, and then, there were four. the rnc unveiling the least carted debate stage yet for the 2024 republican presidential race, especially because the front runner is continuing to stay on the sidelines. can any of these for catch up to donald trump? >> plus, apocalyptic, with a blatant disregard for basic humanity. that is how one top u.n. official is describing the punishing attacks on gaza as the israeli military expands operations in the south. we have a live update israel in just moments. and what we are learning about this house explosion. police trying to serve a warrant, the suspect, allegedly shooting flares, we are set to hear directly from police soon, following these major developing stories and many more, all coming in right here to cnn news central. the stage is set for the most intimate yet of republican debate lineups in the 2024 race for the white house. the rnc is announcing for republicans qualified for the fourth debate tomorrow. chris christie, ron desantis, nikki haley and vivek ramaswamy. all will take their podiums in tuscaloosa, alabama, trying to woo voters with just 41 days to go into the first true test of their appeal, the iraq of's. once again, the leading contender, former president trump, will not be there. and, as he stays away, there is chatter among some republicans that chris christie should get out of the race, as another republican, liz cheney ways an entrance all in pursuit of making sure that donald trump does not win the nomination. we begin the hour with cnn's elena chain, and kristen holmes with us as well. all right, first, i mentioned liz cheney, kristen. let's talk about what her thinking is. >> reporter: now, what she is saying, we know one thing about liz cheney, she does not like donald trump. she is probably the most anti trump republican. she had said she would do whatever it takes to make sure he does not go back to the white house. now, apparently, part of that is that she is weighing a third party run. here's what she told the washington post. several years ago, i will not have contemplated a third party run. we faced threats which could be exo central to the united states, we need a candidate who will be able to deal with and address, confront all of those challenges. that will all be part of my calculation as we go into the early months of 2024. now, it should be noted, there are anti trump republicans who do not want her to enter the race. they actually believe this will take votes from joe biden, and would propel donald trump to the white house, something else she said she would take into consideration. this has all been part of what she has been doing lately with her new book, and also amplifying what a trump 2025 agenda would look like, and what it means for democracy. >> so, this debate that we are awaiting, how much is at stake here, elina? >> reporter: lots is at stake, one thing is the timing of this, we are six weeks out from the iowa candidate, and these four candidates will do anything they can to continue building momentum as we get into the early primaries. i think one big thing i know a lot of republicans are looking at, or two candidates i should say, are ron desantis and nikki haley. both have really emerged as the candidates who could be an alternative to donald trump. but, we know that nikki haley has done very well at the debates in the past. i think they are looking to build some of that momentum. but of course, donald trump, the front runner will not be there. he is going to be doing a fund-raiser in florida instead. that has really frustrated a lot of his opponents. people like ron desantis who said yesterday in new hampshire, why aren't you showing up? when i talk to donald trump's team, to his inner circle, they tell me and kristen this as well, they want to make it look like donald trump is in a different league. and these debates are beneath him, they think it is working and it is effective, that is why he is measuring up. >> he is certainly keeping himself in a different league, a different planet almost, when it comes to these debates. so, i mentioned chris christie facing pressure from some republicans to get out of the race. he is clearly trying to withstand that pressure here. how much is he really under? >> well, look. i think chris christie is interesting. he is not polling very well. he barely made the threshold for that debate tomorrow night. but he is saying he is determined to remain in the race through the republican convention. he needs to stay through new hampshire, that's where his campaign has been spending most of their time. now he says, i think we are doing well enough to keep on until the convention. but a lot of people want one candidate to rally around as the alternative to donald trump. they think that chris christie is not doing well enough to be that candidate. so, they need him to step back and go after either ron desantis or nikki haley, someone who they think could be donald trump for the nomination. >> what is donald trump doing, kristen, since he will not be there on the stage? >> reporter: he's been doing this counterprogramming, we saw him do a rally in miami just down the street from where the debate was, we saw him with an interview with tucker carlson, now he's holding a fund-raiser. he will be behind closed doors. to expand on what alina's was citing about trump's team