booted from the ballot now in two states -- maine following colorado's lead and disqualifying donald trump from running. we are waiting to hear from oregon who could make a decision over the next few days. and russia is unleashing a massive attack on ukraine and sparing no part of the country. hundreds of drones and missiles and still under way. hundreds dead and injured. details coming in. and now, stunning pictures and dangerous surf and new warnings of danger this morning. kate and sara are getting an early start to the new year. i'm john berman with andy fre freeman, and this is cnn "news central." happening now. we are waiting to see if oregon is the third state to ban donald trump from the primary ballot

because of the 14th's amendment ban on insurrectionist. overnight, maine became the second state and the secretary of state shenna bellows said she expects it to reach the supreme court. >> the united states supreme court is the ultimate interpreter, and they will ideally rule. they have not yet, but certainly, should they rule, we will abide by their ruling. >> and katelyn polantz is watching all of this very closely, and certainly, the supreme court can rule. >> well, if they want. to this is the next couple of weeks, is each state going to decide for themselves in the ways that each state has decided if donald trump can be there on the ballot. and the supreme court took trump off of the ballot saying it is

spending review by and that he is going to be ineligible, and if that continues on, and the supreme court does not get involved, we may have a primary cycle, where each state decides what to do. several states have decided to put him on the week. and despite and this a big question before the supreme court because they are saying that once california moved this way to take wa ballot of it, and

is and do these sorts of entities at the state pow level have the power to take someone off of the ballot because of the insurrectionist claude. >> and they do, and how much clarity could think breath. >> and this morning, you sgraecht and now, a look and now, a plan to get fake electors to d.c. before the 2020 election was certified and this is after the certificate and so, what are we learning from these new? >> well, we are learning from the sgrmt and cnn has obtained

recordings from the michigan state investigators, and mid it and to get those folk vert fi ca catt. >> sgro, and when they learned what happened, they were skuk ant then it was reported that the votes stuck in the sfloushgt and so di id haven't to charter a jet, and wisconsin votes

there. they had to enlist >> and remember they needed to and now, at the end of the day, though they thought object sgrornl and that included a meet-up at the hel mr. and danny, he refused to go along with the plan. >> it is interesting that we are well, this entire episode is

vague and chesebro is a co-conspirator in that case, and cnn is told that in the last hi minutem skraable, that i have spoken to smith's team, but it is unclear how much will be bpg march coe. xwrk xwroirnl and i wanted to go back to where he is going to be allowed on the primary ballot. maine became the second state to ban him from old and he shall not hold an p. and now sit on

and what does that mean? >> well, what we are exsgrop sgrurngts sgrshgs and so when the u.n. was torn apart, and nobody, even the congress, did not want to see anything like that happen again, no insurrection, whether it was a congress or senator, and the person who holds office could be in that po sigt and at the time, it was and so, if that is what the text says, does it mean that donald trump can't be on the ballot? >> the if the supreme court

follows through with some of the general thoughts and how they rule in the past, i would expect that anyone with a basic level of is and snorng and so i think that intellectual property says yes. >> so the question is if and how much do you believe that the supreme court wants to just sxwro and how much do you believe the aid was for those who xhipted insurrection? >> well, nobody wants to, and this should bring no pleasure to anybody on either side, and the judges don't want to do this. they have to take this step. you know what, they have to

decide what that due process element is, and by congress or each state make the decision. if it is state-by-state, then we have to forward have a rule of law ernlgts and so, they have to hold on to the power. and so believe it or not, we are hear because of the statements have led to the pow per. and the states should have the power to instate by appropriate article. and norm eisen whom i spoke to last hour says it does not say only the congress, and how would that debate go? >> it is not only on the.

