the fed announcement which could make buying a house or car more expensive soon. welcome to "the lead." i'm pamela brown in for jake tapper. we start with breaking news in our politics lead. the supreme court justice stephen breyer, we're expecting him to announce his retirement as early as tomorrow. the 83-year-old who has served nearly three decades on the court plans to stay on until a replacement is confirmed. that replacement is now in president joe biden's hands. his first chance to nominate someone to the highest court in the land. today he refused to answer questions about breyer's retirement. kaitlan collins suggests, he is ready to fulfill a campaign promise on who he'll pick. >> reporter: with justice stephen breyer set to retire, president biden now has his first chaks to nominate a new justice to the supreme court. >> there has been no announcement from justice breyer. let him make whatever statement he'll make and i'll be happy to talk about it later. >> reporter: the president declining to go into detail ahead of a formal announcement expected tomorrow. sources say breyer informed the west wing of his decision last week. >> every justice has the right and opportunity to decide what he or she do and announce it on their own. >> reporter: biden now faces a major decision. as aides say he is still committed to this promise that he made on the campaign trail. >> if i'm elected and have an opportunity to appoint someone to the courts, i will appoint the first black woman to the court. it is required they have representation now. it is long overdue. >> the president has stated and reiterated his commitment to nominating a black woman to the supreme court and certainly stands by that. >> reporter: at 83, breyer is the oldest justice on the bench and his decision to retire has prompted a sigh of relief among democrats who feared a republican takeover in the upcoming mid-term elections. something breyer himself has hinted out publicly. >> the thing i have most of the trgss in mind and i have to weigh them and think about them and decide when the proper time is. >> reporter: the senate majority leader chuck schumer promising that biden's pick will receive a prompt hearing and be confirmed with all deliberate speed. democrats can confirm a justice without republican support but must keep their slim majority together to do so. which republican senator lindsey graham noted today, telling the gop, quote, elections have consequences and that is most evident when it comes to fulfilling vacancies on the supreme court. when it comes to actually confirming these nominees, in recent decades, it has taken anywhere from 30 days to 106. the senate majority leader chuck schumer has indicated privately that he would like to move in the time line that republicans used to confirm amy coney barrett. the supreme court justice who was confirmed days before the 2020 election. it was only 30 days from when former president trump had nominated her to the supreme court before her confirmation hearing was done, and she was confirmed to the supreme court. so that time line remains to be seen of what they use. we do know that senator joe manchin has just issued a statement on this news today. he said he looks forward to meeting with and evaluating the qualifications of whomever it is that president biden picks. >> all right. from the white house for us, thank you. let's bring in our cnn analyst. good to see you. this decision to stay on until the successor is confirmed is basically unheard of. so walk us through breyer's thinking with us. >> sure, thank you. he's been struggling with this. he was under a lot of pressure last year to step down as soon as the senate turned to a democratic majority in january of 2021 and he resisted that pressure. now, pamela, he is leaving nothing to chance with this january announcement and the caveat that he will not leave until a successor is confirmed. in terms of the sheer timing, it hasn't been since 1993 that a justice even announced his retirement in march. and this is, you know, nearly two months before that. so he wants to give president biden plenty of time to seat someone, to get that person in place for the term that would start next october, and even more importantly, pam, to get this person in place before the mid-term elections when the senate could possibly flip. so he thought about, you know, how to preserve a democratic president's chance to appoint a successor. he was put on the bench by president bill clinton back in 1994. but he's, you know, he did want to stay the extra term and it looks like his gamble, which many of his critics said was a gamble in case the democrats lost their slim one-vote majority, could work out now. >> certainly. now, we know biden's pick won't change the balance of the court. there are still six conservative justices nominated by republican presidents. but tell us who biden is considering and just how historic this moment is. >> it is. even though the ideological balance of the court won't change from the six conservatives and three liberals, presumably, it is that president biden has vowed to put the first african american