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it's friday, december 13th right now on cnn this morning. >> i've been a little frustrated. there hasn't been enough transparency letting people know what's happening. >> the public has a right to know what all these drones are. drone drama, the growing mystery over the skies of new jersey, what the government is and is not saying about them. >> plus building a case, detectives armed with search warrants now looking for key evidence against the ceo assassin my goal will be to put us in a position to be able to close this deal. >> this month. how are you? a final push the biden administration could be closing in on a gaza ceasefire deal before inauguration day all right. 5 a.m. here on the east coast, a live look at the capitol dome on this friday morning. we made it to friday. good morning, everyone. i'm kasie hunt. it's wonderful to have you with us. eyes on the skies. lawmakers ramping up

pressure on the federal government as questions mount over the origin of the unexplained drones that have been hovering over new jersey. >> they should be shot down if necessary because they're flying over sensitive areas. >> the whole government, state police, department of homeland security, the governor, they need to take this way more seriously. >> it's a bit embarrassing that given the length of time and the number of sightings that we don't have information. >> reporter the federal aviation administration says the sightings began last month, with some people describing the aircrafts as big as bicycles or small cars. one new jersey mayor telling residents the mysterious drones seem to be surveilling the state's critical infrastructure. they have also been spotted near a u.s. military research facility and over president elect donald trump's golf course in bedminster, new jersey. those sightings, prompting the faa to issue temporary flight restrictions. and according to the associated press, the coast guard said multiple low

altitude aircrafts were spotted near one of their vessels, but they weren't seen as an immediate threat and didn't interfere with any operations. one new jersey congressman pointing fingers at foreign adversaries. >> these drones very well could be launched from a ship. it could be hundreds of miles out at sea. these types of drones go much greater distances. these, again, are something that we normally don't see in the united states. so there is a real possibility. could it be china? absolutely. could it be somebody else? it sure could. >> the biden administration shutting that down, insisting there is no threat to the public. >> we have no evidence at this time that the reported drone sightings pose a national security or a public safety threat, or have a foreign nexus. the department of homeland security and the fbi are investigating. >> cnn military analyst, the retired air force colonel cedric leighton joins us now. colonel, always grateful to see

you. i'm honestly, there is a giant discrepancy between what people can see with their own eyes in new jersey and what the white house says is going on now, obviously, as this has spiraled, we've seen more social media posts where you can say, okay, actually that was an airplane or that was a helicopter. but there also, the state police have told lawmakers in new jersey that there are drones, that when they are approached, they shut their lights off. it's clear that there is something going on here. and the white house seems to be saying, no, there isn't. what what is true? what is going on here? and what do you think is the most plausible explanation? >> yeah. good morning casey. always great to be with you. so one of the things that people have to keep in mind is that there are so many different types of drones out there, and it is certainly possible that some of them are flying over new jersey. now, one of the things that could be is that there is a company that is testing a new delivery method, you know, like an amazon or a fedex or some company like that. possible. >> but then could they say that i mean, could they just come

out and tell us like, hey, we're amazon, we're walmart. like, don't worry. >> like, yeah. >> and they should and they should. if there is something like that. absolutely. but the other thing is this, you know, when you look at the the flight path that some of these flying objects will call them for, i have taken it's a if they are actually surveilling the infrastructure of new jersey military areas, i you know, the president, the president elect place at bedminster, then that's the problem. and we need to know if those are foreign assets or some other asset that is doing something that they shouldn't be doing. so this is one of those areas where the public's help really should be solicited, as opposed to, you know, putting it off to the side and saying, you know, you don't believe your own eyes. and that's that's really the critical issue here. we, you know, the government needs to be responsive to the people, not basically doing what they what they say. so

this is a there are several technical reasons for for saying this. there are vehicles, drone vehicles out there, including a prototype flying car that are made by chinese companies. now the question then becomes one of range. the plausible that something like that could actually be flown over new jersey certainly couldn't be launched from china, as far as we can tell, based on the technologies that exist right now, is an object of that size. probably wouldn't make it from china all the way to new jersey without some kind of a stop for maintenance, refueling, and, you know, and all of those kinds of things. but it is possible for something to be launched from a diplomatic compound, for example, of a nation state that is not necessarily friendly to the united states. so those are the kinds of things that could be the case. not saying they are, but it's certainly possible that the foreign state is using this as a way to collect data.