>> and so, not only can he be an insurrection, but as the colorado supreme court, the state supreme court co, the higt court said, we can make that determination, and there has to be a rule that everybody can follow, and sgng -- jeremy, saland, thank you for joining us. >> thank you. and now, you are seeing where women and newborns barely escaped alive. nikki haley wrapping up a couple of the civil wars and san

antonio police are asking for the public's help to identify the couple here and the incidents that led to their death.

't'twas new year's night an confetti streamers and all that jazz. >> new year's night with anderson and andy, live coverage on cnn. all right. new pictures just in to cnn. this is coming from ukraine which has just suffered the largest russian air assault since the russian invasion began two years ago, and you can see the individual there being pulled from the rubble.

again, this is kharkiv. we are told that at least 26 people have been killed across ukraine with well over 100 injured. the numbers are almost certainly to increase. with regetting reports of deaths from different parts of the country, and again, that video is coming from kharkiv here in the east. you can see the scope of the russian attack, because kharkiv at suny, dnipro, and this attack spanned the entire country. i want to bring in cnn analyst, and air force retired colonel, and what are we seeing here? >> well, good morning, john. this is a offensive via air. this offensive is designed to go after the critical infrastructure of ukraine. there were some military targets, and ray gar

installations, that they dit, so, what they are doing is to take out all of the facilities and the power stations, and make life hell for all of the people of ukraine for the winter. this is probably revenge for the attack on the russian trip that happened in crimea a few days ago. it is a statement by putin to bring ukraine to basically to its knees and force it to negotiate at this point in time. >> you mentioned an attack on civilian infrastructure. in deknee troe and she said i

bet that vladimir putin has been thrown to everything, drones, missiles, long-range bombers and talk about how that complicates thifrgs for the ukrainians. >> what the russians are trying to do sgrournlgt and they know that the defense supplies are dwindling. as a result, they are trying to overwhelm the defenses right now, so they that can gain the upperhand momentarily. and when they do that, in es, they have weakened defenses like the patriot missile systems, and tack'ems, and that is and the

side message would be to move into the front lines of russia, but i don't believe that is what is happening here, because they have withstood it before, but we have seen some of the devastation here. >> and you can see the ukrainian air forces knocking out some of the missiles from in here, and whats tas ti snow and maybe it is a month from now if they don't gi and if they don't get anymore aid, because the spectacular that we have seen are the and what i have seen o overor and so you still had about 20% of the missiles coming

through to hit the intended targets. but a month from now, it is going to be much worse for the ukrainians, because there is a finite supply of patriot missiles that could be part of this. there is also a finance other a and real quick, polish military officials, and they believe that poland would be right here. and they do believe that russia has thrown over their and with five evoked from the nato alliance, and with the >> and this is something that bears watching over to the next couple of days.

colonel cedric leighton, happy new year to you. >> thank you. happy new year to you. >> and nikki haley is still trying to tig out of the war as to what she caused legal struggling. and space x secretly launched a spacacecraft, anand what is s ig up in n orbit? ?? >,,

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ . this morning, republican presidential candidate wrapping up the presidential swing

through new hampshire for nikki haley, and her rivals are criticizing her over the statement she said. some see it as a gaffe at a new hampshire town hall where she avoided to say that slavery is the cause of the civil war. and now, on the campaign tray, eva mckend, what is she saying today? >> well, john, she is not saying much about this, and she is moving on. she had the new hampshire event here in concord, and the last one of the big swing she had here in the granite state, and on the way to iowa. while the rivals are weighing in heavily on this, you are not hearing it from the supporters at the events, and they are not asking about this in large, and the cleanup makes sense, and one man said that he thought she was given that question to trip her up, and another woman telling me that she is way more focused on

the other policy matters, but still, her republican rival is seizing up on this to argue as evasiveness when she is asking questions. this is what chris christie had to say. >> this is the whole campaign, and she does not want to offend anyone. she won't tell the truth about donald trump. even though she knows that he was the cause of jan 6th, and even though she knows that he regularly lies, she won't say it. and asked by another candidate, would she would out being the vie irp and when she does not answer, she is being a slippery, slick politician. >> so, we will have to see if this hurts her in new hampshire, because it far too soon to tell, but the rivals are easing on it,

