suggested reflected some structural barriers. >> thanks so much. and "cnn this morning" continues right now. >> when they are at the border they are going to see the magnitude of the problem and why we have said now for about three decades that our broken immigration system is in desperate need of legislative reform. we are focused on solutions and we hope that they will return to washington and focus on the solutions as well. >> today house speaker mike johnson heading to the southern border putting pressure on the white house over immigration at the same moment house republicans forge ahead with steps to impeachment secretary homeland security alejandro mayorkas. >> also, former president trump appeals the decision that kicked him off the maine ballot for engaging in insurrection. he claims the process was, quote, infebruary the by bias as

president biden prepares to do what trump's primary competitors won't, attack him over january 6th. a wider conflict in the middle east after a senior hamas leader was killed in an attack in the lebanese capital beirut. the leader of hezbollah will speak at 11:00 a.m. eastern. this hour of cnn starts right now. good morning, we start with the breaking news. the house homeland security committee will formally begin impeachment proceedings against secretary alejandro mayorkas. we asked him about it moments ago. and it comes as republican house speaker mike johnson is traveling to eagle pass, texas, today with the gop delegation in an attempt to highlight the surge in migrant crossings on the southern border. the white house is accusing congressional republicans of blocking president biden's proposed aid package that would appropriate billions of dollars for the u.s. southern border,

israel, ukraine, blasting. biden himself weighing in on this last night when he returned to the white house. >> cnn has obtained preliminary homeland security statistics that say more than 225,000 migrants were detained for unlawful crossing at the u.s. southern border just last month. that's the highest monthly total recorded in more than 20 years. despite that number, the biden administration is highlighting a drop in crossings this week. officials do caution that migration ebbs and flows. come customs and border patrol is opening along the southern border. we will have team coverage. lauren fox is in washington, d.c. cnn's ed lavandera is live at the border in eagle pass, texas. and ed, we talked about the ebbs and flows, but this has been a dramatic drop. why do they think that is?

>> reporter: well, there could be a number of reasons for it. as we have seen over months and years, there are ebbs and flows to migration through the u.s. southern border. so sometimes it's a little bit more difficult to explain. we spoke with the head of one migrant shelter on the other side of the border where we are in eagle pass yesterday afternoon and they described to us that there are a number of checkpoints that have been set up in northern medical center mexico that is -- have about much more robust in recent days and squweeks and perhaps that h something to do with the number of migrants reaching the northern border to eagle pass. it's been one of the focal points on the u.s. southern border where we have seen mass migration over the last year. this is an area that a few weeks ago on the edge of the rio grande this massive area has been used as a field processing area for the thousands of migrants that have been crossing

here leading many lawmakers and local officials here to describe it as a crisis that was getting out of control and this comes on a day that we expect to see the speaker ofs house and a large contingency of house republicans get ago tour of this area and meeting with state officials who have been very critical of the biden administration for the way it handled the migration crisis and since they took office, but the biden administration also hitting back at the speaker saying that this rift is hamstringing and crippling the negotiations that have been ongoing there in washington on the border security bill. we expect to see this massive contingency of republican lawmakers here in eagle pass in a few hours. >> that brings up a fascinating contrast. tight-lipped, closed door, intensive negotiations in the senate. you have house republicans do a very public viewing of the border. and at the same time, as you have been reporting, now launching in earnest the

impeachment effort against homeland security secretary alejandro mayorkas. he was just on. i asked him about that. take a listen. >> i come to the office every morning and i am surrounded by incredibly talented and dedicated people and it is extraordinarily motivating to see the work they do, to witness firsthand their selflessness, their talent, their tireless dedication. many sacrifice a tremendous amount. that's what i think about. i am incredibly proud to work alongside them and to support them in advancing the mission of the department of homeland security on behalf of the american people, under president biden's leadership. that's what i think about every day, and i am incredibly proud of coming to work every day and leaving the office as late as it might be, having done the work with such extraordinary people. >> lauren, you were pointing out

