. violent protests and stinging backlash to saudi arabia's execution of a shiite cleric. the latest ahead and reaction. plus, he's said to be armed and dangerous and still on the loose. police in tel aviv step up the search for a man who shot and killed two people and wounded eight at a pub on friday. and the flow of migrants, it continues. this crisis carrying well into 2016. we'll take you to the organization and talk to that organization behind the latest rescue. from cnn world headquarters in atlanta, welcome to our viewers here in the united states and around the world. i'm george howell.

"cnn newsroom" starts right now. a very good day to you. we start this hour in the middle east. the backlash and protests after saudi arabia executed 47 people accused of terror acts. among those killed, this man, he was a shiite cleric and very critical of the saudi monarchy. some of the sharpest reaction comes from the regional rival, iran. on saturday, crowds protested at the saudi embassy there. you can see demonstrators after they broke into the embassy. some 40 people were arrested there and then there's this photo. iran's supreme leader compares saudi arabia to isis there saying that both execute those who oppose them. then from iraq, top leaders there are showing their

disagreement. iraqi vice president nouri al m maliki says it will topple the regime. what more are you hearing, becky? >> reporter: all right. well, the execution of the saudi shia cleric is a multilayered story, george, with wide ranging ramifications. on the personal level, it's the story of an outspoken cleric. few understand the ramifications and the execution of the cleric. it's tough. the execution, as i say, along with 40 other people, 46 other people in a single day, a story which -- as i say, cannot be overestimated. a vocal critic of the monarchy

in saudi arabia which is a majority sunni nation. he was especially critical during the arab spring back in 2011 when thousands of saudis in the eastern part of the country took to the streets to demands greater freedoms and more economic opportunities. following the arrest in 2012, there were demonstration that is led to violence and death. on saturday, video show dozens of protesters taking to the streets in the eastern part of the country chanting against the monarchy, which is extremely rare, as you know. it's been a diplomatic backlash across this region, george. iran strongly condemning the execution of al anymorer george? >> becky, talk to us if you could about the implications given that this happened. when it comes to finding more stability in the region.

how important -- >> reporter: the impact will definitely be felt in places like yemen and syria where iran and saudi arabia, of course, are locked in this proxy competition for power and influence. only recently, the two countries did finally agree to sit across the same table in geneva to talk about the possibility of peace there. but will they now be able to do that? that is a very, very big question. we're also watching for and listening out for any concerns across the gulf region as a whole. relatively rested shia population in bahrain, for example, we've seen demonstrations there against activity by saudi in the past. yeah, the impact at this point one that we really need to watch for. george? >> becky anderson, live in abu dhabi to give us your reporting

there and your expertise from the region there. becky, thank you so much for your time today. let's press further on this and the diplomatic fallout from this mass execution. i'm joined now by christopher dick i, the world news editor for the daily beast. when you look at what happened in tehran with the protests at the saudi embassy. when you consider the reaction from that nation's supreme leader, where do things go now between these two regional rivals. >> i think we have to ask where does it go for europe and the united states who are caught up in this mess. we're really looking at not only two religious rivals but two theocracies. saudi arabia, a thee krat i can monarchy. both of them say god is on their side. is that something that the united states should get in the middle of and in fact, it is something the united states is in the middle of right now. then you add to that, the problem of the so-called islamic

state saying no, god is on our side and all of them executing people, beheading people. the iranians don't behead them, they hang them. but basically, it is a bloody, thee krat i can mess in the middle east. it's only going to get worse as the different factions try to fight it out. >> i want to talk about saudi arabia claiming that those who were executed were involved in, as they describe it, terror acts. critics will point out, they say instead they believe the people executed instead paid the ultimate price for speaking out against the monarchy. what are your thoughts? >> look, a lot of the people executed, a lot of the 47 people beheaded on the 2nd were people who were involved with al qaeda and with attacks in saudi arabia almost ten years ago or more. they have been rotting in saudi jails and waiting for this to happen.

in the case of shiite ayatollah some say, you know, he was not involved in that kind of violence or subversion. this is an affront to iran. clearly the saudis knew it would be. the problem here, too, is that the person who is most responsible for this is the crown prince of saudi arabia, who is very close to the americans. he was running counterterrorism operations for saudi arabia and deeply in bed with the americans in those efforts. >> christopher, i want to talk also about the proxy war. we understand, as you mentioned, many of the 47 involved according to saudi arabia in terror acts. but when it came to the death, it has caused -- what we see in

yemen and syria, how does this affect efforts to find civility on those fronts? >> it makes it infinitely more difficult. basically, if we're going to extricate syria from the mess it's in or try to, we have to have much better coordination among a whole array of different countries and interests. you've got the russians and the iranians on one side, the americans sort of on the same side of the saudis on the other. you have the turks playing a complicated game there. there's a wild proxy conflict of shifting sides in syria. trying to calm that down and get everybody working in the same direction of establishing peace there and ending slaughter that's killed more than 200,000 people and driven millions of refugees out of the country and many into europe, all of that takes cooperation. this kind of thing absolutely goes against cooperation and in fact, creates more reasons for these very proxy forces to

continue using the syrian battleground to try to fill -- thank you so much for your insight on this situation christopher dickey. thank you. when it came to yemen, as christopher mentioned and the proxy war there, cease-fire between saudi-led coalition and the rebels there has ended. that cease-fire started back in december alongside peace talks sponsored by the united nations. saudi arabia's state news agency says the rebels violated several times there. the hup at this run newspaper calls saudi aggression for recent violence. now on to israel where a manhunt is under way in tel aviv. authorities there are looking for a gunman suspected of killing two people outside of a pub on friday. now we know that suspect has

been identified as a 31-year-old arab israeli. he's considered armed and dangerous. police raided his home on saturday. a candlelight vigil was held for the victims of this attack. the suspect's father says he notified authorities after seeing his son's image on surveillance video. listen. >> eventually my son -- >> translator: i heard my son was in tel aviv and did what he did. i did not raise him in this manner and i'm sorry he did what he did. when i found out, i personally arrived to the police station and assisted all security bodies with all directions. first of all, i thank you and secondly, i wish all wounded to get well and i send my condolences to everyone, whether a jew or an arab. >> cnn correspondent ian lee is following the story live for us in jerusalem this hour on the investigation. ian, good to have you.

