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it's monday, december 16th right now on cnn this morning. >> there's so many things in the sky right now. >> eyes on the sky. >> more mysterious drone sightings this time forcing a critical u.s. base to close its airspace and i gave them the golan heights, and they never even asked for it. a quote, warm conversation with israel's prime minister details a recent call with donald trump as tensions rise over a buffer zone with syria and maga is the republican party and donald trump is the republican party. >> today, romney's farewell, the onetime standard bearer for the gop, gives a final assessment of his party as he exits the stage all right, 5 a.m. >> here on the east coast, a live look at capitol hill on

this monday morning. good morning everyone. i'm kasie hunt, it's wonderful to have you with us. concern, confusion and calls for military intervention. new drone sightings reported on the east coast over the weekend. and it's become a disruption to critical agencies drone activity, forcing officials to close airspace over one of the country's most critical air force bases. wright-patterson air force base is outside dayton, ohio, and it was closed for almost four hours late friday and early saturday and new york's stewart international airport was forced to temporarily shut down its runways friday to federal officials urging calm in the face of growing criticism about the lack of answers that they're providing. although they insist the sightings pose no security threat, there's no question that people are seeing drones, and i want to assure the american public that we in the federal government have

deployed additional resources, personnel, technology to assist the new jersey state police in addressing the drone sightings. the lack of clarity about these drones, and who might be behind them, has lawmakers on both sides of the aisle lashing out at the federal response and i think americans are finding it hard to believe we can't figure out where these are coming from. >> and i can tell you from the defense department's standpoint, they're focused on bombers and cruise missiles, and it's pointing to gaps in our capabilities and and our ability to clamp down on what's going on here. if you see a drone in your air over your home, you should not have to shake an eight ball to see what it is all right. >> cnn political analyst margaret love joins us now. margaret. good morning. good morning. >> i'm wearing drone green in case you've been in new jersey. >> you got green gold and red in the sky. drone green. >> oh, i hadn't thought of it like that. that's chuck

schumer for you. right. with props. >> that's some high tech. property there that will get to the bottom of it. >> it is. you know, there does seem to be a sense, i think, that people feel that the federal government must know more about these drones. >> no, they really know more about it. and they're not saying what it is. right. that's that's one of the threads here. look, this has got all the elements of, of like a close encounters of the third kind story. right? is it the iranians? is it a secret intelligence security check by the government? it's classified. so they can't tell you about it. is it one of 800,000 drones that are registered to the faa that are flying around largely unregulated? you know, so the bottom line is, um, there's been no definitive, decisive explanation about this. yet. there is a bunch of legislation that either regulates it or would expand authorities for different parts of the federal government to regulate or to,

um, to to deal with the mitigation of drones. and this is all coming to a head at the end of one administration and before another takes over. so you've got joe rogan saying now he's really worried. and donald trump, president elect trump saying, shoot him down and, all of these sort of theatrics are, um, they're getting the public ramped up, but they still don't really address the question of of what'aking of shooting down mayorkas, the homeland secretary was asked about this as well. let's let's listen to what he said about the prospect of shooting down these drones i think there are more than 8000 drones flown every day in the united states. >> with respect to the ability to incapacitate those drones, we are limited in our authorities. we have certain agencies within the department of homeland security that can do that. and outside our department, but we need those authorities expanded as well. >> so basically, he says, we

can't do that i think it's even a more complicated explanation than that. >> right. there's the pentagon, and the pentagon does have the ability to deal with drones that are over military base space. so if there's a drone that's flying over a military space and it's not supposed to be there, the military has the ability to do something about that. but once you get outside the space of a military base, the us military can't just go around doing operations in the united states. okay. um, also, if you shoot something down over a civilian area like that, stuff's got to go somewhere and it could hurt people. so there are dangers to just shooting things down. and of course, you'd want to know, was it really a drone or is it a plane? if it's a manned aircraft, you don't want to go shooting something down unless, you know, unless you've given warnings and that sort of thing. it's also a complicated patchwork of of regulation, because to secretary mayorkas, point, dhs has authorities in some spaces and the justice department, there's