this morning about these issues that he has been so intensively engaged in the bipartisan talks that have been going on. we have no commitment where house republicans would move on any deal that's reached in the senate. what does this impeachment do for what's happening right now on capitol hill? >> yeah, i think it's an incredibly complicated dynamic, phil. and it was interesting because you actually pushed mayorkas on whether or not this impeachment effort from the house republicans would actually have an impact on his ability to get a deal in the border negotiations. he said he hoped it wouldn't, but it's really hard to imagine how these two things can stay so separate given the fact that he is so involved in these border talks. he is in most of these meetings we are staking out on capitol hill and it is kind of unusual for a cab net secretary to be so engaged in a conversation about policy. he says he is really there to just help guide the conversation

to provide technical support from him and his steam, but it shows you that even if senate negotiators found a deal, and they have a lot to work to do. it's hard to imagine how house republicans would move forward. house speaker mike johnson given the dynamics of the homeland security security committee how he would put that will on the floor and then that that leads to other questions if you can't get a border deal, account get more funding for bortz, then how are you going to pass ukraine aid and israel aid which have become wrapped up in the border talk negotiations? so it's such a complicated dynamic right now and it is such a moment where so many issues are really coming to a head at one moment and all on a topic, border security, that has bedeviled congress for decades. >> that's what i was going to say. this is not an issue you need to make more complicated based on the last two plus decades. here we are.

thank you. now donald trump is fighting in court to get back on the ballot in maine. in his appeal, trump's lawyers insist he did not engage in an insurrection on january 6th. they accuse maine secretary of state, a democrat, of making a biased decision to disqualify him. >> as polling shows fewer gop voters think trump is responsible for the capitol riot. a "washington post" poll finds 14% of republicans believe trump bears a great deal or good amount of responsibility. joining us to discuss all the legal issues, during his second impeachment trial over his involvement in january 6th. david, i want to start with you. when you read through as i assume you did, because you always do, the appeal that was filed, you know, there are several different arguments they are making. what did you see as the most effective in terms of how this is going to play out? >> first of all, i am a little bit scared because i saw elie

honig beating up george conway the other night and i don't want any part of that. you dominated him. >> we think you can handle it. >> thank you. the primary part of the beginning of their complaint, bare bones complaint to get the process started, to get the appeal going, the main superior court, is one of bias. i don't know where that's going to go in the case. i think the secretary made some inappropriate comments that seemed indicate prejudgment in the case. but quite frankly, there is always a political bias in ballot access issues. justice o'connor wrote about it in one of the landmark cases, cling man versus beaver in 2005. you are dealing with members of a political party who have a certain agenda. i think the substantive issues will be the same ones in colorado, the issue is president included in section 3 of the 14th amendment, does there have to be enabling federal

legislation or is it self-executing, griffin's case. you saw in the complaint about whether this arose to the level of insurrection. i think the important issues there, quite frankly, rather than the substantive one, is if that's federal legislation that enables section 3 because it is a federal criminal charge of insurrection, then are we using this process to circumvent the safeguards we would have if he were charged with indiana. he never was. they considered it. he has never been charged with criminal insurrection. if he had been, we have a burden of proof they have to make. compulsory process, right of confrontation, jury trial right. i don't think we want to use this amendment in this case to circumvent those safeguards. i think politically it ought to be a non-starter and i think the colorado case will be reversed and that will deal with maine. last thing, maine, it's troubling to have a non-lawyer like the secretary bellows deciding these issues that legal scholars are differing over.