we just heard from the suspect's father. what more do you know about this suspect and his background? >> george, we just were up in his hometown talking to his uncle. his uncle describes someone who is very disturbed, someone who had psychological issues, someone who had been previously on medication and was in a clinic being treated for that, especially when he was in jail, arrested in 2007 for trying to steal a gun from an israeli soldier. that's when around that time is when he started receiving his treatment. his family is very concerned. they don't know if he's taking his medication. they want to have the police arrest him. they want the police to take care of him. their main concern now, though, this could end deadly. either someone could kill him or he would take his own life. they said they urge him, wherever he is, to turn himself in. that this should end and end

peacefully, george. >> ian, i'd like to talk about the situation when it comes to the general public. investigators are saying that the suspect is armed and dangerous. what more are they telling people in that area? >> oh, this case is really bizarre for police. it doesn't fit any of the molds of either criminal or terrorism. usually a terrorist attack, the person is caught or killed at the site. this person has been on the run for almost 48 hours. israel has about half the police force looking for him. they have a lot of security cameras. this is unusual that they haven't been able to find him, which makes some lead to believe that he possibly could have had help escaping. the police going door to door, street by street looking anywhere. abandoned buildings. trying to find him. in tel aviv right now, there is a sense of fear. people are keeping their children away from schools, people are afraid to go outside

because he's still on the run and as we say, he is armed -- the police are considering him armed and dangerous. although, despite all that, the police urging people to go along with their normal routines, telling them just that the extra alert, if they see anything, report it. but this manhunt is really a puzzling quite a few. >> a manhunt that is still under way for a suspect considered armed and dangerous. ian lee live for us in jerusalem ask for us. we'll stay in touch with you. now on to afghanistan. dozens of taliban prisoners are free thanks to a raid by afghanistan's countser terrorism unit. afghan units rescued prisoners in a helicopter assault against the taliban on saturday in kabul. no deaths or injuries were reported there. a similar raid last months freed 60 prisoners. in iraq, special operations forces say troops have

recaptured about 85% of the city of ramadi. iraqi forces have been working since monday to clear the anbar province capital after they declared ramadi fully liberated from isis. hundreds of families still remain trapped in the city and they're trying to find pockets of isis fighters there. you're watching "cnn newsroom." still to come, donald trump based much of his campaign on criticizing the current u.s. president and now he vow toss undo a key executive action. we'll have the latest on that next. plus, the weather is a bit drier in the u.s. this weekend. more flooding is coming down river. the story ahead.

in the u.s. race for the white house, presidential candidate donald trump didn't shy away from talking about the chaos in the middle east at a rally on saturday. the republican front-runner spoke at length about saudi arabia and iran, as well as isis' reign of terror. not surprisingly, he managed to blame it all on his opponents.

>> in tehran, they're burning down the saudi embassy. you see that. now, what that is, iran wants to take over saudi arabia. they always have. they want the oil. they've always wanted that. you watch. i predicted a lot of things. you have to say including get the oil, take the oil, keep the oil. right? i've been saying that for three years and everybody said oh, i can't do that, this is a sovereign country. there is no country. they have a bunch of dishonest people. they created isis. hillary clinton created isis with obama. >> and mr. trump continued going after president obama throughout the rally, taking aim at his impending executive action on guns. our phil mattingly has this report. >> saturday night in front of a capacity crowd in biloxi,

mississippi. donald trump laid out a new target. president obama's looming action on guns. trump accused the president of waging an assault on the second amendment and says this is what he'd do to the president's executive actions. >> he's going to sign another executive order having to do with the second amendment. having to do with guns. i will veto that. i will un-sign that so fast, so fast. >> now, trump did not mince any words about his plans there or against his rivals, taking shots at marco rubio, hillary clinton, jeb bush and a familiar array of countries that he plans to do better deals with when and if he takes office. one interesting fact, though, he pointed out republicans are at a structural disadvantage when it comes to national elections. he said maybe it's only him that can actually bring in states that democrats traditionally win giving republicans a better chance at the white house. phil mattingly, cnn, biloxi, mississippi. in the central united

states, record high floodwaters are now receding, but the danger in many places is far from over. surging water is flowing downstream. that's putting millions of people on alert. cnn's jeremy roth has this report. >> very little celebrating the day after new year's in parts of missouri saturday. instead, residents are cleaning up the debris left behind by a massive and deadly flood that is still posing a threat. >> we got to get that debris out of there. >> the governor touring some of the hardest hit regions as several interstate highways are back open in the st. louis area. water levels have fallen several feet but many homes are far from drying out. while missouri is in the recovery process, states like illinois are nervously anticipating more flooding and more damages. in alexander county where the mississippi and ohio rivers meet, the water is expected to crest sunday. more than 3 feet above major flooding stage. >> you live in a war, you can expect anything. i never once expected it to be

this high. >> according to officials, water has gone over the top of one levee and a second has a potential of overtopping. governor rauner activated members of the illinois national guard to assist local authorities as a precautionary measure. >> some communities have been hit harder than the '93 flood. most, fortunately, it's not as bad. this is one of the worst. >> i'm jeremy roth, reporting. let's bring in karen maginnis in to explain what's happening. karen, we heard from the folks there. you know, you can take good preparations but it's just so hard to stand there and wait and watch. not knowing how high that water is going to get. >> it isn't typically an event that lasts just a day or so. this will go on for months. you saw them cleaning up. there's a presidential declaration that allows them for a speedy cleanup across the region. but the rivers that are still at

or above flood stage still hundreds of them across the united states. eastern half of the u.s. from the carolinas to the mississippi valley region into the ohio river valley. so many hundreds of states. but believe it or not, when we were looking at the peak of this event, we were looking at many, many hundreds of rivers that were out of their banks. one of the other things that the people right across the centra mississippi valley will have to deal with are very cold temperatures. at or just above the freezing mark at least at night. their homes have been destroyed, lot of businesses destroyed. their automobiles. some of the interstates have been shut down. they're open now. but just trying to get their lives back together. we haven't seen the end of it. take a look at camp girard owe, missouri. the great flood of 1993 which all of these floods have been based upon or gauged from, now that changes.

because we saw this super event that took place between december 26th and the 28th that produced about 250 millimeters of rainfall or just about -- between 200 357bd 00 millimeters or just about 10 inches of rainfall. it was devastating. but only about 5% of the city remains vulnerable to the floodwaters. then we have this. the levee. this is on the illinois side. that structure that you see, that is the levee that was overtopped yesterday and that constant erosion of water allowed this to breach. a lot of private land and farmland is vulnerable. those levees now will not protect those suburbs of that city along that levee. it has been devastating for a broad area for this winter. >> for sure, karen. looking at that image, you get a

sense of how powerful mother nature is. karen maginnis, thank you so much. we move on to the united kingdom where prime minister david cameron is promising to work to bolster flood defenses there. this comes as communities across the uk struggle to recover from unprecedented flooding. both scotland and wales saw their wettest december on record. the rainfall will continue through the weekend, but by monday, the country will finally see some relief. in turkey, a major winter storm dumped heavy snow across parts of that country. one city along the black satisfy coast picked up about 92 centimeters of snow. about 36 inches of snow. the storm also dropped about 37 meet ners istanbul or about 14 inches. hundreds of flights were canceled and schools closed in many cities. more snow and rain is expected into next week. you are watching "cnn newsroom" and still ahead, dozens of syrian refugees are

rescued after their boat wrecked on a greek island. ahead, we'll speak to the director of the group who saved these stranded migrants. live from atlanta and broadcasting around the world this hour, you're watching "cnn newsroom."

here in the united states and around the world. you're watching "cnn newsroom." good to have you with us today. i'm george howell. the headlines we're following for you. fears of violent backlash are now growing as the saudi arabia executed a prominent shiite cleric along with dozens of others convicted of inciting violence.

