things have gotten better recently, but too many businesses like mine are still getting broken into. it's time our police officers have access to 21st century tools to prevent and solve more crimes. allow public safety cameras that other bay area police departments have to discourage crime, catch criminals, and increase prosecutions. prop e is a smart step our city can take right now to keep san francisco moving in the right direction. please join me in voting yes on prop e.

♪ this morning, new insight into the options president biden is weighing on how to respond to the drone strike that killed three american soldiers in jordan. happening now, the house begins a key step to impeach a cabinet secretary, for the first time, since the 1800s. and cnn takes you deep into the trenches on the front lines of ukraine as funding in congress still at a standstill. and ukrainian forces are dealing with dwindling supplies. and a constant russian onslaught. i'm sara sidner with john berman kicks off today this is "cnn news central." it has not happened since the 1800s, but happening at this moment, the first steps to impeach a u.s. cabinet

secretary. the house homeland security committee is debating articles of impeachment for homeland secretary alejandro mayorkas, and this morning, mayorkas is hitting back. cnn's lauren fox with the very latest. lauren. >> reporter: good morning, john. this hearing about to kick off in the room right behind me. and on capitol hill, obviously, this is day where republicans and democrats are going to go at one another with fireworks in this committee room. we expect that they're going to move forward with the articles of impeachment against homeland security alejandro mayorkas. now, one of the key questions, once it gets out of this room, what comes next? do they have the votes on the house floor? they're the narrowest of margins in his house body that means republicans are going to have a tough time convincing every single one of their members to get behind these articles of

impeachment. but that work has begun. right before i talked to you guys, i had just finished talking to chairman mark green. he said he's continuing to have the conversations, continuing to do the work he needs to do in order to get the votes. when i asked him and pressed him if he can guarantee those votes would be there. he said he doesn't know at this moment, but he says he does believe his committee is doing the right thing, meanwhile, you have mayorkas hitting back saying he has done his job to the best of his ability. the immigration crisis on the southern border is nothing new. he's also arguing that if house republicans wanted to do something on immigration reform there's an emerging package waiting for them across the capitol and the united states senate. of course, we haven't seen text for that legislation. but that is something that he says is an option. meanwhile, most house republicans rejecting that emerging deal out of hand. john. >> lauren, if everyone is voting, how many republicans can vote no on impeachment, without it going down?

>> reporter: yeah, they have a two-seat majority, john. that is a narrow, narrow majority. most narrow majority that we have seen in this congress. and that just shows you they had to convince people like ken buck and tom mcclintock who had concerns whether or not this rises to the level of high crimes and misdemeanors. that work continues we asked republican leadership if they had a plan to try to get the votes. they said the w.h.i.p. operation would begin after the two articles of impeachment passed through the house committee. >> not at all a fait accompli, lauren fox, keep us posted. sara. now, president biden vowing action and this morning, we're standing by to see if we've learned anything more about what the united states will do in response to the drone attack that killed three americans in the middle east. we are closely watching live picture, the white house right now, biden expected to leave

very soon. the concern inside the administration right now, will the retaliation they choose trigger a wider war with iran? we begin this hour at the pentagon with natasha bertrand. natasha, what more are you learning from officials there? it's clear they do not want this to blow up into an iran versus the united states official war. >> sara, it's an extremely fine line that the biden administration has to toe here, on the were unhand, they need to respond to the attack that fundamentally deters them from launching an attack like this again. but at the same time, not do too much where it sparks a regional war and where the u.s. gets in direct confrontation with iran itself. we're told the options that the biden administration is weighing that include but not limited striking back inside of iraq and syria. perhaps conducting some sort of

cyber attack. weighing financial penalties to play on these groups. and you have to remember as well that their iranian assets out of iran's borders's well, including iranian personnel in iraq and syria that could be targeted. iran-backed weapons storage for these facilities that could be fair game for the united states. but it's a really delicate balance that they have to weigh here. according to secretary of state antony blinken the response might not all be in one day. it might be, quoting multilevel, common stages and be sustained over time so this is likely to be a much more powerful response that we see from the administration in contrast to previous strikes that have been more narrow and targeted. but still, they're weary of getting embroiled into a bigger contest. >> we've been here before, and there are lessons to be learned. thank you, for all of your reporting from the pentagon. all right, we're now learning more about all three soldiers

