>> there is a person inside of a car. he is still alive, too. you may need the jaws of life to open the doors. they are on the way, buddy! they are on the way. >> there he is smiling. he has several broken bones and injuries to his legs that could require surgery but he says no matter how things -- tough things get, there is a light at the end of the tunnel. total christmas miracle. >> i like the smile and the thumbs up. >> yeah. great story. cnn this morning continues right now. what was the cause. united states civil war? >> well, don't come with an easy question, right? i think the cause. civil war was how government was gonna run. freedoms and what people could and couldn't do. >> good morning, everyone. i'm poppy harlow with phil

mattingly in new york. nikki haley is taking heat for her answer to that question about the cause of the civil war and what she didn't say. slavery. we will play the whole exchange straight ahead. the homeland security secretary says he had, quote, a very productive talk with mexico's president about confronts the border crisis as more democratic mayors take aim at the barack obama over the issue. 11 years after the sandy hook elementary school massacre current and former senators are changing their stances on guns and offering something you don't often hear in washington. regret over how they voted. one of those senators joins us live. this hour of "cnn this morning" starts now. we are tracking fast moving developments donald trump's battle to stay on the ballot in multiple states. in colorado, the state's republican party is now calling

on the supreme court to put trump's name back on their ballot. it is the party's response to colorado's top court ruling that trump engaged in an insurrection on january 6th and is, therefore, disqualified. >> at any moment we could find out maine will become the next state to remove trump from the ballot. the secretary of state could make the decision as soon as today. trump's lawyers are demanding she recuse herself, accusing her of having a personal bias against the former president. donald trump is coming off a major legal victory in michigan. they reject the effort to kick him off the ballot. >> katelyn polantz is following it for us. let's start in colorado. in appeal by the republican party to the supreme court. the supreme court if they are going to get involved here needs to do it quickly. where does this go? >> they do need to do it pretty quickly because the primaries are so soon and every state, well, not every state, a lot of states are looking at challenges that people have brought to

challenge donald trump's ability to be on the primary ballot if not the general election ballot in 2024 as he runs for president. all of it is around the 14th amendment of the constitution which says if you are an insurrectionist you are not eligible to hold office in the united states. colorado is the only state so far that has looked at this and had their state courts say, yeah, trump can't be on the ballot because he qualifies as a -- he is ineligible on the primary ballot to be a candidate. so the republicans in colorado, the gop has gone straight to the supreme court now after getting a ruling out of the top court in colorado and asking the supreme court to clarify, to intervene, to protect the first amendment rights, they say, of voters of the party in colorado and also to determine that this 14th amendment, the insurrection clause from after the civil war, that that should not apply to the presidency. there is going to be a lot of

questions out there because other states are determining what to do. maine, we are waiting to see what the secretary of state there does. also there is a lot of questions about what happens in the general election if donald trump becomes the republican nominee and also does he qualify as an insurrectionist. that's not the question that the colorado gop is asking the supreme court to resolve. >> to pivot from one major legal issue with lots of outstanding questions to another one, one of the federal cases the former president is taking, jack smith's team asking the judge to keep trump's team from injecting politics into the 2020 election subversion trial. is that possible? >> it is possible because donald trump is set to go to trial in march. what happens before you go to trial is everybody tries to set parameters, what's allowed to be said in front of the jury and not allowed to be said in the courtroom. trump's team and the judge are not touching his criminal case at the trial level now because

he appealing trying to claim he shouldn't be tried at all, he is presidential community, going through the appeal system. they are making their filings. their pretrial legal arguments about how they want that trial to play out and what they are saying now to the judge is they want to cut out a lot of the political speech they noticed donald trump has on the campaign and also in some of his legal arguments so far tin that case. they don't want him to argue he a political victim. biden administration. they think that could sway a jury in a way that doesn't stick to the facts of case about january 6th in 2020. also don't want him to be bringing disinformation about the 2020 election into court. >> okay. thank you. joining us is david schoen, an attorney -- was on attorney on trump's team in his second impeachment trial. there are a million things we could falk about now. but i want to talk about the

