hello and welcome to our

viewers joining us here in the united states and all around the world. i'm rosemary church. just ahead, a u.s. official says israel was responsible for the strike in lebanon that killed a senior hamas leader. donald trump appeals the decision to remove him from maine's presidential primary ballot, accusing the state's top election official of bias. and investigators begin their search into what caused that fiery runway collision in japan. >> live from atlanta, this is "cnn newsroom" with rosemary church. >> thanks for joinings us. a top hamas leader has been assassinated, and a u.s. official told cnn that israel carried out the hit. senior hamas leader saleh al arouri was killed in the suburbs of lebanon on tuesday. lebanese media report the strike

targeted an office belonging to hamas, and several others were also killed, including leaders from the hamas military wing. earlier, an israeli government spokesperson issued this statement about the incident. >> israel has not taken responsibility for this attack, but whoever did it, it must be clear that this was not an attack on the lebanese state. it was not an attack even on hezbollah, the terrorist organization. whoever did this did a surgical strike against the hamas leadership. >> al rain aurorery is the sixt political leader to be killed since the october 7th attacks. his killing has sparked condemnation from key hamas allies like iran and the houthis in yemen. crowds of supporters also protested in the west bank. the u.s. treasury had designated salah al arouri a

terrorist back in 2015 and offered $5 million for information on him. there is no word yet on whether the reward will be paid and who might get it. cnn's nada bashir reports from beirut. >> reporter: well, this is a significant escalation. we're talking about the number two of hamas' political bureau, somebody who is considered one of the founders of the al qassam brigades, hamas' military wing. we have heard earlier today condemning the attack, describing it as a cowardly assassination carried out, in his words, by israel. now we have heard from the lebanese national news agency saying this incident was caused by what they described as an aerial strike using three missiles. and we have been speaking to locals here. one business owner just a few doors down telling us he heard three loud booms at the time of the incident. of course, there are still investigations, ongoing authorities and forensic teams have been here throughout the

evening. important to note, of course, that we have previously heard from israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu saying that israel would hunt down all hamas leaders, not just in gaza, not just in the occupied west bank, but wherever they are located. however, cnn has reached out to the israeli military. they have declined to comment. we heard a little earlier from a senior adviser to benjamin netanyahu, regev. he spoke saying israel does not claim responsibility for the attack, but whoever did carry out the attack was clearly carrying out a very precise target. they were targeting a haumts l hamas leader, not targeting the iran-backed hezbollah group. we have heard from the lebanese leader. he has condemned the attack. he has accused israel of trying to pull lebanon into a new phase of confrontation. of course important to note that this comes off the back of weeks of escalating tensions between the iran-backed hezbollah group and israel. we have seen continued exchanges

of fire on the southern border of lebanon. israel carrying out air strikes on lebanese villages. some civilians have been killed, including journalists who were reporting by the border. in return, hezbollah has targeted what they described as israeli military targets on the other side of the border. there is mounting concern that this could escalate into a broader conflict that could spill over across the region. we've heard last week from a member of israel's war cabinet, benny gantz. time is running out for a diplomatic solution, and that israel could turn to take military action if needed. now the secretary general of hezbollah is expected to speak on wednesday evening. that speech was scheduled before this incident took place, but, of course, all eyes will be watching, waiting to see what he has to say about this latest attack. nada bashir, cnn in beirut. >> and we go to tel aviv now and

shalomi eldar, the author of "getting to know hamas." appreciate you joining us. >> thank you very much. thank you for having me. >> so what is your reaction to this targeted attack on a senior hamas leader in beirut, and what's the likely strategy behind this, do you think? >> the strategy, to eliminate the hamas leaders, especially hiding in gaza strip. i think the first targeting israel announced the targeting of hamas leader is one of the mission of the israeli operation, israeli war in gaza. and i think the most important men now to be caught is yahya sinwar. yahya sinwar, the head of the hamas leader in gaza strip who planned the terror attack in israel on october 7th. and if sinwar is hiding in one of the tunnels, a huge tanel

that hamas built in gaza strip. it's important for israel to eliminate him. and even to declare this is a kind of ending the war in gaza. because i think that israel from the beginning, prime minister netanyahu announced and promised israel to eliminate hamas movement. i think after three months war in gaza strip, i think the israeli government, the israeli leadership, even the idf leader can understand that eliminate hamas totally elimination, it's impossible. but the way to hurt hamas, it's by hunting the leaders. and i can give one example from 2004 during the second intifada. israel assassinated two leaders of hamas, the most important leaders in hamas, the sheikh ahmed yassin who founded the movement, and his inherit