these are the same types of targets that they attack in cyber attacks, and it's one of those areas where we need a bit more transparency so the public can actually help with these sightings. and then we can decide with the government, of course, deciding whether or not to take these out or to let them do what they do and collect the data that they're getting. >> yeah. i mean, so can i ask you i mean, i think people there are a lot of new jersey lawmakers who are saying, shoot these things down, right? why haven't we been able to capture one of them yeah. >> these are you know, it's difficult to capture these things while they're in flight. and that's that really would be the goal, like we did with the balloon, for example. it wasn't captured in flight, obviously, but it was shot down off the north carolina coast. a lot of people say, okay, that's that was bad. you shouldn't have let it fly all over the country in that particular case, from an intelligence perspective, it actually was a good decision to let that balloon fly where it did, because then we knew what the chinese were interested in,

and we were able to not only gather the data that they were trying to collect, but also we were able to when the balloon was finally shot down, determine what kind of equipment they were using to collect information. so that's from an intelligence perspective. you want to kind of reverse engineer what these devices are made of and how they are actually functioning, especially from a communications standpoint. one of the interesting things casey about this is that there were reports that there was no radio transmission for these these drones. i'm not sure if that's entirely accurate. it would be really hard to believe that there was no data transmission from a device like that. and that would be the kind of thing to take a look at as well. >> all right. colonel cedric leighton for us, colonel, thank you for not not necessarily what we would have expected to have you on for, but very helpful. thank you, i appreciate it. have a wonderful weekend. all right. straight ahead here. thank you. on cnn

this morning, a grand jury now hearing evidence in the sidewalk. murder of a ceo. the latest on the suspect, plus airstrikes overnight in gaza. at the white house, optimistic that a ceasefire and hostage deal may be near. and then the republican campaign to boost pete hegseth nomination. and the democratic senator, who may be on board. >> we're just going to have a straight up conversation. i'm not sure why it would be controversial to anybody if he's the individual who could potentially be the next secretary of defense. >> can a body wash transform your chest, arms, legs? it's olay body wash with skincare ingredients and ten times more vitamin b3 complex. >> so in 14 days, see visibly better skin olay body wash. >> discover yours for more than a decade, pozega has been trusted again and again and again. s. e. cupp s. e. cupp.

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explosions. the latest escalation comes as it appears progress is being made in a hostage and ceasefire deal. the national security adviser, jake sullivan, says the goal is to get it done quickly. he was in tel aviv yesterday, speaking with prime minister benjamin netanyahu, who indicated a deal is near. i got the sense today from the prime minister. he's ready to do a deal. and when i go to doha and cairo, my goal will be to put us in a position to be able to close this deal this month, not later. sullivan confident that this can happen while biden is still in office. the incoming administration is also working to make ground on a deal. cnn has learned that trump's middle east envoy, steve witkoff, met with the prime ministers of qatar and israel late last month to get negotiations kick started. in an interview with time magazine, president elect trump says there are options to reach a solution in the region. here's the quote i support whatever solution we can do to get peace. there are other

ideas other than two state, but i support whatever is necessary to get not just peace, a lasting peace. it can't go on where every five years you end up in tragedy. there are other alternatives. we're joined now by joel rubin. he is a former deputy assistant secretary of state for legislative affairs under president obama. joel, always good to see you. thanks for being here. good morning casey. it does seem to be a little bit of a shift here. how much of netanyahu's sudden willingness to deal has to do with the fact that trump and his team seem to have made it clear, at least lindsey graham has said in public, trump wants a ceasefire and hostage deal done before inauguration day. >> right. >> well, the israeli-palestinia n conflict always has one eye on washington and one eye on what's happening in the region. >> and there is a transformed region right now, as you know, with assad now gone and deposed with hezbollah basically defeated and having a cease fire with israel. the primary backers of hamas are gone. and so you have that. and then on the other side here with president elect trump coming in