state level the last couple of weeks, michigan the fourth state to reject efforts to keep trump off the ballot via the 14th amendment. similar efforts in other states. we saw the ruling in colorado. do we have any sense at this point how do you think the supreme court will rule when it inevitably gets to that point? >> i think first of all, katelyn polantz did a fabulous job. i am not sure you need me. in any event, i think the supreme court's gonna reverse the colorado decision. i think it has to. for a number of reasons, whether section 3 of the 14th amendment applies to a president, i don't think it does for reasons many scholars have said. griffin's case says there has to be federal legislation to enforce it. they had an opportunity to charge him with insurrection and 2883, decided not to, so on. you raise a lot of very interesting points. this thing is fascinating. that's why i carry around my

constitution at all times. i think every american should. in michigan it turned on a either's right to determine its own candidates in a primary election rather whether he is ineligible. the colorado case before the supreme court. resolve all of that. >> to be clear, concur fully with your commentary on kaitlan. dis disagree with the fact we don't need you. mostly your voluminous notes are really help amable. why hasn't trump's legal team appealed yet? we have seen the colorado republican party do so. why hasn't trump's team done it? >> yeah, i think they want to organization all of the arguments at once. and, you know, the court's going to hear the case possibly on an expedited basis, but maybe not. you see, rather than in addition to just needing to prepare the ballots, there is a federal

legislation which requires 45 days ahead. election for the absentee ballots and overseas ballots to be sent out. a lot of cases the court says either issues a summary order or won't get involved in something because of the deadline. in this case, i can't imagine they wouldn't get involved in the colorado case. it's more likely they could issue a summary order reversing the colorado court. hopefully, they will hear the issue and it's a very important issue to play out. >> there have been a handful of key points that people who don't believe this will carry the day point to. what do you think is the most effective argument for trump's legal team when they do appeal? >> that's a great question. you're right. you know, you even see trump haters sailing saying this is terrible, it's abuse of the political process in a sense. i think the most important point probably that it doesn't apply to a president. if you look at language of the -- the text of the language in

section 3, they had an opportunity to say president. they didn't. the colorado court focuses on a discussion between two members of congress at the time. i don't think that carries the day. and i think, you mow, ultimately the substantive issue is we don't take away the right to vote and a right for the election based on a finding by a single state judge on insurrection. they had a chance to charge him. griffin's case is important, 1869 decision that says you need federal legislation to effectuate in provision in the constitution. article 2 section 1 really controls qualifications for a president, 14 years a resident, 35 years of age at least and born u.s. citizen. so i think it would be a terrible decision and a terrible move politically. that's why many of the trump enemies don't like it. a straightforward election -- >> could i ask, is it not a contradiction, trump's lawyers make the argument that he is an

officer. you are saying making an argument he is not is the most effective. does that matter? or does that matter depending on domain? >> depends on the context, use of the term officer. the question is even more direct here and that is whether it applies to presidents. the fall back position is even though president isn't said, it's included in officer. i don't think that's a sound argument. clearly they knew president was a unique office, a unique office in many ways, speak about electors for president and vice president. but if they intended for it to apply for president they would have said so. this is specialized movement at the time on the heels of the civil war. very interesting arguments. >> you implied to my stellar co-anchor every once in a while you are still in communication with the former president. does he have any concerns about these cases, the 14th amendment cases? >> i think he is quite clear that in believing he is going to

win this case, the 14th amendment case. he is offended by it, frankly, this is an effort, extra ballot effort to keep him out of the election and stuff. i think it's offensive to the process. i think we just have a straight-up election. >> certainly a lot of questions to play out going forward. fascinating to use your words. david, thank you. >> always one of my favorite discussions grate. new this morning homeland security secretary alejandro mayorkas called the meeting yesterday with secretary of state antony blinken and their mexican counterparts very productive. that's a coat. the senior u.s. officials melt yesterday to try to discuss curbing record high migration and right now there is a caravan of thousands of migrants walking towards the u.s. southern border. officials say the size of the group shrunk from 6,000 to 3,000. rosa flores is live in eagle pass, texas. the readout is that this was productive. the question is what changes immediately right where you are

