growth were thanksgiving. and then it was black friday. and then it was cyber monday. on average americans spent about $235. this five day shopping weekend. that's about a quarter of what we're spending expecting all americans to spend over the holiday season. about $900, roughly, is what they're projecting. what i thought was really interesting about what we got from this report from adobe was that social media influencers had such a big presence in terms of converting people scrolling on the internet to actually buying something. they contributed about 20% in revenue. so people scrolling and saying, oh, i like this influencer. i'm, oh, i'll buy this item six times more effective than any other social media advertising. so social media influencers, i guess they're really pushing people to buy items that they want this holiday season. it's growing every single year. and this year up nearly 7% growth. social media influencers big

influence on my shopping list, always made by olivia rodriguez. >> all right, vanessa, thank you very much for that new hour of cnn news central starts right now will pete hegseth nominations survive the day? >> it's a real question. new reporting from inside the trump transition of how critical his meetings on capitol hill today really are. just as new candidates to head up the pentagon are starting to be floated, which you can also read as that's not a good sign for pete hegseth this morning, the supreme court will hear arguments in its most high profile case of this term. the families of transgender kids fighting against a tennessee ban on gender affirming care for minors. big implications far beyond tennessee and mysterious drones have been spotted flying over new jersey, residents say some appear to be as big as a car, and the fbi is now getting involved. i'm kate baldwin, stuck with john berman

sara sidner is out today. this is cnn news central all right. >> happening now. pete's next. politico reports that is the assessment from one republican senator who believes pete hegseth will soon be out as president elect trump's pentagon pick. that would be a huge development, maybe even bigger. what would happen in its wake? because this morning florida governor ron desantis is being floated as a possible replacement for texas. we've got brand new reporting on sort of the back and forth that's been happening behind the scenes already between trump and desantis, and how trump feels about all this. we are standing by to hear from desantis. we are standing by to hear from him for his first interview since new allegations of sexual misconduct and drinking, and

more. we're standing by to hear from texas mother on tv after an e-mail surfaced where she expressed alarm over her son's treatment of women. but again new reporting on where ron desantis fits in all of this. let's get right to florida, man steve contorno the twists and turns here. some new developments. steve john. >> two sources close to florida governor ron desantis confirmed to me this morning that he is interested in this pentagon post if it is formally offered to him and not only that, the sources also told me that trump and desantis have spoken in recent days about the possibility of him stepping in to replace hegseth as a potential nominee. now we are still trying to figure out the details of that conversation and how serious it is. we also know that trump is considering potential other names for a hegseth replacement, if not if hegseth either withdraws or

trump decides to move on. and that includes iowa senator joni ernst as well as tennessee senator bill hagerty. and ernst is an interesting name. in particular because she is one of the people that hegseth is expected to meet with today on capitol hill. she is also someone who has been considered a sort of swing vote and a key voice in determining whether or not he has enough juice behind him to get the nomination passed. 54 votes. this development though, between desantis and trump and this cool, this warming of of of their relationship is quite stunning just think about how contentious their primary grew over the past year and a half when when desantis challenged trump to be the republican nominee and lost. he was often critical of donald trump's first term as president, and that is certainly something that you will see, uh,

adversaries of desantis, people in trump's orbit who continue not to like him. they will obviously be using that as a reason for why trump should not turn to desantis at this critical juncture however, he also has a lot of credentials that make him a seemingly strong fit for the role. he is a former navy jag officer he is someone who has served in overseas. he also served in a role in guantanamo bay, so he has experience on the front line, not in the front lines, but in in combat zones. he also is someone who is very aligned with donald trump. as far as getting the quote, woke out of the military and he made that a big piece of his campaign for president so this is an interesting development, john, and we will continue to monitor it to get a sense of whether this sheds light on whether or not hegseth is going to be survive this day and this nomination process.

