lauren fox: they were concerned for toby's safety. ray stewart: we found out that she had taken a large sum of cash, and two firearms were missing from the house. do you think, could she be involved in something like this? lauren fox: she had children, a husband. it seemed like it was a white picket fence-type life. tom phelan: there is absolutely no way toby could be involved in this. andrea canning: you see this truck. my gut feeling was telling me it was them. i said, this is our guy. andrea canning: this sounds like one of those "fast and furious" car chases. i was terrified that they were going to get killed. david mccune: very wild story. so many twists and turns. nerve wracking. shocking. it is unbelievable. [music playing] hello, and welcome to "dateline." when convicted killer john manard escaped from prison, authorities feared he would go to any lengths to evade capture. then, a horrifying discovery. prison volunteer toby young was missing, a wife and mother now at the mercy of this desperate man. but was toby in danger or w

cnn's lauren fox is live in dc. lauren, this is, um, you know, according to a final draft of the panel's report that cnn has obtained. what more can you tell us about what is in this report? >> yeah, like you said, sarah, these this effort by the house ethics committee spanned years. and i want to read just a part of the committee's finding. they say, quote, the committee determined there is substantial evidence that representative matt gaetz violated house rules and other standards of conduct. prohibiting prostitution, statutory rape, illicit drug use, impermissible gifts, special favors or privileges, and obstruction of congress. now, this report, like you noted, alleges that former representative matt gaetz paid tens of thousands of dollars to women for either sex or drugs over the course of years and on at least 20 different occasions. this report, which is obtained by cnn, also says that gaetz paid a 17 year old for sex in 2017. now, gaetz has not responded to cnn's outreach for comment. since we have published

that's also where we find cnn congressional correspondent lauren fox. she has been a busy, busy woman today. lauren, help us get up to speed with where things are right now. >> on this. >> so right now, brianna, we are outside of the house republican conference meeting. and inside the room behind us. what we have been hearing is that no decisions have been finalized. the speaker and his leadership team have been walking members through sort of a menu of options. but right now, it doesn't appear to be. there's any clear consensus on how to get house republicans from this moment to making sure the government is funded in just a matter of less than 12 hours now. so right now, it's unclear what the republican plan is. they had been potentially eyeing this idea of breaking down legislation into three different parts, having three separate votes on farm aid, on disaster aid, as well as just a short term spending bill to get them to march 14th. but it appears that they are still not fully announcing that that is their way forward. and obviously that leaves a lo

cnn's lauren fox is on capitol hill. lauren, another late night vote. how close is the senate to approving this deal even post deadline? >> yeah, they are very close. look, lawmakers are remaining on the floor. you have senators who are largely sitting in their desks waiting for their names to be called so that these these votes can move as expeditiously as possible. let me just set the stage for you. they are basically on vote five to get to vote seven, which is the one we are watching really closely. that spending bill we expect to pass in the next several minutes, perhaps in the next, within the next hour. but you know, there are a lot of variables still, it depends on how long senators want to debate that bill. obviously, we're watching very closely there. but this all really could have been avoided. this was something that lawmakers knew was coming for the last several months. in fact, the negotiations over that package that they unveiled on tuesday night that had taken months to get republicans and democrats on the same page, obviously, that deal

let's start with manu raju and lauren fox. manu, republicans say they have a deal. but the question is, do they have the votes? >> it's an open question. and actually, jake, it seems a bit uncertain that they will actually get this over the finish line as not only are democrats sounding very skeptical, if not downright opposed to this plan, but they're also republicans who don't like this as well, including the idea of suspending the national debt limit for two years. that is what's under this plan. it came as a result of donald trump. remember, republicans for many years, including in this congress, fought tooth and nail for any extension of the debt limit. they wanted cuts to come alongside it. ultimately, they actually did cut a plan that took months to negotiate last year to raise the national debt limit, actually make it until january of next year, january of 2025, when the debt limit would be breached. that's what caused donald trump to raise alarm bells just yesterday, demanding that any 11th hour, any deal to avoid a government shutdown needs to include some

let's go to cnn's lauren fox, who is on capitol hill. lauren, the ball is now in the senate's court. what are you hearing? >> yeah. right now, senators are beginning a series of votes, with the last one expected to be that spending bill that will also include disaster aid, aid for farmers. and obviously, this has been a long day on capitol hill. when we started this morning, it wasn't clear that house republicans were going to be able to unite behind a plan. it wasn't clear mike johnson was going to be able to put anything on the floor that could have the votes to pass. but a couple of hours ago, the house was able to do their job. now the senate is beginning to work this process on the floor, but it does take a long time for senators to have a series of votes. we expect seven votes on the floor tonight. typically, this first vote is an opportunity for lawmakers to get back to the capitol. some of them maybe had left the premises for a little while, while a time agreement was getting figured out. now they're getting back to the senate flo