saying that he wants to see a cease fire deal. and with jake sullivan out in the region, basically, now the israelis are looking at the incoming administration. they say, well, we're probably going to have to make a move now because the pressure isn't going to be released on us. and i think that for donald trump, he sees this as he wants this off the plate. right. like, this is not an easy dynamic at all. it's been bedeviling of the biden administration administrations to try to get a cease fire that really sticks. and so trump, he sees that he knows that. and i think for him, he doesn't want to start with having to deal with that on day one. >> so the other question, of course, you mentioned the region and how it's been reshaped is iran, which has been weakened through the israeli campaigns, their proxies, hezbollah, hamas, very much decimated, quite frankly. this is what the wall street journal wrote overnight about how the trump team may deal with them. quote, president elect donald trump is weighing options for stopping iran from being able to build a nuclear weapon, including the possibility of preventive airstrikes, a move that would

break with the long standing policy of containing tehran with diplomacy and sanctions. what would the implications be of american preemptive airstrikes? >> well, if her american preemptive strikes on iran, you then watch a situation where we are inviting the potential of attacks against american forces in the region, uncertainty about whether or not they would be truly effective. but i have to say, the guardrails against such strikes, and in particular with israel potentially striking, have been reduced with assad's military devastated and destroyed by now, by, by by israel strikes. assad, of course, being gone. but the air defenses that syria had that were protection as well as hezbollah, which was in place in southern lebanon to strike israel in case of of an attack. those are gone now, too. so there really is an open field, and this is a new dynamic as as we're discussing, it's a transformed strategic environment. if israel and the united states were to go forward and take that strike militarily, it's

quite possible that they could set back the program, but it would also be inviting a whole new layer of conflict in the region directly with the united states. >> all right. joel rubin, for us this morning, joel, very grateful to have you your expertise on the program. thanks for being here. all right. straight ahead here on cnn this morning, the fall of the assad regime in syria. and a missouri man who was missing for months there, now found alive. plus, the latest big tech company to donate big bucks to president elect trump's inauguration from creating memories to finding the perfect gift, let us make this holiday season a little easier right now. >> save up to $60 on select as battery sets. >> most men over 40 look into the mirror and see this when

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syria are desperately searching for their loved ones. cnn chief international correspondent clarissa ward visited a morgue where the bodies left behind are a reminder of assad's brutal legacy. we do want to warn you. you may find the following report disturbing a woman wails on the floor of the mujtahid hospital don't know when my mother, she's been missing for 14 years, she says. >> where is she? where's my brother? where's my husband? where are they? doctor ahmed abdullah shows us into the morgue. where about 35 bodies have been brought in, discovered in a military hospital days after the regime fell. they are believed to be some of the last victims of bashar al assad. take a look. this is the crime of the regime, he says. even in the middle ages, they didn't torture people like this. another man points to their tattered clothing evidence, he

says that most were detainees at the much feared saydnaya prison. even in death, they are still only identified by numbers. everyone here heard about the horrors that took place in assad's notorious prisons, but to see it up close is something entirely different. a lot of them have bruises, have horrible wounds that seem to be consistent with torture. i just saw one woman retching as she came out of the other room. families are now going through trying to see if their loved ones are here there's not enough room for all of them in the morgue, so a makeshift area has been set up outside more and more families stream in. the light from their cell phones. the only way of identifying the dead. my only son. i don't have another. they took him for 12 years now.

just because he said no. 12 years. my only son. this woman shouts, i don't know anything about him. i ask allah to burn him, she says of assad burn him and his sons like he burned my heart. a crowd swarms when they see our camera. everyone here has lost someone. all of these people are asking us to take the names of their loved ones, to help them. try to find them. it is a mark of desperation. such is the need for answers. but finding those answers will not be easy. at the military intelligence facility known as the palestine branch, officers burned documents and destroyed hard drives before fleeing. but their terror was on an industrial scale. troves and troves of prisoner files remain. it will take investigators years to go through them. below ground. more clues etched on the walls

of cells that look more like dungeons. so you can see this list of names of. it looks like 93 prisoners here. there's also a schedule for keeping the cell tidy and just graffiti everywhere. people trying to leave marks for someone to find down here. insects are the only life form that thrives. it's clear that anyone who could survive this will never be the same again. the cells are empty, but the doors are finally open and the quest for answers is just beginning. >> our clarissa ward, thank you very much for that piece. all right. still coming up here on cnn this morning. not so much who done it, but why the new search warrants that could shed light on the motives of the killer. alleged killer. plus, republicans pushed to fall in line behind trump's pick to lead the pentagon i believe in