important successor abdelaziz. during three weeks in march in 2004, and this was the end of the second intifada. hamas leader, the political group offered in israel understanding. so we stop the terror attacks, sending the terrorists and bombing themselves, the suicide bombing in israel, and you, israel, stop the assassination. and it was a deal. and the deal was kept by the two sides and bring the end of the second intifada. >> all right. i just still want to ask you because we're running out of time, but israel is not saying that they're behind this assassination in beirut, but why not just say they did it, given israel has been threatening to go after hamas leaders since

this war began on october 7th? can you explain that to us? >> yes. i also ask myself the same question. i think that israel must say we targeting the hamas leaders. and we take the responsibility for hunting saleh al arouri, that he is a terrorist. he was a terrorist. he sent a terrorist attacks against israel from the west bank and gaza strip. so this is a policy of the israeli government. i can't explain it, unfortunately, but i can just say if not israel assassinated saleh al arouri, who can do it. >> all right. thank you so much for talking with us. i appreciate it. >> thank you very much. former u.s. president donald trump is asking a maine court to overturn a decision removing him from the state's 2024 primary ballot. maine's secretary of state said last week she had a legal

obligation to remove trump from the ballot over his role in the january 6th 2021 attack on the u.s. capitol. citing the same reason colorado gave for removing him from its ballot. our paula reid has more. >> reporter: in their filing late tuesday, the trump team attacking maine's secretary of state shenna bellows. she is a democrat, but it's maine's policy that the first stop for questions about whether someone is eligible to appear on the ballot go to the secretary of state. but in their filing tonight, trump's lawyers insist that she was, quote, a biased decision-maker. she should have recused herself, had no legal authority, made multiple errors of law, and acted an arbitrary and capricious manner. her decision was based on seconds 3 of the 14th amendment of the constitution. now this particular piece of the constitution and who should enforce it, this has been litigated across multiple states over the past several months.

and we've seen differing outcomes. now most of the states, except for colorado and maine have opted to keep trump on the ballot. but those states mostly did so based on procedural grounds. they didn't get into the merits of the argument. but that leaves the door open for this to continue to be litigated through the 2024 election. we're also still waiting for trump for his appeal on the colorado decision. that appeal is expected to go to the supreme court. the republican party of colorado has already filed an appeal there, but it is expected that trump will also appeal that decision. and what's clear is the supreme court just has to weigh in here, give some clarity on who the section 3 of the 14th amendment applies to, who is supposed to enforce it, and there is a desire by many parties and states to have some clarity on this before super tuesday. paula reid, cnn, washington. gold bars and grand prix tickets. those are just some of the gifts u.s. senator bob menendez is accused of receiving from qatar

and an alleged co-conspirator as part of a years' long corruption scheme. the allegations are part of a superseding indictment made public on tuesday. this makes qatar the second foreign country following egypt that the new jersey democrat is accused of helping while in office. menendez sits on the senate foreign relations committee. he has vigorously denied any wrongdoing, and his attorney says the senator acted entirely appropriately at all times. well, coming up, ukraine says russia's latest attacks are a case for more western support and more military aid. we'll show you what they're up against. that's next.

russia has been pounding ukraine with missiles as the war drags on nearly two years after a full-scale invasion. ukrainian president volodymyr zelenskyy says russia launched at least 500 missiles and drones at ukrainian territory in the past five days. including a massive bombardment of kyiv and kharkiv on tuesday. cnn's clare sebastian joins me live from london. good morning to you, clare. so what is the latest on russia's relentless attacks on

ukraine? >> yeah, rosemary, this is really the sort of hallmark now of what we see going on as the year has turned and ukraine a very bleak new year where there has been a significant escalation in the air war that russia is waging. now we know that the injury toll from tuesday's attacks is at 130 people. the death toll stands at five. just a measure of how bleak this new year has been in the kyiv city. the military administration said one more person has died in hospital as a result of injuries sustained on december 29th. ukraine says was the biggest aerial bombardment of the city since the beginning of the war. so that fallout is ongoing. and meanwhile, this has been actually an exchange of aerial attacks. ukrainian also being accused by russia of continuing its aerial assault across the region. in the belgorod area some dozen missiles shot down this morning after a number of attacks on tuesday where the governor of belgorod said one person was