protesters threw fire bombs at the saudi embassy in tehran. iran strongly condemned the execution of nimr al nimr. others call it appalling. a cease-fire between a saudi-led coalition and rebels in yemen has ended. according to saudi arabia's state media, the rebels violated the cease-fire on multiple occasions. the hub di run newspaper calls -- israeli authorities hunting for a fugitive. a gunman suspected of wounding others and killing some outside of tel aviv an friday. the suspect is identified as a 31-year-old israeli. his family says he has a psychological disorder. donald trump, he did not mince words about his defense of gun rights while speaking at a rally in the state of mississippi on saturday. he vowed that he would quickly undo president obama's

forthcoming executive action on guns saying he would unsign them immediately if he wins office. now to the migrant crisis in europe. several dozen syrian refugees were rescued after their boat ran aground on a remote island. one passenger, a baby boy drowned and others were injured. it is the first known migrant death this year. the shipwrecked refugees were rescued by the migrant offshore aid station or moaz, a privately owned organization in malta that helps those stranded at sea. the director of moaz now joins us from malta. it's good to have you with us sir. we want to get a sense of what that rescue was like. tell our viewers what happened. >> first of all -- that have allowed moaz to expand.

it's important to say that it's the public donation that is are saving lives. in this case in particular, we were out on station along the samos access and we were informed by members that had been informed by fishermen that there was this boat in distress and it has gonna ground in one of the smaller inhabited islands. luckily, we were in the area, we were close. we got to the station and in no time. by the time, unfortunately, the boy had been swept away. he had been swept away from the migrant craft earlier. but all the others were wet, cold, some of them hypothermic but they were relatively safe aground. however, our intervention and

the intervention, that's only -- the coast guard, the ensured no one else -- >> to see the images and to hear your story, the story of this particular rescue, to be in your position, the position of your group, to put your hands-on this and try to help people, talk to us about what you're seeing there. across europe when it comes to trying to better process and to better manage this migration of people. >> well, the situation in the mediterranean is truly catastrophic. earlier this year we've seen many people using the central mediterranean route and then in summer and now it continues now using this route. these are people that feel no other option but take to the water. i mean, we were -- we then had

to take the dead boy and the mother, a very young mother with us from the island to samos, an island close by where they were handed over to the greek authorities. it really is heartbreaking to see the sight. we had them on board for a few hours and this young mother who was full of expectations for her young child, but she truly had no other option but to leave syria and this is where it all ends for this boy, for this young 2-year-old boy. lucky there was another child younger who are doctors on board managed to bring back to life, giving cpr. there's hope, there's sadness all at one go. >> and people continue to make this very dangerous journey despite the fact that some countries are very publicly welcoming to the migrants and

some are not. what is the feeling you get from people? >> well, people keep doing it, the migrants, the refugee keep doing it because they truly feel that this is the only option that they have. so we need to look at the situation or make ourselves even for a few minutes, make ourselves look at the situation and consider the situation from their perspective. not from the perspective of someone who has just enjoyed cracking bottles of champagne. this is a reality. people tell us when we take people on board, they tell us that they'd rather be living their life in their homeland, but this is a situation that they have to deal with and we need to somehow or other realize that this is a global issue that requires global solution. this is important whether it's

the -- i'm very happy to know that we work very well. we coordinate very well in this part of with the held nick coast guard and the coast guard in samos. and the local fishermen. i'm very happy that this is happening. but it is not enough as long as people are drowning. then it means that not enough is being done. >> your work continues as people continue to make this very desperate journey and regrettably, we understand the death of a little boy. the first known death of the year when it comes to the refugees. martin, thank you so much for your time today. when it comes to this migration, excuse me, of hundreds of thousands of refugees, the crisis is definitely dominated the headlines over the past year. some of our correspondents sat down to discuss this refugee crisis and what they learned while covering it. what they think the future hold

for the people who are fleeing. >> these masses of people marching to europe like that, i don't think i ever would have imagined a scene like that. >> when they get to grief and the boat, they keep on coming and coming. >> it was logic out there. why don't they stay in lebanon or turkey, they're safe? the question is would you? i mean, would you? >> you have an -- you need to be able to build a life and a future for yourself. you're not going to have a future sitting in a refugee camp or a country where you can't get a job. you can't pursue your education or your life. sadly, the reality is, they're not going to go home. the war in syria isn't going to end any time soon. even if it ended tomorrow, the country -- >> it's a consequence for the decades to come. the dentist, the architects,

those who do the boring jobs won't be there. they'll be doing that job in germany. >> this isn't necessarily the poorest of the poor that are making this journey. they can't afford it. >> these are -- a lot of the people are middle class people coming for safe parts of syria. >> syria's poorest of the poor are in syria and getting bombed just about every single day or the ones stuck in the refugee camps. it's not a cheap journey. >> it's universal. the sheer volume of people doing it. understandable reasons. >> there's no way, that refugee trail unfolded is good for any of the refugees or migrants or any of the european states. it kind of weakens european institutions. >> that idea of europe or even america, it's meant to be a democracy. it's meant to uphold all these ideals and values and to be

treated like trash, that's how they felt. they felt they were being treated like trash. >> that's the heartbreaking part of this. >> that's not entirely fair because there were people who welcomed the migrants. >> people who made difficult political decisions. >> exactly. but it created more of a pull factor. was that better? >> we had that conversation in the uk where the conservatives said if you stop saving them, they'll stop coming. you have to debate what that does to your humanity. can you watch thousands and thousands of people washing up on shores. >> why does it have to take that image, that on the beach for people to begin to react? >> some of our correspondents giving their thoughts on the situation. you're watching "cnn newsroom." still ahead, one of the busiest airports has one of the most lax security requirements for aviation officers. we'll have the details of a cnn investigation.

wouk to "cnn newsroom." fair to say it's a busy travel weekend with a lot of people headed home after the holidays. in the city of chicago passengers at midway and chicago's o'hare's airports may be surprised to learn some aviation officers are not only unarmed, they're told to runaway if there is an attack. >> hoarse cnn's senior investigative correspondent drew griffin with the story. >> take a look at the passenger terminals at chicago's o'hare and midway airports and you will see what appear to be police officers. but take a closer look. not one of them is carrying a gun. in the event of an active shooter or terrorist strike here, you might be surprised to hear how they've been told to react. not try to neutralize the threat but instead to run. >> you guys are police officers.

but you don't have guns. you're unarmed. do you feel safe when you're working? >> no, sir. not safe at all. >> do you feel almost as if you're a sitting target? >> absolutely. >> it's not for lack of training or licensing or experience. aviation police officers are all sworn officers of the state of illinois. they get the same training as chicago police. and many are military veterans or have second jobs in suburban police departments. these two officers speaking in silhouette for fear of being fired say all they want is to carry a gun like any other law enforcement officer. just two years ago at los angeles international airport a man with an assault rifle killed a tsa officer, wounded several others before being shot and wounded by an armed police officer. the same event took place in chicago's two airports, the nearly 300 unarmed aviation

police would be defenseless to stop it. >> in the event of a, let's say it's a terrorist attack, a shooter, what are you supposed to do? >> run. >> run. >> hide. >> hide? >> seek shelter. >> this internal chicago aviation department document obtained from aviation department sources outlines the policy. if evacuation is not possible, hide. you must also ensure that unarmed security personnel do not attempt to become part of the response. here's the training video. officers say they were instructed to watch this. >> if evacuation is not possible, you should find a place to hide where the active shooter is less likely to find you. block entry to your hiding place and lock the doors. >> nothing but casualties. if you tell us to run and hide. how can the public look at us if they see police officers running and hiding. that goes against the oath we took. >> it's the chicago police who carry guns at both airports

