drama. we're going to have more on that in a moment. >> the president's standing by his campaign pledge to nominate the first black woman to the court. the question remains, however, who will that person be? and will the process be completed before the midterm elections. >> we are also following some breaking news on the economy. thankfully some good news. in the last year the u.s. economy grew at the fastest rate since 1984. this according to a new report out this morning, we're going to have much more on that coming up. but first -- >> cnn justice correspondent jessica schneider and white house correspondent jeremy diamond are standing by with more on the news about justice brierbreyer stepping down. how do we expect this to play out timing-wise? >> we're still waiting to hear from justice breyer directly or potentially a statement from the supreme court. we're expecting maybe that will come later this morning, early afternoon. but a source has told kaitlan collins that justice breyer and president biden will appear together at the white house today to officially announce that retirement. admittedly this is all rolled out a bitt unconventionally. the last time we saw a retirement was in 2018 when justice anthony kennedy went to the us who, informed president trump and then an official announcement came out from the court that afternoon. that was at the end of the term in june 2018. this time, however, we know that justice breyer did convey to the white house last week that he planned to step down from the court, but we know that he didn't tell president biden directly and as of yesterday, we know that the white house had not actually formally received a letter from breyer making his retirement intention official. even when it is officially announced, probably later today, justice breyer, we know, will not leave the court before the end of the term. that's still five months away. there are a lot of consequential decisions to come. we have cases on abortion rights, gun rights, religious freedoms still to be decided, so justice breyer has a lot more work to do on the court. jim and bianna, of course, the white house at this point, the president gearing up to decide on his successor. launch into what could be a quick confirmation process here, democrats already saying they plan to follow what they call the amy coney barrett timeline. she was confirmed one month after her nomination, so it could move very quickly at this point. guys? >> look out for comments about not rushing things. we'll see. president biden, jeremy, he has a history with breyer, chairman of the senate judiciary committee in the '90s when he was confirmed. do we expect to hear from both of them today? >> president biden and the white house have known since last week that justice breyer planned to retire. and yet yesterday after this news broke, president biden was asked about this and he stayed tight lipped once again on this topic as did the white house press secretary. that's because there hasn't yet been that formal announcement. today, though, that is expected to change and i think you can expect president biden to reiterate once again his plans for nominating breyer's successor, which is to say he does indeed plan to nominate a black woman to be first black woman on the supreme court of the united states. that's something that the white house press secretary said yesterday, the president is -- it is a pledge the president still stands by. and so we're already a short list of candidates has emerged, including judge ketanji brown jackson, california supreme court justice leondra kruger to name a couple of them. president biden has been silent, they didn't want to give the appearance of pressuring justice breyer to retire from the court. that hasn't stopped the process of picking his successor from beginning at the white house. some of the vet be has been under way. the short list of candidates has already begun to emerge. and so ultimately president biden, what he has to do, is to meet with several of the top candidates. ketanji brown jackson, the president already met with her last february, actually, when he nominated her to that d.c. circuit court of appeals. but the other candidates, those meetings will be crucial, of course, crucial step in this nomination and confirmation process. >> justice breyer will have served 28 years on the court by the time he formally steps down. we should note he was approved by 87 votes, quite a different change in the landscape in washington today. jessica schneider and jeremy diamond, thank you. well, while president biden has dealt with interparty politics with its legislative agenda, holdout senators joe manchin and kyrsten sinema always voted with party for biden's lower court nominees. >> and not inconsequential fact, but like all votes in the senate, a slight margin, biden's first challenge to a nominee will likely come from the senate judiciary committee. melanie zanona with us now. melanie, the republicans have a potential path to slow this down the committee, but also democrats have a way around that, do they not, if that were to happen. >> reporter: exactly. republicans don't have the power to actually block