killed in the line of duty. they were all based out of ft. moore in georgia. 24 specialist, kennedy sanders, and 23-year-old breonna moffett and 47 years william rivers. his widow described him as always smiling and hard working. the parents of specialist sanders say they spoke with their daughter just hours before the attack. they hope she is remembered for her service, her sacrifice and contagious smile. and specialist breonna moffett said she was waiting for her daughter to call her back when she was killed. >> if we knew what we know now, we would have held on to the call as long as possible. i love you. i want everybody to make sure

she knew how much we loved her. >> that mother's grief is hard to take. moffett's mother also told cnn that she, too, served in the military, and when breonna joined, she became the second woman in their family to do so. john. as we said for the first time since the 1800s, the house is moving forward with impeaching a u.s. cabinet secretary. let's go inside the house homeland security committee. this is the chair mark green. >> on the roundtable that our democratic colleagues refuse to attend. burying their heads in the stand as if there wasn't a crisis. we held many hearings at the subcommittee level and heard from a variety including dhs officials, states attorney general, the victims of secretary mayorkas' crisis, democrats have consistently said these hearings are a waste of time, tell that to the hundreds

of americans who died from fentanyl poisoning in 2022 alone. we've requested subsequent many stonewalled. the democratic colleagues looked with this with mockery. they labeled a mother who lost her son to fentanyl poisoning as number 36. and when we heard from another hoarse daughter was brutally raped by a gang member, the minority labelinged the hearing a sham on their website. are they actually saying these things never occurred? what a slap in the face. during that same hearing, one member from across the aisle even went so far as to lecture the mom who will lost her daughter to fentanyl. claiming she was being used and didn't have the background to understand the issues before this congress. on the contrary, this brave

american mother who lost her daughter on the board is more qualified to speak on this issue than any of us here. for almost a year, committee democrats have turned a blind eye to the victims of the border crisis while berating us for what they believed was too much time. let me repeat that, democrats have berated us over and over for investigating secretary mayorkas' border crisis. keep that in mind when you hear them claim today that this impeachment is somehow rushed. the truth is that this process has been painstakingly thorough. we made sure of it our attempt was to be pair, comprehensive and meticulous. unlike house democrats, we take the use of impeachment extremely seriously. i'm proud of the work our republican colleagues have put through the five-phase investigation. we have uncovered a lot. phase one of our investigation documented multiple laws and

rulings that secretary mayorkas ignored and abused. and has been dishonest with the american people. in phase two, we learned that secretary mayorkas' actions have surrendered to the drug cartels and enriched the cartels to the tune of $13 billion a year just to human smuggling alone. the national security implications are dire, 300 individuals on the terrorist watch list have been caught crossing the southwest border. in phase three, we documented the devastating human cost -- >> that's representative mark green, chairman of the homeland security committee. they're talking about how they're going forward trying to impeach dhs secretary my york yas. we will, of course, bring you the response to all of those allegations just ahead in this hour. joining me now, cnn chief anchor and correspondent, christiane amanpour. thank you for being here. i want to talk about what is happening in the middle east with you, as you're always tracking all things there.

you have seen president biden vow to respond to the drone attack in jordan that killed three young service members. you have some republicans including nikki haley who is running for president, demanding retaliation against iran itself. when you hear these words from biden saying there's going to be a response, from some republicans saying we should attack iran, are we inching closer to the potential all-out war again iran and the u.s.? >> sara, that would be very possible, if in fact that is the route that is taken. i mean, i have to say, sitting on this side of the atlantic, much closer to where the war zone is, it sounded extraordinary as many of the commentators here to see all of these people in the united states, baying for war in the mill east. that is what it is. ful they want to call on the biden administration to strike another country in the middle east, a sovereign state, not

like the houthis or various military groups alike. that is a massive escalation and you don't know where it's going to end. notice who is being quiet as has been reported, the maga crowd, they're not yelling for this, because of donald trump, they don't want to see this, they're much more isolationists in that regard. trump himself didn't do that. he dr eid end up killing the he of the quds force. in 43 years there's been no direct u.s. hit on iran, this would be huge. however, clearly, the president needs to do something to make it clear that the united states will not tolerate the killing of its personnel. the only thing is, that right now, as you've seen for the last several weeks, the u.s. and its ally britain both with extremely

