♪ ♪ will you abuse power, break the law or go after people after giving no answer, donald trump finally pledges to be a dictator on day one. plumes of smoke rising over gaza this morning as we are now hearing from freed hostages confronting the israeli prime minister in leaked audio. why she's angry at the israeli government. a killing spree in two major texas cities leaves six people dead and two police officers wounded. investigators say one suspect is behind all of that violence. i'm sara sidner with john berman and kate bolduan. this is "cnn news central." ♪ ♪ this morning a promise from donald trump to be a dictator. yes, with conditions, but a pledge, nonetheless and how he got there is even more telling. facing questions from sean hannity, not exactly a probing interrogation from edward r. murrow, but asked if he would abuse power, break the law or go after people watch how long it took trump to offer any answer at all. >> i want to be very, very clear on this. do you in any way have any plans whatsoever, if re-elected president, to abuse power, to break the law, to use the government to go after people. >> you mean like they're using right now? >> you're promising america tonight you would never abuse power as retribution against anybody. >> except for day one. close the border, and i want to drill, drill, drill. >> that's not -- >> so asked whether he would abuse power, you saw it there. no answer for nearly five full minutes and then when he had an answer it was yes on day one on certain issues. cnn's alayna treene is with us now, and this is not a bug of the trump campaign at this point, alayna. it seems to be a feature. >> i think that's exactly right, john, and as you saw there. sean hannity tried a few times to get donald trump to take the opportunity to deny some of the recent reports that he plans to use a future trump administration or second trump administration to go after his political opponents and donald trump didn't do that. he deflected and instead tried to flip the script on joe biden arguing that he's the one who is abusing power and pointing to the four indictments that donald trump is facing, but look, i think we have to be very clear here that donald trump has said himself publicly in interviews and on the campaign trail, matt, if he is elected in 2024 he does have plans to use the department of justice to go after his political enemies, and i think that's very important to keep in mind here. there are also plans that when i speak to the campaign and talk to his inner circle they don't deny those plans, and i think that's important to -- for context for all of this. i also do, john, just want to point you to another interesting exchange that happened last night during that town hall. there's a lot of talk about a potential general election fight between donald trump and joe biden and trump used the opportunity really in the most explicit language that we've heard yet to say that he doesn't think joe biden would be the nominee in 2024. take a listen. >> i personally don't think he makes it, okay? i haven't said that. i'm saving it for this big town hall. i personally don't think he makes it physically. mentally, i would say he's probably equally as bad or maybe worse, but i don't know. >> now, john, also last night joe biden was speaking to donors and he said behind closed doors that he's not sure that he would run if donald trump wasn't runninging and that came at the surprise -- to the surprise of many biden officials and it offers a very interesting split screen preview of what we can expect as we head into the 2024 election year. >> absolutely. people need to listen to what these candidates say and right now donald trump has said that he will use the government to go after political opponents and cash patel who is working with donald trump said that might be members of the media, as well. kate? >> the top four remaining republican candidates trying to stand between donald trump and the republican nomination, they're taking the stage tonight with just 40 days left until the iowa caucuses. and it's do or die time to win over support for these candidates taking the stage as time is clearly running out for someone to significantly chip away at trump's dominant lead and of course, donald trump not taking the stage again tonight. cnn's jeff zeleny is joining us now from tuscaloosa, alabama, where it is all happening this evening. what do you expect? i'm, obviously first and foremost, you have nikki haley versus ron desantis to be the trump alternative. how are you going to do all of that? >> it's the smallest stage with just four candidates on stage and certainly the biggest moment particularly for nikki haley and even more so for florida governor ron desantis and we've seen over the course of these debates nikki haley has risen and florida governor ron desantis has plateaued and if not fallen a little bit and you will see the two of them center stage and in the weeks leading up to this debate the conversation has changed and we've seen desantis accused haley of not being a true conservative and we saw the endorsement she got saying she's simply a tool of the establishment. look for her to push back on that tonight. without question, she has been rising throughout the fall months, debate by debate by debate. we've seen it in events in early voting states and we've seen it in the supporters and donors she's attracting and that dynamic tonight certainly will be the most important one. they clearly are locked in a race for second place, if you will, looking to be a trump alternative and the biggest question of all, are republican voters looking to be a trump alternative and is it one of the two of them? >> let's talk about another. what about chris christie? he's battling reports and stories of donors publicly calling for him to bow out of the race and throw his support behind nikki haley. he's going to be on the debate stage. what does he do? >> and he's very happy to be here. the reality is he barely made the criteria to be on the debate, but he did. he made the polling and the donor criteria as set out by the rnc and he will be on stage here tonight and kate, i'm watching for the dynamic between he and nikki haily and here's why. he, of course, is focusing his campaign in new hampshire. january 23rd a week after the iowa caucuses open this context and independent and moderate voters there are so important for his future, his success. he's sort of in the same lane that nikki haley is. so is he going to tangle with her or is he going to perhaps help her by going to ron desantis' record and there's a bit of