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Trump Appeals Decision Removing Him From Maine Primary Ballot; Senior Hamas Leader Assassinated In Beirut Attack; Investigation Underway Into Japan Runway Collision; Death Toll Climbs to 62 as Rescuers Search for Survivors in Japan; Putin Vows to Intensify the Strikes in Ukraine; Harvard President Claudine Gay Resigns Amid Firestorm of Controversy; Teen Exchange Student Returning to China With Family After He Fell Victim to Cyber Kidnapping; Maersk Suspends Shipping Through Red Sea After Houthi Attack; Fidelity Says X Has Lost 71 percent of Value Since Its Musk Takeover; Disney's "Steamboat Willie" Character Enters Public Domain. Aired 2-3a ET
Aired January 03, 2024 - 02:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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[02:00:32]
ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Hello, and welcome to our viewers joining us here in the United States and all around the world. I'm Rosemary Church.
Just ahead, Donald Trump appeals the decision to remove him from Maine's presidential primary ballot, accusing the state's top election official of bias.
A U.S. official says Israel was responsible for the strike in Lebanon that killed a senior Hamas leader. And investigators begin their search into what caused that fiery runway collision in Japan.
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ANNOUNCER: Live from Atlanta, this is CNN NEWSROOM WITH ROSEMARY CHURCH.
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CHURCH: Good to have you with us. Well, former U.S. President Donald Trump is asking a Maine court to overturn a decision removing him from the state's 2024 primary ballot.
Maine's secretary of state said last week, she had a legal obligation to block Trump from the ballot over his role in the January 6th, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol.
Shenna Bellows cited a Civil War-era provision of the Constitution that prohibits those who engage in insurrection from holding office.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) SHENNA BELLOWS, MAINE SECRETARY OF STATE: It's really important to recognize that this is a process in Maine. I qualified Trump for the ballot based on his signatures. And then, five registered Maine voters, including two former Republican state senators brought a challenge. I was required by law to hold a hearing within five days, and then, issue a decision within a week.
Now it's part of the process, the courts will take it from here. That being said, I voluntarily suspended the effect of my decision pending appeal.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: Our Paula Reid has details.
PAULA REID, CNN SENIOR LEGAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: In their filing late Tuesday, the Trump team attacking Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows, as she is a Democrat, but it's Maine's policy that the first stop for questions about whether someone is eligible to appear on the ballot, go to the secretary of state.
But in a filing tonight, Trump's lawyers insists that she was, "a biased decision maker," who should have recused herself, had no legal authority, made multiple errors of law, and acted in an arbitrary and capricious manner.
Her decision was based on Section Three of the 14th Amendment of the Constitution. Now, this particular piece of the Constitution and who should enforce it. This has been litigated across multiple states over the past several months. And we've seen differing outcomes.
Now, most of the states except for Colorado and Maine have opted to keep Trump on the ballot. But those states mostly did so based on procedural grounds. They didn't get into the merits of the argument.
But that leaves the door open for this to continue to be litigated through the 2024 election.
And we're also still waiting for Trump to file his appeal on the Colorado decision. That appeal is expected to go to the Supreme Court. The Republican Party of Colorado has already filed an appeal there. But it is expected that Trump will also appeal that decision. And what's clear is the Supreme Court just has to weigh in here, give some clarity on who the Section Three of the 14th Amendment applies to, who is supposed to enforce it, and there is a desire by many parties and states to have some clarity on this before Super Tuesday.
Paula Reid, CNN, Washington.
CHURCH: Joining me now to discuss this is Arriva Martin, attorney and legal affairs commentator. Good to have you with us.
AREVA MARTIN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Hi, Rosemary.
CHURCH: So, on Tuesday, Donald Trump formally appealed the decision to remove him from Maine's presidential primary ballot, accusing Maine secretary of state of bias. It's now up to the courts. So, how do you see this playing out?
MARTIN: Well, a couple of things are going to happen in the state of Maine as the secretary of state has said, the law obligated her to hold a public hearing and to issue a decision.
