happening yes. >> the city of hama has fallen to the rebels. >> this happened just within the last few hours, whereby the government simply said they're pulling out of the city after an intense assault by those rebels. now hama is the fourth largest city in syria. aleppo, which the rebels took over on friday, is the second largest city in syria. so in the in the space of a week, the rebels have made massive gains and it doesn't seem that the regime of bashar al-assad is really able to stop this rebel advance. this is a city that historically is very important because back in 1982, the father of bashar al-assad, under his regime, there was a massacre of more than 10,000 people in the city of hama, has never been under rebel control. and certainly this is a real

body blow for a regime that many thought had survived. so far this civil war. kate. >> yeah, it's proving not so much. ben, thank you so much as always. a new hour of cnn news central starts now all right. >> we are getting new information just in on the killing of a health care ceo here in new york. the words very much written on the shell casings found at the scene. a new twist from police as the manhunt reaches a fever pitch. pete hegseth vows to stop drinking if he is confirmed as defense secretary. will those words have the impact he hopes they will? as we are getting new reporting on where his nomination stands this morning and maybe not so prime paying for two day delivery, sometimes overnight delivery on amazon, but never getting it. a new lawsuit sarah is out today. i'm john berman with kate

bolduan. this is cnn news central all right. we want to get to the very latest reporting on the manhunt for a killer here in new york. and there is new information just in on the search for this person who killed health care ceo brian thompson. 24 hours ago. words very much written on shell casings of rounds found at the scene. there had been some confusion in some places about that. this law enforcement sources tell cnn that two words were found delay and deposed. depose was written on a shell casing from a round that was fired at the victim. delay was written on a live round not fired, but ejected when the shooter appeared to be clearing a jam. there are images of the suspect at starbucks also leaving a subway station. police also have video obtained by the new york times of him talking on a phone just minutes before the murder. this, as thompson's widow now reveals

to nbc. quote, i don't know details. i just know that he said there were some people that had been threatening him. but let's get to the shell casing. in the words written on them with us now, cnn chief law enforcement and intelligence analyst john miller, you've got new information. and also, i think a new visual representation of what we're talking about. >> well, sure so depose is written on a round that was fired so that's a shell casing that's found on the ground. and they find these tiny letters on it. delay is found on a live round. that's a full bullet that he probably ejected. trying to clear that jam. those are the two words they found but investigators doing research into what could this mean delay? depose. you know found the maxim of deny, delay, depose variations of the maxim deny, delay, defend, which is actually the name of a book. these are sayings, and you can find them all over the internet and reddit and other postings about insurance company practices of trying to find ways out of paying on

claims that they are disputing. so what they believe is the killer was sending a message. now this is a nine millimeter round. this is the shell casing, the silver part, the copper part is the actual bullet and to write something on something this small and i mean john, picture how you would try to do that. would you take a fine point sharpie. would you try to scratch it in. it means someone went to a lot of trouble to try and create this message that would be left at the scene. now he's missing the third word. so if this is the maxim he's trying to tell us about, is that bullet still in the magazine remaining unfired, that left with his getaway? is it on one of the other shell casings? but it burned off as it was fired and ejected. we don't know that yet. >> yeah, but two of the three. and as you say, would require just a very high level of deliberateness here. so what does that tell investigators as

they are very much engaged in this manhunt? 25, 26 hours later? >> well, it tells them it gives them an answer and raises a question. the answer it gives them is you have a killer who is trying to send a message the question is, what does the message really mean? what you can glean from it. if the target was carefully selected, the head of a major health care insurance entity is is it directed at unitedhealthcare? is it directed at that ceo or is this a killer who is targeting the insurance industry, which has caused everybody from hospital executives to insurance providers yesterday to start doubling and tripling the security around their top people? >> yeah, i was going to ask that because if you have someone trying to send a message out there on the loose, which clearly they do i mean, if you're going to write something on a shell casing, you are trying to send a message. there you then have to take next steps to try to figure out how to protect people. >> well, that's right and you know, my phone was ringing yesterday from heads of

security and from security companies saying what do we think about the targeting in this case? do you know, executives have to worry where can we get the kind of increased security details in close personal protection until we have a better understanding of this? those wheels started turning yesterday morning. they're turning faster today. >> all right. these developments keep on happening at a furious pace. john miller, we're lucky to have you here. please keep us posted throughout the next hour. thanks, john. kate. >> and joining us right now is former us marshal john muffler and former boston police commissioner ed davis. ed, let's start where john and john. john and john just left off talking about the question of personal security, some detail that we got from unitedhealthcare was that unitedhealthcare was aware of threats to top executives. brian thompson was was never named specifically, but a source familiar with the company's security does tell cnn the the leadership team at unitedhealth group is supported by an in-house security team, including at the new york conference. but thompson's