capable air forces and weapons systems, have been targeting the houthi militias in yemen. that has not worked. so, you have to put this in context, about what you're trying to achieve. what is do only, what's proportional, and what kind of signal you're trying to send. >> yeah. those are all good points and you know that because you've covered these wars. the u.s. has gone to war twice in the middle east in our lifetime in iraq and then in central asia and afghanistan. some of it has garnered the fruits of a better middle east or better world. do you think we've learned lessons after those wars? >> well, clearly not very many. although to be fair, president biden did say to benjamin netanyahu, the prime minister of israel, learn from us, learn from what we did, back in 2003, that we went to war based on vengeance, based on, essentially, a herd mentality, pushing the united states to war in iraq, in 2003.

and look what happened. look what was the backlash that we're still enduring, still grappling with, still paying for. basically, so much of what's happening in the middle east right now can be, you know, traced all the way back to 2003. so, i think that's a very important thing. i think also what you really do have to understand, what americans have to understand is that the current heightened maximum tensions there which are sort of hovering on this attempt to be -- you know, to show pressure without it spinning into a massive war has all to do with what's happening in gaza. hence, the united states is trying its hardest to help negotiate some kind of reduction or end or pause, whatever they want to call it, in israel's counteroffensive in gaza. because on the streets of these arab and islamic countries including iran that is what is creating a lot of this anger. a lot of this response, because the people just -- you know, are telling their leaders that they can't stand it anymore. so, this is a very important

point. and to that point, i will say, that the former british prime minister david cameron, who knows a thing or two about military engagement, now the foreign minister, has told a private reception, it's being verified according to the bbc that there needs to be a pause, a cease-fire. but also that britain is in inchesing closer to the idea of actually recognizing a palestinian state. and that is the big political context of all of this, as well as defanging hamas and its ability to threaten israel like that again. >> yeah, the two-state solution is a solution that a lot of countries are hoping can happen. right now, it's not looking great. christiane amanpour, it's always lovely to speak to you. thank you for joining us on "cnn news central" appreciate it. >> and all of that to you, sara. >> john. happening now, illinois election officials meeting to decide if donald trump can stay on that state's ballot. and cnn is on the front

lines in ukraine in the trenches, as the need for more aid becomes even more desperate.

we promised it, and we're going live now to the committee for homeland security that is looking at impeaching the dhs secretary. you're listening to ranking member bennie thompson with the response to the republicans. >> -- indeed, no official in american history has ever been convicted an impeachment for refusal to follow the law. these disputes are settled in

the court system, not through impeachment. apparently, the republicans are upset, they lost in court. and are trying to relitigate their cases through impeachment. the constitution does not allow that. breach of public trust requires conduct intended to serve an official's own benefit or the benefit of a foreign power. no serious person can allege as secretary mayorkas' action meet the standard for breach of public trust under the constitution. nevertheless, throughout this truncated impeachment process, republicans have ignored the facts and misrepresented the law to justify their scheme. but the law is clear, and so is secretary's record. he's leveraged the full range of authorities at his disposal, while stretching the resources

provided by congress to secure the border. he has removed record levels of migrants detained by more people than congress has provided funding for. and prevented record levels of fentanyl from entering our communities. constitutional law experts agree the secretary has not committed any impeachable offense. rather, he has faithfully implemented the administration's border policies, policies republicans apparently disagree with. the policy differences are not impeachable. house republicans' impeachment of secretary mayorkas accomplishes nothing, which would be consistent with their abysmal record this congress. at a hearing before the committee this month, constitutional scholar professor deborah pearlstein said, quote, no branch of government has more power under our constitution to address matters of border security than congress.

unquote. at every opportunity, republicans have turned their backs on legislation to provide resources to the department of homeland security, and in doing so, they're turning their backs on border agents and officers. if house republicans were serious about improving conditions along the border, they would provide the department the funding necessary to do so. they have not. if house republicans were serious about improving conditions at the border, they would negotiate border security legislation with the white house and the senate. they have not. instead, they sat on their hands as a bipartisan group of senators working with the biden administration to hammer out a deal. extreme maga republicans who are running the house of representatives are deeply unserious people. they don't want progress. they don't want solutions. >> all right.

