to fight. >> thank you very much. >>> but i want to give a special thanks right no to my friend barbara starr to leave cnn after more than two decades at the network. barbara, has covered so many consequential stories during her truly remarkable career here at cnn. reporting from war zones including in afghanistan and iraq as well as working her sources and she's got many terrific sources over at the pentagon. cnn and our viewers have benefited from her reporting skills and her deep knowledge of the u.s. mimt military that i appreciate. barbara, on behalf of all of us, we love you sand appreciate you and we will miss you. >> nobodi will leave you with t. nobody does it better than cnn. >> and we'll certainly miss you over at the pentagon. but we wish you only, only the very, very best. barbara thanks for all of your terrific work. >> we're so grateful to you. >> thank you. >> >>> and just ahead, brittney griner back at her own home in arizona speaking out about the wnba. we'll have that and more right after this. so it takes the right tool for the job... to keep it together. now ere's new the

barbara starr is live at the pentagon. what does it mean? >> reporter: the u.s. apparently changing its mind. the ongoing day after day barrage of russian attacks against civilian infrastructure, power plants, the people of ukraine that has caused so much misery and damage that now the biden administration finalizing plans to send the patriot system. what is the patriot? it's been in war zones for decades now. it's a missile system where the radar locks on to an incoming bloo ballistic missile, most like, and fires its own missile to target the missile and bring it down. the key is it can target at a high altitude and long distance. so the result is the russian missile is destroyed at some distance before it gets to a civilian area. that's the whole idea. you know, but make no mistake, this is going to be a very complex undertaking. the system is very difficult. ukrainian troops have to be trained on it, most likely in germany. they will have to learn maintenance and repair. so this may be a long process while their winter sets in and while those russian attacks

shoot and move together and challenge the russians even further in the coming weeks, john. >> barbara starr this is the last time we'll be like this in boxes together. barbara is moving on. i want to say thank you. you are the ultimate pro. >> that is very kind of you, john, and want to take two seconds to let everybody know when you walk these pentagon hallways at midday and look at what's on tvs and offices, nine times out of ten if not ten times out of ten it's your show. you are a must watch in these part, john. >> i appreciate that but truly, truly you're the best. you are the best. you are the best. thank you, barbara. >> thank you, sir. >> ana cabrera picks up our coverage after a quick break. have a great weekend. oh, i can tell business is going through the “woof”. but seririously we need a reliable way to help keep everyone connectedd from w wherever we go. well at at&t we'll help you find the right wireless plan for you. so, you can stay connected to all your drivers and stores on america's most reliable 5g network. that sounds just paw-fect. terrier-iffic i labra-dore you round

cnn's barbara starr joins us live from the pentagon. what's in the new package? patriot air defense missiles being part but we now are being told by multiple sources something called jdam in there. that is basically a bolt-on kit to a bomb and what it does is it turns a so-called dumb bomb into a smart bomb. dumb bomb, something that falls off an airplane, falls to earth and hits whatever underneath it at that point but precision-guided smart bombs and that's what this bolt-on kit will give ukraine precision-guided weapons much more of a multiplier on the battlefield against russian dug in targets and it's what the ukrainians have been wanting. they have aircraft but they have to figure out exactly how to modify their soviet era aircraft to put these jdam kits on. it may not be too complicated but will take a while to get it done so they're watching with anticipation to see how soon the ukrainian air force can get these precision weapons in shape onto their aircraft and begin to fly more against those russian targets, especially with everybody digging in for a ve

. >> cnn pentagon correspondent barbara starr joins us now. of course this is her reporting.rt of achieve this balance here, help the ukrainians but not escalate to the point where they end up into direct conflict with russia. can you tell us what's in the new package and how it fits into that plan? >> well, we have talked a bit about, you know, the patriot air defense missiles and that's expected to come within days as part of the next package of assistance, but now sources are telling cnn there's something else in that aid package and that is something called jdam. what she is are precision kits, kits that bolt on essentially to a so-called dumb bomb, a bomb that would fall off an airplane on to the battlefield and hit wherever it hits. these bolt on kits turn those so-called dumb bombs into precision guided weapons. it will have guidance, they will be able to aim at particular targets, at a particular point in time. and that could give ukraine's air forces a critical advantage that they haven't really had so far. russian troops dug in during the winter, they may be able to

