bush in oh four. so trump is no different than he's remade the party in his image. and the next president, when they get elected republican president and reelected, they will do the same thing. um, you know, he's such a good man. i saw him the other week. i will never say a bad word about that guy. he's a good man. truly an incredible, incredible guy. and, you know, i think he deserves a nice, long retirement. but knowing him probably won't last that long. and we're going to want to get him out of the house and doing something else. so. but no, he's such a good guy and it's been such a privilege to be working on his campaign. 2011 2012 well, and can i just say, may we all age as gracefully? >> oh, i know as governor romney did, i still also i can't i covered him in the senate for a long time as well, but i could never i was always like, governor. >> he went by governor. so it was the title that everybody really knew him by and just a remarkable, a remarkable career and time on, on, on the public stage. thank you guys for being with us today. thanks to all of you for joining us at home.

i'm kasie hunt. don't go anywhere. cnn news central starts right now. >> an unauthorized drone shuts down airspace over a critical u.s. air force base. >> federal officials now frantically trying to calm fears as pressure is mounting on them to do something about these mysterious sightings that have now happened in multiple states. >> accusations of egregious civil rights violations inside a new york police department. this new report details strip searches of nearly every person taken into custody and guests at a five star fiji resort rushed to the hospital after just drinking cocktails. >> officials this morning suspect they were poisoned. i'm kate baldwin with john berman and sara sidner. this is cnn news central

new this morning, an alarming drone incident that forced one of the us's most critical air force bases to close its airspace for several hours. >> this happened at wright-patterson air force base over the weekend in ohio and just in new air traffic control. audio obtained by military news website the war zone of the moment it happened. >> mid-flight at patterson tower. use extreme caution for heavy uas movement on the base. security forces is handling the situation and i got to keep the lights down so that security forces can see ohio. >> now, the latest of several states to report drone concerns as scrutiny over the federal response is building cnn this morning. lawmakers are demanding government officials do more and explain more. after weeks of suspicious sightings, i've had briefings, as i've said, that makes me feel confident based on those briefings, that there's not an imminent threat to public safety. >> but it doesn't answer the question, where are all these

drones coming from that people are seeing? and why aren't we doing a better job of tracking them and understanding that it can't be the wild west of drones out there in jersey or anywhere else? we've got to get to the bottom of this. and and people deserve answers. >> and ahead, we'll speak to more lawmakers who are concerned. cnn's sunlen serfaty is in washington. sunlen, what more is the administration planning to do? there are a lot of concerns that have turned to frustration and anger. >> frankly, that's absolutely right, sarah. concern is growing, and pressure certainly is increasing on the administration to be more transparent and clear in how they're handling this and distribute the information that they know. this incident at the air force base over the weekend at wright, patterson, right outside dayton, ohio, really increasing the alarm, the fact that that airspace was closed for four hours. this is, as you noted, a very critical airspace. air force center hosts the air force research lab, the national air and space intelligence center. so certainly concerning that a drone would be flying in that

airspace overhead. and it comes as these drone sightings are only increasing now, extending beyond new york and new jersey. but other places, especially in the northeast, so that only increasing the alarm here and we have seen a recalibration of sorts from the administration over the weekend, really leaning into this message that they are on it despite, as you noted, some frustration from lawmakers demanding more answers. but we heard from the secretary of homeland security over the weekend saying that he is not aware of any direct national security concerns and trying again to tell the public that the administration is on it. here's what the secretary had to say. >> 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 so the administration, they are

really trying to express that they are increasing some resources to take care of this issue and learn more about this issue. >> meantime, republican mike of florida, president elect donald trump's incoming national security adviser, really taking issue with where exactly these drone sightings are happening, specifically over military sites and restricted air spaces? here's what he had to say. >> i think what the drone issue points out are kind of gaps in our agencies, gaps in our authorities between the department of homeland security and local law enforcement, the defense department. it's pointing to gaps in our capabilities and in our ability to clamp down on what's going on here. and we need to get to the bottom of it. and i think the biden administration is is working to do that now, lawmakers on both sides, though, sarah, are certainly expressing a very vocal frustrations on the part of the administration here for what they believe is not being as transparent as they would like

