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

way and kate crews have been using monitoring equipment inside of the hole no sounds were picked up, but crews were able to spot a shoe inside of that sinkhole i think we're also showing live pictures right here in the wall that is what the scene is like. >> this morning. you can see the excavator right there working on that site. isabel, thank you so much. the new hour of cnn news central starts now we are standing by for arguments at the supreme court in what could be a landmark case on transgender rights. >> huge new developments as pentagon pick pete hegseth nomination hangs in the balance. donald trump now talking to florida governor ron desantis about the job as his own mother jumps in to try to salvage the situation. and a senate investigation uncovering new information about those extra airline fees that you are forced to pay. sarah is out.

i'm john berman with kate bolduan. this is cnn news central all right. >> just about an hour from now, the supreme court is going to begin hearing arguments in a huge case, maybe the biggest case of the term it's about transgender rights at the center is a tennessee law that bans gender affirming health care for children. and teens. 26 states in all have passed similar restrictions. you see them all throughout the country. tennessee's version version prohibits doctors from giving hormone therapy and puberty blockers to transgender minors. the biden administration is arguing against the ban, saying it's unconstitutional. lawyers for tennessee argue the ban is unconstitutional because the law was a reasonable legislative response to contested medical evidence. let's get over to cnn's paula reid, who's kindly been standing by. as i give some of the background on this case. paula, you also spoke with some

of the people at the center of this case. talk to me about what they say and what is at stake here. >> look, this is the biggest case of the supreme court term. so far. today, the justices are going to consider whether minors have a constitutional right to certain medical care if they want to transition. and as you noted, we had one of the few interviews with a teen at the center of this case. we talked to her and her parents about what this tennessee law meant for them i was born in a male body and i am a woman, and that's incredibly uncomfortable for me. her parents, brian and samantha, had no idea i was surprised, but i was never i was still like from the very beginning, supportive like, okay, this is what's going on with you. >> we're there for it. >> and debated whether this was all just a phase. >> i asked lots of questions, had a lot of pushback, you

know, asked probably a lot of the questions that people are who are in opposition to this case are probably asking, you know, is this a phase? what does this mean? >> they got her a therapist and eventually started treatments when l was 13 years old. >> it's been very helpful. life changing. even i for some people it's even been life saving. >> the tennessee ban forced doctors to stop treating transgender patients like l with treatments that included puberty blockers and hormone therapies. >> it was just purely political. it was let's use these poor kids and these families as a pawn. and like, we just want to be able to take her to the doctor now, we also spoke to a doctor who supports the state of tennessee's ban, and he told us that he believes that minors just cannot give informed consent for this kind of treatment. >> he has no problem for adults that want to transition. but he believes when it comes to minors, there should be more of an emphasis on psychiatric

care. but i pressed him on what l told me about how this really changed her life, and he attributed a lot of that to the placebo effect. he said that he believes if you think that you need care and you receive care, that you're of course going to feel better. and that's part of why he's skeptical about these kinds of treatments. now, the justices will hear arguments in this case in a little under an hour. we don't know how long it's going to take them to reveal their opinion. but we do know that the incoming trump administration is not supportive of this kind of care. but l and her parents tell me that even if they don't have federal support for their case, that their lawyers from the aclu will continue to advocate for this kind of treatment. kate. >> all right. all getting underway in just a couple of hours. thank you so much john. >> want to talk about the legal questions here with us now? cnn's supreme court analyst steve vladeck and jeffrey rosen, president and ceo of the national constitution center. steve, i want to read from the decision. in 2020, bostock

versus clayton county, written by conservative justice neil gorsuch which did find that there were transgender rights in the workplace here. gorsuch wrote, quote, it is impossible to discriminate against a person for being homosexual or transgender without discriminating against that individual based on sex. so why are those words important to this case? and then additionally why then are you so focused on justice gorsuch today? steve yeah john. >> i mean, those words really are the heart of this. you know, back in 2020, in that bostock case, what the supreme court was doing was interpreting a federal statute, a title seven of the civil rights act, which congress enacted in 1964. you know today what the court is doing is interpreting a less specific provision of the constitution, part of the 14th amendment that was adopted way back in 1868. and, john, the question is going to be whether the supreme court and especially someone like a justice neil gorsuch