security detail was not with him yesterday morning. what does that mean? what does that add into this well, it's very troubling. >> um, the the provision of security personnel is really a risk and compliance question. each, each of these corporations has a compliance and risk department they should be having these conversations. um and if he does have a security function um, he either said i don't need it in new york. it's expensive to have a team travel with you and put them up. uh, so sometimes executives say, i'll have a detail at my house but i'm not going to have any protection while i'm traveling. um because they live under the false assumption that nobody understands where they are. but this is a public meeting. a publicly advertised meeting location and time. everyone knows that he will be there. uh it's a very simple equation for someone stalking someone online and doing research to

put together that this could be a good place and notwithstanding the cameras, it's a very easy, uh task to to find them and then to do whatever it is that you want to do with them. >> and, john, how does this manhunt shift now, as we are past, as we past the 24 hour mark since this guy's been on the run well, i think they have great leads. >> um i'd imagine in the next presser, they'll be more information. clearly they have. clearly they have a list of uh, clues that they're running on and are aware of the direction he traveled and the way he did it. my assumption is that he was there a day or so if not longer in advance conducting pre-attack surveillance. so it would be good time for nypd to look at those cameras in that location. um, could be a time where he wasn't wearing a mask. a day of the shooting so i

think there's some good clues there. i think there's some some understanding of a warning behavior typologies that he's exhibited, like fixation pathway to violence that they can run on and look at as clues to where he may be and where he may be going, may be going. >> i want you both also to weigh in on what what john mueller was just reporting about the fact that law enforcement sources tell cnn the two words that were found on on shell casings, on on shell casings delay and depose, depose written on a shell casing from around that was fired into the victim. delay written on a live round that was not fired but believed to be ejected when the shooter you know he appeared to be clearing a jam and those words are really all over the internet, you know, from people angry at the health care industry, blogs articles and various combination, um using these words as critical of the health care industry. john, what do you do with this? how do you help this try to narrow your search for who you could be looking for well, you know

obviously, i mean, there's just two words that they found, and i agree with john miller that very likely there are other words in that magazine, but it's an indication again, of that behavior leading up to the attack and there's some giveaways there. >> so i think, again, looking at that type of leakage of the words, he's using, um, you know, many of school shooting attacks and other workplace violence attacks, um there's leakage and meaning that others in that person's environment are aware of such terminologies and, you know, those people who are watching cnn and other news media thinking like they see that face and hear those words, they can like, oh, he did it make a post. i knew, i knew a guy made a post or a family member, a loved one. so i think those are going to help those in that person's life. uh, maybe report to law enforcement those those pre clues that is

interesting. >> ed, what do you think of that well john's exactly right. >> it's it's a great clue. and if someone has heard him use those words before and sees that picture, especially of his face in the starbucks, they would be able to put two and two together and get in touch with law enforcement. hopefully uh, but the other thing is you have to also think about the fact that he may have been leaving more of a message. i think it's unusual that someone that well prepared and effective, inadvertently dropped the cell phone at the scene. it sometimes takes a day or two to get into those phones i'm wondering what messaging is on that cell phone. is someone trying to explain themselves? uh, in a with a burner phone that might have 1 or 2 pages of information on it that's something we have to look out for. and we also have to keep in mind that this could be a feint. it could be a, you know purposely putting detectives off the track of the real motive so you have to keep all options open in these cases. >> absolutely right. john, do

you assume he is no longer in manhattan or do you have to or do you think he's more likely still in manhattan these are the these are great questions. >> um, you know tracking fugitives. these these can last, you know, days to months. and so it's really hard to tell at this point. i am very interested in looking at his, his his travel out to central park on that bike. that was gps coordinated and again, he's going to have pre-attack surveillance, fingerprints again indicating where he may be now that he may be held up somewhere to let this cool down. and then try to leave new york city or maybe he's already exited new york city. um, but those are some really good clues for nypd. uh, to track on. so who knows? at this point? who knows?