woman in history on america's top court. and he has several sterling candidates to choose from. many of whom have already been vetted because of other positions they've had in the federal government and on the bench. i would say leading that group is someone who actually had clerked for justice breyer and that's judge ketanji brown jackson, who is sit go right here on the d.c. circuit court of appeals. a very prominent court and one that has been a stepping stone to the supreme court. she worked, she was a trial judge. now an appellate judge. he's 51 years old and most importantly, for the way you and kaitlan set this up, she's been supported in the past by senator joe manchin and all democrats, and she won confirmation last year with the help of three republicans. so there's probably a cushion there for her appointment. another leading candidate, i believe, would be california supreme court justice leondra kruger. another person with sterling credentials who has been a judge for a long time. she's only 45. she would be one of the younger choices for a president, which would be, you know, these are lifetime appointments. quite a legacy. and then another one i want to point out because of the politics of the situation is a woman who is now a district court judge. michelle childs. she is now on the trial court in south carolina. but she's been nominated by president biden to that prominent d.c. circuit bench that judge jackson is currently sitting on. and what is important for her is that she has been house whip james clyburn has been pushing her and that's a very strong supporter to have in this kind of moment. >> it certainly is. joan, thank you form. let's discuss. we have dana with us. every president wants to put their stamp on the supreme court bench. this comes at a time when biden is seeing sinking poll numbers, a stalled agenda. how important is this moment for biden right now? >> it's important for all the moments. for this moment politically because of all the points that you just made and for history's sake. there's a reason why presidents want to do this. especially someone like joe biden who was not just a senator who voted for and against nominees, but was chairman of the judiciary committee and was in some ways, sometimes, in a controversial setting with clarence thomas, and others maybe less so for him with stephen breyer himself when he was a nominee before then chairman joe biden's committee. but your point is very well taken. the democrats are in the dumps when it comes to the energy that they have going into this mid-term election. and so the hope among democrats we talk to is that this will help energize them. the flip side is very real. any supreme court nominee, even if it won't change the make-up of the bench politically, ideologically, never mind in other ways, it will also get the, rev up the other side. it will rev up the gop. and i'm sure you are, too. both of you are getting text after text after refresh your recollection the rnc, the trump organization saying send money. they're going to change the court which isn't necessarily true. but it is a fundraising tool. a base energier. >> this happens every time. but this time it's an election year. just before the november mid-terms. and nia, you have congressional democrats being heard. and he remembers his promise to nominate a black woman. look at these. i look forward to joe biden upholding his promise to nominate a black woman as the next supreme court justice. congressman jamal bowman of new york, you promised us. let's see it happen. and cori bush, it is past time for a black woman to be named to the supreme court. and the white house also reiterating that biden is likely to stick to his promise here. >> that's right. this was a promise that he didn't need to be reminded of. let's remember, it came aftea conversation with jim clyburn in 2020 as they were going into that south carolina primary. clyburn trying to decide whether or not he would endorse joe biden. one of the conditions was that he would say that he would nominate a black woman to the supreme court and he said that in the debate in south carolina. this has been a long time coming. two years in the making. now you have a situation where, democrats haven't had a lot of ws lately that they're able to put on the board and this will energize a particular segment. base. i think it will energize progressives and black voters, too. you remember that joe biden famously said that black voters had his back and he would have black voters' backs as well. this is something you will see black voters engage in. i think the confirmation hearings will be tough and brutal. and republicans are certainly going to try to make her out to be a radical liberal who will force feed your kids critical race theory or something like that. but i think it will energize that black base of voters that has seen a bit of a softening in terms of their support for biden. 