but let's go back to capitol hill and let's talk to cnn's manu raju and lauren fox. manu, do republicans have the votes to avoid a government shutdown republican leadership is confident, jake, that they will have the votes to avert a government shutdown after a frantic several days of negotiating behind closed doors prompted by donald trump's intervention in the 11th hour, making demands and scuttling a separate bipartisan deal to try to avoid a government shutdown, trump demanding late that there should be additions to this proposal, namely, the very complicated issue of raising the national debt limit, something that doesn't have to be dealt with until next year, but one that he wants done now so he doesn't have to worry about it when he's president. >> however, because he does not have the votes in the house that failed yesterday, his efforts to try to do just that raise the national debt limit. now, republican leaders have agreed to push that aside into next year. now they're trying to move on a separate course, extend government funding past midnight tonight unt

let's bring in cnn's lauren fox. lauren patel was on the hill today. what did he have to say? yeah. >> patel has been crisscrossing the hill all week for these very important confirmation meetings. but before today, it was really an interview for a job that didn't yet exist. but he had this to say about how he would be ready on day one. >> we look forward to a very smooth transition, and i'll be ready to go on day one. the senators have been wonderful and i look forward to earning their trust and confidence with the advice and consent process and restoring law and order and integrity of the fbi and in interviews with several republicans on capitol hill, including senator john cornyn, who is a senior member of the senate judiciary committee, there's really this sense of sort of relief that wray is deciding to step down on his own. >> here is what cornyn said. >> i think president trump had lost confidence in him, and i think we know how that would end. >> and so hopefully that will facilitate a smooth transition to the next fbi director. >> and patel has been meeting with senat

let's get the latest from our congressional correspondent, lauren fox. lauren, it's still early days for this nomination, but what are you hearing about whether the trump transition will stick with seth in the end? >> well, if you look at where they started the week, kayla, and where they ended the week, if your team on capitol hill, you're probably feeling pretty good about how things wrapped up this friday. you know, over the course of the week, there were a lot of questions about how he was going to handle some of these very difficult meetings with people like senator joni ernst, as well as the incoming republican leader, john thune. but what you saw from some of these high stakes meetings is that some lawmakers came out and made clear that they were not going to just say they were opposed to hegseth. some even said that they could get to. yes, eventually. you know that's what i heard from senator mike rounds of south dakota, who met with him as well as senator kevin cramer of north dakota, who said he had a really frank discussion at various points re

for more on the story, i want to bring in cnn's lauren fox. lauren, how is the former speaker doing? >> yeah, what we know right now is that she was in luxembourg to mark the 80th anniversary of the battle of the bulge, and while she was there with this bipartisan delegation, she fell on the stairs. now, i do want to read a statement from her office. it says speaker emerita nancy pelosi sustained an injury during an official engagement and was admitted to the hospital for evaluation. pelosi is currently receiving excellent treatment from doctors and medical professionals. she continues to work and regrets that she is unable to attend the remainder of her engagements. she looks forward to returning home to the u.s. soon. now there's no detail as to when she might return to the united states, but i will say i've been on the phone with members and aides today, everyone wishing her a speedy recovery as they await her return to washington. >> of course, we wish her a speedy recovery as well. lauren fox, thank you very much. coming up, tens of thousa

cnn's lauren fox has more on how some of those meetings are playing out. >> well, it's been yet another critical week for pete hegseth, donald trump's pick to lead the department of defense. he met with senator susan collins, a critical swing vote from the state of maine. a republican and behind closed doors, we're told that the two of them had a wide ranging meeting in which pete hegseth came off as serious and thorough when they were talking about the department of defense. senator susan collins told reporters after that meeting that she touched on a series of issues. she said that she asked one tough question after another. here's what she said about their meeting. >> i pressed him on both his position on military issues, as well as the allegations against him i obviously always wait until we have an fbi background check, and one is underway. in the case of mr. hegseth and i wait >> a grueling, long and under oath testimony when he tries to vie for this job in a public confirmation hearing on capitol hill for cnn. >> i'm lauren fox. >> another one of donald trump's nominees is facing

for cnn, i'm lauren fox. >> i want to take a moment to bring you some live pictures. we're seeing there of magdeburg in germany. you're seeing german chancellor olaf scholz arriving. obviously, the attack that happened last night at that christmas market. an attacker driving through a high speed through a crowd of people just at the christmas market. just doing some christmas shopping and checking out the scene. and you're seeing the german chancellor arriving just there. he is going to be speaking later. and we will bring you the latest on that. he has already spoken about this and responded to the attack, saying at the time, my thoughts are with the victims and their loved ones. we stand by their side, by the side of all magdeburg residents. my thoughts to all of the emergency services in these difficult hours. as i told you earlier, this is just one month on from the interior minister saying that we need to be more vigilant at these christmas markets so people will be asking why wasn't more done before this attack? okay, back to our top story as lauren just reporte