this nominee from being ultimately approved. but they can slow it down. and that's because republicans are needed to provide a quorum on the senate judiciary committee, where this nomination will first be considered. essentially what that means is the majority of the committee members need to be present in order to hold a vote. and because of the 50/50 split senate, it is evenly divided among republicans and democrats. so technically if all 11 republicans choose to boycott, the committee hearing, they could essentially deny the quorum. but if that were to happen, democrats could just change the rules. they do have the power here. and there also would be enormous backlash for republicans for going scorched earth against what is expected to be first black woman nominated to the high court. so it is just not clear that there is a huge appetite among republicans to go all-out in opposing this nomination. they know they can't block it ultimately. it wouldn't change the makeup of the court anyway. and in fact, i think you could see some republicans peel off and support whoever biden ultimately nominates. the senators we're looking at are susan collins, lisa murkowski, lindsey graham. susan collins voted for two of president barack obama's justices on the supreme court. however, she did say she has some concerns about the timeline that democrats are pursuing for this confirmation process. take a listen. >> as you know, i felt that the timetable for the last nominee was too compressed. this time there is no need for any rush. we can take our time, have hearings, go through the process, which is very important. it is a lifetime appointment after all. >> reporter: so obviously there is an opportunity to pick up some republican support, but it is not necessary. democrats feel good about their chances. ultimately, though, jim and bianna, it is going to come down to whoever the nominee is. >> correct me if i'm wrong, democrats tried the quorum strategy with amy coney barrett, but republicans got around it. >> reporter: right, exactly. when you have the control of the senate, you can get around these things. >> understood. melanie, thank you so much. let's take a closer look at these nominees. eight black women on the short list of potential nominees. >> yeah, let's begin with ketanji brown jackson and her confirmation hearing, the front-runner, the d.c. circuit court judge, jackson last year biden appointed jackson to the second most powerful federal court in the nation. the d.c. court of appeals. >> when you become a judge, you take an oath to look only at the law in deciding your cases, that you set aside your personal views about the circumstances, the defendants, or anything else. >> brown got a couple republican votes in her confirmation there. jackson recently signed an opinion ordering trump white house documents begin the january 6th committee and she has ruled on high profile cases, including the congressional subpoena lawsuit. jackson also worked directly with justice breyer, she clerked for him early in her career. >> also, a closer second look at supreme -- california supreme court justice leondra kruger. kruger clerb edclerked for john stevens and acted in the obama administration. >> i think we tend to forget when we're in the outside world that really conversations about these very difficult cases are confined to a very small number of people. >> but a key endorsement could shift the focus to district court judge j. michelle childs of south carolina. congressman jim clyburn, critical in helping deliver the battleground state to biden in 2020, has endorsed childs. just last month, biden nominated childs to the u.s. court of appeals for the district of columbia circuit. the nomination does remain pending. >> i have a high regard and sincere appreciation for our legal system, which is the form of order in our court, in our democracy. >> other names floated include anita earls, associate justice of the supreme court of north carolina. judge mimi wright, who sits on minnesota's federal district court. judge eunice lee is a former new york public defender who biden nominated to the second circuit. judge candace jackson-akiwumi is an alumna of chicago's public defenders office, appointed to the 7th circuit and sherrilyn ifills who announced plans to step down from her role as president and director council of the naacp legal defense and educational fund. bianna, interesting, on this list, one commonality we have seen with a lot of the appointees is getting folks not necessarily with a court background, public defenders, people with more diverse professional background. >> yeah. really wide net here. and justice breyer's successor will become the 116th justice to serve on the supreme court. it is no doubt a significant moment in history. the 115 justices who served so far, 108 have been white men. compared to two black men, four white women and one latina. joining us now to discuss is gloria brown marshall, a civil rights attorney and author of "she took power: the black woman law and power". and laura coates, a senior cnn legal analyst and former federal prosecutor. she's also the author of the new book "just pursuit: a black