70, 75% or so. he would like it to be 80 or 85% going into the mid-terms that will be so tough for his party. >> right. but you know, dana, when you look at the list of first responders and joan just laid them out. at the top of that list is dr. ketanji brown jackson. i should say judge. she was just confirmed back in june. 53. she had 53 votes in her favor. that means three republicans voted for her. do you expect if she is in fact nominee, do you expect there could be those gop votes to stick? or do you expect there to be, you know, you expect that to change given the fact, how washington works? we know how it is. and nia just pointed out, the republicans, the rnc will come out and attack whoever the nominee is. >> it very well could be that there will be bipartisan support. now, the fact we have to say that is indicative of the times. wasn't that long ago that you had nominees from presidents of both parties that would pass overwhelming. ruth bader ginsburg was passed by like 96 to either nothing or one. it was overwhelming. so it is possible that -- i will say that the three republicans who voted for judge jackson, one of them was lindsey graham who released a statement that was in kaitlan's piece that said, elections have consequences. that was just today. meaning joe biden is the free and fair president which shouldn't have to be said but that's what he was saying, and he voted for judge jackson for the appellate bench that she's on. it is totally plausible that he and perhaps other republicans would vote yes. this is important. it is important to underscore because we've had so many discussions about the filibuster and that's for legislation. in recent history, the filibuster for nominees and more recently, supreme court nominees, it doesn't exist. so the fact that the democrats have the majority, meaning they can schedule the hearing. they can schedule the votes and they have, they don't have one vote to spare but they've got it. if all democrats are supportive, they can pass the president's and confirm the president's nominee. >> and that's key here. even so, biden's pick won't change the conservative court. but big picture, is this going to have the impact that democrats are hoping for? >> you know, listen. i think on the one hand, it is going to energize democratic voters. there is a long way to go for the mid-terms. we'll have this confirmation hearing. folks will tune in and they'll know that elections have consequences. i think the flip side of this is republicans are really going to try to make this a tough vote for democrats in tough senate races. people like mark kelly. people like kevin cortez masto. i imagine they'll get those votes but you will see campaign ads for whoever this nominee is, linking her to the culture wars. linking her to mask mandates. making her out to be a radical leftist. so. in way, you know, it will be good for democrats on the one hand in terms of engaging their base but it also has a down side and an upside for republicans as well. >> okay. thank you both. it's a vaccine that could prevent a repeat of this pandemic. how realistic is a universal covid vaccine? and then the confirmation hearing for florida's top doctor gets so heated that some lawmakers walked out. we'll tell you why, after this break. so when my windshield broke... >> woman: what?! >> vo: ...i searched for someone who really knew my car. i found the experts at safelite autoglass. with their exclusive technology, they fixed my windshield... then recalibrated the camera attached to my glass so my safety systems still work. who knew that was a thing?! >> woman: safelite has service i can trust. >> singers: ♪ safelite repair, safelite replace. ♪ ("this little light of mine") - [narrator] in the world's poorest places, they're shunned, outcast, living in pain. you can 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miracle-ear is offering a thirty-day risk-free trial. you can experience better hearing with no obligation. call 1-800-miracle right now and experience a better life. i don't just play someone brainy on tv - i'm an actual neuroscientist. and i love the science behind neuriva plus. unlike ordinary memory supplements, neuriva plus fuels six key indicators of brain performance. more brain performance? yes, please! neuriva. think bigger. scientists are working to develop a universal covid-19 vaccine according to dr. fauci. the other coronavirus variant that can affect human such as common colds and the the severe respiratory disease called sars. dr. sanjay gupta, this really caught my attention. walk us through this idea of a universal coronavirus vaccine. is it even realistic? >> yes. i think so. this is something that has been talked about for a long time. the science is really fascinating. basically, you think about all the coronaviruses you just mentions. some cause common cold-like symptom, mers, and then the new sars cov 2. it is trying to find the common denominator in all these coronaviruses and figure out if you can make an antibody to that specific thing. if do you that, you're now targeting a conserved, consistent area of these viruses and that's what doctors are trying to do. what's in common here? let's make antibodies to that. what is interesting, i talk on professor kevin saunders about this. he said they have found antibodies from people who had been infected