evading the debate, they think they made the right decision, not having him participate in this debate. they were a lot of people on the fence when he skipped that first debate. it was not clear if this would go in his favor. is he going to miss out on something? will something? will he not be able to reach certain voters because he's missing these debates? they no longer feel that way. they feel like they have been able to take control of the narrative, one of the things donald trump is very good at doing. and they have seen his poll numbers continue to rise. there is no indication that he is ever going to participate in any of these events. and, as you reported last week, the rnc is now considering changing rules on how they hold primary debates, already in reaction to donald trump not participating. again, they feel like they want this one. >> yes, he has not taken a hit, and none of the candidates have really hit him on the stage -- not too many anyways, right? they have not been piling on. elaina, kristen, thank you so much. boris? president biden's also focusing on 2024 today. he is now in the boston area on a fundraising blitz. cnn's kevin liptak has been tracking the president. kevin, what is president biden focusing on today with these different events? >> reporter: yes, this is the most intensive fundraising sprint president biden has taken part in, since taking office. he will hit three events here in boston today, including a concert fund-raiser tonight, that is headlined by the senior, james taylor. they are calling it, you've got a friend in joe. between now and monday, biden will hit seven fund-raisers altogether, he is headed out west next week to los angeles. he will have help from some hollywood heavyweights, stephen spielberg, sean derives, rob reiner, all hoping to bring in cash ahead of the fundraising deadline at the end of the month. of course, president biden, last quarter, raised $71 million along with democrats. that was outpacing the republicans in the field, but it is lagging behind other incumbent presidents at this point, in their presidency. but certainly, the campaign says that the fundraising is picking up. they said november was the biggest month for grassroots fundraising sense biden announced his reelection campaign in april, certainly, they do expect next year to be a very expensive campaign as they look to position president biden for reelection, boris. >> kevin, on that note, there's been a record number of money spent on this advertising, it's been an off year for president biden's reelection. the top spender is not actually his campaign? >> reporter: yes, it is the super pac, in fact. certainly, president biden's campaign is also spending heavily on television ads. it gives you an idea of where all of this morning that president biden is trying to raise its going towards. they spent 45 million on television advertising so far this year, far ahead of what president trump or obama spent in the off-year before their reelection. what the campaign is doing is trying to test messaging in these ads ahead of next year, trying to see what resonates, trying to see what sticks. we have seen them run ads, including during nfl games, about the economy, health care, even criticizing president trump's record on health care. certainly, president biden's challenge to try to reverse the approval ratings, trying to convince skeptical voters that he deserves reelection, certainly, campaign officials do say that will cost a lot of money. boris? >> some concerning numbers for the white house, specifically with younger voters recently published. we will get into that in a second. kevin liptak, live in boston, thank you so much. let's dip bieber with cnn political commentator kate bedingfield, she served as biden's white house communications director. kate, thank you for being with us. i just referred to the numbers among young folks with president biden. there is new harvard ayo peephole on the youth vote. it found nearly 20% are unsure, or do not plan on voting in 2024. voters aged 18 to 29 do prefer president biden, but it is not a majority. you see it on the screen, he is also slipping among black and latino voters, both by double digits. kate, seeing those numbers, what advice do you have for the campaign? >> reporter: well, the good news for the campaign, for the biden campaign, they are still a year out, they have time to work on this. obviously, seeing a softening in your faith, your coalition is concerning. based on my conversations with the biden campaign, they certainly take it seriously. i think some of the key things that they can do is to really speak to the things that president biden has done, but help for example, young people. you saw them do that this last week on health care, obamacare. they really seized on donald trump saying he would repeal obamacare. part of the reason that is such a potent argument, we certainly saw that in 2019 and 2020, in the democratic primary. part of the reason that is such a potent argument, you are telling people who are 26 years old and younger they will be taken off their parents insurance. so it's a really tangible argument about something that will make a difference in young peoples lives. so, it is smart for the biden campaign to jump on that, not only to say joe biden has done things to make your life better, but