right now, two separate senate committees are drilling into u.s. and china relations. in the wake of that chinese spy balloon entering the u.s. just last hour senator jon tester made the stakes abundantly clear. >> china's a real threat and one we need to take seriously, which is exactly why we're here today. >> house members this morning receiving a classified briefing on the balloon ahead of a vote scheduled just a few minutes from now to condemn china's use of a spy craft. senators are set to receive an all members briefing of their own in about 30 minutes. all of this happening as the state department is revealing fresh details about china's surveillance program this morning. and just what the balloon hovering over the u.s. was capable of. in a few moments, i'll talk to former u.s. ambassador to china max baucus about what we can

learn and the very real threat posed by china. plus, fading hopes for survival, days after devastating earthquakes rocked turkey and syria. the u.s. state department says three u.s. citizens are among the now more than 19,000 dead. and yet miraculous stories of survival including this dog trapped in debris finally freed by rescuers. we'll have a live report from a sprawling tent camp set up for survivors ahead. president biden is taking his message to desantis country. his message including this hint about whether he'll run for re-election. >> watch me. >> we are going to start on capitol hill. and the flurry of hearings and briefings on u.s./china relations. al ali vitali is monitoring all of it. dan delouis is at the pentagon and i'm joined by max baucus,

former u.s. ambassador to china and former six-term democratic senator from montana. dan, we just got new details from the state department on china's spy balloon program. what can you tell us? >> that's right. a senior state department official is saying that spy planes captured high resolution photos of this balloon and it had the ability to conduct signals intelligence, ie to eavesdrop on radio signals on the ground and it had multiple antennas that could geolocate communications, and it also had solar panels that were able to generate enough electricity to power that spying equipment. they're also saying that these balloons are part of a chinese military operation and that a company in china that manufactures the balloons is essentially part of the chinese defense industry and regularly supplies equipment to the chinese military. and also, there is indications also from the state department they're going to share more

information in the future about the extent of this balloon spying program. >> ali, the house is set to vote in the next 20 minutes on a resolution condemning china's use of this spy balloon. what do we expect from that and from all the activity happening on the hill today centered around china? >> reporter: look, it is briefing season up here. it is hearings season on the china balloon. this is something that lawmakers have been pushing towards for the last week or so, just clamoring to get more information and this is what it looks like as they're starting to get more of these briefings from key state and defense department officials like wendy sherman. watch. >> that we not only have an integrated strategy towards china, working with the interagency as well, but every single mission around the world has a bespoke china strategy because as you pointed out, china's everywhere in the world. >> reporter: so sherman there speaking about the broader policy and foreign policy landscape around china here.

but even still as we have seen a few briefings and hearings this morning and then of course the full senate will get their briefing about half an hour or so from now, the house was, of course, briefed in a classified fashion this morning, there is still some concern that they're not getting the information that they want, specifically senator jon tester of montana, one of the people who called this hearing, said they want more information about what this balloon was actually trying to gather over the u.s., and that's not information that they seem to be getting readily from the administration right now. in terms of what we're going to see from the house, though, likely bipartisan resolution condemning china for flying this balloon over the united states, not surprising this has been bubbling for about the past week, but it is a reminder that while there is so much disagreement and bipartisanship, it is pretty hard to find around here, this is one of those points of commonality between democrats and republicans and we'll see it on display in about 20 minutes or so. >> ambassador, this new information that dan was just reporting on, these solar panels, these multiple antennas

to collect intelligence, the fact that the equipment on board was not consistent with that of weather balloons, what do you glean from that? what are we to read into some of those pretty serious revelations and what questions do you still have that you would ask if you were in one of these hearings today? >> this is to me? >> yes, sorry. that is to you. >> thank you. well, obviously it is the facts. what information did the balloons glean. we don't know that. i underline that very much because we're in danger of -- no pun intended -- domestic politics in the united states today is very antichina. there is nobody in the u.s. senate on the senate floor saying -- and that's a real danger. when i talk to my chinese friends, americans in china, also chinese citizens over