>> well, look, i have to say, the fact that donald trump and ron desantis have spoken about it and that desantis is into it that doesn't bode well for pete hegseth over the next several hours. steve contorno fascinating reporting. thank you very much for that, kate and pete hegseth path be it either in or out. >> the path goes through capitol hill and his future and fate today largely depends on what happens in the coming hours when he's meeting with republican senators on capitol hill once again, the president elect has already said his pentagon pick should have been more forthcoming about his alleged conduct. the transition saying that. but let's get to capitol hill, where these meetings are going to be taking place lauren fox is standing by and it's been it's described as maybe the critical meeting is with senator, republican senator joni ernst. tell us why. >> yeah, i mean, this is really a set of blockbuster meetings today on capitol hill. kate. and that is because before this moment pete hegseth had met with several friendly members,

people who were close to donald trump. today is really a huge test. he's going to meet with the incoming republican leader, john thune. that is going to be a very important meeting. he is also going to be meeting with roger wicker, who is the chair of the senate armed services committee. he is going to be running those confirmation hearings. if hegseth gets to that day in january, we also expect that one of the closest meetings to watch is going to be that meeting with joni ernst. that is because she has been very careful about whether or not she supports pete hegseth. she has not said publicly where she stands on this nomination, instead saying that she was looking forward to this meeting today. but she's also important because she sits on the senate armed services committee. she is a woman on that committee. she has spoken publicly about experiencing sexual assault she also is someone who has spoken very vocally about women serving in combat, something she supports. that obviously is an issue for pete hegseth, given some of his past

commentary on women serving in combat roles. so this is going to be a really critical day. also, he's going to be meeting with senator kevin cramer, another member of the armed services committee, who has made clear he has questions about some of these issues in his background. and so you can expect that these are not going to be meetings where some of these tougher issues don't come up. that is what we saw on monday evening when he had met with a series of republicans who said, one after another, that these issues about the alleged sexual assault that pete hegseth denies didn't come up. they also said the issues that were raised in the new yorker story about excessive drinking did not come up. so i think that that is something that is just really going to be key today, that these are not the kind of easy, breezy meetings that he might have experienced in the past. kate. >> yeah, and that was the key with the earlier meetings when they came out saying giving, giving their full support of hegseth is these allegations, these accusations, they did not come up we were told in those meetings joni ernst for sure

that very serious, very respected republican senator is going to be asking those questions today for sure. let's see what happens. i'm so glad you're there, lauren. thank you so much, john. >> all right. this morning the supreme court hears a major case involving transgender rights. it has to do with a tennessee law that bans certain gender affirming health care for children and teenagers. with us now is sarah kate ellis, the ceo and president of gladd. thank you so much for being with us so this tennessee law bans hormone therapy and puberty blockers for minors. if you could just explain what are those treatments and why do you feel that it's important they remain available for young people. >> so just to put this in perspective, this is health care that has been approved by every major medical association in the united states and globally, actually and so this is how families and trans youth and doctors handle their health care. >> it's a private issue. and this health care is life

saving. i can't imagine ever stopping anyone especially our youth, from life saving health care. but what it entails is mental health access. it entails medicine and it it helps kids be themselves. and who in this world doesn't want kids to be themselves so if the tennessee law is upheld, tennessee is just one of several states now that has passed or is passing these types of laws. >> what are the implications nationwide bad? >> i think if this is upheld in this band is upheld. so in 2020, just to go back for one second, there were zero bans against trans people. trans people have been around forever. this has been become a political issue this isn't about health care. this isn't about trans people. this is about politicians politicizing the lgbtq community for their own gains. and i think what this does is pull us back and actually hurt trans youth

because they need this health care. it's medically important. and now these days, over half the states in the united states have banned health care for trans youth so from 2020, from zero to now, almost half across the country, you can see trans kids have been around forever. but now they're being politicized. and this is going to have damaging effects for them over the next decades. >> so so you say this case is about politics not medicine. i will say that the supreme court, neil gorsuch, wrote a decision on transgender rights just a few years ago that that basically granted transgender rights or upheld transgender rights in the workplace. so you have a supreme court here that has ruled in favor in a different case on transgender rights here. but do you think that the politics have shifted in a way that would push him and justice roberts to the chief justice, who also signed on to that? >> well, i think what we saw was the dobbs decision, right where government is now

