, there should be an anti an franchise outside the transition team for the pretzel making that these people have to do with their mouths. so, you know she's not going to do those things. but i understand why she's saying them you mentioned pete hegseth and now potentially the focus will very much be on him and the controversy surrounding him, including obviously the allegation of sexual assault, which he was never charged for and has denied. >> but there's also another thing that i think is riling people, and that is his comments on, you know, women in combat that women should not be in combat in the military. i want to let you listen to what senator cramer of north dakota said on this subject given that we have, you know, we have we have a sexual assault problem in our military that a number of us and certainly the champions being kirsten gillibrand and joni

ernst. >> but i've been on board with them and in support of the legislation to deal with it since the since the chain of command was not i'm not going to prejudge them but yeah, it's a pretty concerning accusation. >> look there's a huge problem with military recruitment. and he points to the problem that women have come forward in numbers talking about being assaulted in the military. i mean, do you think hegseth could be in jeopardy? because not just of the allegations, but really because of what he has said? >> yeah listen listen, i think there's going to have to be me to those allegations. >> and more evidence and more substance. i think they're going to want to give the president the benefit of the doubt on his nominee. so but that is a big issue, of course. but i think the what we've seen is the republican senate is going to be a little bit tougher than people anticipate. >> anthony scaramucci, i do appreciate you coming on for us this morning. have a great rest of your day kate. >> this coming tuesday, the tuesday before thanksgiving is

set to be the busiest day for air travel. and just in time, the faa has a new warning for travelers. prepare to wait because there are not enough air traffic controllers to go around. cnn's pete muntean has much more on this. and, pete, you've done a lot of reporting for quite some time now on this ongoing shortage of air traffic controllers. where and how is going to be most impacted by this? >> well, this is going to be a big test, kate, because there are a few outs for the faa dealing with this air traffic controller shortage. it's burning out the workforce. some are working mandatory six day weeks of 12 hour shifts. it's also a safety issue since fatigue has been a factor in some of those recent cases of near-collisions on runways. the rub really comes in when there's a huge rush like thanksgiving travel, and the faa says the number of flights is expected to peak on tuesday. that's when 50,000 flights will be handled by air traffic controllers nationwide. faa chief mike whitaker says do not be surprised if the faa has to slow the pace of flights. simply put, that means delays

to keep the travel system safe. this is what he said during a press conference yesterday morning these initiatives keep the system safe and people should know that safety is never at risk. >> if we are short on staff, we will slow traffic as needed to keep the system safe the faa says it met its hiring goal this year, hired 1800 new controllers. >> the goal is hiring another 2000 next year. it's also allowing graduates of certain college programs to bypass the backlogged faa training academy. that's a huge about-face from the faa which for years has demanded that it have the final hand in training. just this week, the faa added embry-riddle aeronautical university to its list of accredited schools. new grads who were hired can go straight to an air traffic control facility, where they will finish up their training. one more important point here the depth of this shortage is not totally known kate. the faa hiring goals don't really detail retirements or attrition or new hires who simply wash out of training in may, we

reported that the faa has netted only about 160 new controllers overall. so really, a big test coming up here with a big warning from the faa administrator. >> but you also point out that's a huge blind spot. if they're not offering the detail up about retirements and attrition and things like that. i mean we guess the public really doesn't know right now the depth of this shortage we'll see what it feels like come tuesday. it's good to see pete. thank you sarah. >> all right. thank you kate. ultra processed foods have been linked to all manner of health problems sodas, processed meats and flavored yogurts are all part of this category but so are most cereals packaged breads and plant milks. cnn's meg tirrell visited the national institutes of health, where researchers are trying to determine why ultra processed foods lead to such poor health outcomes and why it's so hard to stop eating them in this hospital room at the

national institutes of health for two weeks. >> do you have, like, wearables on like tracking everything? >> yes. so i do have a couple of these sensors. >> he's not sick he's a participant in a clinical trial. one of the first of its kind, measuring his movement, his blood, his gut microbiome, even the air he breathes all to try to better understand how our health is affected by ultra processed foods. i think your food's coming in and but we don't know that could be processed. it could be unprocessed. that's part of the trial ultra processed foods contain additives and ingredients you wouldn't find in your own kitchen. they were shown in a previous nih study to drive overeating and weight gain, according to researcher doctor kevin hall. >> our ultra processed foods just junk foods. >> what we often think of as junk foods probably captures a big chunk of the ultra processed foods kind of category, but there's a lot of