>> thank you both so much. as always, it's great to see you, john. great to see you as well john. >> all right. new reports of donald trump's pick to be defense secretary pete hegseth drinking it questionable moments this time. stale beer at fox before 10 a.m. then going after amazon y prime delivery may not mean prime delivery and new reporting that the season for nfl quarterback trevor lawrence is likely over. we've got answers to your questions about concussions in football and in everyday life cnn heroes, an all star tribute. >> meet and celebrate the honorees, then find out who will be hero of the year. plus, a special tribute to michael j. fox cnn heroes, an all star tribute sunday at eight on cnn dear doctor k, i used to think i was never meant to be beautiful. >> i was teased because of my teeth. i didn't like the person looking back at me in the mirror i never thought i could afford dental implants. you and your team work within

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trump's pick for defense secretary is heading back to capitol hill again today, continuing on his full on blitz pete hegseth is fighting to save his nomination and trying to calm republican concerns about his qualifications and allegations from his past. >> among allegations that hegseth denies is that he was known to drink excessively. new reporting from the washington post cites former fox news employees who say they witnessed it, saying they saw him quote drinking on the job or visibly drunk at work events. these revelations leading to hegseth facing blunt questions from senators in closed door meetings already according to a trump transition source questions like are you an alcoholic? are you a womanizer? did you embezzle money? cnn's kristen holmes is in west palm beach for us. quite the question to be facing when you're trying to lock in support for a cabinet position. how is hegseth responding to

this and what are you hearing from inside the transition yeah, kate, he is saying that he is going to fight like hell. >> i am hearing from the transition that donald trump still supports hegseth. he is still standing by his side. he doesn't believe that there are enough hard nosed in the senate yet to have that conversation with hegseth. remember, one of the things that we paid attention to, the reason he ended up calling matt gaetz, who is up for attorney general and essentially telling him he didn't have the votes, was because he was having conversations with senators who were telling them it was a hard no. he didn't want to waste the political capital. as of right now, donald trump believes there is still a pathway for hegseth, and we're told he's going to stand by him. while that pathway exists. now, as you mentioned, it is a rough starting point when you're meeting these senators for the first time and they are asking if you are an alcoholic, if you are a womanizer, particularly after what we have seen is this drip, drip of news reports and allegations from his past that do involve these kind of allegations when it comes to being drunk at work events or drinking to excessively. now, pete hegseth

was on megyn kelly yesterday addressing this issue. take a listen first of all, i've never had a drinking problem. >> i don't i've never no one's ever approached me and said, oh you you should really look at getting help for a drink. never. i've never sought counseling, never sought help. i respect and appreciate people who who do now, kate, it is notable just that hegseth was on television doing this interview. >> it wasn't just him, it was actually his mother as well who sat down on fox news. the reason why this is so notable is that donald trump's team has largely kept all of these cabinet appointees, all of these administration appointees off of the airwaves. they don't want them to make any mistakes before those confirmation hearings, but clearly they want hegseth out there and fighting. and that's what you saw yesterday. we'll obviously keep an eye on how those meetings today go, because he has so far five meetings with senators on his dance card. again we expect more questions about these allegations. kate.

>> yeah. kristen. the question, you know, does end up becoming how long is too long for this to stretch on is it clear to you if and when that would kind of hit that i'll call it the matt gaetz point where it all just there is just too much surrounding him for donald trump to continue to have an appetite to support it from what i'm hearing, that this all comes down to the actual math. >> it's not necessarily about too much to support it. it's how much comes out that impacts these votes in the senate and then how much political capital that donald trump wants to actually use. it became very clear very quickly with matt gaetz that these hard nosed were not going to shift. there was a line that these senators weren't going to cross, and that he would have to expend all of his political capital on matt gaetz when there were several other picks who might be a little bit less controversial but he would also still need to step in for it. he decided that that was too heavy of a lift. right now, what i'm being told is because of these behind the scenes conversations that these transition members are having, that the vice president elect

is having with these various senators they still believe that there is a pathway for hegseth. of course all of this could change if there's more information that comes out, how this plays out. but right now, if you're looking at the math, as long as they think there is a pathway, donald trump has said he's going to stand by him. >> kristen holmes, thank you so much, kristen. john all right. >> also going on capitol hill today, elon musk and vivek ramaswamy to talk about their plans to slash government spending. let's get to lauren fox on capitol hill what's the expectation there today on this yeah i mean this is something that republicans are excited about on capitol hill. >> this is an issue that a lot of them have been talking about for years now actually executing extreme cuts to government spending. that is something that is much harder to do. and that is because every member of congress has sort of their own idea of what is sacred when it comes to the federal budget. so we're going to be watching really closely today to see how those conversations go. i mean, mostly they're going to be meeting with people who are

already open to many of the ideas they are floating. it is also, again, a blockbuster day on the hill because of these ongoing meetings with people like pete hegseth, we saw yesterday, as kristen was pointing out just a few minutes ago that these meetings on capitol hill were really sort of twofold. one, senators wanted answers about this past and some of the questions that have arisen about his private actions. they also were trying to educate him and his team about how grueling this process is going to be. we are still likely weeks, if not months away from a final vote on someone like pete hegseth. and right now, you know, they are having conversations about just so you know, this is the kind of question that is going to come up in a confirmation hearing. one of the people i talked to yesterday, kevin cramer, who sat down with hegseth after that meeting, said that he told hegseth directly, i am one of the nicer members on this committee you

are going to be facing really hard questions in a public setting, just sort of level setting and preparing, hegseth for what's to come john, it's an interesting way to put it lauren fox with new reporting on capitol hill. >> lauren, great to see you. thank you very much. so what happens when those deliveries that are supposed to be speedy are not so speedy? lawsuits. hi, lauren. by lauren against amazon can't fool myself. >> it was the most exciting time in the world. his life 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. >> i still love to surf snowboard, and of course skate. so i take magnesium to support my muscle and bone health kunal's high absorption magnesium glycinate helps me get the full benefits of magnesium. kunal, the brand i trust.