since they are the primary law enforcement agency. if there's a major incident or an arrest, aviation police tell us they must wait for chicago police to show up. a unique arrangement among major u.s. airports. >> it doesn't make any sense. >> he's an official with the union that represents aviation police officers. >> basically they're just -- no disrespect to those officers, but they're glorified security guards. >> that's exactly right. my question to the city is, you send these men and women to the chicago police academy to be trained as police officers to be able to respond as police officers, be able to act as police officers. >> the chicago police department has 231 armed officers assigned to o'hare and midway and the city says that's enough. so, too, does the chicago aviation department about its unarmed force and the staffing level of armed police is for the most part, similar to other

major u.s. airports. if you compare the top three busiest airports in the u.s., atlanta's hartsfield jackson has 178 armed police. los angeles, 572. while o'hare is budgeted 175. numbers do not include additional security such as private security personnel. in an e-mail to cnn, the aviation department says the multilevel security has proven effective in stopping and preventing crime and that violent crime incidents are extremely low. but there's been no explanation why the nearly 300 aviation police officers here are unarmed. the department is declining to discuss security measures. cnn has surveyed large u.s. airports and found chicago's use of unarmed aviation police officers is unique. according to miami security expert wayne black, absurd. >> you've got sworn law enforcement officers at a u.s. airport that are trained to hide if there's an attack.

it's crazy. airports are targets of terror activity. what are they going to do if somebody runs in with a gun and no law enforcement officer is there. >> in october, a man caught with these knives attempted to get on the airfield and actually told the officers he knew they were not even armed. the gun issue has been part of a dispute between the officers and their chief. they took a no confidence vote against him calling him incompetent and someone who exerts control through intimidation and fear. despite the vote, edge worth's boss says he has the full confidence and trust of the department. he's repeatedly refused to answer numerous phone calls from cnn and when we approached him to ask our questions, he did what his officers are supposed to do if anyone approaches them armed. chief edge wart, drew griffin with cnn. we want today ask you why your

officers aren't armed, why is the -- >> i don't have any -- >> they're apparently not armed. wouldn't the public be better protected if they were armed and able to engage in a threat instead of -- sir, instead of having to run and hide? >> that was special investigations's unit correspondent drew griffin with that report. still ahead here on "cnn newsroom," get ready for it. it is putin mania. with citizens and tourists alike snatching up souvenirs of the russian leader. there is even a calendar. we'll tell you all about it, next. "ow..." "are you okay?" "yeah, i just got charged for my credit monitoring. that's how i know it"s working." "ah. you know you can go on creditkarma.com and check it out there. it's completely free." "really?" "yeah" "oh, that didn't hurt at all." "yeah, completely painless."

"credit karma. give yourself some credit."

russian president, vladimir putin seems to be more popular than ever and in stores there is plenty of merchandise to prove it. from t-shirts to calendars and a men's fragrance. patriotic citizens are buying up the souvenirs. we checked it out and tried out the cologne. >> reporter: the fans of vladimir putin, there's no shortage of stuff with the

russian president he is image on it. the t-shirts have been around for a while. they're still popular new year's gifts. this is the most popular one. so how well do these t-shirts sell? >> they sell really well. mainly tourists buy them but compatriots buy them as well. they love putin. >> despite a deep economic crisis and international isolation over the walls of ukraine and syria, putin's ratings are doing well too. what about spending the entire year with president putin? well, that's what this 2016 putin calendar is promising. with every month revealing a carefully chosen image of the russian leader. this one has him in siberia with a horse in the forest.

here he's smelling a flower. this third one over here, he's working out in the gym. but photographs aren't all you get with this calendar. you get putin's words of wisdom, too. some a characteristically hard line like this one for the month of october. no one will succeed in gaining military superiority over russia putin says. others hint at a softer side. dogs and i have very warm feelings for one another says the russian leader for november. one group of putin supporters has put together an entire book of putin's best known remarks and one-liners publishing a limited edition set to go on sale next year. the book is called words dha changing the world. the publisher says it makes the perfect holiday gift for patriotic russians. if reading putin isn't enough, you can now smell him too.

there's a new men's fragrance that hit the shops here in russia. all right. well, here it is. it's called leaders number one. but make no mistake, with the profile of vladimir putin on the side and the words inspired by vladimir putin. smells of citrus fruits and pine needles, a mixture of hard and soft just like the president putin himself. so i suppose i should give it a try, shouldn't i? let have a smell. i'm impartial on it. i can see it wouldn't be to everybody's taste. matthew chance, cnn, moscow. i think i'll stick with my austin, texas, tom ford. i'm george howell at the cnn center in atlanta. i'll be back with more news from around the world. you're watching cnn, the world's news leader.

the arab world -- ahead the fiery embassy protests and why some are describing the kingdom as another isis. plus, still at large. tel aviv police intensify their search for this man. suspected in friday's shooting rampage and the struggles of a defector. north koreans risk their lives to head south. many find it hard to realize their dreams even after the escape. from cnn world headquarters in atlanta. to our viewers in the united states and around the world, i'm

george howell. "cnn newsroom" starts right now. a good day to you. we begin this hour in the middle east. the reaction to saudi arabia's mass execution of convicted terrorists, including the death of this man. the shiite cleric. there are fears that his execution could further fuel sectarian violence in the region. the kingdom executed sheik nimr al nimr. al anymorer was a vocal critic of the monarchy. crowds protested at the embassy in iran. you see demonstrators here as they broke into the embassy. at least 40 were arrested there. the ayatollah khamenei posted this photo comparing saudi arabia to isis, saying both execute those who oppose them. in iraq, nouri al maliki says it

will topple the saudi regime. our becky anderson joins us live in abu dhabi. what more are you hearing about reaction to the execution of al nimr and the other 46 who shared his fate? >> george, you've just been expressing there or reporting on some of the expression from the region. this is a multilayered with wide ranging ramifications as you mentioned. he was an outspoken critic of the monarchy with a sizable support base in the kingdom's shia dominated eastern region. while he was known for fiery sermons, there is very little evidence to suggest that he was active and actually taking up arms or encouraging that against the saudis. by grouping him with convicted terrorists like al qaeda in these executions, saudi arabia

very much sending a message. it will not tolerate any form of radical jihadists associated with al qaeda or shia activists. but it is on the regional level that this story will have the most impact. you're reporting on that already. it has intensified the bloody rivalry between iran and saudi arabia. iran's supreme leader says saudi's leader will face divine justice for the death of al nimr as protesters in tehran ransacked the saudi embassy on saturday and more protests are expected today. in turn, george, the iranian a.mbassador to leave the countr. when you get wider into the gulf, it's playing out around the region here and the arab rorld. the uae and bahraini governments

coming out -- perhaps understandably denouncing the move and saying it will worsen terror intentions. the impact, definitely to be felt in places like yemen and syria where, again, as you are well aware, iran and saudi arabia locked in what is a proxy competition for power and influence. only recently did eiran and saui finally agree to sit across the same table in geneva to talk about the possibility of peace in syria. we look to the end of january for those peace talks to reconvene. but they will be -- will they be able to agree on anything now that the atmosphere is clearly heightened. in yemen, there were signs there might have been a cease-fire but also announcing on saturday, coincidentally perhaps, the iranian back rebels is no longer -- george, i think the execution in and of itself, very controversial in saudi.