She held the decision in advance, giving Donald Trump and his team an opportunity to go into the Maine courts and to file an appeal. So, he has now have filed an appeal with the Superior Court, the Superior Court will issue a decision, either supporting what the secretary of state found or overruling that decision.
And then, we'll proceed to the Maine Supreme Court. But ultimately, the decision about whether the 14th Amendment disqualifies Donald Trump will end up before the Supreme Court, because we know, a similar determination was made by the Colorado Supreme Court.
[02:05:06]
And we know Michigan and California reached opposite conclusion. So, there is some contradiction in the way that states are interpreting the 14th Amendment that needs to be decided by the U.S. Supreme Court.
CHURCH: And we know that five registered Maine voters, including two former Republican state senators, brought this challenge against Trump under the 14th Amendment's insurrectionist ban. How legally valid is this challenge and the decision made by Maine secretary of state to kick Trump off the ballot?
MARTIN: I think it's extremely valid, and by all accounts, she filed -- she, being the secretary of state of Maine follow the law of Maine to the -- to the letter, the letter of the law. She held the public hearing, which was required. She did it based on the timelines indicated by the Maine law, and she reached a determination, a determination based on evidence as similar to what the Colorado Supreme Court found in a very, very methodical process that Donald Trump encouraged insurrectionist to go to the Capitol to disrupt the peaceful transfer of power.
And by some accounts, and many experts agree that the 14th Amendment prohibits someone like him, who has engaged in this conduct while the president of the United States. It disqualifies him from running for office again.
And again, the 14th Amendment is vague, gives us no definition of what insurrection means. And this is why the Supreme Court must step in. And Rosemary, important, that the Court step in pretty quickly, because Super Tuesday is coming up in the next couple of months, and decisions have to be made about who will and will not be on the ballot, particularly, in states like Maine and Colorado.
CHURCH: Yes, exactly right. And of course, Trump faces similar 14th Amendment challenges in other states, including, as you say, Colorado with the state Supreme Court ordered Trump be removed from the primary ballot.
Trump now plans to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. So, you mentioned they need to step in, when will they likely weigh in on this, and what would their final ruling likely be, do you think?
Not clear when the U.S. Supreme Court will weigh in. We thought that the Supreme Court would respond very quickly when Jack Smith's Special Counsel filed a request before the Supreme Court to make a decision on Trump's claim of presidential immunity. And the Court in that case declined to hear the request by special counsel.
So, I think there is a belief amongst experts that the Supreme Court will weigh in because this is such a significant issue. There are more than two dozen other challenges in other states, similar to the challenge that we saw in Maine and Colorado.
The reality is if the Trump -- if the U.S. Supreme Court does not weigh in, in a timely fashion, it may be the case that Donald Trump will not be on the ballot, at least, in two states.
CHURCH: Our thanks to Areva Martin, joining us a veer to answer all of those many legal questions. Appreciate it.
MARTIN: Thank you.
CHURCH: Gold bars and Grand Prix tickets. Those are just some of the gifts, U.S. Senator Bob Menendez is accused of receiving from Qatar and an alleged co-conspirator as part of a year's long corruption scheme. The allegations are part of a superseding indictment made public on Tuesday.
This makes Qatar the second foreign country following Egypt that the New Jersey Democrat is accused of helping while in office.
Menendez sits on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He has vigorously denied any wrongdoing. And his attorney says the senator acted entirely appropriately at all times.
A top Hamas leader wanted by the U.S. has been assassinated and a U.S. official told CNN that Israel carried out the hit. Senior Hamas leader Saleh al-Arouri was killed in the suburbs of Beirut, Lebanon on Tuesday. Lebanese media report the strike targeted an office belonging to Hamas and several others were also killed.
Hamas says some of them were also leaders from its military wing. Earlier, an Israeli government spokesperson issued this statement about the incident.
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MARK REGEV, SENIOR ADVISER TO ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER BENJAMIN NETANYAHU: Israel has not taken responsibility for this attack, but whoever did it, it must be clear that this was not attack -- an attack on the Lebanese state. It was not an attack even on Hezbollah, the terrorist organization.
