and a close confidant of benjamin netanyahu. and revenge, dictatorship, some of the top words people chose to describe a potential second trump term. so why is the former president shrugging it off and showing it off? "cnn this morning" start aa starts right now. ♪ just hours away from a critical meeting in mexico. secretary of state antony blinken and my arrest and the goal is to help ease pressure on the u.s. southern border. >> and new reporting that the two u.s. cabinet officials will turn up the pressure on their mexican counterparts to play a bigger role in driving down border crossings. the mayor of eagle pass calls

president biden's handling of the migrant crisis unacceptable. >> this is unacceptable. our city here, we've been getting slammed with #,2,000 to 3,000 people a day and it is just an unfair, unethical situation what is going on here. we feel ignored by the federal government. >> right now 11,000 migrants are waiting in shelters and catches on the mexican side of the border with hopes of crossing into the u.s. >> and we start on with priscilla alvarez who has more reporting from what is going on inside the white house in advance of these talks. what is the administration looking for? >> reporter: this is telling who is going to max comexico to mar meeting. secretary of state antony blinken and secretary alejandro mayorkas coming with specific requests to drop the numbers. and that is according to

officials moving migrants south on mexico's northern border and controlling railways often used by my grants to quickly get to the u.s. southern border and also providing incentives like visas to keep them from journeying to the u.s. southern border to begin with. bordering towns have been overwhelmed by the number of people arriving at the u.s./mexico border. and that has put more pressure on president biden to do more to try to manage the situation. and that is what he is looking to mexico to help with. and the u.s. has historically done this, they have lean order mexico in moments of crisis to help them with the numbers at the u.s. southern border. and they are hoping that with these asks, they can at least get some relief to these border towns and the country as a

whole. and many of the requests could be done fairly quickly. but the question he is can they help in the long term. often types mexico will help immediately, but they too are limited in their capacity. they can only do so much for so long. so often types wetimes we'll th go down a bit and then they go up a bit. so the challenge is what can they draw up to help them for months to come and not only provide relief for the few weeks to come. >> priscilla, thank you. and also this morning israel's military chief reits rating the war against hamas will likely continue for many months. >> translator: there areare no magic solutions and no shorts ultimate cans in dismantling a terrorist organization. or persistent fighting.

>> and a close confidant of netanyahu sat down with u.s. officials to talk about a more targeted phase of a war in gaza. the humanitarian crisis though persists and gets worse by the day and the hamas controlled health ministry says now more than 21,000 people have been killed there so far. will ripley is joining us from tel aviv. good morning. so if that is what will happen, months and months of warfare, what will that look like on the ground then in gaza for the people there? >> reporter: yes, it will be crucial to find out exactly how those months will play out. and we got some insight from a white house official breaking down the meeting at the white house between close confidant of netanyahu. let's take you through the bullet points. one, they will be talking about the transition of the war focusing on the high value hamas targets as opposed to the massive kind of bombing

campaigns that have caused a lot of destruction and killed thousands of hamas militants. also improving the humanitarian situation inside gaza, minimizing the harm to civilians, that will be crucial. planning for the lease of the remaining hostages, securing release of 100 plus still believed to be alive and also what adoes it look like after te conflict, who will govern the gaza strip. and those answers not all answered yet. and so how the israelis will chie achieve what they say needs to happen for peace. and that is demilitarizing the gaza strip, deradicalizing the entire palestinian people and also destroying hamas. those were the words in an op-ed by benjamin netanyahu. >> very unclear how all three of those actually get done.