also to say, look with the alternative is if donald trump becomes president, this will be taken away from you. every opportunity they have, not just to tell people what biden has done, but also put in the framework of, these are the stakes, if donald trump takes office, that is a smart thing to do. they need to do that consistently to get these numbers back up. >> kate, notably, that's one issue that appears to be energizing some young progressives, they are unhappy with the way the white house has hundred the israel hamas conflict. you see it on social media, you see it at pro palestinian rallies. how much of the issue for the white house's messaging on this, how much is simply policy? >> reporter: well, one thing that i can tell you, having worked for joe biden for many years, it is not going to make a substantive polity -- policy decision, particularly in foreign policy, based on whole numbers. i say that not because he is disregarding the impact, voices or the perspective of the young voters, but because, foreign policy plays out overtime. it requires sometimes difficult conversations. it requires private conversations. some of the work that he has done led to the temporary cease-fire that got a lot of hostages released. i think biden has been very clear that the violence, the level of violence being committed against palestinians is unacceptable. i think he will probably continue, him and his administration will continue to ramp about language up. we have seen tony blinken talk about that over the course of his last trip, even to israel. he will continue to do that. at the end of the day, he is working towards a solution that brings the violence to an end, which is his ultimate goal. >> i want to get back to the conversation breonna was having at the top of the hour. that is liz cheney toying with the idea of running as a third party candidate. i'm wondering how does the biden campaign feel about that? do you think it helps him orders and former president donald trump? >> reporter: i think it is hard to see a world where it helps joe biden. i think for liz cheney, the clearer sense is if she were to run as a third party candidate, she would likely take more votes from joe biden than donald trump, in part because she has been such a vocal critic of donald trump. i think in our current system, it is nearly impossible for a third party candidate to win the presidency. but what a third party candidate can do is leach support from the leading two candidates. given her criticism of trump, she is certainly not palatable to the republican base. i think for a lot of independents who would have suspicion about her, given some of her more conservative policies they don't agree with, i think it is hard to see a world where she does anything but take votes from joe biden and ultimately help donald trump in that scenario. i certainly hope that she would spend time continuing to call out the potential threat, a second donald trump term would pose, continue to ring the alarm, rather than entering the race in a way that would almost certainly heard joe biden. >> yes, the former congresswoman has said that she is going to weigh the math. if she thinks it will help trump win, she will not wind out running for office. caitlin field, on going to leave the conversation there, could continue to appreciate the perspective. >> thank you for having me. >> of course. still to come on cnn news central, an apocalyptic situation with no safe place to go. that is how united nations officials describe the situation in gaza, as israel is expanding its ground operation in the south. we take you live to the region in just moments. plus, we are expecting to hear from police after a massive explosion rocks a neighborhood, just outside of washington d.c.. we will bring you what police tell us about the blast. and later, under pressure. federal officials now putting together a panel, taking a closer look at a mental health rules for pilots. we have the details just moments away. an apocalyptic situation, with no safe place to go. that is how the united nations is describing the chaotic and dire conditions facing civilians in gaza today. many are now digging through rubble, searching for anything they can find in a way of a food. the desperation only deepening as israeli forces are marching further into gaza. the idf now say its troops are in the heart of khan younis, a city in southern gaza were hundreds of thousands have fled in search of safety. israeli forces have been tightening their grip on the enclave since launching ground operations meadowbrook, which of course began with evacuation orders in northern gaza. the idf say their troops in that part of the strip now have the refugee camp surrounded. today's soldiers are ordering many in khan yunis in the south to clear out. let's take you now live to senator israel, with jeremy diamond. jeremy, what's the latest on israel's ground operations in gaza? >> reporter: well, boris, the israeli military appears to be on the brink of a very decisive battle in gaza's second largest city, that is the city of khan yunis, where tonight, israeli military chief of staff hertzy halevi size but's forces have encircled that city of khan yunis. we know the israeli military is still continuing to operate in the northern part of the gaza strip, but they are beginning to make a very