and calling for new regulations over drones. >> so this certainly is going to be something, sarah, we are going to see on capitol hill this week, all this talk about the drones and the concerns over the security. >> sunlen serfaty, thank you so much for that. good reporting. appreciate it, kate. >> also this morning, two men are in custody after police say a drone came dangerously close is how they describe it to boston's logan international airport. and a third person is now believed to be on the run. cnn's gloria pazmino has more we are still waiting to hear more about what was behind these arrests. >> but what we do know so far is that an officer spotted the drones and then was able to deploy drone detection technology to identify the drone history. the owners and the locations from where they were being operated from that led the police department to boston harbor island. this is a largely uninhabited part of boston, and once police arrived there, they were able to arrest two people. they initially

tried to flee on foot, but they were eventually captured. one of them had a drone in their backpack, and another is believed to have fled using a small vessel. a third person, who the police are still looking for. now we don't know how much we are going to learn as a result of these arrests just yet, and whether or not it will explain some of the sightings that have been reported in boston. but the fact that the police department was able to use technology is certainly something that a lot of law enforcement officials and representatives across many of these different communities are talking about here in new york, governor kathy hochul also telling us that the state is receiving some additional resources from the federal government after some drone sightings resulted in an airfield having to be shut down over this past weekend because of drone sightings over airspace at a local airport. now, governor

kathy hochul issued a statement on sunday saying in part, in response to my calls for additional resources, our federal partners are deploying a state of the art drone detection system to new york state. this system will support state and federal law enforcement in their investigation. now, something we're not clear on just yet is exactly what kind of technology new york is going to be receiving. if it's going to be anything like what boston deployed and helped them, uh, it helped them to find the drones and conduct those arrests. i have been asking about this technology, but i've been told that because this is now an issue of national security, the state is not going to share more information about what the technology is or where it will be deployed. however, i am told by sources familiar with the conversations that the governor and the secretary of homeland security, alejandro mayorkas, held a few phone calls over the weekend to

discuss the need for for more resources gloria, thank you so much for that, john. >> all right. this morning, a city police force accused of illegally strip searching nearly every single person they arrested. a new report shows that homeowners are worth 40 times more, on average than renters. so. new new details on what is causing the staggering wealth gap. and if you have not yet shipped your gifts for the holidays, you are almost screwed. i say almost because we have new information for you that might help save christmas. can't fool myself. >> it was the most exciting time in the world. >> his life had extremely joyful moments and some really difficult moments. >> you only come across an artist like luther vandross once in a lifetime. >> luther. never too much new year's day on cnn. >> hank used to suffer from what felt like a cold and flu medicine hangover in the morning. then he switched to mucinex nightshift. mucinex is

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gonna play my club. >> super talking. remind everybody who the big dogs are. i'll show down this morning, a shocking new report from the department of justice accuses the police department in mount vernon, new york, of violating civil rights. >> the report found officers made illegal arrests and strip searched nearly everyone they took into custody. cnn crime and justice correspondent katelyn polantz is with us now. this is a scathing report. caitlin. >> it really is. >> the justice department looked into the mount vernon police department in new york, just north of new york city, for about three years. >> and the finding from the justice department on the official side is that the police force was depriving people of rights when they were stopping them and taking them into custody without probable cause. but really, john, the shocking part of this is the detail some egregious retellings of things this police force was doing, including strip searching

people regularly the whole way up until 2022. and the justice department said they believed that they were curtailing this practice while this was under investigation. but it didn't stop entirely. one of the examples given in the justice department report was that a woman was handing a $5 bill to her husband to buy a lottery ticket, and she was with another woman, ages 65 and 75. were these two women and police officers stopped them, searched their car, found nothing, believing it was a search for drugs potentially, that these women may have been buying drugs instead of sending money to someone for a lottery ticket, and then took them into the police station and strip searched them, had them fully nude, and one of the detectives told them to bend over and cough. at the end of the day, the officers were lying about these women buying drugs, and this was the sort of regular practice that was happening in this police force. one of the

things that happened in mount vernon since then is that they have been revising their policies. they're offering officers more training, and they're working with the city on getting body worn cameras for officers. but the justice department says there is still more work to do here. the mayor of mount vernon, new york, shawyn patterson-howard, a democrat. he said in a quote recently, we wholeheartedly support our good officers and at the same time will not tolerate and will punish unconstitutional policing. >> all right. as i said, this report worth a read. katelyn polantz. thank you very much, sarah. >> all right. now, that health care ceo murder suspect luigi mangione has a high powered new york lawyer. will he stop fighting extradition from pennsylvania? and new clues on what his defense may be. also, a supreme performance. a supreme court justice made a broadway debut this weekend. do you know which one?