three-dimensional chess here and his decision tonight, what he decides to do and make his case if it's just an anti-trump case or go after his rivals directly would certainly be an indication of things and all eyes are on the health of this campaign. he is focusing only on employ nah, but he's the most practiced candidate of all of them. of course, he ran eight years ago, so he's very happy to be here. we will see what type of fire he has or if he is trying to help, perhaps, nikki haley who he would prefer most likely as an alternative. >> happy to be here, good mantra for life in politics or outside of politics. good to see you. >> literally. >> thank you, jeff zeleny, cnn political director david chalian. david, i want to start with something because everyone is talking about these comments that donald trump made. he made these dictator comments last night, but it wasn't said in a vacuum. i just want to show people and remind people some of his past comments. take a listen. >> when i get back into the oval office i will totally obliterate the deep state. they will be obliterated. first, i will immediately re-issue my 2020 executive orde authority to remove rogue bureaucrat, and i will wield that power very aggressively. they have done something that allows the next party, if somebody, if i happen to be president and i see somebody who is doing well and beating me very badly, i say go down and indict them. >> i will have a real special prosecutor to go after most corrupt president in the history of the united states of america. [ cheers and applause ] i will totally obliterate the deep state. obliterate. [ cheering ] and we know who they are. i know exactly who they are. >> david, he's been sending these messages. shouldn't we believe him? >> of course, we should believe him. if there's anything we've learned about donald trump on the political stage, sara, to very much believe him. he has said he would like to suspend the constitution. this is all as a candidate, this cycle. he has suggested that the execution of a military general who doesn't agree with him maybe an appropriate response and we are clearly seeing a refusal to rule out the notion that he would use the office, misuse the office, abuse the power of the office. he just simply refused to rule that out as an option last night. never mind proudly wearing the label of dictator for a day on some issues. it's all there for everyone to see. this doesn't need histrionics attached to it that donald trump is saying quite plainly what he intends to do. >> i want to turn now partly to the debate and four candidates made the cut this time, christie, ramaswamy and haley and desantis and this is try to unseat, if you will, the front runner who is donald trump and after these comments are we finally going to see them in for donald trump and try to knock him off that number one place? >> it's such a good question, sara. i look forward to watching the debate to see the answer to it and chris christie is one person on the stage that has made these frontal attacks to donald trump, the centerpiece of this campaign. we've seen desantis and haley sort of take on trump at times or express differences with trump over specific policy areas, but we've never seen either one of them just do a full, frontal assault as to why they think he's unacceptable as a nominee and that is because you see in the polling the republican primary electorate is not all that interested in hearing those kinds of attacks on donald trump and he's the front-runner in the race and if they're not supportive of trump, they, too, don't want to hear from the candidates not named trump all of this attack on donald trump. as chris christie says how do you go after them and explain how they're unacceptable and you're the better choice and that's the mission for desantis and haily and it's the last scheduled debate before voters vote and right now this is the last big opportunity on the calendar. >> yeah. it certainly is, and now they have fodder. dictator for a day is not something that you want to hear from the president of the united states. david chalian, thank you very much for all your analysis. john? >> a suspect is in custody after police say this person went on a killing spree in texas. six people now dead. extraordinary new audio from former israeli hostages held by hamas. their rage at the netanyahu government and new reporting on when the u.s. thinks the israeli offensive might end and a retreat from a u.s. member of congress after what she said or didn't say about sexual violence committed by hamas. russian soldiers for human rights violations. >> also here are eli rosenbaum with the war crimes accountability team, christian lavest, for the accountability team and davidsonberg assistant director in charge of the fbi washington field office. on february 24th, 2022, russia commenced its full-scale, unprovoked invasion of ukraine. in the nearly two years since, we have all seen invading russian forces commit atrocities on the larger scale in any european armed conflict since the second world war. we have all heard the accounts of ukrainian civilians targeted and executed. ukrainian children forcibly deported and ukrainian women and girls sexually assaulted and as the world has witnessed the horrors of russia's brutal invasion of ukraine so has the united states department of justice. that is why the justice department has filed the first-ever charges under the u.s. war crimes statute against four russia-affiliated military personnel for heinous crime against an american citizen. congress passed the u.s. war crimes statute nearly 30 years ago to give us jurisdiction to prosecute war crimes committed against american citizens abroad. in an indictment returned yesterday in the eastern district of virginia, we have charged four russia-affiliated military personnel with war crimes against an american citizen living in ukraine. the charges include conspiracy to commit war crimes including war crimes outlawed by the international community after rld world war ii, unlawful confinement, torture and inhumane treatment. like all defendants in the u.s. criminal justice system the defendants in this case are entitled to due process of law and are presumed innocent until proven guilty. we allege that in april of 2022 two commanding officers of russia-affiliated forces suronovic and dmritry butnick whose first names are valery and nazar committed war crimes against an american citizen who had been living in russia since 2021. the victim was living in a small village in southern ukraine and was not participating in the armed conflict