decisive offensive in the southern part of the gaza strip. according to both local accounts as well as israeli military officials, there have been heavy strikes into key cities, in the central part of this trip as well as in khan yunis, where the israeli military appears to be making one of its primary offensives in the southern part of the gaza strip. there is some indication that senior hamas commanders might be in that city. tonight, hertzy halevi, the chief of staff is saying, the address for the israeli military that it is targeting is hamas, and it is the group's leader, as it moves forward into southern gaza. now, amid this offensive, the israeli military is also ordering fresh evacuations of huge swaths of southern gaza, where hundreds of thousands of people live, directing them to move towards cities even further south, the city of rafah, we're already hundreds of thousands of people have been displaced and are living in overcrowded shelters. tonight, the u.n. refugee agency is warning that city simply cannot accept the flow of hundreds of thousands of additional people. they don't have enough shelters for them. the water system is unlikely able to support the individuals. now, civilians in the gaza strip are facing increasingly difficult choices. not only facing the destruction from the airstrikes they are seeing in some of those key cities, but also the very difficult choice of whether or not to heed those evacuation orders, whether to head further south, where the conditions simply might not be right for them. amid all of this, hamas is continuing to fire rockets towards southern and central israel. we saw them today, as there weren't rockets intercepted above northern tel aviv, indicating hamas continuing to be able to strike at central israel, even amid this intense operation by the israeli military. boris? >> jeremy diamond, live from us from sderot. i want now to go to the white house, and cnn's mj lee is another, so the reporting on how the white house is reading other continued insistence that israel do a better job at targeting hamas, and preventing civilian deaths. walk us through the reporting. >> reporter: yes, boris. you know, if you have been paying close attention over the last few weeks, you will have noticed that both white house and other u.s. officials have been increasingly emphasizing this idea that israel has been heeding the u.s. warnings about making sure that its military operations are tailored so that they can definitely sort of minimize civilian casualties and the destruction in gaza. we saw vice president kamala harris on sunday, for example, saying i do believe they have listened when she was asked about this. we have seen other senior officials recently using the word receptive to describe how israeli officials have been listening to the advice from u.s. officials. but in private, this is not necessarily a consensus view. one senior official telling me, they, for one, would not be comfortable using the word receptive, and that right now, the reality is that the white house remains deeply concerned about this next phase of the war, where israel is targeting the southern part of the gaza strip, with its military operations. for now, boris, we see that the white house is declining to offer any kind of initial or even comprehensive assessment of how those military operations are going, giving the u.s. continued urgings of minimizing civilian deaths. we saw that repeatedly with jake sullivan when he was in the white house briefing room yesterday, basically, the administration saying it is too soon to make those kinds of judgments. but, boris, it is important to note, part of what is going on here is that the white house has believed all along, since october 7th, that it is best to quietly, behind the scenes, council their israeli counterparts and really avoid sort of publicly admonishing or criticizing the israeli counterparts or any of its military operations or decisions. so, that is sort of a delicate balancing act that we are continuing to see at the white house, with this administration continuing to grapple with it, boris. >> mj lee live from the white house, thank you so much for the reporting. breonna? breaking news, coming to us from capitol hill. this is on senator tommy tuberville's monthslong hold on military promotions. our cnn's amana raj is following the very latest. money, bring us up to speed here, what has happened? >> yes. senator tommy tuberville, after a full year, holding up military nominees over his demands, the pentagon changes abortion policy, just announced he is backing down. he will not hold up all of these military promotions and he has been doing it all year long, to get his demands met. now he will allow almost all of them to go through. roughly 450 military promotions that has been held up amid this one man blockade. but, tuberville just told a group of reporters, our colleague, lauren fox, that he will hold up all of them except for the handful of four star generals, the four star nominees, there are about ten or 11 of those 450, that he wants individual roll call votes on. but, the rest of them, under four stars, three stars and below, all of those he will allow to go forward. that means chuck schumer, senate majority leader can go to the floor and simply call for their vote, and they can be approved as quickly