legislation that would expire, i think, around december the 20th, that they're looking to extend and expand, that would cover the management of drones in the sky. and then there's the faa's regulatory space, and there's another piece of legislation moving around in congress that would expand the faa's ability to regulate drones. and then there's what the pentagon can do. and then there's what governors can or can't do. and you've seen a number of governors now, including democratic governors and states like new york, saying, hey, feds, we need the drone technology because we need to be able to deal with this in our space. so part of this, i think, is the reality of the fact that there are thousands and thousands of drones that are actually allowed to be in certain airspace that do recreational stuff, agricultural stuff, business stuff. and then on top of it, there's whatever this is. and then on top of it there's a lot of planes, but now there's a public frenzy. so anytime anyone sees something in the sky, it's

like the drones are coming for us. so it's a perfect combination of the holidays, a change of administration, some opacity by the federal government about what's actually going on. and then i think a lot of people really not knowing everything that's in the sky and that's a problem. >> yeah for sure. all right. margaret talev always great to have you. thank you so much for being here this morning. all right. straight ahead here on cnn this morning, israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu detailing a, quote, very warm conversation. he says he just had with president elect trump, plus nancy pelosi undergoing surgery after taking a fall on a trip abroad and support for pete hegseth growing after he has apparently said he'll release his sexual misconduct accuser from her nondisclosure agreement. >> he's given me his side of the story. it makes sense to me. i believe him unless somebody is willing to come forward, i think he's going to get through

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or broken phone into a gift. trade in any phone in any condition and get samsung galaxy s24 plus with circle to search and watch and tab all three on us. survive the holidays with samsung powered by verizon nonstop. >> luther never too much new year's day at eight on cnn. >> welcome back. israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu confirming he had a, quote, very warm phone call with president elect trump saturday night. their discussion included their takes on israel's effort to secure victory over hamas in gaza and bring home the hostages and netanyahu's new plan to expand settlements in the occupied golan heights after the fall of syria's president bashar al assad if a year ago i said a simple thing we will change the middle east, and indeed we are changing it. syria is not the same syria. >> lebanon is not the same lebanon. gaza is not the same

gaza. and the head of the axis, iran is not the same. iran and i discussed all of this again last night with my friend, u.s. president elect donald trump. it was a very friendly, very warm and very important conversation. we spoke about the need to complete israel's victory, and we also spoke at length about the efforts we are making to free our hostages. >> all right. cnn's max foster joins us live now from london. our man in london, max foster, thank you for being here. uh, let's talk a little bit about what this means. i mean, we have seen donald trump in many ways operate almost as someone who was already president of the united states. it's it's rather remarkable. and the way these conversations are going with foreign leaders is a big piece of that, even though, of course, joe biden is still president of the united states. what did you make of how netanyahu characterized this phone call in terms of i thought it was interesting that he talked about the hostages in

particular. he's come under criticism for that from his own people in israel. and there's also this question about, you know, how much pressure there is on them to finish the war, have a cease fire before donald trump even takes office, because trump's allies have pretty clearly said that the president elect doesn't want to deal with this problem initially. >> um, it's interesting, isn't it? obviously, donald trump would like to have this dealt with. he'd be like, be like to be the one to deal with it. so what we're seeing from netanyahu is this language where he, you know, he's got this, he's had this quite obscure, uh, goal of victory over the iran's axis of evil. and that does cut across hamas, hezbollah and syria. and you can see him there starting to talk about reaching that victory, which is a point where perhaps he could agree to some sort of peace deal. there is talk of a more political momentum behind a peace deal for gaza, for example. and, you

know, if you take all of this in context, maybe that could be seen as part of this wider fight against iran and the axis of evil, as he calls it. so some of the language from netanyahu is certainly changing, and it does suggest that, you know, peace a peace deal is more likely at this point. and we also know that hamas has shifted slightly. um, there seem to be indications that they would accept israeli troops remaining in gaza, which was a big block for them up until now. >> yeah. max, let me also ask you about the golan heights, because of course, we've seen netanyahu vowed to double the population there. what's the impact of that? >> well, it's largely seen as a violation, certainly from giuliani, who is running syria right now, also from the united nations and european union. uh, the buffer zone is meant to be a buffer zone, as in, you know, a space between syria and israel. but it's now

