>> another state or moving donald trump from its primary ballot. maine joining colorado in blocking the former president based on the constitution's insurrectionist ban.

but the secretary of state in maine pausing a decision as it makes its way through the courts, next steps, and the legal challenges ahead. plus, unprecedented strikes on ukraine, a barrage of russian missile and drone attacks leaving the country reeling. why the timing is significant and why this puts more pressure on u.s. lawmakers. >> and towering waves pummel the california coast with one wave carrying away nearly 20 people, sending eight to the hospital. while the west coast could see more dangerous swells over the weekend. we're following these major developing stories and many more all coming in right here to cnn news central. four >> good afternoon, and welcome to cnn news central. i'm boris sanchez, in our nation's capital, and look. the constitutional confusion over the race for 2024 is intensifying. a second state is now banning donald trump from its ballot, based on his actions tied to

the january 6th attack on the capitol. >> this time, it is main. secretary of state shenna bellows has announced she is siding with three voters who challenged the listing of trump's name, saying that he should be removed based on the constitution's 14th amendment. and this -- part of this part of the amendment, it says no insurrectionist shall hold, quote, any office. >> second through the 14th amendment does not say conviction, it says engage. let's go back and keep in mind that the events of january 6th, 2021, were unprecedented and tragic. and the wave of evidence that i've reviewed indicated that it was in fact an insurrection, and mr. trump engaged in that insurrection under section three of the 14th amendment. >> bellows mentions in her written decision here the colors supreme court ruling that removed trump from colorado ballot, colorado's republican party filing a appeal.

>> the chair says you should expect the same from republicans in fifth maine. let's join cnn's marsha cohen. he's been tracking the challenges throughout the country. just like in colorado, maine also pausing the removal of trump's name for now. >> reporter: for, now and then there were two. here we, are maine, colorado, after weeks and months of challenges. two states have moved forward with the unprecedented decision to remove trump from the ballot. you heard there from shenna bellows, who is a democrat, explaining hero chanel. she viewed it as her legal obligation to remove trump from the ballot, because she swore an oath to the constitution to when she became the secretary of state, and she presided over a hearing with evidence and testimony, and she said that as a matter of fact, a matter of law, the january 6th was an insurrection. donald trump engaged in the insurrection, and the constitution bans someone like him from being able to take office. there are appeals that you mentioned, boris, that are definitely going to be pursued by trump and maybe the main

republican party as well, and those sides are reacting with a lot of anger. here's a statement from stephen chung who is the top spokesman for the trump campaign. he said last night, make no mistake. these partisan election interference efforts are a hostile assault on american democracy, biden and the democrats simply do not want the american voter -- do not trust the american voter in a free and fair election. they've been saying that if you can't beat them at the polls, they're trying to beat them at the courts. but look, there will be appeals. this is not the final word, but this is a watershed moment of the quest for accountability for january 6th. >> i'm just allergic to all the chaos. >> then you're not going to like next year. >> oh my goodness, i'll get ready. i'll take my mets. okay, so you said and then there was to, but maybe there will be three. what about oregon? >> there's another case. we're now all going to look towards oregon in the pacific northwest. there is some filings due today from the trump team to file

their final opposition to this case in oregon. it's still pending, and after that is an, then the oregon court, and it's the oregon supreme court, will be able to issue their decision at any time. but as you can see here, different states have reached different conclusions. trump was kicked off of colorado and maine, but he prevailed in michigan and minnesota and other places. there's a smattering of outcomes, it's why every legal expert we have on our show is here and every legal expert anywhere says we need some guidance from the supreme court, the u.s. supreme court. that's what they're here for, after all. >> all right marshall, thank you so much for that. and our next guest is one of the voters, former state lawmakers who challenged donald trump's name on the main ballot. ethan scribbling is a democrat and former state senator and of former mayor of portland as well. mayor, thanks for being with us. what was your immediate reaction when you learned that the secretary of state had sided with you and the two other voters who saw --