on a voice vote. something that typically has been done time and time again for many, many years. what made this situation so unusual, these nominees, which are promotions all across the military ranks, typically are very quickly confirmed. tuberville tried to block them to use them as leverage to get his demands met. he had concerns that the pentagon's post roe policy would re-commission -- for reproductive services, including abortion. he wanted that scrapped. he called that policy legal. the pentagon said no, it wouldn't, the stalemate has persisted for months. but, tuberville facing oppression from women in the senate republican conference over this, and calls to potentially change the sign of procedures, to allow these nominees to be confirmed without his support. there is talk among republicans joining democrats in that effort, all of which led to pressure on tuberville to ultimately backed down here. so it was significant development in this yearlong fight, tommy tuberville says he's backing down after more than ten months of holding out these key nominees across the pentagon. >> manu, it seems, manu, it seems that tuberville's reasons for this hold, they're as been some mission creep overtime. initially, it seemed it was the pentagon's abortion travel compensations policy. then, at times he said, they were just too many generals, the military's two top heavy. more recently, it seems as if he was justifying remaining his hold on the four stars, so you can look individually at ones that he things are maybe more liberal than others? >> that is right. the bottom line here is he was about to get rolled by his own conference. there is no way out for tommy tuberville, because of the fact that seven of them were indicating they are planning to vote with democrats to change the senate proceedings, essentially circumvent tommy tuberville's hold here. perhaps, he thought it was best to back down at this point given the growing pressure. but breonna, you are right. for so many months, he dismissed that this had real national security implications. so, the pentagon warned about something, republicans senators like dan sullivan worried about it. even senate republican leader mitch mcconnell had raised concerns about tuberville's tactics. he dismissed all of it, we get to other generals who say, there's no problem whatsoever on the battlefield. but, the political pressure has really led to this point for tommy tuberville, really there was no way out of this standoff. so, he decided to back off, allowing most of these 450 military promotions to go through, which will happen in the coming days here, rihanna. >> yes, many of them in very key roles, very pertinent to the conflict we are seeing playing out in the middle east and also in ukraine. manu, thank you for the very latest there, obviously this is a huge development coming off of the hill, we will continue to monitor it. let's talk more about this and other topics, pressing topics with mark esper, who of course served as defense secretary under former president trump. he is also the author of the sacred oath, memoirs of a secretary of defense during extraordinary times. this was pretty extraordinary, secretary, what we saw coming from tommy tuberville, in the last several months. what do you think of this development that he has given up on these holds, except for four stars? >> yes, look, great news, breonna. frankly, it is long overdue. i am surprised that he backed down, that is startling as well. although, i spoke to a few senators in recent days, there was a plan to operate a rule change, a temporary role change which will allow the senate to move most of these nominees through, except for the four stars, i think he saw the writing on the wall and probably did not want to see that happen, probably thought that would hurt him. >> he's obviously, as manu said, what's going to get rolled. but, he had this changing reason, as i mentioned, for why he is doing this. he still seems to be supporting hanging on to the holds for the four stars, by saying it should be looked at individually, to see if some of them are woke. what do you think about his reasoning for that, how it risks politicizing individual promotions of generals? >> well, you know, myself and my predecessors, seven or eight of us said last spring, we thought this was a wrong move, but military officers should not be held up and block, they were not implementing this policy, developing this policy, but they were being politicized as a result. look, if a member wants to hold up individual officers, that is fine. in fact, they can have a top, try to work that out behind the scenes. i think at this point at least, whatever it meaning for stars are left, they should be able to quickly expedite processing through. i argued that while tuberville is doing this, which i thought should not have happened, it was wrong, i thought chuck schumer should have been moving as many officers through as he could. hopefully, this will all happen fairly quickly. it will take some time to even move ten officers through. if tuberville decides to hold up each one of them. at least, there is light at the end of the tunnel. now >> yes, four stars are important, you know? obviously, they are the most decorated of these generals, these flag officers we are seeing here. we originally had he won, i want to