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Whoever did this, did a surgical strike against the Hamas leadership.
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CHURCH: Arouri is the first top Hamas political leader to be killed since the October 7th terror attacks. Journalist Elliott Gotkine picks up the story.
ELLIOTT GOTKINE, CNN JOURNALIST: After October the 7th, Israel said that it would target Hamas leaders wherever they are. So, if it did kill Saleh Al-Arouri, then, it would have simply been making good on its threats.
Now, Israel's official line is no comment, resorting to its oft used tactic of strategic ambiguity. But Danny Danon, a former Israeli ambassador to the United Nations and a close ally of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu may have given the game away.
He wrote on X, formerly Twitter, "I congratulate the IDF, the Shin Bet, the Mossad, and the security services for the targeted killing of Hamas leader Salah Al-Arouri in Beirut. Everyone involved in the massacre of October the 7th needs to know that we will get them and close accounts with them.
Now, the IDF itself, says that it is in a state of high alert. It may have been calculating if it did it that by taking out a Hamas leader in Beirut rather than a Hezbollah leader that the Iranian-backed militia that has been skirmishing with Israel on the northern border may not see this as a cause for escalation.
And that the war that isn't a war that's been ongoing on the northern border between Israel and Lebanon will continue in its current state and won't turn into an all-out war.
Elliott Gotkine, CNN, Tel Aviv.
CHURCH: And we go to Tel Aviv now. And Shlomi Eldar, he is an Israeli journalist and filmmaker, and the author of "Getting to Know Hamas" and "Eyeless in Gaza". Appreciate you joining us.
SHLOMI ELDAR, ISRAELI JOURNALIST AND FILMMAKER: Thank you very much. Thank you for having me.
CHURCH: So, what is your reaction to this targeted attack on a senior Hamas leader in Beirut? And what's the likely strategy behind this, do you think?
ELDAR: The strategy to eliminate the Hamas leaders, especially if (INAUDIBLE) hiding in Gaza Strip. I think, the first targeting Israel, you know, is the targeting of Hamas leader is one of the mission of the Israeli operation -- Israeli war in Gaza.
And I think the most important men now to be caught is Yahya Sinwar. Yahya Sinwar, the head of the Hamas leader in Gaza Strip who planned the terror attacks in Israel on October 7th. And Yahya Sinwar is hiding in one of the tunnel, huge tunnel that Hamas built in Gaza Strip.
And it's the most important for Israel, to caught him, to eliminate him. And even to declare this is kind of ending the war in Gaza. Because I think that Israel from the beginning, Prime Minister Netanyahu announced and promised the Israel to eliminate Hamas movement.
I think after three months war in Gaza Strip, I think the Israeli government, the Israeli leadership, even the IDF leader can understand that to eliminate Hamas -- totally elimination, it's impossible. But the way to hurt Hamas, it's by hunting the leaders.
And I can give one example from 2004, during the Second Intifada, Israel assassinated two leaders of Hamas, the most important leaders in Hamas, the Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, who founded the movement, and his inheritance successor is Abdel Aziz al-Rantissi, in three weeks, during three weeks in March and April 2004.
And this was the end of the Second Intifada, Hamas leader, the political blue colored Muslim offered in Israel understanding. So, will stop the terror attacks, sending the terrorists in bombing themselves, suicide bombing in Israel. And new Israel stopped the assassination.
And it was a deal. And the deal was captured by the two sides and bring the end of the Second Intifada.
CHURCH: All right. I --
(CROSSTALK)
ELDAR: And even now, I -- yes.
CHURCH: Yes. I just do want to ask you because we're running out of time. But Israel is not saying that they are behind this assassin -- this assassination in Beirut. But why not just say they did it, given Israel has been threatening to go after Hamas leaders since this war began on October 7th? Can you explain that to us?