chief justice john roberts, who is also in the majority in that bostock case in 2020, are going to see these words and these concepts as meaning the same thing in the statute. congress wrote in 1964, as it means in the constitution or whether they're going to draw a distinction and say congress is allowed to prohibit more than the constitution does because the constitution doesn't use quite the same terminology, because it was adopted at a different time. that was different that, john, i think, is really the heart of the matter and why i think so many folks will be focused on justice gorsuch specifically in today's oral argument. >> professor rosen, equal protection heightened scrutiny, two phrases i feel like we may hear a lot today. what do they mean and how do they pertain to this case the constitution protects the equal protection of the laws. >> the supreme court has said that certain characteristics, like race get heightened scrutiny. that means you need a really good reason to discriminate on the basis of

race when it comes to gender. the court has adopted something called intermediate scrutiny. you need a good reason, but slightly less strong than when it comes to race. the central question in this case is, is discrimination against transgender people. discrimination on the basis of sex? and the biden administration says, put simply, an adolescent assigned female at birth can't receive puberty blockers to live as a male, but an adolescent assigned male at birth can. and the counterargument from the respondent's brief is that there is no gender classification here. there are two groups minors seeking drugs for gender transition and minors seeking drugs for other medical purposes. either of these groups includes members of both sexes, so that's the central question here. and if the court agrees with the biden administration it could find that discrimination against transgender people is entitled to heightened scrutiny. and you need a really good reason for any laws, not just the puberty blockers, but for sports teams and separate restrooms and all

discrimination against transgender people. by contrast, if the court rejects heightened scrutiny, it might say, well, just some medical evidence that this could be a good thing to block is okay. and we're going to uphold the law. so that's the central question in the case. >> and that's what we're listening for particularly. again, i think with justice gorsuch, because how could he switch from, you know, discriminating against someone for being transgender is definitionally in 2020? he said, discriminating against sex to now saying something different. and what would be the stakes, steve, here of ruling one way or the other i mean, i think the stakes, john, are enormous and i think you know, jeff was just explaining some of those stakes, you know a holding from the supreme court that for constitutional purposes discrimination on the basis of transgender status is akin to discrimination on the basis of sex would overnight subject a whole bunch of state

laws, local regulations, even federal laws to more exacting judicial scrutiny when they produce, when they discriminate against transgender individuals than they currently receive. >> on the flip side, john, if the supreme court says no, there's never a context in which a law that singles out transgender status is going to trigger this kind of heightened judicial scrutiny that's going to have consequences in the other direction. we will see, i think, more states and perhaps even the federal government, once you know the new government comes into office in january, taking more aggressive moves to restrict these kinds of medical treatments, it's why there's a lot riding on today's decision. it's why i think paul is right, that this is so far easily the biggest case of the year i think it's why, you know, folks are so focused on the justices who are almost certainly going to be in the middle of this case, neil gorsuch, chief justice john roberts, probably even justice amy coney barrett as well. >> all right. we're going to be watching and listening to them very carefully. what they ask

how they ask it, how much the 2020 case comes up, how much dobbs comes up. these are all things to pay attention to on your checklist over the next few hours. steve vladeck, jeffrey rosen, thank you both very much. so what do you do when donald trump starts talking to ron desantis about giving him your job? moments ago, pete hex's mother jumped in to try to save the teetering nomination of her son to be defense secretary. happening now a woman who managed to pass multiple security checkpoints and stow away on a flight to paris is on her way back to the united states. we think we have an update on what is happening on board this time and new reports of fear in the tech billionaire community that rarified community there. why elon musk business rivals are nervous about what he will do to them with all his new federal power cnn heroes, an all star tribute. >> meet and celebrate the honorees, then find out who will be hero of the year. plus,

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that hegseth faces trouble right now a rocky road to confirmation, to say the least. the road is so rocky, maybe that we learned last hour that the president elect has actually spoken with florida governor ron desantis about potentially replacing hegseth for the job as being a candidate for to head up the pentagon. he is facing several allegations of pete hegseth of drunken misbehavior, sexual misconduct and financial mismanagement of the veterans nonprofit that he once ran. hegseth mother speaking out now after making headlines this week when a 2018 email that she wrote to her son was published in the email in part said 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 was then. here is her message now pete is a new person he's redeemed, forgiven changed.