but this is an execution that ended the life of one man but has the potential to impact the future of many, many more to come in the weeks to come. george? >> with reporting and a great deal of context there, becky anderson live in abu dhabi. becky, we appreciate the insight on the situation. countries are reacting to the al nimr execution especially as becky mentioned, iran. earlier, i spoke with christopher dickey. world news editor for the daily beast. here's some of what he had to say about what may happen next. >> so we're really looking at not only two religious rivals, but two thee accuracies, a theocratic republican, saudi arabia, a theocratic monarchy, both of whom say god is on their side. is that something that the united states should get in the middle of and in fact it is something the united states is in the middle of right now. then you add to that, the problem of the so-called islamic state saying no, god is on our

side and all of them executing people, beheading people, the iranians don't behead them, they hang them. but basically, it is a bloody theocratic mess in the middle east. it's only going to get worse as these different factions try to fight it out. >> i want to talk about saudi arabia claiming that those who were executed were involved in, as they describe it, terror acts and critics will point out they say instead that they believe the people who were executed instead paid the ultimae price for speaking out against the monarchy. what are your thoughts? >> well, look, a lot of the people executed, a lot of the 47 people beheaded on the 2nd were people who were involved with al qaeda and with attacks in saudi arabia almost ten years ago or more who have been rotting in saudi jails and basically just waiting for this to happen. in the case of nimr al nimr, the

shiite sheikh or ayatollah some say, you know, he was not involved in that kind of violence or subversion and this is an affront to iran, which clearly the saudis knew it would be. you know, the problem here, too, is that the person who is most responsible for this is the crowned prince of saudi arabia, who is very close to the americans. he was running counterterrorism operations for saudi arabia and deeply in bed with the americans in those efforts. >> christopher, i want to talk also about the proxy war. we understand as you mentioned, many of the 47 involved according to saudi arabia in terror acts, but when it came to the death of nimr al nimr, this has caused a great deal of reaction and when it comes to the proxy wars, what we see in

yemen and syria, how does this affect the stability. >> it makes it more difficult. basically, if we're going to extricate syria from the mess it's in or try to, we have to have better coordination among a whole array of different countries and interests. you've got the russians and the iranians on one side, the americans sort of on the same side as the saudis on the other. you've got the turks playing a complicated game there, and there's a wild proxy conflict of shifting sides in syria trying to calm that down and get everybody working in the same direction of establishing peace there and ending slaughter that's killed more than 200,000 people and driven millions of refugees out of the country and a lot of them into europe. all of that takes cooperation. this kind of thing mill tats against cooperation and create more reasons for these various proxy forces to continue using

the syrian battleground to try and fill their rivals' proxies. meanwhile, a cease-fire between saudi-led coalition and hup di rebels, it ended in december. among peace talks sponsored by the united nations. saudi arabia's news agency says the rebels violated the troops -- they blame sawed a gregs for the recent violence. almost 6,000 have been killed in the region. a massive manhunt under way for a gunman suspected of killing two people outside of tel aviv. he's identified as a 31-year-old arab israeli. a candlelight vigil was held for the victims in friday's attack. police say that suspect is still on the run, considered armed and dangerous. for more on this situation, let's go to our ian lee live in

jerusalem covering the investigation. ian, what can you tell us about the suspect and more about his background? >> we are getting a picture, a profile of this man that committed -- police say committed this. even his family say he committed it. he's a 31-year-old man from the northern part of israel. his father was actually the one who spotted him on security footage and then turned him in to the police -- or told the police about him. >>. >> translator: my son, i heard he was in tel aviv and did what he did. i did not raise him in this manner and i'm sorry for what he did. when i found out of the incident, i personally on my own arrived to the police station and assisted all security bodies with all directions. first of all, i thank you and secondly, i wish all wounded to

get well and i send my condolences to everyone, whether a jew or an arab. >> george, i was just up there in his hometown talking to some family members. his uncle told me that their biggest fear right now is that he won't be captured alive. that he will be killed or that he could also commit suicide. they're urging him to turn himself in, to stop this manhunt. they hope that really this thing can end peacefully, george. >> ian, at the same time, what are officials telling people, given the fact that they are saying outright that he's considered armed and dangerous. there's a manhunt for him. what are officials telling people in that general area? >> we just heard from israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu at his weekly cabinet meeting saying that really all resources that can be available are available, are being thrown

at this manhunt. intelligence services are being scald in to look for him. this is really unusual for someone to go this long, 48 hours almost without being captured. israel is a small country with a lot of security and a lot of cameras and police still struggling to find him. they are still going house to house. but in tel aviv, there are a lot of people scared right now, families keeping their children away from the schools, people are staying home, afraid of going out with a man who is considered armed and dangerous on the loose. although police are telling residents that it is safe to go about, but if you do see something suspicius, alert authorities. but despite all of that, this manhunt continues and israeli authorities say they will keep up this pressure until he's caught. >> ian lee live for us in jerusalem. ian, thank you so much for your reporting there. several dozen syrian refugees have been rescued after their

boat ran aground on a remote island. refugees were injured and one passenger, a baby boy, drowned. he is the first known migrant death of this year. the shipwrecked refugees were rescued by the migrant aid station known as moas. they're a private company that helps migrants stranded at sea. earlier, i spoke with martin, the director of the company about the growing refugee crisis. >> the refugee keep doing this because they truly feel that this is the only option that they have. so we need to look at this situation or make ourselves even for a few minutes, make ourselves look after the the situation and consider the situation from their perspective, not from the perspective of someone who has just enjoyed cracking bottles of champagne over a new dvr.

this is a reality. people tell us when we take them on board, they tell us that they'd rather be living their life in their homeland, but this is a situation that they have to leave and we need to somehow or other realize that this is a global issue that requires global solution. >> moas saved more than 12,000 migrants stranded at sea since 2014. now to a story in oregon where a group of armed protesters have taken over a building at a federal wildlife refuge. they are upset over what they say is government mistreatment of two ranchers facing prison time for arson. the protesters say they're being persecuted for refusing to sell part of their land to the federal government. they accuse the ranchers of accusing torching the land. they took over an unoccupied building on saturday and refused to leave.

the group spokesman warned they would defend themselves with force n. if necessary. you're watching "cnn newsroom." still to come, the weather is a bit drier in the united states this weekend. but more flooding is coming down river. plus, presidential candidate donald trump vows to undo an upcoming executive action by current president braarack obam. what that's all about as newsroom rolls on. and move, groove, wiggle, giggle, swerve, curve. lift, shift, ride, glide, hit your stride. only always discreet underwear has soft dual leak guard barriers to help stop leaks where they happen most and a discreet fit that hugs your curves, you barely feel it. always discreet underwear so bladder leaks can feel like no big deal. because hey, pee happens. get your free pair and valuable coupons at always discreet.com

welcome back to "cnn newsroom." i'm george howell. prime minister david cameron is promising to work to bolster flood defenses. communities across the united kingdom are struggling to recover from unprecedented flooding. both scotland and wales saw their wettest december on record. the rainfall will continue through the weekend. but by monday, that country will finally see some relief. there is very little rain in sight for the midwest but the flooding is far from over. that's because swollen waterways that pour into the mississippi river could mean more floods for at least six states. the cleanup has begun for some families returning to their homes, but for many, there's nothing left. cnn's dan simon has this report. >> reporter: this is what you call a giant debris field. you can see the magnitude of destruction in this community. all these household items that people have collected and brought over to this community

