a historic strike this morning with the union workers coordinating a walkout against the big three u.s. automakers and walking out at the same time for the first time ever, the united auto workers union is using a new strategy in this and it is called targeted streaks, with workers at all three numbers will grow, and likely will go if the demands did goward. with the owners of ford, gm and jeep and dodge are on strike. so president biden is going to weigh in on the strike today, and vanessa yurkevich is live at the head quarters in detroit, and earlier, you spoke to the ceo of gm, and now that, you know, the threats are reality, and the contract negotiations are falling apart, and the strike is under way, what is she saying? >> yeah. the big three autoworkers are watching these strikes very, very closely. they are very disappointed shawn fain is speaking out, and i spoke to mary berra the ceo of ford asking about the demand of the 40% increase over four years, and they are tying it to the ceo pay. this the exchange with mary berra a few moments ago. >> the union is asking for a wage increase of 40% over four years, and they asking that, because of the ceos like the big three are making those big pay increases over the last four years, and you have seen a 34% increase in the salary, and you are making almost $30 million and why should the workers not get the same type of pay increases that you are getting leading the company? >> 92% of my compensation is based on leading the company. the aspects of compensation for representative employees is designed not only are we putting a 20% increase on the table, but we have profit sharing. so when the company is doing well, everyone does well. and for the last several years, it has resulted in record profit sharing for the representative employees, and we need to look at the whole competitive offer on the table, and that is why we want to get this offer on the table, and get back, and get this done. >> the union is saying, they want a of the record profits, and the union saying they want to claw back system of what they had to give back in the last contract when they had to help bail gm out when they filed for bankruptcy. they want the original pensions back, and the wage increases to keep up with inflation, but the u ashgts with, and the big three not meeting today as much as mary barra wants that to happen, shawn fain is going to be holding a rally with bernie sander at 5:00 p.m. to encourage the strikers with the demands. and so, president is going to speak about this, and it is going to affect him, because it is going to hurt the economy, but he is a pro usa union supporters. >> and lit, you will want to hear our information on this day as to the strike and what it means for your family members, and what it means for the consumers? the short answer is it depends how long the strike is going to happen. and dealerships will stay open for all three, and most will have vehicles on hand to sell, and before the strikes started, the dealerships had healthy vehicles on hand to sell according to auto trade, and so as it carries on, the choices available to you according to the j.pmorgan analysts they say that it won't reach the levels of the computer chip shortages burk it could come close. another familiar consequences is short of not finding a vehicle, you could see delays in the part ps and delivery, and more car buyers are ordering the factory and so the strike will continue on, but production can continue in mexico and canada where the workers are not on strike. so, it is going to be a snowball effect, and assembly slowing down, and parts could be hard to come by, and that starts today, john. >> thank you, kate. source say that hunter biden is in california awaiting the charges of the three gun felony charges to be filed against him, and trying to find out where he when he will surrender. this is special tax charges which could happen in california or washington, d.c. kara scannell has the details on this. >> yeah, john. hunter biden is under investigation for not paying his taxes over a several-year period, and the clock is running out of time for the prosecutors to bring a case. and david weiss's team, the special counsel's team is going to have a month that could come, as the prosecutors were announcing a three-count indictment against hunter biden, and charging him with the 2013 gun. he is and then the one by the actual gun dealer, and then the other by possessing gun while a drug dealer. the attorneys have come out to say that it is a move by the special prosecutor that is really e flekting the bending to the wheels of mag ashgts republicans involving the plea deal they have struck, and also, they are saying that the gun charges are unconstitutional, and they are coming out the fight this. we are still going to find out when hunter biden is coming to court to enter the plea of not guilty. but the charges are serious, and if he is convicted he could face prison time, and the statutory maximum on these combined charges are $750,000 and 25 years. and the litigation is going to be costly, and with the gun charge on the table and the possibility of additional tax charge, hunter biden could be on trial next yeert ar in the middf his father's re-election campaign. >> and the charges could be 750,000 and up to 25 year, and we also say that is highly unlikely, and what are the mitigating factors. and so, judges will take all of the mitigating factors into his favor, and perhaps he was, if