lauren fox, thank you very much. let's discuss more now with democratic senator jacky rosen of nevada. she's a member of the armed services and homeland security committees. senator, good to see you this morning. thanks for being here. really appreciate it. pete hegseth is making the rounds mainly meeting with republican senators at this point. what is your sense of how that process is playing out? your colleague, senator joni ernst, is now signaling she won't oppose his nomination, although she hasn't, i guess, made a definitive statement altogether about it. but she's saying she's had encouraging conversations with him. what are you hearing from your republican colleagues? are they saying quietly what they're not saying out loud? what is your sense of it? >> well, thank you. first of all, thank you for having me on this morning. and they really aren't signaling too much to us. and i wouldn't want to presume what's in any of their mind, but what i surely do hope is that they expect the same thing that we've always e

cnn correspondent congressional correspondent lauren fox has more details. and lauren, just earlier this week, republican senator mitch mcconnell was injured after a fall. now, former house speaker pelosi, how is she doing? >> yeah, she was in luxembourg to mark the 80th anniversary of the battle of the bulge. >> and this was a bipartisan caudell an opportunity to mark that occasion. and we know very little about exactly what occurred. but what we do know is that she fell on the stairs. and according to her office's statement, they say this speaker emerita nancy pelosi sustained an injury during an official engagement and was admitted to the hospital for evaluation. pelosi is currently receiving excellent treatment from doctors and medical professionals. she continues to work and regrets that she's unable to attend the remainder of the engagements. she looks forward to returning home to the u.s. soon. now, they don't specify exactly when she will return to the u.s.. i will note that i've been talking to democratic colleagues throughout the day, everyone wishi

let's go now to cnn's lauren fox on capitol hill. uren, i don't usually go to senator richard blumenthal for whip counts of where the senate republican conference is. but the point he's making is one that i think you are definitely hearing behind the scenes. i've heard behind the scenes as well. there are issues here. how deep are the issues that pete hegseth is dealing with, with republicans well, phil, i will give an example of someone whose job it is to count republican votes and that is current republican whip john thune, who will become the next republican leader in january. >> i asked him repeatedly if he was ready to back hegseth after >> that that is a very telling sign right now of where things stand. everyone is in wait and see mode on capitol hill now, pete headsets went into senator joni ernst office this has been one of the most watched meetings coming up on capitol hill. >> that is because of some of the past comments that pete hegseth has made about women in combat. some of the vision that he has for the pentagon, those

let's get straight to cnn's lauren fox live on capitol hill. lauren, we watched the initial deal implode. we watched plan b implode last night. what's the status of plan c? as we're hearing that speaker mike johnson is meeting with minority leader hakeem jeffries? >> yeah, boris, i've kind of lost track of which letter of the alphabet plan we are on at this point, it seems like house republicans had gone back and forth several times this morning and into the afternoon about how they wanted to approach this. but where things stand right now is they are eyeing putting a bill on the floor that would include a spending bill until march 14th. farm aid, disaster aid, and that they would vote on it under the suspension of the rules. and what essentially that means is it requires two thirds majority of the house. that means two things. they have to make sure that democrats are supportive of it in order to get their votes on this package. and it's going to be a huge question whether or not they can maintain a majority of their conference on a vote like t

cnn's lauren fox is on capitol hill. lauren. trump promised on the campaign trail to prosecute his political opponents, and it appears he has republicans ready to help him do just that. >> yeah, and it wasn't that long ago that he said on meet the press that he believed that some of these members of the january 6th committee could be jailed. jake, and i think that what you're seeing here in this report is really a roadmap to go after some of those political enemies, like liz cheney. now, i would note that cheney is responding as well as bennie thompson, who was the democratic committee chairman of the select committee on january 6th. he said, quote, his so-called report, referring to barry loudermilk's report is filled with baseless allegations rather than facts. that's because there's no escaping the reality that donald trump bears the responsibility for the deadly january 6th attack, no matter how much mr. loudermilk would love to rewrite history for his political purposes. now, this could have a chilling effect on lawmakers w

cnn's lauren fox is live for us on capitol hill. lauren, what are you hearing from lawmakers as hegseth is getting set to meet with senator murkowski? >> yeah, it's very clear that the fortunes for senator for hegseth have started to shift as he's continued to meet with senators. you know, i talked with senator john cornyn, a republican from texas, who met with hegseth earlier today, and he told me that he was ready to vote for hegseth. here's what he said. >> i will support pete hegseth, as i always say, barring any unforeseen circumstances. but i've known him a long time. i was satisfied with his answers, and i think this is going to be a hard process on him and his family, and some of it will be enormously. unfair. >> to our colleague. manu raju also caught up with senator lindsey graham, who remarked that the situation that hegseth finds himself in this week looks remarkably different than where he was last week. some of that has to do with the fact that senator joni ernst, who he had met with last week and then again on monday,

i want to bring in cnn's lauren fox. what more do we know here, lauren, about this injury?yeah, we are just getting this statement in to us, and i want to read part of it because it is a little bit vague. >> it says while traveling with a bipartisan congressional delegation in luxembourg to mark the 80th anniversary of the battle of the bulge, speaker nancy pelosi sustained an injury during an official engagement and was admitted to the hospital for evaluation. pelosi is currently receiving excellent treatment from doctors and medical professionals. she continues to work and regrets that she is unable to attend the remainder of the engagements. to honor the courage of our service members during one of the greatest acts of american heroism in our nation's history. it goes on to say pelosi conveys her thanks and praise to the veterans with gratitude, and to the people of luxembourg for their service in world war two and their roles in bringing peace to europe. she was personally and officially honored to travel with the distinguished delegation. she says that she looks forwar