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burner phone found near the crime scene, abc news reports. the manhattan district attorney's office is already presenting evidence to a grand jury. investigators are working to piece together a motive. the words delay, deny, depose, written on the bullets, matched the title of a book criticizing the insurance industry. although a unitedhealthcare spokesperson says mangione was not a member. >> we have no indication that he was ever a client of unitedhealthcare, but he does make mention that it is the fifth largest corporation in america, which would make it the largest health care organization in america. so that's possibly why he targeted that, that company. >> joining us now is joey jackson, cnn legal analyst, criminal defense attorney. joey, good morning to you. so apparently we're learning that neither mangione nor his mother were members of unitedhealthcar e. how do you read this piece of information and how will it help investigators understand his motive so i think, casey,

the first thing to talk about. >> good morning to you is in terms of prosecutions, you don't have to establish motive generally. and what do i mean? >> all you have to establish is that a person committed a crime. >> now, that does not mean that a panel of 12 jurors do not want to know. inquiring minds always want to know how and why did you do this? right. what was the essence, the purpose, the basis for which you would engage in this activity? but in general terms, you do not have to establish what the purpose was or what your philosophy was. in this case, potentially, you could be looking at authorities wanting to know that, to see whether he committed an act of terrorism. right. whether you're coercing, coercing a civilian population for purposes of espousing a particular point of view. and so potentially, that's the basis or reason it could simply be that they, as investigators, want to do a thorough job. and in addition to finding the physical evidence they found already matching him to the scene, whether it be the fingerprints on the water bottle and the

alley, he went into the wrapper that they found the cereal bar with his fingerprint. other significant and compelling evidence of manifesto that they just want to build the case in terms of the health care issue. you know, he didn't have to be insured by unitedhealthcare, nor did a family member. he is was noted by the authority. right. new york police department in new york city, police department really not only in terms of a corporate point of view and his dislike of the corporate situation, but specifically the health care industry and why he targeted it. so i don't think that, you know, simply going after the face of an industry, whether you're insured or not, the fact that you're not insured doesn't minimize what you did or otherwise take away from the essence of what you did or really why you did it. >> joey, can we also talk briefly about the grand jury that has apparently been convened to look at this evidence in new york? what what will the process be there, and how quickly do you expect them to act? >> so what happens, casey, is

that a grand jury is a body of people who don't find guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. the body of people consists of 23. so a simple majority need to be convinced that a there's reason to believe that a crime was committed, and b that you committed it. right. a simple majority, the standards of proof are not again, beyond reasonable doubt. you could hear hearsay and other evidence. and if a majority of those grand jurors. right. that is of the 23 grand jurors, 12 conclude that there's reason to believe here you get indicted. they issue a true bill when you go to a grand jury, not a judge is not there. as we look at the fake licenses. et cetera. that luigi mangione had. so a judge is not there. it's simply controlled by prosecutors. and they admit all types of evidence. what evidence did we find? where did we find it? where did it come from? was it the evidence in pennsylvania when he was caught? is the evidence in new york ultimately, after that's wrapped up, they issue an indictment in terms of the

speed of it. remember, we're dealing with the issue of extradition. that is, he's in pennsylvania now. they're looking to bring him to new york. he's fighting that that in itself is going to be a 3045 day process. so there's no rush in which to indict him. so it will happen well before that time frame for sure. >> all right. joey jackson for us this morning, sir. always grateful to have you on the show. thanks very much for being here thanks, casey. all right. let's turn now to this story. donald trump named time's person of the year as part of the announcement. he was honored at the new york stock exchange, where he rang the opening bell yesterday. it's just the latest stop on his journey back to washington as he prepares to be sworn in as president in just over a month. already in d.c., some of trump's top picks for his next administration, lobbying for support from senators ahead of confirmation hearings. and it seems to be working for at least one of trump's picks. pete hegseth, who trump wants to lead the pentagon despite allegations he has faced of misconduct. notice reporting this quote sources in and

