about this before. i will say, i would have previoused the pop-tart to be chocolate. but hey, i got to get your take, we were doing best moments of 2023. honestly the person that i keep coming back to is taylor swift and travis kelce. is she causing his wins or his losses, neither or both? >> well, you know, chiefs haveless thlost three out of fo. some are blaming her presence. but she has nothing to do with it. but if the chiefs don't do well in the playoffs, i'm not sure if their fans will be fans of the >> i personally wish taylor and travis all the best in 2024. happy new year, andy. thanks for all of you for joining us. have a great weekend. have a happy new year.r. don't t go anywhere.

"cnn this morning" starts right now. bumped off the ballot again. maine removes donald trump from the gop primary. now, he faces two legal challenges to his 2024 campaign. what does this mean for the election as the supreme court faces another damaging case? and damage control on the campaign trail. nikki haley says of course, the civil war was about slavery. and russia launches the largest aerial assault since the war began. a dozen people are dead. ukraine is renewing its call for international help. "cnn this morning" starts right now. good morning, everyone. it's the last friday of 2023. i'm phil mattingly with erica

hill in new york. poppy is off today. and maine is the second state to low donald trump off of the primary ballot. just like colorado, maine's secretary of state found that fr trump engaged in insurrection. here's what she told cnn after the announcement. >> january 6th was an attack on the capitol and officials, and on the rule of law. it was insurrection. and the u.s. constitution does not tolerate an assault on our government, on the foundation of our government. and election law and the constitution required all of us to act. >> re >> trump's attorneys are vowing to fight that decision. and we're looking at another legal battle that could land in the supreme court and could have massive implications for the election. in oregon, there's another major lawsuit to disqualify the former

president. hours after that decision in maine, california's top election official says trump will be on that state's ballot. >> we start this morning tracking all of this, somehow, someway. when you look at the map and where different states have gone and what they've decided over the course of the last couple weeks or what they could decide, where does this legal battle go from here? >> well, phil and erica, 2024 is going to be complicated, at the least. considering where donald trump can be on the ballot in primary elections because of a constitutional clause that bars insurrectionists from holding office. as of last night, we have a second major decision out of the state saying, no, donald trump, cannot be eligible to hold office because of his role related to january 6th. first, colorado's court system decided that. and yesterday, after essentially hearing from voters looking at

evidence, the maine secretary of state made a very similar decision, deemed trump to be someone who engaged in the insurrection of january 6th and also decided that she had the ability as the secretary of state, the responsibility, even, to choose and to determine that he was not eligible to be on primary ballots in 2024 in that presidential election. maine is going to be voting on super tuesday, just like colorado. here's a little more of the explanation from last night. >> the oath i swore to uphold the constitution comes first and foremost. the facts laid before me at the hearing, i was obligated to hold under maine law, brought me to this decision. >> trump's team, of course, was not happy with this decision. they very quickly came out and called her a leftist. she is a democrat, she's

elected. and they said that anyone making these sorts of choices to keep trump off the ballot, whether it's a court or a secretary of state, they are engaging in partisan election interference. trump's team vowed to go to the state courts. that's where this goes next. the secretary of state did make this determination, after looking at this, as a case, almost as a legal case. though she's not the justice system. from this, from this decision she made, it can go to the maine court system. it looks like the courts in maine will have to make a decision by the end of january. of course, the u.s. supreme court, we're going to wait and see what they do related to colorado and the law everywhere on this. >> 2024 is going to be complicated. 2023 was so zen and chill. >> so zen, yeah. >> so was 2022. you got more reporting on other issues. we'll get back to you soon. thank you very much. let's dig into this a little

more with cnn analyst, natasha and orrol lewis. let's get into complicated territory here. when we look at this decision in maine and what would come out of it, how much do you think this increases the pressure on the supreme court to take up colorado? >> i think it takes it from likely to virtually certain now, that the supreme court will take up this case. if we look at the map, the physical map of the united states, now, we have two states as it stands in this seemingly is changing every few hours. we have two states, colorado and maine, who says donald trump is out. he is off our ballot. when voters go to the ballot boxes in november, there's going to be one major party name, joe biden. and the republican side, if donald trump is the nominee, will be blank. however, a dozen and a half or so other states, when you look at various legal challenges, challenges in the court, state and federal, challenges to secretary of state, a dozen

