good to be with you, i'm katy tur. anything you can do, i can do better. that is the message ron desantis, not so subtly sent to donald trump at the reagan library this weekend. >> it's been four years, you didn't see our administration leaking like a sieve. you didn't see a lot of drama or palace intrigue. what you saw was surgical precision, execution. day after day after day. and because we did that, we beat the left day after day after day. >> it is also the message he will be sending to republican voters in iowa and nevada this week, and new hampshire in the coming weeks. if you like the trump policies but got tired of the trump drama, i am your man. that is, of course, if he decides to run, which, by the

way -- by the look of that calendar, iowa, new hampshire, seems like a sure thing. the message is also intended to antagonize liberals. >> when the world went mad, when common sense suddenly became an uncommon virtue. florida stood as a refuge of sanity, a citadel of freedom for people throughout the united states and indeed throughout the world. >> not just words, but actions. here's a teaser of what laws desantis stands ready to sign next in florida, courtesy of "politico," banning gender studies and diversity programs in state universities. expanding a prohibition on teaching sexual orientation and gender identity now through the 8th grade, banning the utilities of preferred pronouns in k through 12 schools, ending permitting requirements to carry a gun, making it easier to impose the death penalty, and increasing funding to send unauthorized migrants to other states. there's a lot more, including potentially repealing a bill which would allow him to remain

governor while he runs for president, if he does. it's a very maga centric agenda, and a very maga centric message. let us ask again, will a maga message delivered by donald trump or ron desantis or anyone else work in a general election? joining me now is nbc news correspondent vaughn hillyard and "politico" white house reporter, play book author, and political contributor, eugene daniels. i was struck when ron desantis was talking over the weekend of that implicit dig at donald trump, anything you can do, i can do better. you were full of drama. i have no drama whatsoever. you talked a big game. i talk a big game and i get things done. it seems like it's on purpose. >> right. and he's saying everything but donald trump. he said that donald trump over the weekend is just creating noise, essentially here, and for ron desantis here. this is his ability over the next couple of months. this week is when the florida

legislature is convening, it is a chance for him to lay out his card and say, well, donald trump talks, well, he continues to create more palace intrigue, guess where he's actually going to be getting stuff, it's going to be ron desantis, week after week after week. >> so the question is how does ron desantis play among the republican electorate, and i know you're on the road all the time, talk to voters all the time. i'm sure they tell you their names. they're also at cpac over the weekend. ron desantis was not there. donald trump was. when you asked about desantis, what was the response? >> how about this for an analogy, right, somebody chooses to paint their home green. right? they made that decision very intentionally. they like the color green. they went with it. it's not an easy decision. when the decision comes back around, do i repaint and simply fix spots that need it or redo the whole thing. do i pick yellow? right? that's in front of voters. they feel good about the color

green, will they do it again. take a listen to the people i talked to. >> who do you got in 2024? >> donald trump. >> i'm a maga guy, through and through. >> does that mean? >> that means i'm a maga guy through and through. >> who are you voting for for president? >> president trump. >> what do they bring to the table? you got to bring something different. i like what nikki haley had to say. >> but? >> i don't think she has what it takes. >> what do you think of ron desantis and mike pence not coming to cpac. >> they don't have the character to stand up. >> why do those folks matter? because they are reflective of the conversations i've had in iowa. there's no slights against ron desantis or nikki haley, it's we have one more shot to have donald trump do it again. why not go with donald trump again, and donald trump is going to be able to point to a litany of results that he was able to

deliver. it's whether ron desantis will be able to go and match him and say i'm living in the present. >> i'm going to ask you this again, eugene. you and i have touched on this conversation. let's take it a little bit further. when voters rejected donald trump at the polls in 2020, when they rejected donald trump like candidates in competitive races in 2018, and 2020, and 2022, were they rejecting just the donald trump drama, the tweeting, the craziness of that or were they also rejecting the inherently divisive rhetoric and policies. if they were rejecting that, how does ron desantis work if he's just i'm just a better version of trump? >> it seems the latter, right? they weren't just rejecting donald trump at these times. they were also rejecting people like kari lake. rejecting other folks who were donald trump indifferent shades of -- in different colors, that looked different, and different

