the german defense minister, as lloyd austin is pointing out, has literally been in office for an hour. a pretty generic set of statements there ahead of the key meeting. obviously, at center of their discussions will be ukraine. obviously, the united states providing, by far, the largest amount of military aid to ukraine. but with the support of europe and certainly germany a key player there. and a completely new type of policy really for the germany, which in the past pre-ukraine would not have been adding much military support, but it is now. it's a huge change for germany and the german defense minister leading that. we'll have more on "early start" coming up. right now, more firepower. $2 million of weapons for the

battlefield could one day help ukraine retake crimea. prosecutors now say the accused killer has been of a massachusetts mom googled how to do it and how to hide it.

>> specifically battle tanks. the u.s.-abrams not set to be included in this pack pj. the defense department making it clear this is a practical and logistical concern behind not including those things. a lot of training and maintenance are involved and questions around their compatibility with what else ukraine has in play on the battlefield that it's getting for other european allies. they are not in principle opposed to tanks. we understand from a senior defense official that the u.s. defense secretary lloyd austin is set to press his german counterpart to allow re-export for german tanks to ukraine.

in terms of long-range missiles, i think there's great perception how russia would perceive these. in the past hour we have heard from the kremlin who said any discussions on supplying ukraine with weapons that could hit russia territory is extremely dangerous and could take the conflict to awe my level. though president zelenskyy speaking again in davos this morning, he said that he was not planning to use those missiles to hit russian territory, simply to strike targets in russian-occupied territory in ukraine. he also made it clear, he will not be diminishing his goals in the face of this continued aggression from russia. that he still intends to try to take back crimea. that, of course, is a very serious topic for russia, very sensitive topic, and something they have warned about in the past that could lead to a significant escalation. so, he is not backing down from his rhetoric all the while continuing to press his western allies for more weapons.

>> thank you, claire, for that. brian walshe formally charged with murdering his wife ana after prosecutors read out a chilling google searches he performed in the hours before and after they say he killed her and disposed of her body. these web searches paired with other evidence pointing to a kind of road map of the prosecution's case against walshe. cnn has more. >> charged with murder without a body. >> reporter: that's just one of many chilling google searches. >> ten ways to dispose of a dead body if you really need to. >> reporter: massachusetts prosecutors say brian walshe thoroughly researched online how to dispose of a body after killing his wife, ana, on new year's. >> it is believed brian walshe dismembered ana walshe and disdiscarded her body. >> reporter: they laid out the case against the cohasset man in

stunning detail, alleged walshe went on an internet search frenzy using his son's ipad, asking google questions like how long before a body starts so smell. three miss later, how to stop a body from decomposing and more. >> how long for someone to be missing to inherit. can you throw away body parts. what does formaldehyde do. how long does dna last. can identification be made on partial remains. >> reporter: days later prosecutors say surveillance video shows a man fitting walshe's description visiting various dumpsters. >> he's carrying garbage bags and leaning in. >> reporter: prosecutors revealing more of what investigators uncovered at a garbage transfer site more than a week ago. ten trash bags filled with items covered in apparent blood stains. some with traces of the couple's dna. also finding ana's personal belongings.

>> boots, prada purse, covid-19 vaccine card in the name of ana walshe. the boots were described what ana was last seen in. >> reporter: walshe appeared stoic as prosecutors charged on charges, after being behind bars on leading searchers. prosecutors argue divorce as motive, something walshe allegedly researched. >> on december 27th, defendant googled, what's the best state to divorce from? >> reporter: he's pleaded not guilty, with his attorneys saying in a statement, it's easier to say a person committed that crime. it's a much more difficult thing to prove, which we'll see if the prosecution can do. >> brian, did you kill your wife? >> reporter: investigators have yet to say if they found her body, who disappeared on january 3rd.

her employer, not husband, reported her missing on january 4th. >> one message i could say, brian, if you did it, just come forward because the truth will always prevail and your boys deserve to know what happened. >> reporter: cnn, quincy, massachusetts. the state department confirms to americans were among the 72 people who died last weekend in a plane crash in nepal. also killed two immigrants who lived in the united states. no one survived the yeti airlines disaster. authorities on ground are still sifting through the wreckage to figure out why that aircraft went down. >> we are deeply saddened to hear of the tragic yeti airlines crash over the weekend which killed 72 people, including two u.s. citizens and two lawful permanent residents. our thoughts are with the families of those on board. the united states stands ready to support nepal in any way we can at this difficult hour. >> the state department has not released the identities of the two americans who died. human error is considered