other states said, he's on, we're rejecting this. this is the chaos that people feared when it comes to the 14th amendment. what we're seeing now, and it's not legally wrong, for reasons we can get into. but what we're seeing is different states reaching different conclusions through different procedures for different reasons. that's why we need the supreme court to give us some uniformity to all of this. >> to elle's point. it's not wrong but we're looking at the politics and the patchwork converging into one. it could be dangerous. that's what you hear from some democrats. if there's going to be a way -- there's going to be a bunch of criminal cases that focus on that, not this. >> i was struck by gavin newsom's response to this. this could have been a slam-dunk. you think a democratic governor, this is a democratic-leaning state. and he is saying, we let people

make this decision, we don't make this decision for them. it's a slam dunk for the trump team's narrative if you get more democratic led states that go along with this decision. >> we're hearing, we heard from a republican. i can't believe i agree with gavin newsom on this. the clock is ticking her. that's what everybody is looking at. we wait to see if the supreme court is going to take this up, maine has until the end of the month. what happens if this is not resolved in time? >> first of all, the supreme court has to move and they have to move quickly. we saw they can and will do so. we saw that in 2000. there was a lot on the line. they stay up late, work on the weekend, get the paperwork done. but the chaos could be quite serious. you know, spread out among the states that have reached all of the different conclusions. some states have tended towards the conclusion that, well, we are not going to keep them off the ballot. but we're not clear if he would

be eligible to serve. they want to kick the can down the road. that's why the supreme court has to get their hands around this. there could be chaos. there will be questions whether or not super tuesday or any of the other different primaries and caucuses are legitimate. it will start to affect turnout. there will be a secondary wave of lawsuits around all of that. people feeling like they've been disenfranchised. this is the level of chaos we have a supreme court to prevent. >> to that point, my assumption had been, the supreme court will weigh in and solve all of the problems, give the answers. the scope of what the supreme court does -- we don't know what it's going to be. and it could leave openings, particularly in the general election. >> that's a great point. the skoupreme court is going to wave a magic wand and say, this is how you do it. they can only consider the disputes for them. the maine decision is specifically based on the colorado decision. it mentions.

the secretary of state writes that i'm basing this largely on what happened in colorado. if colorado gets struck down, we're going to get struck down, too. the supreme court starts with those cases. if they do strike down or uphold what's happened in colorado and maine, that will give some guidance. we have no guidance here. it's important to notice. we never had this challenge. it's never played out in the courts. if the supreme court takes this case and rules, it will give us something. >> quickly to the point, you said last night, you're not convinced the supreme court would take up the question of whether or not trump engaged in an insurrection. how do we quantify this under section 3 of the 14th amendment. if he hasn't been charged criminally or convicted. can they really not take up that part of it? that to me sows further chaos. >> they cannot take up the question of whether he engaged

in sur recolrection. was he given procedures under the state law? is it up to the secretaries of state to decide this in the first place? i don't think any way the supreme court touches the insurrectionist question. it will be based on due process. >> complicated. >> thank you, guys. stick with us. republican presidential hopeful chris christie will join us later to discuss this ruling and more on the campaign trial. and secretary state of maine will join us and tell us why she made the decision. we have cnn exclusive reporting inside the trump campaign's plot to overturn the 2020 election. recordings and e-mails revealing just how close they were to pulling off the fake elector scheme. and dozens of people run for their lives as huge waves pound the california coast.

what it's doing and the new danger today. stay with us.

an exclusive report this morning. cnn has obtained recordings and e-mails that show how far the trump campaign went to try to overturn the 2020 election.

>> trump attorneys spoke with michigan prosecutors recently. that interview showed the last-minute scramble on january 6th to get the fake ballots in time to use them the next day. >> caitlin, we heard some of that interview. how did chessboro explain the chain of events leading up to january 6th. >> he described it as a scramble where people who were higher up than he was were involved, including people that by name had the title of lawyers for the trump campaign, had an affiliation with the trump campaign. this story, as we were listening to it and listening to audio and e-mails and sources, it highlighted how there was such lengths, such steps taken to get the fake elector ballots into the hands of mike pence. so that potentially, trump's

elec ele electors to get them in his hands. we felt the ballots were mailed. but he spoke about how these things got stuck in the mail. or there was a belief they were lost in the mail or stuck in a sorting facility. they weren't going to get to the capitol on time to be used for trump's behalf. and so, someone asks on an e-mail chain, somebody affiliated with the campaign, can we charter a flight? that's at 11:00 p.m. on january 4th. the elector certificates are buried by humans on commercial flights to get to d.c. they are delivered to people at the trump hotel. they are placed into the hands of people working with members of congress to get them to pence