genders. that is something we continue to see, those folks have not done well in a general election, and, you know, ron desantis is someone out of all of the folks who are trump like, as you have been talking about, he can point to the things that he's done, taking on the woke corporations or woke culture or woke pick your noun and what he has been able to do in florida but does that actually work when you talk to voters? it's hard to see that. the voters we're seeing, that we continue to see, especially these independent voters on his -- issues of economics, on issues of culture have tended to go where democrats are. democrats are changing and having their own conversations, deep conversations about what those things look like. it doesn't seem that the maga movement has been successful for the republican party, and when you talk to folks, when we talk to folks, i know you hear that from strategists in the republican party, they talk about that. their hope is seeing someone like ron desantis who's the

current governor, going around talking about how the citadel of freedom for everyone around the world, that the touch talk will be overshadows by all of that. i will say, something to keep all of our eyes on, trying to figure out when he might get announced is the desire to run, whether that's going to get appealed in the state of florida. both leaders in the house and senate have said it's a good idea. he wants to be able to do his job in florida so he can keep going to these other states and talk about how he's doing that. when was the last time you saw tim scott or mike pompeo or nikki haley or donald trump for that matter pass a bill. >> if he were to announce today, and he had to resign today, that would mean he would no longer be the republican governor of florida. if he puts off the announcement, he can continue to be the governor, if they repeal that law. joining me now is republican

strategist, and former communications director for the republican national committee. doug hie. i'm going to start with you there, does this message that i am doing a better job at being donald trump, these maga policies. look at my success going after gender studies and african-american studies, and trans issues does all my success in florida, and the rubber stamp legislature down there, does that translate into a winning general election message for republicans and independents? >> it can, and let me say, happy belated birthday to vaughan, by the way, desantis gave away a lot in what he said there when he's talking about being surgical in his precision on this. he can say to the base, i'm your maga warrior. i'm your culture warrior. he can say to indemnity voters, i'm a mature, responsible adult as a governor, pointing to his

work where the hurricane hit florida, worked with president biden, fema and the administration, to do the things you're elected to represent everyone in your state, everyone in your country. he's able to walk and chew gum at the same time, when a lot of republicans want to chew gum and blow the bubbles as loud as they can. >> independence will be drawn to the anti-woke message he's been setting out in front of him, that independents will be drawn to a message that inflames half of the country? >> what i'm saying is i think he's going to be able to talk about being able to do two things at once. look, you have different conversations, different subsets of voters, not just by what tv interviews you do, and digital ads you run, but on what mail you put in people's mailboxes. he's going to be able to do that. again, a lot of these folks who have been in the maga movement, they are so deep and entrenched, those folks, especially at cpac, they can't get away from any

part of it, desan tis is going to be able to talk about being a responsible governor, one of the candidates who struggled last year, because you can't get away from election conspiracies, you weren't able to get to any reasonable, rational part of a voter conversation. >> you say you're having different conversations of different voters, so much of what we consume now is the same national diet of news, and how do you separate everything that you have done in florida, and all that you stand for, and talk to a voter and say don't worry about any of that, i'm going to be better at balancing the budget. >> well, look, you mentioned that he's going to go to nevada and iowa. let's say that he announces or any of the other candidates who have announced looking at a tim scott, nikki haley, you're going to meet with the farm bureau and talk about agricultural specific issue when is you go to the farm bureau. other issues come up as well, but you're going to be talking

about farm policy in iowa to the farm bureau, and then the des moines chamber of commerce, talking about specific business issues and, desantis as a governor will be able to talk about what he did about growing jobs, and as you talk to voters in different subsets, where they are, you emphasize what you want that message to be in that hour and in that day, and desantis, again, is demonstrating i can walk and chew gum at the same time where others haven't been able to do that. >> does he get past donald trump, in order to have those conversations he has to get past donald trump who's also running, and just to go back to 2016, didn't allow any other candidate to have any other side conversations because all of the conversations were about him. does that look different in 2024? >> i think it potentially does, and we're seeing that now, and, again, this is part of the surgical precision that desantis is talking about and nikki haley as well, not taking the bait from donald trump, and in fact,