killed by shrapnel and 11 others injured, three of which are still in hospital. so that region is feeling the pressure as well. ukraine has not claimed responsibility for that. but ukraine is also making it clear that it is not powerless against these russian assaults, despite the hesitation that we see in congress over more aid. it did manage to shoot down the majority of missiles fired at it on tuesday. among them ten out of ten missiles that russia call hypersonic, some of the most vaunted elements of the russian arsenal. and i think a measure of that is the general came out and spoke to cnn exactly than element of this. take a look. >> translator: today the air force of ukraine has shot down ten of ten russian x-47 m2 kinzhal missiles. this is a record. if these missiles had reached their targets, the consequences would have been catastrophic.

i thank our servicemen for their work, and thank our partners for their air defense systems. there is no reason to believe that the enemy will stop here. that is why we need more systems and ammunition for them. >> no reason to believe the enemy will stop here. he does two things interesting. he gives credit to the patriots trying to answer some of the criticism we've seen certainly in congress over where the money is going and how it's being used. and second, using the attacks to really show the world and especially ukraine's allies just how much more military aid is needed. rosemary? >> all right, clare sebastian in london, many thanks. and joining me now from kyiv is a a former ukrainian defense minister. good to see you. thank you for being with us. >> thank you. >> so russia has intensified its attacks on ukraine just as president putin vowed to do during a speech on new year's

day, apparently emboldened by the stalled effort in the u.s. congress to approve additional military aid for ukraine. so where do you see this war going from here? and how will ukraine survive without more support from the u.s. and its allies? >> it will be extremely difficult to survive without more support. and let's be very realistic about that. ukraine has been receiving billions of help from the west. the western politicians were transmitting all around the world that it is in the strategic interest of the west to support ukraine. and of course if suddenly that changes and the united states, for example, is no longer going to support ukraine, it would be catastrophic for the region and obviously for ukrainian people. so we need to be very sober about that and not diminish the fact that, you know, those decisions are actually have a very direct impact on human lives. but we do have support from other countries as well, of course. we have support, some support from you, some significant

support from the united kingdom, and basically, the western coalition. where it's going, it's very simple. putin is going to intensify whatever he can in order to demonstrate that he has a chance to win. we don't think so. with the western support, we don't think he is going to wini bebecause he actually has very little of the advancements in the front, if any. but t with the bombabarding of civivilian infraststructure ana cities and s so on, he creates e image of basically controlling this space. >> right. and president zelenskyy says russian forces suffering heavy losses too. what update do you have on where things stand right now on the front lines? >> we have -- well, they're suffering tremendous losses. we're talking about hundreds of people a day. so it could be 600 a day. it could be up to a thousand a day. russian armed forces are

experiencing a terrible attrition. and we're talking about equipment. we're talking about people. we're talking about infrastructure and so on. so obviously they are supplying a lot to the front. but at the same time, the level of attrition is not comparable to the level of the production. so if russia continually loses the equipment in that rate and the people, we won't see much of them able to support that level in the end of the year. so what we need to do, we need to keep on destroying russian vehicles and destroying russian capabilities. >> and we are seeing various reports suggesting that president putin is looking for an offramp in this war. but intends to declare victory all the same. what more are you learning about any effort to bring this war to an end? and what's president zelenskyy's peace plan for ukraine? >> president zelenskyy peace plan has tens of countries which

already signed the declaration supporting it. so basically, the president is mobilizing all diplomatic effort in order to create a coalition supporting that plan. putin obviously declares, you know, that they're going to continue the offensive and the continue the war against ukraine. that's what he said during the recent speeches. and so there is no doubt that he will do this until he can. and so the only way the stop the war is to make sure that putin physically cannot continue that pace and starts to withdraw, like he did in the end of 2022. so we've been there already. we know what it takes. and we need to make sure that we have that capability in the future. >> andriy, thank you very much for talking to us. >> thank you. when we come back, details about that fiery plane collision in tokyo, and how the crew got more than 350 passengers to

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welcome back, everyone. new details on the devastating earthquake that hit japan's west coast on new year's day. a top official says search-and-rescue efforts are still under way, and 70 people have been rescued since tuesday night. the airport in the region is still inoperative, and roads are being cleared in the noto peninsula to deliver food and essentials to impacted areas. meantime, officials say the death toll has risen to 62. cnn has details. >> reporter: it's been more than a day since the powerful quake. but this woman and her mother, the impact still very fresh. >> translator: thinking about it now still makes me tremble.