let's turn now to cnn's lauren fox, who is live for us on capitol hill. lauren, the reaction to both hunter biden's pardon and trump's selection of kash patel as fbi director has been swift. what are you hearing from lawmakers? >> yeah, brianna, first on kash patel, what you are hearing from a lot of republicans is one step at a time we heard from chuck grassley last night on x saying essentially that kash patel will go through the normal process in the senate. that means a confirmation hearing. that means lawmakers are going to have an opportunity to meet with him, to vet him. but of course, like evan mentioned, this is a very unusual situation given the fact that right now there is an fbi director, christopher wray, who is slated to hold that job for several more years. and this would basically require trump to fire him first, then turn around and nominate someone new. that means that the bar for that new person, a lot of senators are going to have questions. and so you're hearing from democrats a lot of concern. and even from some republicans just warni

cnn congressional correspondent lauren fox is live for us on capitol hill. lauren, how is the former congresswoman liz cheney responding? right after they finish up all the business that they got? >> i think we're having some audio issues, but i can tell you and walk you through a little bit of what we are hearing from liz cheney, who is the top republican on this committee. what she said in a statement earlier was january 6th, showed donald trump for who he really is, a cruel and vindictive man who allowed violent attacks to continue against our capital and law enforcement officers while he watched television and refused for hours to instruct his supporters to stand down and leave. you're also getting a response from the top democrat on the january 6th select committee, bennie thompson, who said there's no escaping the reality that donald trump here's the responsibility that donald trump bears the responsibility for the deadly january 6th attack, no matter how much mr. loudermilk would love to rewrite history. now this all comes just days after donald trump

let's go out to capitol hill now with cnn's lauren fox, because evan alluded to this a moment ago. lauren, lawmakers had kind of been telegraphing to wray that he should consider resigning yeah, exactly. >> and just a few minutes ago, i actually talked to senator john cornyn. he's a senior member of the senate judiciary committee. and i asked him, you know, what is your initial reaction to this news? and he said, this is probably for the best. now, he called wray an honorable guy. he said the politicization of the justice department was something that, in his view, had happened before wray had actually taken over. but he said, clearly, trump did not have confidence in the current fbi director. and he said this was probably the most straightforward and best thing for the department. i think you heard that echoed in what evan said that wray delivered to his employees earlier today. but one thing to keep in mind here is that this was all coming amid the backdrop of republican senators like senator cornyn meeting this week with kash patel. and cornyn told me just a couple of days ago th

latest on where things stand in terms of confirmation and making the rounds on capitol hill with lauren fox on capitol hill. what are you hearing from lawmakers? >> lauren yeah, this is another big day for pete hegseth who is going around capitol hill meeting with some of these senators. we saw yesterday. he met with a large number of them, including his wife, behind closed doors. and this is really an opportunity for hegseth to correct the record, to talk to senators about his past, to talk about his vision for the department of defense. but it also comes as there are republicans with a lot of questions. in fact, i talked yesterday with senator shelley moore capito. she's expected to meet with hegseth today. and we were asking her a series of questions about that new yorker report. and specifically, you know, how he manages veterans organizations how he dealt with women and she basically said, this is something that's going to come up in her meeting with him today, and she would have more to say after it, but it just shows you, you know there are a narrow number of republicans who could st

and we know that you, lauren fox will be all over it. thank you very much, lauren brianna. >> we have republican congresswoman stephanie bice of oklahoma with us now. she is a member of the house doge caucus which i wonder if you thought that you would be a member of a caucus by that name, but nonetheless, thanks for joining us. congresswoman musk has said that he thinks doge could cut about $2 trillion, or roughly a third of annual federal spending how do you do that look i think there's a lot of ways that we can do that. >> there's two pieces to the spending pie the mandatory and discretionary. >> and i think looking at the entire federal budget and figuring out where are those pieces and where can we find efficiencies, is important. i'm actually really excited for vivek and elon to be here on capitol hill this afternoon to talk to members of the house and senate about their ideas. give us some some information on what you want to see but republicans are excited. we know that there is excess spending in government. we want to rein in th

let's get right to cnn's lauren fox on capitol hill. so where do things stand this morning lauren? >> well pete hegseth just arrived on capitol hill, and we know that he is set to meet today with senator lisa murkowski, a republican from alaska. tomorrow, he is going to vote with he's going to join senator susan collins, a republican from maine. but this all comes as there has been renewed focus on from hegseth team on trying to court and win over some of these republican women senators. yesterday he met once again with senator joni ernst, a republican from iowa who he met with last week. and the two of them had described their meeting as a frank and thorough discussion. here's what they said after the meeting yesterday he is very supportive of women in the military. it is one thing that we discussed. >> some of our greatest warriors, our best warriors out there are women who serve raise their right hand to defend this country and love our nation want to defend that flag and they do it every single day around the globe and just some context. >> senator joni ernst is a veteran. she

