Transcripts For CNN CNN Newsroom With Ana Cabrera 20240708

Lot to create change in this country or for people of color, and i just felt like in this instance it was my turn to step up and be an agent for change, and im proud to do that. I have two sons, theyre 8 and 7. I have a 5yearold daughter. When i look at them, i dont want them to go through some of the things ive had to go through. Its hard to do what were doing here because you know in doing so you risk doing what you love, which is coaching the game of football. But being a black coach in the National Football league, you know that theres a target i would say a little bit of a target on you, and you know you have to be better than your counterparts. Live now at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens where flores was coaching just a few weeks ago before being fired. Laila, stunning, emotional allegations here about race and controversial pressure he felt from higher ups at the Miami Dolphins. Fill us in. Reporter right, ana n. That interview you got a sense of determination to bring about change, specifically in this lawsuit. He talks about wanting to make a change to see more of an influence from black individuals when it comes to the hiring and the firing, more transparency in that interview process. And more diversity when it comes to owners. The process as it stands now he said in the interview this morning it made him feel humiliated, disbelief, and anger. Former Miami Dolphins head coach brian flores is suing the nfl and three of its teams alleging Racial Discrimination n. A 58page Complaint Lawyers for flores accused the league of being racially segregated and like a plantation. Filed on the 1st day of black history month, the suit begins by saying 32 owners, none of whom are black, profit substantially from the labor of nfl players. Flores claims he was discriminated against by the league and some of its owners and managers while applying for head coach of the New York Giants, revealing a series of texts from patriots head coach Bill Belichick three days before he was scheduled to interview with the new york franchise. The complaint states on January 24th Belichick wrote, sounds like you have landed. Congrats. Flores responded saying, did you hear something i didnt here . Belichick texted back, giants . Flores later texted belichick to ask if hes texting the right coach before belichick fesses up that he has the wrong man. Sorry, i expletive this up. I doublechecked and misread the text. I think theyre namie ing dabol. Im sorry about that. Bb. Originally introduced in 2003 the rule now requires at least two external minority candidates for open Head Coaching Positions. In a statement the New York Giants stood by their Hiring Process saying brian flores was in the conversation to be our head coach until the 11th hour, ultimately we hired the individual we felt was most qualified to be our next head coach. The lawsuit lays out another example of what it calls a sham interview describing an encounter between flores and the Denver Broncos management team. The broncos then general manager john elway, president and Chief Executive Officer mr. Ellis and others, showed up an hour late to the interview. They looked completely disheveled and it was obvious they had and drinking heavily the night before. The broncos said flores allegation against the team are blatantly false and that the interview on january 5th lasted 3 1 2 hours, involved five executives and ran according to schedule. Our interview with mr. Flores regarding our Head Coaching Position began promptly at the scheduled time of 7 30 a. M. On january 5, 2019, in a providence, rhode island, hotel. There were five broncos executives present for the interview which lasted approximately 3 1 2 hours, the fully allotted time, and concluded shortly before 11 00 a. M. Flores was relieved of his duties as head coach of the Miami Dolphins after three seasons in january alleging the writing had been on the wall after he refused to tank for the first pick of the draft. The suit alleges during flores first season with the dolphins in 2019 owner steven ross told mr. Flores that he would pay him 100,000 for every loss after he refused. To go along with ross flores claims he was portrayed as difficult to work with. In a statement the Miami Dolphins denied any allegations of Racial Discrimination and that the organization would be withholding further comment on the lawsuit at this time. It cites other cases of discrimination against black members of the league such as that of Colin Kaepernick who has not played since 2016 after kneeling in protest during the National Anthem. The nfl responded to flores lawsuit saying the claims are without merit and adding the nfl and our clubs are committed to ensuring equitable Employment Processes and provide equitable opportunities throughout our organizations. And, ana, flores says he is hopeful he will coach again, but even if he is hired in the near future by an nfl team he has no plans to drop that lawsuit. He acknowledges that his job is on the line here, and when asked this morning by cnn if he never coaches again, if this will all be worth it, he was quick to say if this brings about change he believes it is worth it. Ana . Leyla santiago, thank you. And joining us now to discuss cnn legal analyst joey jackson and a Sports Journalist and host of the podcast naked with kerry champion. He says the nfl is racially segregated. Says its run like a plantation. He talks about sham interviews. Flores lawyers think their case is a slam dunk, their words. How difficult will it be to prove or win this . Yeah, ana, good to be with you. So the reality is that when you file a complaint, that complaint is full of allegations and then you go to a court of law where