you're listening to representative bennie thompson, the ranking member in homeland security committee. as he responds to republicans trying to do something that hasn't been done in 150 years, they're trying to impeach someone who is the department of homeland security, alejandro my york mayorkas. the republicans have a very slim margin. two people could make the difference between whether he's impeached or not. we'll be right back.

things have gotten better recently, but too many businesses like mine are still getting broken into.

it's time our police officers have access to 21st century tools to prevent and solve more crimes. allow public safety cameras that other bay area police departments have to discourage crime, catch criminals, and increase prosecutions. prop e is a smart step our city can take right now to keep san francisco moving in the right direction. please join me in voting yes on prop e.

any moment now, the illinois state board of elections will hold a public meeting where they're going to decide whether former president donald trump can appear on the state's primary ballot, or if he is barred by the 14th amendments insurrectionist ban. it's a question being asked by dozens of states across the country as the primary season is heating up. many states believe it should ultimately be decided by the u.s. supreme court. with plans to hear arguments on this very matter on february 8th. cnn's marshall cohen is joining me now. what are we expecting today in illinois, because we have heard from a judge? >> we have. the judge who -- the retired judge who presided over the hearing last week on this trump disqualification matter, he issued recommendations over the weekend which were very, very interesting. very powerful recommendations. he says that trump did engage in

the insurrection, but should stay on the ballot. i'll explain why in a moment. but happening today, the illinois election board will meet. their meeting is supposed to begin any moment in chicago. there's eight members on the board. four democrats, four republicans, it is bipartisan, and obviously, you need a majority to take trump off the ballot. they will be reviewing that recommendation from the retired judge who himself is a republican clark ericsson. he told the board that they should dismiss this challenge against trump, because based off of his understanding of illinois state law, the board does not actually have the legal authority to undertake a complex constitutional analysis of the 14th amendment. and its implications. but he went on to say, that if the board does believe it has that power, that they should go all the way and remove trump from the ballot. he said, based off of the evidence at that hearing, that trump engaged in the insurrection and should be removed. it might be up to the board or

the courts. sara. >> we know that retired judge said he did believe he was involved in insurrection, but believed he should be kept on the ballot. thank you, marshall cohen for your reporting on this issue. john. what about other legal cases facing donald trump, cases that we reasonably thought we might have rules on by now? with me now is cnn legal analyst jennifer rogers, counselor, great to see you here. the first one, the federal appeals panel that heard arguments three weeks ago, january 9th, over whether donald trump had some presidential im immunity, over january 6th. three weeks no ruling. what's going on? >> i'm surprised, i thought it would be sooner because we have a trial date coming up. listen, it's one of two things, either they're really just trying to put together a comprehensive thorough pervasive opinion that they think that the

supreme court did not take on appeal. or there's a dissent. when there's a dissent, judges engage with one another, they try to persuade one another and exchange drafts that makes the procedure longer. it might be a 2 to 1 split on this. >> as you say, it might not change the outcome, but what is the ruling going forward? >> if one has dissented it makes more likely that the u.s. supreme court will take the case. so if one of the judges isn't on board, of the nine judges at least four of them are likely to be on board. >> the one possibility is they all agree or they just want to make it perfect when they hand in their final assignment. the other case, from judge engoron, we heard the case. and the amount of damages facing donald trump but the issue here is also control of his business empire. and "the new york times" judge

issued a report about an auditor, a judge, who has been overseeing that empire during the trial, judge barbara jones who gave the report to engoron that said among other things she found missing disclosure, typos, math errors and questions about an $48 million loan to trump and his company. it may reflect out of control controls. >> it's interesting here, the judge appoints judge jones as a monitor, so she's been on top of the organization and its books for over a year now. and her report says there are problems. what's interesting not that there are problems here and there, monitors often find those things, but the trump organization's reaction to her report. when have a monitor, you need to be on your best behavior. you want to be saying, sure, tell me what's wrong. oh, maybe i can persuade you there's no problem if not let me fix the problem. judge engoron is about to decide not only how many millions of

dollars in damages and donald trump can do business in new york. you're regulated in new york. the government has a right to protect consumers and so on. they're basically showing they're not abe to be regulated. they're not even response eye to this monitor appointed to oversee them. that is bad news as judge engoron considers the very real questions. >> this kind of support going to the judge the control trump has over his empire, how might that impact his decision? >> well, again, he's decides damages but whether or not they can continue to do business. if they show that they continue to be overseen, they just refuse, the response is she just wants to make more money and continue bill us. that's not the right things to say. >> jennifer rodgers, great to see you. >> thank you. >> sara. ukraine's military is struggling to hold off russia's

attacks as supplies are running low. and another round of funding remains stall. our crew is in eastern ukraine and where they're under fire and things are even more desperate. we'll bring that to you.