there, they can't quite figure this out. why all this reaction in the united states? i must also say i think the balloon coming to the united states was probably a mistake by china. the pla, the people's liberation army, sent it over. i have a hunch they did not talk to the foreign ministry. they should have. some kind of miscommunication within china, but also wonder why did we not call up the general in advance. we knew about the balloon when it was over the islands. we tried to call him up after we shot it down. it seems to me -- u.s. military -- also want you to remember, this is all in the news. the bifurcation that american companies, american consumers greatly interchange --

merchandise, $80 billion, a new record. worried about all this, we do are to protect the national security. let's remember, let's not overblow this thing. >> ambassador, ali vitali mentioned there is bipartisanship on making sure that dealing with these china relations are a top priority. there is a lot of disagreement on how this has been handled so far. we know there is that all senator briefing coming up at 11:30, but just this morning we heard from senator marco rubio, vice chair of the intel committee. let's hear what he said. >> agencies of the federal government knew this balloon was headed towards the continental united states, something we had never seen it do in terms of this flight pattern days in advance. they didn't notify congress until one of the news outlets was about to run with the story and they allowed it cut a diagonal path across the middle of the country and never explained to us it was coming or why. >> is that also your read on the situation?

>> i must tell you, i was on the senate intelligence committee, and it is almost impossible to get good information out of the u.s. intelligence committee. i must also say, i almost decided not to go because i learned from "the new york times" or "the washington post" the next day. it is hard to get the facts. it is important for the house and senate to drill down. what are the facts? i also want to make another point, let's not overstate this thing. let's not push this toward a full war with china. china is always going to be there. we have to spend more time on how to deal with china, protecting our national security at first no question about that, but we run the risk of pushing us further and further and further to a colder and colder war and that's not good for our kids and grandkids. >> that said, dan, we know that the biden administration said they're trying to keep these mo

modalities of communication open, china declined a call after all of this. what sort of information did that include and how is china responding? >> china is not -- go ahead. china has not been responding well and they are accusing the u.s. of overreacting. but one thing that is interesting, i think, is there was communication between the biden administration and the chinese government during this sort of balloon crisis. before it was shot down, blinken did speak to a very high ranking chinese official during -- before the shootdown occurred. i think that's significant. there was some communication channel there open. but i think china is now at risk of being embarrassed. the more information that comes out about balloons that are flying not just into the u.s. air space, but in other countries, and i think it is going to be hard for them to explain this as a weather

balloon and so this is possibly a propaganda disaster for them in the coming weeks and months. >> all right, ali vitali, dan de luce, max baucus, thank you so much. this morning, the united nations says its first aid convoy arrived in syria in the wake of those massive earthquakes. rescue teams in both syria and turkey are desperately searching for any more signs of life. we're now four days in. and more than 19,000 people are confirmed dead, including at least three americans, according to the state department. i'll show you a picture that is hard to watch, everybody. want to let you know that. it really tells part of the devastating story. a father in turkey holding the hand of his 15-year-old daughter who died as a team works to free her body from beneath the rubble. that is the reality of the situation there. and kelly cobiella has more on the rescue effort. >> reporter: lindsey, good morning. more incredible stories of rescues today.

a 60-year-old woman was pulled from the rubble in turkey as well as a 2-year-old boy. the team from kosovo, they were comforting the boy and kissing him as they passed him along the line to safety. he was alert and conscious. he had survived three nights in the freezing cold. experts say in spite of the fact that searchers continue to look for survivors, that the chances of people surviving much longer than 72 hours in these conditions, freezing cold temperatures at night, and exposed to the elements is much less likely. still the search continues. there are international teams spreading out across the disaster area. the u.s. teams are now at work on the ground, as i mentioned before the kosovo team also working as well as teams from around the world. and aid is also reaching more