my heard was pounding. my mind went blank. we just scrambled. things like our wallets and ran outside. >> reporter: she was visiting her family for new year's when the quake struck. her mother's house now unlivable because of the powerful impact. the pair luckily able to escape unharmed. but with the constant aftershocks, they're still far from safe. >> translator: i feel like even now the building is shaking. whenever an aftershock happens, i think of the main quake, and my body trembles. >> reporter: but it's not just the tremors here have to worry about. other than a roof, there is little else. there is no heating right now. so people are sleeping using thick blankets to stay warm. there is also no running water. so the japanese self-defense forces are just outside this building handing out water to locals. this water a lifeline for dozens here and thousands across the region.

left without supply or simply without homes after monday's powerful quake. the devastation difficult to comprehend at night, but clearly visible from the sky. in wajima, the shock flipping multistory buildings on their side. and razing entire blocks to the ground. tsunami waves forcing large vessels on to the shore and fires adding to the destruction. amid it all, authorities desperately searching for the dozens still trapped beneath the rubble. >> translator: prime minister kishida has to once again put lives first. understand the situation of the damages, and make an utmost effort to save people and emergency rescue operations. >> reporter: urgent efforts slowed down by the devastating impact. the quake destroying access to the most impacted zones and making these already remote areas nearly impossible to reach.

hanako montgomery, cnn, nanao. airlines are reporting dozens of cancellations today at a tokyo airport where two planes collided on the runway on tuesday. japan airlines says its flight crew got clearance to land from air traffic controllers, but minutes later, it struck a japan coast guard plane, killing five people. cnn's marc stewart is following developments from seoul. he joins us now. so, marc, an investigation is under way in the wake of this tragic runway collision. what more are you learning? >> hi there, rosemary. let's talk about that investigation. japan's transport agency is heading it up. and among those who will be participating in this broad investigation will be certainly japan airlines. but we've also learned that french authorities are sending their aviation sector to japan as well to tokyo to take part in all this.

this was an airbus a350, a european-made aircraft by airbus, so it does make sense for france to have a role in all of this. among the different tasks that will likely take place in an investigation like this are interviews, interviews with people in the control tower, interviews with people on the flight deck, but also members of the cabin crew. as we have been hearing since this disaster unfolded, a lot of credit is being gwynn to the flight attendants who quickly evacuated that aircraft. and if you talk to flight attendants, they will tell you during their training, it is certainly rigorous. it is certainly intense, but it's so there is no hesitation that in the event of an emergency like this, their response is almost instinct, almost second nature. as we have been reporting, after the plane came to a stop when flight attendants started to initiate this evacuation, there is problems with the public address system. so these flight attendants used mega phones and shouted using their own voices.

these are protocols, procedures that likely came from their training. so that will be a big part of this discussion through the safety investigators. obviously, they want to know how things happened, exactly what happened. but also, a big takeaway from this disaster will be guidance for the future. what can be learned from all of this. as we look at this video, as we look at the smoke, we look at the flames, it is amazing, rosemary, when we hear some of these accounts from people. one person told us they heard a big bang while others, rosemary, said at first and for a while they didn't even realize anything was wrong at all until they were told to evacuate. >> an extraordinary outcome, isn't it? marc stewart joining us live from seoul. many thanks. u.s. federal investigators say they have found no links to terrorism in the car crash which killed two people in rochester, new york early on new year's

day. police say the driver responsible for the collision has died, but they're still looking into whether his actions were intentional. cnn's brynn gingras has the latest on the investigation. >> reporter: a fiery crash outside a new york concert hall. after a car rammed into another vehicle, setting off an explosion. >> it was crazy to see that kind of fire. the flames were probably still like 15-feet high. >> reporter: killing two people, injuring nine others, including one critically hurt nearby a an authorities say it appears to be intentional. >> you saw the carnage of the cars and the one car burnt up, and car pieces everywhere. it was surreal to think wow, this happened right here. >> reporter: it wasn't even an hour into the new year when hundreds of concertgoers exited the kodak center in rochester, new york. that's when police say 35-year-old michael avery, driving a rented suv packed with

gas canisters drove towards a pedestrian crossing and collided with a ride share vehicle, killing the passengers inside. avery also died later at the hospital. >> investigators are still combing through evidence recovered from his vehicle, but nothing thus far has been recovered that provides any additional incsight into why ths occurred. >> reporter: what investigators do know is avery traveled in his own car from syracuse to rochester on or around december 27th and checked into a nearby hotel. on december 29th, police say avery picked up a rental car. and on december 30th, images like this one show he was alone when he bought gas canisters and filled them. >> a very highly organized structured, planned attack by this person, for whatever reason. the only question for investigators a this point is why did he do it, and was anyone else involved. >> reporter: to help answer those questions, authorities with the joint terrorism task force and fbi executing search warrants at various locations.