he is convicted and they do concede that he was using drugs that really influenced his decision, and he was not of sound mind while making it, and the other arguments that attorneys can make, and it is highly unlikely that he would face anywhere near the maximum sentences on the charges given those factors, john. >> thank you, kara scannell, thank you for explaining that so clearly. we appreciate that. and as always with us, former prosecutor and cnn analyst michael moore. what do you make of in? >> i think they will enter into a diversion agreement with the government, but it has not come up. it is not the last we have heard about it, but recently, a 5th circuit case in the 5th court of appeals that essentially says that depriving somebody the right of having a gun because of substance abus e issue is vie la violative of his 2nd amendment rights, and so they will say this is unconstitutional, and the supreme court is going to say it is unconstitutional, and as is one of your sister circuits, the 5th circuit. so he wasn't at the time of the drug that you cannot prove it that he was not addicted to the drugs, but at the time that he filled out the questionnaire he was not, and they will challenge it on the legal basis which brings in the book as you were talking about. and we have breaking news that just came in, three men have been acquitted on charges that there were allegations that they were involved in the 2020 plot to kidnap gretchen whitmer. and you remember this, the alleged plot to uncover -- >> and there is also has been, and these men have been acquitted, and i was pulling it up, because we are, our friends and colleagues were putting out guidance because others have been acquitted and because of the nine, but this is a major deal that three of the people, and three are now acquitted in the final trial. the final trial of around the kidnapping plot of the michigan governor gretchen whitmer. >> and michael, you are esteemed former u.s. attorney here. and explain to us why this is a hard case to make and why, without getting into details, why is hard for the prosecutors prove? any time you a grand plot, and you want to analogize it to current day events, look at why the fulton county group wants to be in the courtroom at the same time, so everybody can be dirtied up by everybody else's actions there. and the ink is wet on the story, frankly, because it is coming out. but you had individuals who were what i would call minor players, and if you can be a minor player in the kidnapping plot, but the folks who had done some weapons type training and they had driven by the house at some point, and so what i would call not key players in the cons conspiracy, but as they stood trial alone, their role could be minimized. so, that is why i think that you are seeing a different verdict here than you saw in other case, and you had people who appeared to be fairly minor in the involvement to the extent that you want to call it that in this type of case, but, you know, they would separate it from the more culpable player, and this is harder to sort of talk about the gravity of the case, and harder to paint the picture for the jury to have the full context of the story, and you can say that you can talk about it or evidence about it, but it is a different thing than having everybody sitting there on the other side of the courtroom looking at those 12 people waiting on the verdict. >> so it is interesting to the point that you were making there, one of the men who was just acquitted testified and two of them at least testified in their own defense in this, and willie null took the stand and said that he was told about the plot before the surveillance was conducted, he didn't take it seriously. right? this is getting to what you are making to the point that these may not have been major players and they never truly understood what was going on as their defense. >> yes, and as you weigh in, michael, this is video of them becoming emotional when they hear about this acquittal in court just now, and the charges that they were acquitted of was one count of providing material support for a terrorist act and possessing a firearm when attempting or committing a felony. michael? >> yeah, as i look at it, and frankly, i can imagine they are emotional, because they got word that they won't be spending the majority of their life in a prison somewhere with this verdict. sometimes, too, the prosecutors can charge things against specific individuals that may be a little bit of a reach, hoping that they get a compromised verdict or ultimately structure a plea deal, and i don't know in this case if that is where we are at. but you know, a jury is looking at it saying that you did x and you have not proven all of the elements in the crime, and you not proven that the support is material, and they had knowledge, and as well in a smaller group, they don't go through the same questioning, and maybe they feel like, you know, they have the chance to get up and give their testimony without other people getting up to rebut some of what they said with the folks being the co-defendants in the scheme. >> michael moore, thank you very much, and to remind people how this happened, two therother pls were convicted in federal court and seen as the primary players here, but now these three acquitted on all charges of assisting them essentially. >> yes, and that is what it seems. much more to learn, and we are getting the detail on all of this, and we will continue