on the border? >> reporter: well, you know, poppy, the language that stood out to me from the read-outs, from both mexico and the united states, is actually from senior u.s. administration officials because they used words that could actually impact the flow of migration. what they mentioned was that mexico shared their plans to crack down on human smuggling. now, these are the bad actors that are pushing large groups of migrants, 500, 1,000 migrants into remote areas of the u.s. southern border and those are creating logistical nightmares for u.s. border patrol. they also mentioned that mexico made a commitment to humane management of the border, including repatriations. the key is repatriations. this is mexico saying they are willing to remove migrants from mexico book to their home countries via plane, via bus, before they become a problem to the united states.

now, these are commitments that we have been following on the u.s. side. cbp announcing a few weeks ago their crackdown on human smugglers and also their commitment to legal consequences to illegal entry, and these are deportation flights. as a matter of fact, while the talks were happening in mexico yesterday, both dhs and i.c.e. issuing statements about repatriation flights to central america, to venezuela, the 11th flight to venezuela and saying that since may 12th, the lifting of title 42, since then 460,000 migrants have been deported to their home countries, this includes 70,000 members of families. so this includes thousands of families. and also adding in these statements that during these seven months, the total deportations nearly exceeds all deportations for fiscal year

2019 when president trump was in office. and mexico's top done mat hinted at agreements made by both countries saying we may learn more in a joint statement. we will be looking out for that. >> rosa flores, thank you very much. when new york city's mayor signing an executive order yesterday requiring all charter buses staring asylum seekers to give 32 hours advance notice and limiting the times of days they can be dropped off. he says it comes after 14 rogue buses apriefd from texas in a single night. >> mayor adams here in new york held a press conference with the democratic mayors of denver and chicago. they all implore the federal government to do more to help cities on the front lines of this growing humanitarian crisis. >> we cannot continue to do the federal government's job. we have spoken to fema and other federal officials who have expressed concern about the

border's surge, but not offered additional help. >> without significant intervention from the federal government, this mission will not be sustained. >> denver finds itself at ground zero in trying to resolve and respond to the migrant crisis. >> we need more federal support to be able handle this amount of flow. >> he called the efforts inhumane. new york city has received 14,000 migrants this month. nikki haley was asked a straightforward question, what was the cause of the civil war. hear that response and what it's causing criticism. and switching districts when she runs again after what she called a difficult year of personal mistakes. why the big move could improve her chances for re-election. your stories need to be told.

at contra costa college, you can become a leader in journalism and help shape world views with hands-on experience at the advocate, contra costa college's award-winning, student-run news publication. learn to use digital media to tell stories and gain the research skills needed to uncover truths while exploring careers in media. so what are you waiting for? the world needs you. start your career in journalism today at contracosta.edu just a few hours nikki haley back on the campaign trail in new hampshire. she is sure to be asked about her response by a question by a voter last night. the question, what was the cause of the civil war? the exchange lasted 93 seconds but she never mentioned the word slavery once as a cause.