>> i think we all are. after seven years, i believe he's the man for the job. i know pete and the people who know us know pete and trump knows pete and he knows the pete of today. and he knows the pete who is a good father, a good husband to jen. he's got seven kids. he's a wonderful son wonderful son, and a wonderful son to his brothers and all his friends. he's a changed man and i just hope people will will get to know who pete is today, especially our dear female senators that you would listen to him listen with your heart to the truth of pete with me. >> now to discuss the path to confirmation or not democratic strategist matt bennett lee carter is also here. strategic communications expert. it's great to see you guys. thanks for being here. and lee, you have known pete hegseth for quite some time. yes um, the appearance from his mom hearing from penelope there this morning. do you think it fixes the trouble that his

confirmation is facing? >> i don't know if it fixes it, but it certainly helps. i mean, it dimensionalizes. what's happening? i mean there is no question what happened in his previous marriage and where he is today. and i'm sure there are rocky roads behind the scenes. um pete hegseth that i know is a man who is a delight to work with. i have never smelled alcohol on his breath. i have traveled with him to debates. i have traveled with him to primary states. i have traveled with him and the fox and friends team all over, and i've never seen any of the behavior that we're talking about there. there's a there's certainly things that he did in his past, and there's things that we've all done in our past, but i think we need to ask ourselves in this moment, what do we want to be doing when we have real questions about about the invalid questions? frankly about the people that are that are up for the cabinet. people are concerned about his experience. let's leave the rest off the table. i mean, it is just politics is a blood sport at this point, and you

can understand why really good people don't want to do it. when you look at what's happened here, let's focus on what really matters is he qualified for the job, what happened with his previous marriage, what happened in his private life all of that is off the table. what is on the table? and i think what we should be talking about is, is he the right person for this job you i hear you, but it is all on the table. >> that is the politics, the reality of the politics today. and that is some of what are the real questions that we know we've heard from republican senators like joni ernst. they want they have questions that they want answered. and that is part of the process. that is where these questions and this vetting does take place. and to that mat, he's back on the hill meeting with these key senators and joni ernst is really seen as key. she is a veteran. she is a survivor of sexual assault herself. she is well respected in all corners and which is why. and i'll read for you a quote that from a source in the trump transition speaking to jake, tapper said this if she

isn't, if she joni isn't comfortable with pete and he doesn't answer her questions about women in the military and about sexual assault, if she doesn't leave the meeting supporting him, there are 5 or 6 republican senators who will oppose his nomination pete hegseth tweeted. he's not backing down though. matt, how do you think this goes well i think he's going down because i think this is not a question of politics as blood sport. >> this is a question of whether this guy can perform the incredibly important duties of secretary of defense. remember the secretary of defense is in the chain of command, which is to say if we are going to attack someone, the president gives the order to the secretary of defense that could come at any time, day or night, as it often does. and that and he or she sends that down the chain and if that person cannot be trusted to be you know, within their their right mind, this guy is a

drunk. it's very clear. it's been reported many places that he was drunk in his capacities at the nonprofits he worked at i just and you can describe it one way, matt, but i mean, i mean, i the way i would have described it was slightly, i guess everyone's definition of a drunk can be different. >> i don't know if that's something we can. we need to debate here, but continue fair enough. >> whether you call him an alcoholic or not, he clearly on the job or socializing with his office mates drank a lot. there's reporting on cnn that he showed up for work at fox smelling of alcohol, which means even if he was sober when he arrived at work, he was not sober during the evening. if this guy can't be trusted to perform the duties of secretary of defense any time, day or night, he can't do the job and he's not qualified. he's never run anything. the pentagon is an enormous operation. there's 2 million americans under arms it's $1 trillion a year. he