those allegations really need to be established and remember that since this is a civil case, the standard of proof is not beyond a reasonable doubt, guilty as in criminal law, its called a preponderance of the evidence. Is it more likely than not, is it probable . This complaint is when you mentioned explosive to say the least, ana this is really larger than brian flores. It speaks to the issue of the lack of really head coaches of the 32 teams pointing out only one team has them, talks about the owners of the league with respect to no owner being african american, talks about the lack of position as it relates to defensive coordinators, offensive coordinators, quarterback coaches, et cetera, and so this is really and gives a Historical Foundation with officiating, in regards to art shell in 1989, the first african american, and when you look at issues of proof, the numbers seem to really suggest that theres a problem here. It also speaks to the issue of the rooney rule which was enacted in the last 20 years to ensure at least head coaches were being interviewed by teams and requiring that and talking about mr. Brian flores, with respect to him, it was a sham. So i think with regard to the allegations, although they are just that now, boy, do the numbers tell a real story that is compelling and speaks to the need to overhaul the nfl. Last point, and thats this, i think when you get to the court of law before you seen get there, there will be depositions, people will be sworn under oath and if this lawsuit does anything with respect to brian flores or anything else, i think it is a real eye opener and will compel league teams and others to take the issue of diversity and inclusion seriously and to make real longterm systemic changes in the nfl, and i think thats something the lawsuit speaks to is very much needed and overdue. And my understanding is its been filed as a Class Action Lawsuit so that others could potentially join. Kerry, your reaction to this lawsuit and the potential impact it could have. Its interesting to hear the word explosive. Its explosive only to people who are not black. The reason why its explosive in this world that we live in is what brian flores did was stand in the gap for all the black people who have been dealing with this in different work spaces. He said that very eloquently today when i saw him interviewed on cnn new day and said this isnt just about him, this is for his two sons, because he knows as a black man he does not have that and will not have that, he wants his sons to have a better future. In regards to the allegations of every single thing that he listed, its run like a plantation, all that have is what i like to call inside language we discuss all the time if we are black people working in a world in which people feel like they dont understand why we value ourselves so much. Brian flores refused to play the game with the owner in steven ross. He refused to be the man to say, okay, ill take all these ls even if youre paying me, even though this is a practice, that has happened in the league, allegedly, far before brian aired all of this out. My reaction, i give him a tip of the cap. This man today, while some has said he is, quote, unquote, apoxy, ended his career. He told everyone what was happening and said he still has a sliver of hope of getting a job. To me thats an incredible human. He knows what the system is but still has a belief, belief in a system that has treated him poorly from jump. We have to applaud him during this particular month, black history month, we have to celebrate brian because he is making history right now. He is black, hes also latino. He represents multiple minority communities, and the experiences those communities and people within those circles have also gone through, as you point out. He alleges his treatment by the giants was typical of how the rooney rule has been administered the last couple of decades. A reminder here what this rule is. It was first adopted in 2003 and requires clubs to interview at least two exterrible minority candidates for Head Coaching jobs. It has rules for other positions as well. But, cari, right now there is only one black head coach left out of 32 nfl teams, mike tomlin, with the pittsburgh steelers. How broken is this system . Oh, its completely broken. Ive heard conversations about investigate the league. The league cant investigate itself. This is about the owners. This is about the 32 men who own the teams, who refuse to let minority ownership come in so we can see some real change. And its beyond broken in the sense that the rooney rule was put in place, in theory, as a great idea. And it did give minority coaches an opportunity, coordinators, rather, an opportunity to be a head coach. But if im just going through the motions, if youre bringing me into your office and up know that youve already signed someone and youre stipulating, oh, you need to be here at this time and i need to do this according to the rooney rule, its all smoke and mirrors. I really appreciate the rooney rule and what it was supposed to do. It needs to be revamped. There needs to be an outside source. The problem is that the nfl is americas passion, as weve discussed before. They really are looking at this like they cannot be stopped. They cannot be defeated. Its going to be hard to ask someone to police themselves when theyre the police and the gang and Everything Else all in one. They have put forward other efforts, right, after George Floyds killing in june of 2020, the nfl took other actions to address some things like committing 250 million over a tenyear period to combat systemic racism, they added the phrasing end racism and it takes all of us to end zones. They publicly backed black lives matter and that movement and