effectively being occupied by israel. some of those positions that were occupied by syria, also, they have been seen within syria itself as well. now, talk of, you know, greater numbers of settlements. it does clash slightly with what the israeli defense forces chief said. we aren't intervening in what's happening in syria. we have no intention of administering syria. but, you know, this is syrian territory. and if there are settlements there, they will have to be administered. so we're just going to have to see how it's playing out. having settlements there is a very different argument from the one that they've made up until now, which is securing the buffer zone, because you can see why israel would need to do that in many ways, because it wants to. it's worried about what's going to emerge in syria. but, you know, settlements are a different debate, and other countries have a much stronger view on that. >> all right. max foster for us this morning, sir. always grateful to have you. thank you so much. all right. see you soon. still ahead here on cnn this morning, mitt romney's farewell message to the

republican party give him a chance to do what he said he's going to do and see how it works out. romney was the last man not named trump to be the republican nominee for president. what he sees for the gop's future. plus, a tornado in california in december. we have that coming up in our morning roundup welcome to times square. >> that's not in my life, kit that was so embarrassing. >> new year's eve live with anderson and andy. live coverage starts at eight on cnn. streaming live on. >> for more than a decade, sega has been trusted again and again and again for sega ask your doctor about

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pelosi is on the mend after undergoing hip replacement surgery following a fall in luxembourg. she was airlifted to a hospital in germany after tripping and falling on stairs while attending an official event. we're glad she's okay abc news reached a settlement with donald trump in his defamation suit against the network. abc will pay $15 million to a presidential foundation and museum. trump sued abc news and anchor george stephanopoulos when he used the word rape instead of the phrase sexual assault when referring to jean carroll's lawsuit against trump a rare california tornado touches down in scotts valley. the ef one tornado hit the area on saturday with winds reaching 83 miles an hour. >> to be honest with you, i thought this could be the end of my life. it was that strong.

>> the storm prompted san francisco, which is about 70 miles away, to issue the first tornado warning in its history. but fortunately, it never touched down there. and that brings us to weather, because california, not yet in the clear from severe weather, heavy rain and high winds hit the northern part of the state this morning. let's get to our meteorologist, our weatherman, derek van dam. derek good morning. >> good morning casey. >> let's be clear. there's not a threat of tornadoes today along the west coast. >> so let's get that out of the way right away. >> but what we saw this weekend was phenomenal to see and witness the first ever tornado warning in san francisco's history. >> that's really saying something just to the south in scotts valley, there was a confirmed tornado. you can see it here. and even though it was only on the ground for get this five minutes, it was enough to overturn vehicles and cause injuries. stripped leaves off of trees and take down power lines as well. very very short lived tornado but very destructive tornado within that

particular section. so here's what's happening now as we start our monday morning, we've got what we call an atmospheric river. you've heard us use that term several times. basically, this plume of water vapor and moisture that's going to allow for a considerable amount of precipitation over the coming days. so a lot of mountain snow that will be measured in feet, not inches. and then rainfall for the lower elevations, especially along the coastline of washington and oregon, into northern sections of california, could be 2 to 4in locally higher amounts as well. but i want to show you what's happening on the east coast. so as you wake up this morning in the major metropolitan philadelphia, new york, just south of boston, a quick moving but impactful storm will impact your morning commute as you head out the door today, look at long island. lots of rain. you work your way inland. slightly higher elevation. that is snowfall. that's why we have that winter weather advisory in place for the region. for a quick 2 to 4in of heavy, wet snow for the interior today. casey. >> all right, derek van dam for us this morning derek. thank you. see you soon. okay. all right. coming up here on cnn

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los angeles. and this is cnn 5:30 a.m. >> here on the east coast, a live look. this is for jeff zeleny omaha, nebraska, 430 in the morning. felony, of course. son of nebraska. good morning, everyone. i'm kasie hunt. it's wonderful to have you with us. frustrations are mounting over what exactly people are seeing in the night sky, and what the government can do about it. mysterious drone sightings have now been reported in at least six states, with many of them centered over new jersey and new york, where officials are calling for federal help in tracking the drones. >> if the technology exists for a drone to make it up into the sky, there certainly is the technology that can track the craft with precision and determine what the heck is going on. >> new york's governor on sunday announced they're getting some federal help releasing a statement saying, quote, our federal partners are sending a drone detection