to bring it to you throughout the show. we are also following this coming into cnn "news central," a nation in turmoil after a catastrophic natural disaster. flooding in libya has killed at least 5,000 people, and 10,000-plus are still missing. the difficulties facing emergency teams trying to help survivors ahead as cnn is on the ground in libya. also, tracking this, the new gains for ukraine in the counter offensive as the ukrainian president zelenskyy is coming to the united states to meet with president biden and meet with members of congress and also to meet with leaders at the united nations general assembly, and the importance of all of this in the moment of the ukraine's counteroffensive. and hurricane watches have been issued for parts of new england as hurricane lee is heading for land, and one official up in maine is saying that she is worried about the impact of it, and the wind impacting the power, and it is going to be hitting in the middle of the night. more on the path ahead. my relationship with my credit cards wasn''t good. i got into debt in college, and no matter how much i paid, it followed me everywhere. the high interest... i got i felt trapped.llege, debt! debt! de! debt! so i broke up with my credit card debt and consolidated it into a low te personal loan from sofi. i finally feel like a gr. break up with bad credit card debt. get a personal loan with low fixed rates and borrow up to $100k. go to sofi.com to view your rate. sofi get your money right. if we want a more viable future for our kids, we need to find more sustainable ways of doing things. america's plastic makers are investing billions of dollars in new technologies and creating plastic products that are more recyclable. durable. and dependable. our goal is a cleaner, healthier planet for generations to come. for a better tomorrow, we're focused on making plastics better today. ♪ there it is. that feeling you get... when you can du more with less asthma. it starts with dupixent. dupixent is not for sudden breathing problems. it's an add-on treatment for specific types of moderate-to-severe asthma. and can help improve lung function for better breathing in as little as two weeks. dupixent helps prevent asthma attacks... and can even reduce or eliminate oral steroids. can you picture it? 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if you want to help the flood victims go to our vetted groups at cnn.com/impact. and next week president zelenskyy is coming to united states, and they will gather for the u.n. general assembly, and why his visit is coming at a crucial time at the war. and hurricane lee is making his way toward eastern new england where we are tracking large and dangerous storm. we will bring it to you. buy one footlong, get one 50% off inin the subway app today. now that's a deal worth celebrating. man, what t are you doing?! get it before it's gone on the subway app. ♪ ♪ with wet amd, sometimes i worry my world is getting smaller because of my sight. but now, i can open up my world with vabysmo. vabysmo is the first fda-approved treatment for people with wet amd that improves vision and delivers a chance for up to 4 months between treatments. which means doing more of what i love. ♪ vabysmo is the only treatment designed to block 2 causes of wet amd. vabysmo is an eye injection. don't take it if you have an infection or active swelling in or around your eye, or are allergic to it or any of its ingredients. treatments like vabysmo can cause eye infection or retinal detachment. vabysmo may cause a temporary increase in eye pressure after receiving the injection. although uncommon, there is a potential risk of heart attack or stroke associated with blood clots. open up your world! a chance for up to 4 months between treatments with vabysmo. ask your doctor. i've struggled with generalized myasthenia gravis. but the picture started changing when i started on vyvgart. vyvgart is for adults with generalized myasthenia gravis who are anti-achr antibody positive. in a clinical trial, vyvgart significantly improved most participants' ability to do daily activities when added to their current gmg treatment. most participants taking vyvgart also had less muscle weakness. and your vyvgart treatment schedule is designed just for you. in a clinical study, the most common side effects included urinary and respiratory tract infections, and headache. vyvgart may increase the risk of infection. tell your doctor if you have a history of infections or symptoms of an infection. vyvgart can cause allergic reactions. available as vyvgart for iv infusion and now as vyvgart hytrulo for subcutaneous injection. additional side effects for vyvgart hytrulo may include injection site reactions. talk to your neurologist about vyvgart. okay everyone, our mission is to provide complete balanced nutrition for strength and energy. woo hoo! ensure, complete balanced nutrition with 27 vitamins and minerals. and ensure complete with 30 grams of protein. ♪ ♪ wow, you get to watch all your favorite stuff. it's to die for. and it's all right here. streaming was never this easy, you know. this is the way. you really went all out didn't you? um, it's called commitment. could you turn down the volume? here, you can try. get way more into what your into when you stream on the xfinity 10g network. on the radar this hour, the same sex couple in kentucky was just awarded $100,000 years after they were denied a marriage license. david arnold and david moore sued the