prosecutor's fight for fairness." welcome both of you on this groundbreaking new day in news. this won't change the ideological balance of the court, you're replacing one liberal with another. it will change the diversity balance of the court. i think back to president biden, promising that his cabinet will look like america. and now it appears that the highest court in the land will look more like america as well. how significant is that? >> it is extraordinarily significant. i mean, it is not the idea of diversity for diversity's sake. every one of the women on the list you already mentioned, extraordinary credentials. women of extraordinary legal merit who are revered in their communities at the legal bench, in the bar, for their expertise, their intellect, their ability to be impartial and i think that's a high bar what you should expect, of course from a supreme court justice. the extraordinary spectrum of opinion and diversity is important to really evaluate the laws in this country. remember, we're talking about very significant cases finding themselves in front of the supreme court. this term alone, the abortion ban, the idea of affirmative action, in the next term going forward, voting rights, sure to be on the docket at some point, the second amendment, all issues very important to the overall fabric of our nation, and really the exclusion up to this point of black women as viable candidates and nominees is really a problem for america, but not because there was a dearth or absence of people who are qualified. so i'm very heartened to know that these extraordinarily qualified women will find themselves with the opportunity to have a confirmation hearing. i certainly hope it will be fair. and at the same criteria that was used to evaluate other members of the bar including those with limited appellate experience, those who have never even been a judge, that they will be given the same benefit of the doubt, an opportunity to demonstrate their intellect the way everyone else has been. >> gloria brown marshall, it is quite a term, right, this term and the next term, so this justice along with the other eight will be facing crucial, crucial decisions for this country on a whole host of things, from gun rights to abortion rights, to affirmative action perhaps. tell us, you know, what this means for the court. it is not going to change the makeup 6-3 conservative-liberal, but the decisions they face, consequential. >> very consequential. but also keep in mind from a legal history standpoint the first black female lawyer was in 1872. 1872. when we go back to jane bowlen, first black female judge, and we think about the fact that she was a 1939. we have constance baker motley, first black female federal judge, in 1966. so we have a long history of black women in the law. it is not a coincidence that our first first black first lady is a lawyer, that our first vice president who is a woman is also a lawyer. the law has been a very important part in the makeup of not just how we fought for liberation as black women, but also how this world has been able to look at our prism of freedom and democracy. these women have been wrestling with issues for a long time and they have been -- as was pointed out on the highest end of our spectrum of legal integrity, as well as people for who have been vetted before. >> and laura, from justice jackson to kruger to childs and the others on that list, you know, it is an embarrassment of riches one could say in terms of the qualifications that the president has at his ready as he makes his choice. we know the jockeying will only now begin. talk about who you think stands out amongst these possible candidates and why. >> well, it is an embarrassment of riches, you're right. also an embarrass that these riches have been available for quite some time as my colleague just noted. the idea of who would stand out, that's one of the most joyous things for me as a black woman who is an attorney, that the idea of all of the women that have been on the short list, i don't know of a single reason that would disqualify them or make me question their minds or make me question their credentials. and i think that's an important note to say, that president biden has his work cut out for him. of course, i was a year behind in school, at least one of the people here, we're talking about judge candace jackson out of chicago as well, and even at 17 years old, i can tell you she was an intellectual force to be reckoned with. i knew that then. in my own home state of minnesota, judge mimi wright who sat on the state appellate court, state supreme court and federal district court, not someone who is inexperienced. sherrilyn ifill, everyone knows her work and everyone down the line, you can talk about. i highlight only a couple of them, but not because they could be excluded from the overall conversation. but this is the point, i am very curious going forward as to how these women will be treated, and vetted, and viewed. i've already seen rumblings on other networks about, well, are they qualified enough, have they had a long enough tenure, questions that were not asked of those recently stated, who had shorter appellate