this morning, harrowing new video captured by cnn from the front lines in the battle in ukraine. ukrainian soldiers engaged in

trench warfare against the russians even as they face a shortage of critical am nation with no help from united states as funding issues continue from capitol hill. our fred pleitgen reports. >> reporter: from the battlefields here in this country, they are getting a lot more severe as time goes on. one of the areas we went to is in the east of the country where the battles are taking place enforce. there's a lot of trench warfare, but also assaults and tank assaults. we do have to warn our viewers what you're about to see could be disturbing. all out warfare in unforgiving terrain. battles in eastern ukraine facing a near constant russian onslaught, while putin's army try to break through ukrainian fences. this is one of those holding them up. >> translator: the situation is very active and vrp ery tense,

says because the ensoemy has mo manpower basically every day. a dead russian soldier and destroyed tank show just how close the russians have come. it's a fight for survival and against the elements. entrenched and soggy, the only heat coming from candles the soldiers carry orlaround facing russian fire power. they shoot direct fire, flames are coming basically they have it all, he says. but probably the worst are tanks. when they fire, you don't even hear it. you hear an airplane when it comes over, but the tank, you're in god's hands. artillery fire another threat here, as we found out when we came under fire, trying to make it to the area. this is unfortunately, something that the work here in the

eastern half of the country happens all too often. we're getting ready to film here and we heard what appeared to be outgoing artillery. and we're now trying to make our way out of here as safe as possible. we have to keep distance in our cars and have to keep moving the entire time to make sure we get out of here hopefully safely. we believe a russian drone spotted and you and directed the artillery fire. but two can play that game. nasri is a ukrainian pilot, he guides armor assault formations including main battle tanks. he said ammo shortage and he has to be extremely precise. it's no secret we're starved of artillery shells he says, we try to work as efficiently and as accurately as possible. trying to fight back any way they can in one of the toughest

battlefields of this war. today, you can see how hard the battles are in the eastern half of country, john. one of the things the ukrainians point out, by and large, they're able to hold the line there. within a span of a couple days they managed to destroy 40 russian tanks and armored vehicles, all of this as they're getting hit by artillery and aerial bombs as well. >> remarkable report from fred pleitgen there. imagine have the courage for the ukrainians to serve on the front lines in those trenches and not knowing if you're going to have the shell, artillery shells, to continue. sara. it's hard to go from that true life-threatening situation to this, ridiculousness. far away conspiracy theories now linking taylor swift, the nfl and the political plot by democrats. we debunk the wild stories coming out after you saw that kiss.

not just any whiteboard... ...katie porter's whiteboard is one way she's: [news anchor] ...often seen grilling top executives of banks, big pharma, even top administration officials. katie porter. never taken corporate pac money - never will. leading the fight to ban congressional stock trading. and the only democrat who opposed wasteful “earmarks” that fund politicians' pet projects. katie porter. focused on your challenges - from lowering housing costs to fighting climate change. shake up the senate - with democrat katie porter. i'm katie porter and i approve this message. growing up, my parents wanted me to become a doctor or an engineer. those are good careers! but i chose a different path. first, as mayor and then in the legislature. i enshrined abortion rights in our california constitution. in the face of trump, i strengthened hate crime laws and lowered the costs for the middle class. now i'm running to bring the fight to congress. you were always stubborn.

and on that note, i'm evan low, and i approve this message. a super pac backing nikki haley has launched a new ad in south carolina, warning against another election between joe biden and donald trump. ♪ >> i voted for president trump twice, but chaos follows him. we can't have a country in disarray and a world on fire and go through four more years of chaos, we won't survive it. trump and biden, it's going to be another nail-biter of an election. >> nikki, this morning, once again maintaining her stance to stay in the race. joining me republican commentator al stewart and sur michael singleton.