cent center. this will be taken to a landfill ultimately. in the meantime, you need someplace to put this. they have asked for a federal emergency declaration to spied up the reeve mofl process. you need to have all of the debris removed and to get the cleanup accelerated. he's hoping the white house approves that request. you can see all of the stuff that people have dropped off. you can see mattresses and other household eye techls. you see a whole bunch of sandbags in the back. those cannot be reused at all. listen to what the governor said a short time ago. >> i'm from this part of the state. it's almost hard to believe. when you see the levels of where water was. when you're coming over historic highs. from the beginning of time, we kept records by 4 and 5 feet. you're seeing a house that's floated a full house that's floated into the highway 30

bridge and blowing up, it's almost as if you're living on another planet. >> fortunately, the floodwaters receded. now what you're left with is just the debris. in reality, this is just a fraction of what you're seeing throughout the state. hundreds of businesses and homes have taken on significant damage. >> that was our dan simon reporting. let's turn to karen maginnis at the world weather center. karen, just to see the destruction there and the concern about more flooding. >> yes. it is going to the south of the mississippi river. but not just along the mississippi. some of the tributaries that kind of feed into this mississippi basin. it remains dry around st. louis, point that out because that seemed to be the area where we saw 10 inches of rainfall and the river that spilled out of its banks and devastated a number of communities there. as we go from thursday to next sunday, we start to see a little bit more in the way of rainfall. i want to emphasize a little

bit. because the computer models are suggesting you're only going to see fractional amounts of precipitation. if you've lost your home, your business, your car, your livelihood because of this, you're trying to recover and recuperate. it's going to be kind of insult to injury. 255 rivers out of their banks at or above flood stage. most of them from illinois and indiana down towards the gulf coast. and then towards the carolinas. but we are looking not just the miss ms. as i mentioned, but the arkansas, the ohio, the missouri rivers that have really exploded from that december 26th to 28th event. cape gir ar dough, the threat of 50-foot river gauge coming up just has not materialized. but nonetheless, these walls around the city, about 95% of the city is protected by these walls.

still at record setting levels. but not nearly the approach that we were looking at just a couple of days ago. and look at this levee. this on the illinois side. this levee presented farmland and private property from being flooded but now about 60,000 acres have the potential for flooding. those towns of olive branch, unity and hodges park had to be evacuated earlier. they sent the people sandbagging the region away because they said yesterday, george, it was just too dangerous. now we see why. >> really get a sense there, karen, how strong mother nature is. karen maginnis, thank you so much. u.s. presidential candidate donald trump continued with his feud with hillary clinton while speaking at a rally in the state of mississippi. he has ramped up his rhetoric a bit suggesting for the first

time since that rather she and president obama, that they are directly responsible for the rise of isis he further asserted that clinton should be behind bars. >> you know, it's really sad. it's a corrupt system. everybody knows she should be in jail. what she did with the e-mails is a disgrace. people that did 5% of what she did, their lives have been destroyed, their lives ruined. their lives have been ruined. you look at general petraeus, nice guy. had some bad moments, right? nice guy. what happened, they destroyed him. they destroyed other people for doing far less than hillary. >> he also touched on president obama's proposed executive actions on gun control in the united states saying that he would "veto them so quickly." while there trump and other republicans are critical of obama's proposed gun reforms, the president insists changes

are necessary after countless deadly shootings across the u.s. last year. our jim acosta explains what the executive action might entail. >> for president obama, the final round is about to begin. >> in 2016, i'm going to leave it out all on the field. >> a verse in the president's eighth and last year in office. mr. obama's long promised response to mass shootings in the u.s. sources familiar with the plan say it will be a package of executive actions on gun control. expected before the january 12th state of the union, and aimed at the gun show loophole which allows some to avoid conducting background checks on their customers. all across america, survivors of gun violence and those who lost a child or a parent or a spouse to gun violence are forced to mark such awful anniversaries every single day. yet, congress still hasn't done anything to prevent what happened to them from happening

to other families. >> the president will review the slate of administrative changes with attorney general loretta lynch on monday. the white house argues the actions of the president will be within his executive authority and in line with polls that show support for tightening background checks. >> change, as always is going to take all of us. gun lobby is loud and well-organized in its defense of effortlessly available guns for anyone. the rest of us are going to have to be just as passionate and well-organized in our defense of our kids. that's the work of citizenship. to stand up and fight for the change that we seek. >> vowing to fight the move, the nation's biggest gun lobby, the nra says the president is doing what he always does when he doesn't get his way. find the will of the people and using executive action. another controversial proposal coming in the new year, the president will ask congress to shut down the terror detention center at guantanamo. a facility he may close on his

own if they balk at his plan. >> it will be an uphill battle. >> the president hopes to travel to cuba and perhaps more than a dozen other countries in what's shaping up to be a global farewell tour. but the president's agenda could be upended by setbacks in the war on isis. a foreign policy crisis that could complicate white house plans to have the president campaign heavily with the 2016 democratic nominee, a prospect that may well put him and hillary clinton on the trail together again. >> i think we'll have a strong democratic nominee, i think that nominee will win and i think i will have a democratic successor. >> first, he will lay out his plans as a fast approaching state of the union address less than two weeks away. don't expect a long laundry list of proposals in part because the president is almost out of time. jim acosta, cnn traveling with the president in honolulu. for some north koreans,

defecting to south korea seems like the only way to a better life. they say the challenges they face are far from over when they get there. we'll have that story ahead as this broadcast continues live from atlanta and around the globe this hour. you're watching cnn worldwide. ♪ (cell phone rings) where are you? well the squirrels are back in the attic. mom? your dad won't call an exterminator... can i call you back, mom? he says it's personal this time... if you're a mom, you call at the worst time. it's what you do. if you want to save fifteen percent or more on car insurance, you switch to geico. it's what you do. where are you? it's very loud there. are you taking a zumba class? ok, wehere's dad. mom. the twins. aunt alice... you didn't tell me aunt alice was coming. of course. don't forget grandpa. can the test drive be over now? maybe just head back to the dealership? don't you want to meet my family?

yep, totally. it's practically yours, but we still need your signature. the volkswagen sign then drive event. zero due at signing, zero down, zero deposit, and zero first months payment on a new jetta and other select models. i am a lot of things. i am his sunshine. i am his advocate. so i asked about adding once-daily namenda xr to his current treatment for moderate to severe alzheimer's. it works differently. when added to another alzheimer's treatment, it may improve overall function and cognition. and may slow the worsening of symptoms for a while. vo: namenda xr doesn't change how the disease progresses. it shouldn't be taken by anyone allergic to memantine, or who's had a bad reaction to namenda xr or its ingredients. before starting treatment, tell their doctor if they have, or ever had, a seizure disorder, difficulty passing urine, liver, kidney or bladder problems, and about medications they're taking. certain medications, changes in diet, or medical conditions

may affect the amount of namenda xr in the body and may increase side effects. the most common side effects are headache, diarrhea, and dizziness. he's always been my everything. now i am giving back. ask their doctor about once-daily namenda xr and learn about a free trial offer at namendaxr.com.