both of whom are or were republicans? >> you know, my first reaction was a good day for democracy, a good day for our constitution. make clear that the rule of law applies to everybody in america, no matter what office you may or may not have held. you know, hard to imagine that a president would commit insurrection against our country, but i'm glad to know that the laws that we have in place are going to protect us from the possibility that that person could be sent back to the white house. >> this, of, course won't be the end of it. maine's republican party chair saying the state party is going to appeal here. what do you think is your sides strongest -- argument to push back on the appeal? >> the strongest argument is that he's in and destruction as, and the constitution bars insurrectionist from running for president. we've now had three judicial lobbies, two in colorado, one in maine, that have looked at the evidence, given donald trump has his day in court trying to refute the evidence,dl

said indeed what we all saw on january 6th is actually what happened, and he is an insurrectionist, and two of those judicial bodies have determined that the 14th amendment applies to the president. so i think our strongest evidence without a doubt is donald trump's actions. he's the reason that we are here, he's the reason that we're in these unprecedented times. >> what are you expecting from the supreme court when this gets there? >> well, that's hard. i mean, the supreme court obviously has become much more partisan, there's a lot of members of the supreme court, three of them, that were appointed by donald trump. i don't expect, although i think that he should, clarence thomas should recuse himself. so it will be tough, but i'm hopeful that when and if it gets there, they will put aside their partisanship just as our secretary of state did, just as the judges in colorado did, and look at the law. you know, it's kind of hard to look at this and say that that

wasn't an insurrection on january 6th. that donald trump didn't insight that insurrection, invited people to washington and then sent them to the capital. and that the 14th amendment of course applies to him. so i am hopeful, maybe hopeful is too strong of a term. i think it might be possible that the supreme court will put aside their partisanship and do the right thing, but we shall see. >> of course, there are lots of things, right? that they could take issue with here. we don't know what it might be, if it goes that way. but if they don't side with colorado, if they don't side with maine, what do you think happens then? >> well, i think it undermines the 14th amendment for sure, it undermines section three of the 14th amendment. and it means who has committed insurrection against our country will be allowed to run for president again, and that will be very unfortunate. but what i'm confident of is

that if they rule that way, we will all, those of us who believe differently, will respect the decision. of course, we have not seen that from donald trump anytime our courts have ruled against him or the people have voted against him. he considers that to be, you know, a rigged decision. and he opposes it every time. so i think on our side, those who are really trying to make sure the constitution and rule of law applies, will accept whatever decision comes down. i hope that donald trump and his supporters will as well. they don't have a track record for that, unfortunately. but hopefully in this case they will. >> mayor ethan stribling, we appreciate your time today. thank you so much. obviously we'll be watching to see how this develops. >> thanks, glad to be here. >> and now to a cnn exclusive on the length that the trump campaign and its supporters allegedly went to to overturn the 2020 election.

>> cnn has obtained messages and audio that show fake elector certificates were actually flown to washington right before january 6th. those ballots were from two key states. wisconsin and michigan. let's get the details now from cnn's zachary cohen. he is part of the team that broke that story. so zak, what do these emails and recordings reveal about the effort to overturn the 2020 election that we didn't know before? >> yeah guys, it really does shed new light on just how far trump campaign officials and operatives went to execute what was really, what jack smith has said, is a core pillar of the effort to overturn the 2020 election. that includes new details about this mad scramble that took place on the eve of january 6th, right before mike pence was supposed to go to the capitol and certify joe biden's win. the scramble took place because the trump campaign officials realized that two of the certificates were stuck in the mail. take a listen to what ken chesebro, who's been described as the architect of the fake elector plot, told