>> yes, sir? >> thank you, ambassador. >> thank you. >> please, what was the cause of the civil war? >> well, don't come with an easy question, right? i think the cause of the civil war was basically how government was gonna run. the freedoms and what people could and couldn't do. what do you think the cause of civil war was? sorry? >> i'm not running for president. i wanted your -- on the cause of the civil war. >> i mean, i think it always comes down to the role of government. and what the rights of the people are. and we -- i will always stand by the fact that i think government was intended to secure the rights and freedoms of the people. it was never meant to be all things to all people. government doesn't need to tell you how to live your life, what you can and can't do, they don't need to be a part of your leif,

they need to make sure that you have freedom. we need to have capitalism. we need to have economic freedom. we need to do all things that so that individuals have the liberties so they can have freedom of speech, religion, do or be anything they want to be without government getting in the way. >> thank you. in the year 2023, you answer that question without mentioning the word slavery. >> what do you want me to say about slavery? >> no. you answered my question. thank you. >> next question? >> next question. even ron desantis' campaign is seizing on that moment tweeting that haley inexplic play does not mention slavery and it comes at a crucial points. 18 days into the iowa caucuses and 26 days until the new hampshire primary. political reporters on the ground following the candidates in iowa, new hampshire, politics

reporters, let's begin with correspondent evan mckenna in concord, new hampshire, with the haley campaign. just tell us, they have not clarified or she has not said i should have said this, right? >> right. we aren't hearing from the campaign yet. that is not a big surprise. they are pretty tight-lipped. they don't respond with haste to controversies. and i would say from being on the trail with her that they could everything they can to sort of set her up for success in these scenarios, poppy. they really guard her. she does not frequently speak to reporters during these campaign stops. she got there late last night. there was terrible weather, terrible fog. things seemed to be going relatively smooth for her. and then she gets this question out of the blue from this man who would not give his name, didn't say if he was a new hampshire voter or give much

identifying details. he only said that he saw her answer this question about ten years ago when she was running for governor and he was perplexed by his -- her response then. now, she did bring up race to some degree last night. it is a part of her stump speech when she says repeatedly that america is not a racist country and she wants americans to get away from what she describes as a culture of self-loathing. but in terms of the origins of the civil war, she did not say it was slavery. >> one, new hampshire is great. i don't know that origin or genesis of this question. but at a town hall you get one or two like, where hell did that come from? sometimes they he create the most interesting moments of primary process and campaign. my question, especially when you play the entire clip there, her kind of slow and then very quick pivot to a stump speech that had

nothing to do with the question was odd to me. i wonder the play safe mentality ends up being problematic when you are asked a question you are not expecting. >> yes, this is a prime example of being problematic. nikki haley has historically been very careful about staying clear with her talking points and bringing everything back to what she wants to say. and in an example like that, like this, you can't do that. and it is surprising to me on one hand that she didn't answer off-the-cuff and go into the slavery discussion because it seemed so simple when you're watching that clip, and she is an experienced politician. and i think that this is a -- this is something that could affect her presidential campaign because right now she is the person to beat among the non-trump alternatives. to everyone is going to be going after her much ron desantis' team is going after her. donald trump's team going after

her. we saw president biden respond to her comments today. so everybody is pile on. and i expect this to really affect her. i what assume that her campaign is going to be forced to respond at some point. >> i would agree. i think they are going to have to respond at some point. we'll see what happens today. eva will be traveling with her. if -- speaking strictly politically, if you are that campaign, this is not what you want to be talking about right now. it's taking away from your main storyline, which is we are surging, we are the one to beat as the trump alternative. allows ron desantis in this critical moment as we get less than three weeks away from the iowa caucuses to be able to jump on this and really kind of get something -- you know, get a foothold in with a criticism of her that feels fresh and new. and so politically it is distracting. you get to the actual context of it and the substance of that question and then you have to ask the deeper questions which

is why couldn't she just say that slavery was a part of why the civil war was fought. >> something that doesn't need any context. it just is. >> right. it's a fkt fact. >> the testimony of the college presidents a couple weeks ago, it's context dependent. and that answer she said, you know, government's not dment to be, quote, all things to all people. the criticism of her is you're trying to be all things to all people. and it seems like that's what happened here. >> yeah. and again this is also allowing opposing campaigns to bring up her history in south carolina with the confederate flag which is something she has really avoided talking about on campaign trail. that's been nikki haley's problem. the main criticism that i heard on the campaign trail from people who don't want to vote for her they feel like she is a little bit wishy-washy and flipped sides a little bit too much. as you said, tries to be everything for everyone and that's just not what you can be at this stage running a presidential campaign.