>> additionally we have not uncovered any information, leading us to believe that the actions of michael avery on new year's eve were motivated by any form of political or social biases. >> reporter: avery's family telling authorities they believe he suffered from an undiagnosed mental illness. >> i think for us, as we go into the new year is to remember the victims of this horrific accident. they were expecting to be able to ring in the new year and have a good time. but instead, we have individuals that are now going to be burying family members, and we have people who have now life altering injuries because of the choices that this suspect made. >> reporter: brynn gingras, cnn, new york. still to come, harvard university is on the hunt for a new president. we will break down how a firestorm of controversy led to its current president announcing her resignation.

a far right israeli lawmaker

is coming under fire for his social media post about the supreme court's judicial overhaul ruling. zika fogel of the jewish power party said, quote, first we will destroy hamas, then we'll take care of hezbollah. and for dessert, we will sort out the supreme court. israel's interior minister responded saying there is no place for including the supreme court in the same sentence as our worst enemies. elliott gotkine has more on the court's ruling. >> reporter: it was a bombshell. in an 8-7 ruling, israel's supreme court struck down legislation that removed its powers to throw out government decisions on the grounds of reasonableness. they rejected the amendment because of the severe and unprecedented blow it represented to the core characteristic of israel as a democratic state. prime minister benjamin netanyahu had argued the change was required to restore the

balance of power between the executive and the court. the law was the first of a multipronged government plan to weaken the judiciary to be passed by the knesset last year. the supreme court's decision could now reopen the deep divisions in israeli society. that saw the country convulsed by months of protests and even fears of civil war. with israel now almost three months into an actual war after the hamas-led terrorist attacks on october 7th, those divisions had felt a lifetime away. indeed the justice minister, the architect of the government's judicial overhaul plans assailed the timology telephone the court's decision saying it was the opposite of the unity the country now demanded. strange as the timing of the supreme court's decision may ap appear, it had no choice. two of its justices officially retired three months ago, but had until this month to submit their final ruling.

when the reform was introduced last year, massive crowds regularly took to the streets to decry prime minister netanyahu's plans, which they saw as a serious threat to the country's democracy. israel, which has no written constitution, the supreme court serves as one of the only checks on the executive and legislative branches of government. in an interview with cnn in july, netanyahu rejected the notion the overhaul posed a threat to democracy, but declined to say whether he would abide by supreme court ruling that went against him. >> we'll go into uncharted territory. i really would like to believe that they won't do that. and the reason is that first of all, we're all subject to the rule of law. the prime minister is subject to the rule of law. the knesset, our parliament is subject to the rule of law. the judges are subject to the law. everybody is subject to the law. >> reporter: the court's decision marks a major loss for a prime minister still facing a corruption trial and outrage for failing to prevent the hamas-led massacres of october 7th.

but with no end in sight to the war in gaza, netanyahu has more pressing concerns than another spat with the supreme court. that fight will be for another day. elliott gotkine, cnn, tel aviv. the u.s. is quietly reached an agreement with qatar to extend operations at america's largest military base in the middle east. that is according to three u.s. defense officials and another official familiar with the deal. the air base has been a pivotal hub for the u.s. central command's air operations across the region. the extension is set to cover another ten years. the deal has not been announced publicly, bury it highlights washington's reliance on the tiny gulf country that has recently played a central role in mediating the release of americans from captivity in gaza and venezuela. and it comes as qatar is under growing scrutiny for hosting senior hamas leaders.