investigators in michigan about the scramble and about the reaction of trump trump campaign officials. >> the general law -- of the trump campaign is freaked out that roman reported that the michigan votes are still -- it doesn't look like they're going to get to pence in time. so the general cost of the campaign was alarmed and was chartering. they did have to charter a jet, but this is a high level -- yet the michigan and wisconsin votes. and they had to enlist a u.s. senator to try to expedite it to get it to pence in time. >> so according to chesebro, the trump campaign even considered triggering a private jet to fly a staffer from michigan and wisconsin to d.c. to deliver these physical copies of the fake certificates, because the idea was mike pence had to bring those certificates

to the house floor in order for them to be counted, if he actually went through with the plan to reject biden's legitimate electors. so really taking it behind the scenes here of what happened and even in just the days leading up to january 6th, and how this fake elector plot does tie and with the broader effort to pressure mike pence and also overturn the election overall. >> zak, how could this all fit into jack smith's criminal case against trump? >> reporter: yeah, we know that this episode is brightly ruffle ernst in jack smith's indictment of trump. it's remaining to be seen how this might fit into a trial or it even plays a large role. we do know from sources that ken chesebro has reached out to jack smith and effectively offered to cooperate, but he has not heard back yet from the special counsel's office, which is an interesting sort of radio silence, left on road situation there. he's an unindicted coconspirator in the federal case. obviously we know too that chesebro is cooperating in seven state level investigations, so we will have to see how this plays out. but we do know jack smith some

of these details and remains to be seen how this plays in the trial. >> it doesn't feel great to be left on red, especially when there are potential criminal charges pending. it's not cohen, thanks so much for the update. sullen ahead on cnn news central, more than two dozen killed and 120 injured in the largest russian air attack on ukraine since the invasion began. what this might mean for the trajectory of war. >> plus, just monster waves slamming the california coast, check this one out. this is a 20 foot wall of water sweeping away and injuring several people in ventura. we'll have more on the dangerous and powerful storm and preparations for new underway as a new intelligence assessment says times square retains an attractive target for terrorists. the president of the times square alliance will be joining us to talk about security.

>> today, israel says it stepping up military operations around the city of khan yunis in southern gaza. the idf says it's eliminated dozens of hamas members using aerial strikes, sniper and tank fire. also in the southeast city of rafah, 21 people were killed, dozens more injured, after an apparent israeli airstrike at a residential building. that's according to the director of the hospital receiving the victims bodies. >> meantime, in central gaza, hospital officials say 35 palestinians died in israeli attacks on residential buildings. the u.n. says the humanitarian crisis and now part of the territory is growing even more dire, morning over on hundred 50,000 people who have nowhere to go, after the idf told residents in many parts of

central gaza to urgently evacuate. and right now, dozens of people are dead in more than 100 injured after russia launched its biggest wave of air attacks across ukraine since the start of the war. ukraine says a huge barrage of missiles and drones struck civilian targets in multiple regions. >> nearly 50 homes, as well as apartment buildings, a school, even a maternity hospital were damaged or completely destroyed. the hospital, 12 pregnant women and for newborn babies were unhurt, as they moved to a shelter as soon as air raid alarms sounded. ukrainian president volodymyr zelenskyy is now vowing to strike back. we caught up with cnn's helena lands on the ground in kyiv just a short time ago. here's her report. this >> reporter: in the morning, we were in an area where a business was not being used, so part of it was destroyed. but no people were inside. also on the other side of the city was a metro station that was also hit.