let's take you to capitol hill now with cnn's lauren fox. as these key meetings get underway. lauren, are you hearing any indication from lawmakers about pete hegseth chances of confirmation? >> well, i would put republican lawmakers really in two different categories boris. there are those who want a rubber stamp. donald trump's selections for his cabinet who believe that donald trump should get whoever he wants to serve in his administration. and then there are the members who really do take this advise and consent declaration. and the rules of the senate really seriously and have serious questions about this nomination. now, today on capitol hill hegseth came back and is meeting with a series of members who are serving on the senate armed service committee. we expect that those meetings are going to continue to take place into the afternoon, and perhaps even early evening. today but this comes after he did meet with a number of members yesterday who said that they didn't even push him on some of these allegations, that the new yorker and you guys just referenced. and so i t

lauren fox thanks so much. so how did she do it? that's a big question.nuck onto an international flight will be in court today. i'm going to speak with a former tsa administrator about how it's possible she was able to get past airport security cnn heroes on all star tribute. >> meet and celebrate the honorees. then find out who will be hero of the year. plus, a special tribute to michael j. fox cnn heroes, an all star tribute sunday at eight on cnn giving and giving that's possible through the power of del i with intel. >> so those who receive can find the joy of giving back if you have generalized myasthenia gravis picture what life could look like with vegard trullo a subcutaneous injection that takes about 30 to 90s for one thing, could it mean more time for you, vegard hi. >> trullo can improve daily abilities and reduce muscle weakness with a treatment plan that's personalized to you. do not use vigata trullo. if you have a serious allergy to any of its ingredients, it can cause serious allergic reactions like trouble breathing and decrease in bloo

lauren fox, thank you so much. we appreciate the update. ahead this hour on cnn news central, a stunning admission the woman who accused three duke lacrosse players of rape 18 years ago now says she lied. hear from her why she is speaking out now and her message to the men that she falsely accused welcome to times square that's night of my life. >> cheers. that was so embarrassing. >> new year's eve live with anderson and andy. live coverage starts at eight on cnn. streaming live on max. many remedies you take for chest congestion only mask the symptoms. you're gonna love this property. try this. mucinex 12 hour treats. the mucus that causes chest congestion for all day relief. mucinex in mucus out treat the cause. >> transform your website into an immersive 3-d experience with infinite reality, you can tap the power of the spatial and social web, unlock valuable data, and take your brand to the next level. it's time for better shopping bolder entertainment, and bigger sports. it's time to up your web game infinite reality. >> can now suppo

cnn's lauren fox is standing by for us live on capitol hill. what are we expecting from these hearings today? lauren yeah, we expect more meetings today on capitol hill as pete hegseth goes from one republican lawmaker to another, having these conversations, not just about what his future would look like at the pentagon, but also some of these questions that you can expect some republican lawmakers are going to want answers to in the course of the next several days. >> you know, i talked to shelley moore capito, who is one of the republican senators who will meet with hegseth later today. last night. and we were pushing her on what she thought of these recent allegations, some of which you just detailed in the intro. and you know, she argued that these are things that she does want answers on. these are things that may come up in her conversation with hegseth. she said that she would need to talk with him first before knowing exactly what she thought of some of this new reporting out there, but that really does contrast with other republicans h

cnn's lauren fox has the latest story from capitol hill. >> yet another critical day ahead for pete hegseth, donald trump's pick to lead the pentagon as he is set to meet today with republican senator susan collins. throughout this week, hegseth has emphasized his meetings with republican women in the united states senate. he met on monday with senator joni ernst, a republican from iowa and someone who will be key because of her position on the armed services committee. on tuesday, he met with senator lisa murkowski, a republican from alaska, who had this to say about their meeting. >> i had a good exchange with mr. hegseth. >> are you ready to support him? >> i had a good exchange, and we'll see what the process bears. >> what more do you need to learn? well, he's got probably at least half the senate that he's going to visit with. >> he's got a process that is going to involve full vetting through the administration. and then ultimately a committee. >> now hegseth finds himself in a far better place today than he was in even ten days ago. senator lindsey graham, making that point earlier

cnn's lauren fox is with us with the very latest. she is on capitol hill. there, lauren. so what are we expect today well john, it was a huge day yesterday for pete hegseth as he met some of the maybe hardest members to convince on the senate armed services committee. >> one of those key meetings happened yesterday with senator joni ernst, a republican from iowa, who divulged very little about the contents of her meeting with hegseth, telling reporters over and over again that it was a thorough discussion. but i also spoke late last night with senator from north dakota, kevin cramer, who made clear that at this point, after his meeting with hegseth, which spanned more than an hour, john he does feel like he could be on a path to voting affirmatively for his nomination. here's what he said. they talked about in that meeting the drinking thing is a pretty significant issue. >> whether you have a problem or don't have a problem or you think you have a problem or you think you don't have a problem, and he said, my commitment is to not touch alcohol while i have