with sars back in 2003 that actually would have some protective effect against this virus 20 years later. so i think it is very realistic and it seem like it is closer and closer. >> that is fascinating. we've heard the omicron variant is less lethal than delta but we're seeing deaths rise higher than that. what's going on? >> that's basically it. many more people are becoming infected. we can show you the trajectory over the past bit of time here. when you have something that is that contagious, you can see on the right side of the screen. you get a lot more cases. overall, as a percentage, hospitalizations and deaths are lower. because you have so many more cases, you tend to have overall absolute numbers that are higher. in fact, we did this calculation here to show you, if something is 50% more deadly versus 50% more contagious. you have two viruses. make one more deadly, one more contagious. what you find is over time, the contagious one will lead to far more deaths because of the number of people interesting sheer number of people who get infected. so that's what's happening. but the numbers are starting to come down in many places around the country as well because people got infected quickly and now we're seeing that downward trend. >> good news on that front. so i want to turn to something else going on today. the man appointed to serve as florida attorney general had this confirmation hearing. he has a history of spreading covid misinformation. i want to get your response from one claim he made today. listen. >> prior to the pandemic, there were a number of randomized clinical trials that were performed of masking in the community for prevention of respiratory viral infections. nearly all of these trials have found no significant benefit from masking to prevent the spread of respiratory virus. these are published data. >> so let's get to, what does the science say? >> well, first there haven't been a lot of randomized trials of this. he's right about that. how many times do you have to show something in public health to believe it? we don't have to show that. it's not perfect but we use them in hospitals all the time. this is something that people have known for a long time. we don't do that many randomized trials. during the pandemic, it would have been knowingly masking some people, not masking others and seeing what happens. public health experts won't do that because they have masking will have benefit. what did you find in places around the country where they were using masks and you compare them to where there were no mask mandates and you find a distinctive difference. that is a way of looking at this more globally. there was a huge randomized clinical trial. 350,000 people that showed masks, particularly surgical masks, did decrease transmission. so when he's talking about march or april of 2020, there were not at love studies on masks in covid because this was just kicking off. but he knows there are a lot of studies published since then including a very large one out of bangladesh that convinced a lot of people about the mask utility overall. >> interesting, he didn't make note of that during the hearing. in fact, democrats were so unhappy with his answers. he kept dodging when they would try to pin him down on the efficacy of vaccines and mask that's they walked out of the hearing. >> thank you. it's all in the letter. that's what america's top diplomat is saying about the message hand delivered to russia today 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>> reporter: the only reaction so far has been that they acknowledge that they have received this written document. we don't know whether they've read it yet. what the response is to it yet. we did hear earlier on in the day from the russian foreign minister sergi lavrov that he homes it would contain the assurances they need. and engaging in a military frenzy and using hysterical expressions, and saying that if the west continues this aggressive line, that quote, appropriate measures will be taken. not clear exactly what those appropriate measures will be, or again, whether this document will do anything to assuage the fears of moscow. there were some other talks going on today in the so-called norm an did i format between russia, ukraine, france, germany, the russian negotiator at those talks said basically, they haven't made much progress at all. they had confirmed their commitment, at least, to a continued cease fire and the region. that's where the pro russian separatists are in control of the territory. and he said the group would meet again in berlin in two weeks time. so it does appear now perhaps, pamela, that we are in a phase where there will be some room, hopefully, for diplomacy to try to see if it can bear any fruit. but it will be very interesting when we finally hear some word from moscow about their response. and also, very interesting at some point ideally to hear from president putin himself who has now gone, i believe, about one month without speaking at all on this topic, leading everyone in the world including all of us here, guessing. >> right. and we know that's probably by