it was closed, people could access it from another side, and the metro was already working. right now we are not very far from that area, were actually in a place where there are some warehouses and these warehouses behind me were actually hit during the attack. let me just take you inside and show you what actually the destruction that is inside. the warehouse was hit, it caught fire, when we arrived here the smoke was still very visible from the outside, right now we can still see smoke in the inside. the snow is actually strong, and from sometime we couldn't access the inside of the warehouse, because firefighters were still trying to do stabilize, so nothing could fall. we now have permission to enter, and as you can see, there is --

the structure is completely destroyed, the roof of the warehouse is totally destroyed. and we are actually walking on shattered glass, on fragments of the warehouse. but also -- that was inside, i was speaking with the general manager of the company, which is actually a german company working in ukraine, and he was telling me that it's only electrode technical equipment here. there is no weapons, and it's now mostly destroyed. so the warehouses destroyed, they will have to look for a new one, what is inside, they're trying to understand whether or not they can still recover some things. now there's also the cost of the destruction. the company is still going to continue working and ukraine, that's at least what he was telling me. but it's very difficult right now to recover from all of

these losses. there was no one inside the warehouse when the attack happened. it was in the early hours of the morning, but speaking with a firefighter, two people asked for they to be assisted by emergency services because this was the main warehouse, but there were also other buildings around. so two people need to be assisted by emergency services. as i was telling you, firefighters are still here, the warehouse is still being -- in this warehouse, there's still a lot of smoke and the smell is really strong. but as you were saying, not only here was hit, which is very unexpected, sirens have been going off in the capital for almost every day. but no one was expecting this size of destruction. but also -- in ukraine, and this shows the scale of the attack of last night. >> thank you so much for that

report. as ukraine is reeling from this largest russian air attack in nearly two years, president biden says it is proof that vladimir putin's intentions have not changed. but the russian president still wants to obliterate ukraine. biden also reiterated his call for congress to pass billions in new aid. joining us now to discuss is former u.s. ambassador to ukraine, bill taylor. he's also vice president for russia and europe at the u.s. institute of peace. ambassador, thank you so much for being with us. before we get into this round of attacks in ukraine, i do want to ask you about the latest bit of news coming from the white house. and that is that president biden has been closely tracking a missile that poland claims flew over its airspace from russia. a russian missile in nato airspace, i'm wondering what your reaction to that is, and how poland should potentially respond? >> boris, this just demonstrates that the war in ukraine, russia's war on ukraine, it is not going to

stop not just at ukraine. ukraine must stop the russians so that the russians don't go further. this track of this missile, across poland, from probably belarus, through poland, back into ukraine, is a demonstration that this is not going to stop just with ukraine. and the polls have been consulting with their nato allies, including those in the united states, to see if there is a response that would be necessary. >> so, given the intensity of these most recent attacks, ambassador, and obviously the division in the west over providing aid to ukraine, do you think this is a sign that vladimir putin feels emboldened, like the war is now tipping in his favor? >> i don't think the war is tipping in his favor. i think what this will do, i think this big attack today will send the strong message that you just mentioned, to the american people, to the europeans, and to their parliaments, and you are congress. it's in the power of our

congress to provide the weapons, to provide the means for ukrainians to push back against this assault. these kinds of assaults. this is standing by. the congress has the power, when it comes bavacation, from s districts, when it comes back in early january. so next week, it has the ability to provide the weapons, provide the assistance, provide the money necessary to provide the ukrainians the ability to push back against the russians. this is the message of this attack today. >> in terms of vladimir putin's calculus, he is up for reelection in march. i'm wondering how you think that factors into this latest wave of attacks, in that context? >> will of course the outcome is not in doubt of that election. however, i'm sure that president putin has told his military that he wants some kind of achievement. some kind of victory. and so they're pushing, the

russians are pushing all along the front, they're pushing in mainly the ground, they're pushing their soldiers, the convicts that they've pulled out of their person, in human waves time after time in varying places across the front. to try to get some kind of a victory that president putin can point to to enable him to say to the russian people that this is worth it. it's clearly not worth it so far, and the ukrainians have been pushing back so hard, defending so strongly, that they don't have anything to -- the russians have actually been pushed back out of the western part of the black sea, boris. so the momentum in the naval warfare is cooley on the ukrainian side. >> this can be seen as retribution for that recent ukraine attack in the black sea, that was successful. it does come as cnn has reported, that there are new deliberations within the kremlin to signal openness toward a potential cease-fire, simultaneously, cnn had