ELDAR: Yes, I also asked myself the same question. I think that Israel must say we targeting the Hamas leader and we take responsibility for hunting Saleh Al-Arouri, that he was the -- he is a terrorist.
[02:15:12]
He was a terrorist. He sent a terrorist attacks against Israel from the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
So, this is a policy of the Israeli government. I can't explain it, unfortunately. But I can just say, if not Israel, assassinated the Saleh Al-Arouri, who can do it?
CHURCH: All right. Shlomi Eldar, thank you so much for talking with us. Appreciate it.
ELDAR: Thank you very much.
CHURCH: Still to come, New York police are trying to figure out what motivated a deadly car crash on New Year's Day? But with their main suspect now dead leads are starting to dry up.
Plus, what it was like inside the Japan Airlines jet that caught fire, after colliding with another plane on the runway in Tokyo? We're back with that and more in just a moment.
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CHURCH: Welcome back, everyone.
Japan Airlines has released new audio revealing the crew of a passenger jet was cleared to land at a Tokyo airport just before colliding with the Japan Coast Guard plane on the runway Tuesday.
[02:20:07]
Nearly 400 people on that jet escaped with just minor injuries. But five Coast Guard crew members on the smaller plane were killed. CNN's Will Ripley reports.
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WILL RIPLEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): A Japan Airlines jet touches down in Tokyo. The cabin calm until passengers looked out the windows.
We saw fire coming out of the engine, and I found it strange, Satoshi Yamaki (PH) tells CNN.
Within seconds, black smoke billowing through the aircraft.
The Airbus A350-900 packed with nearly 400 passengers and crew, including parents with young children.
He says some passengers were scared, especially the kids and women. The scene outside even scarier. People on other planes captured the chaos.
GUY MAESTRE, EYEWITNESS: And just as we were starting to just pick up some speed, we heard that big bang, and I turned, and I saw that flame that was making a trace, and then we saw the plane that was in flame.
RIPLEY (voice over): The runways full for a Tuesday evening, Haneda Airport, in the heart of Tokyo, handling extra holiday traffic and a Japan coast guard plane with six crew members carrying badly-needed relief to parts of Japan, jolted by a massive 7.5 magnitude earthquake.
The quake causing widespread destruction, dozens of deaths just hours into the new year.
Japan's transportation minister says the two planes collided on the runway. The coast guard captain, badly hurt, five other crew members killed.
A very different outcome for the Japan Airlines jet. With just seconds to spare, 12 crew members safely evacuated all 367 passengers, including eight children under the age of two. Only a handful had to go to the hospital.
Everyone walked away as flames fully engulfed the plane.
For a nation obsessed with transportation safety, one question, how could the New Year begin like this?
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHURCH: CNN's Will Ripley with that report from Tokyo.
U.S. federal investigators say they have found no links to terrorism in the car crash which killed two people in Rochester New York early on New Year's Day.
Police say the driver responsible for the collision has died, but they are still looking into whether his actions were intentional.
CNN's Brynn Gingras has the latest on the investigation.
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BRYNN GINGRAS, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): A fiery crash outside a New York concert hall, after a car rammed into another vehicle, setting off an explosion.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was crazy to see that kind of fire. The flames were probably still like 15 feet high.
GINGRAS (voice over): Killing two people, injuring nine others, including one critically hurt nearby, and authorities say it appears to be intentional.
GAYLE SHALVOY, CONCERTGOER: You saw the carnage of the cars and one car burned up, and car pieces everywhere, and it was surreal to think, wow, this happened right here.
GINGRAS (voice over): It wasn't even an hour into the New Year when hundreds of concertgoers entered the Kodak Center in Rochester, New York. That's where police say 35-year-old Michael Avery driving a rented SUV packed with gas canisters, drove toward a pedestrian crossing and collided with the ride share vehicle, killing the passengers inside.
Avery also died later at the hospital.
CHIEF DAVID SMITH, ROCHESTER POLICE DEPARTMENT: Investigators are still combing through evidence recovered from his vehicle. But nothing thus far has been recovered that provides any additional insight into why this occurred.