you absorb some blows from trump, they're less effective than they used to be. ultimately, you see your opportunity to respond and attack politically, you'll do so, it's smart of desantis, smart of haley, not to get in the battle with trump. donald trump does his best when he has an opponent. not responding at this point, you're denying trump that oxygen he thrives on. >> we'll see. we're a long way out, but the pot is starting to boil, i should say. doug, thank you very much. >> thank you. and in case you were wondering because it's been out of the headlines, now you did not miss an announcement on the debt ceiling, there's still no agreement between republicans and the white house. also no agreement among republicans on what exactly they want to cut, only that democrats do need to cut something sings they're the ones to blame for all the spending. a brand new "new york times" analysis of voting records and fiscal forecast shows that's not entirely true. in fact, republicans are at the very least equally to blame for the now $31 trillion debt.

joining me now to explain is nbc news capitol hill correspondent ryan nobles. so cbo went through, and looked at voting records, looked at fiscal analysis, and "the new york times" then did their own analysis of that. explain to me how they got to the point where they can say republicans are just as much to blame for us being at 31 trillion? >> you basically look at the facts of the voting record from both parties going back through the past two administrations, and it's pretty clear that both republicans and democrats have contributed to the ballooning debt for the united states federal government, and when you're talking specifically about what republicans have done to contribute to that, you have to look no further than the 2017 trump tax cuts, which took a big chunk of revenue away from the federal government and then did not replace it with measurable cuts that would offset that balance, and then, it rolls right into the covid pandemic

where under the trump administration was the first round of massive amounts of covid relief fund, and then into the biden administration where there were a number of different big fiscal spending measures, including two covid relief packages, the covid infrastructure bill. the white house says the president is going to introduce a budget later this month that's going to cut the deficit by $2 trillion. we'll have to see if that ever becomes a reality. it is safe to say, and it's been pretty safe to say this for quite a long time that both republicans and democrats have played a good part in the run away spending here in washington. >> the analysis about the proposed budget cuts that the biden administration or the deficit cuts are attributed to the fact that we're not spending that covid relief money any longer, so it's a little bit of wonky messaging there. i want to hit on one more time, the trump tax cuts. when we have republicans on they bring up the tax cuts that have not added to the deficit, in

fact, made the deficit decline. this analysis says no, that's not the case at all. can you explain that a little further? >> reporter: yeah, i mean, you know, what republicans have often argued for many years is that the way to fiscal stability in terms of the federal budget is if you cut taxes, that will lead to economic prosperity. economic prosperity leads to more in the ways of tax revenue and that tax revenue will offset whatever you have lost because businesses are making more and paying more in taxes. that's never worked out that way. the simple fact of the matter is that even though when they make these significant cuts in a very short period of time. that's the other thing to keep in mind. the tax cuts come in the long-term forecast of economic growth, takes a lot longer to kind of implement, and in the interim, the spending goes up and up and up. the two things don't balance out. this has long been an argument that both sides of the aisle have made when it comes to this kind of spending and tax cuts,

and this congressional budget office report clearly demonstrates that at this point there's a deficit that continues to grow and really neither party has come up with a significant plan to reign it in. >> it's 31 trillion and it was 0 back in the '90s and we've had both parties control washington at various points between now and then. so it does take two to tango. ryan nobles, thank you very much. and still ahead, kidnapped at the border. we have brand new reporting on what the u.s. government knows about the americans who were taken at gunpoint after they crossed from texas to mexico. and what happened? we're going to go inside the room where senior fox news executives scrambled to undo the damage of being on election night. plus, can he do that, donald trump is making another appeal to the courts, what he is trying to stop this time. courts, whatg to stop this time. jaycee tried gain flings for the first time