and israel announced that it will stop automatically granting visas to u.n. workers. do we know what that would mean in a practical sense? >> reporter: it would be harder for people to get into staff u.n. run schools and hospitals. all of the various organizations and ngos that work under the umbrella of the united nations that have been crucial to getting in aid, supplies and other assistance for the people of gaza. it will be a much more time kimming case coupling process. and that is because israel says they believer the united nations is biased against israel. and they say that they essentially trying to turn the world against israel. so sthey don't want to make it

any easier to get in and see the situation. but of course critics say that is not only cutting off help but also censorship to try to violence the voices raising the alarm about the situation on the ground in gaza. >> because a lot of the aid comes through the u.n. people and things already set up. will, thanks very much. also this morning donald trump on truth social sharing a word cloud about himself with some of the words being revenge and dictatorship. the word cloud is part of a survey whether 1,000 likely voters were asked what trump wants out of a second term. this is after his christmas ramps attacking jack smith and joe biden. kristen holmes is joining us. i see the slight grin on your face. we're talking about a word cloud that is mostly nonsense cal and has limited impact but also what

trump would want people to be talking about. or is there a deeper strategy or meaning here? >> reporter: sorry to disappoint you, because i don't think that there is a deeper meaning. but we had to dig where the word cloud came from. but i want to break it down. first biggest word is revenge. donald trump does believe that this campaign is about revenge and he has said so out loud. he said that if he won a second term, he had weaponize the j justice department. so the second part is trolling. this is exactly what he wants people to be talking about. he knows the word dictatorship and if it comes from him, that will spin the media up and will spin democrats up and as well as the anti-trump republicans. but the one thing to pay attention to here is, yes, he continues to say dictatorship, dictator, he uses these tongue

in cheek remarks saying i'll only be a dictator on day one. but donald trump and his allies are working towards a second administration that would consolidate power under an executive giving the president and the white house an enormous amount of power. which is how the conversation all started. and that is a very real thing that is happening. the third part is that donald trump does have a base that eats this up, not just the dictatorship part. but if you look at the other big words, power, economy economy, he likes to look strong and he believes that his voters want a fighter. and that is why he is posting something like this. one thing i want to point out, they had the same questions for a second biden term and words were a little different. they were nothing, economy, peace, and power. >> interesting. before you go, why is vivek

ramaswamy pulling tv ads in iowa and also trump saying that he is sure vivek will endorse him, so you have to think is he planning for some sort of spot in a trump cabinet if trump wins. >> that is the big question. vivek has been very careful. he has not gone against the former president in any way. and i know from talking to senior advisers that there are members of vie rec's team who talk to members of trump's team. and obviously it is too early to talk about a potential scab nei cabinet. vivek is saying that tv is an old way of advertising. but we know it is a way that works. but whether or not he endorses remains a big question. >> and two things can both be true. his points about roi and tv

spend ware accurate. probably means that he doesn't have any money left. kristen holmes, appreciate you. as the former president works to score an early 2024 victory or victories in early primary states, the campaign schedule is a tight one. we'll break down the legal cases that clash right with the primary calendar, ahead. and buy now pay later hopefully. the concerns about the popular payment method.

welcome back. donald trump set to have a very busy 2024 as his legal cases clash with the primary calendar. right now we're waiting on three big legal moves after the request was rejected by the supreme court. special counsel jack smith waiting for an appeals court to decide whether trump has any immunity from federal prosecution for alleged crimes committed while he was in office. >> and also the ruling from colorado that removed trump from the primary ballot. trump says he will file an

appeal. and maine secretary of state says she will decide this week if trump will be removed from their bear lalancing lot ballot. elie honig is joining us. we're a couple days away from january. what does that month look like for trump? >> let's enjoy these quiet few days because when january hits, look out. let's start with the first item which is the federal criminal case related to the election subversion. trump claims that he is immune because conduct was with to do with his official job as president. now, trump lost that argument here at the trial court level, district court. jack smith wanted the supreme court to take the case directory. but in a somewhat surprising ruling, the supreme court said no, you have to go through the normal channels meaning next stop is the court of appeals.