in particular perin person. and he is a very energetic person and he certainly helps her, john. >> and it is going to be interesting to see what following her from this campaign swing. appreciate it, fred. and for more, i am joined by cnn political analyst and editor for the "boston globe" jackie kucinich, and column ist jackie stewart. so we heard the gaffe and the cleanup, and do you believe what ultimately was said in new hampshire is going to stay in new hampshire? >> well, i believe that eva is right, and we will have to see how it reverberates.

talking about the independents, and the progressives and so they are looking at coming out of the primary and support krotsdzover appeal. and whether this is going to ding it in a more permanent fashion is something we will have to watch, and you might see it in these groups. >> alice, i would like to see how this could move the needle or if it is a holiday week, or a story that pops a couple of weeks before the primary and secondary voters? >> no. she has lun a very and so, this question is a flub, and it was

not a trick question and not hard, but the root cause of the civil war was slavery. and while she did not say it in the beginning, she made the correction of saying that the route and not "the new york times" or the washington post, but what is wmur, and the union leader saying? she is saying, she has done the cleanup on aisle haley, and so moving on. and the number one issues they are concerned about are the economy, abortion, immigration and national sdurt. leave the editorial boardrooms of d.c. and new york, and go to the machine shed in iowa, and the diner in new hampshire, and those impact her soon, and talk

about that to the voters. >> and jackie, she may be able to put that in the mirror, the rear-view mirror, but others are jumping on this as soon as they k and is this a winning issue that we will hear more about from them? >> well, i think that what you are hearing from desantis and christie, and they will do whatever they can to bring haley down at this point, because in new hampshire, she is going to go away from them, and she needs the voters. i don't think this issue is going to make a difference and alice is right. haley has built up, and she has really played a disciplined campaign up to this point, and of course her opponents are

going to hammer her on this, because she has been so disciplined. if you have a kernel of doubt there, perhaps, but i don't believe it is going to do it with the republican voters in new hampshire. >> one of the hardest hit questions from a 9-year-old in new hampshire yesterday. >> so, chris christie thinks that you are a flip-flopper on the donald trump issue. [ laughter ] and honestly, i agree with him. you are basically the new john kerry on that [ laughter ] you remember john kerry from 2004. >> what is the question? >> my question is how can you change your opinion like that and would you pardon donald trump? >> i would pardon donald trump,

because what is in the best interest of the country is not having a 80-year-old mandy vidingvid i -- man dividing the country. >> and what about that, alice? >> well, you have to be on your toes when a 9-year-old gets mic, but we are a couple of weeks out when things make the difference, and there are all kinds of questions to chase them down a rabbit hole, but the key is to make your point clearly with this message on pardonning trump, and she is telling the base, i would pardon him, because she feels that is in the best interest of the country, but jackie is right, the other candidates will do whatever they can to throw questions at her, and bring up the latest gaffe, because she has momentum at her back, and closing the poll numbers with donald trump, and everything is fair game in love and war and politics in the next

few weeks in politics. >> yes. we appreciate your time. >> thank you. and so, a powerful storm is sending rogue waves crashing over the seawalls ark and sending people to the hospital. you can see it in the terrifying video. we have a new update on the areas that could be affected next. the san antonio police are searching for an answer in the death of a pregnant 18-year-old and a woman, and now they have seen where t they rolleded out the crime e scene.

police in texas are looking for two people in a surveillance video where the bodies of two people were found dead tuesday. both had been shot. soto's family had reported her missing when she did not show up to induce labor. whitney, they are reporting this as a capital murder case, and what does that entail?