>> yeah, i think the main thing to know about the 14th amendment there is so much we don't know. if you look at donald trump's brief yesterday, he smartly not unfairly tries to take advantage of that. what he does is leans into the procedural uncertainty that we have that david just talked about. is this up to congress? section 5 says congress shall have the power to pass legislation to enforce this. do we have to wait for congress to do that? the only legislation they passed tha that is that criminal law or do we leave it to the states? are there procedures good enough? do they protect due process. if we look at colorado and maine, we are seeing all sorts of variation in the way states are enforcing this. they are doing these mini hearings with minimal levels of due process, question whether it's enough. i think what trump's team is doing is they recognize correctly this is unknown terrain and we will take advantage of the uncertainty to argue we weren't given a fair

shake. i think overall it's a fairly effective argument. >> one thing. he is right on this question of do we leave it to the states. the united states supreme court spoke about this in the context of a presidential election in anderson versus breezy. they said states have a lesser interest in presidential elections bus of the chaos they cause by having differing decisions and it's something to be decided by coalescence of voters in all of the states. we don't want one state to have undue impact based on something like this. >> all of these arguments that the former president is making would have any effect if he was victorious, expand the powers of the executive and make that figure more powerful or immune or whatever. do you think that's wise? do you think that's something that i think even republicans would want in the long term? >> first of all, great question. the mechanism we have to deal

with this is the impeachment process and while it's true, you know, that is also a political process, that's the way our government is set up. we have checks and balances. i think that that's the check on the president's power when it comes to things that the president would say were official acts of office and we use the text of this language. we don't loosely use an attempt to the constitution to disenfranchise voters. >> the other big issue, donald trump, he filed a brief around midnight last night, is claiming immunity. he is not claiming he can get away with anything. he is saying what i was doing when i was contesting the election was within the scope of the presidency. i think that's a losing argument on the facts when you look at what trump did. the argument is within the job is protected. i don't think this will fall within the job. that's an important issue as to presidential powers as well.

>> thanks, guys. appreciate it. >> thank you. nikki haley and ron desantis taking shots at trump on the campaign trail but they are refusing to hit him on january 6th. we are live following the campaigns. and chris christie firing back after being told he s shou drop o out of ththe 202024 race. governoror chris sunununu joins nextxt to respond.d. we head

stretch before the primaries. the iowa caucuses in 12 days. nikki haley is sharpening her attacks on donald trump. still pulling punches whether it comes to january 6th, the same for ron desantis. here is how he answered when he was asked about his attacks on trump. >> what are you scared of? are you scared of trump? how do you address that? >> terry, i take issue with that. i have rendered very sharp contrasts between donald trump and myself with respect to policy. >> cnn's eve a mckenna is live in portsmouth, new hampshire, with more. what's striking in reading the logs of the town halls and the meetings they are having the last couple of days, sher sharpening their attacks but desantis and haley on trump not going all the way in. it's clear there is a shift. >> reporter: they are, phil. you can hear it on the campaign

trail. you know, typically, nikki haley will tell her supporters at this town hall that they came out to see her, to hear her view of the country and what she plans to offer and not hear her go after her opponents. now she is changing her tuna bit, going after former president donald trump directly and that is because an associated pac has an ad playing heavily here going after her for her past positions on the gas tax. she wants to clear that up, so she is now responding to this directly. take a listen to how this sounds on the trail. >> i have noticed that president trump has given me some attention. and i appreciate that. that means he [ inaudible ] me. but in his commercials and in his [ inaudible ] every single thing that he said has been a lie.

>> so new this morning we are learning that her campaign announced they raised $24 million in the latest quarter. so good news for them and perhaps an illustration she is continuing to capture quite a bit of momentum, especially as others have exited the field. she will have three stops in kingston, londonderry and milford. she will continue to crisscross the state with governor sununu. he accessed for her in these various stops. last night he told new hampshire voters that this was really crunch time, phil. governor desantis out on the trail as well. he will make several stops in iowa, vivek ramaswamy, asa hutchinson in iowa, and chris christie will be here in new hampshire the end of the week. phil. >> another big impressive number for nikki haley on the fundraising side. thank you. now pushing back against new