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a senior u.s. official tells nbc news the four americans who were taken at gunpoint as they crossed the border from texas to mexico did not go there for any criminal purpose. the government still does not know who is behind the kid kidnappings, and the fbi is offering a $50,000 reward for any information. joining me now is nbc news's morgan chesky. morgan, can you explain this story? it just came to light today. >> reporter: an absolutely frightening situation that played out friday. we do know, according to authorities that this group of four people had departed brownsville in south texas to cross the border into neighboring matamoros, according to to officials to purchase medicine there, of course being able to do so at a far lesser price than what you can buy those medications within the

u.s., and immediately upon crossing the border, we're told they were caught up in this exchange of gunfire between two groups which are currently not named at this time, but shortly thereafter, these four individuals were taken at gunpoint, and kidnapped and right no, according to the field office of the fbi in san antonio, they are working with mexican authorities to try to track down where these people are, who these people are, and who's responsible for doing this. my colleague kelly o'donnell asked the white house press secretary the latest a short time ago, and here's what they had to say. take a listen. >> we are closely following the assault and kidnapping of four u.s. citizens in matamoros, mexico. these sorts of attacks are unacceptable. our thoughts are with the families of these individuals, and we stand ready to provide all appropriate counselor assistance. u.s. law enforcement is in touch with mexican law enforcement. the departments of state and homeland security are also

coordinating with mexican authorities and we will continue to coordinate with mexico, and push them to bring those responsible to justice. >> any early indications as to the circumstances or any efforts to try to locate these americans? >> i don't have anything to share outside of what i just laid out. clearly we want to be really careful here. there are privacy concerns. >> reporter: and the fbi now offering $50,000 for any information leading to the culprits or to getting those four individuals back home safe and sound. authorities say they were last seen in a white minivan with north carolina plates. that's what they were taken from when they entered this horrific exchange of gunfire. katie, important to note here that violence had been so bad in matamoros, the u.s. issued a travel advisory this very day.

coming up, young girls targeted, more than 50 schools in iran have been hit with a possible wave of poisonings. how it could relate to the protests. and inside the room where fox executives tried to stem the bleeding. "the new york times" reports on what was said to try and protect the bottom line after fox's election team correctly called arizona for biden. ection team cd arizona for biden. i have moderate to severe crohn's disease. now, there's skyrizi. ♪ things are looking up ♪ ♪ i've got symptom relief ♪ ♪ control of my crohn's means everything to me. ♪ ♪ ♪ control is everything to me. ♪ feel significant symptom relief with skyrizi, including less abdominal pain and fewer bowel movements at 4 weeks. skyrizi is the first and only il-23 inhibitor for crohn's that can deliver both clinical remission and endoscopic improvement. the majority of people on skyrizi achieved long lasting remission at 1 year. serious allergic reactions and an increased risk of infections

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in the fall of 2020, fox news executives were faced with what they considered a crisis. they were the first to call arizona for biden and they were right, but according to the president at the time and their viewers, right was wrong, and instead of sticking with the truth, the viewers pushed along by donald trump fled to other outlets that refused to call the election. a week later at ratings tanked, fox news executives called a news call to stem the bleeding. the "new york times" has listened to a recording of the meeting and reports on what was said, including a suggestion from the network's two main anchors that it was not enough to call a state based on numerical calculations but that viewer reaction should be considered as well. quote, in a trump environment, the game is just very very different. joining me now is "new york times" reporter, jeremy peters. full disclosure, this is your

colleague peter baker's reporting but bring us inside that room. >> so what happened in the weeks and days, correctly called arizona for joe biden was a panic set in. and they realized that they were offending their viewers, and their journalistic obligation to tell the truth became secondary, well, our viewers are in revolt. the trump campaign is harassing us, they are basically telling people to turn the channel, and that's what happened. people did turn the channel and instead of doing its, you know, journalistically sound duty of reporting the facts as they did initially, what the executives at fox news decided is they would perpetuate rumors that were entirely false of voter fraud at the hands of dominion