you have to have specific positions and you have to lay them out clearly. >> and to that point, especially since you are on the ground in new hampshire, that feeds into what chris christie's attack line on her has been and why he refuses to drop out even though it seems like a number of his supporters would go to haley in second place. this is the ad he put out responding to that question. >> some people say i should drop out of race. really? i am the only one saying donald trump is a liar. he pits americans against each other. his christmas message to anyone who disagrees with him, rot in hell. he caused a riot on capitol hill, he will burn american to the ground to help himself. every republican leader says that in private. i am the only one saying in public. what kind of president do we want? a liar or someone who has the guts to tell the truth? >> so he is not hedging there at all. but i think that's -- the criticism that haley, who has been in that kind of momentum-driven surge in new hampshire has not been willing

to go that route. >> yeah, phil, i mean, the ad is so telling. the fact that he felt the need to release it in this direct-to-camera ad means he is hearing calls for him to drop out and support her. and for republicans to consolidate with one single anti-trump candidate. but that is a vulnerability that ambassador haley has. you think -- and christie will continue to hit her hard on this, that she isn't forceful enough her criticism of trump. when asked about trump on trail, she says, listen, i don't want to get in a personal tit-for-tat with trump. i think he is a chaos agent, rightly to or wrongly. i don't want to fault him for the chaos he might inspire and it is time for this country to have a new generation of leadership. but she is very reluctant to go after trump more forcefully than that, i would say. >> there is no arguing her

campaign has been the best or one of the top two campaigns to this point. what happens next is the next question. you know who is not battling? the guy up 20 or 30 points. thanks, guys. lauren boebert has announced plans to switch congressional districts for the 2024 election instead of facing a tough re-election bid in colorado's third district in the western part the state. she will run in colorado's fourth district in the east. the decision as democrat adam fresh says he will take her on again. remember he narrowly lost to her in the 2022 midterms. she may believe she will find more support since she is a staunch ally of president trump who won the third district by eight points. the fourth she took by 19. a new warning from israel about the potential for war along the northern border saying time for diplomacy with lebanon is running out. >> today the home or -- university of idaho students were murdered is set to be

demolishshed. why y the victimims' familieies fifighting thahat.

there is a lot of information out there. hamas is a terrorist group oppressing the palestinian people. hamas refused a continued ceasefire, a continued pause in fighting and more aid from israelis in exchange for just freeing more hostages. instead, hamas resumed attacks. not to protect the palestinian people or obtain peace, only to destroy israel. we must stand against hamas and stand with palestinians and israelis for basic human rights. in israel as tension along the

northern border with lebanon intensify. benny gantz, a member of the war cabinet and former defense minister, says, quote, the stopwatch for a diplomatic solution is running out. let's go to our colleague nada bashir in london. to hear that from benny gantz about what is happening in the north between israel and hezbollah hasn't been getting as much attention, begs the question, how likely is a much broader regional war? >> reporter: certainly a primary concern for national partners, not least the biden administration which has called on the israeli government to move towards what's described as a low eniintensity phase of the war. we have been hearing from benny gantz, another front to the war on the israel/lebanon border there are fears this could be escalating. we have over the last few days seen that exchange of fire, shelling by hezbollah across the

border. we saw hezbollah claiming to have shelled a region by the border on wednesday. they say this came in response to israeli airstrikes on lebanese territory on the borderline. the idf confirmed they did carry out strikes. they say targeting hezbollah positions near the border. but we have heard of course those reports from lebanese national news agencies saying that at least three people were killed in those airstrikes. only one have been claimed by hamas to have been a member of the iran-backed organization. we have seen those tensions mounting across the region. there have been vehement diplomatic efforts by the likes of jordan and egypt. but there are concerns that iran-backed proxy could be seeing an escalation in the hostilities, looking towards that escalation in response to the situation that we are seeing in the gaza strip which has been very vehemently condemned by a number of regional leaders. >> we learned in the last hour or so that the idf is