hampshire governor chris sununu's suggestion that his campaign has no path order, sununu, who is backing nikki haley, said yesterday that christie has hit his limit. christie responded last night on cnn. are. >> since chris started to work for nikki haley and become an employee of nikki haley, it's not the same chris sununu anymore. chris sununu was one of the most donald trump critics in the country. he has said donald trump is unfit. all things that his candidate is unwilling to say. the shame is that chris has now abandoned his principles in order to try to, you know, get himself some political favor inside of his own state. >> governor, welcome to the program. sorry to start with a friend bashing you but we do want you to answer. sounds personal, chris is a mart guy. he is working hard. he is frustrated. you know, i kind of -- you have to remind the candidates -- chris knows when he got into the

race it was a long shot for all of them. everyone knew we had to consolidate around one candidate. he has done a good job speaking the truth on trump, as a lot of us have, and i think there is an opportunity -- we are not saying, hey chris, get out of the race, disappear. chris han an opportunity to be kinda the hero here, not just bow out gracefully, but help consolidate the race, help deliver trump that loss in new hampshire that we know is very possible. we don't want his 5 or 6%, which isn't really going to go much higher than that to be the difference maker and allow trump to rub. so nikki haley has the momentum. she is over 30% in almost all the polls right now. no one thought she could get this close and she is the only one working it. this morning we were there in portsmouth. 7:00 a.m. she is with me meeting with fishermen, talking about their issues and overregulation and how this affects their families and ability to drive economic success in new hampshire. the coffee shops, doing the town

halls, she is doing retail politics the way it's supposed to be done and that's why the numbers are moving. chris has done a good job but hit that limit. now it's time to consolidate. >> i want to talk about this momentum because it's also included in -- increased funding and support from donors and now she is starting to receive criticism for that. ron desantis told his supporters this week donald trump is running on his issues, nikki haley is running on her donors' issues and he previously said nikki will cave to the big donors when it counsels. can you speak to voters who have concerns about the koch brothers, right, $1 billion kind of industrialist political supporters who backed her now. >> so is the criticism she is garnering a lot of momentum? the fundraising? the donor base? everybody's coming in to support nikki haley. any of those candidates, donors they'd kill to have. they are coming out.

sidelines. waiting for this to be a one-on-one race and it is. i think ron's run a good race, chris run a good race, nikki has made it a one-on-one race. that's why the donors are coming out. nobody cares about any of that type of criticism. all those guys would love to have the support that nikki is garnering. they have run good races. we will see what happens in iowa. here in new hampshire we know that knicky has a shot to beat trump and hit the reset but on on this campaign for the country. >> ahead of those candidates and her is the former president and people do have concerns about that. >> barely. >> especially -- >> barely. >> concerns about how they are attacking each other. here is a conservative radio host moving to iowa for a minute, who has interviewed most of the field on his show and i want you to hear what he told cnn. >> i'll just read it for you now. sorry. all they've done is feed into each other's momentum and trump

is unscathed. they spent almost all their time throwing punches at each other and they are touching trump with a feather. it's the same problem as 2016. do you think that nikki haley should shift her strategy? >> no, no. her strategy is -- of all the candidates, even with trump, she is the only one with momentum. trump is barely at over 40% of support. he is a former president, right. the standard bearer of the party and he can't even get 50% of his own party's support in a primary. so, no -- >> does this mean that nikki haley has -- >> with 80% -- >> what would be a good showing for new hampshire to you? is second good enough or does she have to win to show she is viable? >> no, look, nobody -- put it this way. trump has to win. he is the only one that has to win because he is the only one with the expectation built that it's -- that he is absolutely going to win. so a second place is fine. we want it to be a one-on-one race before super tuesday.