between russia and ukraine. as such, the victim was what is known as a protected person under international law. after russian forces invaded milavay, the victim was abducted from his home by three of the defendants and meerkechian and their co-conspirators. during the abduction we allege they threw the victim to the ground, and pointed a gun to his head and beat them with their f firsts and legs and pushed him into a closet as a jail cell. as they interrogated him they tortured him and they beat him again with a gun. they punched him in his chest and stomach. they threatened to shoot him. they stripped off his clothes and took pictures. one of their conspirators threatened to sexually assault him and during the interrogation when the victim's answers did not satisfy the defendants, we allege that but thenik who is also a commanding officer threatened the victim with death and asked for his last words. we allegr conspirators took the victim outside, there they forced him to the ground and put a gun to the back of his head and the victim believed he was about to be killeded. they moved the gun just before pulling the trigger and the bullet went just past his head. after the mock execution the victim was beaten and interrogated again and at one point he would told during the interpreter that he was, quote, going to sleep, and he was told by merkichian, quote, good night, leading the victim that he was to be killed. during the detainment by russian- russian-affiliated forces, the victim was tortured, threatened with execution and forced manual labor and beat with their fifties and their guns and he believed they were going to die and these are the justice department's first criminal charges under the u.s. war crimes statute. they are also an important step toward accountability for the russian regime's illegal war in ukraine. our work is far from done. i want to recognize the special prosecutions section and the war crimes accountability team and the u.s. attorney's office for the eastern district of virginia, the fbi and the department of homeland security including homeland security investigations. their dill jebts and skillful work is what made these historic charges possible. i also want to recognize the incredible courage of our partners in ukraine, specifically our counterparts in ukraine kran prosecutor general's office. in the midst of war, ukrainian prosecutors have risked their lives for the ukrainian people and we are honored to stand alongside them. finally, i want to recognize our partners in the international community. we will continue to work alongside them to build cases so that when the time comes the united states and our partners will be ready to ensure accountability for russia's war of aggression. this is an historic day for the justice department that builds on a long history. the war crimes accountability team prosecuting this case is modeled in part on the justice department's decades-long effort to identify, denaturalize and deport nazi war criminals in the united states. during that effort, the department's office of special investigations brought more than 130 cases against perpetrators of nazi crimes. in the vast majority of those cases the perpetrators were not identified until decades after they committed their horrific crimes. this history should make clear that the justice department and the american people have a long memory. we will not forget the atrocities in ukraine and we will never stop working to bring those responsible to justice. throughout our work, we will continue to put our trust in the rule of law. the rule of law is the best answer we have to crimes that cannot be truly answered. the rule of law is how we pursue true accountability for the individuals responsible for those crimes and how we deter future aggression and the rule of law is how we pursued justice in a way that protects people and protections our shared humanity. i am now honored to turn the podium over to secretary mayorkas. >> thank you very much, attorney general garland. in 2008 the department of homeland security and its homeland security investigations or asi created the human rights violators and war crimes center, the only u.s. government entity focused entirely on investigating the global atrocities. for 15 years these select groups of special agents, attorneys, intelligence analysts and criminal research specialists and historians from across the federal government have worked together and with their international counterparts to hold those who engage in the perpetration of war crimes, genocide, torture and other human rights violations accountable. today, an investigating more than a year in the making by the center and the federal partners bears fruit. for the first time in our nation's history, federal agents gathered suspect evidence to bring charges of war crimes perpetrated against an american citizen in violation of title 18 of the united states united states code section 2441. the allegations which the attorney general has described detail gruesome events. the agents who made this case possible woere tireless in thei investigation giving attention to every detail and making considerable sacrifices throughout. in august 202, these hsi agents traveled with their doj and fbi partners to speak to an american citizen who had recently been evacuated from ukraine where he had been living with his wife. the u.s. citizen told our hsi agents how a few months earlier he had been violently abducted from his home in the village of milove by members of the russian armed forces. he told investigators as the attorney general noted that these russians had stripped him naked, threw him face down to the ground, tied his hands behind his back, pointed a gun at his head and severely beat him including with the stocks of their guns. the russian soldiers then took him to a nearby russian military compound and held him there illegally for ten days. he reported that while in forced captivity he was subjected to two interrogation sessions during which he was tortured by the four defendants named today. he reported that the russian defendants had again stripped him naked, photographed him and severely beat him about the chest and stomach. one defendant staged a mock execution of him. after asking for the victim's last word, one of the defendants name -- >> you are listening to mohomeld secretary mayorkas and you're listening to mock executions of an american citizen beaten over ten days wo thought he was going to die. there are now four russian soldiers who have been accused and charged with war crimes. this is something that th