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>> this year is way better for flipping houses bigger budgets. >> 1.3 what they went up bigger stakes. >> things are so unpredictable. >> is there a crocodile in there? >> the flipping al-mousa season premiere thursday, december 26th at nine on hgtv. >> this week we could learn when the man accused of killing unitedhealthcare ceo brian thompson will be extradited back to new york. the manhattan district attorney suggests that the suspect, luigi mangione, may soon be giving up his fight against being moved from pennsylvania, where he was arrested. right now, mangione remains there in state prison as he is facing charges in both states and in the wake of brian thompson's shocking murder. there is also a new report out by a security analysis firm warning the widespread support online that the suspect is seeing for the suspected killer for the suspected killer. also now risks encouraging copycat attacks. cnn's brian todd has more along a seattle area

highway. >> a digital sign says one less ceo, then many more to go in new york city. posters were put unitedhealthcare ceo brian thompson with a red x across his picture. other posters singled out another executive in florida. police say a woman who was on the phone talking with blue cross blue shield about recently denied medical claims, said to the representative, quote, delay denied depose you people are next. those words were written on the shell casings found at the scene of brian thompson's murder. the woman has been charged with threats to conduct a mass shooting or an act of terrorism. >> what we're seeing has been unleashed on social media and elsewhere is just all of this pent up anger and frustration. i mean, we're talking about people's health. >> this is a life and death situation. >> the head of the health care conglomerate, brian thompson, worked for unitedhealth group ceo andrew witty, tried to address some of the growing frustration with an essay in the new york times. he praised thompson as a brilliant, kind man who was working to make

health care better for everyone and wrote, we know the health system does not work as well as it should, and we understand people's frustrations with it. our mission is to help make it work better. witty said his company is willing to partner with anyone to deliver better care at lower costs, but acknowledged. quote, clearly we are not there yet. witty did little to appease thousands of people who replied to his op ed with comments, one person writing to think that the health care providers do not also seek to maximize their profits is simply naive. another saying i don't know how he sleeps at night on his bed of blood and suffering. >> at this point, social media is now the jury and it doesn't like what it sees. so if you're an executive, you know, in interim management, unitedhealthcare or any other health company, you've got to read the room. >> unitedhealth group is a for profit company that reported over $100 billion in revenue in the third quarter of this year, and is the largest provider of health insurance in the united states. it has been facing a class action lawsuit since before the thompson shooting, accusing one of its

subsidiaries of using algorithms to deny care to seniors. united says that assertion is false, but the horror stories seemingly never end. arete tsoukalas tells cnn she needed a specific drug to treat the leukemia she was diagnosed with. she said her insurer, one of the nation's largest, refused to pay for the drug entirely at first, then said it would pay part of it, but she'd have to pay a $13,000 a month co-pay. sakula says she went without the drug for three months, then got it with financial help from the drug manufacturer. >> no one should have to fight cancer and insurance at the same time. some aspects of the cancer treatment felt a lot easier to deal with than insurance. >> cnn's tami luhby says she spoke to several health policy experts who told her the most effective way to bring about real change in the industry is if the current consumer outrage is sustained. she says they told her if that dies down, the insurers will have less incentive to make changes. brian todd, cnn, washington. >> our thanks to brian for