>> well, it entails a robust homicide investigation here, danny, and what they are trying to do is to figure out why these two people were killed and helping in the investigation is this very important piece of video here. so we will give you a look at the video, which is so important to this piece of video. police believe it is taken near where the bodies were found, and very near. in this video, what you are seeing is a chevy silverado pull up next to the kia optima. so, they pull up next to the vehicle and interact in some way. this kia optima, police believe, belongs to matthew guerra, and they do not believe that the person who exits the kia optima is matthew guerra, and this what else they are looking at with the video, and why they believe it is so crucial to the

investi investigation. >> what we believe it is something to wipe down the side of the car, and that is what we are studying and believe at this time. >> and so they believe that the driver of the truck wiped down the side of the kia optima. at this point, danny, they believe that matthew guerra and soto were killed in that vehicle. and the 22nd of december is the last time anyone talked to savannah soto. the 23rd is when the authorities were alerted, and then on the 26th is when they were found. they believe they were there for a couple of days. this is a capital murder case. and the police are pouring over

the relevant video, and trying to find out every single moment leading up to their death. >> it is a sad and scary video. we hope that video helps. whitney wild, thank you. this morning, monster waves and possibly flooding for parts of california as a rogue wave reached ventura beach. this is so scary as it swept about 20 people 50 yards here, and again, you are not surprised that eight people were taken to the hospital. the national weather service has issued coastal flooding and waves up to 40 feet possible for san francisco bay. cnn's lucy kavanaugh is there at the beach. and how are things looking right now? >> well, i am keeping an eye on the waves, because i had to move from the last time we spoke, john, and i had to move up, john. that is the manhattan beach pier, and i wanted to give you a

look around. some folks are out here with the cameras and enjoy the view. but it is getting scarier by the hour, and again, because it is california, life goes on as normal, and you can see the volleyball teams here preparing and practicing, but as you pointed out, the national weather service has warned of the dangerous conditions, and life-threatening rip currents. we have seen the waves pummeling much of the coast, and especially the santa cruz area, and ventura yesterday where you have played the footage of the wave that carried people around, and also another massive wave that crashed into a restaurant. several business withes describing terrifying moments that they witnessed. take a listen.

>> it is a pure state of panic out there. nobody is prepared. >> this wave came out of seemingly nowhere. it is a rush, and 6 to 8 feet deep. you saw it. >> reporter: and you could hear the eyewitness describing wave coming out of nowhere. there is a term for this and they are called the sneaker waves, and not like the shoes, but they sneak up on you, and maybe you think it is perfectly safe to go up to take the selfie, but it could hit you much faster than you think. the authorities are urging people to stay away from the waves. >> and yes, as you are looking nervously over your shoulder. lucy kavanaugh, stay safe. and spacex helped to launch a special mission for the u.s. military. take a listen. >> three, two, one, and in the

12th hour, liftoff. >> all right. so the falcon heavy rocket took off with the space shuttle which has no crew, and operates autonomously, and it is not clear where it is going. it is on a classified mission, and in the past, this space center has carried out experiments and gathered information. the secret is safe with us. now, we will have a live update of how things are going so far. this is just in. a dancing pop-tart. do we have video of this? okay. a dancing pop-tart. why is there a dancing pop-tart? okay. the truth is out there.

so, another holiday is in the books and another one is fast approaching and this is to be the busiest day for travel. the tsa is expect ing 2.6 millin

americans to fly today, and pete muntean is in virginia, and what are you seeing this morning? >> danny, things are going pretty smooth. the cancellations and delays are low, and taking about five minutes to get through pre-check, and 15 minutes through the standard screening, and the tsa says that things are going to be busy, and look at the line at the rush here for what is going to be 2.6 million passengers nationwide, and 43,000 flights handled by the federal aviation administration. last friday was busy and monday and tuesday were busy and those numbers were five percent off of the all-time record the sunday after thanksgiving, and the the really interesting thing here is that cancellations and delays have remained relatively reasonable. the latest numbers from flagt