interfering way more in private health care than they should leaving it versus leaving it to families and to doctors. so i am concerned about the supreme court, the makeup of the supreme court, what they did with roe v. wade so i hope it's not the case but i hope is not a strategy and i think what we've seen in this past political cycle of hundreds of thousands of millions and millions, excuse me, of dollars being spent on ads anti-trans ads during donald trump's candidacy has a big effect on the culture and the thought and the feeling. when you live in a world where only 30% of americans say they know someone who's transgender, 70% are making it. making decisions about trans people through culture. >> obviously, this is an interesting and important moment in transgender rights. we have democratic congressman seth moulton on just yesterday who does say he supports transgender rights but has concerns about transgender

athletes competing against his daughters in sports, for instance. but his real issue, he says, is he says that he feels as if democrats in general are not open to having that discussion mhm. what do you feel about the discussion? >> well, i think who else are we discussing. what other group of marginalized people are we discussing? their rights. it seems like these are just general human rights that we're trying to have discussions about dignity you know, kids, i'm a parent i have 215 year old kids and i want them to be have the best access to the best health care to the best sports, to the best schools like any other parent. and i think as parents, as families, we want the same things for our kids. and to to i think there's always room for discussion around what's right for the country, what's right for health care but not when we're talking about the dignity of people. >> sarah kate ellis i've got a

couple 17 year olds. when you said you had a couple 15 year olds, my first reaction was, god help you. all right. thank you. thank you so much for being with us, kate. >> coming up for us right now, rescuers are searching for a missing grandmother who it is feared fell into a massive sinkhole. and her young granddaughter was in the car just nearby when it happened. and that search continues. and it was a night of political chaos in south korea. and we're tracking how it all develops now. today, the president of south korea, a key u.s. ally, has a very uncertain future. calls for his resignation or arrest after he declared martial law and then quickly reversed course and we are also waiting to see if that stowaway. remember the story? who snuck through security onto a delta flight to paris from jfk? well, if that woman will finally be brought back to the united states cnn heroes on all star tribute meet and celebrate the honorees. >> then find out who will be

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that's not me this holiday season, find the perfect gift at cnn underscored from the latest fashion to expert approved tech to the best beauty finds. >> discover it all at underscore com all right. >> any moment a russian woman who stowed away on a delta flight from new york to paris is expected to get on a plane back to the united states. she was set to fly back to new york yesterday. then delta refused until she was given a french escort. and this morning we are learning new details on how she was able to pull us all off in the first place. cnn's polo sandoval is at jfk airport, where she may show up, i guess, later. paula what are you learning? what's the latest yeah, this will be the third attempt. >> john will it be successful? i can tell you that. just a few moments ago, a french official

told cnn that she, in fact is on that delta flight that is expected to depart paris in just a few moments. and then eventually make its way here about 8 to 9 hours later to new york's jfk airport. as you can imagine extraordinary, extraordinary precautions would certainly have to be taken here we were told yesterday by officials that she would certainly have an escort on board this flight. but i'll remind you john, this time yesterday she had boarded the very same flight, and it wasn't until a few moments later, the delta airlines decided not to fly her. so ultimately, this is certainly one to watch for the next few minutes to make sure that that plane is, in fact wheels up headed. here we are certainly learning more from the transportation security administration from our colleague pete muntean, who has learned that they now know a little bit more about the way she was able to go around, not one, but two id security checks. the first here at jfk last tuesday that she managed to bypass an airport employee that was basically in charge of allowing people into the dedicated lane for crew members