histories. i'm looking to see how america receives this embarrassment of riches. >> do you believe, gloria brown marshall, that this might get some republican support, granted it is such a partisan process now. i'm not talking about a lot, but some republican support, given the historical nature of this potential pick? >> i think as the historical nature of it. but you think about the states from which the women reside now or were working should support their nominations. i mean, yes, this is a political process, yes, it is going to be very divisive. i think the women deserve the full honest look at their credentials and to understand what they bring to the bench and if there are contenders who are outside of, you know, being black women and i'm sure there are, and let's compare apples to apples and see who comes out ahead. >> gloria brown marshall, laura coates, thanks so much to both of you. we're going to be talking about this a lot in the coming weeks. russia has responded now for the first time to a u.s. letter addressing some of their demands. i'm going to speak to the state department spokesman about how the two sides -- can the two sides move forward to avoid military conflict in ukraine? plus, moderna just started the next phase of its trial for an omicron 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their prime concerns were not addressed. joining me now is state department spokesperson ned price. good to have you on this morning. >> thank you for having me, jim. >> as the u.s. and nato has spoken to russia, kept diplomatic channels open, russia has been adding forces, not subtracting them from around ukraine. what evidence do you have, does the u.s. have, that diplomacy is working? >> well, jim, we have been very clear that we want diplomacy to work. we have been very clear that diplomacy needs to work because diplomacy is the only responsible way to resolve this crisis that moscow has needlessly precipitated. but we have also been consistent in saying that in order for diplomacy to work, it needs to take place in the context of de-escalation. certainly not in the context of escalation. to your question, you're right, we have not seen signs, we have not seen tacngible signs just yt that the russians are in the process of de-escalation. that remains an option for president putin. we laid out some ideas in the written response that we provided to the russian federation yesterday. ideas that we think would be effective, would be constructive, and would address our mutual concerns as well, of course, the concerns of our allies and partners in europe. >> given that you therefore have not seen evidence of de-escalation, is the u.s., are nato allies prepared to act now, that is before a russian invasion, either in terms of troop movements, or economic penalties for russia? >> we are acting now. we have been acting for weeks now, jim. let me talk about some of what we have done. we have talked about the dialogue and the diplomacy side of the ledger, but there is also another side of the ledger, defense and deterrence. and we have been moving aggressively, we have been moving constantly in that direction for weeks now. we have provided more than 650 million dollars over the last year to our ukrainian partners. this is defensive security assistance. that is more security assistance than any administration has ever provided to ukraine. this is material to -- so ukraine can defend itself. on top of that, we have been very clear that if putin moves into ukraine, we will provide even more. when it comes to nato, the president and the secretary of defense have put at a heightened state of readiness 8500 u.s. troops. troops that can be called into service, should that need to be the case. we certainly hope it is not the case. but one more key ingredient here, jim, on top of all that we're doing, we have been very clear, we have been working with our allies and partners over the last couple of months now to put into place a series of significant severe and sudden measures that would inflict substantial costs on the russian federation, if vladimir putin war to move forward in an aggressive way against ukraine. >> there were many american citizens, passport holders in ukraine, do you know how many and do you have plans to get them out if a russian invasion happens suddenly? >> well, jim, we have been warning for months now that americans should not travel to ukraine. and we reiterated those warnings in recent days and we have been communicating with americans in ukraine, indicating to them that they should strongly consider leaving ukraine now. this is about prudent preparation. we know a few things, we know that russia has more than 100,000 troops amassed along ukraine's borders. we know that russia has tens of thousands of troops in what should be the sovereign independent country of belarus, all of this and more adds up to the fact that russia is poised -- could be poised to move against ukraine at any moment. and the security situation could deteriorate rapidly if that happens. so we have been urging americans to strongly consider leaving commercial options are widely available, our embassy in kyiv remains open. it