and then potentially the u.s. supreme court. good news for jack smith, court of appeals has ordered a mega expedited schedule. the arguments have tuesday january 9. i think it is very likely that the court of appeals will rule by the end of january. but then donald trump can ask for what is called a review. and then he can ask the supreme court to take the case and that takes month. trial date is march 4 and i think that is in jeopardy. >> and what about the 14th amendment? he will appeal what the supreme court decided that he can't be on the ballot in colorado. how long will that take? >> again the calendar is key. they ruled 4-3 that he engaged in insurrection and next stop most certainly the supreme court. but let's look at the calendar. this ruling by the colorado

supreme court, they put it on hold, a stay as we would call it, until january 4. and the next day january 5 is when colorado prints up its primary ballots meaning as long as trump go to the supreme court, he doesn't have to win, but goes to the supreme court, everything is on hold and he will be on the ballot for the primary. but then the supreme court will have to decide the bigger issue which is for the general itself. >> why hasn't he appealed yet? >> i think that he is trying to wait until the last possible moment. >> why? >> that is the strategy. if you have 30 day, file on day 29 1/2. >> lits talkess talk about the cases. >> yeah, the e. jean carroll trial. he was found liable for $5 million. and this is a second trial related to additional statement that's made. trump trying to get it put on hold by the court of appeals.

but look at the year and i will calendar. there is a debate hosted by cnn on january 10th. the iowa caucus will be january 15. and then the new hampshire caucus. i'm told those are big political events. and overlapping it, the colorado date january 4. the immunity argument january 9. and the e. jean carroll trial begins on the 16th. and the civil fraud trial, we'll have closing arguments on january 11th. but that is it. nice and open schedule. >> i'm a little unsettled by this. but it looks cool. >> our producers are put out these new tools that i'm onrunng

wild with. >> appreciate it. and an indiana man spent six days including christmas trapped under a bridge in a mangled truck. how he was found and survived, that is next. and an actor from the movie "parasite" has been found dead. what we're learning.

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it is a miracle that he is alive. we've been lucky enough this christmas season that our temperatures have been as you all know above normal. so that was working individual's favor. >> and that individual, a man alive after truly a miraculous story of survival. found alive after being pinned in his truck for six days before the 27-year-old dropped proceed a bridge on ich-94. he served off the hirm and landed in a deep ravine where no one could see his truck until nearly a week later.

and then two fishermen saw something shiny. >> yeah, the word miracle gets tossed around, but this is not overstated. it could have ended so differently. these two men, mario and his son-in-law, they were in portage, indiana southeast of chicago. and just trying to find a spot to go fishing. they cast a few lines. and 3:45 in the afternoon. so might be starting to get dark out. they see something shiny. and say let's go check it out. turns out it is a dodge ram truck wedged under that bridge right there. and mario, the older gentleman, goes unto the truck and pushes the airbag away, sees what he thinks is a lifeless body. and then touches his shoulder just to reach out to the man and the man wakes up and turns around and starts talking to him. well, he had been there since

last wednesday. just a tremendous story. they were able to extradite him. take a listen to mario. >> couldn't tell if it was a truck or not, but it caught our curiosity. apa i walked over, and he followed me and we went up to it and i moved the white airbag. there was a body in there april went to touch it, and he turned around. and that just -- it was shocking and he was very happy to see us. like he was really like i never seen a relief like that. >> amazing. >> just -- again, to have to see the car, to go up and check on the man himself, unbelievable. they still at this point don't know what caused the actual crash. but police said that the man

survived by drinking rainwater. truly miles praculous story. >> danny, thank you very much. and christmas is over and the bills at santa didn't pick up -- does santa pick up the bills? but there is a concern about the debt americans are racking up about especially the buy now pay later services. athena, what is buy now pay later? >> yeah, we've seen this blow up the last few years. say you are buying a new pellaen to. you can get it right away and you are paying in installments using buy now pay later. typically four installments. payments are interest free, so very appealing to consumers. and if ygetting the peloton and paying in four in-ststallments usually over six weeks. and we've seen it explode up 40%