around trump world and on the hill had said that if hegseth could just survive through last week, then he would make it to a confirmation hearing. but that was a grind. there has also been an external pressure campaign over the last week to get hegseth confirmed, led by donald trump jr.. the president elect's eldest son and one of his top advisers, charlie kirk from turning point usa, and matthew boyle and the whole team at breitbart. the source close to trump world, said one republican senator responding to the so-called pressure campaign. >> the approach is going to be everybody toe the line, everybody line up. >> we got you here. >> and if you want to survive, you better be good. don't get on santa's naughty list here because we will primary you because we will primary you. >> joining us now political reporter for notice reese gorman. reese, good morning to you. good morning. so this pressure campaign seems to be working for hegseth at this writing 100%. >> i mean, you've seen that really? i mean, joni ernst last week, who was really kind of

the main kind of person that they were really trying to pressure. she was kind of the most vocal person that was out there kind of talking about her skepticism toward texas. not that she opposed him, just that she was going to do the advise and consent, but she wasn't backing him very strongly, like a lot of the other senators were. >> so that was a lot of the pressure campaign. >> i know, as i mentioned, i mean, breitbart, for example, they got the attorney general in iowa to write an op ed for them, basically saying that everyone should be supporting trump's nominees. and that was seen as kind of a not so subtle jab at joni ernst to kind of get her over the line. and the sources that we were talking to throughout reporting this story was really just like, that was the thing. like they thought that after losing matt gaetz, that if they did lose pete hegseth sanders would be emboldened and be like, oh, we can take down all of trump's nominees. and so they really jd vance, for example, was like, we can't just give up on pete hegseth because it's getting hard right now. we have to push through. we have to get get him, get him confirmed. because if they just start kind of pulling back at the slightest bit of pressure, then senators

will be too emboldened. and then trump would not get all of his nominees through. >> well, and some of it honestly, it's just a question of getting him to the hearing, right. getting him that far now in the hearing, it. do you do you get the sense that if, if any of these nominees have a really bad or difficult hearing, there might be republicans who would push back? >> i think 100% for sure. i do get the sense that we're hearing that they do take their advise and consent role very seriously. and now there are some that are going to support anyone who trump's trump puts forth just because that's who they are. that's kind of their role. they see themselves as more more devoted to trump than to the senate office. but there are some of them that i mean, lisa murkowski, for example, was just talking up there. she is someone who truly i mean, i think that if someone doesn't have a good confirmation hearing, she could probably be convinced not to vote for somebody because she's i mean, she voted to impeach donald trump. i mean, she does not care. >> and her own political situation is a little different because of the way that they run elections in alaska. but she and susan collins, widely presumed to be two that could vote against these

controversial nominees. the question is that they then need at least two more. yeah, right. and there's some serious questions now about mitch mcconnell. he obviously reportedly took a fall at the capitol, but he was another one that people think about, especially around national security nominees. you noted ernst. she had been quoted as saying, how do i get this to stop this, this campaign that you're you're talking about? so they they really need more than four. really? >> no, they do for sure. i mean, a lot of these people who would usually be the people. i mean, mitt romney would be someone that you would usually vote against. some of these nominees, he's no longer going to be there. and so you're going to have to see that a lot of these senators that are in there now are very aligned with trump. now, the person that is replacing john curtis is a moderate. he is kind of more of the romney kind of angle. he doesn't necessarily hate trump as much as romney does, but he is more of a moderate. so there is kind of concern from senators that i'm talking to and people within trump world that john curtis could also be one of these people that could possibly vote against the nominee, but they're just trying to win over everybody.