people here. more shipments of aid and 80 ton shipment of aid from germany, for example, landed here in turkey today. aid is finally reaching some in that war torn part of northwestern syria as well, the area controlled by rebel groups, not the government. the united nations says that aid not clear how much aid was rom getting in. but the u.n. envoy to syria said they urgently need almost everything. lindsey? >> kelly cobiella, thank you so much. let's go to gabe gutierrez live from southeast turkey. it has been converted into a tent city for survivors. we have horrific images of the devastation, the lives lost. here we have people who have survived, but they still are homeless. >> reporter: yeah, that's right, lindsey. we're here in one of the hardest hit cities right near the

epicenter of that earthquake and last hour i took you inside of that tent city that the stadium that was converted into a tent city for those that were displaced. i'm actually about a block away from that, just outside of that stadium, to show you some of those active search and rescue efforts that kelly was also talking about, that were seen play out. and as the sun sets here, the temperatures are dropping, lindsey. and you can see people here gathered, burning fires, trying to keep warm in what has become another desperate night. as we saw a little earlier, that tent camp, in this town, it is huge. you can see the scale of that disaster, but if you look over here, just across the street from that is something we have been seeing over and over again. you see these excavators, taking out piles of debris. and, kelly mentioned the search and rescue teams that are from international ones that are coming to this area. we have been seeing more of those today. but this particular site, if you see on the other side of this

excavator, hard to make out in the darkness, but they're trying to light it up and trying to work through the night. now, we did speak with some bystanders earlier today, there is some frustration that a specialized professional rescue team didn't arrive at this specific area in a large city center until the fourth day, following the earthquakes, but they're hard at work right now. and this is just such a devastating site to see. we saw one woman earlier who was just told that her son was found in that rubble, she was inconsolable. sadly while we're walking over here, there was a man, you can see he appeared to be a family member of -- a body on the floor wrapped in a blanket, just a horrible, horrible scene we're seeing play out over and over again. and, yes, as this night gets colder, that tent city just right -- i can see it from where i'm standing right now, it is preparing to house thousands of

people in southeastern turkey, and it is just -- many of them inconsolable as they try and search for any signs of life here in this rubble. lindsey, back to you. >> so much suffering. gabe gutierrez, thank you. if you are look for i was to ways to help the victims of the earthquake, go to msnbc.com for organizations that are helping with the relief efforts. extreme weather in the u.s. after tornadoes and flooding left a trail of destruction across the south. plus, dropping in on desantis, president biden is on -- is on the governor's home turf today driving a wedge between republicans over social security and medicare. what the president is saying about a potential re-election campaign as the focus on 2024 intensifies. and we're following a heightened urgency on capitol hill over the chinese spy balloon as senators gear up for a briefing in about 15 minutes. and with the house just minutes away from voting on a resolution condemning china, one house member sharing this message to china today.

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dangerous storms overnight left a trail of destruction in parts of the south. several tornadoes swept through parts of louisiana and mississippi, injuring multiple people and causing businesses and homes to collapse. parts of arkansas saw flooding after hours of heavy rain. bill karins joins me now with where it is headed next. what are the significant areas of concern right now? >> we're done with the severe weather portion of it. now it looks like what we should be dealing with in february and that's winter weather and cold windy weather too. it is just amazing how many storms we had this winter that we have been talking more about tornadoes and severe storms than we have about how many inches of snow or ice or blizzard conditions. it just has been one of those wild, warm winters. so the areas on the map of greatest concern, right around the quad cities, the davenport

area, that's where we have winter storm warnings, kids get the day off of school in most situations. it is snowing pretty hard in that region. now that band of heavy snow shown in the blue and white there, around madison, that's where you're going to have -- wait the storm out. by tonight, you'll be fine, dig yourself out and you should be safe to travel. air travel is not fun, though, in areas wrapping around this storm. there is a lot of wind, strong winds with this storm system. so from indianapolis to cincinnati to columbus, we have about 20,000 people without power in illinois. we'll continue to lose power as the storm moves up to michigan. the winds will whip around through the ohio valley as we go throughout the day today. max wind gusts, we don't have leaves on the trees yet, so we're not going to see hundreds of thousands of people, but we're still with 50 to 60-mile-per-hour gusts. we're going to get 10, 20, 30,000 additional people losing power throughout the day today. and then we watch this next storm down along the gulf coast, this will be for tomorrow, and heading into the weekend. looks like a soggy forecast, maybe isolated strong storms in