from a year ago. and at first buy now pay later was for big tickets item. but we've seen it expand which could be a warning sign. >> so what is the population of buyers that is utilizing this? >> younger americans, particularly people under the age of 35. so 49% of buy now pay later users are under the age of 34. we're also seeing lower income folks flock to buy now pay later. so people financially strapped are using this. >> so what are the concerns? >> so a lot of concerns from economists and from consumer protection advocates. so you take out a buy now pay later installment, people are worried that you are going to overspend on it, and if you miss payments, you could get hit with late fees. so you are wracking up debt and

you miss another payment, racking up even more debt. and something to be aware of, most of these companies, they are not reported to the credit bureaus. so that means there is a broader financial risk to the system that we aren't aware of. >> that is interesting. fascinating stuff. thank you. and so oil prices up a bit. gas prices up slightly. are the attacks on ships in the red sea impacting all of that? they certainly could. ahead, what our next guest says the biden administration should do about it.

this morning fear that the conflict in the middle east is widening. the u.s. navy intercepted missiles over the red sea yesterday over ten hours. u.s. central command says houthis are responsible. >> and this is just a day after president biden directed the strikes after three u.s. troops were injured in erbil air force

base. and in a new piece in the atlantic, on ur next guest says that maritime conflict has begun and the u.s. has little choice but to fight. and so now juliette kayyem is joining us. it is a fascinating piece because there is no hedging here. as the administration tries to figure out anyway possible not to directly engage houthis and what has been happening, you are saying that it is too late, time to engage, is that fair? >> yes, and there is engagement. we can't deny it. even just yesterday as 17 drone and missile strikes were sent from the houthi area of yemen, new any controlled area of yemen towards cargo ships in the red sea, so basically you have a very narrow checkpoint near yemen between the indian ocean and the mediterranean sea through the suez canal. so this is a major choke point.

and just to give people assess of what it means, this is basically 10% of global trade goes through the suez canal. 30% of maritime trade. so is this is not an area that easily closed. there are al in a differences. major of the many shipping companies have decided on go to the cape of good hope in africa. that adds time. and right now we're engaged at this stage, we have an ongoing operation. we're trying to protect the ships. but the engagement has not stopped the houthis yet and may require greater involvement including taking out the houthis

areas where they are launching into the suez. >> and you also write about the xhi economic impact. 12% goes to the red sea of global trade. as if the biden administration needed another economic headwind. is that in-krevitable given thi? >> it is. a little bit about the shipping industry, there is a little give right now. not much, but a bit of give, it tends to be a quieter period surprisingly because a lot of shipments have already been made. so the industry knows that there is a bit of give. after covid the industry went from a just in time sort of footing in to a just in case footing. so they do have a little bit of give. but it is not a lot of give. they will have on come back in full force in january. and just to describe the alternative, the alternative is of course going south through

africa. it is called the cape of broken ships for a reason. it is more dangerous. it takes longer. and that is why we're seeing -- and essentially requires a lot more oil. so that is why you are seeing the increase. >> i think it adds about two weeks on to shipping time, right? that is a lot. >> and the major, major shipping companies are already by passing sue assist jz because of this o group launching these missiles an drones. and whether it is danish company, u.s. companies or russian companies, this will have a global impact whatever side you are on. >> can you explain to people -- the u.s. has had counter strike syria or iraq. and they have not struck the houthi rebels. why is this so complicated? you have gulf countries that

have complications. why are they holding back for now? >> so there is a couple things. one, we have this ten nation consortium which is essentially led by us. no question, we are alone in this and it has to do with our assumption of israel. so if you look at the gulf nations like saudi arabia which should be engaged, they are against the houthis. saudis have not risen to the occasion to protect the suez canal. part of this is because those countries do not want to get further engaged in anything that looks like they are supporting israel or even the united states backing of israel. the united states finds itself isolated in this and therefore it will be incumbent on the united states to protect the suez. the defense secretary talked about a ten nation consortium, but if you look at the numbers,

it is the united states that is launching most of the couudis h supportive of our efforts and so they are nerves uous as everyon should be about the wars escalating else where. >> and big concern for the u.s. officials as well. a great piece in the atlantic. thank you. and from a ground breaking advancement in sickle cell treatment to weight loss shots, we're looking back at the top ten health and wellness stories of 2023. and also this -- >> hello, mariah, how are you? i'm a fan. >> i'm a fan. >> i just want you to know -- >> oh, we love it. >> president biden loves it too. so does the rest of america. the song you can't escape during the holiday season.