acknowledging, quote, unintended harm to civilians due to be a airstrike in gaza on december 24. they are reviewing that situation. what do we know now? >> reporter: this was a devastating airstrike on the refugee camp. at least 70 people killed in that airstrike according to the health ministry in gaza operated by hamas and there is of course mounting concern over the targeting of civilian areas inside the gaza strip. now the israeli military has issued a statement as you mentioned that they caused unintended harm to civilians, two targets were struck which were according to the israeli military adjacent to areas where hamas operatives, according to the israel military, were located. course, the refugee camp has been struck on a number of occasions. the israeli military says it is carrying out investigations into this particular airstrike, but there have been row peted warnings around the targeting of civilian areas as we know. the gaza strip is densely populated. of course, while the israeli

ministry says it is targeting hamas positions and told civilians to evacuate, it's difficult for many civilians to move southwards to evacuate to the safe zones. important to underscore many of so-called safe zones and southern gaza where the civilians are taking shelter have also been targeted by airstrikes. the u.n. calling for the israeli military to take greater caution and to use all efforts to avoid a civilian death toll. >> nada bashir, thank you very much. the biden administration announcing a $250 million military assistance package for ukraine on wednesday. it marks the last such package the u.s. can provide without additional funding from congress. the white house has asked lawmakers for $60 billion, more for aid to ukraine. that legislation being blocked by senate republicans in a dispute with democrats over u.s. border security. >> less than two hours from now, this home in the town of moscow,

idaho, will be demolished. the off campus residence where four idaho students were brutally murdered. the victims families are pressing to stop that because they say there could still be evidence there in the upcoming trial of the suspect bryan kohberger. veronica joins us live from idaho. many are surprised. the families don't want to demolished. what happens? >> reporter: well, poppy, i just want to let you know we are asked to move right now because this is a demolition area in just a little bit. i am going to try to get through this live shot here. you can see this home from campus. it's a daily reminder of the horrific crimes that happened here. so ever since receiving this property the university has wanted to tear it down. that's why this is happening today. but as you mentioned, a couple of the victims' families are very upset. in just hours, the off campus

home where four university of idaho students are killed will be leveled. it's here in november 2023 where ethan chapin, xana kernodle, kaylee goncalves, and madison mogen were stabbed to death in the middle of the night. in a final push of desperation, the families of two victims writing, stop this madness and keep the house intact in an email to the latah county prosecutor's office and the university of idaho. but those concerns not enough to ultimately stop demolition. >> a daily reminder of the horrific event that happened there. while we will never forget we can heal and take the next step forward and take the house down. >> reporter: after the owner gave the property to the university of idaho earlier this year. school officials announced they'd det demolish. there were delays because families were urging officials to keep the homestanding until the trial is over, saying it's a key piece of evidence. neither the defense nor prosecution objected to the tear down. >> we heard from the prosecutor last week who informed us that

they are indeed finished with the house and that there is an idaho code that actually says that the house has been changed enough on the interior as a result of the investigation that they wouldn't be allowed to take a -- >> reporter: crime tourists have been flocking to moscow, idaho. desiree traveled two hours after following the case since last year. >> an unhealthy level of extensive following. i follow everything. all the crazy reddit and facebook groups. i wouldn't say i have a morbid fas fascination to any other cases. i think this one hitting so close to home. >> reporter: samantha lewis, a true crime follower, traveled six hours to see the teardown in person. >> this caught my attention. i wanted to see the families get justice. >> very dark. very sad. >> reporter: just a few miles away the man who prosecutors say committed these murders remains behind bars awaiting his fate. to this day, prosecutors and

