morning, i thought did he go to ohio state or the other ohio? am i right? i know. we got to go. i appreciate it, guys, brooke, t.j., carter, paige, i love you guys. thank you, cnn news central starts right now. the largest deportation operation in american history. talk of migrants poisoning the blood of the united states. that is where donald trump is focused right now. his republican opponents call it dog whistling. but a dog whistle is supposed to be subtle. isn t this far beyond that at this point? and right now, u.s. defense secretary lloyd austin is back in tel aviv for a critical diplomatic visit. the white house urging israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu to change course, as civilian casualties in gaza mount. and millions of americans up and down the east coast are facing serious and severe weather today. the powerful nor easter already has hundreds of thousands in the dark this morning. i m kate bolduan with sara sidner, john berman is off today. th
what a story to start our day. thanks, andy. thanks for joining us. i m john avlon. cnn this morning starts right now. good morning, everyone. so glad you re with us. i m poppy harlow with phil mattingly in new york. there s a lot going on on this monday, december 18th. happening right now defense secretary lloyd austin is back in israel, his visit part of the international pressure campaign for israel to change its tactics in gaza and restart the truce talks, pressure growing after the killing of three hostages by soldiers. republican front runner donald trump using darker more extreme rhetoric in that final sprint, the white house slamming trump for what it calls fascist rhetoric. right now storms gusting up the east coast and the travel delays it could cause this holiday week. cnn this morning starts right now. we begin with defense secretary lloyd austin meeting right now with israel s defense min minister. pressure is growing on israel to change its tactics
he follows south carolina senator tim scott, who filed on friday and chris christie is said to be on the verge. this is in addition to already declared challengers nikki haley, asa hutchinson and mike pence will decide before june. meanwhile, names being floated for a unity ticket, the idea from the group no labels, include senator joe manchin, independent senator krysten sinema and larry hogan. trump s biggest obstacle seems to be his own legal ent entanglements. among them his remarks here on cnn regarding jack smith s case about the withheld mar-a-lago documents and the investigation into interference in the 2020 election by georgia da who recently signalled a decision from her could be coming in early august. so into this fray final ly step ron desantis. joining me to discuss is gary. he writes for florida playbook. previously work ed in the tallahassee bureau of the associated press. nice to see you again. so desantis is dug in on this disney issue. i find it interesting
friday and chris christie is said to be on the verge. this is in addition to already declared challengers nikki haley, asa hutchinson, and viv ecoramaswami. he will decide before june. meanwhile, names being floated for a so-called unity ticket, the idea from the bipartisan group no labels, include democratic senator joe manchin, independent senator kyrsten sinema, and republican larry rolling hogan, the former maryland governor. trump s biggest obstacle still seems to be his own legal entanglements. among them his recent self-incriminating remarks on cnn regarding jack smith s case about the withheld mar-a-lago documents and the investigation into interference in the 2020 election by fulton county, georgia, d.a. fondy willis who signaled a decision from her could be coming in early august. so into this fray finally steps ron desantis. joining me to discuss is gary fineout. he writes for florida playbook for politico. previously worked in the associated press. nice to s