remains open. our embassy is prepared to do everything from assisting americans to book these flights to offering them loans if they can't afford a commercial option. so we are working around the clock as we always do to support american citizens, to message them, and to indicate what they should be doing. and right now we think they should be strongly considering leaving using those commercial options. >> couple more things i want to get to and we have limited time. is nord stream 2 dead if russia invades ukraine? >> jim, i want to be very clear about this. if russia invades ukraine, one way or another, nord stream 2 will not move forward. >> okay. that's a direct answer. i want to ask you about -- is germany on board? this is a german/russian project. >> well, look, i'm not going to get into the specifics, but we will work with germany to ensure nord stream 2 does not move forward. you have heard statements from our german allies, even over the past 12, 16 hours, speaking to the strong measures that the german government is ready and willing to put in place. >> i want to ask you about afghanistan now, because an evacuation flight chartered by the u.s. government left kabul in the last 24 hours, the first time since november. is the u.s. still committed to getting the many thousands of afghans who served alongside the u.s. out of the country safely, given the threats that they face, and where does that process stand? >> absolutely. we are absolutely committed to that. you heard that since august when the u.s. military mission in afghanistan came to an end, and you've seen us make good on that promise. among our core interests, a priority of ours is to provide the -- to provide the -- facilitate the safe departure of americans, u.s. citizens, of lawful permanent residents and afghans to whom we have a special commitment to leave the country if they so choose. since august 31st, nearly 1,000 u.s. citizens and lawful permanent residents have been able to leave the country, have chosen to leave the country, with -- >> you have tens of thousands of special immigrant visa applicants as you know. and they're the ones who sadly, the vast majority are left behind. >> well, jim, you know, during the evacuation process in august we were able to evacuate more than 124,000 individuals, these are many individuals who are either siv, special immigrant visa holders, or who are siv eligible. but, again, our commitment to those individuals who remain in afghanistan, who choose to leave is enduring. we are supporting them, those who are at a certain stage of the process are eligible to receive our assistance in leaving the country, we're continuing to process them constantly. as you know, jim, we inherited a program that was decrepit, that was at a stand still, a program that had not conducted a single interview in kabul since march of 2020. the year before we took office. what we did, in the course of just a few short months, was to put in place a system to make much more efficient the processing for special immigrant visa candidates. we went from processing 100 candidates a month, to about a thousand in august. and that processing continues. and as you indicated, just yesterday, there was another charter flight that had americans and others on board, and our commitment to help these individuals leave the country, if they choose to do so, that is enduring. >> all right, we will continue to keep tabzs on that. thank you for joining the show this morning. >> nord stream 2 will not move forward if russia does invade ukraine. really sharp. >> clear, short statement there, worth listening to. >> yeah. up next, gas prices up nearly a dollar from where they were a year go. and cnn has a look at how it is hitting the already strained trucking industry. and we're moments away from the opening bell on wall street. u.s. stock futures are up this morning after the gdp report shows the economy grew at a strong 6.9% in the fourth quarter of 2021. investors are also responding to comments from federal reserve chair jerome powell that they're getting ready to 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correspondent christine romans is following all of this. break down these numbers, however you want to interpret it, even if there is a slowdown following omicron, that this is proving to be a pretty resilient economy. >> impressive, resilient, all of these adjectives are the right tone here. 6.9% at the end of the year, despite omicron, that shows you just how strong the overall economy was. powering back after delta held it back to something like 2.3% in the third quarter. for the full year, 5.7%, you guys, this is something, i mean you haven't seen since 1984. that is a strong, strong performance for the full year, no question there. when you look within these numbers, it is just about every single category of the economy was powering ahead, powering ahead in the year. this is why the fed has said it is time to go ahead and start raising interest rates. it is against the backdrop of a strong job market and strong economy overall. we saw jobless claims fall again, that's another decent number, showing you that bosses don't want to be laying people