the likely cause of a near collision between two passenger jets last week at jfk airport in new york. a source familiar with the investigation tells cnn that special flashing lights, which warn pilots against taxiing against runways were working, raising the possibility that human error contributed to this disaster. it involved an american airlines 777 which properly crossed the clock is ticking on that ceiling drama. that is the maximum out federal government finance obligations. congress to take the limit and that could be a challenge even though lawmakers to have several months to negotiate a deal before the nation actually defaults. >> if you had a child and give them a credit card and the resident. they hit the limit. you raise it again, clean

increase. and again and again. would you just keep doing that are would you change behavior? we are six months away. why wouldn't we sit down now and change this behavior? >> the debt limit has been something that happened look at last it menstruation in bipartisan way it is something that should be done without conditions. we should not be negotiating around it. it is the duty. the basic duty of congress to get that done. it is essential for congress to recognize that dealing with a debt ceiling is their constitutional responsibility. this is anesi one. this is something that should be happening without conditions. >> alerted lawmakers default on obligations by june. cnn's reporter has more. >> the warning from treasury secretary was ominous. part of plan being rolled out

by biting administration. 20 plan two distinct months ahead. the debt ceiling is going to be hit on thursday. keep in mind does not mean u.s. is going to default. extraordinary measures in terms of shifting around prioritizes . what investments what get made one. treasury deployed over several years of these battles. they will that will get them roughly 4 or five months before true threat default is actually on the table. one thing to keep in mind here. white house officials has been steadfast and very blunt on the idea that there will be no negotiations on their mind. no coming to the table. with the housework, good majority. house. clear and clean dead ceiling

increases not on the table. that of course is a stalemate. one likely to last for the next several must talk to white house officials behead the scenes they make clear two things. one simply not a negotiation they can afford to have. terms of your governments move forward and pay the bills that have are to have been accrued which of the debt ceiling represents this is a necessary move that needs to be made. obviously that diverges from last several years of republican and democratic debates over this issue. white house officials firmly believe politically they are certainly in a good place on this issue. whatever publicans what on the table. cuts to title programs like medicare social security. prioritizes certain bills be paid are certain debts be paid instead of others. they feel like they can when messaging better. politics, policy, certainly logistics of governments that white house officials are sticking to. a plan they have been working through over the course of several weeks or closely coordinated with senate majority later chuck schumer. laying out the battle lines what is certain intense fight months ahead. only one, claimed that ceiling

increase. republicans say not an option. could bring us dangerously close, something never happened in history of country; defaults. george santos not uninvited about virtually everything on his resume. now accused of stealing from sick dogs.new jersey navy veteran said new republican congressman helping raise $3000 in 2016 to pay for life-saving surgery for his dog. santos who went by the name anthony took cash from gofundme campaign unable to get medicare for his beloved pet. sapphire. >> went down four months. stream of text between me, i knew something to raise money

for himself. he told me most offensive, horrible thing anybody had ever said to him. that i think was a breaking point where he's decided if that going give me money or he could break away from me. >> santos tells cnn that story it is fake and he has no clue what the man is talking about. another santos my newly uncovered immigration records shows santos mother in newark at 911. the trade center during 9/11 attacks. shocking the world stepping down.washes state man tried to drag a paris's through take-out window. [music]

all right arrest warrant bail gop candidate revealed details about shootings homes of mexico democratic offenders. conspired with four hired guns to carry out these attacks. arrest warrant reveals identity

of two of them. cnn's reporter from albuquerque. >> we are on record on. >> once republican candidate now criminal defendant. sullivan made first appearance albuquerque courtroom prosecutors called politically motivated shootings at the homes of four local democratic leaders. >> state filing motion for pretrial detention. >> unsurprising turn for some of his neighbors. lived here on third story of this condominium. part dacite's car affects with political bumper stickers with his support of donald trump your we went to complex were neighbors say forcefully argued with anyone who disagreed with trump's lies about election fraud. >> did not have conversations. he had accusations. he had a way of telling people they did not know what they were talking about.