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this morning. this is something you talk about quite a bit here, but these numbers are just huge. yeah, john, they are huge. >> i mean, look, this is what inequality looks like. there's just this staggering gap between the haves and the have nots. so the median renters net worth in the united states is just over $10,000. that is a small, small fraction of the $400,000 net worth for the median home owner. and those numbers are as of 2022. so you could imagine that the gap has actually only gotten bigger since then, because we know home prices have gone up. and it's not just about net worth. this same aspen institute report also found that renters are likely to have smaller cash flow, more burdensome debt than homeowners, and also less savings. and listen, the problem is a familiar one, right? homeownership remains the ticket to building wealth in america. but there's too many people trying to chase after too few homes. and so home prices have gone higher

and higher. we've seen this across the country. here in the northeast. we've seen home prices over the last 12 months go seven 8% higher to almost $500,000. that's the median home in the northeast. even bigger gap in bigger increase in the midwest. and look at that in the west. the median home price is well over $620,000. that's the median home. so that means half of them are actually valued north of that. and john, i've talked to a number of parents, millennials who, you know, they want a yard for their kids. they want a bigger home for their kids to run around, but they just feel like they can't do that right now because prices are too high and mortgage rates are too high. yeah. >> look, in the northeast, just a simple math thing. if the average home price is $472,000, $500,000, 20%, down 100 grand, you got to have 100 grand in the bank. that's hard. it's really, really hard. and homeownership. it's not the only issue here. rent is going up too. yeah, absolutely. >> we've seen rent take up a bigger and bigger chunk of

paychecks. zillow found that to afford to rent in america, you need an income of almost $80,000 a year. that is up by 33% since before covid 19. now, wages are up, too, but often not by 33%. now, there is some good news out there for renters. we have seen rent dip a bit between october and november. there is a building boom of apartments in america, and so that means there's more supply on the market now and coming. and so we've actually seen some landlords have to offer some more concessions. things like free parking, free weeks or even a month of rent. so that is helping. but listen, john, clearly this housing affordability issue is a major problem. and this does put pressure on officials in washington to to address all of this, to try to boost supply. analysts at td cohen, they said that republicans realized that they will not remain in power if housing inflation continues

to outpace wage growth. so listen, john, hopefully we see some action to try to boost supply because there's a lot of frustrated renters out there. >> it's such a hurdle for young people. matt egan thank you. thank you for this sarah. >> those are crazy numbers, guys. thank you for that. the concern over unexplained drones now affecting multiple states in ohio over the weekend, airspace over a critical u.s. air force base was shut down for hours because of unexplained drone activity. and in new york, the governor says the situation has gone too far after mysterious drones forced the stewart international airport to shut down its runways late friday night for about an hour. joining us now is new jersey assemblyman brian bergen. thank you so much for coming in this morning. i know you're one of the people that is just super, super worried about what is happening here. and it was your state where this all seemed to to kick off, where people started noticing these enormous drones, you know, in the skies. you, i think, met with homeland security officials. did you get any answers as to where these

drones are originating and who is behind them? and if they indeed pose any kind of risk? >> no we didn't. we had a meeting with homeland security officials and with the state police and others. >> and no, we got no answers. >> and you know what? this is almost a week ago that we met, and nothing has happened since then except, you know, we had federal government people deny that there was really an issue and a lot of delay and a lot of talk by politicians, but not a lot of real action. and you know what i think is starting to happen now? you know, if you look over the over new jersey right now, there's a tremendous amount of air traffic at night. so not only is there the drones that were originally there, which are the big concern, but there's probably people looking for them with other drones, with planes, with helicopters. so the night sky in new jersey is crazy. and if the officials had acted back when this originally started, i think we'd have a lot more answers than we have today. and people deserve answers. and one thing to keep in mind this happened. i think it was a year ago over langley,

virginia, and it happened for a period of time and then stopped for good. so we have a limited opportunity to figure out what the hell is going on before it stops in new jersey and moves on. and based on your reporting, it seems like it already has. >> yeah. i do want to ask you about some of the comments made by secretary of homeland security alejandro mayorkas over the weekend. he told abc that in september of 2023, the faa actually changed the rules so that drones could fly at night. so it may be that people are seeing more drones now than ever before. could that be an explanation for some of this? >> no, i don't think that that would be logical. i mean, so all right, let's, let's let's assume for a second that maybe that could be part of the cause. well, how does that explain the fact that there's a six foot drone flying at night and not a six foot drone flying during the day, ever? i mean, have you ever seen one? i never have, but now we're seeing those things at night over new jersey. i think what he is constantly doing is trying to