investigators have not revealed a motive or connection between bryan kohberger and the skrims but claimed his dna is a statistical match for dna found on the sheath of a knife found at the crime scene. a not guilty plea entered on kohberger's behalf by the judge. in recent weeks, a judge redirected a defense motion to dismiss the case. kohberger's team now appealing that and asking for more time ahead of a potential trial date. meanwhile, the prosecution is hoping to start the highly anticipated trial by summer. once this house is demolished is going to be an empty lot. the university of idaho wants to leave that way. however, they are going to be making a memorial and a healing garden on campus. phil, poppy. >> veronica, thank you. ahead in wake of the sandy hook mass shooting, they voted no on gun reform. now more than 11 years since that tragedy and so many more mass shootings, four current and

three former senators say they have regrets. our next guest is one them. former senator mark -- is with us next. often hear in washingto,

i have probably would have voted differently.

how about this? i was part of a failure. it's a regret. speaking to "the washington post" four current senators and three former senators now say they do regret some of their votes on gun safety laws following the mass shooting at sandy hook elementary that killed 26 people, including 20 children, all younger than 8. and these are their faces. after sandy hook effort by the senate to pass a comprehensive gun safety package failed. no expansion of federal background checks. no limits on firearm magazines. no ban on assault weapons. we don't know what would have happened had one of those measures passed bmt you they may have prevented some of america's most deadly mass shootings since then, including the 2016 pulse nightclub shooting, 49 people murdered, the 2017 mandalay bay shooting where 58 people were killed by a man using multiple guns and high-capacity magazines, its 2018 parkland high school shooting where 17 people were killed with an ar-15

and the 2023 shooting at robb elementary school where 21 people, mostly children, killed by a gunman using an ar-15. all of the gunmen obtained their weapons legally. mark begich was a democratic senator during sandy hook. he voted against those three gun safety measures after sandy hook and today he says he likely would have voted differently. he joins me this morning. i am deeply grateful for your time, sir. it's not often we hear people reflect and change positions in washington or even after they have served. i wonder, why now? why do you feel differently now? >> well, i think, you know, it's easy to look back in time and say what you could have done or would have done, but i think one thing is clear is the amount of these kind of mass shootings in any one single shooting is a tragedy, but i think ni don't think anyone would have predicted where we are today

versus back in 2013. you know, we, as you just said, every one of those individuals that you mentioned bought their guns legally. and so the background check system still is not working. and so there is, you know, common denominators. one is mental health. one is the type of gun, as you described there. and we have to, as a society, take a different look at how we are going to approach this. last year congress did part of that. many of the things that i proposed in 2013, they finally have taken a decision to move forward. i think there is a change. i think you're right. looking back is, you know, people say i am sure after this interview, say it's easy to look back and have a different decision. but it is a tough thing to say could we have made a difference. today i look at the common denominators and we have to think of different ways to approach this. >> you bring up mental health. you introduced a bill during your time in the senate on mental health and guns. was a big push for you.

one of the things you also say is that maybe you made a mistake focusing on what you call hyper local issues in your state of alaska. >> rate. >> we hear that a lot from lawmakers. they say what about hunting, for example. one of the things you tout about that was reported was people using ar-15s to protect themselves from polar bears. i think that sounds -- will sound ridiculous to some people watching. what you're saying, maybe i should have focused on the bigger picture? >> and i think that's a good you point. just on the mental health first-aid program, it was a year before sandy hook and i struggled getting support for it because people didn't think it was -- some actually said it was a copout dealing with public safety issues and reality last year. now congress has taken significant actions. but i think politicians, and i will acknowledge sometimes we get so locally focused that we forget or don't pay attention to

the broader bigger issue at a time when maybe we got to step back and you take some hits locally and maybe not get re-elected. and that's a challenge in leadership today on many aspects. i don't care what issue you pick. but on this one, looking back, very focused on what mattered to alaska, especially in the rural alaska 260 kmuns you can't get to by vehicle except by a plane. but looking back, you know, some of us probably focused too heavily on the local and didn't look look at bigger national picture. it's easy to look back, but harder to figure out what you do now. >> i know that you have kept a picture of children murdered at sandy hook next to your computer, you did after the shooting for when you served an affected all of this when you were considering whether to pass