system to new york. but she added, quote, we need more. congress must pass a law that will give us the power to deal directly with drones. the secretary of homeland security also calling for more authorities to deal with drones. >> we are working in close coordination with state and local authorities, and it is critical, as we all have said for a number of years, that we need from congress, additional authorities to address the drone situation. we want state and local authorities to also have the ability to counter drone activity under federal supervision. that is one important element that we have requested. >> all right. joining us now, retired major general scott clancy, former director of operations at norad. sir, thank you so much for being here. >> thank you very much for having me. >> so you sent us some fascinating background, i have to say, some of it i found to be rather alarming. but let's

let's start with, i guess, the less alarming piece of this, which is that you do seem to suggest that there are a lot of things that people may be seeing that are that are normal. but i am curious to know, do you think the federal government knows more about these drones than they're telling americans? >> no, i actually don't think they know much more. and this is the place that is causing confusion between the population, the citizens, their representatives and the officials. >> when you don't have answers to these questions, obviously citizens want to know. but getting a hold of exactly what these drones are is very, very hard. the sensors required to see these low radar cross-section things are very localized, and there's very little regulatory help from the faa or anything else to delineate which these operators are malicious versus those which are foreign or domestic.

you know, threats. >> so fair enough that also, though, suggests i mean, it's potentially a reason to be concerned if your citizens if federal government can't figure out what they are. i mean, what do you think is the most plausible explanation for what's going on? >> so i think you're seeing a bunch of things happening at the same time. first of all, i do think there is a large number of these that are being misidentified as civilian aircraft or military aircraft, even military drones. and if they were military drones, you know, the department of defense and the homeland security would not necessarily say that they were anyways. and the things that these are happening at night, because, you see, with respect to the distinction between lit aircraft and unlit, you see them at night. whereas if that exact same drone was operating during the day, you wouldn't even notice that that it was in the sky. but there are a number of unmanned aerial systems, or drones that are operating out there at night. the question that everybody needs to be answering, both

citizens and lawmakers and officials, how many of these are, you no negligent drone operators versus malicious actors. and that delineation is where the problem space is. >> yeah. so speaking of malicious actors, there was a congressman jeff van drew republican who suggested that there was an iranian mothership off the coast. right. which the pentagon flat out denied. they said this is not the case. but that said, i know in your background at norad you did have concerns about the security of the the oceans and the ways in which ships off of our coast could potentially pose security threats. what do you know about that? and how do you think it might relate to this situation? >> so, you know, there's a few things that, uh, pertaining to the security of the homeland that we need to make very, very clear. the first one is, is that successive commanders of norad and usnorthcom have been stating, you know, since my commander back in 2011, general

jacoby, that drones and vessels off of our coastline pose specific threats that have to be dealt with. it should come to no surprise to lawmakers and officials that there is more funding and development of capabilities required to counter these threats at home, because the homeland really is the soft underbelly of our defenses. we're more strong overseas than we are at home, and i speak both as a canadian serviceman, but also having operated significantly the american service as well. we're much stronger on the away game than we are at home, and there needs to be real good policy that's associated with homeland defense. law enforcement needs to be, you know, armed with the ability to to counter these kinds of systems that need to be given funding to be able to do these now pertaining to vessels off of our coastline, it is very plausible that a commercial vessel off of our coastline could be hiding, you know, a set of drones or a, you know, a missile system. and we worked at a variety of threats that we

trained against on a continuous basis to try and counter even the wildest dreams of what you could make up. that is why norad was given the maritime warning mission. that is why norad and usnorthcom, uh, along with the american and canadian navies and the coast guards, monitor all of the vessels off the coastline. but this is difficult stuff to do, and it is it constitutes a significant threat. >> all right. retired major general scott clancy, sir, thanks very much for being with us this morning. i hope you'll come back if if this continues. thank you. >> i'm always ready. thank you very much. >> all right. cheers. all right. let's turn now to this. stars. stripes, football and politics. donald trump's pick for defense secretary pete hegseth, enjoying a weekend of public support from the president elect, donald trump, j.d. vance and hegseth appearing side by side at army-navy football game in maryland on saturday. hegseth past the confirmation process has been a rocky one, as he has faced allegations of sexual assault, improper workplace