because you can't just get them there. here's more from ken chesebro on how he decided this episode. >> this is a high-level decision to get the michigan and wisconsin vote there's. they had to enlist a u.s. senator to try to expedite it, to get it to pence in time. >> one thing chesebro is highlighting is the tension there, the pointing fingers on this. whose call was it? whose responsibility was it that led to this scramble? >> the details in the story are wild and shows just how comprehensive, if scrambled effort was. why are we learning this much now? >> we're learning this much now because ken chesebro, this attorney that was working for trump, he wasn't talking before. he took the fifth when he

testified to the house select committee previously. after he was charged with a crime in fulton county, georgia, he pleaded guilty and started talking. he talked to prosecutors there. he talked to prosecutors in other states, including in michigan. we were able to obtain this audio and e-mails that had not been out there before among him and people with campaign e-mail addresses, at the very last minute before january 6th. big question remains on how much the special counsel's office, the federal investigation case against donald trump in washington, d.c., how much this factors into it. we think prosecutors know a little bit about this because they hinted in their indictment of trump they recognize that the michigan/wisconsin certificates, they didn't arrive by mail. they came some other way. >> the toistory is excellent. read it on cnn.com. we want to bring in elle

honig. taking into account this new reporting. what does this do? what is the impact on donald trump? >> great reporting. i was reading it with a prosecutor's eye. kenneth chesebro is a mixed bag for prosecutors and donald trump. and mixed bags aren't great when you bear the burden of proving your case to a unanimous jury. here's why -- chesebro is valuable to prosecutors because he gives them details. it gives life to the allegations. how did these ballots make their way from minnesota or wisconsin to washington, d.c.? that's important for prosecutors to know. it gives them leads. this is important. kenneth chesebro will never take the stand. he will never be called by a prosecutor. a line from the reporting, a crucial line from katelyn's reporting. chesebro has maintained, then

and now, that the plan was a lawful move to preserve trump's legal rights. if he says that, and that apparently is his view, he's poison to prosecutors. he will be what we call a brady witness. a witness that's helpful to the defense, based on an old case called brady. he's useful investigatively. but anybody who thinks he will be the next john dean or the smoking gun witness, absolutely not. no prosecutor will call him to the stand. >> john dean called me last night. he doesn't think jack smith needs him. >> take it from january dean him john dean. there's only one. >> it was interesting to see who was on the e-mails. who was responding. who was deeply involved. and the lawmakers. ron johnson, the senator from wisconsin and scott perry, the congressman from pennsylvania, had roles. listen to what chesebro says. >> he finds representative

perry, whoever, pennsylvania, and he gets a staffer to agree to meet us at 3:45 p.m. i don't know why we did that. mike brown and the michigan state, walked to the longworth office building and the guy with perry, whateverize name is, and some other fellow, were staff members in the house. took them and said we're going to walk them over to the senate and give it a senate staffer. a senate staffer for johnson. i don't know why logistically we didn't take it to johnson. but that's how we did it. >> my guess is because they can't get into the capitol building, as nonstaffers or members. you look at the chain and who was involved. >> this fills in one of the bigger unknowns for me. how involve were the members of congress? we've seen some of them politically get up there and

espouse false election theories. how much were they involved in the execution of this? i think this is where someone like kenneth chesebro can be helpful on an investigative level. and here we have scott perry integrally involved in getting the fake ballots into the capitol. we learned that scott perry was involved in the scheme to take over d.o.j. and install a lawyer. he's not charged with anything and not listed as one of the coconspirators. i wonder if some of that is because of his status as a member of congress. maybe they don't want to deal with some of the special privileges members of congress has. but he is right in the middle of this whole thing. one thing you can do as a prosecutor, all of that is fair game. you can talk to these other people. bring them in, subpoena them, force them to the stand. he is useful. i want to stress that. but he's not going to be the smoking gun witness. >> elie, thank you.