>> always about politics? >> always about politics, yeah. >> did not just talk about trump, he felt him out of state. video appears to show limit three different trump rallies in washington, d.c.. one washington clip name stitched into his hat. july 2021, phoenix, arizona, cnn video captured a man who appears to be him in rather crowd. later post picture of himself as attendee. later refer office in mexico. republican candidate for state house. lost last november by a lay site. echoing trump would not accept election laws. police say he targeted four democrats to blame. finding their addresses and confronting them quest i went to the gate and that's where he was pretty seemed agitated. he seemed a little aggressive. i did tell someone about it. this guy is a felon. >> missed you said he made broncos, hire people should

people's houses. >> convicted felon spell years behind bars for greg larson. may then same present the same time people began as a political cry escalated said albuquerque police chief. all hired guns all hired guns .2 a greater threat. the warden says he wanted the shootings to be more aggressive. to ensure better target acquisition. >> people are sister station about this. i am pissed about it. what we're about, democracy. you cannot shoot guns at someone's house just to terrorize them because elected official. you have crazy election denying motivation behind. unacceptable. >> district attorney says, "so pissed about this one that he plans to personally prosecute this case himself." we did hear back from defense attorney.

she says right now these charges are accusations and that there is a presumption of innocence. she says she will fully dependant through this process. bring in former wisconsin district management, wisconsin firm, nicaea. statement from attorney. charges are merely accusations. he has a presumption of innocence. of course, we all do in american justice criminal system.talking about charges. accused of having someone is to shootings.does that affect what he is charged with here? >> not really because, first about good morning christine. not really as we all know because someone did not commit actual crime.this case actually pulled the trigger on

the guns does not mean they can be criminally prosecuted for involvement. concept of criminal law being part of a crime to a conspiracy to commit a crime. while the man up and in the one who pulled the trigger and shot into these houses, he coordinate efforts allegedly. and if he did that he, under the laws is just as guilty as the people conducted the answer shootings. >> i had to ask you, how concerned are you about the rise of political violence? you heard the da in the piece how angry, my word, that this is happening at all. >> yeah. i am concerned. i think we should all be concerned. we are seeing political violence on the rise. clearly it is happening more and more. i think that what's happening with regard to political violence is good in terms of whether the criminal justice system is responding to peer criminal justice system pushing back against it. prosecutors are prosecuting people. evenhandedly, democrats and republicans, and them in between for political violence. something we need to do. of course a lot of pushback from politicians and other people out there influential

people that is challenging these prosecutions. but i think we keep doing what we're doing. that is pushback against political violence about prosecuting cases. >> i want to bring up another case, massachusetts prosecutors laid out google searches evidence that brian walsh murdered his wife, anna. do think brian walsh could still be convicted of murder a police is not find on a's body. something in the searches. >> yeah. under the law, he can. a lot of the law required that anybody actually be found and covered in order to prosecute zone for murder. the law has evolved in change as technology has evolved in change. sizes allowed us to get stronger and stronger evidence. based upon the fact that we've seen so far it is possible for mr. walsh to be prosecuted and convicted of murdering his wife. those google searches sure are damning. say that you kill your wife

without saying you actually killed your wife. >> right. really. trouble started. three little kids. thank you so much. i see you this morning. quick hits across america. legal challenges started because illinois ' firearms high-capacity magazine. gun right groups says infringes on second infringes on 2nd and a member rights. try to drag barista through takeout window. matthew william darnall made first appearance in court on tuesday. voting system error new jersey flip out, vocal school board race. technician mistakenly upload twice.software error file to block it. the races up for a recount. just had, u.s. coast guard tracking russian spy ship near hawaii. italy's less godfather patient ♪ ♪ judge after 30 years on the ♪ ♪ run.♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ [music]

new zealand's prime minister, the youngest woman elected head of government abruptly resigned. >> today i am announcing i will not be seeking reelection. and my prime minister will conclude. >> anchor: bring in cnn's report of ivan hong kong. challenges as all leaders do. settle and emotional; what we know?>> it came as a huge surprise to many people in new zealand and around the world. early today televised address

we heard from new zealand who says she just doesn't have the energy to stand for reelection in october. she gave absolute all to the role of being prime minister and plans to stand down leader of her country by february 7. she also had this to say. take a listen. >> i am entering not my six year in office. for each of these years i have given my absolute all. i believe that leading a country is most privileged job anyone could ever have. but also one of the more challenging. you cannot and should not do i . unless you have a full tank. plus a bit in reserve for those unexpected challenges. >> also added that she is not leaving the job because it was hard. she went on to list the number of challenges that she and her government had to deal with during the last 5 1/2 years during her time in office.

during the covid 19 pandemic, volcanic eruption on island, and 2017 christ church terrorist attacks. targeted to mosques and took the lives of 51 people. responded with compassion and decisive action. international stage, hailed for progressive views, strong leadership or domestically, facing strong political headwinds. as for what is next for her personally. she said professionally no plangent. christine, said she is looking forward to being there with her four-year-old daughter she starts school later in the year. finally marrying her partner. back to you. >> all right, thanks much for that. sicilian mafia boss three decades on the road. appeared to be in courts avenue. so far no show. reporters live, what's going on this money? >> this is a first court appearance.