the gun safety measures. i wonder if you think those back room politics cost children's lives in the years since? >> i can't tell you it cost lives but i can tell you getting the legislation to bring people together is the growing problem in congress, gun safety, immigration, crime, look what's happening right now on the support that you just reported on international wars that are occurring. i think what i got back then, i did vote for a piece of legislation, there were a lot of things i spupported. supported by senator graham and myself. one of the peieces we had suppot across the board, but i couldn't get it into the manchin toomey bill which made no sense to me. what happened behind the scenes i heard people from my party if

we do that, it was a cop out. my view is do something and here are suggestions to do it. this is a growing problem within congress on many issues because it is so hyper partisan now and -- hyperpartisan but people want to get a campaign commercial out, and that's where congress is failing on the longer-term issues. this is one of them i think back then. >> "the washington post" editorial board had an editorial along with the important reporting they did, what will today's lawmakers have to say for themselves a decade from now? i wonder if you have any advice for sitting lawmakers? >> you know, all these former lawmakers have lots of advice to give. i think it is a tough call and i think you have to be willing to use your political seat for the greater good. and i think that is the toughest call for any elected official.

and don't and captured by the small minority of different issues. that is a tough call because everyone is sending emails, call you, post, harass you at events. i can tell you that. but i think that's the advice i give. and sometimes it means that you have to say and do things that may be contrary to your majority and your own state for the greater good. i think that's a lesson that's a hard one for people. and be not afraid to lose. you might lose your election over this but the end result could be ten, 15 years from now but you can look back and say i made an impact. on mental health we lost a generation of kids because we didn't have it available for many of these young pop who are very stressed, especially after covid and what happened to our school systems to allow them to have the resources they need. finally they're doing it.

>> former senator mark begich thank you for joining us this morning. >> thank you for taking the issue and what matters to alaskans and americans. as we go to break another look at the faces of the lives lost at sandy hook more than 11 years ago.

there is a lot of information out there. hamas slaughtered more than 1200 innocent people, holds innocent hostages, and raped countless innocent women. and now hamas is trying to hide sexual violence against women. they don't want those women to be able to talk about what happened to them stand with palestinians and israelis for basic human rights. stand for all women.

maybe the pistons will win tonight, what do we think? >> wouldn't put money on it. >> the detroit pistons face off against the boston celtics. everyone is going to see if they can etch their mark deeper in history, they became the team with the longest losing streak in history earlier this week and if they lose tonight they'll have the longest losing streak. here to explain is harry enten. >> i don't think it's mean. detroit has had a lot of he

heartache, if you look back to 2003, the detroit tigers have had the most losses. the detroit lions in 2008 they won zero games but they have won their dwiegs this year. the first time they won the nfc north. probably should point out, even though you're losing a lot of games in a row, the most in the season, there's more heartache for these clubs. the longest streaks without a title, the arizona cardinals, 76 seasons back to 1947. charlie returned a punt for the game. >> where were they? >> chicago. >> the sacramento kings, 72 seasons, the rochester royals. whenever i say rochester royals on air, i feel like i have a good segment.

>> i want the pistons to win because i feel bad for them. is that what normal people do? >> it is. it's one of the most normal things you do. when americans root for their favorite team, when their favorite team isn't playing, 67% root for the underdog, that's me. 33% for the yankees. i call all favorites the yankees. here's one thing i will note i want to end on a sad but happy note. our long suffering teams, the vikings still haven't won a super bowl, the bills haven't won a super bowl, and cyankees, no world series appearance since 2009. >> harry enten waking up and choosing violence today. we appreciate you. >> the vikings have a new coach i just sat down with him. you'll hear what's coming up. super bowl i believe. how do you write on this thing? i hate this. cnn "news central" starts now.