30-foot waves pummel california's coach and beach towns. how close some people came to disaster and how long it could last. wall street could close out 2023 with a record. that's ahead.

loving this pay bump in our allowance. wonder where mom and dad got the extra money? maybe they won the lottery? maybe they inherited a fortune? maybe buried treasure? maybe it fell off a truck? maybe they heard that xfinity customers can save hundreds when they buy one unlimted line and get one free. now i can buy that electric scooter! i'm starting a private-equity fund that specializes in midcap. you do you. visit xfinitymobile.com today.

california's coast are bracing for waves of 30 feet or more, after large swells like this pounded the coastline. one wave briefly swept some 20 people away briefly. this happened in ventura county, northwest of l.a. no one was hurt. but they did have to run to escape. >> these waves are triggering flooding, damaging businesses near the beaches and triggering evacuations. derek van dam has been tracking all of this and how long the conditions are going to last, derek, what do we think here? >> i have seen rogue waves with my own eyes. they are dangerous and can catch people offguard. just like what happened in ventura county yesterday. what is a rogue wave? we have ocean swell that moves across the ocean at all times.

but sometimes we get that conjoining with a large low pressure system that creates strong surface winds. the strong winds will create large waves on the surface of the ocean. that's working in opposite with that ocean swell that traverses across the pacific ocean in this instance. it quickly shortens the wavelength. that's the difference between the wave peak and trough. and it creates a larger-than-normal wave or a rogue wave, that can crash on the shoreline and can catch people offguard and can be dangerous in instances. here's the system that was responsible for the surge and a swell that was working in conjunction with this. we have another round of large waves anticipated through friday morning. that's why we have high surf warns and advisories, dotting the entire california coastline. this could cause coastal flooding concerns and dangerous rip currents. bottom line here, you need to stay out of the water.

it is extremely dangerous to be an onlooker and see what's happening along the coastline because these waves catching you offguard at a moment's notice. >> derek van dam, thank you. all eyes will be on the forecast and the countdown. this year, there's concerns that the israel/hamas war will spawn a lone wolf attack. >> we go inside the preparations happen right now. >> reporter: new year's eve, new york city. security, always tight, has been increased this year. while officials stress, there is no specific reporting regarding any threats, a point sthreat assessment, based on analysis from ten law enforcement agencies says the israel/hamas conflict has created a h

heightened conflict. the intelligence community remains concerned about lone offenders and threats of violence against jewish, muslim and arab communities, as well as creating simple, unsophisticated attacks that are difficult to assess in advance. the assessment reminds police that massive, live events, remain an attractive target for terrorist organizations. it's a threat stream that will be monitored minute-to-minute, leading up to midnight new year's eve at multiple command posts. from the nypd's joint operation center, to its intelligence bureau, to the fbi's joint terrorism task force, gathered in an operation center in lower manhattan. >> october 7th was a flash point. the horrific attacks on israel and the ongoing war and conflict that's happening right now, is

certainly motivating and as aspiring people to do bad things. >> reporter: last year, a 19-year-old man from maine traveled to times square with an attack plan that investigators believe was inspired by you know line isis propaganda. new york city police say trevor b bicford was shot by officers after he attacked three of them with a machete at a times square new year's checkpoint. he has pleaded not guilty and is awaiting trial. the security package, not just crowd control and traffic, but what they call the counterterrorism overlay, includes a network of cameras. nypd countersniper teams in skyscrapers above. bomb detection canines moving around the perimeter, dogs that can pick up the whiff of explosives, even moving through a crowd 100 feet away. radiation detectors, worn by police on the street and an

especially equipped nypd helicopter high above. and police are focused on potential demonstrations. the war between israel and hamas has brought on protests in new york and clashes with police, when some protesters announce their intent to disrupt the lighting of the rockefeller center christmas tree. the live, televised event in times square, is another potential target for disruption. >> with the attack we saw, we're going to make adjustments. our tactics, no one is getting to that ball. i can put it that way. >> reporter: but protests and disorder is not what keeps the nypd up at night. terrorism is. and while officials say there's no specific credible threat on the radar, this year, they are doing more than ever, they say, to ensure that. john miller, cnn, new york. >> our thanks to john miller for that report. nikki haley, doing a little damage control on the campaign

trail after saying -- after not saying that slavery caused the civil war. now, she has new explanations for those comments. and more on the decision in maine to kick trump off of the ballot. the republican lawmaker that is part of ththe challengnge, join us livive. stay w with us.

i mean, i think the cause of the civil war was basically how

government was going to run. the freedoms and what people could and couldn't do. >> in the year 2023, it's astonishing to me that you anxi answered that question without saying slavery. >> what do you want me to say about slavery? of course, the civil war is about slavery. that's unquestioned. always the case. we know the civil war is about slavery. it was also more than that. it was about the freedoms of every individual. it was about the role of government. >> no, man. it was about slavery. pretty sure that's the case. obviously, it was a different answer, 24 hours apart. that was nikki haley doing damage control after what caused the civil war did not include the word slaivery. the presidential candidate said it didn't need to be said out lout. but she adds that the exchange

was a setup from democrats. >> i'm from the south. of course, it's about slavery. if you grow up in the south, it's a given that it's about slavery. it was a democratic plant. >> whether it was or not, there is an answer to the question. that's what the issue is. not the question. it was an easy question. back, natasha alford, and errol lewis and jessica dean. we saw nikki haley doing cleanup all day. i was struck by a desantis adviser had this to say yesterday. take a listen. >> if you get nikki haley, you're going to get a lot of political spin. i say that as a south carolinian. i have nothing personal against her. this is not a personal thing for me. she's a nice lady if you meet her. depending which version you meet.