reporting last month at the white house was urging ukraine toward sending similar signals. into any of those recent developments give you hope that there might be some kind of peaceful resolution on the horizon? >> boris, if president putin wants to signal interest in negotiating, he has a way to do that. and that is pull his troops out. stop the fighting, stop these barrage as. stop these bombardments. all across ukraine. this is not a message. this kind of bombardment is not a message that he's interested in negotiating. none whatsoever. i have not heard anything from the u.s. government either, that indicates that they are ready to push the ukrainians and do something that the ukrainians to want to do. the ukrainians clearly want the russians out of their country. and they're willing to keep pushing as long as they've got the assistance, they go back to this question of u.s. assistance to the ukrainians that can be voted on next week. and the next two weeks.

that's going to be the message that goes to the kremlin. >> ambassador bill taylor, we have to leave the conversation there. very much appreciate your time sir. >> thank you, boris. >> still plenty of news to get to on news central, including new york authorities on high alert as millions get ready to flood at times square for new year's eve. how officials are making sure that revelers stay safe. plus, a university chancellor in wisconsin removed from his post after reports that he posted pornographic films he made with his wife on the internet. what the university is saying about his firing.

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high alert as the city is preparing to ring in 2024. officials say that there are no specific credible threats, but a new joint intel report says times square remains an attractive target for terrorists and extremists security concerns are also high because of possible protest surrounding the israel-hamas war. joining us now, we have tom here is. he is the president of the times square alliance. sir, thank you so much for being with us. i want to talk to you about what we should be expecting here, and tell us what are the security concerns this year when you compare it to past years? >> first, thank you very much for having me. we are looking forward to welcoming almost 1 million people to times square to safely celebrate new years eve. the new york city police department is hyper focused on making sure that the revelers have a safe experience in times square. and they have been working tirelessly at 24 hours a day, seven days a week, along with the fbi and other federal

agencies just to make sure that they are up to speed on anything that is out there, anyone who might try to disrupt the event. >> or are there any threats that are related to israel hamas, to the israel hamas war? any worries that are related to that? >> so, i wouldn't say worries, because we are focused on it. but there certainly has been a planned protest for some place on new year's eve. so we have been working with the nypd to make sure that they have a plan in place, that people can peacefully exercise their first amendment rights to protest, but not at the expense of the people who come to watch the event in times square. >> so, if people are visiting this year, what should they be expecting, in terms of security? >> so it'll pretty much be the same as it has been in years past. the revelers will come, we have six access points for 49th

street, 52nd street, sixth and eighth avenue, they'll come in, there will be screened by the nypd, and then there will be walked into viewing areas. we will await midnight, when the clock strikes midnight, the ball descends, and then we welcome in 2024. >> any specific message to revelers who are getting ready for this? >> just bring a sense of humor, don't bring umbrellas, the weather is looking good. come early, but just keyed the advice of the nypd. no umbrellas, chairs, backpacks, large bags, and just come ready to have that new york resolve and spirit that the revelers have year in and year out. >> very good message. all right tom, thanks for being with us. we do appreciate it, and certainly we are looking forward to seeing the ball drop there in times square. >> thanks, happy new year. >> happy new year to you as well. still ahead on cnn news central, a powerful storm in california dissenting rogue waves crashing

over sea walls, injuring several people who were there watching the surf. and the weekend could bring even more severe weather. and movie theater controversy. we are now hearing from a civil rights leader who was kicked out of a screening of the color purple. >> the c cnn republilican prpresidentialal town hall, , l, january 4t4th on cnn..