and to the murkowski point, there is the fear that if you do vote against one of trump's nominees or even express some skepticism, they're going to be faced with a primary. and for some people, that is their whole race is just the primary. yeah. for sure. >> all right. reese gorman for us on this friday reese. thank you. thank you i appreciate it. all right. coming up here on cnn this morning, a new documentary called the bibi files. it contains leaked footage from the israeli prime minister's corruption investigation. the oscar winning filmmaker alex gibney joins us next. plus, plenty of rain and no touchdowns. the rams and the 40 niners swamped in san francisco. that's ahead in sports s. e. cupp. >> luther. never too much. new year's day at eight on cnn. >> no more gross cough sirup. >> i'll want you to feel better. >> i want extra tv time, or i'll walk. >> how about this? >> introducing the only kids

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member benefits and social programs. >> join and get an insulated trunk organizer free. plus, aarp, the magazine. >> what would you say to bibi? >> for bibi, shame on you. >> shame on you. >> the whole story of this trial is just made up. >> corruption is a very tricky word dueling protests outside the district court in tel aviv this week, where israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu made history by becoming the country's first sitting prime minister to testify in his own defense at a criminal trial. >> his charges include bribery, fraud and breach of trust, all stemming from allegations that netanyahu conducted favors in exchange for lavish gifts and favorable media coverage. my next guest produced a new film documenting the decades long corruption investigation into netanyahu and how the longtime leader achieved his grip over the israeli government. >> when people serve for too

long, it gets into their head. >> the indictment made him dependent on the extreme right in israel. >> he is now captive to their whims and stupid he put all israel in turmoil netanyahu is the architect of chaos. >> he tried to kill the system. >> nobody is above the law. >> desi anwar keep your friends close. >> keep your enemies close. >> all right. joining us now is alex gibney, the producer of the new documentary the bp files. alex, good morning. thank you for being here. >> good morning. >> thank you for having me. >> so i'd love it if you could talk a little bit about what you learned in putting this film together and how

considering everything you know, everything you've worked on, you view what we saw from bibi on the stand as this trial has gotten underway in israel. >> well, of course, i didn't see him on the stand. that's not being televised. but we know. we know from reports what what he's saying more or less. uh, and look what i got in this would be in 2023. were police interrogation videotapes, which were what led to the indictment of benjamin netanyahu for bribery, fraud and breach of trust. and there are a fascinating insight into, uh, the netanyahu behind the screen, the one who is not stage managed. not only that, but but but the role that his wife sarah and his son yair play in the in the kind of a shadow government. and they in fact show a kind of appalling,

um contempt for the rule of law and government and a sense of entitlement to all three of them, show sort of the idea of what the state is. me. there is no, you know, distance between who i am and, and, and the state. and yet there is a great deal of distance. and i think the most compelling aspect of this story is that in trying to elude these charges and being held to account for this, he formed an alliance with extreme right wing figures, namely a man named ben-gvir and another man named smotrich, who one security person in the film calls jewish terrorists. and these people are hardcore right wingers, and netanyahu never would have been seen associating with five years ago. they've steered him in a very rightward direction, and i would argue now that we have this war in gaza, which is creating appalling casualties, he's extending that war and

also probably resisting deals in terms of bringing the hostages back in order to continue to stay out of prison. >> how do you think the events of recent months will impact the trial? and and the public in israel, and their view of whether he should be held accountable for these things that you show? because obviously, it's been a very tumultuous time. and you obviously point out that he has made this right wing alliance. he has come under a lot of pressure from hostage families. but on the other hand, you know, recently they did the israeli forces decimated hezbollah, the assad regime has fallen. i'm just really interested to know kind of your perspective on how any of that may affect the outcome here well, obviously, netanyahu wraps himself in the mantle of unofficial commander in chief and even rolling into the trial

itself, he was saying, how dare you? >> you know, um, bring me out of, uh, out of the office where i'm conducting these wars on on all these different fronts in order to face these rather, you know, tawdry charges. i mean, that's the mantle he always wraps himself in. and i think in israel, of course, the nation is very divided as ours is. and there are some people who say none of that matters who let him conduct the war. and many people are saying, no, no, no, he's extending the war precisely because he's trying to refuse to be held to account for these charges. so i think there's a lot of divided public opinion in israel about this yeah. >> really, really fascinating. the documentary, the family piece of this documentary that you've put together is also, as someone you know, i've covered a number of or at least i traveled to israel with a us presidential candidate. and you could see even then, and this was years ago, the influence that that mrs. netanyahu, so to speak, has. it really just