north florida. we may be able to get a little bit of snow out of it, not a lot. the weekend forecast looks like this. strong storms friday in the southeast. by the time we get to saturday, there is your rain out in the southeast coast. and then we end your weekend, super bowl day with that storm system along the midatlantic. by far, lindsey, the best weather of the country, now maybe the northeast, and the south. the worst will be the southeast and the midwest. >> okay. bill karins, thanks. right now president biden is on his way to florida, the second stop on his post state of the union tour. and he is set to speak at the university of tampa, where he'll discuss plans to protect and strengthen social security and medicare. you'll remember that was a big key and also surprising contentious part of his state of the union address. it could also potentially be a big theme of a re-election campaign. the president hasn't officially announced his 2024 plans, he was asked about concerns about his age during an interview yesterday. he had this to say. >> watch me. that's all i can say.

i mean, you know, goes from one extreme to the other. last night i was -- i heard that people were saying, well, just watch biden my god, age is not an issue anymore. look, i'm a great respecter of fate. i would be completely thoroughly honest with the american people if i thought there was any health problem, anything that would keep me from being able to do the job. >> so joining me right now is nbc's carol lee. what can you tell us about today's visit and how significant is it that biden is making this pitch in florida, home to both former president trump and potential 2024 contender ron desantis? >> reporter: well, it is significant, lindsey. 2024 is looming over this trip and frankly over everything the president does these days until he makes that final decision. all signs point to the president having a campaign in waiting for when he makes that final decision, which is expected to be that he will run in 2024. and we saw that in those themes he hit in that state of the

union address that he's now taking on the road, focusing on legislation that he signed into law, focusing on what he wants to do in the future, saying that phrase finish the job, that's something that the president emphasizes and emphasized in wisconsin yesterday, talking about jobs. now he's going to florida where he's going to focus on medicare and social security and try to draw that contrast with republicans to make the case that republicans would cut social security and medicare, have threatened to do that in the past, specifically pointing to a proposal by florida senator rick scott that says that all legislation, federal legislation should sunset after five years and congress should revote on that. senator scott's pushing back saying the president's being disingenuous here. but the president likes this as an issue, the white house likes this as an issue. florida is a state with a lot of seniors. it is a venue that where something like this, that topic could play well. it is not a state that democrats have done well in, in recent

presidential cycles. but it is a state where they -- democrats raise a lot of money and it is also a state where they can force republicans to spend a lot of money if they don't give up on the state and continue to show up there. so that's what we're going to hear from the president today, focusing on that social security and medicare issue in hopes of ginning up support for a potential 2024 bid. >> okay, carol lee, thank you. this morning, ukrainian president zelenskyy spoke before the european parliament in brussels. it is his third stop on a european tour meant to push ukraine's allies for more weapons and to make the case for ukraine's membership in the eu. back in ukraine, russia has ramped up its offensive on the eastern front, largely in the donetsk region. as ukraine braces for more attacks, leading up to the one-year mash of the war. joining me right now is raf sanchez and former u.s. ambassador, michael mcfall. how is russia responding on the front lines?

>> reporter: well, lindsey, president zelenskyy hopes that what's next is that nato is going to start giving ukraine fighter aircraft. he had a very consistent message in london, in paris, and then in brussels. ukraine needs combat aircraft, if it is going to head off the russians. he calls them wings for freedom. he did leave london with one firm commitment from the british, which is that they would agree to train ukrainian air force pilots. they did not commit to giving ukraine fighter jets, but the british government did say it would investigate whether the royal air force has any spare capacity, whether it has any jets that could be donated to ukraine. the other big issue on president zelenskyy's mind on this trip through europe, remember it is only his second time leaving ukraine since the start of the war, is the possibility that one day ukraine could join the european union. that's something zelenskyy, his government have been pushing very, very hard for. remember, it can take years.