>> do you know what time it is? >> it's the medicare annual enrollment period for many of you with medicare, this may be the only time of year you are eligible to enroll in a new medicare advantage plan. so what are you waiting for now is the time to check your zip code for medicare advantage plans in your area. if you don't have a medicare advantage plan also known as medicare part c now is the time to check your zip code if you do have a medicare advantage plan and want to see what new 2025 plans are available to you now is the time to check your zip code if you're confused about medicare and want someone to help make it easier and simpler to understand your options, now is the time to check your zip code. if your original medicare plan isn't giving you the coverage you need, now is the time to check your zip code. if you have original medicare and you live in the united states, now is the time to check your zip code. if you called last year and think there's no need to call this year, now is the time to check your zip code. insurance companies offer different plans and different zip codes, so you should find out what your 2025 options are now. during the medicare annual

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heroes an all star tribute meet and celebrate the honorees then find out who'll be hero of the year, plus a special tribute to michael j. >> fox, cnn heroes, an all star tribute sunday at eight on cnn amazon facing a new lawsuit right now, the attorney general of d.c. >> now accusing the company of secretly stopping its fastest delivery option in two predominantly black neighborhoods, saying prime customers in two majority black zip codes wait longer for packages than their neighbors.

cnn's matt egan has much more on what this lawsuit now means. talk to me. >> well, kate, imagine finding out that for the past two years, many of your neighbors have been getting significantly faster deliveries from amazon and that this wasn't an accident that's the allegation here from this new lawsuit from the washington, d.c. attorney general, which says that two years ago, amazon secretly decided to exclude two predominantly black predominantly low income zip codes in washington, d.c. from their fast amazon prime deliveries. and that this essentially was duping 48,000 residents into paying for that faster delivery service that they actually weren't getting. and also putting forth misleading advertising about deliveries. so instead of using those amazon branded vehicles that we've all become accustomed to seeing amazon essentially was using the postal service and ups and the

lawsuit found that there was a dramatic impact, as you would imagine, on delivery speeds, right, that in those two zip codes that were excluded they were getting their deliveries, their prime deliveries within two days, just 24%. when you compare that to the rest of d.c., 75% of the deliveries in the rest of d.c. were arriving within two days. and here's the kicker the washington, d.c., attorney general's office says that the company was not upfront when customers complained about this, that amazon quote concealed the exclusion and misled the consumers to believe it was a coincidence. and now the attorney general they want amazon to stop what they're describing as unfair and deceptive practices, pay fines and refund customers. >> it's a serious allegation that that they're throwing at amazon. what is amazon saying? >> well amazon is categorically denying these allegations that they have been discriminatory or

deceptive. but what's interesting is that amazon has not denying that they have shifted their delivery options in those zip codes. >> what they're doing is they're denying the motive. not that it's happening. >> exactly. they're saying that they did this because of concerns about crime specifically. they say that over the last several years, there have been specific and targeted acts against their delivery drivers including assault armed robbery carjacking and vehicle theft and amazon spokesperson put out a statement saying, we made the deliberate choice to adjust our operations, including delivery routes and times, for the sole reason of protecting the safety of drivers. and amazon says that they have offered to work with the d.c. attorney general to fight crime. but i do think the point here, kate in this lawsuit is the ag is saying, yes, you can make these operational changes. you've just got to be upfront about it. >> it's that they the coincidence nature of it. yeah, yeah, i see interesting. all

right. let's see what happens thank you. thank you so much matt coming up for us the search is on and still on for the gunman who killed a top executive at america's largest health insurance company. and there is new reporting about the two words found on the bullet on bullet casings at the scene. and secretary of defense lloyd austin, speaking at west point, calling women in combat incredibly accomplished and incredibly brave, something donald trump's pick to be the next defense secretary has spoken out against can't fool myself. >> it was the most exciting time in the world. >> his life has truly joyful moments and some really difficult moments. >> you only come across an artist like luther vandross, sb1 vandross once in a lifetime luther never too much new year's day on cnn. >> i've been warned by celebrities, athletes and world leaders, but i've always felt most comfortable up here with the folks that made me who i am. >> i'm right at home out here