it's already pretty much a one-on-one race and we are not even into iowa yet. if and when nikki haley comes out with a win, that's a political shocker that shows we have viability. i talk about the psychology of choice with having 15 candidates in the race folks say, yeah, go with trump. now it's one-on-one. a versus b. candidate like trump who flies in, does a rally, flies the heck out or a candidate like nikki haley who is a governor, who listens, whose railroad politicking the right way, building coalitions, actually been on the front lines of a lot of this stuff. she is doing it the right way and that's why her numbers are moving. trump is obarely over 40%. it's very doable for her to win. she is the only one with momentum and it's what everyone hopes for as we galvanize the other candidates around her. it's going to be awesome. >> governor sununu thanks for bringing this energy. >> you bet. >> and nikki haley and ron

desantis will take questions from iowa voters in back-to-back events. the cnn republican presidential town halls moderated by kaitlan collins and erin burnett tomorrow night starting at 9:00 eastern. newly released audio inside the passenger plane in japan went up in flames. that's you ahead. a israel carried out a strike in lebanon that killed one of hamas' senior leaders. the coconcerns beieing raised d ththe conflictct expandingng in middle easast.

this morning tokyo's haneda airport expected to cancel more

than 100 flights after that tragic collision between a japan airlines jet and a japanese coast guard plane on tuesday killing five crew members on the coast guard flight. also, newly released audio reveals that air traffic control cleared the commercial flight to land just before the two planes collided. joining us is cnn's will ripley live from tokyo. what have we learned from that audio from air traffic control? >> reporter: we know interest the transport ministry, they released the transcript from 54 # p.m. legal time to 5:47 p.m. the coast guard turboprop aircraft was taxiing getting ready to take off at the same time the japan airliner was making the final descent into haneda. listen to the instructions that were given. first you hear from the commercial flight traffic control and then the instruction it is that air traffic control

gave to the coast guard plane. [ speaking in a global language ] . >> so that is the recording from the aur traffic control side. the japan airliner had the all clear to land on runway c and the coast guard plane told to stay in place and stay there until it's time for you to take off. of course, we know that the coast guard plane was actually right in the path of the japan airliner as it was landing when they hit there was a massive fireball and we know what happened yet at least five of the coast guard crew members were killed and everybody onboard the plane was able to evacuate with just seconds to spare. but the crucial question did the coast guard pilot not know where he was or did air traffic control not know the actual location of the plane when they

said to hold point and why did none of the three pilots in the cockpit of the japanese airliner not see there was a plane in the runway in their path and abort the landing? they have not found the cockpit voice recorder for the commercial plane. it's in the middle of the runway. they have recorded the recorder for the coast guard aircraft. those will be the crucial questions as they search for more answers as to how all of this happened. >> will, japan airlines said the in flight system malfunctioned during an evacuation of the passengers. the crew was using a megaphone to communicate. what more are we learning about this? >> reporter: really interesting new video, eyewitness video inside the plane during those crucial seconds and a lot of you things were going wrong. some of the exit doors passengers say were not operational. as you mentioned, the communications system of the plane was not working which meant that the flight attendants had to pull to out the megaphones and shout to get everybody off the plane. there was a lot of other things happening. take a look at this.

>> reporter: what this video shows us is that, yes, it was chaotic, there was black smoke filling the cabin, flames were getting closer outside the windows. people didn't grab for bags, no arguing or pushing or shouting. people listened to the instructions and got off the plane safely, all of them did. a lesson for anyone who travels and flies on planes to look at closely, guys. >> will ripley, thank you. this just in. following breaking news. an early detail. 73 people are dead, 170 injured in iran after two explosions struck near -- according to state-run media.

people were visiting the site of soleimani. iranian officials call it a, quote, terror attack. and a u.s. official has confirmed to cnn that it was israel that carried out the strike in lebanon that killed a senior hamas leader. the strike happened yesterday at this office building in southern beirut. hamas officials say two other leaders from the group's military wing were among the four killed in strike. a senior advisor to israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu denying official responsibility for the attack. >> 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 nopt an attack even on hezbollah, the terrorist organization. whoever did this did a surgical strike against the hamas leadership. >> joining us is dan, a former foreign policy adviser to the