>> an update now on some of the other headlines we're watching this hour. a police officer in ohio is now on administrative leave and under investigation. he was seen punching at miami university football player during an arrest. we want to warn you, this video is disturbing. it shows a 20-year-old student on the ground, staff and bystanders from a nearby brawl where there. they were trying to apprehend johnson after he allegedly assaulted a bar manager, but the video shows an oxford police officer arriving on the scene while the student is pinned on the ground. the officer is then seen hitting the student in the head at least three times, as he is being restrained. held down by several people. also, the chancellor at the university of wisconsin lacrosse has been fired after he and his wife posted pornographic videos online. the school has not publicly detail the reason they were

moved him from his leadership role, but he told several news outlets he's being punished for the explicit videos the couple made together and that it should be protected speech. >> that is a wild story. and take a look at this terrifying scene along the california coast. this is a rogue wave here, it just burst over a barrier in ventura, sweeping about 20 people who were there watching the surf, as well as their cars. about 50 yards away, as the water raced down the street, at least eight people here went to the hospital. the national weather service has issued coastal flooding and high surf warnings for much of the california coast, with waves up to 40 feet possible for san francisco. let's go live now to cnn correspondent lucy kafanov, she is there on manhattan beach in california. usually beautiful, lucy. it's been a little dangerous here. >> reporter: yeah, it's so beautiful, but you can see the waves behind me.

in fact, i'll step out of the shot and let our cameramen capture some of nature's power here. the waves around here, roughly 12 to 14 feet. not as bad as other parts of the california coast, but still, just as a precaution, authorities -- there we go. it's actually moving closer to where i'm standing, and i will move a little bit away. authorities actually closed this pier as a precaution, but you can still see there are folks out here grabbing photos, taking pictures, despite the closest signs. obviously they're not enforcing that. but the unpredictability of just how close it keeps coming to you is part of the concern. now, in terms of the rest of the coast, ventura and santa cruz counties very much impacted the most as of yesterday, where we saw dramatic flooding of the areas. there was powerful footage of a restaurant that was completely engulfed by flames. a lot of businesses and homes were hurt. you played that dramatic

footage of people getting swept away, nothing that dangerous here in the manhattan beach area for now, but onlookers who experience the worst of it in the other areas describe those harrowing moments. take a listen. >> it's up your state of panic. to be honest, as far as the community goes. because you know there's plenty out there that are not prepared. >> this wave just came, simply out of nowhere. it was on the side, it was 6 to 8 feet deep. >> and we just had an l.a. county -- in certain parts of the beach, not manhattan beach, but a little bit further to that area. we have seen digger is trying to build up the firms and keep the water from creating more damage, because it's not just yesterday or today. we are expecting high waves throughout the weekend, potentially as high as 30 feet in some parts of california.

parts of santa cruz have been evacuated, that evacuation order now lifted. a lot of the residents and construction cleanup clues are forced to deal with the aftermath, the debris, the flooding, as they also prepare for potentially unpredictable we see it as it snuck up on you there, the zouave doubling up on you on the shore. lucy, stay safe. one eye on the camera, one eye on the serve. have a wonderful new year. >> thank you, you too. >> still ahead on cnn news central, dangerous forging. poison control center seeing a spike in calls after people he toxic mushrooms. we are going to have a look at this trend.

a civil rights leader is speaking out after being kicked out of a movie theater in north carolina. on tuesday, staff members of a amc theater called police on michigan barber after try to use his own chair in the disabled section. he says he takes the chair everywhere because of a painful health condition. today during the press conference he called the whole incident shameful and unnecessary. watch this. >> it should have never been a

police escalation situation. never been threatened to be charged with trespassing. what's the big deal? well, civil rights. disability rights. i am not ashamed. i'm not ashamed of this chair. >> amc has since apologized. the company ceo is set to meet with bishop barber next week. >> this year, poison control center say they are getting spiking calls because of people eating dangerous a wild mushrooms. >> it comes as an interest in forging grows as a way to connect with nature and to live a more sustainable life. cnn's nick terrell has more. >> reporter: i saw the mushrooms over here. >> last september, bill hickman found what he thought were edible mushrooms growing near his house in, windyville. >> i looked down, and put my foot on it. it said, boom, a puff ball. i thought, oh cool.