on the land and i'm in my lane on the shoulder of the interstate because this is where i come from. i've been showing up here for nearly 200 years and i can't wait to see what's next. >> hats off to the future. >> nothing runs like a deer. >> you want to support your healthy blood pressure and help maintain your energy, your stamina, and your heart health. that's why super beats from human does the hard part for you. super beats plant based supplements for blood pressure support are formulated with unique ingredients that help support energy and help support heart health. it's a nature centered scientifically developed approach to cardiovascular support. start your cardiovascular health journey with the number one cardiologist recommended brand. get a free month supply on all bundles at super beats. com. >> this is an important message for everyone on medicare right now. is the medicare annual enrollment period. and today we are talking about medicare part c, commonly called medicare

advantage. if you don't have a medicare part c plan, call now y be eligible for plans in your zip code with additional benefits or cost savings you may not be receiving. now or that may have previously not been available to you. different part c plans are available in different parts of the country, so don't wait. call the number on your screen. now if you're on medicare you can call even if you called last year. we will check to see if there is a part c plan available in your area with additional benefits or cost savings. call to speak with a licensed insurance agent before the end of the annual enrollment period. you don't get medicare part c benefits automatically, so call now for your free 2025 no obligation medicare benefits review. >> just call 806 0800 8780060 80087. >> attention everyone on medicare. this is it. the medicare annual enrollment period is now ending time is up. this is your last chance to call during the medicare annual

enrollment period. everyone on medicare is encouraged to call now even if you called last year, the phone lines are now open. just call ( 800) 461-5852. now this is the last call for the medicare annual enrollment period. the phone lines may get busy. licensed insurance agents are standing by to take your call the medicare annual enrollment period is ending. just call the number on your screen and get a free no obligation medicare review. this is a free call, and there is no obligation to enroll. that's right. you can call the number on your screen, and you don't have to enroll in a plan. this is your last chance to call during the medicare annual enrollment period. time is up. don't wait. call now. just call ( 800) 461-5852. now that's ( 800) 461-5852. attention everyone on medicare. this is it. the medicare annual enrollment period is now ending time is up. this is your last chance to call during the medicare annual enrollment

period. everyone on medicare is encouraged to call now, even if you called last year, the phone lines are now open. just call ( 800) 461-5852. now this is the last call for the medicare annual enrollment period. the phone lines may get busy. licensed insurance agents are standing by to take your call. the medicare annual enrollment period is ending. just call the number on your screen and get a free, no obligation medicare review. this is a free call and there is no obligation to enroll. that's right. you can call the number on your screen and you don't have to enroll in a plan. this is your last chance to call during the medicare annual enrollment period time is up. don't wait call now. just call ( 800) 461-5852. now that's ( 800) 461-5852. coming back. >> he's not going to make it he might make it. >> this could happen oh my god oh the tbs original wipeout.

all new sundays at nine on tbs all right. >> we have new reporting. this morning on the investigation and the manhunt frankly, following the killing of health care ceo brian thompson right here in new york moments ago. law enforcement sources confirmed to cnn that the words delay and deposed were written on shell casings of rounds used in the killings. with us now is new york city councilman keith powers. councilman, thanks so much for being with us. these words delay and oppose. these are words that are often used among people who are critics of the health insurance industry there. so when you see these reports that those words written on, you know not the murder weapon, but the murder bullets, what does that tell you? >> well, it's scary because it does indicate and seems to confirm that this was a premeditated, targeted attack on the ceo and has motivation behind it, around something to do with the health care system or around coverage. >> but it's it's scary because it really feels like it was a

plotted out plotted out attempt to and obviously to to take someone's life and it's frightening. >> and we're hriheame reports that there were words on these bullets. so it does seem to confirm what we've been hearing that this was a targeted attack. >> you represent the people of new york, you know, the borough of manhattan. what are your concerns for safety this morning? >> look i want to make sure obviously, that we have i think we have the greatest police department in the world. and we want to make sure that they can actually apprehend the person and bring them into custody. so we can take appropriate action from there but for people, you know i'm talking to, it's a frightening situation that happened yesterday here on the streets of of midtown. people do obviously understand this was a targeted premeditated attack. we want to make sure the person gets apprehended. >> look there are a lot of health care ceos and people connected to the health care industry in general. health insurance in new york city. do you think they should all be taking precautions this morning? >> look, i think there should be security measures put in place to help make sure those folks are safe, because this

person is still out there. number one. number two, we heard people talking about other other parts of the health care system and ceos so yeah, i think it's a good i think it's a good moment to make sure that everyone is safe and they have the right security around them right now. >> these pictures that we're seeing, you know, new york city, there are a lot of cameras. it's not like london, where there's cctv, like everywhere, but there are cameras in a lot of different places here so as you're watching the investigation be pieced together through these different images coming from different places, what does that tell you about? again, security and safety and law enforcement here. >> well, what i'm always impressed by when we have anything that happens is how much the nypd can get out and find footage and then do the investigation. it does seem like we're uncovering more pieces of information along the way over the last 24 hours, and i've been talking to folks at nypd, and they say the investigation is still underway they they're getting more evidence. and we've gotten some more evidence this morning. so look, to me, it's we have an ability to do a lot of more than we used to be able to do.