goes around that person. she made her way, according to surveillance video, into that lane and then entered the tsa standard lane and that's where she was eventually able to go around the tsa officer that was in charge of checking boarding passes. and that's where she subsequently was screened herself and her baggage before making her way into the main concourse. and that is the second big question here. exactly what happened in terms of what delta airlines was not did not know that she made her way on this aircraft or one of our colleagues, sean miller reporting that she actually joined a large group that was boarding that flight at the time. that's how she was able to make her way onto the jetway, onto that aircraft into into paris where she's been waiting for well over seven days now until today. again, we can now confirm, according to paris officials, that she has been escorted onto that new york bound flight that's expected to take off any minute now. we'll certainly keep you posted on when that happens. yeah let us know when it is airborne wheels

up. >> polo sandoval at jfk. thank you very much. this morning, a major u.s. ally fighting to maintain order after a brush with martial law and a new chaotic impeachment effort. and this morning, two americans now missing after attempting to climb a mountain. we've got new details on how severe weather is complicating this search can't fool myself. >> it was the most exciting time in the world. >> his life had extremely joyful moments and some really difficult moments. >> you only come across an artist like luther vandross once in a lifetime. >> luther never too much new year's day on are you ready for this are you ready for this? >> are you ready for this? >> new alka-seltzer plus cold or flu? fizzy chews chew fizz. feel better fast. no water needed new alka-seltzer plus fizzy juice. >> it's closed. >> what about my letter? >> call uncle brian to the north pole. >> never to december to remember sales event.

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star tribute sunday at eight on cnn this morning secretary of state tony blinken is speaking out now about the political crisis. >> we're seeing unfold in south korea after its president's short lived attempt to impose martial law. listen to blinken in our judgment, any political disagreements need to be resolved peacefully and in

accordance with the rule of law. >> korea is one of the most powerful stories in the world about the emergence of democracy and democratic resilience, and will continue to look to korea to to set that example. >> now, the future of south korea's president is really uncertain as there is growing outrage and calls for him to resign. aides to the president have offered their resignations. protesters now want the president out or arrested. six opposition parties have announced an impeachment motion. one of the country's largest trade unions declared an indefinite strike to oppose him. the main opposition democratic party, the main opposition democratic party began formalizing plans for treason charges against him. you can see the growing outrage joining me right now is sydney seiler is a senior adviser with the center for strategic and international studies, the korea chair. it's great to see you, sydney. thank you for coming in. you say it's unlikely he'll resign. tell me why president yoon is a principled man and certainly he entered into these actions,

likely with some degree of understanding of what his risk entailed and what directions this might head. >> he probably feels that his cause was just that. in spite of the fact that it has on the surface, the appearance of undermining democracy. this was all done in accordance with in accordance with what the constitution allows him to do. and so i think he, as a prosecutor, would love to have his day in court from the outside looking in. >> there's a lot about this that is just really surprising. when this started coming through, when we were on the show yesterday. we were we kept saying, i'm sorry martial law in south korea. what is happening? you know, what is it surprising to you, any of the elements? is it surprising that yoon took this dramatic step in declaring martial law or is it surprising how swift, angry, and sustained the backlash has been well, you know, there were people who had said this could

have been one of yoon's options uh, for the past few months given the the deadlock in the parliament in the parliament and the national assembly. >> unlike parliamentary systems, where you would have an option maybe to dissolve the parliament and call for a vote. the korean system, with its five year presidential term, a single term, uh, and this balance of powers really doesn't uh, enable the president to do anything when he's in the situation where all legislative, uh actions are being frozen by an opposition that's in the majority uh, and, you know, at the very least, you know, now the whole world is talking about south korea's political difficulties. yoon has raised this to a level of, uh, you know debate that wasn't taking place beforehand. so i think from your perspective, this may have been what he was either anticipating or hoping for in terms of being able to have again his day in court, where the public can kind of weigh his case so that is quite