president macron of france said that in ukraine's case it may take decades for ukraine to join the european union. zelenskyy is hoping to secure some kind of fast track process. it has been interesting in the last couple of weeks we have seen a real crackdown on corruption in ukraine. and a number of senior government officials pushed out of their jobs, put under an investigation, some arrested in some cases and that is widely seen as ukraine really trying to signal to the europeans that they are a strong and vibrant democracy, but also really tough on corruption, which are conditions that the europeans have placed on ukraine for joining the european union. the european union has said ukraine is making progress, but no firm timeline on what it might join the bloc. >> so, ambassador, let's talk about the two asks. zelenskyy hoping for a fast track. how likely is that? on the fighter jet front, do you think countries are looking for

cover from their nato allies before they sign of? >> the issues are intertwined. ukraine will never join the european union until they control the borders of their state, until they have sovereignty over all their territory. putin understands that, by the way. he stopped expansion of nato to georgia by invaing georgia and occupying their territory in 2008. that stopped negotiations about joining nato. so, first he needs to win the war, and then second and parallel they want to join the european union. and to your point, yes, i think he's looking for a signal that if -- i think he may have got it out of london today, by the way, yesterday, that if the signal is we will provide jets, maybe others will begin to provide those jets. let's remember a lot of talk has been about the f-16s, the american jets, the british jets, but there is several dozen mig 29s, these old soviet jets, that

are in parts of the nato alliance, in the former communist countries, that back in march if you remember we had a lot of debate about. so if it is okay to send jets, my prediction is and my hope would be that those might be the first ones to move. >> ambassador, "the new york times" reports that better trained and equipped russian divisions have joined tens of thousands of newly mobilized soldiers trying to breakthrough well fortified ukrainian lines. that's according to ukrainian officials and analysts. what is in store for this russian offensive? >> well, i think everybody assumes that the next six months is going to be critical in the war. that's why president zelenskyy is doing the traveling he's doing now to try to get the weapons he needs for his counteroffensive, because they are anticipating a major one from the russians as this reporting just suggests. now, we have been wrong about the russian military before. i want to remind everybody that when they invaded first, a year ago, february 24th, everybody

assumed they would be in kyiv in a matter of days. that proved not to be true. and so just because they have done better training and better coordination doesn't mean they'll be more successful this time around but are they planning to be? absolutely yes. >> all right, ambassador michael mcfaul, thank you for joining us. thanks to raf sanchez for his reporting. starting any moment now, senators are set to get an intel briefing on the chinese spy balloon. we're live on the hill. plus, a fourth witness testifies on the stand that it is alex murdaugh's voice in a video recorded by his son minutes before prosecutors say he was killed. the latest twist in the murdaugh murder trial. a shocking tragedy out of new jersey, a council member has been fatally shot one week after the slaying of another local official. what we know next. of another lol official what we know next.

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this morning, pennsylvania senator john fetterman woke up if a d.c. area hospital. staff for the 53-year-old democrat said he was hospitalized overnight after feeling light headed. but they say initial tests did not show evidence of a stroke. you'll recall fetterman suffered a stroke last may, just days before his primary election, which affected his speech comprehension. a staffer says he's in good spirits. i believe right now montana senator jon tester is speaking about the chinese spy balloon. let's listen in to what he's saying. >> i don't know i'm hesitant or not. they didn't send it over here by accident. and what they get out of it, and it is an incursion in our air space, i want to make sure, and i have tremendous amount of respect for the military. and the military leadership. i just want to make sure that this country is safe. so they're going to have to justify what they did.