GINGRAS (voice over): One investigators do know is Avery traveled in his own car from Syracuse to Rochester on and around December 27th, and checked into a nearby hotel. On December 29th, police say Avery picked up a rental car, and on December 30th, images like this one show he was alone when he bought gas canisters and fill them. ANDREW MCCABE, FORMER FBI DEPUTY DIRECTOR: It's a very highly organized, structured, plant attacked by this person for whatever reason. Only question for investigators at this point is why did he do it, and was anyone else involved?
GINGRAS (voice over): To help answer those questions, authorities with the Joint Terrorism Task Force and FBI executing search warrants at various locations.
SMITH: Additionally, we have not uncovered any information leading us to believe that the actions of Michael Avery on New Year's Eve were motivated by any form of political or social biases.
GINGRAS (voice over): Avery's family telling authorities they believe, he suffered from an undiagnosed mental illness.
MALIK EVANS, MAYOR OF ROCHESTER, NEW YORK: I think for us, as we go into the New Year, is to remember the victims of this horrific accident. They were expecting to be able to ring in New Year and have a good time, but instead we have individuals that are now going to be burying family members, and we have people who have now life-altering injuries because of the choices that this suspect made.
[02:25:12]
GINGRAS (voice over): Brynn Gingras, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHURCH: Still to come, thousands in Japan spent another night in evacuation centers, as the death toll continues to climb following a powerful earthquake on Monday. We'll have the latest after a short break.
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CHURCH: Welcome back, everyone. New details on the devastating earthquake that hit Japan's west coast on New Year's Day.
[02:30:03]
Officials say the death toll has risen to 62 and rescuers are scrambling in freezing temperatures to reach hard hit areas, while many are still feared trap on collapsed buildings.
[02:30:00]
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CHURCH: Welcome back, everyone. New details on the devastating earthquake that hit Japan's West Coast on New Year's Day. Officials say the death toll has risen to 62, and rescuers are scrambling in freezing temperatures to reach hard-hit areas where many are still feared trapped under collapsed buildings. Officials say 70 people have been rescued since Tuesday night. CNN's Hanako Montgomery has more.
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HANAKO MONTGOMERY, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's been more than a day since the powerful quake. But for Minae and her mother, the impact still very fresh.
MINAE AKIYAMA, EARTHQUAKE SURVIVOR (through translator): Thinking about it now still makes me tremble. My heart was pounding, my mind went blank, we just scrambled. Took things like our wallet and ran outside.
MONTGOMERY (voice-over): Minae was visiting her family for New Year when the quake struck, her mother's house now unlivable because of the powerful impact. The pair luckily able to escape unharmed. But with the constant aftershocks, they are still far from safe.
AKIYAMA (through translator): I feel like even now, the building is shaking. Whenever an aftershock happens, I think of the main quake and my body troubles.
MONTGOMERY (voice-over): But it's not just the tremors people here have to worry about. Other than a roof, there is little else. There is no heating right now, so people are sleeping on mats. They're using thick blankets to stay warm. There's also no running water, so the Japanese Self-Defense Forces are just outside the building, handing out water to locals.
This water, a lifeline for dozens here and thousands across the region. Left without supply or simply without homes after Monday's powerful quake, the devastation difficult to comprehend at night, but clearly visible from the sky. In Wajima, the shock flipping multi- story buildings on their side and racing entire blocks to the ground. Tsunami waves forcing large vessels on to the shore and fires adding to the destruction. Amid it all, authorities desperately searching for the dozens still trapped beneath the rubble.
YOSHIMASA HAYASHI, JAPANESE CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY (through translator): Prime Minister Kishida instructed us to once again put lives first, understand the situation of the damages, and make an utmost effort to save people in emergency rescue operations.
MONTGOMERY (voice-over): Urgent efforts slowed down by the devastating impact. The quake destroying access to the most impacted zones and making these already remote areas nearly impossible to reach.
Hanako Montgomery, CNN, Nanao.