design, right? secretary blinken, meantime, said several times, it seals like he was putting an emphasis on the fact there was no date light between them. does that mesh with what you're hearing? >> reporter: so we know from the foreign minister who i interviewed yesterday that there were no issues on the ukrainian side with the substance of this written document. we don't know the details of what was in it. the ukrainians appear to be supportive and happy with that in principle. but there are other areas where it seems like there is a little daylight between two sides. the foreign minister again saying this morning what he had said to us and others as well, which is that essentially, a ukrainian intelligence does not believe at this stage that russia has adequate troops on that border in order to -- in order to launch a large scale invasion. that of course is different from what we've heard from the white house, who have said many times, that it can happen at any time. i believe the wording used yesterday was imminent. for the most part, they want to show they are in lock step with the u.s. and they are very grateful from the support coming from the u.s., even if they have some minor disagreements about the messaging. >> all right. live from kyiv, ukraine. thank you, clarissa. joining me to discuss, he serves on the house intelligence and armed services committees and he's a former army ranger. thank you for your time. secretary of state blinken said the u.s. won't publicly release its written responses to moscow because, quote, we think that diplomacy has the best chance to succeed if we provide space for confidential talks. do you think diplomacy stands any chance to succeed right now? >> hi, good to be with you. i think diplomacy is one part of an overall strategy. diplomacy in and of itself will not get this done. nor will sending weapons to ukraine, nor will consolidating our nato alliance, nor will addressing the natural gas and energy challenges of europe posed by russia, or any of the other challenges. so what we have to have is a multifaceted approach that leverages all of those tools. so diplomacy backed by the nato alliance at the same time that we support ukraine, bolster their defenses, increase the costs on putin in an invasion. it all has to be coordinated together and and that is what it appears the administration is doing. >> do you think the administration should be doing anything more? >> i've been clear and pushing the administration to send more defensive weapons and equipment to ukraine. both different times but also greater quantity and much faster. i think we're up against a small window of opportunity here. a condensing time line. we don't have much time left so we have to get those weapons to ukraine, those pieces of equipment. those supplies. they have to distribute them to their unit. so just flying them in doesn't get it done. you have to distribute them, train people how to use them, you have to get them out into the field so there are a lot of things that have to happen. that's why we have to be moving faster than we are now. >> there is also the question, the administration has sent big shipments of aid to the ukraine. but there is a question of provo provocation. sources telling cnn, the u.s. and allies are discussing deploying even more troops to eastern europe. do you think that is the right move? or could the kremlin weaponize this as a provocation? >> i think it is the right move. vladimir putin will find or make the provocation. he and he alone knows what he will do here. nobody else knows what will happen. i think the risk of an invasion is very high. i think it is likely. at the end of the day, only vladimir putin knows what will happen. he has a history of provoking things and creating, fabricating provocations through false flag information, misinformation, disinformation. so what we do and don't do is less relevant at this particular stage because vladimir putin will make up the excuse that he wants. what we need to do is increase the costs. we need on change the calculus for vladimir putin so he understands that invading will be very dangerous for him. it will be very costly for him and his military. and it will have the opposite effect of what he's trying to do. he's trying to contain nato and reestablish the eastern european soviet union states. he needs to understand if he envads, it will have the opposite effect. that nato will be bolstered. we'll reinforce the eastern flank. so changing the calculus is what needs to happen. >> it's interesting because asa rid a pointed out, he's been staying silent and everyone is left wondering what will move the needle for him. you have the deputy secretary of state today suggesting the upcoming winter olympics in beijing might impact vladimir putin's thinking and time line saying that china would not be ecstatic if putin chose that moment to invade ukraine. what do you think? what are the chances putin makes his move before february 4th? >> i think that's too hard to tell, tying it to the olympics. i think that's probably a stretch. nor do i think the fact that putin has or hand spoken in the last