simply isn't the right person for the job. >> i will tell you that. i think the biggest mistake that people that are posing pete hegseth are making is, is that they're not focused on the right things. this is an all hands attack. we're focusing on on whether or not he drank. we're focusing on whether or not what he what he did out in extracurricular activities. the point that you're making about is he qualified for the job. can he lead? does he have the experience to lead an organization aside that is valid that's what we should be talking about. the rest of this is hearsay. there are anonymous sources every one, every one of his cohosts. and if you look at everything that has come out and said that this is not true, talk to the makeup artist who did his makeup every day, who would smell the alcohol on his breath. and they will tell you, this is not true. and so i think we're talking about the wrong thing. yes, you have an absolute valid concern about whether or not he is the right person for this job. but by talking about whether or not he's a drunk and calling him that kind of thing, you're taking your eyes off the prize. and i think you're making the whole thing ineffective. and i honestly think that the

democrats are doing more damage by doing this kind of thing than focusing on the real question, which everybody rightfully has. is he the right person for the job? is he qualified not based on the hearsay kind of attacks but on the real things? has he managed enough people to be able to do this job? is he the right person for this job? those are good questions. the rest of it, i find it offensive and wrong. >> can i? i want to just ask one thing to you guys really quickly, which is no matter the public discussion outside, one of the key is, is which is the unknown is what is the view of donald trump on the inside of the transition of how this is playing out? the insight that we have today is that we have reporting from cnn, steve contorno that trump has been has spoken to. a source says that trump has spoken to ron desantis about the possibility of taking this job, that ron desantis has said that he is open if offered to taking the job. i just that to me that's what that's where like my big question remains right now is what does where does the pressure stand in terms of the appetite for donald trump to put up with

this kind of we'll call it smoke. you know, around him much longer lee, what do you think? >> well, look i think if if the president has to be prepared for anything that happens. so i'm not surprised that he's having conversations. i mean, if you even look at the betting markets right now, the betting markets have said that it's less likely you know, than ever that pete hegseth gets confirmed. so he can't be caught flat footed but there is no sign that the administration is backing down from their support of him. now, you heard in the days when gaetz matt gaetz was was going up, there was absolute silence from the administration. you didn't hear any support. you didn't you knew that there was something going on as you know, last night donald trump jr. was writing about his support of jd vance just wrote a tweet in support of him, too and so i don't see that they are backing down. but i think, you know, they've got to be prepared and you got to if the votes aren't there, the votes aren't there, and they've got to have a qualified candidate and it looks like they're ready to move quickly. but i don't see any sign that that donald trump support pete hegseth is breaking. >> one thing i can say with, well, i'll say certainty and then i'll then i'll have, you

know, pie in my face is by the end of today there should be some clearer view on where the path is headed. only because there's a lot happening in this and something's got to give. it seems matt, it's good to see you as always. thanks for coming in, lee thank you, thank you. so we also are following breaking news that is just coming in. and we're gathering the details here the ceo of unitedhealthcare brian thompson, we've learned has been fatally shot outside a hotel in midtown manhattan. investigators say that they're currently searching for a gunman we're gathering more details and getting our teams moving on this. we're going to have much more after a break. all right 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 cnn at bamba. >> sweet dream of comfort and softness, which is why we make the best socks and slippers in the history of feet

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tribute sunday at eight on cnn all right, we have breaking news from right here in new york. >> we're just hearing that the ceo of unitedhealthcare, which is the largest health care company in the country, was murdered this morning, gunned down on the streets in what police are calling a targeted attack. that's brian thompson right there. the ceo of unitedhealthcare he was shot and killed while outside the hilton hotel. let's get right to cnn's brynn gingras with the latest on this. i know the details are just coming in, brant. so what are you learning yeah, that's right, john. >> of course, this is still unfolding. investigators there on the scene but as you just described there, they believe right now this was a targeted attack. now let's back up to just a few hours ago this morning in midtown manhattan. and for reference for people who aren't familiar, of course, with new york city, this is really not far from where the tree lighting is expected to occur tonight in the heart of the theater district in midtown