george w. bush administration. that statement says a lot in its effort to say nothing, which is whoever did this was very surgical strike and, by the way, hezbollah and lebanese officials was not directed at you or a wider conflict. >> yeah. i think this operation, whoever did it, accomplished many things. one, israel made clear one of the objectives is going after the senior hamas leadership. he is among the most senior. he was one of the most senior officials involved with planning october 7th. he has been responsible for many of the terrorist operations against israel over the years. he served in an israeli prison and israel said some time that hamas can't do this on its own, it's in coordinateration with tehran and hezbollah and houthis and proxies around the region. that was one of his responsebilities, staying close to hezbollah and close to iran. getting an official outside of the gaza, you know, war theater of operations and getting one

that has such close ties to other actors in the regional sends a message. even though israel is saying we are not going after you, proxies, and you, iran, we are going after the hamas officials that are close to you and i think most importantly it further isolates sinwar, the architect in gaza and i think they are trying to isolate him, sow confusion. if the senior commanders are getting taken out, it makes it harder for them to operate. >> israel said it was moving a new phase of war. are we looking at that phase? >> yeah, i think you will see it in the next few weeks. the transition will be the next few weeks, but carried out over the next few months. it will be deintensifying operations in northern gaza but i think it will maintain high intensity in southern gaza. i think it will require less manpower. it's good for israel in terms of the economy and labor force because it's got 360,000 israelis called up to reserve,

some go home. there is talk about possibly activating them in a month or two, particularly if there is heat up north. >> in terms of withdrawal, is that a direct raulesult of the determiner meeting? >> i think the administration has basically conveyed to israel you have all the time you need, rate, we will give you the time and pace to do it, but we do want the tempo at a tactical level to be at the same pace and intensity as we have been seeing the last couple of months. for the first 90 days the administration said do whatever you need to do. now keep doing what you need to do. we don't want the south where the civilian population is con sen rated to look like what you did in the north. i think they are readjusting. by the way, they are accomplishing much of what they needed to accomplish. >> because you have done this job -- i want to ask an insider question. we are hearing sort of a public

face of what the administration says and then, like, u.s. officials say reports are taking a different tone. >> right. >> what's going on there? >> i think the biden administration's foreign policy team believes one of the reasons the obama administration, which many of them served in, was not successful in working with the israeli government is because they laid out all their differences in public. and when the obama administration was leading office, they publicly did not veto this u.n. security council resolution. there were many times president obama and his team were critical of israel out in the open and what the prior administration's lesson is we have difference with the israelis but israeli is an ally, a friend under siege and the best way to work with an ally and friend under siege is to work out the differences privately. >> semi-privately since they leak. >> i am not sure they were

orchestrated leaks. it's a big bureaucracy. i think basically -- if you look at john kirby at the white house, you know, in the white house press briefing room, you worked in there. he doesn't say those things without the blessing and the guidance of the president of the united states. when tony blinken says what he says, he doesn't say it without the blessing and guidance of the united states. they aren't going rogue. these are the official positions of the u.s. government. that said there is a lot of people involved in hashing out the details. tactical level with the israeli level and stuff leaks out. the strategic priorities and objectives i think they are synced up and don't want that playing out in public. >> thank you as always. >> thank you. now president biden is set to begin his '24 campaign push from several historic locations. we will break down his strategy with barack obama's former campaign manager next.

this morning we are learning president biden will valve to valley forge to deliver a campaign speech on state as the santa monica begins to level sharp political attacks against his likely gop opponent donald

trump. it this saturday will mark three years since the january 6th attack on the u.s. capitol and that's the backdrop for a moment biden's advisors see as critical to laying out the stakes for a bareknuckle political battle ahead. a turning point of the revolutionary war and marks the latest in a series of calculated efforts to connect a nation as biden views it ripped apart by division, standing on the brink to historic moments. >> this comes as biden is working to overcome low approval ratings, lingering questions about his age and democratic divisions over israel's war with hamas. his campaign is set to begin laying out the central arguments for his re-election bid. some want him to turn up the heat on donald trump specifically. joining us is democratic political advisor and 2012 obama campaign manager jim messina. welcome to the program. we hear a lot of criticism, and