aware, 187,000 flights over the last week or so. 36,000 delays, that's about 1 in every 5 flights, a number that the transportation success tear said would be a little too much, but the cancellations have been only about 1300 over the last week. we're talking less than 1%. i want you to listen now to the faa administrator. he says that agency has been prepared and is heavily communicate ing with airlines s that things go smoothly. >> we're very prepared. we have been through it before we have a command center in virginia that really looks at the entire system the where there's potentially weather, where there are delays. we communicate with the airlines and make sure we're running as smoothly as possible. >> reporter: a lot of people are going to drive this weekend. aaa sayst therein a bit of a con influence. the folks traveling for the who

holiday, especially going into new year's eve. and the numbers show that the worst times to drive between 2:00 and 8:00 p.m. today. if you can leave before noon, catch the last few minutes of the show, then you would be in the best window according to aaa. it's going to be difficult for a lot of folks. >> you have to stay until the end of the show. i'm just stunned at how smooth, knock on wood, this season has been at the airports. especially considering last year. it's incredible. pete muntean, thank you so much. >> wait until the end of the show. pete also likes to say, stay late on your vacation. don't try to come back right after monday. stay until wednesday or thursday. just in, ohio's republican governor vetoed a state bill that would have banned gender affirming care for minors. it would have prohibited transgender athletes from participating in girls and women's sports. he said sign ing the bill would

have been saying the state is and government know better than parents what is medically best for their children. the final trading day of the year on wall street. a live look at the dow. rare negative numbers from the dow on the last day of the year. down 120 points right now. dow hit a record yesterday in 2023. it's just seen huge gains. the dow up nearly 25%. the s&p at 14%. and the nats dak, 44% for the year. detroit pistons just made nba history in the wrong ways. they lost their 28th consecutive game. a tough overtime battle with the celtics. the pistons blew it. they are now tied with the the 6ers for the longest ever ruse losing streak. they spanned over two seasons. the pistons managed to do it all-in-one season. tomorrow the pistons play the raptors with a chance to either break the nba record or maybe get a rare win. and perhaps the greatest mascot for a college bowl game ever.

a giant pop tart, a giant dancing poptart rose from the toasting in the first ever pop tart bowl between k-state and nc state. a sad falt at end of the game. the wildcats got to eat the giant pop tart to celebrate their victory. sad for the pop tart. i find them to be one of the most rewarding of all foods. >> especially after you win a big game. it makes all the sense in the world. if sports are photo your thing, might we recommend the book club from our colleague michael smerconish. he's bringing you the highlights in a special episode of his show tomorrow. >> back in 2006, after i have been appearing regular listen oi cnn usually as a legals guest, network told me they like my work but didn't know what to do with me. the network brass were surprise ed when i then pitched my idea. hosting a weekly book club. we filmed it beginning with me at home on market street in

philadelphia. that show never made it to air, but today 17 years later a holiday gift at least for me, i decided i would speak with five authors of books that made an impact on me this year. david brooks has been an opinion columnist for "the new york times" for 20 years. his latest book explores the most important skill for people to possess and lead happy, healthy lives. free speech advocate cowrote the best seller the coddling of the american mind, and with cancel culture wars tearing apart university campuses across the country, he's now back with a well-timed follow-up. it's the canceling of the american mind. sheila johnson was the first female black billionaire. in her memoir, she recounts hardships she experienced including racism, losing a child, emotional abuse and depression. and robert rubin was co-chair of goldman sachs, his late zest about what he learned on how to make the best decisions in an

uncertain world. and perhaps in complete contrast, robert is a ted talk normal. he argues in his latest book that we really don't have any power to decide anything. but there's no such thing as free will. >> again, you can catch those conversations tomorrow at 9:00 a.m. here on cnn. >> you can't choose to watch because you have no free will. it's predetermined. you will watch. thank you all for joining us. have a happy new year, everyone. make good choices this is "cnn news central." "inside politics" sup next.