we do have footage we have footage from starbucks. we have footage from outside the hotel. so i think, like i said nypd is investigating is saying investigation is underway. and i have confidence that we're going to bring this person into custody. >> you're fully aware of the situation surrounding crime and perceptions of crime in new york city. what does this do to that, especially given that it was happening just hours before the christmas tree lighting? yeah. >> look we always are concerned about perception of crime and actually making sure that we're not where we have safety on the streets of midtown. i think this one people understand it was a targeted attack. it was motivation. but at the same time, it's a holiday season. we want people to be coming into manhattan. certainly that part of manhattan. so we want to assure people that there are safety measures in place, and we also have to make sure we apprehend the suspect so that people can have real confidence that he's not still out there. >> councilman keith powers, thanks so much for being with us. thank you appreciate it. kate. >> defense secretary, defense secretary lloyd austin made a point of praising women in combat even saying the topic gets him a little fired up in a speech at west point. the comments are

notable right now as president elect trump's pick to be the next defense secretary has very publicly spoken out against women serving in combat roles. cnn's natasha bertrand, following this one for us. she's here with us now. what more did lloyd austin say? >> yeah, kate, this is something that secretary austin has been pretty vocal about in recent weeks, particularly amid comments made by the secretary of defense nominee, pete hegseth on a podcast recently where he said that women in combat, quote, hasn't made us more effective, hasn't made us more lethal, and has made fighting more complicated. >> secretary austin has really sought to dispel that very forcefully in recent weeks, including most recently at this speech yesterday at west point where he said this isn't 1950, it isn't 1948, it's 2024. he actually told a story about his time in iraq while he was the commander of centcom, where he said that he wanted to move a command post to the front line, and he asked both his women and his his his female and his male troops whether they would be

comfortable with that, whether anyone wanted to not deploy forward. and here's a little bit of his recollection of what those women had to say those women didn't flinch. >> they were facing the same dangers as the men. in fact they were facing more and in no uncertain terms they were telling me to stop talking and get to the fight. and that is who the women of the united states military are so a barely veiled reference. >> there of course, to the rhetoric that we have seen coming from hegseth in recent weeks and years about women in combat, which was, of course broadly open those combat roles to women under president obama and something that has continued to be fairly controversial among even some more moderate and mainstream republicans in the house and senate. so this may not be ultimately something that kills pete hegseth nomination entirely. the fact that he opposes this role for women.

but it is something, of course, that the secretary of defense, while he still has time here in his post, he wants to speak out forcefully against kate and also highlights natasha. >> and thanks for the reporting is a question and one that should be asked of someone up for this huge post is their view on women in combat that is kind of being left by the wayside in this moment when all of these other allegations are swirling questions that still need to be answered. it's great to see you, natasha. thank you so much, john. >> so what we're talking about pete hegseth let's discuss the very public, at least not secret at all floating of a possible replacement as a pick to be defense secretary. that happened in the last 24 hours out of florida. governor ron desantis with us now is mark caputo, national political reporter for the work. one of the preeminent florida reporters on earth. and mark i have to say, i'm so glad to be talking to you because for the last 24 hours since you and others started reporting that the desantis name was being really, honestly, publicly

floated to pete hegseth, my major question has been what the what? like what's going on here that's a good question. >> and a lot of people around trump are asking the same question. this seems to be a trump idea and exactly what he's going for here is unclear. there's just a bunch of speculation. >> i'm going to do something dangerous and say some of it the chief one among trump's circle of advisers, who largely were cut out of this conversation that trump had with desantis, was that trump is concerned that hegseth is not going to cross the finish line. >> he's got these big plans that he wants to have for the pentagon. >> he wants to get the woke out. >> wogan air quotes there, and he also wants to reform it. he wants to cut some fat and find efficiencies and if hegseth can't do it, who does he want? well, you want someone who's a big personality and someone whom he believes has the ability to do this sort of thing and has a military record