. >> cnn's lauren fox, with more. >> at the last minute, members of the united states senate are able to avert a government shutdown. >> on this vote, the yeas are 85, the nays are 11. the 60 vote threshold having been achieved, the bill is passed. >> this happened just a few minutes after midnight. but lawmakers coming together after what has been a whirlwind 36 hours in which elon musk and donald trump injected an 11th hour request to include the debt ceiling as part of these negotiations. ultimately, after a day and a half of mike johnson, the speaker of the house, trying to find a way to satisfy trump's request, republicans decided to move forward without an increase in the debt ceiling and instead used just a pared back spending bill that includes a hundred billion dollars in disaster aid. $10 million in assistance for farmers, and a spending bill that will go until just march 14th, meaning that lawmakers are going to have to do this all over again in donald trump's first 100 days on capitol hill. for cnn, i'm lauren fox. >> israeli authorities say a projectile launched from yeme

here's cnn's lauren fox with more at the last minute, members of the united states senate are able tort a government shutdown. >> on this vote, the yeas are 85. the nays are 11. the 60 vote threshold having been achieved, the bill is passed. >> this happened just a few minutes after midnight, but lawmakers coming together after what has been a whirlwind 36 hours in which elon musk and donald trump injected an 11th hour request to include the debt ceiling as part of these negotiations. ultimately, after a day and a half of mike johnson, the speaker of the house, trying to find a way to satisfy trump's request. republicans decided to move forward without an increase in the debt ceiling and instead used just a pared back spending bill that includes $100 billion in disaster aid, $10 million in assistance for farmers and a spending bill that will go until just march 14th, meaning that lawmakers are going to have to do this all over again in donald trump's first 100 days on capitol hill for cnn. i'm lauren fox trump's confidant and informal adviser elon musk helped torpedo a bipartisan deal

cnn's lauren fox is there.g this morning yeah, john, a lot of this is hinging on the days and weeks ahead. >> and you know, i think that senator kevin cramer put it best this week. >> he said, i told pete hegseth the one thing that senators do not like is surprises. and moving forward, what republican lawmakers are looking at is does anything else come out? are there other allegations that surface? some of these members had positive meetings with pete hegseth this week, including senator mike rounds, who said that he could potentially at some point get to yes on hegseth. yes, he thought hegseth had more work to do, but the confirmation fight is going to be one that takes some time and it's going to center around how pete hegseth does in a confirmation hearing. that will happen in a public setting. a lot of these meetings, you know, senators are asking sensitive questions behind closed doors that all changes when you move to more of a public setting. once again all eyes are on senator joni ernst a republican fro

it was virtually unanimous here is cnn's lauren fox with more. >> at the last minute, members of the united states senate were able to avert a government shutdown. >> on this vote, the yeas are 85. the nays are 11. the 60 vote threshold having been achieved, the bill is passed. >> this happened just a few minutes after midnight. but lawmakers coming together after what has been a whirlwind 36 hours in which elon musk and donald trump injected an 11th hour request to include the debt ceiling as part of these negotiations. ultimately, after a day and a half of mike johnson, the speaker of the house, trying to find a way to satisfy trump's request, republicans decided to move forward without an increase in the debt ceiling and instead used just a pared back spending bill that includes $100 billion in disaster aid, $10 million in assistance for farmers and a spending bill that will go until just march 14th, meaning that lawmakers are going to have to do this all over again in donald trump's first 100 days on capitol hill. for cnn, i'm lauren fox. >> so as lauren just reported, trump's co

i'm lauren fox. >> lauren, thank you so much for that coming up. still for us, really unbelievable reporting from our team on the ground in syria. cnn goes inside a secret syrian prison looking for signs of missing american austin tice. what happens next? you just have to see. and also new video showing the scary moments before a prop plane crashes into cars on a busy texas highway just close the doors and you're in a world of your own. >> travel is not just about a destination, it's also about how you get there. >> fly emirates. fly better. >> when life spells heartburn, how do you spell relief? rolaids. rolaids dual active formula begins to neutralize acid on contact. rolaids spells relief for copd is an ugly reality. >> i watch as his world just keeps getting smaller. but then trelegy helped us see things a little differently. with three medicines and one inhaler, trilogy keeps airways open for a full 24 hours and prevents future flare ups. once daily, trelegy also improves lung function so he can breathe more freely all day and night. >> treleg

let's get right to lauren fox, who is in washington for the latest on today's plans and specifically what hegseth has been doing. >> yeah, i mean hegseth has really been blitzing capitol hill, trying to meet with as many lawmakers as possible as he tries to defend himself against some of these questions about his past actions. >> he has a really important meeting today on capitol hill with representative shelley moore capito. she is a republican woman from west virginia and we asked her last night about what she wanted to hear from hegseth and, you know, she said a lot of these issues, she expects are going to come up, that they're going to have the conversation about them. you know, when lawmakers get out of these meetings, it really depends on sort of how close they are with donald trump whether or not they talk about these meetings. but we heard yesterday from tommy tuberville. he came out and said he had a really strong meeting with pete hegseth. meanwhile, others are also expected to continue meeting with senators as part of their confirmation process, including tulsi gabbard as