nor do you want to. all i want for christmas is you has stopped bill board top 100 list for a second consecutive week. the song now logs a 14th tootal week at number one. first artist in the chart's history with three such number one songs. that is what it takes to get a meeting in the oval office.

this year we saw damar hamlin made a miles per hour con recovery and also a way we saw new ways to tackle critical drug shortages. and dr. sanjay gupta has the top ten health and wellness stories of 2023.

>> 2023 may best be described as incredible year of breakthroughs and innovation whiles a year of continuing to deal or not deal with basic ongoing health problems. our team has had many moments now reflect, be inspired, len and redouble our efforts to help make all of you happier, healthier and more informed. so let's kick it off with nunl ten of our top ten health stories. january 2, 2022, damar hamlin go into cardiac arrest on national tv. a quick response not only saved hamlin's life but brought national attention to the importance of cpr, rapid defibrillation and the nfl's safety protocols which i saw firsthand. keep in mind the medical team was able to get to damar hamlin within 10 seconds. speed really matters here.

every additional minute that someone in cardiac arrest goes without cpr, mortality goes up by up to 10%. number nine. you probably never heard of again this, but this is the main ingredient in over the counter cold medicines. and this year, an fda committee says contrary to popular belief, it was not effective as a nasal decongestant in tablet form. so while we wait for a final decision, some stores have said that it will no longer sell medications that contain it as the only active ingredient. but there are lots of options out there. number eight. a breakthrough for modern medicine. a >> johnny one of the first to lead crispr.

>> i was worried that i was going to get like super powers. >> in december the fada proved the treatment to use a technique known as crispr. crispr allows scientists to precisely cut and modify dna. which could then potentially treat or even cure certain diseases such as sickle cell but also cancer, muscular dystrophy and even parkinsons. number seven. >> a 60 year scientific quest has now given us the world's first rsv vaccine. >> for the first time we have vaccines available to fight the full respiratory triple threats of covid-19, flu and rsv. last season we saw cases of rsv come back with a vengeance reminding us of the importance of vaccination especially for the most vulnerable. >> before i knew what happened, he was being admitted and pumped with oxygen. >> so far we've been sort of

sleep walking into this triple threat season. but there is still time. >> it is not too late to get vaccinated if you haven't already. >> number six. >> there are more than 300 drugs on the fda shortages list right now. more than 90% of cancer centers say that they are impacted by a shortage. >> this one may surprise you. en would ofone of the richest c that spinds trillions on health care but we have the highest numberingshortages. this wonlone had to call hundref hospitals to find treatment for her daughter. and she channeled it into a national effort to predict which drugs will go in on shorts and produce them before patients have to go without. >> and what i see here is each one of those being filled up, 7

to 9 nicu babies will get fed today. number five. >> fooi da has approved a new alzheimer's drug. >> new home. >> and i read the names and a lot don't mean anything to me. >> but this is the first drug proven to showing slowing down of the disease by removing amyloid plaques from the brain. not a cure, but clinical trials found that it can show downs onset oig of more severe symptoms. number four. loneliness. >> i'm so concerned about our children because there is an epidemic, if you will, of mental health challenges. >> coming ouftsd pt of the pand loan aniness is a key health issue. so significant that the surgeons general normally known for things like curbing smoking had

a rare convening to raise the alarm about this topic. >> and i have to look at my three teens every day and know that i'm not handing them a better world than the world let to me and a lot of that is because of our failure to really focus on mental health. >> it is a massive problem that seems to disproportionately affect americans. but at the same time, small moments of human connection, smiling, just saying hello, those are out steps we can take toward a solution. number three. the ripple effects of overturning roe v. wade. real life stories. and unimaginable decisions. >> were the doctors clear with you about what her chances were of surviving? >> they told us there wasborn o >> a rulingo by a texas judge sent mifepristone into legal