h haley's new ad, she's saying enough of the chaos which she's been saying quite a bit but more force forcefully, is this argument working? >> well, unfortunately, it hasn't worked up to this point. she suddenly made the case in new hampshire and same in second in new hampshire. look, i've said all along that all of these gop challengers should have been much more forceful in going after trump because you have to get through trump to get to biden and sitting on their hands. and not really going after him for all of the issues whether his tone and tenor, whether the chaos and drama, the election denying and all of the other issues, they should have been much more central on the campaign and drawing sharper contrasts. >> i'm so sorry, really quickly, president biden is now leaving the white house. we're waiting to see if he makes comments on the three soldiers killed in jordan in an attack. let's listen. >> yes.

>> i do hold responsible the weapons, we'll have that discussion. >> aside from the past what is the difference? >> we'll see. >> i don't i think we need a wider war in the middle east. that's not what i'm looking for. >> should donald trump be allowed on the ballot? >> as far as i can see, that's fine. >> a threat to democracy. >> because of guys like you. >> have you done everything you can do with executive authority,

all you can do? >> i've done all i can do. just give me the power i've asked from the very day i got in office, give me the border patrol. give me the people to stop this. [ inaudible question ]. >> we'll see. >> all right. so, you see president biden there. going to his aircraft. i do want to mention, the very first thing that was asked of him was should iran be held responsible for the killing of three u.s. servicemembers in jordan in that drone attack. and president biden responded saying i hold them responsible for supplying the weapons. so he's talking about supplying weapons to groups who are backed by iran. but then he was asked again about something in the middle east. he says i don't think we need a wider war in the middle east.

when asked what he is going to do in response. those are two very strong statements from joe biden. we're waiting to see what exactly is done in response to the killing of three service members there in jordan. we'll be waiting to see if there's more he has said. he's going to an event where there will certainly be more questions. all right. let's go back to our panel now because we are in campaign season at this point in time, and i do want to bring up the situation in the middle east. and i will start with you, shurmichael. the middle east again in a very tangled web where we're seeing attacks, u.s. service members have been killed. what do you think going forward we're going to see here on the campaign trail? because nikki haley has already weighed into this. >> well, look, i think the president's response, sara, right on point. most americans don't want another pro longed war where our young men and women are going to

fight for who knows how long but i do think americans expect some type of a response. i'll presume, in the next couple of days, the president is likely to deliver what that short, brief, yes, strategic response will be to deter the further attacks on our men and women. with that said, i think republicans are going to attempt to address this issue by focusing in part on the secretary of defense sort of dealing with his health issues. they're going to point to that saying we need someone properly advising the president who isn't distracted. and i think they're going to say the president's response isn't strategic enough. we heard lindsey graham saying we should bomb the heck out of them. and how long do we attempt do that in we strike this issue. i think the president is striking the right tenor and balance. let's respond for the men and women lost, but let's not find ourselves in another prolonged conflict. >> yeah, there are lessons to be

learned from the wars undertaken in iraq twice and afghanistan, particularly the longest wars. alice, he was asked, president biden, about the border because there is such an issue and a crisis and chaos at the border between the united states and mexico. what do you think about his response? president biden saying, hey, i want more judges, i want more people on the border that can deal with this crisis, give me the power. >> look, i think on the border, more judges and securing the border is the answer to this problem. and i do commend him. and democrats and some republicans who are working for a bipartisan border deal, but we have to get something done. and we can't have republicans holding it up because they don't want biden to have the win. i think it will be important and helpful not just for democrats but all americans if the president were able to get some sort of bipartisan border security package done.

back to to you, shermichael, no one wants a wider circulation of the war. president biden as response just to say don't, that's not a foreign policy strategy a country and a force like iran that is engaging their proxy partners in killing americans. whether or not we think we're at war with iran, iran is at war with america after they kill three american soldiers. so i think there definitely needs to be a more forceful approach to iran, whether direct sanctions on them, not just with proxies. and this administration certainly needs to show a lot more strength, otherwise, we will not have peace in that region or elsewhere with regard to iran. >> alice stewart, thank you, shermichael singleton, thank you as well. >> thank you, sara. >> thanks, sara. >> john. an undercover military operation in the west bank. we've got brand-new security footage from the hospital where it happened. ♪

♪ all right. the latest from inside