machines. that's how we get to this point. that's why you have this $1.6 billion lawsuit, which is going against fox news because fox decided in the interest of profits and ratings, that it would recklessly pursue these utterly fantastical and false theories about dominion machines supposedly at the center of this non-existent plot to defraud donald trump of the presidency. >> hasn't part of the argument been that when you're talking about dominion on fox that i was struck by this recording that lists two of what are considered their more news anchors, brett barum and mccallum, maybe making the right call wasn't the right call. >> that's exactly right. and dominion has a hard road

here to prove defamation. the defamation cases are by design very difficult for people to prove, right? like you want room for media, like you and me to make mistakes. but those mistakes have to be honest. but what dominion is alleging here, and they have plenty of evidence for, and i think that these tapes that you're just describing how to back this up is these were not necessarily honest mistakes. they were mistakes of convenience, mistakes that allowed fox to preserve its high ratings when, indeed, they knew the truth, and if you know the truth, that's when you have no defamation defense. if you know the truth and you're saying otherwise, you're on the hook for defamation. >> a motive here, part of the motive is financial, and we talked about this the other

week, but rupert murdoch agreeing with a lawyer who was talking about whether it was red, blue, or green, and murdaugh agreeing it was green. and you have susan scott saying if we hadn't called arizona our ratings would be bigger, another acknowledgment that making the right call wasn't the right call for their bottom line. i wonder, jeremy, how much -- is there panic inside fox news that's commiserate with the panic over losing viewers about the dominion lawsuit? >> at this moment, i would say there's definitely panic, whether it's risen to the level right now of, you know, the same degree, like are we losing audience, i don't know. i will tell you, katy, as you can imagine, the people who work there have been telling me that, you know, having their personal cell phones seized, their e-mails sifted through by

lawyers, looking for evidence in this case that proves dominion's point has been incredibly demoralizing. and like that goes from the bottom, like the mid level producer level all the way up to the top to rupert murdoch. rupert murdoch and his son, his chief legal officer, the chief executive of fox, suzanne scott, they have all been deposed. that doesn't usually happen. it's really extraordinary. usually you would see companies settling the case far earlier than the point we've gotten to now, and so i just think it really is sent a chill through the entire organization. >> jeremy peters, jeremy, thank you very much. and let's ask the question of former u.s. attorney barbara mcquaid, also msnbc legal analyst. why hasn't fox news settled this

or tried to settle it? >> proving a defamation case can be very difficult. not only do you have to prove that lies were communicated, you have to show that there's an actual damage to the reputation of dominion. if dominion continues to do business or sell voting machines to communities, then that damages aspect may be difficult to prove. and so it may very well be that fox wants to win this case and proclaim vindication, and so it may be able to win on different grounds, but if they can claim vindication, then their viewers will likely not ask enough questions to know that it was on the basis of the damages issue, as opposed to whether there were actual lies. i think it may be worth the gamble to preserve the reputation, to see if they can win. >> the reputation has been damaged more broadly with the revelation that their hosts and

their executives knew that what was being peddled on their air was crazy as they've said, in their words, crazy. maybe not being damaged amongst their own viewership because their viewership hasn't been exposed to it. who knows if they were. do you suspect that at some point you might see, if they get to trial and it doesn't look like it's going in the right direction, dominion can start to prove the damages, that you might end up seeing a settlement mid trial or a sacrificial lam, there was talk about suzanne scott getting fired. >> at this stage, we're seeing motions for summary judgment. what dominion is doing is taking bits and pieces of evidence of the exchange of documents and depositions and using that to make an argument to the judge, the court should make the decision in favor of dominion. often times once they get past this stage is when meaningful

negotiation takes place. both parties get the chance to sort of size up the evidence and make a more informed prediction as to where the case might go. you might see some sort of settlement at that point, and again, settlements sometimes clouds a defendant to proclaim victory that, you know, you settled the case for a nuisance value to make it go away, and to get on with work and some of those things as well. >> switch gears for a second. the former president is asking a federal judge to block his former vice president from testifying in front of a grand jury. the motion refers to specific issues, trump claims are protected by executive privilege, a claim trump has made in previous attempts to block aides and staff from testifying. what's the likelihood of this going through? >> i think this defense will fail. executive privilege is recognized by the supreme court as an important privilege to