level setting and preparing, hegseth for what's to come john, it's an interesting way to put it lauren fox with new reporting on capitol hill. >> lauren, great to see you. thank you very much. so what happens when those deliveries that are supposed to be speedy are not so speedy? lawsuits. hi, lauren. by lauren against amazon can't fool myself. >> it was the most exciting time in the world. his life extremely joyful moments and some really difficult moments. >> you only come across an artist like luther vandross once in a lifetime. >> luther. never too much new year's day on. >> i still love to surf snowboard, and of course skate. so i take magnesium to support my muscle and bone health kunal's high absorption magnesium glycinate helps me get the full benefits of magnesium. kunal, the brand i trust. >> do you know what time it is? >> it's the medicare annual enrollment period for many of you with medicare, this may be the only time of year you are eligible to enroll in a new medicare advantage plan. so what are you waiting for now is the time to check your zip code for medicare advantage p

cnn congressional correspondent lauren fox is live up on capitol hill for us. lauren, it is starting to get serious now. less than 14 hours to go. what do you think? what's going to happen yeah, jim, i'm standing outside of the democratic caucus meeting that is set to begin in just a couple of minutes. >> we are still waiting on leader jeffries to arrive this morning. but this is why this meeting is so critical right now. house republicans are debating amongst themselves whether or not to drop donald trump's demand to include an increase in the debt ceiling as part of the spending negotiations. it's not clear whether republicans would ultimately go that route. but if they do, democrats are going to have to make a decision about whether or not they would be willing to accept something that is perhaps different than the agreement that they locked in on tuesday night, but still is a clean spending bill that includes perhaps some disaster aid. we don't know exactly what republicans would settle on, but obviously whether or not democrats are going to back this is a h

lauren fox steve contorno. thank you so much. coming up right now, the supreme court is hearing arguments in a case involving gender affirming care for minors. we're going to bring you the very latest up next and harbor freight, we design and test our own tools and sell them directly to you. >> no middlemen, just quality tools you can trust at prices you'll love. whatever you do do it for less. >> at harbor freight bent finger appointment in 30 minutes. >> you got this one. >> remember i don't want surgery for my dupuytren's contracture. >> two, i don't want to wait for my contracture to get worse three i want a treatment with minimal downtime. four i want a non-surgical treatment. and five. >> and if non-surgical treatment isn't offered i'll get a second opinion. >> let's go take charge of your treatment. >> if you can't lay your hand flat, visit. find a hand specialist.com to get started rise up. >> this morning smile with the rising sun three little birds with by my doorstep singing sweet songs of melodies pure and true saying

i want to get straight to lauren fox, who is learning more details. lauren, what more can you tell us about how this happened to the former speaker? >> yeah, what we know right now is that the 84 year old former speaker of the house was on this bipartisan codel to mark the anniversary of the battle of the bulge. it is now the 80th anniversary of that very key battle in world war two. and, you know, as part of that delegation, obviously, pelosi has become a really key person when she's traveling abroad, when she's part of these codels, she's often led these bipartisan codels. but what we understand is that she did suffer a fall on the stairs. now, her office is not releasing many additional details, but they are saying this quote. speaker nancy pelosi sustained an injury during an official engagement and was admitted to the hospital for evaluation. the speaker is currently receiving excellent treatment from doctors and medical professionals. she continues to work and regrets that she's unable to attend the remainder of the codels engagement. she looks f

cnn's lauren fox is live in d.c. for us. lauren, what are you learning this morning? >> yeah, this has been a long time coming, sarah. if you remember, back in november when matt gaetz was nominated to be donald trump's pick for attorney general. the house ethics committee actually voted and declined to release this report, despite the fact that there were many lawmakers who were pushing for its release. given the fact that he was up for that job, then what cnn learned is that earlier this month, the committee met again and secretly voted to release this report. we do expect to see this report sometime today. now, what's interesting here is that a lot of republicans have argued that this will break with precedent of releasing a report of a member who is no longer in congress, but what we are learning, obviously, is that there is some past precedent for these reports being released after a member has left congress. there are two examples that we have looked into, both the example of representative bill bonner and the example of john ensign, both of whom had resigned wh

cnn's lauren fox has much more for us on this. and, lauren, what are you hearing about this report? >> yeah, i mean, i think we have to really put this in context. this report was released after donald trump was on meet the press and made comments about how he believed that members of the january 6th committee should be prosecuted for their actions. i just want to play that sound from a couple of days ago. here's what he said i think those people committed a major crime, and cheney was behind it for what they did. >> yeah, honestly, they should go to jail now we have this report that was released yesterday, and it really does follow in some ways what donald trump was arguing should happen. >> you also have some early reactions. now you have liz cheney saying in a statement, quote, january 6th showed donald trump for who he really is, a cruel and vindictive man who allowed violent attacks to continue against our capital. law enforcement officers while he watched television and refused for hours to instruct his supporters to stand down and leave. you also have bennie thompson, who was