things that people would be surprised that are in the ultra processed foods category. and you know, could potentially be healthy for you. so things like whole grain breads that you might buy from the supermarket, most of those are considered ultra processed because of some of the additives and preservatives that are in there, as well as how they're manufactured. there's a lot of debate about whether or not all ultra processed foods are bad for you and that's what this trial is trying to find out. what are the mechanisms, what is it about this category of foods that is driving people to overconsume calories? >> doctor hall's team has two ideas about what might be causing people to overeat. some ultra processed foods, their energy density, or how many calories are in each gram of food and their hyper palatability. when foods contain just the right combinations of salt, sugar, fat and carbs to make us not want to stop eating them this is where they prepare all of the food and they don't just prepare it they weigh it before it goes up and when it comes back after the participant has eaten each day, participants in the trial are offered a total

of 6000 calories and researchers measure how much they choose to eat. the trial is a month long, and each week has a different diet, minimally processed or different kinds of ultra processed. sam was in an ultra processed week during our visit but one with foods doctor hall doesn't expect will drive him to overeat how is that ultra processed? >> it's all based on the ingredients, so the eggs that we used in that omelet, the egg whites were a liquid egg product. so it has ingredients in it that make it ultra processed. it's not just egg. our yogurts, the pancake sirup that was in the yogurt, those all have ultra processed ingredients in terms of added flavors, added sweeteners. >> the next day sam would switch to meals that were more energy dense and hyper palatable. the ones expected to lead to overeating so you can see that these are all foods that they're ultra processed, and you can see that the volume compared to this is quite different as well that is really illustrative.

>> i mean just looking you need two trays of food for this one. and one tray of food for this next diet when you're getting the same number you're offering at least the same number of calories, correct? yes once a week, sam spends a full day sealed in this metabolic chamber do you know what they're measuring in there? >> i think they're measuring how much o2 i consume and how much carbon dioxide i release the air, he breathes in and out can tell researchers how many calories he's burning and whether they're coming from carbs or fat, all to help understand what ultra processed foods really do to our bodies. >> by understanding how the food environment actually does shape our metabolic health, we hope to basically improve the food supply in the future they're hoping to have the results from this trial perhaps by the end of next year. >> they still have to enroll about a dozen more people to get to convince to come to the nih and spend a month of their

life there in honor of science. but what they're hoping is that they can provide information to us as consumers. so we can make decisions about what we're buying at the grocery store, because a lot of these foods are less expensive than trying to make up your diet, mostly of minimally processed foods unfortunately, that's really difficult for people, but they're also hoping they can provide the information to regulators and policymakers so they can start to take this into consideration as they're thinking about policy around foods as well sarah. >> less expensive, more addictive and problematic for your health. that is a huge problem. meg tirrell, thank you so much for that story. it was really, really interesting. all right. still ahead how the christmas tree industry, one of those many industries that were devastated when storms ravaged western north carolina, looks to still bring some holiday magic. and the major league mvp's are in why shohei ohtani's dog is now getting the spotlight. you know, all dogs should get the spotlight. those stories ahead

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quote, unquote, reckless decisions. and actions of western countries. ukraine's president zelenskyy calling the launch a severe escalation of the war. joining us right now is cnn military analyst and retired army major general james spider marks. it's good to see you. spider. thank you. this strike in dnipro, the way the russians, the russians described it, was a ballistic missile with a non-nuclear hypersonic warhead with a medium range. the way a u.s. official spider described it at one point yesterday was that it was an experimental medium range ballistic missile, not an ice, not an icbm, as ukraine's military had initially claimed. describe for everyone the distinction and the significance in this moment of this new move well an icbm, just to get into the details of that, an icbm would be intercontinental, right? >> so this would be an extra theater outside of the theater of conflict type of a missile system. this was not the fact that it was not nuke tipped