admitted to past mistakes like with Colin Kaepernick, and they played lift every voice and sing, known as the black National Anthem, On Opening Games that year. Were these things meaningful or do you see them as bandaids on a system that needs surgery . I wouldnt even call it a bandaid. You talk about another sham. All of that is just things that need to be done. I call it corporate social justice. Let me just make it look right for everyone on the outside because were a corporation that only cares about the bottom line at the end of the day. The end racism in the end zones and lift every voice and sing clearly tells me they havent been in touch with anybody in the cull turp of the community or any marginalized group of people to have significant change. Thats not what you do. You dont sing and you dont put end racism in the end zone to make a change. Im sure the money is doing the work its supposed to be done. Did anybody ever talk to the owners . Did anybody say, guess what, there are more than enough eligible minority owners that can come together and own a football team. That should be the number one priority as well as making sure theres diversity in Head Coaching. Mike tomlin cant be the only coach. It doesnt make any sense. Yeah. Youre right. It doesnt make any sense. There are plenty of people who are qualified. Joey, this lawsuit also claims that Miami Dolphins owner steven ross told flores that he would pay him 100,000 for every loss during the coachs first season because ross allegedly wanted the club to tank to get the drafts top pick and he claims flores, that is, that he was pressured to meet with the qb in violation of nfl Tampering Rules and that when he refused he feels he was then cast as difficult or the angry black man hes suggesting retaliation. Legal jeopardy here . There certainly could be. Look, the reality is when you do things like this in the event thats true, you are violating the law and as a result of that the United States Attorneys Office and the Department Of Justice might have a bit of investigating to do to look into whether that was happening and to the extent it is a violation, perhaps convening a grand jury. Those are very serious things. You dont do that. You dont throw games to get draft picks. You dont incentivize head coaches who are supposed to be winning games to try to lose them and dont engage in unethical conduct to try to get quarterbacks during the season when theyre off limits. I think ultimately when you look at the lawsuit it has to be not about Window Dressing and singing the National Anthem or whatever else it has to be about really are you putting people in positions of authority. Are you affecting real change . Are you incorporating inclusion in the league in a way you should be doing it . I think this lawsuit speaks to what you mentioned before, it is a class action. Its not only him, brian flores, but everyone who similarly is situated and if you could do anything it would cause an internal examination in the nfl and external as it relates to this complaint to make the changes that are much needed, certainly long overdue and i think brian flores is hoping for everyone its larger than him. He was very courageous and to file a suit. Joey jackson and cari champion, thank you for the conversation. I appreciate you. The other top story were following right now, big news in the pandemic fight. Pfizer has requested Emergency Use Authorization for its Covid Vaccine for kids as young as 6 months old. Lets go to cnn senior medical correspondent elizabeth cohen. Elizabeth, the last couple of days ive had doctors on this show who have suggested the data on effectiveness for this younger age block wasnt clear just yet. What does the data show and when could this vaccine potentially be authorized for this age group . Ana, so theyre right. The data is not clear and thats because pfizer and other Pharmaceutical Companies dont release their full data until just a few days before the fda advisers meet. Theyre not meeting until february 15th. So we havent seen the full data. Theres one piece of information we know which is that last month pfizer said, you know what, when we gave two doses for children ages 2, 3 and 4, it didnt give the expected immune response, what we were looking for. So now what we know is this vaccine is going to be two shots spaced apart 21 days, just like for adults, and then a third shot eight weeks or more later. Now the dosage will be three micrograms, ten times lower than the dosage for adults. And data on a third shot is expected in coming months. So this is super confusing and im going to try to clear it up now. Pfizer is asking for permission for people to put on the market or to get an Emergency Use Authorization for two shots now, not three, for two, because they dont have data on three. So essentially what theyre saying is we want parents to get a head start. We want them to start getting those first two shots for their little ones, for children ages 6 months to 5 years and then the third shot will come along later this is unusual. We have not seen this during the pandemic. Theyre telling parents get the two shots and um get a third but we dont have data on that yet. So theyre asking parents to start something when we dont nope know the data for the whole thing. Here is why theyre doing it. Take a look at covid cases recently. This graph starts at the left at the beginning of the pandemic and you can see it goes way up recently since omicron came into play. So they dont want this huge number both to protect them and to protect other people. Children are usually just fine but they can spread it very easily as any parent nope knows adults, possibly to elderly, to their grandparents, and they dont want that to happen. Now lets take a look at