and desantis name came top of mind also, it's a way the floating of desantis name to put pressure on hegseth to step it up and either get the votes or get out hegseth right now is in the process of trying to get the votes. if he doesn't he's going to go the way of matt gaetz and he's going to get out. >> you know, we had reporting cnn did yesterday that desantis was open to this idea when it came to pass. he might like it, but so what would he get out of this job. what would be the. there are some political perils in this for desantis. if he says yes oh yeah. >> i mean, look at mike pence he didn't do so hot in the trump administration in the very end, he was his vice president working for donald trump is a tricky thing you can get fired by tweet or by a truth social post. that's a problem. but ron desantis governor, who is only going to be able to serve for two more years, what's he going to do after that? and the defense department is an attractive job. it's a big massive, mammoth agency. what, an $800

billion budget. florida's budget, just in contrast, is about 117 billion. this is a huge challenge. this is a an agency a department that needs reform and the challenge of it would be attractive to ron desantis. so i think that's what he gets out of it. what does trump get out of it? he likes to have big names rfk, he's got marco rubio and a whole bunch of other people who are chosen to be on his cabinet. they're not obviously confirmed yet and desantis sort of checks that box. also, i understand, and there's a dispute as to when her name has come up in the discussions between trump and desantis. but trump's daughter in law, lara trump is interested in filling that. marco rubio, senate seat, and the two have discussed that. i've been told now the degree to which that discussion has been real and whether there's an actual trade. not very clear there are denials. there's a trade, but it's difficult to see how these two guys are going to talk about desantis coming into the

cabinet, where another cabinet member has just vacated a senate seat. marco rubio and the president elect's daughter in law wants the seat. so it's certainly come up and there's been chatter about it. that's what trump gets out of it. perhaps he gets more than desantis does. >> and just one final question on this before i move back to rfk. but is there anyone within trump world who might stand in the way of trying to bring ron desantis into the fold because of bad blood anyone's names who might rhyme with. you know, schmooze and wiles i don't really put a lot of stock in the internet chatter that susie wiles is so concerned. >> certainly they had a falling out. and just to be very clear, susie wiles was wronged by ron desantis, who got rid of her and there was a peak of jealousy because she was getting credit for his come from behind win in 2018. wiles has succeeded in trump's orbit because she serves the principle she doesn't get in his way, and if he wants to do something she helps make it happen in susie wiles mind,

from what i understand she's moved past that unpleasant period in 2019, and presumably so has governor desantis. >> i just saw some new reporting from you. i think it was from you this morning, but you were certainly talking about it that of all these nominations that trump has, there are a couple that that, you know, he'll go to the mat for. which ones are those tulsi gabbard and rfk jr. they were sort of what i had termed at the time. >> and a few people called blue maga. they were sort of a dynamic duo for trump on the campaign trail. they represent both of them are former democrats who have either turned independent or republican. i can't remember how they switched their voter registration, but they helped bring into the fold not only new voters, those concerned about vaccines, vaccine, skeptical and yes, anti-vax people and they bring a skepticism of the establishment and a hatred of the the bureaucracy to put it charitably and in addition to that, tulsi gabbard and rfk jr. were also sort of cult figures

among the podcasting right, or the the joe rogan set. patrick bet-david and they were an important part of trump's coalition for him to get his message out. and he feels very strongly, from what i've been told about these two, their nominations or their appointments by trump has produced a lot of backlash. understandably so, from people concerned about rfk jr.. s conspiracy theories to tulsi gabbard's trip to syria, where she met with assad and made some pretty uncritical comments of the dictator but trump is obviously willing to overlook that. and he wants someone who's going to go in there and really shake things up and i was told that if he has to bend arms, if he has to break arms when it comes to it these are the two he's going to do it with mark caputo, great to talk to you excited as to what is ahead for you as well. >> thanks so much. all right trevor lawrence now likely out for the rest of the nfl season because of a concussion. what questions should you be asking about your children playing

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500,005 star reviews. get your custom formulas@pros.com. the time is now. >> all 30 teams had a chance to win this cup. more when the time is now. >> your goal is to get to vegas that's money time. and i understand the assignment. >> the emirates nba cup continues. watch on tnt and stream be our sports on max 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 doctor sanjay gupta on call, brought to you by the us department of health and human services. >> risk less, do more campaign, reminding you to get this season's flu and covid 19 vaccines. >> so a rough hit against jacksonville jaguars trevor lawrence reignited concerns over football head injuries. just this week, lawrence left that game and entered the nfl's concussion protocol. sunday. and that is what the questions that have been coming at our own doctor, sanjay gupta, all of this week he's back with us now to answer your questions about head injuries. these traumatic head injuries sustained in football. and, sanjay, there were a lot of viewer questions that really centered around kind of two main themes. a lot of viewers asking chris and alaska is one example. should what this means for their family. should i encourage my son to play high school football? obviously, the flip side of that or should i discourage them right, right.