really fascinating dynamics. highly recommend the documentary. it's called the bibi files now streaming alex gibney. thank you very much for being here. >> thank you so much. >> all right. time now for sports. the 49ers linebacker quit on the team mid-game during their loss to the rams last night. andy scholes has this morning's cnn sports update. andy good morning. good morning casey. this is something you don't see very often. >> you know the 49 ers have lots of injuries on defense. and last night they needed veteran linebacker de'vondre campbell to go into the game. but he said no i'm good. campbell refusing to enter the game in the third quarter. and then in the fourth quarter he walked to the locker room with a towel over his head. campbell had started 12 of the team's 13 games coming into this one, and afterwards 49ers head coach kyle shanahan said. campbell told him he didn't want to play. >> that's somebody who doesn't want to play football. that's pretty simple. >> i mean i think our i think our team and myself, we know how we feel about that. >> so i don't think we need to talk about him anymore. >> it's more of a one person

making a like, mooney said, a selfish decision. and i'm with mooney on that. and i, i've never been around anybody that's ever done that. um, and i hope i'm never around anybody that does that again. >> yeah. shanahan, when asked if campbell will be released, said, we'll figure out something. now, as for the game, just four days after scoring 44 points in a win over the bills, the rams failed to score a touchdown. but they still won the game. fourth quarter tied at six. matthew stafford. big play here to puka nacua. that was good for 51 yards. rams would kick a go ahead field goal. then later in the quarter the niners were driving to try to tie it or take the lead. but brock purdy throwing the interception there. rams would hold on to win 12 to 6. all right north carolina meanwhile officially introducing bill belichick as their new head coach. now when belichick was very young, his dad was an assistant for the tar heels. and the 72 year old says he's thrilled to be back in chapel hill. >> it's great to to come back

home to carolina and, you know, back in an environment that i really grew up in. >> um, you know, when you're little, you don't remember everything. >> obviously, i was too young to remember a lot of things from carolina. >> but as as i grew up, you know, you hear the same story over and over and over and over again. and so. one story i always heard was billy's first words were beat. duke. >> it's going to take some getting used to. bill belichick and college football. all right. the mets also introducing juan soto yesterday after signing him to that record 15 years, $765 million deal. soto said there were five teams interested in him at the end. and this was not just a mets over yankees decision that was one of the things that opened my eyes more was how hungry they are for to win a championship and to want to make a dynasty in the new york

mets and you know, casey, the subway series, mets, yankees. it's always good. it's going to be a little bit better this coming season. the mets, they play at the yankees may 16th for the first time. i imagine those fans are going to have something to say to soto on that one. >> yeah, i have to say, i always find these months the longest in sports because i love baseball season so much. so i'm excited to see it. thanks, andy, i appreciate it. have a good weekend. you too. all right. straight ahead here on cnn this morning in the first hour. that's how long donald trump says it will take him to begin pardoning many convicted january 6th rioters. plus, lights in the skies. residents and lawmakers left searching for answers over what's behind the mysterious drones covering over new jersey. >> i've been a little frustrated there hasn't been enough transparency letting people know what's happening. >> it's allowing a lot of potentially misinformation to spread, or at least fear this is it, right? >> yeah, that looks safe. totally safe.

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>> it's friday, december 13th right now on cnn this morning. >> we're not being told the truth. >> who owns the drones? they're still swarming the skies over new jersey, and no one is saying who's behind them. >> and i'm going to be acting very quickly. >> donald trump, day one. the president elect top priority is including pardons for january 6th rioters. >> plus, we have no indication that he was ever a client of unitedhealthcare. >> the ceo. assassination twist. why would the chief suspect commit murder when he wasn't even a customer? >> and his prices are going to start coming down? >> price tag promise. why donald trump now warns that slashing grocery prices might be easier said than done