watching tvs get sharper, you've had it tough. bigger, smugger. and you? rubbery buttons. enter the x1 voice remote. now when someone says... show me funny movies. watch discovery. record this. voila. remotes, come out from the cushions, you are back. the x1 voice remote is here. welcome back to our viewers here in the united states and around the world. you're watching "cnn newsroom." good to have you with us. i'm george howell. the headlines we're following this day. more protests are planned on sunday in the wake of the saudi arabian execution of a prominent

shii shiite cleric. fire bombs were thrown. sheikh nimr al nimr was an outspoken critic of the monarchy. it could fuel tensions in the region. in israel, authorities are on the hunt for this man. a fugitive gunman accused of killing two people and wounding eight others outside a tel aviv pub on friday. the suspect has been identified as a 31-year-old arab israeli. his family says he has a psychological disorder. in mexico, the newly elected mayor it dead one day after taking office. he was sworn in on friday. on saturday morning, attackers entered her home and killed her in the doorway in front of her family. two of the attackers were killed, two others arrested and will face charges. as iraq works to purge its country of isis, a retired u.s. army general says getting militants out of mosul by 2016

may be overly ambitious. iraqi forces are still freeing families in ramadi and clearing out pockets of isis fighters there. a suicide attack by isis on friday killed three iraqi soldiers. north korean defectors risk their lives to get to south korea with hopes of a better future there. after they make it, though, things are still very difficult. some saying they consider suicide. kathy novak talked to some defectors about the struggles they face. >> translator: they're the south korean tv drams as that kim jong un doesn't want them to see. smuggled into the country, painting a picture of the south korean dream. she loved to watch her favorite programs in secret. >> i sort of had a fantasy about south korea, especially about capitalism, she says. but often after risking their lives to escape, defectors

arrive in the south to discover reality is nothing like that fantasy. starting over in a hugely competitive society lagging behind in education struggling financially. that's why some commit suicide, explains timothy. south korean media show wealth and they say am i not happy if i don't live like that. if that's the case, i want to die. in a country with the highest suicide rate in the developed world, defectors are particularly at risk. the foundation which supports north koreans in the south found one in five contemplated suicide. for timothy kung, the worst part was feeling like a stranger among people who were supposed to be his fellow koreans. that's why he's making these online videos with other defectors. he wants to change what he thinks is the perception among locals that north koreans are

losers or even informants. when they first arrive in south korea, defectors are screened to make sure they're not spies. then they come here to attend reeducation programs designed to help them adjust to their new lives. a big part of that adjustment is psychological. north korean defectors experience trauma in the process of escape says this man. the center does screening to identify high risk people. as well as counseling, there are cultural programs like this designed to make them feel welcome. timothy kung's message to new arrivals, it does get easier. and anything is better than life under kim jong un. kathy novak, cnn, seoul. in noorth korea, the leader unveiled a new -- according to the state run agency there, kim said the complex will be a center for disseminating the

latest science and technology. he cut the ribbon at the opening of the complex on friday. kim said the new center will turn the country into a technology powerhouse and a "talented nation." on to russia now, a country that has become increasing bold over the past year from the standoff with turkey over a downed fighter plane to the hot and cold relationship with the united states. russia has factored in heavily in many of 2015's biggest stories. five of our senior international correspondents sat down to discuss russia's role in the last 12 months at going forward. >> there is nothing that's stomg any of it. the west, the u.s. actually needs to step it up or say, you know what, we're getting out. >> we're done.

>> ♪ >> there are a lot of potential challenges that could come with not only russia intervening in syria right now and continuing to -- >> flex muscles. >> but also repeat the anti-i nato, anti-american rhetoric. the ukraine conflict could flare up at any moment. >> it's sort of an extraordinarily weak aging regime. it's sad because you are seeing a population's demographics aren't doing well, economy isn't doing particularly well, reaching out to foreign military to keep a sense of relevance. >> but it's worked. look at them. it's really worked. putin has, for better or for worse, you can make that argument. he's commanded the world's attention. there's no question that he has kind of filled a void that america has pulled back from. and with a pretty negative

impact, i think, from what we've seen in ukraine and now in syria and elsewhere. >> putin operates without transparency. doesn't have congress to worry about or the media asking him uncomfortable questions. >> there are no checks and balances. >> he does what he wants the next day. when you look at obama with all the problems he faces, they can't operate in similar -- it's a different set of -- >> there's no shared language almost. >> one day he will no longer be the president of russia. >> for the time being, there's a guy we've apparently limitless power who likes to throw -- in the works for short term political gain. >> it's worked. made themselves relevant. >> unexpected consequence. >> there is nothing stopping it. either the west, the u.s. actually needs to step it up or say you know what, we're getting out. >> we're done. >> you can't do this in between thing anymore. >> i always find that narrative worrying. the expectations that super

power should be the police officers of the world. comes with a lot of expectations on what the return is going to be. >> america is not going to be the police of the world, then don't be the police of the world. stop promising inadvertently promising -- >> obama has made clear he doesn't want to be the police officer of the world. >> then you got to sit back and watch what happens. >> exactly. >> you're no longer able to wag your finger. >> meeiddle eastern dream about- not particularly happy about it frankly. our international correspondents giving their thoughts about russia's role last year and looking forward. all this week we're hearing from leading figures in the fight against modern-day slavery. we'll tell you how harvard professor is using the power of media to bring his research on human trafficking to light. stay with us. sure, tv has evolved over the years.

it's gotten squarer. brighter. bigger. it's gotten thinner. even curvier. but what's next? for all binge watchers. movie geeks. sports freaks. x1 from xfinity will change the way you experience tv.

now to a development from cnn's freedom project and the fight to end modern-day slavery. sid heart cara is a researcher who traveled the world documenting cases of human trafficking. he uses the power of media for change. here's an exclusive look on the set of trafficking. >> inside the secluded california ranch -- >> if i get back, we'll be fine. >> a film crew is busy shining the bright lights of hollywood on a crime traditionally hidden

in the shadows. >> every character in this film, every scenario, everything that's happening is drawn from something really documented. >> he's a noted harvard professor and human trafficking expert. he spent 15 years documenting the cases. those cases provide the inspiration for this film. >> do you have any idea how many girls i see on streets? >> ashley judd is a social worker and patrick duffy, best known for his role in dallas, plays a corrupt texas congressman who uses his power and connections to operate a lucrative international trafficking operation. >> it's an important subject matter. more important is to unencumber the minds and hearts of people in general. to allow them that even if they're involved in thinking about a subject matter, it's better than ignoring it. >> one of the film's most riveting performances belongs to

charlie cantore, the high schooler plays a young woman fooled by a fake modeling offer and made to work in a brothel against her will. she learned of the issue and sid heart cara long before landing the role. >> i did a research paper my freshman year about human trafficking. i just learned an abundance of all these things that are going on that nobody at least in my environment knew about. >> for cara, reaching a broader audience while seeing the script come to life still calls up a range of emotion. >> there's a fair bit of pain as i think back to the true people and i wonder what happened to them. there's also some hope in that as i see this young girl saying what she said to me, i'm realizing she's got a voice. and her story is being told. >> with hopes that by telling it, the story will prevent