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CHURCH: Coming up, Ukraine says Russia's latest attacks are a case for more western support and more military aid. We will show you what they're up against, that is next.
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[02:37:10] CHURCH: Russia has been pounding Ukraine with missiles as the war drags on nearly two years after a full-scale invasion. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says Russia launched at least 500 missiles and drones at Ukrainian territory in the past five days, including a massive bombardment of Kyiv and Kharkiv on Tuesday. CNN's Clare Sebastian joins us live now from London.
Good morning to you, Clare. So, what is the latest on Russia's relentless attacks on Ukraine?
CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, Rosemary. Clearly, what we saw on Tuesday is part of a big escalation in the air war as part of this overall war that Russia is waging on Ukraine. The injury toll now at 130 in those attacks on Kyiv and Kharkiv, the death toll stands at five. But this has also been an exchange of aerial attacks that we've seen over the past few days. And we're monitoring some potentially Ukrainian activity over the last 24 hours.
Russia has blamed on Ukraine around half a dozen separate attacks, mostly targeting the border region of Belgorod that we saw come under attack on Saturday with significant civilian deaths according to Russia, one over the Black Sea, the Russian Ministry of Defense claiming to have destroyed several dozen missiles. So, Ukraine is not claiming (inaudible) responsibility for any of this, but it seems like they want it to be clear that they are not taking the significant step-up in attacks by Russia lying down.
And Ukraine also wants to make it clear that it is not completely powerless against these attacks that Russia has started to launch against these cities, it is able adapt to the types of attack. We are seeing this combination of drones and all different types of missiles. And the Air Defense Forces in Ukraine had significant success on Tuesday, able to shoot down 10 out of 10, they say, of these Kinzhal missiles, Russian calls them hypersonic. They're a type of ballistic missile, very potentially deadly against civilians.
Take a listen to the Commander in Chief at the Ukrainian Armed Forces, Valerii Zaluzhnyi. He doesn't often speak and he gave this exclusive comment to CNN on Tuesday.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VALERII ZALUZHNYI, COMMANDER IN CHIEF OF THE ARMED FORCES OF UKRAINE (through translator): Today, the Air Force of Ukraine has shot down 10 of 10 Russian X47M2 Kinzhal air defense missiles using Patriot surface-to-air missiles. This is a record. If these missiles had reached their targets, the consequences would have been catastrophic. I thank our serviceman for their work, and I thank our partners for their air defenses systems. There is no reason to believe that the enemy will stop here. That is why we need more systems and ammunition for them.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SEBASTIAN: Interestingly, he gives credit to the Patriot missile systems. Clearly, I think a message to Ukraine's western allies and in particular the U.S., that the money and investment that they have made in Ukraine is paying dividends. I mean, the questions that we have seen in Congress, for example, about where all this money is going.
[02:40:00]
Look, Russia is also trying to make it clear that it is stepping up its efforts. This is a country, don't forget, that plans to spend about a third of its overall outgoings on defense. This year, take a look at this video, Russia saying that there is a significant increase in the number of drones that have been provided to its frontline troops, keen to show off its equipment and the strength of its military and industrial complex. Also, I think a sign that this is not just about attacks on cities, that fierce fighting continues along the frontlines. Rosemary?
CHURCH: All right. Thanks to Clare Sebastian joining us live from London. And thank you for watching, I am Rosemary Church. "World Sport" is up next for our international viewers, and for everyone else, I'll be back with more news after a short break. Do stick around.
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CHURCH: Harvard University President Claudine Gay is resigning from her position just six months into her tenure, the shortest in Harvard history. It comes after weeks of controversy involving a plagiarism scandal and her testimony on Capitol Hill about anti-Semitism on campus. CNN's Miguel Marquez has more details.
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MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN SENIOR U.S. NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A second Ivy League president out in less than a month. Harvard University President Claudine Gay's tenure just six months long was mired in controversy. The weight of multiple allegations of plagiarism following a poor performance in a Capitol Hill hearing about anti- Semitism, resulting in her resignation.