behavior. now, according to republican senator lindsey graham, hegseth has promised to release the woman who accused him of sexual assault from a confidentiality agreement. >> he told me he would release her from that agreement. i'd want to know if anybody nominated for a high level job in washington legitimately assaulted somebody. people have an allegation to make, come forward and make it like they did in kavanaugh. we'll we'll decide whether or not it's credible. right now, he's being tried by anonymous sources that will not stand. >> all right. joining us now, washington correspondent for spectrum news, kevin frei. kevin good morning. nice to see you. so this public support of hegseth from donald trump, in many ways i think the key piece for hegseth here, because of course, there was a question there for a little while. he seemed to be stepping back, letting hegseth fight his fight. no longer. now they're out there appearing in public. what do you think what lindsey graham said about this nda

means going forward for hegseth? well, i mean, i wanted to touch on the trump appearing with him at the army-navy game. >> we know how much trump values television and camera time. and so that is illustrative in a pretty impactful way when it comes to the confirmation fight. i mean, look, lindsey graham is suggesting in his comments as part of that interview that if there's more information that comes out, maybe then i'll have to reassess. but he seems to be now, despite a couple of weeks ago, saying that these are concerning reports about hegseth seems to be on board. and it seems that after a very rocky road, hegseth seems to be much more on the straight and narrow when it comes to getting to this confirmation. we shall see. of course. but there is this enhanced pressure campaign that seems to be growing on some of these more moderate republicans, the joni ernst, the thom tillis of the world that are in cycle this election or in 2026, rather, that they could face primary challenges if they're not sufficiently loyal to trump and his nominee. so there are a lot of factors at play, as hegseth is seemingly getting closer to confirmation. >> one of the things, too, that's kind of come up here

and you heard it in in that lindsey graham interview on meet the press, is comparisons to brett kavanaugh. and graham was actually explicit in making that connection and saying in particular that anonymous allegations, they were not going to allow those to impact their decision. that was, you know, what leads to these questions about letting this woman in question out of her confidentiality agreement just because they were willing to do that doesn't mean that she's going to come forward, especially after what happened to some of the women that came forward. >> well, it's going to say kavanaugh to that point. she could come forward. but we remember what happened to christine blasey ford. so it's not like this is an easy path for them to come forward. and then all of a sudden, the senators will all believe her. that's not necessarily a guarantee based on what we've seen from the senate in just recent years. >> yeah. so big picture. what are we expecting this week from trump's nominees on capitol hill? because it's going to be another week of full court press. right. >> so hegseth seemingly will be back. but then we also see rfk jr.. starting to make the rounds, particularly with the republicans this week. and one of the things that i'm going

to be keeping an eye on, particularly, is where does senator mitch mcconnell go in some of all of this? because of what we just saw from the new york times on friday, i believe it was this reporting about the polio vaccine that a lawyer that's been helping vet some of the potential members of the of rfk team had been basically lobbying the federal government to no longer allow for the polio vaccine to be to be federally backed. mcconnell put out a statement that was pretty blunt for him about the fact that that they're raising questions about the validity of this vaccine. >> yeah, he said. it wasn't just irresponsible. he used the word dangerous. correct. >> and, of course, he's a polio survivor. he still has a lot of clout, even if he's not going to be the majority leader or not going to be the top republican within the senate. so does he choose in this scenario to weigh in and perhaps bring some republicans with him? that will be one of the dynamics to watch. >> yeah. all right. kevin fry for us this morning, sir. very grateful to have you. thank you. all right. coming up next here on cnn this morning, a final farewell to the gop. mitt

romney's bold prediction for the future of his party and his last days in office. plus, a scary hit puts one nfl player in the hospital overnight. we'll tell you about that next. in sports. >> no peeking. okay. okay. open oh. >> oh over 600,000 usps employees working in sync to ensure everything sent on its holiday ride ends with a moment of joy. >> the united states postal service, for more than a decade, fast has been trusted again and again and again