clerk because she refused to give them a license even though the supreme court recognized same sex license, but she said it violated her christian convictions, and now we see who has had the last word there. in southern california, a district court has agreed to pay the family whose child was killed by bullies. the young man fell and hit his head on a pillar, and administrators were warned that the young boy was bullied but they did not do anything about it, and after the settlement, they have highlighted the anti-bullying efforts that have been put in place. >> tv painter bob ross is a cultural icon and now the market is starting to reflect that. the going price for his first pain painting live on air in 1993, a show volunteer bought it and kept it until the minneapolis gallery owner got it, and now they are listing it for sale of $9.85 million, but it is no rush to sell. happy little trees, john. >> the hair though, the hair is priceless. hurricane lee is speeding up as it gets closer to new england. it passed bermuda, and the outer bands are to hit the united states and the worst conditions coming in across the new england coast, and our gary tuchman got a rare look inside of a hurricane plane. >> reporter: this plane travels about 500 miles per hour, and this is essentially a flying weather station. a weather station that goes to the weather. for the next eight hours the men and women of the noaa core will fly in this high altitude reconnaissance jet above and below hurricane lee. >> to be clear, gary went up in that plane. he is here and survived to tell us about it. tell us what that is like to be inside as it is going through the storm. >> well, john, the technology is magnificent, but not more magnificent than the men and women who are operating technology. they work for noaa and this a gulf stream four, and it is a business jet, but reconfigured with the computer equipment to make it a flying computer, and it is named gonzo, because of the sesame street character gonzo, and it is with a doppler radar in the back, and also, another radar in the front, and throughout the eight-hour journey, most of the time was in circles, and they use what are called drop suns, but they look like pringles cans, and they drop them to the bottom of the plane, and float by a parachute to the ocean, and they provide wind speed, barometric pressure, and yes, john, a lot of turbulence, and there is another noaa plane, that is bigger, and it is the pt ryan, and i have flown in that one, too, but it is other worldly bouncing up and down on that plane, and a lot of turbulence. >> extreme discomfort. so they have all of the technology for a reason, because it can make a real difference for the people on the ground during the storm? >> right. so all of the data they get from the radar and the drop suns, it is embedded into the computer models which go to the meteorologists all over the world, including the meteorologists here at cnn and to provide the most, and the best possible forecasts for what is happening with this hurricane. it is all impressive. like i said, i have been in a couple of the planes before, and the people are very brave, because there is a lot of risk when you are flying in the missions, but they are wonderful people to be with. we are proud that they work for our government and help us out when these hurricanes are coming our way. >> incredibly cool. a lot of incredible technology there. gary tuchman, thank you for doing it. you can watch his full piece tonight on "ac360." kate? >> lots of dramamine. that is all i am saying. thousands of union workers on the picket line of what is called an unprecedented strike. the latest from the ground. 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>> thank you for having me, and second of all, this strike is important not only to build the middle-class, but to further help the united auto workers and what we stand for. i think that shawn fain is doing a good job by calling the strike out so that becan, you know, get to the things that we deserve. >> understood. and as of now, as i said, that your plant is not striking, but it could at some point, and at some point it could come to you, and how long could you survive being off work? i guess that there is a $500 a week strike payment, and how long could you live on that? >> i mean, it would probably do some damage, but me and my wife both have been aware of the possible strike for quite some time now, and so we have been doing our due diligence in trying to save up as much money as we can in case of things like this, and so it does not speak for everybody's situation who works at all of the plants though, and so, it is one union, one fight, so i am hoping that we can all come to some agreement, so that it won't be an out lasting thing. >> one thing that the ceos of the auto companies said, is that, look, the uaw wants a 40% pay increase, and if we give that to you, to them, it would bankrupt them, and they cannot afford that, and what is your response? >> ugh, my response to that is that i don't think that it would cripple the economy or cripple their bottom line. they are make billions of dollars, and you know, it is time to in 2007, they came out saying that once we got back on our feet, we will kick back, and they are making record profits at this point in time. so, that's what the whole strike is about right now is us getting back what we were told that we were going to get back. >> and so we are waiting to hear from president biden on this, and he is going to make a statement perhaps about this strike, and what do you want to hear from the president on this? >> i am hoping that the president backs us, and i hope that he speaks on behalf of the union workers. because it is something that, you know, it is due to us, and it is not something that is made up in stone or being greedy or any of that, but it is something that was promised to us, and we deserve it. >> all right. darius goodman, we wish you all of the best, and you are on your break right now, and this is important to you, and you have taken out of your break in the workday to bring thus message and we appreciate your time and best to you and your wife. >> thank you very much. >> kate? 