interesting. >> you think that because one question you have is from the outside, looking in as an observer is how did he miscalculate this? so badly? but you're saying maybe he in his view he didn't miscalculate at all well, you know he probably expected it to go much easier. >> he may have thought that he could have dissolved the national assembly before it had time to vote on the impeachment. but it's worth noting that as soon as the vote on the i mean, sorry, not impeachment on the martial law, as soon as that vote on the martial law took place, uh, president yoon rescinded the order. uh, so we see here this is not a man who's trying to seize power or you know, create a second term or prolong his rule. uh, he is using a very uh, unusual tool as it were, in order to try to, you know, from

the opposition's perspective undermine democracy from the ruling party's perspective, trying to get the ball moving. he probably thought he had much more support within the ruling party for his actions than he actually did. and that is, of course, what enabled the the order to be overturned so quickly so the what's happening inside south korea, a key u.s. >> ally is critical to the united states. but also taking it a step, i don't know more 30,000 foot view. you spent 40 years in government dealing with north korea. what does north korea see in this north korea is rejoicing. >> i think, you know, it's clear that over the past few years, north korea has been extremely unhappy with president yoon. uh, his his strong position on countering the north korean nuclear capability with strengthening of the u.s. uh, south korea alliance strengthening our nuclear deterrent. uh, having a

larger say for south korea in nuclear planning. uh, in many ways, president yoon has been, uh, you know just a thorn in the side of of kim jong un and so i expect in the coming days we'll see rhetoric. uh playing up the failure of president yoon, the lack of public support the fact that, you know, north korea was right all along. this is not a guy worth dealing with. i don't think north korea would take the step of of seeking some type of provocative action that would try to exploit the current situation because such provocative action would just play into yoons hands. it would reinforce, uh, if you recall, this whole martial law was introduced by president yoon as, as necessary because of a north korea threat. north korea trying to take advantage of the situation at that time would undermine, you know, everything else they're focused on sydney seiler, thanks for coming in really appreciate it. >> coming up for us multiple large drones spotted flying

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project that the u.s. and europe are both backing. let's get right to cnn, white house correspondent arlette saenz, who's been traveling with the president back in angola this morning. what's the latest yeah, john president biden is spending the last day of his first and only trip to africa, a trip that really has been overshadowed by president biden's own pardon of his son, hunter. >> and then that by that unexpected turmoil in south korea. but for president biden's part, he is trying to put the focus right back on why he came here to tout that infrastructure investment by the u.s. and european allies into something that's called the lobito corridor. this is an 800 mile unfinished railway project that's aiming to transfer critical minerals from interior countries in africa to the ports for exports, exports that could also go to the united states. senior administration officials say that this is really a test case for their strategy here in africa. what biden has been trying to do is find areas to

invest in and specific projects to help those countries there, and they hope that this is going to serve as a playbook for future administrations in africa it all comes as the u.s. has really tried to counter some of china's influence in the continent. china has spent the past ten years investing hundreds of billions of dollars into infrastructure projects across the continent through its belt and road initiative. really leaving the u.s. and other countries to catch up. but president biden, over the course of yesterday and today, did take some veiled swipes at china, as they really believe that this lobito corridor presents an alternative to african countries from what china has provided so far. take a listen to that moment from earlier today i want to be clear about something. >> all of these projects and investments are designed to have high impact and meet the highest standards for workers for the environment and for the communities. because the united states understands how we invest in africa is just as

important as how much we invest in africa now, the president made those comments as he was meeting with the leaders of four countries who are part of that corridor. >> that's angola, zambia tanzania, and also the democratic republic of congo. this is the final event for president biden. we will see him as he is departing to return to washington, d.c., but president biden in this trip fulfilled a two year promise to visit the continent of africa of sub-saharan africa. i will say, he in many ways, there were some frustrations that perhaps there were other foreign priorities that had arisen. when you think about the conflicts in ukraine. think about the conflict between or playing out in the middle east involving israel. but for president biden, biden's part, he wanted to make this trip, which could be the final foreign trip that he is taking as president. >> yeah, even so probably overshadowed by events that did