you are a person who was encouraged president biden to go straight at the former president to draw contrast. what do you think that that would sound like and why do you think that would make a difference? >> well, look, the campaign is in a natural place right now where we need a straight contrast between the two candidates. the country wants to know if donald trump is going to be the nominee. it seems apparent he will be the nominee. it's time to lay out that contrast. i love this valley forge speech because it kicks off the general election campaign by laying out the stakes. this is what joe biden's good at. joe biden is having a conversation with the average american voter about where the country is and where he wants to take it. as the republicans go at each other in iowa and new hampshire, it's a natural time to begin laying out this case, and you think it's exactly the right strategy. >> jim, as you look at the landscape right now, it's clear

the coalition that gave biden a seven plus million vote win in 2020 is soft. it's soft in key constituencies democrats need. he is going to south carolina after the valley forge visit. what do you see as necessary to bring that coalition back? >> a couple things. first of all, making the case to the coalition members, young voters, african american voters, latino voters, women voters, about what he has done. and that's really what they have done in the past six months. and then a reminder about what the tastakes are. his announcement about what the campaign is going to do is focused on the threat to democracy and the threat to the freedoms that americans care very deeply about. one of those freedoms is a woman's right to choose. reminding those voters what the stakes are and what donald trump will do will help in that consolidation. i went through this exactly the same in 2011. there was lots of bad polls about obama, people didn't think

he could win. when we started focusing on mitt romney it brought the party together in an important way. i expect that's what you will see this time as well. >> mitt romney is not the pugilist the former president is and he has been on the campaign trail and speeches in recent weeks saying joe biden is the threat to democracy. it means he is using that language, right, that i expect to hear from joe biden. >> yeah, you're exactly right. donald trump's superpower is he is the best counterpuncher in modern american politics. but the fact is, he is in biden's wheelhouse. when you run a presidential campaign, what but want to do is control the narrative, and if donald trump wants to fight about who is best for democracy on the third anniversary of january 6th, have at it. he is going to lose that fight and he is letting the biden campaign decide the tone and tenor and the biden campaign should get credit for pulling

the former president on to their turf. >> jim, i understand what the biden campaign's theory of case, and you detail it quite well, as well, in terms of people come home, it will become clear that trump is running again. what happens if that doesn't happen? >> well, then, you know, then they need to reassess their campaign strategy. but i think it's likely to happen. and look, you'll know as things move forward, you will have lots of senses about this. when you run a presidential campaign, don't look at the poll numbers. you look at enthusiasm numbers and are the voters enthusiastic, what are they doing to be helpful to you, are they volunteering, giving money. there will be lots of signposts and you can start to, you know, adjust. you also can bring in very trusted democrats like barack obama, like michelle obama, the most popular political figure in america to start making that case to democratic voters as well. and i think you will see that.

>> jim messina, thank you so much. >> thank you. and we are following that breaking news out of iran where officials say a terror attack killed 73 and injured 170 others after two explosions struck near the grave of iranian leader qasem s qasem soleimani citing iranian officials. nada bashir is live in beirut with more. what are you learning? what are learning? >> reporter: this is certainly a developing situation and in just the last hour we have seen a death toll already rising according to officials as cited in state media at least 73 people killed and at least 170 injured so far according to state media. there were two explosions around the site of the burial site of iranian commander qassem soleimani, the first explosion going off about 700 meters away, the second explosion about 1

kilometer away. important to note of course this explosion took place in a time when many pilgrims would have been passing through check points heading towards that burial site. today marks the fourth year anniversary since qassem soleimani was killed in a u.s. strike on baghdad, international airport, ordered at the time by then president donald trump. of course, that was a moment which really sparked escalating tensions between iran and the united states, but of course there is mounting concern over the situation and the potential for that death toll to continue to rise. we will be monitoring those updates. we've seen video emerger already, dramatic video, showing crowds running away from the location following those explosions. we are of course today expecting to hear from the secretary general of hezbollah, he was scheduled to speak on the anniversary of qassem soleimani's killing and of course there will be a huge amount of concern around the situation facing civilians in iran, the reverberations of that