off in this environment. they're having trouble finding workers, they're having trouble meeting the demand for their products and their services and so they're not laying people off in this economy. this is why the fed is confident enough to start raising interest rates multiple times this year to draw down its very big balance sheet of all the asserts purchased during the crisis to try to support the american economy. for all of us that means higher bore ro borrowing costs, all of that is coming down the pike here. whole new era in 2022 than the past few year. >> perhaps the economic numbers back it up. thank you very much. the tough side of all of this, inflation. gatt gas prices are rising again. the national average price of a gallon of gas is up more than five cents a gallon from a month ago. >> consumers were really feeling this pinch n nortpinch. it is hitting driver and small businesses pretty hard. cnn business and politics correspondent vanessa yurkevich takes a look. >> reporter: the price of gas on the rise again. >> use a whole lot of fuel. >> reporter: and when you're filling up 500 trucks a week, it gets expensive. >> how you doing? >> diesel fuel is one of our single biggest expenses to run the trucks. >> reporter: shawn brown is mayor of claremont, north carolina, and works for his family's 50-year-old trucking company. >> each truck has 200 gallon total capacity in the fuel tanks. drivers run on average around 2,000 miles a week, some more, some less. you do the math on that. >> reporter: we did and with diesel up more than a dollar a gallon on average in the last year, that's about $736 each time one of these fills up. $200 more per truck on average from a year ago. >> any cost that goes up will hurt your profitability. >> reporter: in north carolina, prices have seen the biggest annual increase in seven years. up 5 cents a gallon for regular fuel in just the last month. in line with national increases. >> gas prices really have been a roller coaster ride. these are places where gas prices don't tend to drop as they do in other places around the country because they are year round destinations. >> reporter: with the price of crude oil which makes fuel jumping 30% since december, due to increased demand but less product on the market, the cost to fill up could continue to rise. >> it is not something you can put down. gas is a must. you cannot get from here to there without the gas. so there is no way getting by it. >> reporter: some drivers have found a way. >> i saw you have north carolina plates. >> so looking to save some money. ten minutes i can save 20 cents. >> reporter: just a short drive from charlotte, north carolina, into south carolina, can save drivers ten to 20 cents a gallon on average. >> if we're work over here, we always get gas over here on this side. >> reporter: christine works for a landscaping company that services north and south carolina. she says the price of gas in any state is too much. >> it cost me well into $140, $150 to fill up. >> reporter: when you look at that price, what do you think? >> i think it sucks. it can put me out of business. there are some jobs that i don't even take now because it costs me too much to get there. >> reporter: now, about half the drivers we spoke to say that they see the gas prices, they pay it, they don't think anyone has any control over it. the other half of drivers we spoke to say that they think that the federal government and president joe biden can and should do something about these high prices. the president authorized the release of 50 million barrels of oil from the country's strategic petroleum reserve. that may help a little bit. but beyond that, there is nothing that he really can do except to maybe pressure the world's biggest oil producing nations, that's opec, to release more oil into the global marketplace. but jim and bianna, opec says they don't plan to do that and that directly affects the high prices we're seeing around the country right now, and right here at the pump in north carolina. jim, bianna. >> u.s. presidents have for years been trying to pressure opec, opec does what it wants. vanessa yurkevich, thank you very much. cnn speaks with the lead moderna researcher developing booster shots in the age of omicron. what you should be taking into account as you consider vaccinations. let's get ready for jalapeñoooo popperrrs! turns out, michael buffer speaks like that all the time. and it turns out the general is a quality insuran company that's been saving people money for nearly 60 years. for a great low rate, and nearly 60 years of quality coverage, go with the general. looking to get back in your type 2 diabetes zone? once-weekly ozempic® can help. ♪ oh, oh, oh, ozempic®! ♪ ♪ oh, oh, oh ♪ ozempic® is proven to lower a1c. most people who took ozempic® reached an a1c under 7 and maintained it. and you may lose weight. adults lost 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specific booster clinical trial. now, this comes as new research shows that a booster dose of their vaccine remains durable against omicron variant for at least six months. but it did show some signs of waning antibody protection. >> cnn's