talk to you about what we are seeing in israel, israel facing pressure from the u.s., to be more careful as they target hamas, to make sure that they are minimizing civilian casualties. i wanted to talk to you, we heard an israeli government spokesperson say this morning that israel is open to constructive feedback on minimizing civilian deaths. really, as long as it is consistent with israel's goal of destroying hamas. i think what we are hearing there is not a lot of receptivity on the part of israel there. in your view, does israel risk a lot here, if, for the legitimacy at which it is executing its war increasingly comes into question? >> well, look. they are a democracy. they signed up to the geneva conventions. they are bound to conduct themselves to the laws of land warfare. it is important, not just in terms of tactical success on the ground, but important with regard to how history records this moment in time, how they are received after the fact, what that means for the population, with gaza going forward. for all those reasons, i think it is important we take care, as much as it is important for the united states and other western military is to take care, conduct operations in accordance to the laws of atlanta warfare. i would hope we would see in the next phase, less use of airstrikes, particularly with 2000 pound bombs, and more use of infantry on the ground, which can be more precise, more discerning, and take better care to avoid collateral damage, and certainly, civilian casualties. >> are you seeing that as they zero in on khan yunis, and expand their war in gaza? >> it is hard to see that, breonna. like most people, i'm dependent on what the media reports on the ground, many of your reporters, others are able to get, and it is hard to see the day-to-day combat, what is happening. we do see airstrikes, it is hard to tell how big those core, and are they hitting in the really, really dense civilian areas? it is hard to tell, look, overtime the outcome will seat casualties, they do need to take care, it is important as we conduct this war, because otherwise, again, they will have to deal with an enraged population after the fact in gaza. because, this will end at some point. the outcome has to be some type of governance of gaza. you have to figure out how you do that, and not create a greater threat on your border once that happens. >> yes, certainly. that is obviously a warning that they are getting from so many folks in america who have learned this lesson in a very difficult way. secretary, great to have you, thank you for taking the time. >> thank you, rihanna. >> coming up, a huge explosion, leveling a home in arlington, virginia, just outside of washington d.c.. just as police were trying to execute a search warrant. all of it caught on video. we will have the d details on ne invevestigation.n. first time i connected with kim, she told me that her husband had passed. and that he took care of all of the internet connected devices in the home. i told her, “i'm here to take care of you.” connecting with kim... made me reconnect with my mom. it's very important to keep loved ones close. we know that creating memories with loved ones brings so much joy to your life. a family trip to the team usa training facility. i don't know how to thank you. i'm here to thank you. police and federal officials in arlington, virginia, are on the scene, examining the aftermath of a powerful house explosion. the blast happened last night, inside the home of a man police say had been firing multiple rounds of a flare gun. when officers responded to the scene to try to serve a search warrant, they say the hope steadily burst into pieces, with the president still inside. neighbors captured the explosion on a video. we should warn you, though. some of the images you are about to see might be disturbing. cnn's gabe cohen has the details. >> reporter: well, police have the area in lockdown today, as officers sift through what is left of that house behind me, just across this field. the rubble, still smoldering throughout the morning. if you look, you can see debris in the trees, and litter all across this neighborhood. we have watched as fbi and atf agents have combed the area through fields and backyards, looking for any evidence. this afternoon, we are getting new video obtained by cnn, showing another angle of that massive blast. take a look. police have been at the scene for close to four hours when that house exploded. they say, because the man who lived inside was holed up in the house, shooting flares, 30 to 40 of them across the neighborhood. remarkably, none of the officers who were outside that house were seriously injured. we are still waiting for an update from police as to whether or not the man who was inside survived the blast. we are expecting to get one information during a police press briefing coming up at 2:30 eastern, we will be there. back to you. >> gabe cohen, thank you so much that. plenty of more news to come e on cnn news cenentral, we a are bak in jusust a fefew minutes.s. just in, justice department prosecutors say they plan to present evidence at former president trump's trial next year that his continued support for capital rioters shows two he intended violence on january six. senior justice correspondent evan presence here with us on this. evan, what are we