In a letter to the Harvard community, Gay wrote that her exit came with a heavy heart. It has become clear that it is in the best interest of Harvard for me to resign, so that our community can navigate this moment of extraordinary challenge with a focus on the institution rather than any individual. Harvard announced that Alan M. Garber, who currently serves as Provost at the university, will step in as Interim President, while acknowledging Gay's commitment to the school.
It is with that overarching consideration in mind that we have accepted Gay's resignation, the Harvard leadership wrote, adding we do so with sorrow. Conservative media had been unearthing multiple examples of plagiarism in Gay's past works, including an entire paragraph being lifted almost verbatim in her 1997 Ph.D. dissertation without citation. After she, along with the presidents of UPenn and MIT, gave an answer that was widely considered too legal in a December 5th Congressional hearing about anti-Semitism on campus.
REP. ELISE STEFANIK, (R) NEW YORK: So, the answer is yes, that calling for the genocide of Jews violates Harvard code of conduct, correct?
CLAUDINE GAY, FORMER PRESIDENT OF HARVARD UNIVERSITY: Again, it depends on the context.
MARQUEZ (voice-over): Fallout from the hearing also resulted in the resignation of UPenn's President Liz Magill. House Republican Caucus Leader Elise Stefanik wasting no time responding to today's events.
STEFANIK: As a Harvard graduate myself, we have seen a failure of leadership from Claudine Gay, a failure of moral leadership. This accountability would not have happened were it not for that Congressional hearing.
MARQUEZ (voice-over): Stefanik underscoring that her investigation will continue.
JACOB MILLER, HARVARD HILLEL PRESIDENT: Only when it comes to anti- Semitic hate speech, that the school tolerates it and gives this kind of lawyerly equivocal answers, and so I think this is kind of the bigger issue that we have got to deal with.
MARQUEZ (voice-over): Gay's tenure as president was the shortest in Harvard's nearly 400-year history. She was also the school's first black president and only the second woman at the helm. In her resignation note, she wrote that it has been frightening to be subjected to personal attacks and threats fueled by racial animus.
MARQUEZ: Now, Dr. Gay will remain a member of the Harvard faculty and the school says it will begin a search for a new president in due course. And some conservatives on Capitol Hill say they will now start looking at MIT's president, who was also at that Congressional hearing, as well as leadership and faculty at other universities that they consider too woke. And some African-American leaders now saying that all of this has the stink of racial bias in the way this was handled at Harvard and say that they will begin protesting some of those donors who targeted Claudine Gay. Back to you.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHURCH: Utah police say the 17-year-old boy who was a victim of cyber kidnapping has been reunited with his family and is returning to China. The boy and his family were extorted for more than a month, according to investigators, in a plot that cost the family tens of thousands of dollars. CNN's David Culver reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DAVID CULVER, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Found cold, scared but alive -- Riverdale police in Utah seen here rescuing 17-year-old Kai Zhuang missing for three days. The Chinese exchange student had trekked to this backcountry area, sleeping in this tent, running low on food. With him, several cell phones. That's how police say virtual captors manipulated and controlled the teen, likely from thousands of miles away. They call it cyber-kidnapping.
The cyber kidnappers convinced the victim under duress to take photos of themselves that make it appear they are being held captive, and send the photos to their parents.
[02:50:00]
CULVER (voice-over): In China, Zhuang's parents equally terrified, unable to reach their son, reportedly receiving threatening messages, and contacted his school in Utah.
CHIEF CASEY WARREN, RIVERDALE, UTAH POLICE DEPARTMENT: The reason why they have him seclude himself in the woods or away from somebody, everybody in society ii so they can continue to extort as much money as possible.
CULVER (voice-over): In recent months, police across China warning Chinese students in and out of China that the scammers often impersonate officials. They then intimidate the international students with threats of immediate arrest, deportation and harsh sentencing if they do not cooperate. Police advising students if they get a call like that, hang up immediately, and contact the Chinese Embassy or Consulate, your teachers and classmates at your school, or the local police.