good decision on the part of the russians. i think also, putin is probably sending a message which is, hey, look, look at me. i can be. i can show restraint. could have put a nuke on it. and i chose not to. but i think primarily what you see is this was kind of a, a very tactical for tat. it's a response to the unleashing of the atacms that the ukrainians have that are launching now against military targets on russian soil, long overdue. and so putin now is this is a card game to putin. so he just wanted to see that card on the table. and he met that card. and this is what we see right now i think also that the number of these missiles that they have in this experimental category are probably few. so i don't know that we're going to see this as a significant, you know it's not necessarily an escalation in the fight. i think what we have is these two pugilists are trying to improve their position moving toward

the administration change out in january and they're probably going to be exhausted so i think over the course of the next couple of months, very sadly, is going to be an increase in terms of the volatility in the exchanges that we see between the ukrainians and the russians. >> i wanted to ask you about that because you as you just said, you think at least some of what is happening now is really a response not just the for tat between the two, but also to the u.s. election and kind of ukraine and russia, both fighting to improve their position or their argument or their, you know, their tactical advantage before the next administration comes in. you mentioned the next two months. i mean, how how bloody could this get if that's some of the motivation that exists here well i think it really is the description i would use is two dudes in a, you know, kind of in a very tight fight. >> they're grabbing each by

each other, by the lapel, and they're trying to pummel each other, but they're looking over their shoulder to see where that new guy incoming president trump, is in terms of his perspective ukraine certainly is saying, look, we need your help. we need to end this fighting. putin thinks the same thing. look he's as exhausted as ukraine. but russia's ability to withstand and to reinforce the fight truly exceeds ukraine's. the ukrainians now are being pushed pretty significantly again. their resilience is quite phenomenal. but russia has this. they've got the size, they've got the numbers, they've got the manpower. and putin is totally immune to the suffering that those soldiers have on the front lines. so both of them are looking for trump for some type of a not a full resolution. but give us a quick outcome and let's figure out how we want to move forward james spider marks, major general, great to see you thank you sir. >> all right. right now western north carolina is usually

preparing for its busiest time of the year as tourists transition from looking at autumn leaves to choosing their favorite christmas tree. but hurricane helene recovery is disrupting nearly everything. case in point the berry farm giving the white house its christmas tree this year lost between 5 and 6000 trees in that storm. cnn meteorologist elisa raffa joins us now from one of the hardest hit areas and it's snowing there. so it does look like a beautiful christmas. what are you seeing on this first snow? >> i mean, first snow of the season here since the storm hit. it really is bringing in the christmas cheer. the christmas season. and this area needs that desperately. i spoke with one farmer yesterday that and that farm is here in avery county, and it's been in the family for 200 years. it dates back to king george the third.

so much so that his family name is avery. it's literally within the family line of the county and he lost not only his home, but 60,000 of his trees on his christmas tree farm. what they're trying to do is salvage what they can make wreaths make smaller trees to sell, and they're going to replant going into next year. now, if you're unfamiliar north carolina actually ranks number two in the country for christmas tree production. and where we are here in avery county is the top producer in for a county. so the county itself is top in the country for producing christmas trees. now, the problem with the loss from helene when it comes to that christmas tree damage is even if they replant those seeds this year or next year, it takes 8 to 10 years for a christmas tree to mature, to grow to the point where we're going to sell it. so we still might not know the repercussions of helene on the christmas tree industry for another decade. ten years from now, we could be looking at problems with supply and demand

of christmas trees, and we'll still have helene to blame. again a ten year span. so the farmers out here are really just you know, the message is if you can please buy a real north carolina christmas tree this season because they lost out on the business and the leaf peeping season from the fall because that was right after the disaster and now they're trying to get people to come up to the choosing cuts. roads have been okay. we've been able to get around. so they're trying to let people know, hey we're still open for business. please come take whatever trees that we have because they need that business. what he also told me was the community here has been so special and so moving. the neighbors really loving on each other at this difficult time. >> sarah it's a beautiful thing to hear, but it's also hard to look at those pictures from the drone to see just how widespread the damage is there. and you can bet for folks looking for christmas trees that the prices are going to have to go up because su