convicted a number sentence. first-time appeared not to appear in court. under his rights under the legal system. represented by his niece who is a criminal lawyer, conveniently. going to see what comout of court decision. appellate level. complex core system in italy. everyone gets three tries prefers to first degree in which he is convicted. number of trials coming up. we do know he is very sick. he has cancer and getting treatment. we are waiting to hear exactly why that chair so far empty today. >> keep us posted. quick hits around the globe right now. suspected russian spy ship international waters off the coast of hawaii. u.s. coast guard said not unusual. track it closely. political crisis could be brewing in israel. prime minister to remove a key

right wing polish and from cabinet post because of conviction on tax fraud. church of england refuses same-sex marriage to mary and country, it has been legal since 2013, decision comes after six years of debate in the church. angry protests in france over governments to raise age. buffalo bills, uplifting visits to the team. [music]

imagine getting ready to retire after decades of poor calling to have the government tell you not some fast you have to work another two years to collect a pension. more from paris. >>. [speaking foreign language] >> 20 years same equipment to work. thursday take to the streets. protests over 2x2 years the government wants him to spend working for his pension.>>

living is getting more expensive retirement for the way it's ridiculous. i can't go on. that's why we had to take to the streets. that is what we will do on thursday. >> french president has unsuccessfully tried a pension reform before. twenty twenty down in the face of street protests and the covid pandemic. 2023, he says, will be different.[speaking foreign language] >> this year will be the year of pension reform. change balance in our system for coming years and decades. we need to work more. >> currently, the french can retire at 62 or even earlier in some cases with minimum monthly government pension of around b,1000. earlier this month french prime minister announced plans from 62-64. full pension raised by average of b,100 a month.

>> if we do not pass the reform books will not be balanced. lower pensions of retirees or increase contributions of working people. thus in reducing purchasing power of the french. >> it faced stiff resistance under president's resistors. >> it is true there is a strong symbolic value of social model put in place after world war ii. political forces from the far left to the right came together to govern france. created this model. it is our heritage, our wealth, french and currently attached to it. >> hope of the unions on thursday that the protests will be is because they were in 2010. when they claim more than 3 billion people took to the streets of france. weeks after suffering her neck arrest on the field bills'

safety hammond is back. he's back! >> recovery trend in remarkably positive way.recent release from the hospital last week. now back in facility on a regular basis. bills set to host the bangles divisional round plastic sunday. cincinnati the team when hammond was injured. hamlet attending team unity meeting set. having him around it is raising everyone's experience. >> don't want to overload them over much right now. it has been good to see him smile on his face and guys love it having him back in the building. >> is a positive thing. to see smile, put his heart some. keep pushing, you know, it is positive energy going around the facility. >> today nhl tampa bay lightning captain was a

milestone last night. first period against canucks, 47 player in nhl history to reach these goals. joining sydney crosby had alex. .quite the night for him. 32-year-old anyone with a hat trick. tempo won that game five ivan tutu nba, lebron and micros hosting kings under 2 go. lebron mostly weighed in for the bucket, plus a file. lebron 32 points. all-time leading scorer. the kings with, sacramento 160-111. third place in the west right now. first time since 2005. seven games over five. fun momentary a break in that day. because' fan down the half-court $70,000. pretty cool customer there is

well. hat backwards, hand raised up, pretty confident. speak a confidence, where you sing bangles quarterback joe burrow wearing 9 on the field sundays. should update news conference yesterday number eight jersey. asked him what was going on. >>. [laughs] i guess i put the wrong one on. [laughing] >>. [laughs] >> [laughing] >> well, so what happened was i forgot about the press conference. and so i also have new pants on. and so i put my jersey back on. apparently it was not my jersey. [laughing] >> hasn't been that type of day? >> i guess it is that type of day. >> backup quarterback wears number eight. i love the press conference.

running around, throughout on. >> as long as he is on the field, that's all that matters. right. he's got everything straight what is on the field. >> get together by sunday, joe. here is today's fast-forward lookahead. this morning santa fe das office whether any criminal charges filed fatal shooting of cinematographer on rustic movie set 2021. actor alec baldwin holding the gun when shot was fired. jury deliberations, all keepers trial, including conspiracy are all four pleaded not guilty. president biden had company date to survey week of storm damage for first responders in santa cruz county. speaking at a state park the center. coming up on cnn this morning, massachusetts man accused of killing his wife. the trail prosecutors say he left all over his internet

browser. next, right here movie in the works on michael jackson.