learning about this and how significant it is? >> this is significant, breonna, because it is one of the things donald trump is not actually charged with. he is not actually charged with trying to inspire the insurrection on that day. what he is charged with is inspiring to block the certification of the -- of joe biden's victory. what prosecutors are saying is that all of his comments, certainly his embrace of the proud boys, things that he has that about the rioters, defending them, playing, for example, a national anthem sung by members of the january six riders at one of his rallies. it shows his intent was to block the certification of joe biden's victory on january 6th. really just a part of what prosecutors say in this finding is evidence of the defendants post conspiracy embrace of particularly violent, notorious riders is admissible to establish the defendants motive and intent on january 6th. they're using the former presidents own words, his embrace of the rioters, the violent rioters who are in prison. some of whom have been convicted. his promise that he might part of them after if he wins office again in 2024. all of those things, they are going to use against him in this trial, which is coming up on march 4th. again, this is something that we have all speculated about, what they're going to do to try to, show try to tie donald trump to the violence on january 6th. this is how prosecutors say they are going to do it. >> you can have remorse for something even if you don't think you caused it or it was unintentional. we have not really seen that in the case from him after the fact, that could be very compelling. evan, thank you very much for the very latest there. still ahead, tackling mental health stigmas, the federal aviation administration is establishing a special committee to look into pilots mental health rules. stay with us. the power goes out and we still have wifi to do our homework. and that's a good thing? great in my book! who are you? no power? no problem. introducing storm-ready wifi. now you can stay reliably connected through power outages with unlimited cellular data and up to 4 hours of battery back-up to keep you online. only from xfinity. home of the xfinity 10g network. the faa just announced is convening a special committee to change mental health rules for pilots. it comes just one day before the national transportation safety board summit, senator on how the airline industry deals with pilots mental health issues. let's bring in cnn aviation correspondent pete muntean. pete, the stigma surrounding mental health conditions and pilots has dogged the faa for sometime. why is it that they are addressing this now? >> never before has this stigma been talked about so openly, what is interesting here is the head of the ntsb tells me, it is the faa that created this stigma. here is the problem. pilots must report any mental health issue to the faa, but then they risk losing their medical certification, ability to fly, livelihood. the reality is that so many pilots lie to the faa, so that they can fly. and if they are caught, they face very severe penalties. you see the bind there. the faa just announced it is convening a special rulemaking committee to take another look at its policies. here's where the faa says about its mission. provide recommendations to the faa, on ways to identify and break down any remaining barriers that discourage pilots from reporting and seeking care for mental health issues. the spark that lit the fire under the faa happened on october 25th, that is one off-duty pilot joseph emerson was riding in the cockpit of an alaska airlines play -- flight, he essentially tried to crash the plane. emerson told police he thought he was in a dream, recently experimented with magic mushrooms, had been depressed for months, if not years, that inspired the ntsb to convene tomorrow's first of its kind mental health summit. we will speak from experts in the aviation and mental health fields, and also pilots who have been caught in this broken system. of course, there are pilots who are skeptical of this new faa announcement, the faa special committee has until the end of march to suggest new rules to the agency. >> pete, it strikes me that just yesterday, we were here talking about issues with the air traffic controllers. do we think some of these new rules, reconsideration of the rules might apply to them? >> pilots need to hold a medical certificate, so do air traffic controllers. they have been under tremendous stress lately, not only because of the severe understaffing, that the faa had had problems with in the air traffic control workforce, but also the fact that controllers are working overtime, in some cases, six-day weeks with 12 hour shifts. so of course, they need some mental health help here as well. because of that stress that is phasing them. so of course, hopefully, this can potentially lead to some new rules suggestions for them as well. >> yes, major implications for travel connected to this story. pete muntean, thank you so much for the reporting. still more news to come, on breaking news, justice department prosecutors say they plan to present evidence of donald trump's trial next year, about his embrace of his january six insurrectionists. what it could mean for his case. >> thehe l lead with jake e tap, cnn, todayay at four..