why the fda and pfizer and the cdc will have a tough time convincing this group of parents to get shots for their children. Children 5 to 11, only 22 of them are fully immunized and theyve been eligible since november. So theyve had plenty of time, only 22 are immunized and thats much lower than other age groups. The other age groups have had more time but still 22 is very low. Lets take a look at the results of a recent kaiser poll released yesterday. What they found is they asked 162 parents last month children ages 6 months to 5 years, only 3 in 10 of those parents said they would get their child vaccinated. So federal agencies, pfizer, they really have their work cut out for them with the parents of these young, very young children. Ana . We expect to hear from President Biden on the white house Cancer Moon Shot initiative. What can you tell us about whats happening with it . Reporter what the white house is saying they want to reduce Cancer Death Rates by at least 50 in the next nine years and improve the experience of those living with and surviving cancer. They said we want to end cancer as we know it today. Those are big goals. We look forward to hearing the details of how they plan to accomplish that. Ana . Elizabeth cohen, thank you for that interview. Breaking today President Biden officially deploying thousands of u. S. Troops to Eastern Europe as russia ramps up military activity on the border with ukraine. And the economy just ran into an omicron wall and lost hundreds of jobs last month. Well discuss with the Labor Secretary marty walsh. Way for you to sell your car. Whether its a year old or a few years old. We wanna buy your car. So go to carvana and enter your License Plate answer a few questions. And our Techno Wizardry calculates your cars value and gives you a real offer in seconds. 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What do we have on the table here today . What the pentagon has said is they are going to move about 1,000 u. S. Troops stationed in germany on to romania joining 900 troops routinely stationed there and will help the romanians. In addition about 2,000 u. S. Troops will move from u. S. To europe to poland and germany, members of the 82nd Airborne and the 101st, units that specialize in rapid deployment. All of these troops are aimed at trying to reassure the nato allies on natos Eastern Flank who are so nervous, they say, about russia, that the u. S. Is there for them, defending the nato commitment, though they will not work under a nato flag, working to help these military forces be reassured if russia makes a move. They will not fight the russians. They will not go into ukraine. Why now . And is there any suspicion putin would make a move into any of these countries . The pentagon is not really saying it doesnt think so but is emphasizing this is part of the overall commitment to the Nato Alliance to show putin these countries will be defended if it came to that. Part of the deterrent strategy. Nic, How Is Moscow and the russian president responding to all of this . Reporter interestingly nothing yet from the president here from his office or from any senior officials. Obviously they typically are quite slow to respond. In the past when it was dis discussed, the troops put on a shorter standby to go join nato forces and when that happened the comments that we heard from officials here were very much along the lines of this is an escalation, this is the United States with its allies increasing the tensions in the region. They point to the United States and nato for doing that and rejecting the idea that its their forces on the borders of ukraine causing the tension at the moment. Typically what weve heard in the past is for russian officials to say this isnt going to be helpful, that it will not improve the possibility for diplomacy. At the moment were still waiting to get a readout and i think its interesting as well because essentially we are still waiting for President Putin to give his readout on the u. S. And nato that were delivered a week ago tonight, so its operating slowly. The kremlin here is very much keeping its position on its front foot with its troops on the borders of ukraine. Nic robertson and Barbara Starr, thank you both. Inflation is way up and jobs just hit a major roadblock. Ill discuss with Labor Secretary marty walsh next. And its easy to get a quote at libertymutual. Com so you only pay for what you need. Isnt that right limu . Limu . Sorry, one sec. Doug blows a whistle. [a vulture squawks. ] oh boy. Only pay for what you need. 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There are some encouraging signs. Jobs are coming back. The u. S. Economy grew from last year at its fastest pace since 1984 and the markets are still flirting with record highs but there is also bad news. The gas prices keep climbing. Inflation in 2021 hit its highest level in 39 years. Interest rates are going up as are Housing Prices and both rentals and home buying. Bottom line the economy ran into an omicron wall and the question is for how long . Cnns matt egan is here to break it down for us. New jobs numbers out this morning just ahead of the big jobs report on friday. Break down the numbers and what more they tell us. The jobs market is all about omicron. Private employment fell 301,000 in january according to adp. That breaks a streak of 12 monthly gains. The jobs market was humming along and then omicron hit and the jobs market went in reverse. It was across the board, almost every sector lost jobs in january. The biggest were in the covid sensitive leisure and hospitality, restaurants, hotels, bars, movie theaters, concert halls, trade and transportation lost 62,000, manufacturing lost 21,000 as well. And this bleak adp report is going to raise