justify why it might be the way that it is, instead of what he should be doing, which is taking immediate action to figure out what the heck is going on in the state of new jersey. and this is what we hate when the government does. we hate when the government kicks the can, points the finger, tries to over excuse things that are happening, but the average citizen, my 250,000 constituents want to see is someone just do something. and this guy seems to be trying to over justify what could be there. instead of taking action to figure out what is going on in new jersey. and that bothers me. >> new york governor kathy hochul had said that this has gone too far this weekend, and she directed the new york state intelligence center to actively investigate drone sightings. these are her words, and coordinate with federal law enforcement to address this issue. and those efforts are ongoing. but in order to allow state law enforcement to work on the issue, she called on congress to pass the counter-uas authority security, safety and reauthorization act.

she says that the feds are deploying a drone detection system. are you satisfied with that? and do you agree that something needs to also be done in congress? >> yeah, there's probably lots of stuff that has to be done in congress. but we're in a in a position right now where, again, people need to take action. so while i appreciate what the new york governor said about how she's going to activate some of the resources there in her state, the governors have a tremendous amount of authority and power that they can utilize to help us figure this out. look, we don't need to figure out what all thousand drones or whatever they are are doing. we just need to follow one back to whoever's controlling this thing and figure out what is happening. so we don't need massive legislation and overhaul of the system to figure out what's happening here and now. but we do as a long term solution, need to figure out how drones are going to operate in our airspace, how we're going to control them, how we're going to identify them, and how we'll prevent this in the future. but those

are two separate things in the here and now. we need to figure out what's going on today and who's responsible for it, so we can ease the concerns of our citizens. that's first and foremost. legislation doesn't happen overnight. that's for another time. >> yeah. you're talking about what's going on now. the concerns that people have right now, citizens and local and state law enforcement. i do want to get your take on what we saw from president elect donald trump, who posted this on truth social, saying mysterious drone sightings all over the country. can this really be happening without our government's knowledge? i don't think so. let the public know and now otherwise shoot them down. i looked this up. the faa says it is illegal for citizens to shoot at any aircraft, which of course includes drones. but at the moment, do state and local authorities even have the authorization to take action like that against drones if needed? because hearing from mayorkas, it seems like there may be some issues there. >> well, look, i was an attack helicopter pilot in the us

army, i flew overseas, i have seen bullets fly through the sky. it's not a great idea to do over the united states. we shouldn't be shooting things down right now. i know there's some rhetoric that's asking. and donald trump in this case said that. so no, things should not be shot out of the sky. that is a very dangerous thing to do right now. we just need to again, it's very simple to me. just follow one back to wherever it's going. it doesn't seem to me to be that complicated, does do we in the future, need to make sure we have the technology to disable drones, to maybe take control of them? um, yeah, of course we do. but from a person speaking from experience, seeing bullets fly through the air, it's not a pretty thing. we don't want that happen over the state of new jersey. >> brian bergen, i so appreciate you getting up early for us and talking through this. it really does have a lot of people's attention and concern. i appreciate you. >> this morning kicks off a critical week for president elect donald trump's cabinet

picks on capitol hill today. robert f kennedy jr., donald trump's pick to head up the department of health and human services, is headed to the hill for the first time since being nominated. the vaccine clinic is set to meet with many of the senators that he will ultimately face in confirmation hearings. also headed to the hill this week. another of trump's cabinet picks facing some very serious questions. tulsi gabbard, nominated to be the next director of national intelligence. let's get over to cnn's steve contorno, who is much more on what will be a big week ahead for donald trump and his potential cabinet. what are you hearing kate. >> we are learning this morning that rfk jr.. >> will meet with about two dozen republican senators this week as he makes that journey to capitol hill and try to build support for his nomination. and over the weekend, a group closely aligned with rfk jr., a group called make america wealthy again action, released a letter from about 800 doctors and medical professionals professing faith and urging