harvard university president claudine gay is resigning from her position just six months into her tenure, the shortest in harvard history. it comes after weeks of controversy involving a plagiarism scandal and her testimony on capitol hill about antisemitism on campus. cnn's miguel marquez has more details. >> reporter: a second ivy league president out in less than a month. haharvard univiversity p presid clauaudine gay's's t tenure e j months long was mired in controversy. the weight of multiple allegations of plagiarism following a poor performance in a capitol hill hearing about antisemitism resulting in her resignation. in a letter to the harvard community, gay wrote that her exit came with a heavy heart. it has become clear that it is in the best interests of harvard for me to resign so that our community can navigate this

moment of extraordinary challenge with a focus on the institution rather than any individual. harvard announced that alan garber, who currently serves as provost will step in as interim president, while acknowledging gay's commitment to the scol. it is with that overarching consideration in mind that we have accepted gay's resignation harvard's leadership wrote, adding we do so with sorrow. conservative media had been unearthing multiple examples of plaj giarism include in her pas works including almost an entire paragraph without citation after she along with the presidents of upenn and m.i.t. gave an answer that was widely considered too legal in a december 5th congressional hearing about antisemitism on campus. >> so the answer is yes, that calling for the genocide of jews violates harvard code of conduct, correct.

>> again, it depends on the context. >> reporter: fallout from the hearing also resulted in the resignation of u penn's president liz magill. elise stefanik wasted no time responding to today's comments. >> as a harvard graduate myself, we have seen a failure of leadership from claudine gay, a failure of moral leadership. this accountability would not have happened were it not for that congressional hearing. >> reporter: stefanik underscoring that her investigation will continue. >> only when it comes to antisemitic hate speech that the school tolerates it and gives these kind of laurie equivocal answers. and so i think this is kind over the bigger issue that we've got to deal with. >> reporter: gay's tenure as president was the shortest in harvard's nearly 400-year history. she was also the school's first black president and only the second woman at the helm. in her resignation, she wrote att has been "frightening to

be subjected to personal attacks and threats fueled by racial animus." dr. gay will remain a member of the harvard faculty, and the school says it will begin a search for a new president in due course. and some conservatives on capitol hill say they will now start looking at m.i.t.'s president who was also at that congressional hearing, as well as leadership and faculty at other universities that they consider too woke, and some african american leaders now saying all of this has the stink of racial bias in the way this was handled at harvard, and say that they will begin protesting some of those donors who targeted claudine gay. back to you. still to come, u.s. house republicans set to visit the u.s. border with mexico as the senate tries to reach a compromise on a border security bill. details just ahead.

welcome back, everyone. the biden administration is turning to the u.s. supreme court in its latest dispute with texas over border policy. the state installed razor wire along the banks of the rio

grande at the border with mexico, and the federal government now wants the high court to allow the border patrol to remove it. the matter has been tied up in lower courts since last year. texas argues that cutting the wire amounts to illegally destroying its property, and that its removal reduces security by helping migrants illegally enter the u.s. a group of republican lawmakers will get a close look at that border today. the visit to eagle pass, texas coming amid negotiations over a potential new border secure bill. cnn's ed lavandera reports. >> reporter: on wednesday, a group of republican lawmakers, including the speaker of the house mike johnson will tour the border here in eagle pass and get a briefing from state authorities. of course eagle pass has really become the flash point of the border migration crisis that we've seen unfold for months and

months now. lawmakers here will be visiting from the house side. this as senate lawmakers, democrat and republican have been negotiating through the holiday break, trying to come to terms on the framework. and in a possible deal in a border security bill. senator chris murphy says that it is not likely that a deal will be in place by next week, but that they hope there will be some sort of progress made that they will be able to update each side. republicans and democrats, on what kind of deals and issues might come up in this border bill. republicans are pushing for more expedited removals of migrants who cross illegally, as well as pushing the biden administration to adopt something similar to a title 42 plan that they believe was used to keep migrants from crossing the border. of course, that has been very controversial, and many democrats say title 42 did not work as well as republicans like to think it did.

but those are some of the issues that both sides are continuing to work through. here in eagle pass, where we have seen over the last few weeks large numbers of migrants crossing, in fact, according to homeland security statistics, in the month of december, more than 225,000 crossings were seen along the u.s. southern border. but in recent days, it has slowed down dramatically here in eagle pass. ed lavandera, eagle pass, texas. steamboat willie, the earliest version of disney's beloved mascot mickey mouse is now part of the public domain. meaning it's fair game for anyone to use. and it didn't take long for film makers to give the iconic character a new role as a horror movie villain. and that is the trailer for mickey's mousetrap, a live action slasher film about a

group of friends terrorized by someone in a creepy mouse mask. and because disney's 95-year-old copyright on steamboat willie expired new year's day, it is all perfectly legal. and thank you so much for your company. i'm rosemary church. have yourselves a wonderful day. cnn newsroom continues next with max foster and bianca nobilo.

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