manhattan we're told that thompson was headed to a conference for united health care that was expected to happen in the ballroom of that hotel of the the hilton there in midtown when there was a gunman who fired shots about 20ft away from him as he was approaching that hotel again, it appears it was a targeted attack. that gunman then according to sources telling our john miller, fled through a back alley near a theater again in the heart of new york city in the theater district, hopped on a bicycle and that is how that suspect got away. so you can imagine right now investigators are there on the scene they're combing that area. they're pulling video of a very popular area of new york city, lots of cameras to pull from to figure out exactly what happened here, where that person fled, to what we understand, though, is that that suspect was actually outside that hotel for quite a bit before thompson

actually approached that hotel. so that is why at this point right now, in the investigation investigators believe this was a targeted attack. but again, a lot of questions here. exactly why thompson was targeted, who obviously this person is was there any help. again, as i said, we're told through sources that he fled on a bicycle through a back alley. so it doesn't appear like there was anybody else yet involved. but still so many questions. and we know investigators are combing the scene of that area as we speak yet again just to reiterate some points that brian just made there, we believe we've been told. >> cnn's john miller reporting that the gunman had been waiting for brian thompson, the unitedhealthcare ceo, to arrive at this conference at the hilton, which is why they believe this was a targeted attack. as brian points out, the hilton hotel right in the middle of all the action particularly in the christmas season here in new york. so, so much activity in and around that area. so obviously that is of enormous concern this morning. and then

brian, this guy got away or the shooter got away. we think on a bike i have to imagine there is not a small manhunt underway right now across this city oh, absolutely. >> there is a huge manhunt across this city. and also let's reference the time, john, we're talking again. i keep reinforcing it. but midtown manhattan, at the height of thursday morning, a rush hour time and a gunman firing multiple shots outside this hotel where, as you just said, this is a big tourist area. and as i also mentioned, you know, this is the tree lighting. so there's a lot of security in this area especially today because of that event that's taking place later tonight so this is certainly something that is extremely alarming to police that this could actually happen and that's going to be probably part of this investigation is how did it happen. but it does appear it was a targeted attack and you just said it john, this is no small manhunt that is going on right now as they search for the suspect who might have fired the shots. >> you know what? i'm going to let you take that call. brian

because we are getting new information in by the second here. hopefully brian's got some new reporting for us in just a minute. again the news that we're following at this moment, the ceo of unitedhealthcare, brian thompson gunned down on the streets of new york this morning. just context. unitedhealthcare is the biggest health care company in the country. we don't know why thompson was targeted, but authorities believe it was a targeted attack. the gunman police tell john miller waiting for thompson to arrive at an event at the hilton hotel. and importantly, right now, the gunman is still on the loose. so a manhunt underway in jam packed, holiday crazed new york city. we're going to have much more on these breaking developments right after a break 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

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a little bit more details. first of all, we should get a lot more details because we're expecting police to hold a news conference later this morning at about 1130 or so. so we'll probably hear from the police commissioner hopefully by then we'll have a little bit more details on the investigation. as you can imagine, that is very you know, in high speed at this point right now, what we're also learning of course, as john miller was reporting through his sources is that police are right now pulling camera images from all that area. and as i said before, there are a lot of cameras since we're talking about the heart of manhattan. so there are images that police are going to have of this suspect not only the video of him this person, you know, trying to get away on a bicycle. as we reported through a back alley behind a theater. but also just images of this actual person and what we're learning from sources is that this person was also masked. so it's possible this is going to hinder a little bit of them trying to identify who this person is. i've also learned from sources just within the last few minutes that that person might have been waiting outside that

hotel for about ten minutes or so. as we said john was reporting that sources were telling him that we believe he was waiting. it's a targeted attack against that. united health care ceo brian thompson. that is what a theory, one of the theories that investigators are working with right now. so it's possible that person was actually waiting outside that hotel for about ten minutes or so. again, this is all preliminary information. this is what we are learning from sources at this point. and of course, they need to firm up their information as this investigation continues. but we will expect some more information certainly when police have that press conference, we're expecting around 1130 this morning, but those are some new details. >> all right. brant stand by for us for a moment or work the phones if you have to. i want to bring in steve moore, cnn law enforcement analyst, former fbi special agent. steve. so, two things i want to ask you about the bryndis reported, number one, this gunman was masked, apparently, and is now