senior medical correspondent elizabeth cohen following the story. so, elizabeth, you spoke with the lead researcher who is heading up this work. what did he say about the importance of boosters in the age of omicron? i've been following this as close as i can, i'm a little confused as to where folks are coming down on. >> jim, i'll give you the bottom line then. i spoke with dr. david montefiore, a researcher out of duke university, the senior author on this new england journal of medicine paper, and he said boosters are even more important in the age of omicron than in the age of delta or before then. they are so important. take a look at this data and you will see why. so they looked at blood samples from about 20 people, and of those who got two shots, one month after their second shot, for most of them neutralizing antibodies against omicron were very low or even undetectible, but then the folks after they got a third shot about a month later, within a month later, their neutralizing antibodies were up 20 times. the reason for this is that these vaccines weren't designed to fight omicron. omicron didn't exist when the vaccines were designed. and omicron is a big shift. it is quite different from the original version of the coronavirus. so he said third dose is so important in the age of omicron. now, you mentioned that there was some waning, so is it possible that six months from now, say, we're going to be told, you should get a fourth dose. that's the direction they're heading in, in israel. it is possible, but we don't know for sure. we have to see how this plays out in real life, because, of course this study was done in the lab. jim, bianna. >> and many experts, health experts around the world say we're not going to just continue to booster our way out of this vaccine as well. so a lot of questions to be asked and remain, obviously, as we get more and more research out of this. elizabeth cohen, thank you as always. well, still ahead, a third witness cooperates with the justice department's investigation into congressman matt gaetz. why investigators would want to hear from a florida radio host. feel stuck with student loan debt? move to sofi and feel what it's l like to get your money right. ♪ ♪ ♪ move your student loan debt to sofi- you could save with low rates and no fees. earn a $1,000 bonus when you refi- and get your money right. for investors who can navigate this landscape, leveraging gold, a strategic and sustainable asset... the path is gilded with the potential for rich returns. hey hun hey, get your own vapors relax with vicks vapobath or with vicks vaposhower. take a soothing vicks vapo moment wherever you chose. i am here because they revolutionized immunotherapy. i am here because they 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republican congressman matt gaetz. >> the attorney for joseph "big joe" elcox was able to come to shed light after he pleaded guilty in a separate case. whitney wild following this. how does this witness fit into the overall case here and the timeline, frankly, because this has been going on for months. >> absolutely. it's been going on for more than a year. we have this timeline to bring everybody up to speed. this is a really slow drip of information and released publicly as well as information that the department of justice has been able to collect as they pursue this case against republican congressman matt gaetz. the reality here is that this testimony in whatever form it takes could be very significant. el his attorney shares what he knows about allegations against gaetz including sexual contact with a minor, sex trafficking and obstruction of justice. ellicott is cooperating after pleading guilty in a separate scheme and conspiracy to commit wire fraud and pleaded guilty to distribution of a controlled substance. it should be noted that ellicott not called to testify yet but his information could corroborate some of the man of joe greenburg, a one time close friend of gaetz's, a former federal tax official also cooperating with authorities after pleading guilty to several cha charges last year, some including he knowingly solicited and paid a minor for sex. ex-girlfriend of the congressman also testified earlier this month before a grand jury. gaetz, for his part, denied any wrongdoing. not charged with a crime. his office sent us this statement and reads, after nearly a year after false rumors, not a shred of evidence is implicated in his wrongdoing. we remain focused on our work representing floridians. >> whitney wild, stay on top of it. thank you so much. still ahead, president biden and supreme court justice breyer expected to appear as he announces his retirement. how quickly we expect the nomination process to begin and end. but it's not like 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sciutto. >> i'm bianna golodryga. our top story this morning, in the coming hours, the president will appear alongside supreme court stephen breyer as he's expected to announce retirement after years on the bench. >> a chance to deliver on a major campaign promise to nominate the first african-american woman to the highest court in the country. but big question