congress to support his nomination to lead the country's health agencies. now, i should point out that the vast majority of the professional medical community doctors, including 75 nobel laureates, have all expressed deep skepticism about rfk getting in charge of these health care agencies and have urged the senate not to consider him. but donald trump has stood firmly by him, and he has stood firmly by his other contentious nominees as well. over the weekend, he went to the army-navy football game, and there, in his box, he was joined by tulsi gabbard, who, as you mentioned, will be continuing her meetings on the hill. and as well as pete hegseth, his pick to lead the pentagon as defense secretary. meanwhile, there has been some pushback on capitol hill from some republican senators who, against this sort of pressure campaign that is building behind the scenes to urge and in fact, almost bully some republican senators to essentially blindly follow trump's nominations. take a

listen to what north carolina senator thom tillis had to say over the weekend what's amazing to me is how people we're not even in the new administration and we're we haven't even seen the background checks, which i know the administration is sending our way. >> so there's a lot of information that needs to be gathered. and these folks who are making chap primary challenges running ads, they seem more like political opportunists than me, than thoughtful members of the republican party. >> now trump, while his cabinet appointees continue to meet on capitol hill, he'll be across the water from me at mar a lago, and he will actually be speaking to the press about american investment. he recently floated the idea that if you invest $1 billion in the u.s. economy, then you should have your your permits fast tracked. and i imagine that is what he will be discussing today. kate. >> all right, steve, thank you very much for that reporting. let's see. john. >> all right. with us now, cnn political commentator karen finney and doug heye, a

republican strategist and former rnc communications director. it's the season of giving. so i want to give you guys the chance to actually choose what we talk about here. so, doug, do you want to talk about rfk or do you want to talk about drones? >> what's the third option? >> a or b buddy. season of giving. don't be greedy. >> this is this is this is great. let's go with drones. >> why not? doug. >> come on. >> so, drones, here's my question on drones, then. it's a multiple choice question. doug, this whole situation with this drones, the frenzy and fury over what's going on, is it a people overreacting? b, the government underreacting. c the beginning of a modern day red dawn. or d all of the above. >> well, first, john, i'm not going to acknowledge that red dawn ever had a remake. those kinds of things should never happen. but i'll tell you, i was in new jersey in september. i was in asbury park seeing bruce springsteen on the beach, as one does when they're in new jersey, and there was a drone flying overhead. and i

looked at it a few times thinking, i wonder what that's all about. now, fortunately, it was filming the concert totally normal. but i understand concerns about new jersey and drones. i was born just a few miles away from asbury park, and if we go back to orson welles war in the world, this was headed this was basically started in new jersey. so there's a history there, probably of overreacting, but also of governments probably not doing enough. >> so you're sort of red dawn aside, choosing all of the above. you know, karen, you're great with communications and a communications adviser. how would you advise the government to maybe handle the communication on this whole thing differently? >> tell us a little bit more about what the heck is going on. >> i mean, look, on one level, in the season of giving, it gives us all something to talk about around the christmas table. if that is the holiday you celebrate instead of politics, we can talk about drones because i think there's probably a lot of agreement that there's a lot more we

should know. but the second piece, actually, on a more serious note, is this may be the beginning of conversations about how do we regulate drones? because, you know, over the weekend, i think we learned there's something like a million drones have permission to fly. that's that's that's that's a situation that's going to get out of control very quickly. so the trump administration may find itself having to do a drone policy, actually. >> all right. and because it is the season of giving, i want to give you the opportunity to weigh in on rfk, even though i said it was a choice. actually, to me, it's more about mitch mcconnell right now. that's where the interesting part of this discussion is, because mitch mcconnell late friday put out a statement after it came out that an attorney advising rfk jr. had pushed in a lawsuit to revoke the vaccine for polio. mcconnell put out a statement that said efforts to undermine public confidence in proven cures are not just uninformed, they're dangerous. anyone seeking the senate's consent to serve in the incoming administration would do well to steer clear of even the appearance of an association with such efforts. mcconnell also separately, and