not have to do with angola. arlette saenz, who has been there for us. thank you so much for reporting on this. kate this just in pete hegseth mother just sitting down for an interview, sitting down on fox news. >> you'll remember she made headlines this week when a 2018 email that she had written to her son was published in the new york times. it's an email that read, in part, this on behalf of all of the women, and i know it's many. you have abused in some way. i say get some help and take an honest look at yourself that has made a lot of news as we know, in which, because his nomination to be the next defense secretary is in peril right now, she just sat down on fox news explaining that email. listen going through pete and his wife at the time were going through a very difficult divorce. >> it was a very emotional time, and i'm sure many of you across the country understand how difficult divorce is on a

family. there's emotions we say things and i wrote that in haste. i wrote that with deep emotions. i wrote that as a parent and about two hours later, i should i should, my husband tells me i should think through things a little bit more. but pete and i are both very passionate people i wrote that at a love and about two hours later i retracted it with an apology email but nobody there you go. >> joining me right now to talk about this and much more is democratic congressman gerry connolly. congressman thank you for coming in. we've got a lot to discuss but this just came through this nomination is an important one. and this nomination for to for pete hegseth to be the next defense secretary is in real question right now. what do you think of what you heard from. well, now we see kind of a i don't know if we can call it a campaign, but we know that pete hegseth mother is now going out to

appeal to donald trump on fox news to say we believe in him and you should as well well, you know, one can sympathize with maternal love and concern for a son but i think all of us are struck by the fact that whether the emails she's referring to that she wrote her own son was written in haste or not. >> how many of us have received an email like that from our mothers? >> i never did. >> um, and so something very serious was going on beyond the emotion of a difficult divorce she was speaking truth to her own son, urging him to get help for behavior and impulses that are injurious to women and his own mother recognized that. i think that's what we're hearing today. her protests, uh about writing it in haste, notwithstanding and as everyone

knows, the house does not have a say in in confirmation for these cabinet positions. >> but when it comes to there's a lot going on with this today, you not only have pete hegseth mother speaking out you have pete hegseth on the on back on the hill today to meet with some very key senators about his nomination. and there's also new reporting of names being floated as possible. new candidates to be nominated, like florida governor ron desantis, like republican senator joni ernst. and cnn has new reporting, congressman, that ron desantis and donald trump have spoken about this ron desantis is open to the job. what do you make of that? just knowing politics and how things work and when you kind of like, see this kind of churn happening around one nomination, you well, you know, there's kind of a game sometimes, sometimes people play, you know, it's going to be a bad day when, uh, you

know, it's going to be a bad day for you when talk of your successor is already out in the press. >> uh whether it be ron desantis or joni ernst or somebody else that's not a good sign. coming from mar-a-lago. if you are in fact, the secretary of defense designate, i want to also ask you because very soon republicans will be in charge of in control of the white house, the house and the senate. >> and this is a moment when democrats we know congressional democrats are looking to rethink and shake up their approach to being in the minority. this time. and part of that comes with committee leadership. just yesterday, you threw your hat in the ring to be considered to be the next top democrat on the house oversight committee, a critical committee, and one where we know some of the most contentious hearings occur, the most political investigations happen, and where we hear a lot of we and we get a lot of headlines out of why do you want to lead democrats on this committee now i've devoted all

16 years of my time in congress to this committee i've made it my primary commitment. >> um, no one's been more productive on the committee than i i've chaired the largest subcommittee by far, i, which was also the most productive subcommittee in the 117th congress. uh i was vice ranking member to the great, uh, elijah cummings. uh, and i know the work of the committee. i've had my fingers in every part of our legislative agenda i was named the most effective lawmaker in the united states congress by the vanderbilt university and university of virginia center for effective lawmaking so i've got a track record. i know how to get things done. uh, i know how to work with the media. i know how to work with the republicans and to fight with the republicans when that's necessary no one has been a more effective bulldog against donald trump and the trump years than i was. and i am relishing the opportunity to be

the loyal opposition. uh in this next congress we know that alexandria ocasio-cortez said yesterday that she is also considering running for that same top spot saying that she's interested and will be making a decision shortly uh, of course you have respect for all of your colleagues, but why you and not her well, i think it's a matter of experience and record. i mean, what have you got to show in terms of legislative accomplishment? what have you got to show in terms of, uh, you know, uh, going to hearings and taking the fight to the other side and defending the democratic agenda while as i said, taking the fight to the other side. i think