>> ouch, errol. >> she stumbled into a problem for which she was supposed to be the solution. republican strategists, we talk to them all the time in d.c. what keeps them up at night is this is a party that's 80% nonhispanic white in a country becoming more diverse literally every day. and nikki haley was supposed to be the answer to that. for a woman, who is of a party not of women. and she stumbles all over this and makes them remember they've got this existential problem. they keep losing the popular vote. they're not doing well with women. they're not doing well in communities of color. they can't afford to keep writing off and blowing out in atlanta and philadelphia and different communities. she's supposed to have fluency with this. that's what she is supposed to bring to the race. and here she is spouting south carolina talking points, pretending that the whole thing never happened, getting it wrong

and not even being a good leader of her party. the republican party is founded as an anti-slavery party. in a few months, we see the 170th anniversary. it was a really, really important turning point in the history of the country. and to just whitewash it and pretrend and use the euphemisms, that the civil war was about small government or something crazy like that. again, she was supposed to be the answer to that. and it doesn't sound like she's ready for that assignment. >> i want to build on that. we got into this yesterday. the language that was used, including what she said in the cleanup yesterday, after saying, of course, it was about slavery. it was also about -- that is not -- that's loaded language. i'm sorry. it is. it is lost cause revisionary history of things. that's why there's monuments built after the civil war, after the reconstruction, to confederate generals. really bad confederate generals,

braxton bragg. if you use the language, if you're aware of this stuff, it's not simple. oh, there is also this. from the south, of course it was about slavery. the south is where all of this happened. >> it is what happens when you are a comx co-chameleon. instead of taking your principles. and i think voters were watching this and saying, we don't respect that. be a donald trump, be outrageous, say how you feel. or be a desantis and say you are anti-crt. but don't play both sides. you lose when you do that. and people can't trust you. they can't trust that you are a leader, rather than a follower. for her, again, like errol said, this should have been basic. this should have been answered

easily. and she didn't. why is it so toxic to state basic history right now? why are we afraid to state the facts? >> we are we afraid, too? why are we afraid to teach accurate history in this country? if you look at nikki haley's history, she had comments in 2019, in the book she wrote. she was referencing removing that flag in 2015, after the horrific killing at the mother of emmanuel church. she says in that book, she calls it lost cause language, the flag is a symbol of heritage and service. in 2023, as a woman from the south, a woman of color, to keep going back to that, maybe it does mean tradition and service. what it means to a lot of people -- it is a symbol of slavery and a stain on this country. she can't bring herself to say it. it's always both sides. >> that's the thing -- i was thinking about this yesterday after i left you guys and it continued throughout the day. we did the reporting.

we followed along, as she bufir did the radio interview. she did not take reporter questions on it, that's important to note. i sat with the fact she, to your point, cannot just say out loud, it was about slavery. it's just say the obvious thing that is the truth. so me, that's insulting to voters. right? they can take it. they can take it. it's fact. to kind of try to wobble around this thing is such a strange hill to die on, in a way. so, you look ahead to, okay, what does that mean now? people, to your point, just can't -- what can you trust if she can't just call it it and tell you what she thinks. donald trump, people -- people have very strong opinions on what he has to say. but people do react strongly to him because they like he says things out loud.

you can hate what he says. but he's not trying to waffle around the edges of things. >> he doesn't care whether you like it or not. >> that's appealing to people. we have to remember that. >> there's voters in denial, that the civil war was about slavery. but we don't need to cater to those voters. we need to stand on what the facts are. >> jess, errol, natasha, thanks, guys. the battle of the border pitting democrats against democrats. three mayors whose cities are taking in migrants are pleading for help. those mayors will join us live in the 5:00 hour. ukraine is hit by what it calls the biggest air attack since the start of the war. civilian targets hit as calls grow with more help from the west. stay with us.