on the loose in new york. talk to us about the manhunt that you imagine is underway well, it's going to be really difficult obviously, because within about five minutes your description isn't going to be worth anything. >> he's going to dump the mask probably, uh probably switch into clothes or at least take off the dark clothes that were probably over his street clothes. um you would probably uh. um be setting up some kind of cordon. but again, you're talking about midtown, so, uh how much, how much can you actually, uh, shut off in a short amount of time? um i think, uh, in this case, you're probably looking less at an immediate, uh arrest because you don't know. i mean, you have cabs public transport, uber personal cars. he could be anywhere by now.

>> so very quickly, law enforcement sources have told our brynn gingras and john miller that they believe this was a targeted attack. and one of the main points of reasoning there is that they believe this gunman had been waiting on the scene for ten minutes before the shooting. if you can discuss the importance of that fact. >> well, it's it's pretty huge at this point. um, yeah it seems targeted. first of all, he was at a meeting that was publicly known it wouldn't be hard for anybody to determine where his location would be. the fact that he was waiting right at that point for ten minutes, uh would show that he had some intel on where this person would be at a certain point, so that is, you know, that does two things to you. it shows that, again, it appears to be a targeted attack. and number two, it doesn't appear that other people in the area are going to be necessarily in

immediate danger. it switches you though to uh, the mode of who, who and why. um, and of course, when you have a company like that, um that serves millions of people um, boy, it's a big, big net. >> yeah. the who and the why of it so walk me through what law enforcement can do, given the limited information they have right now guy laying in wait for ten minutes or so, opening fire when he sees brian thompson walking into the hotel, taking off on a bike. we know brian thompson and i do apologize to everyone we're trying to get more information on this man who was lost, and our condolences are to his family this morning to be sure. but if he was walking into a conference at this point, steve, do you try to talk to everyone who was there, go through anyone who had been waiting to see him to find out what you can. how critical are

these first minutes? in that case the first minutes are very important. >> uh of course, but what you're what you're going to look at is, is uh, what was he was the gun that was used was it a semi-auto was are there, uh, casings on the ground? the casings can can at least lead you to the type of, uh, pistol that you're looking at, or if it. i'm assuming it was a pistol um, it can give you that kind of information. you're also trying to pick up as quickly as you can any security cameras that would have been in the area, uh, of of the of the hotel and the direction in which he seemed to escape um, so you're looking again at the at the stuff that would be right there. the people in the car. yes. or the people waiting for him would be crucial. um, you'd also want to know, was

there somebody where he got into the car? was there somebody um, waiting there? if he had just arrived. so you're going to be sending people all over the place trying to get instant interviews and again, new york city has the largest police department in the country, all very much, i think focused on figuring out where this shooter is and pulling at every thread they can find. >> steve moore stand by, if you will, for a moment. i want to bring back brynn gingras, who's been working the phones and her sources, trying to find out whatever you can. bryn, what's the latest? >> yeah, the latest. sorry, i just got a text message. the latest is, you know they're still they're still looking for this person. it doesn't appear, according to sources, that they're very close to finding who this person is. as i mentioned, sources were telling me that from an image that they were able to to get from all those cameras in midtown manhattan, they do have an image of who they believe the suspect is, and that image shows that that person was

masked. so of course, that is going to be difficult to decipher who that person is especially as the getaway. we believe from sources telling john miller was this person ran from that hotel in midtown manhattan down a back alley by a theater because it's in the heart of the theater district and got on a bicycle. and that's how this person got away. so you can imagine now they are pulling video from that possible route of escape and trying to figure out where this person actually went. so backing up a little bit more details again what we're understanding happened at about 645 or so this morning was that the ceo of united health care, brian thompson was headed to a midtown hotel, the hilton. there in the heart of the theater district in midtown manhattan, again on a day that is very heavily secured because tonight is the tree lighting of the rockefeller tree. and this person is believed to have been there for about ten minutes or so, waiting for thompson to arrive at the hotel, who was