>> were you satisfied with the answers you got? >> it was an initial hearing, it was an initial hearing, i think it was a good initial hearing. i think there is a lot of lines that need to be connected on the dots yet. hopefully that will happen downstairs. [ inaudible ] >> i think it could be better, but maybe just my position. >> knowing what you know now, do you feel the military does have a plan going forward and is it your -- >> i don't know that right now. >> is it your impression that norad was flat footed in this? >> that is not my impression. >> okay. >> not my impression at all. and, you know, the senator said something that the american people are very concerned about this, we need to explain to them to make sure our national security is not at risk. i think you can include congress in that statement. >> during the hearing, a lot of the questions that you asked and other senators asked were deflected and they said, that's classified, i can't get into it

in this session. you're about to walk into the session, what is top of mind for you of the ones they deflected on? >> what did they get and where did they get it and what are we going to do about it when it happens again? i got to scoot. thanks, guys. >> thank you. >> all right, everybody. we have been listening to senator jon tester of montana. he's the chair of the defense appropriations subcommittee, they held a hearing today on the chinese spy balloon demanding answers from the biden administration and he's walking into a classified all senator briefing about the same issue. ryan nobles is with us now. so, ryan, what do you get is this general sense here of congress, we just heard tester there saying he wants to know what did they get, where did they get it and what are they going to do about it in the future. >> reporter: it seems a lot of this information is something that the administration cannot share publicly, which is the purpose of these classified briefings that are taking place today. there was one with every single house member that took place early this morning.

the one that tester is walking into now, which is with all the senators and there was also an even smaller gang of eight briefing which is the heads of the intelligence committees along with the leaders of both parties and the house and the senate, which could be a little bit more involved than what perhaps all the senators will hear. and, you know, this comes after senators, members of the house, republican and democrat, were demanding answers from the biden administration about exactly that they know about this particular spy balloon and, you're right, jon tester did hold a public hearing in part because he is the senator from montana, and that's where this spy balloon was first spotted in the skies over the united states. but there was so much that the administration couldn't talk about in a public setting. the senators want to know if this chinese spy balloon was able to collect information. did that information get back to the communist chinese party? what is going to be done in the future to safeguard this type of intelligence apparatus from making its way over the united states in the future. these are all things that the

administration is not prepared to answer publicly, but they do seem prepared to answer these questions behind closed doors and i will tell you, i was outside of the house briefing this morning, in general, most members couldn't really talk about what they learned, but there wasn't a ton of dissatisfaction. they seem to be pleased with how transparent the administration was being about the situation. the next stage of all of this is does it result in any kind of change in official policy, does it require legislation on behalf of members of congress and perhaps even some funding or appropriations to that end. that's what we'll be watching for. >> appreciate it, ryan nobles, thank you. this morning, jurors are hearing further testimony about the financial troubles disbarred attorney alex murdaugh faced before the murders of his wife and son. after his former paralegal testified yesterday about hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of missing funds at his law firm, prosecutors say murdaugh committed the murders to try to divert attention away from his alleged financial crimes. the defense has argued he was a

loving husband and father who couldn't have committed the crimes. nbc's ellison barber is live outside the courthouse in south carolina. what have we heard today? >> reporter: so this morning we have mostly primarily heard from alex murdaugh's best friend, he says that he was his best friend, that he had known him for years, they had gone to law school together. this individual,this individual as well and he worked on some personal injury cases with alex murdaugh. what we're seeing the prosecution do today, with this testimony, and in particular, is really trying to build on the testimony that we saw yesterday. you saw and talked a bit about what we heard from mr. murdaugh's former paralegal and her testimony yesterday. and she talked about a particular case, where there was over $700,000 in legal fees missing. she talks about noticing that those fees were missing, asking

alex murdaugh about it. and then the murder of his wife and son happening, the law firm and everyone sort of focusing on that, trying to help him, not so much looking into where those missing legal fees were, and then she says after the murders there was a moment for her where she stumbled on something she said was absolute evidence to her that her former boss was lying. listen. >> okay. i went to his office to look for the file. and when i found it, i picked it up and when i did, a check kind of floated like a feather to the ground. when i found the lied to me an stole than money. >> reporter: so the prosecution has alleged that alex murdaugh committed this crime, killed his wife and son because he was trying to distract from financial crimes, he's been accused of stealing close to $9 million from his law firm, as well as clients. prosecutors say that he realized in that moment in that exchange