others from going through it themselves. cnn, los angeles. >> bill cosby's wife camille is being forced to break her silence on the charges against her husband. a judge ordered miss cosby to testify this coming wednesday in a defamation suit against the comedian. in the civil suit, seven women say bill cosby portrayed them as liars and they accused him of drugging and sexually assaulting them. miss cosby's attorney says the private conversations are privileged. but the plaintiff says she was subpoenaed because she was her husband's business manager. earlier, cnn's brianna keilar spoke with darrin kavinoky about cosby's superstardom and how it impacts the case against him. >> tell us how much more difficult his celebrity makes this case for the prosecution and for the defense. >> it's a great question and a huge issue in this case. we've seen examples where being a celebrity has been helpful to

a criminal defendant and others where celebrities were punished i think more harshly because of their status as a celebrity. what's especially tricky for cosby in this case, though, is that at its very core, this case is about the misuse of his celebrity status and so that gives the prosecutor a very powerful argument. essentially to be arguing, hey, ladies and gentlemen, don't let him get away with this again. send this celebrity a message or don't allow celebrity justice to happen. that means, impliedly that you better return a conviction. the other thing, i think, that's very interesting about all of this is that because of bill's celebrity status, there's a 24-hour global news cycle that's very interested in him and that means that we're going to hear everything there is to know about bill. this tends to make it very, very cloudy when for the defense, they want to keep things very, very siloed. can the prosecution prove beyond

a reasonable doubt that certain things happened on a certain day. the cloudier and muddier this gets with constant focus on everything cosby, the more difficult that makes it for the defense. >> there are a couple of things that are very damning for bill cosby. i wonder the chances of them getting into the case. one deposition where he says -- i mean, he agrees with andrea constant about what happened pretty much. that there were pills, then there were sexual acts. he just says it was consensuaco. clearly, she says it is not. the other thing, the prosecution will want to bring in a parade of alleged victims of cosby's to prove he has an m.o. what are the chances that both of those things come into the courtroom? >> i think that what this foreshadows is that we're going to spend a considerable amount of time and energy on pretrial

motions fighting about exactly these things. look, let's make no secret about it. if you are the defense, you want to keep this very narrowly focused and if you're the prosecution, you'd love to bring in the parade of horribles because it invites the possibility of really outraging the passions of the jurors. so we get into these really tactical decisions that both side are going to be engaged in and both of nechl are going to be making arguments to the judge about why theirs is the best reasoned view. you have a decent shot it could play out either way. some of the material that you've referenced may make it in and others is going to be kept out because it's more prejudicial than it is probative on a particular issue. but either way, you can be absolutely certain there are going to be compelling, hard-fought arguments on both sides. before you go, darrin, you say it could happen either way. what are the chances that

deposition gets in? >> with depositions, as long as he had all the same motivations to testify truthfully and that there was opportunities for him to answer questions, to cross-examine as well, it's more likely that that's going to come in. anything that cosby said, especially if it's under oath, generally speaking admissions of a party are admissible against them. so i think that's likely to get in front of those jurors. >> you're watching "cnn newsroom." and still ahead, on the island nation of cuba, hotels are quickly filling up and many more americans are expected to visit all thanks to eased travel restrictions to cuba. we'll tell what you visitors can expect. you're watching "cnn newsroom." and move, groove, wiggle, giggle, swerve, curve. lift, shift, ride, glide, hit your stride. only always discreet underwear has soft dual leak guard barriers to help stop leaks where they happen most

and a discreet fit that hugs your curves, you barely feel it. always discreet underwear so bladder leaks can feel like no big deal. because hey, pee happens. get your free pair and valuable coupons at always discreet.com

i come from a big family. i'm the oldest of six. to me being the first person to go to college, it's like setting a standard, you know? my little brother is eight years old now. i challenge his curiosity, i challenge him to dream. i have to paint a picture for him.

that he can look up to, and live up to, and possibly be better than. my name is jacquez, and i am your dividend. for the first time in more than 50 years, more americans now can legally travel to cuba. many are eager to visit the island nation before it becomes too commercialized. if you get a chance to go, will ripley has tips on what to expect while there. >> after years of isolation, cuba's crumbling infrastructure isn't ready to handle a surge of

tourists. soon they'll be coming with more flights from places like the u.s. and china and more cruise ships stehling here to havana's only commercial port. already a huge hotel room shortage. finding a last minute room here in havana nearly impossible. the best bet may be renting a private room in someone's home. you can even try your luck on air bnb. cubans only have internet access at a few dozen wi-fi hotspots like this. the lack of wi-fi and mobile data means your smartphone or tablet won't really work here aside from these particular places. another thing that may not work, your credit card. make sure you check with your bank before traveling. bring euros or canadian dollars to avoid paying the taxes on u.s. dollars. don't ex foekt pay in cuban pace owes. cinco? >> you can usually expect to pay more using this.

if you have a u.s. bank account, don't access it online from here. it may end up frozen. you may want to stick to bottled water and be sure to peel your fruits and veggies or you might end up sick. beware of driving here, it's easier and safer to hire a taxi like this and classic cars can get you around town in style and on the cheap. make sure you negotiate your price ahead of time. you want to take home the legally allowed $400 in souvenirs, cuba wants $100 of that to be cigars and rum so you can make your own mojitos at home. embrace the slower pace of life here. in an oasis like this, that's a good thing. will ripley, cnn havana. now star wars, the force awakens. that movie is starting the new year the same as it ended the old year. by breaking records. ♪

>> the latest installment of the star wars franchise is now the top earning movie of 2015 jumping past jurassic world. walt disney studios says the force awakens has raked in almost $680 million around the world. it is now second to avatar as the highest grossing film ever in the u.s., a record that could fall by monday. with that, we end this hour of "cnn newsroom." i'm george howell at the cnn center in atlanta. for our viewers in the united states, new day is ahead. for other viewers around the world, the best of quest starts next. you're watching cnn. the world's news leader. ok, we're here. here's dad. mom.

the twins. aunt alice... you didn't tell me aunt alice was coming. of course. don't forget grandpa. can the test drive be over now? maybe just head back to the dealership? don't you want to meet my family? yep, totally. it's practically yours, but we still need your signature. the volkswagen sign then drive event. zero due at signing, zero down, zero deposit, and zero first months payment on a new jetta and other select models. i am a lot of things. i am his sunshine. i am his advocate. so i asked about adding once-daily namenda xr to his current treatment for moderate to severe alzheimer's. it works differently. when added to another alzheimer's treatment, it may improve overall function and cognition. and may slow the worsening of symptoms for a while. vo: namenda xr doesn't change how the disease progresses. it shouldn't be taken by anyone allergic to memantine, or who's had a bad reaction to namenda xr or its ingredients.

before starting treatment, tell their doctor if they have, or ever had, a seizure disorder, difficulty passing urine, liver, kidney or bladder problems, and about medications they're taking. certain medications, changes in diet, or medical conditions may affect the amount of namenda xr in the body and may increase side effects. the most common side effects are headache, diarrhea, and dizziness. he's always been my everything. now i am giving back. ask their doctor about once-daily namenda xr and learn about a free trial offer at namendaxr.com.

breaking this morning. the saudi embassy in iran ransacked and fire bombed. the world reacts to saudi arabia's execution of a prominent shiite cleric. >> another levee in illinois holding back the mississippi river failed. massive flooding is cutting off several towns. the governor says it's the worst he has ever seen. donald trump back