welcome back. wall street could end the year on a record high. the s&p 500 could hit that record today. it ended up yesterday. and it's on its longest winning streak in two decades. the dow could close at a record high, finishing slightly up yesterday. analysts say optimism is rising and the federal reserve can cool inflation in 2024. this surprised a lot of us. poison control centers are seeing a spike in calls because of people eating dangerous wild mushrooms. and this comes as interest in foraging has grown as a way to connect with nature and live a more sustainable life. >> i saw the mushrooms over here. >> reporter: last september, bill hickman found what he thought were edible mushrooms growing near his house in windham, ohio. >> i looked down. i put my phone on it. it says, boom, it's a giant puff ball. cool. i put my stuff down over there

and gathered a few up. >> reporter: the app on his phone was wrong. eight hours after eating the mushrooms, bill got violently sick. >> i didn't think i was going to live. >> reporter: bill had eaten four of what are known as destroying angel mushrooms. >> the first doctor said, we can't help him. he's not going to survive. >> reporter: warmer fall weather, due to climate change, is extending mushroom season. nationally, reports of potentially taxic mushroom exposures are up 11% this year, compared to last. to see just how diverse and potentially dangerous mushrooms can be, we went foraging with my instructor. >> this one has what they call a classic ferrinacious odor. >> he uses smells, colors and structural features to determine

which mushrooms are safe to eat. >> these are puff balls. you open it up and i'll show you that -- what the middle looks like. >> reporter: wow. a marshmallow. >> exactly. they call these the marshmallow mushrooms. interestingly, in a soup, they will soak up the fluid and the taste so you can use these as little miniature mushroom sponges. >> reporter: which are not? where would you look for the ones that are poisonous. >> let's take a look. you can touch it and smell it. that has the odor. if you got that -- >> reporter: subtle. what will that do if you eat it? >> that will make you sick. gastric upset. won't kill you. >> reporter: but some can be deadly. >> this is it. it doesn't look like much. it's a brown little mushroom. you can pick it off the log.

this is our dead ly one. >> what would happen if you eat one of those? >> this has amatoxins. >> th >> reporter: that's a poison that can cause liver failure. amatoxins were in the mushroom that bill ate. bill was transferred to university hospital in cleveland, where doctors raced to get him an experimental antidote. an extract from the milk thistle plant. the antidote worked. bill slowly regained his strength but says it took months to fully recover, physically and mentally. >> there's a lot of people invo involved to make it happen, to save me. >> reporter: meg terrell, cnn, ohio. >> quite the story, indeed. in a few minutes, chris christie will join "cnn this morning" live.

why he is saying this about nikki haley's civil war comments. >> i know her well. and i don't believe nikki has a racist bone in her body. but for purposes of this race, the reason she did it is just as bad, if not worse. and thatat should d get everyby concncerned abouout her candndi.

breaking overnight. russia launching its biggest attack on ukraine since launching its invasion two years ago. ukrainian officials russia launched missiles and drones across the country. >> ukraine says the attacks show it needs the world's support after congress went home without approving more aid. nic robertson joins us now. nic, this was a widespread attack that hit targets in every corner of the country. what happened here? >> reporter: you hit on why this is important, of course, on the head. russia looks for weaknesses. and ukraine's allies, the united states not coming up with money, or the european union, going on christmas break before the 54

million euros they were going to give to ukraine. the strikes here in the west of the country, kyiv, 1 person killed, 18 wounded there. north and east in the country, people killed there. and the south of the country. a maternity hospital hit there. 5 people killed and 15 wounded. odesa, 15 killed, 2 wounded. the numbers go on. you analyze, what is russia trying to do here? number one, trying to create fear and panic in ukraine. this was 158 different missiles, 114 of them ukraine took down. but russia looks for opportunity here. and the ukrainians describe this as wave after wave. the russians launched 36 drones that ukraine was able to shoot a number of those down. that was not out of the ordinary. that was followed up by russia launching 18 strategic bombers. they fire 90 cruise missiles, 8

long-range bombers launched. 8 cruise missiles. 5 mig aircraft, and 5 hypersonic missiles. anti-radar missiles were used. it was the full gamut of the high explosive ordin ordnance t russia has at its fingertips. the russians have used everything they have. and the foreign minister is accusing russia or targeting women and children. >> unsettling scale. nic, thank you for the reporting. "cnn this morning" continues right now. >> good morning, everyone. i'm phil mattingly, with erica hill in new york. and donald trump is off a ball lot. removed from a state's ballot. this time in maine. we're going to hear from the top election official how she came to that decision