limbo. with families feeling the effects, the final decision will be taken up by the supreme court. >> their concerns are if medical abortions are no longer accessible, what if their reproductive rights are restricted even further. number two. ♪ ozempic ♪ >> demand for weight loss and diabetes drugs like these have skyrocketed. a health analysis found in the final three months of last year an estimated 9 million prescriptions were written for these kinds of medications. that's a 300% increase since 2020 and it pushed manufacturing lines to run practically non-stop this year. >> demand is very high. we are doing everything we can to stand up and supply. >> that demand has resulted in shortages. knock-offs. growing awareness of the side effects, including nausea, vomiting, even stomach paralysis. so far, these drugs have been

proven to be effective for weight loss and a welcome tool to combat obesity. and number one. >> we talked about the dark side of a.i. >> this is a bright spot. health care. >> while the message is still to proceed with caution, we have seen a glimpse of how artificial intelligence could change health care from identifying new antibiotics, detecting breast cancer. it may not ever, hopefully, never, replace your actual human doctor. it could help enhance patient care and even as we saw help someone walk again. >> paralyzed man is up and about. >> happy new year and look forward to a lot more in 2024. ♪ >> thanks to sanjay gupta for that. russia confirmed a warship has been damaged after a ukrainian airstrike. the latest on ukraine's counteroffensive next. the mayor of new york says

protests for wars on hamas. more on that ahead.

now to ukraine's kherson. 100 civilians packed into a train station waiting to be evacuated came under russian shelling. one was killed, several injured. russia's confirming now this morning damage to one of its naval tank landing ships in the c crimea region. that strike on tuesday after ukraine claimed that it was destroyed by an airstrike. fred pleitgen is live with reporting on both of these fronts. when you look at kherson and how

strategically vital that is and you look also at crimea and how important that is, what do we make of the airstrike the third loss of russian military hardware in a week? >> reporter: yeah, the third major loss, russians seem to be taking serious losses recently. also those jets that have been shot down apparently by patriots sur surface-to-air missile systems the past couple of days. request this hit on this landing ship is one of things that's remarkable is that crimea is a very big peninsula and was hit on the side of the peninsula that is very far away from ukrainian scrolled territory. the ukrainians saying these were air launch classrooms that took out the ship. the russians are saying there was damage. the ukrainians say they destroyed the ship. the footage that that's come out and the mag you'd of that

explosion there, it seems as though damage might be a bit of an understatement. could be substantial damage. the other thing that the ukrainians are saying why this hit is also so important for them is basically two reasons. they believe that there was a lot of ammo onboard that ship possibly also loitering munitions that the russians have been using against the ukrainians and also say one the reasons why this is so important is every time they hit a ship from the black sea fleet of the russians the black sea fleet of the russians does less in the black sea, is able to operate less. they say the ships aren't really operating the way they used to. certainly that's something where the ukrainians say they have been making a lot of progress. >> closely watched. some of your rare press conference from the top ukrainian general yesterday and including that in that press conference was the discussion of mobilization for more troops. military officials have been talking about it the last couple of days. is that going to be a real thing now?

>> reporter: i think it certainly is. there are several things. you are right. it was remarkable press conference. it was the first press conference, pretty much the first time we have seen him since russia's invasion of ukraine this february of 2022. he has been talked about a lot, not really seen very much. this mobilization i think is very important for the ukrainians. they certainly now understand that this is going to be going on for a very long time. if you look at things on the front line, the counteroffensive by the ukrainians has been very difficult. one thing that he talked about is the difficulty they are having in places like maryinka. there is heavy fighting going on. i want to listen to that. >> translator: the methodology is exactly the same as pvc in bakhmut. street after street is destroyed, the fighters are buried and we have what we have. so again this is war. the fact that we have now withdrawn to the outskirts of