cnn's lauren fox is outside cornyn's office. how did the meeting go? en yeah. >> senator john cornyn who is a republican who sits on the senate judiciary committee, that of which will oversee this nomination on capitol hill. >> he came out and said that they had a really good meeting. he also said that he sees himself voting for kash patel, assuming nothing else or no new information emerges that would cause him to reconsider that. he said that part of his meeting especially the top of the meeting, was really focused on the fact that cornyn was emphasizing to patel that he thought the justice department needs to return to a nonpartisan agency. he said that he did ask him some serious questions on that front, and that he was satisfied with patel's answers. i also pushed him on this i had a good meeting with kash patel, the president's nominee for fbi director. >> we still don't know what director wray's plans are, but eventually i assume that mr. patel will be confirmed as the next fbi director. >> are you comfortable that he's going to be able to stand

cnn's lauren fox is tracking all of the fallout on the hill. lauren, any strategy that is emerging from any corner of that building to try to stop the shutdown. >> dana, this is an incredibly fluid situation right now. republicans are huddling, trying to have some discussions around what precisely could get enough votes in their conference to get over the finish line. but it's worth reminding everyone that typically you are going to need democratic votes to put through any kind of spending bill, and especially one that might increase the debt limit. so right now, one of the key questions is what are democrats going to do? they huddled earlier this morning and they've been pretty resolute in their view that they already negotiated an agreement. they released that agreement just two nights ago. and now they are in a position where they want to stick with the agreement that they struck. i mean, these things don't happen in a matter of hours, dana. these kinds of negotiations take weeks and sometimes even months. this hard fought negotiation was rel

cnn's jeff zeleny, cnn's lauren fox, who, of course, was on capitol hill all morning and zolan kanno-youngs of the new york times. lauren, i'll start with you. um, this three part, uh, strategy to do it in bills that are separate in order to give democrats and republicans the ability to vote on different things. uh, can you explain why that matters, particularly when it comes to the bottom line at this point, which is keeping the government running? >> there are probably some conservatives who hail from areas that were affected by the hurricane, who want to make sure that they have an opportunity to vote for legislation to help their states and their districts. i think that is part of the strategy here. i also think part of it is just getting as many votes as you can on the items that people agree on. and breaking this down, there was also some entertainment of whether or not they would add the debt ceiling as a separate vote as part of this. clearly, that's not the strategy that they're contending with. but that was another way to sort of try to satisfy donald trump. so right now, i think

lauren simonetti fox business. two news at five starts now. >> i think the jury got it right.on and he never does. that. so but this is not a fair >> now, fe, seven days of deliberations the jury in thek; nima momeni trial the killing of cash app founder bob lee. six men and six women finding guilty of second degree good evening i'm claudine wong. it's the murder case that has made headlinesld. andttorneys on both sides as well as family members. but first let's take you back to where this all began. i want to show you the scene back on april 4th in3. spot near the bay bridge that police found tech executive bob lee at 230 in the morning. he had beend been callip, and he later died at the hospital. now at first, authorities thought it could be a random attack, but then as the investigation took hold, it led police to this man. that's 40 year old nima momeni a tech entrepreneur who was introduced to lee through his sister. he was arrested at his emeville home a week

also senator maggie hassan telling our colleague lauren fox that she wishes that biden had kept his word. and i caught up with senator joe manchin, who is the retiring independent democratic independent senator who caucuses with senate democrats. and he said that joe biden should actually went further in his pardon as a father i don't know if a father that wouldn't have done the same thing what i would have done differently, and my recommendations to counsel would have been, why don't you go ahead and pardon donald trump for all his charges and make it, you know, it had been it had gone down a lot, a lot more balance, if you will. >> i'm just saying wipe them out. >> what do you think this does for his legacy? >> i don't know from that standpoint. it makes it difficult and other democratic senators agree with that assessment that it has left a bit of a blemish, at least on the joe biden legacy. >> but republicans, of course, jumping all over this, jake. but one question for republicans will be that that donald trump pardoned pardoned jared kushner's father to who has now been nominated t

cnn's kristen holmes, margaret talev of axios and cnn's lauren fox. just to state the obvious we are reporting on what we are hearing from the people who will decide pete hegseth fate. and those are united states senators particularly donald trump's fellow republicans, who will be in charge and the votes are not there yet. >> that's true. >> and i will say we actually reported yesterday that donald trump is standing by pete hegseth. so the idea that that's fake, i mean, he's calling out his own self. >> but one of the things that we talked about was the fact that donald trump has no hard nose when it comes to pete hegseth. that's very different than what he saw with attorney general matt gaetz when he was putting his name forward. there were a lot of hard nosed people that said they weren't going to shift. so part of the reason that donald trump is still supporting hegseth is because of the fact that they see a pathway there. but i am told that this could shift at any time. and there's a couple of things that could shift it. one, if there is a swell o