the cnn pentagon correspondent barbara starr joins us now. what is different this time?about, right there, the russian missile war. in recent weeks, months, russia intensifying its bombardment of ukraine population centers, energy facilities, infrastructure, the u.s. has not really been anxious to give such an advanced system to ukraine, but now seeing what is happening, they are stepping in. all indications are the pentagon finalizing the plans, sending it over to the white house, to get president biden's final signature on it. what would happen is the patriot would be sent to ukraine, but it's maybe not so easy, because first, you have to train any number of ukraine troops to work on this system, how to operate it, maintain it, spare parts, logistics, repairs, all of that. it is a complex system. but the advantage it brings to the battlefield for ukraine would be significant. this is a system where its radar essentially locks on to an enemy missile, in this case a russian missile, and then engages it. and the patriot missiles fire off, and if successful, bring down the

cnn pentagon correspondent barbara starr joins me. he things, barbara, they have announced is expanded training for ukrainian forces. but they haven't quite announced the final decision on the patriot missile. what do we know? >> we are waiting for that. exactly right. president biden still by all accounts has the final paperwork that would allow the white house to announce the transof patriot missile systems to ukraine. pentagon does expect it to happen. it is going to be a critical advantage for the ukrainians. it will take time to get it all there, it will take time to get ukrainian troops trained up on it. but what the patriot does is, it is able to track rand engage an bring down return ballistic missiles at long distances further away from the ukrainian target. so there is the beginning of an air defense shield for the higher altitude longer range shootdowns. so these russian missiles can't get to the civilian areas and the hope is they could begin to get a handle on these russian attacks. but, it is going to take some time. this

barbara starr live at the pentagon. >>> two big economic indicators.ces cooling off in november but still they remain high and the university of michigan's consumer sentiment index shows americans, that means you, are feeling slightly more confident about the economy. this coming as a new cnn poll, look at these number, finds the president's approval rating is up to 46% after drifting as low as 38% back in june and july. let's get perspective on the numbers from matt egan who joins us live. what does this new ppi report tell us? >> john, inflation is starting to go in the right direction, but it still remains way too high. today's report measures wholesale inflation. this is inflation that is in the pipeline before it reaches you and i. up 7.4%. hotter than expected. good news and bad news. the good is that this 7.4% figure, this is actually an 18-month low and this is the fifth straight month of improvement so that is a good sign. the bad is that these numbers are still very high historically and we know that high inflation has really soured americans

barbara starr is live at the pentagon with us for the latest on this.> hi, kate. well, this new package of assistant could really be a announced at any time. sources are telling cnn, not only the patriot air missile but the new bomb kits. what are we talking about? a so-called dumb bomb is fired off an airplane and drops to the ground and hits whatever it hits. no precision, no guidance on it if you will. these kits that they're going to send are fitted on to the bombs and they turn them into precision weapons. they are aimed at a target, the weapon flies to that target and hits it. that will give the ukrainians an advantage on the battlefield if they're able to strike with more precision at russian targets inside of ukraine. these weapons will have about a 15 mile range. so that also will help keep ukrainian fighter jets out of the direct line of fire of russian anti-air weapons. that is been the big issue right now. the ukrainians fly but not a lot because of the possibility of being shot down by the russians. but if they get this capability it may he

barbara starr joins us.e. >> reporter: john, right now defense secretary lloyd austin has to sign off on the plan. it goes to the white house for the president's signature. and then once all of that is done and approved, it could start moving very quickly. we're told the announcement could come by the end of the week. why is this so important? well, the patriot is really the premier long-range high-altitude air defense system that the ukrainians have wanted for months and the u.s. has, shall we say been resisting sending. now in the face of all the destruction we're seeing in ukraine with the russian missile attacks, it looks like the white house is changing its mind and moving ahead. so why is this system so important? you see the picture of the launchers there. what the patriot does is its radar locked on to an incoming russian missile, launching its own missile to shoot down the russian attack and it can do it as high altitude and long range and that means if this all works, the ukrainian forces can bring