month is that consequential or even what he says is that consequential, because he controls his messaging very tightly. what is more important is all the other indicators. the troop movements, the logistical people that he puts in place, the countries pivoting toward him, the intelligence streams that we're looking at, and all the other indicators that really show what his intent is. so we need to look at those and those are more important than any words that come out of vladimir putin's mouth. you certainly can't trust those. >> congressman jason crow. thank you. >> thank you. coming up, why time is running out to buy a home or a car before it gets more expensive. strypaper? luckily, there's biotrue hydration boost eye drops. biotrue uses naturally inspired ingredients. and no preservatives. try biotrue! in the money lead, wall street closing the day down after a highly anticipated announcement affecting us all. interest rates will go up, quote, soon, likely in march. that today from federal reserve chairman jerome powell. his committee wants to slow inflation and the higher price you've been paying on everything from food to cars. rates have been near zero since march of 2020 when the pandemic began. i want to bring in cnn's global economic analyst and associate editor at the financial times. so put this into perspective for us. in the 1980s, interest rates neared 20%. during the 2008, 2009 meltdown, we considered rates around 5% record low. and now the bench mark is near zero. so how might a future rate hike help our future situation and slow rising prices? >> so interest rates basically slow down -- if you think about a fair that's burning. you throw a bland ket over it. this helps people in a sense. it starts to make things potentially more affordable. think about the housing market, for example. anyone trying to get in the housing market lately has had a hard time because houses go on the market. they're snapped up the next day. the prices go up. once interest rates begin to rise, then the cost of borrowing gets more expensive, and then the economy starts to slow. a certain amount of slowdown when we're running really red hot like we have been the last year can be a good thing. >> so then are you surprised that the fed hasn't raised interest rates sooner? >> yeah, i am, actually. and i've been calling for them to raise rates for several years now, even before the pandemic. my feeling was that it is really, really tricky to time rate hikes and to time what's going on in the economy in general. it would have been nice coming out of covid if we had a little more wiggle room to play with policy wise. as it is, for quite some time, we've had low rate hikes for the past several years. if you look historically at the last few decades, now you have an economy really overheating. all kinds of assets at record highs and there's worry that the fed is behind the curve and it will try the play catch up and raise rates as the economy is slowing. >> have you ever seen the environment like this? i would not want to be jerome right now. >> i wouldn't want to be jerome powell or any central banker. i've been doing this more than three decades. this is the trickiest environment i've ever seen. there are so many factors in play. usually when you think about a rate hike, there are one or two factors. now we have everything. wage increases, supply chain issues and we have potentially a slowing global economy. it will be a very tricky year. buckle in. >> all right. thanks so much. >> thank you. after weeks of horrific gun violence, new york city's new mayor is bringing back a controversial police unit which is making some people nervous. that's next. designed to last. so you can go from saving... to living. age-related macular degeneration may lead to severe vision loss. and if you're taking a multivitamin alone, you may be missing a critical piece. preservision. preservision areds 2 contains the only clinically proven nutrient formula recommended by the national eye institute to help reduce the risk of moderate to advanced amd progression. 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(chicka-chicka) grubhub. as a business owner, your bottom line is always top of mind. so start saving by switching to the mobile service designed for small business: comcast business mobile. flexible data plans mean you can get unlimited data or pay by the gig. all on the most reliable nationwide network. with no line activation fees or term contracts... saving you up to $500 a year. and it's only available to comcast business internet customers. so boost your bottom line by switching today. comcast business: powering possibilities. in our national lead, five new york city police officers have been shot in the first month of the year. with two dying in the line of duty. these acts of violence coming off a year in which the city saw a rise in homicides. cnn's reporter reports, mayor eric adams is reinstating a controversial plain clothes police unit with a troubled history. new york city facing a violent crime surge. two police officers and a baby among those killed in recent weeks. >> these guns on the streets