all right your number $4.21 average gallon of milk in the u.s. price of milk top. expensive to produce because of rising cost of buying cattle, animal feed, farm labor. and not just milk prices high. grocers cost nearly 12 percent more than they did a year ago. markets around the world this thursday morning, european stock markets are glower. global recession risk nagging concern. asian shares mix. stock and futures leaning down

after dow fell 6 or points. nasdaq 7-day 20 straight and appeared december retail filled most of the year. inflation has consumers pulling back a little bit. inflation wholesale pump gas prices to pennies overnight, $3.38 a gallon. jobless claims figures to out this morning 8:30 a.m. eastern time. bring in strategists and principal asset management. good morning, nice to see you. >> good morning. >> so, inflation looks like it has peaked, that's a good thing. but the global recession fears are still very much alive. square those two things if you will. >> sure. as you said, inflation is peaking, good news. decelerate through purpose of 2023. after member inflation coming down naturally because improving supply chains. starting to improve as well. one of the recent inflation, down is because economy is

slowing. economy is slowing because around the world including federal reserve have raised rates aggressively. in fact the most aggressive tightening cycle since 1980s. unfortunately, bringing down inflation does also say that recession is growing more and more likely. >> is our path just so-called soft landing? on the one hand inflation peaking, other parts of the economy slowing retail , job market so strong. any worsening and job market comes from a very, very good place almost. you know. >> that is very true. soft landing the time where avoid recession. it is a possibility, actually. consumers have been quite resilient today. labor market 3.5 percent unemployment rate tells you significant strength. the concern though is the labor market is typically the last in

dacatur to react to the slowing economic environment. so it might be a could be several months before you start to see the labor market show impact of this weakness. it does mean that the strength of the labor market if there is a recession, that recession is unlikely to be like the great financial crisis. it should be quite short. unlikely to be like the great financial crisis. it should be quite short. 2-3/4 as average recession purchase not be anyway as deep as what we saw during gf cp. this is, it is bad news, but it is setting up as bad as what could have been 10 years ago. >> gauging recession risk for global u.s. economy this year. then comes this manufactured crisis in washington that periodically rears its ugly head. that silly drama. u.s. hats that silly today. 4-5 months accounting maneuvers of treasury department will run out.the u.s. has to pick

which bills to pay; how concerned are you about political risk in this outlook? >> first-aid to say on this is we have been here many, many times over. not a panic until the last minute, finally it is past. something like that again. act as a political risk at this time is a bit more elevated. one of the consents that we do have in order to get to be raised they are going to be 70 concessions coming through. very unlikely if there is economic weakness coming through they will not be any physical help. no help coming of the time u.s. economy really does need. of course, if the debt ceiling does not pass that will be a major hit to u.s. economy can afford any negative impacts like that right now. >> really awful timing when you're trying to navigate these tricky, tricky waters. principal asset financial asset

management. thank you very much. america's largest party, bile bankruptcy. cut $1.7 billion debt load and secured $150 million of financing to keep doors open. company battle competition from big-box chains and online retailers that sell more variety. content with rising costs by pandemic including helium storage, which hurt crucial in business. a new life from jumping congressman santos exposed. paperwork proving mother was not where he said she was on 9/11 i had. into manifesting trend. why it might not be best plan for weight loss coming up onon cnn this morning.

? our top of the morning, airlines u.s. break by wall street journal. >> we have a world full of places to start. >> delta number one with best scores on templates, cancellations, bumping. number two, alaska airlines, the carrier better than anyone else avoiding extreme delay spirit surprises number three. [music] >> southwest. yes, the same southwest that canceled more than 16,000 flights over the holidays. southwest rank of bumping. complaint from baggage handling in december not in yet.

next year's rankings. life of the king of pop. >> what's up? [music] >> landscape and director. [name] working on new michael jackson film titled "michael", address all aspects of jackson's like. unclear of how it is handling accusations of child sex abuse. film produced with jackson's estate, which has defended him against allegations. bts man, five weeks military training in south korea. [singing] >> enlisted last month to be 1.5 years mandatory military service. shared first photos taken in uniform was a. 30 years old of a pop group.

mandatory service. eventually all the members of group will do. you're welcome, song and your head all morning. space ask second mission for u.s. military lesson three days. >> three, two, one. engines full power. >> falcon 9 rocket scented orbit, six new satellite is part of the next generation gps satellites built by martin. upgrade gps constellation of 31 cell is operated by the u.s. space force. gps services routinely used by smart phones. martin says it also serves military. thanks for joining us here at early start this morning. i hope you have a wonderful thursday. cnn this morning starts in just a minute. [music] my