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gentle constipation relief in as little as 30 minutes. >> making your good morning even better with dulcolax. >> closed captioning brought to you by aarp. join and get instant access to member benefits. >> join aarp for $12 for one year and get instant access to member benefits and social programs. >> join and get an insulated trunk organizer free. plus, aarp, the magazine. >> the nation, as you know, is at a critical point. at a time like this, we can't risk partisan bickering and political posturing. our leaders have to reach across the aisle to do the people's work. i believe in america. i believe in the people of america now, just over 12 years ago, i was in that room. >> actually, mitt romney conceded the 2012 election to president barack obama, and now he is making his congressional exit following a decades long

political career. the outgoing senator from utah, speaking to cnn's jake tapper on sunday, looking back at what has led the republican party to where it is today and making some predictions about where it's going. >> maga is the republican party and donald trump is the republican party today. and if you were to ask me who the nominee will be in 2028, i think it will be j.d. vance. all right. he's smart and well-spoken. part of the maga movement. >> you said something pretty harsh about him a few months ago, though you could not have less respect for somebody than j.d. long ago. >> i'm not going to rehash history. >> i'm not going to rehash history. cnn political commentator, former georgia lieutenant governor geoff duncan joins us now. sir, thanks for being here. nice to be here. good morning. remarkable moment from, you know, mitt romney stepping down. and, you know, i actually was one of the early assignments i had in my career covering politics. and you could really see the arc of where the republican party has gone during mitt romney's bid

from when he and others in the republican primary were scrambling for trump's endorsement in that primary. you know, eventually it goes to romney. and i remember standing in trump tower. it really sort of presaged what was to come. what do you make of of how romney has has what he has gone through? in some ways, you have been a member of mitt romney's republican party and have found yourself not so at home in donald trump's. but that said, i think this may be the first time i've talked to you, aside from right after the election, about, you know, kind of the sweeping mandate that trump came in with. i mean, you could hear romney talk. talk a little bit about about that. i mean, he was clearly accepting it in a way that surprised me a little bit. >> yeah. >> watching that interview with jake yesterday, i couldn't help but think, what if mitt romney had some chance over the last umpteen years to actually be the president, put on display what a genuine leader looks like, what somebody that comes to work every day with a moral compass, with a direction and a vision. but he didn't. and unfortunately, the republican party that i'm a part of that i hopefully grew up trying to

be a part of. steering is not the republican party recognize anymore. and donald trump won fair and square, just like mitt romney said yesterday. he won. and it's a legitimate election. unfortunately, there's there's other than a few tax cuts and a few other opportunities to maybe cut government spending, there's not a lot to look forward to for a genuine conservative like myself, i believe donald trump has built more of a, you know, his his legacy is more built on on a ponzi scheme, a ponzi scheme of populist ideas. and every day it's got to get a little bit more edgy and a little bit more daring and, and bombastic. and i think you have to look no further than these nominees to see us. part of that next step in the ponzi scheme. if you told me that donald trump was building an administration to run a frat house, i'd believe you. not necessarily to tackle the global issues that we're facing, the economic challenges that we're facing, the intensity of the challenges that this country faces, i believe, are more serious than donald trump is. >> so one of the things that romney has always put forward as part of his critique of

donald trump, and it is character, and that is something that he did not back away from. in that interview with jake yesterday. let's let's look at how romney talked about that policy. >> bad policy. we can live with the countries, overcome bad policy in the past, and it will in the future. bad character is something we haven't had to live with. and so it's important in our leaders of all kinds that we have people who are honest and virtuous and and direct in a way that is not based upon personal interest. i'm, as you know, not a supporter of president trump's. i didn't support him in this election. didn't the last time he ran either, largely for matters of character. and i hope we see better in the coming years. >> so of course, donald trump is not the first politician to run our country who has raised questions of personal character. now, he was the only one who. >> that's the nicest way i've ever heard it put. >> but there was the insurrection, right? a challenge to the actual

transfer of power, which was unique to donald trump. how much do you think character matters in our leaders? >> character matters in everything that we do in this country, how we pick our local leaders, how we pick our business leaders. but unfortunately, it doesn't seem to matter as much as to how we pick our presidents. you know, character matters because when you show up and go to work every day, you don't know what the actual challenges that you're going to face are like. i think back to governor kemp and i came in. we never would have thought we would have faced a pandemic. we never thought we would have faced social and civil unrest or a 2020 election debacle. but we measure character is something you bring to work with you every single day, no matter what the challenge that you face is. and i think that's that's the the dilemma that we face with donald trump is that there is no moral compass that points him in the right direction when he wakes up, other than what's in the mirror and what helps him. >> do you think the american public cares about character in its leaders based on what we have seen? >> i do, i do. i just think we're caught in this vicious cycle right now where it just it's a short term sugar high. social media is playing a part