promote candid discussions in deliberations when the president is seeking advice from aides and certainly the vice president falls in that category. but in the united states v. nixon case, the court held that it's a qualified privilege, and that it must yield when there is some greater national interest at stake. and in that case specifically, a grand jury subpoena was seen as that greater interest, and so i think this argument is a loser and, it is pushed forward solely for the purpose of delay. >> barbara mcquade, thank you very much for joining us. >> and coming up, what two ukrainian pilots are doing here in the united states. nbc news has exclusive reporting on their visit to a military base in arizona. first, a new wave of suspected poisonings targeting iran's school girls. what the government there says it is now doing about it. what the government there says it is now doing abouitt next on behind the series... that run with the champ was magical. i mean the tender chicken, the peppercorn ranch... i love my rings but i'll cherish that lunch...

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still no answers on the growing number of purported suspected poisonings across iran. the supreme leader is commenting on the investigations. he said if the suspected poisonings are found to be deliberate, whoever is responsible should be sentenced to death for the quote unforgivable crimes. nbc news foreign correspondent molly hunter has the latest. >> reporter: a troubling crisis escalating across iran. dozens more school girls falling

mysteriously ill, and it's possible they're being poisoned. over the weekend, 17 provinces across the country reported new cases. nvidia, verified by nbc news, this girl seen slumped over, her friends frantically trying to help. at the same school, girls gasping for air. coughing, their symptoms terrifying but unexplained. since november, local media reports more than 2,000 iranian school girls at more than 60 schools have suffered from mysterious cases of respiratory distress. state tv shows girls coughing, struggling to breathe in hospital beds. this student telling state tv, my whole body is numb, i can't walk. >> the number one challenge is actually getting samples from an attack or an incident like this, and getting them properly verified. so time is absolutely of the essence. that's the number one issue in these sort of channelling

incidents. >> iranian president announcing an official investigation. the interior ministry, without providing any evidence saying suspicious samples have been collected. while also accusing the media of inciting panic. in the capital, teheran over the weekend, there were protests, and this follows months of the biggest antigovernment protests iran has seen in years. sparked by the death back in september of 22-year-old mahsa amini in a hospital three days after being taken into police custody. many of those protests bravely led by young women and school-aged girls. activists say it's no coincidence it's now these girls that are falling ill. and tens of thousands of protesters came out against benjamin netanyahu's attempt to overpower the country's supreme court. the outcry has been building for two months as the new ultra conservative majority in

parliament led by netanyahu is potentially making it so that parliament's laws cannot be reviewed by the judiciary. critics like former new york city mayor michael bloomberg, a long time advocate and supporter of israel say it's engaging the nation's democracy. in a guest essay in the "new york times," he writes by love for israel, my respect for its people and my concern about its future are now leading me to speak out. raf sanchez has more. >> reporter: the political situation here in israel deepening into what some fear is becoming a full-blown constitutional crisis. prime minister benjamin netanyahu showing no signs of backing down in his plan to weaken israel's supreme court, under his proposed law, israel's parliament, which is dominated by netanyahu and his right wing allies could vote by a simple

majority to ignore rulings by the supreme court. now, netanyahu says this is a necessary reform to curb activist judges but 160,000 protesters took to the streets of tel aviv over the weekend to protest against it. just to give you a sense of scale, proportional to population, that is the equivalent of 5 million americans out on the streets of new york city. one of the protesters we met was the daughter of the late israeli prime minister, yitzhak rabin who was assassinated in 1995 by a far right extremist. she told us how painful it was to see members of the far right now sitting around benjamin netanyahu's cabinet table after he brought him into government and how worried she is about the future of her country. take a listen. >> we are all for jewish democratic state. it's not a matter of left and right. it's a matter of those who