>> but i also happen to, you, announced in november last last month that you're battling esophageal cancer. how are you doing? how's your treatment going i think, as you can see, i'm doing fine. >> um, you know, it's a tough, tough thing to to tackle, but i have a lot of faith and confidence in my treatment and my doctors. uh, i'm feeling good. uh, the prognosis is good. uh, you know, we've made huge advances in cancer so that the object here is to try to get it down to a chronic disease that we manage, rather than some other kind of sentence. uh, so i'm feeling good. i know lots of people who have had this and survived many years. uh, and so i'm looking forward to coming back to work. uh, and i was there last night for my first votes after two weeks of treatment

and, uh, i believe i'm going to be able to approach this with a lot of energy and a lot of enthusiasm. >> well, there's there are a few certainties in life, but i am certain of one thing that no, no type of cancer is going to keep the bulldog out of gerry connolly if after covering you for years. thank you. thank you very much for coming on. and we're we're happy. you're feeling well. thank you. congressman john all right. >> this morning new questions about head injuries in football after the latest brutal hit left jacksonville quarterback trevor lawrence with a concussion. >> the texas azeez al-shaair has been suspended three games for this hit. our chief medical correspondent practicing neurosurgeon doctor sanjay gupta, is with us now. look. good morning. any football fan, even me, you know, watching this hit could see that was awful. it was awful to see. you know, as an expert on this. what did you see when you watched it? >> yeah i think most people thought it was awful. i think if you're a neurosurgeon, it was horrific. i mean, just take a look. we're not going to

show this too many times. but just as you look at that hit, there are several things that are going on there and i want to just show you quickly on this brain model how i think neuroscientists, neurosurgeons sort of think about this. i mean, obviously a very, very difficult hit, but there were three things that really went on there. first of all, there was that the arm to the to the head. so the so trevor's accelerating and then suddenly decelerates. but then there's also a turning of his head to the right. and then there's a third sort of component to this, which is when he hits his head on the, on the field itself. so there's three separate things that happen very, very quickly. there and that's a that's a brain injury. you know people call this concussion. but that is a significant brain injury and you get real evidence of that from a neuro standpoint by what happens next after the hit you see what happens to his overall posture just take a look at this. takes the hit there. and then his left arm goes up like that. that is something that's

referred to as a fencing posture. but again it's an indication of a significant brain injury. we saw the components of that brain injury. but what happens in the case of posturing is that this is the brain stem john. so brain up here, brain stem sort of is what leads to the spinal cord. you get an injury or a disruption of some of those pathways in the brain stem. and that causes that fencing posture in his case, his left arm is sort of extended like this right arm is sort of flexed like this. it's bad john. i mean that's a really, really significant injury. and i'll tell you quickly, you know obviously you can see it's bad. apparently he was pretty awake within a short time after that, able to answer questions. but the nfl now has what are called no go criteria. you see certain things that happen on the field, and that means that player is not returning to the field. you can see loss of consciousness, confusion or amnesia, impact, seizure fencing response. the thing that you just saw and something known as ataxia as well, which is basically you don't have

balance, you've lost your balance and we saw that as you remember, john, with tua a couple of times. >> yeah tua tagovailoa and of course he went through several bad hits and several concussions sort of lost count here. and what happens when you have repeat incidents of this andre. >> yeah. you know you know it's a really interesting question that i think people are trying to answer is, are there some people who are just more likely to have concussions? that's the question. their brains are just more easily concussed and, you know, we don't know the answer to that. but you can take a look at what we do know from tua specifically, at least three significant concussions he may have had more. you know, there was one, i think when he was a college player as well. that was pretty significant. but i think what we can say is once someone has three concussions, they are far more likely than to have a fourth. they sort of demonstrated that their brains are more concussive you'll see in that first one, september 25th, 2022. that's when he had the ataxia. you sort of saw him stumbling off the field, and it was because of that that the

