a matter of opinion as far as senator tommy tubberville is concerned.hat right ahead. other. >>> republican senator tommy tubberville is not backing down today despite credit similars from some in his own party for refusing to denounce white nationalism out right. his colleague telling cnn there are is no place for it in the republican party or in the military. here's what tubberville said last night to cnn. >> just to be clear, you agree that white nationalists should not be serving in the u.s. military. is that what you're saying in. >> if people think that a white nationalist is a racist, i agree with that. >> it's someone who believes that the white race is superior to other races. >> well that's some people's opinion. and i don't think -- >> that's not opinion. >> pardon? >> what's your opinion? >> my opinion of a white nationalist to me is an american. if they're a racist, i'm totally against anything that they want to do. >> and today while surrounded by reporters on capitol hill, tubberville doubled down. >> explain why you continue to insist th

army could also be without a chief soon, due to the hold on military nominations by senator tommy tubbervillengry about the policy to give women paid leave to travel if they need abortion. >> you could hardly send a worst message to people thinking about joining the military and maybe making a career out of it than is being sent right now with these military holds. >> general randy george, the president's pick for army chief, was asked about the recruiting issues during his confirmation hearing on capitol hill today. he won't be able to begin addressing the recruiting issues until senator tubberville lifts his hole. >> if confirmed, what actions would you take for the recruit crisis. >> we are not going to lower our standards. >> army recruiting was also hurt when schools were closed for covid and many don't allow rotc on campus. >> only 10% of our high schools are able to have junior rotc but 40% of our recruits come from students who have been in junior rotc. >> yes committed to continuing to grow these programs. what we want to do is responsibly grow them, make sure we are picking the righ

. >> laura: i support tommy tubberville saying we're not funding this anymore. >> joe biden needs to course, he's the one that has to say we're not paying for a, boss. long standing issue in the united states. . >> laura: senator schmidt thank you for your work in these lawsuits. critical keep up the good work. >> will do it. >> laura: the co-chair of bidenen's reelection campaign says the october ja nair giannis a race car, the reality he was too tired to attend dinner with nato leaders but what does this tell us about 2024. charlie hurt and mollie hemingway have it all next. ♪ but now i've found a way that's right for me. ♪ ♪ feels more easy. ♪ ♪ my doc and i agreed. ♪ ♪ i pick the time. ♪ ♪ today's a good day. ♪ ♪ i screened with cologuard and did it my way! ♪ cologuard is a one-of-a kind way to screen for colon cancer that's effective and non-invasive. it's for people 45 plus at average risk, not high risk. false positive and negative results may occur. ask your provider for cologuard. ♪ i did it my way! ♪ ♪ >> mr. president, it's good to see you again. delight to be with you. an

now the man at the center of this controversy, senator tommy tubberville is responding. we're covering these major developing stories and many more all coming in to "cnn news central." . >>> we begin this afternoon with a major health scare involving lebron james son, bronny. he suffered cardiac arrest during basketball practice at the university of southern california. this happened yesterday morning, but details are coming out just now. the 18-year-old was hospitalized and his family released a statement saying in part, quote, medical staff was able to treat brony and take him to the hospital. he's now in stable condition and no longer in icu. the family is asking for privacy and promising to update the media. according to tmz, bronny was unconscious when he was taken by ambulance to the hospital. we're joined now by cnn sports anchor, andy scholes, and cnn chief medical correspondent, dr. sanjay gupta. andy, first to you, what are we learning about what happened in that practice session? >> well, boris, we're not really getting a lot of details as of yet. we don't kno

the same context, senator tommy tubberville has held up the promotions and nominations of hundreds of high-ranking military officers. he is -- he wants a vote of the department of defense's position, their policy on allowing service members to use official travel and to be reimbursed for some things if they're traveling for an abortion from a state where it is not legal. he says that this holdup of more than 200 appointments or nominations or promotions is not hurting readiness from the marine commandant on down, what do you say? >> it is hurting readiness considerably. it is causing confusion in the upper ranks. it is distorting the ability of the department of defense to assign individuals. it's affecting families who have to prepare for new schools, new housing arrangements. it is very disruptive. and with every day, becomes more disruptive. take, for example, the nominee for the new chief of staff, the army. he is currently the vice chief of staff. even if we would vote him through on a special vote, he still would not have a deputy vice chair. so he would have to improvise all th

. >> senator tommy tubberville ha blocked 200 military positions. he's protesting the pentagon's policy that if you live in -- you can have access to abortion if you are a soldier or -- whether in a red state or blue state. they'll make accommodations. what do you make of that? what do you make of the fact that the marine corp. has no confirmed leader right now? defense secretary lloyd austin addressed this today as the current commandant stepped down. take a listen. >> we have a sacred duty to do right by those who volunteer to wear the cloth of our nation. i'm also confident that the united states senator will meet its responsibilities. >> the pentagon says they're engaging with tommy tuberville's office. how would you address this? these are people in the military whose promotions are being held up because one senator doesn't like a policy. all these people, their families are in the balance here. >> first, it's important to say that senator tubberville has a serious issue of abortion and who pays for it. it's a concern for him and many of his co

the result of senator tommy tubberville's blockade on nominees.year. at issue, his opposition to the defense department's new abortion policy provides additional support to service members and dependents may have to travel out of state. the alabama senator doubled down on that standoff. >> when you're in the minority in the senate, it's the only power that you have to get people's attention, to get them to do it the right way. to go by the constitution. the only power we have is to put a hold on something. and so, we thought that this would get the attention of the secretary of defense and we're trying to teach him that you cannot legislate from the pentagon. and so, it's a tough situation. there's nobody more military than me, kaitlan. my dad was military, career military. i'm all for the military. we need a strong military. but we also need to go by the rules and the constitution and represent the people and taxpayers. taxpayers are not supposed to pay for anything that has to do with abortion. >> joining us now is republican senator from south

. >> republican senator tommy tubberville of alabama is backing up on comments about white nationalists serving in the military -- >> wait. i'm confused here. you have the republicans in the house who are supporting a guy who like funnels illegally iranian oil to the communist chinese and is an illegal arms trafficker and illegal agent for the communist chinese and then on the senate side, you have a 57, 58-year-old guy from alabama who refuses to call white nationalists racists? is this -- i guess -- i don't know, is this their 2024 strategy? >> and senator tuberville had been to be dragged kicking and screaming to that position. he said i define white nationalist one way you define it another way, finally yesterday under pressure, if you define them the way you're defining them they're racist. that's only one part of his day. the other part is threatening military readiness by holding up the appointments in the marine corps and beyond. he's on a roll. >> and doing that he's also preventing women from really wanting to join the military if they want to get health care while they're in