will certainly be felt here as well in beirut. >> you mentioned an official from hezbollah. is there broader concern about whether this is connected to, reflective of the turmoil in the region right now? >> reporter: well, we certainly have seen those tensions escalating, state media now citing iranian officials have characterized it and are describing this as a terrorist attack, but the cause behind the explosions, the potential motive still unclear. we are waiting to hear more details around that. this has been a moment of high alert across the region not least in iran and around the regions surrounding israel. of course, hezbollah has seen mounting tensions with israel across lebanon's southern border and we have been hearing those repeated warnings from international leaders, including the united states around the potential for the conflict in gaza to escalate and we have of course already seen those warning signs of escalations from yemen to syria and iraq.

so certainly that will be a huge point of consideration as we begin to hear more details around this attack in iran. >> we will stay on this story today. nada bashir, thank you. house speaker mike johnson is heading to the border with gop lawmakers today as migrant crossings hit a new record. embattled harvard president claudine gay out of a job, driven by a firestorm over plagiarism and the testimony over anti-semitism on campus. how is the fallout affecting amamericans' v view of higigher educatioion? we wilill break dodown the numu.

well, the embattled president of harvard university

claudine gay is resigning after a plagiarism scandal and disastrous testimony on capitol hill about anti-semitism on college campuses. >> gallup polling found that confidence in higher education has been declining in recent years and the divide between republicans and democrats is particularly steep. here to break down the numbers for us is cnn's senior data reporter harry enten. welcome back. >> welcome. >> so when we say confidence in higher education, it doesn't sound like we're talking about like the ability to teach or learn. >> no, i mean, it's basically this exact question, you know, do you have a great or quite a lot of confidence in higher education? i just want to look at this steep decline that we're seeing. back in 2015, 57% of americans had quite or a lot of confidence in higher education, that dropped to 48% in 2018. look where we are now at just 36%. you mentioned the wide partisan gap. take a look here, again, great or quite a lot of confidence in higher education, in 2015 it was 56% of republicans, 68% of democrats. democrats have dropped a little

bit down to 59%, but look at republicans now, all the way down to 19%. i think that's part of why you saw republicans going after those different presidents of those universities. >> can you tease this out to the extent we can? what does this actually mean in practice? >> what does this mean in practice? so high school graduates enrolled in college among 16 to 24 year olds, take a look in october of 2015, it was 69%. you go to october of 2019, 66%, now we're down to just 62%. so we're seeing fewer people go off to college, perhaps because they're having less confidence in it. and on this very important would you say that college education is more of a gamble that may not pay off or a smart investment in the future? in 2016, 55% thought it was a smart investment in the future, though it's 42%. more of a gamble that might not pay off, 43%, now 56% of americans believe it's a gamble that may not pay off. >> that's fascinating and also i think a shift in terms of how people think of college coming

with the partisan stuff at the same time. >> exactly. >> i appreciate you, man. >> thank you. now, the original mickey mouse, the one featured in walt disney's 1928 short film "steamboat willie" along with his closest friends have entered the public domain. that means these characters along with their stories that were copyrighted back then can be reused and remade, either on the page, stage or screen. and there's been no time wasted in making the mascot from the happiest place on earth horrifying. ♪ >> where the hell did he go? >> we kept harry here because -- >> i can't unsee that. >> -- he is the only person i want to hear from. >> i feel really good about t i like to see actors and roles be diversified so this is a great example of that where you go from something that's very

family friendly to something that's most certainly not. >> broaden the portfolio. >> it's like growth for mickey is what you're saying. >> growth for mickey. mickey has been stuck in the singular role it's nice to see him grow. i'm truly interested when goofy becomes somebody who can be in one of these horror films, maybe he can team up with mickey. >> okay. heard it here here, goofy horror film. everyone, have a great morning. "cnn news central" starts right now. ♪ ♪ donald trump goes on a legal filingee