with his paralegal that perhaps his financial crimes were going to be exposed and he made a decision to kill his wife and son to avoid taking accountability for that, to distract, to garner sympathy. alex murdaugh has pled not guilty to killing his wife and son. the defense, they argued aggressively about keeping this debate, this allegations related to financial crimes out of court because they claim that it is irrelevant. it is a separate case and that the prosecution is simply trying to paint their client in a bad light. lindsey? >> ellison barber, thank you. turning now to new jersey, where a local council member was fatally shot yesterday. one week after another new jersey council member was also found dead of a gunshot wound. 51-year-old russell heller, a republican who represented milford, was found dead in a parking lot of pse&g where he worked. i want to bring in nbc's ron allen who has been following both of these very unusual and tragic, yes, but right now authorities don't believe the two are related, right?

>> they do not. and a week ago governor phil murphy said he couldn't remember the last time an elected official was shot and killed in new jersey and now suddenly there are two. 12 1/2 miles apart, both from central new jersey. this most recent case involves a man who was arriving at work, and when he got out of his car at work, someone shot him. the police discovered the suspect a few miles away, not long after, and he had died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. so, it is apparently a murder/suicide and a case that is resolved and the prosecutors say that there is no indication that that case has anything to do with politics. similarly, in the sayreville new jersey murder, eunice dwumfour was killed, there is no suspect or motive in that case as all. this happened a week or so ago. she was sitting in her car, she arrived at home and a suspect apparently walked up to the car, was having a conversation with her of some sort, witnesses said, and shot and killed her and then ran off.

and that individual has not been found. that case, too, has not been linked to politics. they were both republicans. she was 30. a rising star in the party. she was described as, and both communities are just shocked and saddened by what has happened. there was a memorial service in sayreville last night for miss dwumfour. and a huge outpouring of grief as you would imagine. that investigation, the homicide investigation continues, but, again, yes, tragic coincidences, not related to elected officials, and the investigation in one case continues. >> all right, ron allen, thank you. the gunman who confessed to targeting hispanic people when he opened fire at an el paso walmart in august of 2019 has pleaded guilty to dozens of federal hate crimes. 23 people were killed, 22 others injured in the rampage. and as part of the plea agreement, the 24-year-old shooter is expected to be sentenced to 90 consecutive life sentences. that's the most he can receive

after the doj decided not to seek the death penalty. the shooter will be sentenced in june. next, in the hot seat, what a top southwest executive is telling senators on capitol hill about the company's christmas travel meltdown. plus, upheaval at the house of mouse. disney becomes the latest company to make massive job cuts. what the company's leader is saying this morning and what the move could signal about where our economy is heading. ve could our economy hiseading power e*trade's easy-to-use tools like dynamic charting and risk-reward analysis help make trading feel effortless and its customizable scans with social sentiment help you find and unlock opportunities in the market with powerful, easy-to-use tools power e*trade makes complex trading easier react to fast-moving markets with dynamic charting and a futures ladder that lets you place, flatten, or reverse orders so you won't miss an opportunity my moderate to severe plaque psoriasis... the tightness, stinging... the pain.

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enough winter operations resiliency. from where and how we de-ice aircraft to the cold -- of our ground support equipment and infrastructure. >> southwest says they're investing more than a billion dollars to upgrade their net welcome and plan to add staffing to handle weather disruptions in the future. some difficult news out of the most magical place on earth this morning. disney has announced it will cut 7,000 jobs as part of an effort to cut $5.5 billion in costs. it marks the most significant action from ceo bob iger since he returned to his post in november. joining me now is cnbc's morgan brennan. morgan, walk us through disney's moves and what we heard from the ceo on cnbc this morning. >> it was quite the morning here, lindsey. significant is a good word for it. a major quote, unquote transformation, a mere three months into his renewed tenure as ceo of the media and entertainment giant. disney will be, in addition to the layoffs and billions in cost