>> first of all, i love the idea that we're getting these questions from barrow, alaska. that's that's kind of that's kind of. >> yeah, exactly. >> and this is probably a question that i get more than any other, uh, kate and, you know, i have three daughters. you have two daughters. so maybe we don't get it as much personally, but just as a neurosurgeon should i let my kid play football? it's something that comes up all the time. it's a it's a very personal question. and i think, you know there's obviously risks and rewards. there are significant rewards to playing sports, especially group sports. i mean, we have an obesity epidemic. we have a loneliness epidemic getting kids out there playing sports, very important when it comes to football in particular though, the concerns about chronic traumatic encephalopathy, cte is something that most people have heard of by now. and the thing to keep in mind about that is that we pay attention to the big hits like we saw with trevor and tua and things like that. but even the smaller hits they can build up over time. this is the thing to sort of keep in mind. they can build up over time. so if you're playing for a longer time, you

start at a young age. you can accumulate sort of the impact of those hits and that's one of the things that comes up a lot especially with youth football, high school football, how to decrease those hits from a young age helmetless practices for example, but also making sure you take brain injury seriously that you really have strict return to play criteria. so for chris talking to the coach about that making sure that the certified athletic trainer available as well to sort of monitor these things. one thing i'll tell you quickly, kate, we spent some time at riverdale high school in the bronx. um, what you're starting to see in some of these high schools is they're starting to sort of change the game, recognizing these concerns. they've gotten rid of the kickoff return, for example at riverdale. so they recognize that the kickoff return was kind of the most dangerous part of the game. so they said we could still have football without that part of the game. and that's what they've they've essentially done. >> yeah modifications rather than you know, admittedly football is one of my favorite

sports. so it's always sad to think discouraging more people from getting into such a great game. but let me get to the next question. a number of viewers asked a question like josh in los angeles about helmets specifically, why not design the helmet with a soft exterior exterior to decelerate the actual impact? to begin with? helmet technology has definitely come a long way, but this remains a question it remains a question and let me just preface by saying there is no such thing as a concussion proof helmet. >> so i'll just preface by saying that when the brain is moving within the skull, moving within the helmet, there's no helmet that can prevent that movement from happening. but what there's a lot of attention, though, to, to this question, josh's question about trying to do what's called a slowing down of deceleration. here's what i mean. brain helmet moving in one direction all of a sudden stops. so you're accelerating and then you decelerate. what you want to do is slow down the rate of that deceleration. and

what that basically. so think about a car that crumples when it gets into a car accident, you're slowing down the rate of deceleration. can you do the same thing with the brain there's this this cap guardian cap. you may have seen these kate, if you watch a lot of football. um, some players are wearing them. they're sort of a soft exterior to the to the helmet. and it's basically designed to do just that, to just slow down the rate at which the brain within the skull, within the helmet is decelerating. it's not concussion proof, but it does seem to lower the rate of significant impacts by about a third, according to some studies. >> kate sanjay, it's so great to see you always this one, especially so many families listening to. thank you so much. >> you got it. thank you john. >> all right. this morning new questions about conflict of interest possibly after vivek ramaswamy said he's looking to pull back federal loan money to rivian. the electric car maker is a competitor to elon musk's tesla. ramaswamy says it is

high on the list of items that he will look at as part of his government efficiency panel that he will lead with musk himself. rivian is set to receive a $6.6 billion conditional loan. tesla received a similar loan back in 2010. let's get right to cnn's rene marsh for the details on this. good morning. renee. >> good morning john. yes, trump's doge as it is known, has its sights set on clawing back billions in federal funds that's already been committed to states and companies supporting many agendas from biden administration, like climate and energy goals. >> and at the center of this controversy is this $6.6 billion loan to rivian, which, as you noted, is a rival of elon musk's tesla with doge vivek ramaswamy saying to cnn that he is warning many of these agencies that these sort of late stage biden administration payouts could be scrutinized and even reversed. >> he believes what he calls these last minute payouts are

being done to achieve political agendas. after the country voted for change, we should note that this rivian loan that they are paying close attention to, which would fund a factory in georgia, a red state, was in the works some two years ago, but taking a step back and looking the looking at the bigger picture here this really is a move that's outside of the norms, where you're talking about looking at clawing potentially back billions of dollars already committed by the federal government as a way to cut costs and cut spending by a new administration. >> john very quickly, renee, what's the latest in terms of what's expected from these meetings today right so vivek ramaswamy and elon musk will be on capitol hill they're meeting with republican lawmakers in the house and the senate. >> that's the beginning of this relationship where they're working together to figure out a game plan for how they will take on this very big task of dramatically cutting down