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>> kate, it is important that the attacks that we are seeing right now in crimea is in the context of the counter offensive. the offensive is not just a raland assault going through the minefields, but it is multi offensive putting pressure on the russian general staff, but it is making crimea, the most important part of the all of these things are connected. i think the general staff is running rings around the russian general staff. >> president biden meet ing wit zelenskyy around the general assembly. zelenskyy will be visiting congress, the u.s. capitol and as i said in the introduction, you have zelenskyy who will be standing before a gathering of world leaders at the unga looking them in the eye in this critical moment where you're seeing 19 months in and there's question about continued support of ukraine's efforts. how important is this visit for ukraine? >> i think it's very important. the russians are hoping that all of us will just get tired and will lose interest. that's their only hope. so it's up to the president of the united states and a few other world leaders, particularly i think the german chancellor, to talk to our population and say, look, this is in our interest. what's happening in ukraine is not some other side of the world. this is in our strategist interest. because american prosperity depends on your prosperity, which depends on security and stability. there's a practical aspect of this in our interest. the chinese are also watching to see are we serious when we say we are for sovereignty, for respect for international law, respect for freedom of navigation, respect for international agreements. are we serious about that? if we can't do that here in helping ukraine against russia, i don't think the chinese will be very impressed either. >> this speaks directly to a letter you cowrote. you pushed the speak er and republicans and all members of congress, quite frankly torks continue supporting ukraine from the part of the united states. to remind folks, i want to read a bit from your letter. now is not the time, you write torks allow partisan poll tucks to get in the way of supporting an ally that's fighting for freedom as well as their own exist tense. ukrainians need our help. they need military and nonlethal aid and they needed it yesterday. that's size to answer. there's a fight on capitol hill over continued funding. you're seeing polling numbers on declining support amongst americans around supporting ukraine. have you heard anything back from republicans, from the speaker on this? >> not directly from the speaker's office, although obviously i would love to have that conversation. actually, i think the majority of the congress in a bipartisan way continues to support ukraine. unfortunately, in the house, you have a small number of extreme right wingers that see political gain. i never would have imagined in n my life the party of reagan would not be willing to support any effort against russia, against the kremlin. but i can't understand exactly that, but i also don't understand why the president has not said to the nation this is in our interest. it's in our interest that ukraine wins this war, so we're going to give thunderstorm what they need to win. >> and it shows how important this meeting not only between zelenskyy and biden is, but also when zelenskyy goes to capitol hill towards the end of next week. i wonder what you think -- what do you think more he needs to say or can say to try to convince folks they haven't seen it already. they don't understand already how important it is to continue u.s. support of ukraine. what is he to do when he goes to meet with members of congress? >> i think trying to understand the enormous burden and pressure that's on our president and on the pentagon and the state department trying to think through how do we do this? how do we achieve our strategic interest. in this case, that means helping ukraine win. there will be concern about the potential of russian escalation. that's been in the front of their mind for a long time. president zelenskyy can put their mind at ease about the likelihood of russia doing that and even if russia did use a nuclear weapon against ukraine, ukraine is not going to stop. so i think this will be part of the conversation that they have. and president zelenskyy has earned so much trust with so many leaders around the world. he can probably help convey to them that this is also about american interest, about german interest. he can help them make the case to their own population. >> attorney general, thank you so much for coming on. that's all for cnn "cnn news central." it's friday. enjoy your weekend. 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