i'm not going to go through the graphic, actually put out an article in foreign affairs this weekend, sort of laying down the line on foreign policy, saying where he's going to fight with the trump administration. how much do you think mitch mcconnell is going to take a stand, karen, over the next several months? >> i think it's very clear. and actually i am with him on this one when it comes to the polio vaccine, because goodness knows he has a personal story that so many of us have heard. i mean, the idea that in 2024, 2025, we might have to worry about polio coming back is absolutely absurd. so i think we are going to hear mcconnell look, he's freed up now that he's no longer leading the republicans in the senate. he's i think our own scott jennings said. he's kind of unplugged. he can do and has a lot more leeway to do and say what he wants. and i think that will be a good counterbalance to some of the extremism. you know, i and other democrats are very concerned about not just

rfk jr.. but the whole project 2025 implementation across the trump administration. >> doug, karen, putting her hopes in mitch mcconnell, is that something you ever thought you'd see and b, how much do you think mcconnell will involve himself here? >> yeah. john, earlier karen said, we got to figure out what the heck is going on. that's donald trump rhetoric. and so i'm not surprised by this at all. bye bye karen. i agree with her on this. and there's sort of a parlor game in dc of getting a mitch mcconnell statement and trying to figure out what did he say with one word or two or not say by not including a word or two. it's why his comms team is so skilled at the at at the craft of writing. when they put these statements out, he's making it clear by just a word or two he doesn't have to say rfk. he doesn't have to say tulsi gabbard. his intention is very clear that he's going to scrutinize these nominees pretty severely. he may end up voting yes for for 1 or 2 of them, you know, as these, you

know, come along with various revelations. what do we know? what did the background checks say? but he's making it clear i'm not an easy vote. >> all right. karen finney, doug heye, thank you so much for bearing with me into the spirit of red dawn. avenge me. thank you. sarah. >> all right. more than a half dozen tourists at a popular resort in fiji end up in the hospital. authorities now investigating if their cocktails were poisoned and trying to get those holiday packages to your friends and family on time. for all of us procrastinators out there, we're going to help you figure out the last day that you can possibly send them so that they're on time. spoiler alert it's really, really soon.

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payroll. >> adp designs forward thinking solutions to take on the next anything i want to be the greatest become elle reeve every new years eve live with anderson and andy. >> live coverage starts at eight on cnn. >> cocktails at a five star resort in fiji ended up sending seven guests to the hospital. this morning, an investigation is underway into whether they were poisoned. the tourists became violently ill over the weekend after drinking at a hotel resort bar. five of the seven have since been discharged from the hospital, but two are said to still be in intensive care but reported to be in stable condition in laos. last month, tourists died after being poisoned, they believe, from drinking at a hotel bar. there. witnesses say it was

like an atomic bomb was dropped. a massive cyclone has killed at least 11 people in the french territory of mayotte, located between the african mainland and madagascar. government officials fear the death toll could rise into the hundreds. the territory has just over 300,000 residents. the storm that hit saturday was the equivalent of a category four atlantic hurricane. winds topped 136mph. it flattened the airport completely, knocked out power in many places. the cyclone is described as a 100 year event. and a miami dolphins player is in stable condition today at a houston hospital. after an extremely hard hit to the head. play was stopped for ten minutes after the helmet to helmet hit on receiver grant dubois. medics ended up having to cut off his jersey to put a to put him in a neck brace before transporting him off the field. as you saw, players on both teams very clearly shook up gathering together, some of them seen

praying as they watched this. and then you saw him carted off the field. the coach of the dolphins says that initial medical scans are showing positive results. supreme court justice ketanji brown jackson making history and fulfilling a lifelong dream. the justice made her broadway debut on saturday in the musical and juliet. watch this female empowerment the justice showing off her acting chops in this walk on role. it was a one time event in her memoir, lovely one. the justice actually shared that in her application essay to get into harvard, she wrote that it was her fantasy to be the first black female supreme court justice to appear on a broadway stage. so, i mean, what's next? check and check. >> john berman pretty hyper specific right there. i know exactly she was a theater person in college. all right. happening now. winter weather alerts in effect across parts of the northeast with a mix of