concerns that the even more important official numbers out on friday from the government are going to show very weak or even no growth at all for january and weve heard white house officials brace the public for this possibility. Now the issue here is both the adp report and the government jobs report, the surveys were taken during the second week in january and we know cope individual was running rampant. The good news, of course, is covid cases have declined and hopefully the impact on the jobs market will be brief. Developments on the energy price front as well. We heard from opec and its allies today and they basically said they are not coming to the rescue of american drivers at this point. They said they will stick with their plans and are not going to do anything more aggressive than that. Some speculation on wall street in recent days that they might step in here. Oil prices are near sevenyear highs. Theyve bounced back from the more recent declines and this means higher prices at the pump which moves with a lag to oil prices. 3. 40 a gallon today. Almost 1 from a year ago. That could happen at any point. There are positives in the economy. The high Cost Of Living and omicron are drowning the positives out. You have been all over the highs, the lows, the good, the bad for a long time. I encourage our viewers to follow what you write and to follow you on twitter. You break it down and bring us the latest. I appreciate it. Joining us now Labor Secretary marty walsh. Mr. Secretary, i appreciate your time today. More than 300,000 jobs lost in january. They had predicted adding jobs. Well, certainly i dont have a crystal ball but matt summed it up great, i couldnt do it any better myself when he talks about the omicron variant and covid as a whole but with the omicron variant when matt talked about that month, that week of job reports where we get the numbers from, the indexes piece, we had 9 Million People that had the coronavirus that week. So as we think about this friday, im hopeful we will not be as bad as the private sector. But, again, the virus has wreaked complete havoc in this country, in this world for the last two years but in particular last month with the gains last year and i think its important to put it in perspective. We had some months that werent as high as other months, some great months and good months and were looking as we look forward President Biden laid out a plan for an economic recovery and respond to go covid19 long term. We will continue that plan. You are the Secretary Of Labor focused on getting people back to work and yet the Unemployment Rate has been dropping. Its a level historically considered nearing full employment so where is that wiggle room and how do you, i guess, make sense of there being a Worker Shortage out there . Many workers are jumping from employer to employer, opportunities to earn more money and make more money so theyre jumping from employer to employee. As Secretary Of Labor what do we have in our toolbox, job training, apprenticeship programs, spending a lot of time talking to companies in america, what theyre looking for out of employees, what they need and workers have the power. If theyre working in the job today and making 18 an hour and have an opportunity to make 25 an hour theyre going to take that. Well be working to help create those opportunities for them. Like any other time in our history as a country weve never gone through where were responding to not a recession but a pandemic, a global pandemic. People even in this omicron variant, beef people, for lack of a better term, marked as unemployed when, in fact, they were working, they were out sick that week but didnt have paid leave so they are deemed as unemployed workers. Getting people back to work and getting people into those industries. The total context, what is important, be prepared in terms of the numbers coming out tomorrow. You talk about people earning a living wage, wages are rising and thats good news. Worker compensation rose in december but the most in two decades. Wages fell by 23 . Isnt it true that paychecks are often not keeping up with inflation . In some cases, yes. All of us, including myself, the American People are getting lots of information from different sources from the news, from cnn, and were talking about on one side incredible jobs growth for 2021, the lowest Unemployment Rates, great gdp growth and on the other side dealing with inflation, dealing with a lot of other things and i think that were just living in very turbulence, very uncertain times. I would tell people who are watching today were going to continue to address the president s laser focus on addressing the issues of inflation, laser focused on creating the opportunity and helping people who left their job for whatever reason to make sure theyre safe in the work place, dealing with the coronavirus, dealing with the vaccines and the boosters and all things moving forward and to make sure that our economy continues strong. The bottom line here the president said this from day one, its about creating opportunities. He ran for president , he dealt with coronavirus, addressed coronavirus, but talked about creating pathways into the middle class. That was one of his purposes and his pledges was to create opportunities with the middle class and we cant lose sight of that. People need tangible results, a new State Of The Nation Gallup poll finds that across 29 different measurements just 38 of americans are satisfied. Thats lower than in 2020, just 33 are satisfied with the state of the economy. Is there anything you wish you did differently in terms of policy or messaging during the biden administrations first year . I think part of it is messaging and not just delivering messaging from myself to you