cuts, organizing into three divisions, entertainment, espn and parks and experiences segment. the idea, give more power to content executives, put greater emphasis on sports media, and take actions that will make the disney plus streaming platform, which is currently losing money, as is the case with so many other streaming platforms across the industry, profitable. so in a wide ranging roughly 35-minute interview on "squawk on the street," he discussed some of the ways that disney is going to tighten its belt, including a more targeted, more discerned approach to how it spends on content. take a listen. >> we have to look really hard at how much we have made and what really has worked. now that we are even more focused on delivering profitability, we have to be i think more discerning in terms of basically what we say yes to. we have an opportunity to really look at what it costs us to produce everything. and reduce particularly in -- not only a more challenging time, but a time where we or our shareholders better returns on

that business. >> so, a lot of that core specialized kid centric disney content is going to continue to be a focus for disney, so for those viewers who are parents of little ones, take heart, that means more "frozen" and "toy story" sequels are in the pipeline. iger also saying he plans to seek approval from the board to reinstate a modest dividend by year end. also activist investor nelson peltz saying he's ending his proxy war because of all of these changes. shares are trading higher. >> morgan brennan, thank you. ahead of super bowl sunday, a concerning trend, concussions up 18% this year in the nfl, in part due to more evaluations. >> we don't want concussions to occur. we want to prevent them. and we want to treat them. >> next, a new shocking study showing just how widespread the degeneraive brain disease cte is among former nfl players.

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three days out from super bowl sunday and this morning the nfl is facing new scrutiny surrounding the health of current and former players. just this morning, "the washington post" reports ten retired players sued the league's benefits plans, four trustees and commissioner roger goodell in federal court today, accusing them of, quote, an overly aggressive and disturbing pattern ever erroneous arbitrary benefits denials, bad faith contract misinterpretations and other tactics. and jaw-dropping numbers when it comes to nfl players' safety. this year alone, concussions in the league shot up 18%, something that commissioner roger goodell addressed in the league address yesterday. >> we don't want concussions to occur, we want to prevent them, we want to treat them. but we're not afraid of having

them being diagnosed. >> now, a new study is revealing the dramatic levels of cte found in the brains of ex-nfl players. more on the study. >> and there it is! >> to the sideline -- oh, my goodness! >> reporter: as the super bowl nears, staggering new statics out showing just how much danger football players are in. >> sad. >> reporter: the latest figures from boston university show nearly 92% of former nfl players they studied were diagnosed with cte, a condition with symptoms that can include depression, anxiety, impaired judgment, violence, dementia and suicidal thoughts. >> it's a problem for current players. it's a problem for players who have retired. and it's not going away unless we do something about it. >> former nfl player philip adams had stage 2 cte when he went on a rampage that killed

six people before he took his own life in 2021. >> he was a good kid. i think football messed him up. >> reporter: the neurologist anne mckee is the director of boston university cte center and diagnosed adams after he died. >> a lot of time concussions are difficult to understand, there's vial compuls impulse controls. >> reporter: and it was first discovered in pittsburgh steelers mike webster in 2005 cte was discovered but didn't come until a 2016 hearing. >> doctors say a number of retired nfl players are diagnosed with cte so the answer to that question is certainly, yes. >> reporter: in following years, the nfl did implement concussion protocol. those protocols still evolving, this sean when miami quarterback

tua tagovailoa suffered this hit it knocked him unconscious with his hands frozen he was eventually carted off the field. in the following weeks the league revising its rules for concussions. the nfl did not return our request for comment but in 2016 they didn't announce a new play smart play safe initiative with $100 million going to treatment and treatment of head injuries. but dr. mcgee is saying she's not just worried about players with exposure to these hits. >> i never prepared myself in my career to see young adults in their 20s, sometimes even in their teens, people who have not reached the age of 30, coming into the brain bank with cte and we've seen it nearly a hundred times. >> our thanks to steven romo for that reporting. that does it for me this busy hour. i'll be back here at 11:00 a.m. eastern. "andrea mitchell reports" is next.

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right now on "andrea mitchell reports," president biden heading to ron desantis and donald trump home turf this hour, another battleground speech, this time to drive home his attacks against some republicans. it could be including florida senator rick scott who has proposed making social security and medicare up for renewal, instead of lifetime benefits. also this hour, the first classified documents