sleet, ice, wet snow and rain expected through the morning, making for dangerous travel conditions. we've also got new developments in those hoping for a white christmas. first, though, this morning cnn's derek van dam, with this storm, we're watching derek. >> yeah. good point. let's start with the most immediate right. this is kind of a sloppy start to our monday. we've got a one-two punch coming across the east coast. so here it is right now exiting the first storm for today. that's our second storm. and believe it or not, there's an additional two storms that will impact the east coast through the course of the week. but focusing in on this morning. we've had reports of 2 to 3in of heavy, wet snow across the lower hudson valley. there's been a lot of cold air. remember, cold air is denser and it sinks closer to the surface of the air. so we get this precipitation riding over it. and that cold, dense air near the surface. what happens sometimes? we receive freezing rain when that precipitation falls and attaches to the surface there that's already below freezing. so it's very tricky here. just north of the major suburbs of new york. but

hartford to scranton, that could be the tricky spot for travel conditions this morning. there's the secondary storm system that will be another rainmaker for the east coast, yet another rainmaker for the day on wednesday. look at the wet weather ahead of us. i wish it was snow. >> well, as i was leaving the house, i was walking through slush and i was thinking, this is almost snow and it's almost christmas. it had me thinking, you know, will we see that white christmas dirt? >> one could hope, but the probability of a white christmas. hate to be the bearer of bad news. not looking that positive for most people across the country. remember, we have to have one inch of snow on the ground. according to the definition from the national weather service. historically speaking. yeah. you look towards the mountains, the typical areas across northern new england, but we did a bit of deep dive into the climatological data, and it's been almost 15 years for boston, new york, newark, philadelphia and baltimore. since you've had that one inch of snow on the ground. here's where we have snow on the ground and likely to stay through the course of the next

week and a half before christmas arrives next wednesday. you can see downwind of the great lakes, the colorado rockies into the sierra tahoe region. but look at this. we have a cold spell that will come. so any precipitation that falls, maybe next week we can hope that it will actually be snowfall, but not looking that likely. >> no, not just like the ones i used to know, as they say. derek van dam, thank you very much, sarah. >> at least you didn't sing it. john. we really appreciate that. all right. this morning time is running out to get your gifts to their destination before christmas and hanukkah. and that winter weather derek is talking about could come into play. cnn's vanessa yurkevich is here with what you need to know to make sure your presents arrive on time. okay, so what are some of the biggest factors causing delays this year? i am the most procrastinating person in the history of procrastination, so i know a lot of people feel the same. i'm right there with you. >> 2.2 billion packages are shipping between thanksgiving and christmas. >> that is a lot. >> so we're just one of 2.2 billion and more than half of americans right now say they're actually worried. are their

packages going to arrive on time. >> but some of the key factors that both retailers, shippers and we should be looking at right now is severe weather. we just heard derek saying that maybe some light weather. nothing big yet, but that of course could change out of stock items. this is if you're purchasing something, you wait till the last minute and then all of a sudden it's out of stock. also, you want to look at your information. are you putting the right address in there? i've made that mistake. i've shipped to my old address. >> guilty. >> exactly. >> and then of course, supply chain concerns. everything is looking good now because retailers brought a lot of stuff in early this year. so things are on the shelves. but if you're feeling that crunch this year, that's because you are for a reason. the shopping season is just 17 days between thanksgiving and christmas, a week shorter. and that's why people might be saying, uh-oh, i got to make my purchases now and get that shipping done. now instead of thinking about it. a week ago. shipping season is shorter this year. >> okay, so what is the last day that we can ship? >> well, well, well, it depends

on your provider, right? >> the usps says that you could ship up to saturday and get everything in time for christmas ups says you can do it on the 23rd. so that's really living on the close, living on the edge. that's usps up there. look at those dates. take note ups on the 23rd and then fedex is the one where you're really, really waiting to the last minute. fedex is saying that you could potentially ship on the 24th same day, but of course you're going to be paying for that. i looked at what same day costs are. it could be up to $60 $100, depending how much your item weighs. but of course, if you're shipping yourself, you know those dates, right? but your retailer, the person you're buying from, make sure you cross-reference what they're saying versus what the different shipping options are saying. make sure you really know if you're going to get those gifts in time for christmas, for christmas, for