i put my stuff down over there. gathered a few of them up. >> reporter: that 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: it turns out that bill heady for of what are known as destroying angel mushrooms, highly toxic species. the first doctor pretty much told us, we can happen. he is not going to survive. >> warmer fall weather due to climate change is extending climate season. nationally, reports of potentially toxic mushroom exposures are more than 11% so far this year compared to last year. to see just how diverse and potentially dangerous mushrooms can be, we went forging with my collagen structure rick vanda poll in new hampshire. >> this has what they call a fair nations odor. an odor of meal and farina. >> reporter: he uses smell,

color, structural features to help determine which mushrooms are safe to eat. >> these are puffed laws. you can open it up. show you what the middle look psych. >> reporter: looks like a marshmallow. >> right, exactly. they often call these marshmallow mushrooms. interestingly in a soup they will soak up the fluid and the taste. you can use these as little miniature mushroom sponges. >> reporter: which ones are not safe. >> where do you look for some of the ones that are poisonous? >> let's go take a look. see what you got? >> that looks orange. >> touch it, smell it. so that has the fair nhs odor. >> what would that do if you eat it? >> that will make you sick, yeah. gastric upset. it won't kill you. >> reporter: although some can be deadly! [inaudible] that's it? >> it's a. it doesn't look like much. it's just a little round mushroom.

pick it off the log, this is the deadly [speaking in a non-english language] . >> what would happen if you ate one of the? >> this has toxins in. it >> reporter: a poison that destroys liver cells and can cause liver failure. amatoxin is also in the mushroom that bill hickman eight. with his liver and kidney that risk of failing, bill was transferred to university hospital in cleveland where doctors raced to get him an experimental antidote. and extract from the milk thistle plant. the antidote worked. bill slowly regained his strength but says it took months to fully recover, both physically and mentally. >> there were a lot of people involved. they saved me. >> meg terrell, cnn, windham, ohio. he is lucky to be okay. it is such a risk that. i would just go to the grocery store. >> i agree.

but they only have a few varieties, boris. >> order them online! it's fine. nothing wrong with ordering mushrooms on the internet. what could go wrong? >> [laughs] stop. >> maybe you 2024 resolution includes reading more books. >> mine actually. does our own michael smerconish has some ideas. speaking to five officers who influenced him in 2023. >> back in 2006, after i've been appearing regularly on cnn, usually as illegal guest, the network told me that they liked my work but they did know what to do with. me i think the network brass were surprised when i then pitched my idea. hosting a weekly book club. we filmed beginning with me back a home in market street in philadelphia. that show never made it to air. today, 17 years later and all of a gift, at least for me, i decided out speak to five authors of books made an impact on me this year david brooks has been an opinion columnist for the new york times 20 years. his latest book explores an

important scale for people to possess the lead happy, healthy, lives. free speech advocate greg lepine off cowrote the bestseller, the coddling of the american mind. with culture wars tearing apart college campuses across the country is now back with a well-timed follow-up. the canceling of the american mind. sheila johnson with the nation's first female black billionaire. in her memory she recounts hardships that she faced along the way, including institutional racism, losing a child, emotional abuse, and depression. robert reuben, former co-chair of goldman sachs. his latest book is about what he had learned on how to make the best decisions in an uncertain world. perhaps in complete contrast, robert supple ski is a t.e.d. talk phenom. he is a professor of neurology mileage at stanford university. he argues in his latest book that we really don't have any power to decide anything. that there is no such thing as freewill. >> really interesting topics.

you can watch smerconish 70 mornings 9 am eastern right here on cnn. still to come this afternoon, damaged but not defeated. ukraine hit with a barrage of missile attacks as president zelenskyy visits the frontlines himself in a show of defiance. the latest on the deadly ststrikes whenen we come b back.

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