In November, Shanghai police reported a couple getting a threatening call while on the highway. They could hear their son's cries over the phone, the scammers demanding the equivalent of $70,000. While on the phone, the couple spotted a police officer at a toll booth, who suspected that it was a scam and stopped the mother just as she was about to transfer the money. There have been similar cases targeting folks across the U.S. in recent years.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If I did not do what he said, he would kill my mom.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It looked exactly like my sister was calling. It was a man's voice and the other end, screaming at me.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If somebody told me that was not my wife, I'd say you're lying.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's so hard for me to describe to you how real this all sounded.
CHRIS BERTRAM, RETIRED POLICE OFFICER: You're in that crisis mode, and you immediately want to try to fix it, which in most cases means money.
CULVER (voice-over): Police say Zhuang's family did just that, ultimately transferring the equivalent of roughly $80,000 into Chinese bank accounts. When they found him, officers say Zhuang asked for two things, to talk to his family in China, to be sure they're OK, and to eat a warm cheeseburger.
CULVER: And the FBI is warning that these scammers are growing increasingly sophisticated in their techniques because of technology, specifically AI. In some cases, the FBI says, they're able to impersonate the voices of your loved ones.
David Culver, CNN, Los Angeles.
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CHURCH: The U.S. Central Command says that Yemen's Houthi rebels fired two anti-ship ballistic missiles into the southern Red Sea late Tuesday, though there are no reports of damage. But this latest incident is one of at least two dozen attacks against merchant shipping in the area since mid-November. Shipping giant Maersk says it is now pausing all shipping through the Red Sea after one of its vessels was attacked by the Iranian-backed militants over the weekend.
The Red Sea is one of the world's most important maritime trade routes, and the prolonged attacks could disrupt the global economy. CNN's Anna Stewart reports from London. At
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ANNA STEWART, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Maersk had actually resumed transiting through the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden at the end of last year, following the launch of "Operation Prosperity Guardian," a big multi-national mission led by the U.S. Navy to protect commercial shipping. But, just days later, an attack on one of the ships by Houthi militants have let them to pause that route once again.
On Sunday, the Maersk Hangzhou, a big container ship, was on its way from Singapore to the Port of Suez in Egypt. Now, as the ship passed through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait at the southern entrance of the Red Sea, it was hit by an unknown object. It then came under fire from four Houthi boats. A U.S. naval helicopter came to the ship's defense, sinking three of those boats, killing those on board. The fourth escaped according to U.S. Military.
Maersk's extended suspension of this route from an initial 48-hour pause on Sunday reflects the concerns of the shipping community. Many other companies, including Hapag-Lloyd, Evergreen Line and MSC Mediterranean Shipping Company have all stopped using the route. And it is a critical one for the global economy, accounting for about 10 percent to 15 percent of world trade. The disruption has already caused freight rates to increase significantly, and the longer the Red Sea is deemed unsafe by commercial ships, the greater the risk it will feed into global inflation.
Anna Stewart, CNN, London.
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CHURCH: 14 months after Elon Musk first purchased Twitter, the company now known as X has launched 71 percent of its value. That's according to the investment firm Fidelity, which valued its current shares of the platform at just under $5.6 million. It's a sharp drop from the $19.6 million Fidelity said its stake was worth what Musk took over in 2022. It's part of a long-running trend for X, which has seen its estimated value plummet with each new crisis the company has faced.
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CHURCH: Steamboat Willie, the earliest version of Disney's beloved mascot Mickey Mouse, is now part of the public domain, meaning it's fair game for anyone to use. And I did not take long for filmmakers to give the iconic character a new role as a horror movie villain.
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CHURCH: Well, that's the trailer for "Mickey's Mouse Trap," a live action slasher film about a group of friends terrorized by someone in a creepy mouse mask, and because Disney's 95-year-old copyright on the Steamboat Willie expired New Year's Day, it's all perfectly legal.
Thanks so much for your company this hour. I'm Rosemary Church. I will be back with more news in just a moment. Do stick around.
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