but also messaging in the media. There are lots of different reports out there and people are able to put it in their own context. Matt, who spoke before me, really summed up in an amazing way whats happening in the month of january with jobs in america. He talked about the private sector, about the omicron variant wreaking havoc. He talked about a lot of different pieces, the way surveys are being done. Im not suggesting we change the survey because i dont think thats the answer. The answer is, quite honestly, continuing to battle back on the coronavirus and working how do we continue to move as a society for the foreseeable future, living in a world of the virus. And we have 71 or 72 of americans fully vaccinated. We have work to do there. We had great job growth and great opportunities in 2021. But at the end of the day people still say, wait a second, i might be making more money. The cost of goods are going up. Im also concerned about my health and my familys health. Theres a lot going on. I think the poll numbers dont reflect President Bidens job approval. I think they reflect where people are right now in their life. And for President Biden, he is the president so we all have to work and deal with that. Well, its not just one poll, though. There was a recent Pugh Research poll that rates it as excellent and even among democrats that number is just 36 . The president s own party. No question. Theres no question and im not pushing back on you and this isnt spin. Theres a reality of the situation and i think we just need to continue to get out there. When i say we, the administration, talking about what were doing to deal with, whether its getting people back to work or dealing with inflation, all of those things that are talked about every day at the Kitchen Table we need to continue to work on that and are focused on that. Labor secretary marty walsh, thank you very much for joining us. Thank you. Two fallen College Campus officers are being remembered today as the dynamic duo. What they did to save others at a Virginia College when we come back. And when this line was drawn. Oh and when this stitch was sewn. You inspired the new lexus es to be, well. More you. So thank you. 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He was of course tracked down by Law Enforcement after wading across a river then on to an island in that river. We know Law Enforcement seized multiple firearms and he is now facing a number of Felony Charges but the focus today really on the lives lost. Two officers who protected a campus killed in after several shots were fired on that campus. Jj jefferson and john painter. Officers who were described by students at bridgewater as some of the friendliest people on campus. Pillars of the community and known as a dynamic duo given the closeness of that relationship. Such a sad story. Thank you for shining some light. Only two more days now until the Opening Ceremony of the winter olympics. We will go live to beijing to see the preparations and the festivities already underway. Living with diabetes . Glucerna protein smart has your number with 30 grams of protein. Scientifically designed with carbsteady to help you manage your blood sugar. And more protein to keep you moving with diabetes. Glucerna live every moment kim is now demonstrating her congestion. Save it slimeball. Ive upgraded to mucinex. We still have 12 hours to australia. Mucinex lasts 12 hours, so im good. Now move kim, no mucinex lasts 3x longer for 12 hours. Just two days now from the Opening Ceremony at the beijing winter olympics. The festivities, like the torch relay, have already started, but it has been shortened a bit to just three days off covid concerns. David culver is in beijing. Hows it looking there . Hey there, ana. Theyre counting down the hours, but unfortunately, counting up the cases. Were seeing the cases continuing to climb for folks coming into the olympic bubble, which is a separate barrier from where we are. China itself is a closed loop system and now theyve got this olympic closed loop system. The numbers are going up 32 were reported, athletes, media, that was reported on wednesday. 232 who have covid19. Heres what makes this different. We saw that with tokyo and people seeing their dreams really just dashed all together is that this is a zero covid society, really. And that policy is incredibly strict, ana. They will put you in isolation. So were seeing some of these athletes going through the testing and then learning that they are in fact positive be put into places that are quite isolating. One ski jumper from austria describing this as no words, no feelings, just emptiness. That is compounded by the extre extreme isolation. Its made to be an extremely difficult situation all together. And so much to watch. At the upcoming games. David culver, thank you for your report. Thank you for joining us. See you back here tomorrow, same time, same place. Until then, you can join me on twitter. The news continues after a short break. Woman whats my safelite story . I see inspiration right through my glass. So when my windshield cracked, i chose safelite. 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We gotta tell people that Liberty Mutual customizes Car Insurance so you only pay for what you need, and we gotta do it fast. [limu emu squawks] woo new personal record, limu only pay for what you need. Liberty, liberty, liberty, liberty. Welcome to cnn newsroom. We begin with the first u. S. Troop deployment to Eastern Europe in response to fears that russia will invade ukraine. The pentagon announced 3,000 American Forces will head to romania, poland and germany in the coming days in addition to the other troops put on alert. The white house said it will no longer describe the russian invasion a