nfl sort of increased the the criteria to ataxia as a no go criteria as well. it was because of what they saw with tua yeah. >> and of course, we hope trevor lawrence, his recovery is quick and he takes the time that he needs. doctor sanjay gupta, thank you so much for being with us. so what are all your questions about football and head injuries? submit them using the qr code on your screen and doctor gupta will be back on call tomorrow to answer them. this is a very important subject. so. happening now search crews urgently looking for a missing grandmother. she is believed to have fallen into a sinkhole while trying to find her lost cat. and this morning, one town has voted to remove fluoride from its water. we have new reaction from residents there on this controversial move doctor sanjay gupta on call, brought to you by the u.s. >> department of health and human services risk less, do more campaign reminding you to get this season's flu and covid 19 vaccines. go to cnn.com slash doctor gupta on

call or scan the qr code to ask your question this week as the people you love get older, their risk of severe flu and covid goes up. >> last year alone, those viruses hospitalized nearly 1 million people 65 and older. that's nearly 1 million moms, dads favorite uncles and grandmas. if someone you love is 65 or older, talk with them about vaccines because to you, they're not just another number still have moderate to severe ulcerative colitis or crohn's disease symptoms after taking a medication like humira or remicade, put them in check with rinvoq, a once daily pill. >> when symptoms try to take control. i got rapid relief with rinvoq. >> check when flares. try to slow me down. i got lasting remission with rinvoq. check. and many were in remission even at nearly two years and rinvoq helped visibly reduce damage of the intestinal lining. check

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ngs you don't need. take control of your money. download rocket money today, cnn heroes an all star tribute. >> find out who will be named the cnn hero of the year sunday at eight on cnn so right now, search crews are looking for a missing pennsylvania grandmother who, it is feared, fell into that massive sinkhole you see there while out looking for her cat. >> police say 64 year old elizabeth pollard was last heard from monday. authorities then discovered her car parked near a restaurant. her five year old granddaughter still inside the car. and a deep sinkhole just steps away. cnn's isabella rosales has much more on this and pulling together more of the reporting on this. what are you learning about the search now? kate. >> good morning. this is still a very active and large search operation in unity township. this is southwestern pennsylvania. at one point, over 100 people at this site

including specialized rescue crews and engineers, they've been using water pumps and vacuums to clear debris to widen the hole to make way for the search efforts. but unfortunately these very same search efforts in their attempts to find 64 year old elizabeth pollard they may be making the situation even more dangerous. there's big concerns here about the integrity of this sinkhole, that it could be further compromised, that it could lead to other sinkholes opening up, or even for that sinkhole to collapse. so this is 64 year old elizabeth pollard. she is believed to have fallen deep into that sinkhole behind of a restaurant while out with her five year old granddaughter searching for her cat. that sinkhole kate is about the size of a manhole and 30ft deep, and it is on top of an old and abandoned coal mine. now, during the search you mentioned they found a car inside of it. her five year old granddaughter, who had been

there for 12 hours in below freezing temperatures, and despite that situation, she was thankfully unharmed. now there are good signs here that have rescuers hopeful that elizabeth pollard is still alive in an air pocket. the good signs are that there there's plenty of oxygen, there's no carbon monoxide or explosive gases, and the temperature inside of that hole is warmer than above ground. here's pennsylvania state police it's possible that a person could have survived with the temperature rescue. >> i in my mind, we're still until. until you tell. show me something that's different that's how i feel about it. there's been nothing that said that. she is not alive. or she could not possibly have survived. there's nothing that said 100% definitively couldn't have happened. and until that 100% happens, i don't know how. why would i how could i say it's any other