believe and fought for those values. >> reporter: now, one other sign of how serious the situation is, a number of reservist fighter pilots from one of the israeli air forces most elite squadrons are refusing to attend a day of training this week in protest at netanyahu's plans. these are some of the most respected people in israeli society. they are the pilots who would be called upon to carry out an attack against iran's nuclear facilities should it come to that, and the fact that they are prepared to weigh into this political debate is a sign of quite how serious this situation has become. >> raf sanchez in israel. thank you very much. and for the very first time, ukrainian pilots are in the u.s. for an assessment by american military trainers. the test will determine how long it would take to train the two pilots to fly attack air craft, including f 16 fighter jets, according to a senior u.s. official, and two congressional officials. nbc news pentagon correspondent

courtney kube broke the story. the u.s. has been saying for ages, they're not going to give the ukrainians f16s, and they're still saying that. at this point, the biden administration is not going to provide f 16s. they're pointing to the fact that it could take months to train ukrainian pilots on them. it could take months, not years to deliver to them. we heard that the from the pentagon policy official when he was testifying on the hill. what the two pilots are doing at a military base in tucson, arizona, is what the military is calling a familiarization event. essentially, they are assessing their skills to see how long it could take them to train on over platforms, beside, migs, and things they use in ukraine, but also to see how long it would take to train them or work with them on potential munitions that the u.s. is providing or could be providing in the future. it's not just air craft. they're using simulators, they're not putting them in

aircraft. in addition to these two who have been there for several weeks, now as many as ten more ukrainian pilots could come to the u.s. for more of this familiarization in the coming weeks, you know, as many as 12 of them here for this. it's not just the assessments. they're also working with them, to help them, to see how long a potential training program for some other platforms could take to stand up. >> just to be clear, if they were adept at -- if they could easily pick up how to fly an f16, how to use it, would na -- that potentially speed up the process of when we give them in the future. this could be one of the things that would impact that decision. if it's possible, unlike what colin said on the hill, it could take 18 months to train them. during these assessments they may find some of the more skilled and advanced pilots already familiar with other platforms could train in as

little as six to nine months. cutting that time line by a dramatic amount, in half in some cases. that may have an impact on that. even if they are able to train quickly. it's possible they still could take anywhere from 18 months to six years to deliver the aircraft if we're talking about refurbished older models or new ones. >> coming up next, we're going live to california, a state that has been absolutely clobbered, and that is the right word for it, clobbered by back-to-back winter storms. what's being done to help folks who are still trapped in their homes? . apped in their homes? heading on a family trip? nah, sorry son, prices are crazy, [son deflates] awh, use priceline. they have package deals no one else has. [son inflates] we can do it! ♪go to your happy price♪ ♪priceline♪ trelegy for copd. ♪birds flyin' high, you know how i feel.♪ ♪breeze driftin' on by...♪

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how that will affect the recovery and the rescue effort? >> reporter: i can tell you it is not going to be good for this area. they are still buried under mounds of snow. some roads have been plowed i spoke to a guy who lives at a higher elevation. he had to hike two miles down here. he says there are several neighbors who are still snowed in. they have not had power or their role plowed for seven days. it is really frustrating for a lot of people. the only grocery store in town, this is goodwin and sons market. take a look through the windows. this is not a reflection. we are actually peering inside this grocery store that has been bombarded with all this snow and debris from the roof that has come crashing in. the one silver lining in this community though is just how generous people have been in this community, donating items. you've got several volunteers that have been out here for hours this morning, trying to get people the needed

necessities. you've got protein shakes here pretty we have seen diapers, formula. we just saw a truck full of fruit and vegetables roll through. it caused a bit of commotion because it is so exciting for people who been waiting for days trying to get food those that can make it down the mountain are lining up here pretty there even getting dog food. a lot of people do have pets. that is a concern for them. they want to make sure their pets are taking care of. it is a tough seem to watch for people. a lot of people are pressured by the conditions. others are getting those much needed necessities. >> dana, thank you very much. that'll do it for me today. deadline white house starts next.

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hi, everyone. it is 4:00 in new york on a monday. there is brand-new block buster reporting that read feels