are too much. >> reporter: mayor eric adams telling new yorkers -- >> we won't go back to the bad old days. >> reporter: he does want to make one old thing new again. reviving a version. plain clothes squad to suppress gun violence. >> honestly, it is unknown right now how people are going to deal with these units. my assumption is that most new yorkers want to be safe. >> reporter: the units now being called neighborhood safety teams, is the latest iteration of the anti-crime units the city has seen in years past. ones that wreaked a notorious reputation. >> when you say anti-crime units, i think it brings up some bad memories of communities in the city. >> reporter: in 2002, the street crimes unit of plain clothes officers was disbanded following back lash from the killing of the 23-year-old, amadou diallo. in 2006, it was plain clothes cops who killed shawn bell the morning of his wedding. and more recently, eric gardner died during an arrest by a plain clothes officer in 2014. this time around, officers won't be in uniform but they will be identifiable according to their clothing according to the plan thafl have specialized training and officers will wear body cameras. >> if this is what the mayor is doing, this is what the police department will do, that they really learned from the lessons of the past and they hold officers to a really high standard. if and when officers don't meet that standard, they are held accountable. >> reporter: adams says his experience as an nypd captain will make this targeted policing different. >> i know how unfair and abusive that unit waffle i testified in federal court and the judge's ruling acknowledged my testimony. >> reporter: that testimony in the case of floyd versus city of new york. a land mark federal class action suit which decided the nypd's stop and frisk tactics, often used by crime units, was unconstitutional. the judge writing, senator adams raised his concern that a disproportionate number of blacks and hispanics were being targeted for stops. i find senator adams' testimony credible. >> we are going to learn from the past so we don't repeat the past. >> and we've talked to a lot of experts and everyone is really saying, it will be a wait and see. will this help bring down crime? will officers whose actions are questioned be held accountable? and it is not just to nbc as the mayor has said. district attorneys and judges. they play a big part. the manhattan district attorney was on new day this morning and said that he is going to hold gun possessions as a felony? well, there are four other d.a.s in the city. the hope is to get they will all together. the mayor said he would like to meet with them makely to make this plan work. up next, the moon is about to get a new giant crater thanks to a spacex rocket. do you struggle with occasional nerve aches in your hands or feet? try nervivenerve relief from the world's #1 selling nerve care company. nervive contains alpha lipoic acid to relieve occasional nerve aches, weakness and discomfort. try nervivenerve relief. i know there's conflicting information about dupuytren's contracture. i thought i couldn't get treatment yet? well, people may think that their contracture has to be severe to be treated, but it doesn't. if you can't lay your hand flat on the table, talk to a hand specialist. but what if i don't want surgery? well, then you should find a hand specialist certified to offer nonsurgical treatments. what's the next step? visit findahandspecialist.com today to get started. new projects means new project managers. you need to hire. i need indeed. indeed you do. when you sponsor a job, you immediately get your shortlist of quality candidates, whose resumes on indeed match your job criteria. visit indeed.com/hire and get started today. with panera's you pick 2, every meal is made fantastic. you can be fresh and fun. bold and classic. cozy and precocious. with 465 fresh, clean, craveable pairings, find a you pick 2 for any mood. panera, the familiar made fantastic. in our out of this world lead, spacex is headed to the moon but not quite in the way they anticipated. part of the falcon nine rocket launch by the company in february in 2015 is on a collision course with the lunar surface. scientists say the impact from the four-ton rocket could create a 65-foot crater. spacex has been picked by nasa to land the next american astronauts on the moon, including the first woman to walk the lunar surface. astronomers say the tumbling rocket will crash on the far side of the moon on march 4th. i'm pamela brown in for jake tapper. our coverage continues now with wolf blitzer and "the situation room." happening now, breaking news. a shake-up at the united states supreme court as justice stephen breyer decides to retire. president biden is now poised to make his first high court nomination. potentially triggering an ugly and partisan confirmation battle. also tonight, the united states responds in writing to the kremlin's demands amid fears that a russian invasion of ukraine is imminent. i'll ask ned price what the united states laid out and how vladimir putin might react. and a new study finds