of that. just the way that we consume, the way we interact with each other. and it does matter. and it will matter in the future. and i think that's that's the telltale sign. when we finally one of these parties, either the democrats or republicans, figure out how to ignore the fringes and pay attention to the middle, i think is going to be the one that that that ends up surviving the longest after this period of time. >> yeah. all right. jeff duncan, always wonderful to have you. thank you so much for being here. all right. time now for sports. week 15 of the nfl season saw its share of incredible performances, but there were some brutal injuries to star players. andy schultz has more in this morning's cnn sports update. andy good morning. yeah good morning casey. >> it was just a rough, rough day for injuries yesterday. the chiefs, they were able to beat the browns to get to an nfl best 13 and one. but now all eyes are on patrick mahomes ankle. mahomes legs they got rolled up on as he was making this throw here in the fourth quarter. looked like it hurt. but he got up limped off to the sidelines. but he would not return to the game. and here was mahomes afterwards on his

ankle. >> it's hard to say right now. i mean obviously he's still adrenaline rolling and usually it's kind of the day after when you kind of get a good, good sense of it. but i feel like i could have finished the game in different circumstances. but i thought the smart decision, i think we talked about was to put carson in, and he's played a lot of football, and he and he finished the game well. >> so short week for the chiefs. they host the texans on saturday. then they play at the steelers christmas day. and speaking of pittsburgh t.j. watt, he also left his game with an ankle injury when they were playing the eagles. he said he's in a wait and see mode for saturday's huge game with baltimore seahawks quarterback geno smith. meanwhile, he also left last night's loss to the packers in the third quarter with a knee injury, slammed his helmet to the ground in frustration. seattle head coach mike mcdonald said after smith's knee appears to be intact, but his status for next week is up in the air. and houston. meanwhile, we had a very scary situation. dolphins receiver grant dubose took a very hard hit on this play right here from the texans kalen bullock.

he was motionless on the field. medical personnel. they came in. they removed his helmet, cut off his jersey to attend to him. he was taken to the hospital where he is in stable condition. tyreek hill said after the game dubose was in good spirits when he talked to him and he's moving and that's all that matters. the injury bug also continuing to hit the lions defense. they lost two more players for the season, including khalil dorsey, who suffered a gruesome leg injury on this play. he had to be carted off. as for the game, josh allen pretty much locking up the mvp award with another stellar performance. he ran for two touchdowns. he threw for two as well, the bills just dominating the lions, winning 48 to 42, snapping detroit's 11 game winning streak. buffalo has scored at least 30 points in eight straight games in philadelphia. meanwhile, the eagles and steelers are squaring off in the battle of pennsylvania. jalen hurts and that eagles passing attack getting back on track. hurts 290 yards passing two touchdowns. the eagles in the fourth quarter just dominated the time of possession. they

got the ball with 10.5 minutes left. they ran 21 plays and ran out the clock to win 27 to 13. philly. they've now won ten in a row. and finally it's a rough morning to be a colts fan. third quarter jonathan taylor 41 yard touchdown run. but wait he dropped the ball before he crossed the goal line, celebrating early. just unreal. instead of taking the lead, it's a touchback. broncos ball later. this trick play right here did not work out as they had practiced it. nick bonino picking that off going the other way 50 yards for the score. denver would end up winning 31 to 13. but casey i. i can't believe that we still have those plays where the players drop the ball before they cross the goal line. that would drive me nuts if i was a coach. >> uh, yeah, or a fan. anyone? anyone? anyone at all. you know, it's funny, i have to say, i don't i don't hate watching cole screw ups because you may have wondered why my sports loyalties are so

confusing, but my main football loyalty has always been disdain for the formerly baltimore colts, who left town in the middle of the night when my dad was a kid. so i ended up an eagles fan out of that. anyway, andy, thank you, i appreciate it. see you tomorrow. all right. coming up here on cnn this morning, drone drama leading to panic and political fallout. why? some say it's time for the u.s. military to start shooting them out of the sky. and why officials warn that is not a good idea. plus, new hope for the family of journalist austin tice missing in syria for 12 years now. >> for us, you know, this this kind of chaos for us, it represented a huge opening, a huge opportunity it's the most wonderful time with verizon. >> trade in any phone, any condition. it's your last

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