attending a conference for united health care. and according to sources telling john miller that person fired multiple shots at about 20ft away before getting away and killing thompson. so again, this is something police. you saw all the crime scene tape up there in midtown manhattan. we do expect more updates at the earliest. 1130 this morning. we're expecting a news conference from the nypd. john. >> all right we're waiting for that news conference. we will let you get back to working your phones and reading that text message that just came in. brynn gingras back with you in just a moment. our thanks to stephen moore as well. again the breaking news. the united health care ceo brian thompson gunned down outside a hotel in new york city of particular concern right now, the gunman on the loose. a manhunt underway, the latest right after this the lead with jake tapper today at four on cnn oh what a good time we will have you can make it happen again voltaren for

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checks, no mandatory fees and that's why i chime. join me at chime com and get paid when you say five good things, listen wherever you get your podcasts all right just an update on the breaking news. >> there is a manhunt underway here in new york city. the ceo of unitedhealthcare, brian thompson, was gunned down outside the hilton hotel not too long ago they believe the gunman was waiting for him. they believe the police knew it was a targeted attack. and there is now a manhunt for this shooter who escaped down an alley believed to be wearing a mask as well, which made the surveillance difficult. we'll have much more on this in a moment. in the meantime, shifting gears this morning, there are new reports of fear among tech industry leaders as elon musk cozies up to president-elect trump. that's a euphemism. they're more than cozies up. many of the business rivals are making new efforts to get in good graces of trump and the administration sam

altman, the openai chief who's had some pretty open beefs. if we can use the plural of beef with musk recently said this on fox news we need to be able to have the best ai infrastructure in the world to be able to lead with the the technology and the capabilities. >> i believe president-elect trump will be very good at that. look forward to working with his administration on it. it does seem to us like this is going to be very important. it does seem like this will be one of these unusually important moments in the history of technology all right. >> with us now, wall street journal reporter who has reported extensively on this so if you put up a picture of sam altman, why is that man worried? this morning? >> well, elon musk has a long list of enemies, but sam altman is near the top of it. he has been openly feuding with sam altman and actually filed an expanded lawsuit against him since the election. and since becoming first buddy. and he's been all over x saying he doesn't trust him and giving him trump like nicknames like swindling sam.

>> we have a little sound to this effect just so people can see what you're talking about. let's play that i don't trust sam altman and i don't think we want to have the most powerful ai in the world controlled by someone who is not trustworthy yikes if you're sam altman. >> yeah, i mean, this new administration is going to have vast power over the direction that ai goes for all i and elon musk has a huge amount of influence over what is happening right now in the administration. he's been pushing for appointments, he's been making loud calls. and if you want a favor from trump right now, a good person to talk to is elon musk so that is not a person who you want to be openly saying that he doesn't trust you. >> so talk to us more about that is if you want a favor from trump, you have to be in musk's good graces or like you absolutely, categorically can't be on musk's bad side here in trump world. is that the sense right now among tech leaders there is a sense that if you want something from trump, musk is the person to go

to. >> of course, of course there are others. and of course people are trying to go around and hire lobbyists and do their meetings around the edges but he has not left mar-a-lago since the election, more or less so what are people like? >> sam altman, mark zuckerberg, other bill gates right there who's had other beefs with elon musk over the years what are they doing now to fix this if they want to? >> so sam altman met recently with howard lutnick in palm beach trying to kind of forge relationships with folks that are not, you know, that are going to go around musk and folks like mark zuckerberg, you know have have been down and met with the president elect as well. so people are trying to make, you know direct pleas to president-elect trump without, you know, musk in the way. >> all right. as i said, you've got great reporting on those people. should go check out your article in the wall street journal. thanks so much for being with us. this morning. thank you. kate all right. >> there's a lot of news that we're tracking. we continue to follow the breaking news of the shooting of the ceo of united health care in midtown manhattan. a manhunt underway, all of that continues on cnn right now cnn news central is

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