After weeks of bad headlines and pressure Harvard's president is stepping down.

The lead starts right now.

Dr. Claudine Gay is out as the president of Harvard University.

Was it that poorly received congressional testimony about anti-Semitism on campus?

Or how about the mounting accusations of plagiarism. What we are learning today from Harvard

insiders. Plus, a deadly airport runway inferno, two planes collide, five on one jet killed, nearly 400 on another escaped alive. How did the

planes end up on the same runway in the first place? And a senior leader of

Hamas assassinated apparently in an explosion in Beirut.

Hezbollah has warned Israelis that any such action in Lebanon would merit a response is the situation

in the Middle East about to get even worse.

Happy New Year and welcome to the lead.

I'm Jake Tapper and we start this hour with breaking news.

Harvard University's Dr. Claudine Gay is stepping down as president,

resigning after just about six months on the job,

the student journalist who broke the story

of her stepping down for the Harvard Crimson newspaper noted that this is the

shortest presidential tenure in Harvard's Auguste history. It has been quite a tumultuous

month for the now ousted president from her infamous response when asked if

calling for the genocide of Jews would violate Harvard's campus's code of conduct.

Yes or no.

It can be depending on the context.

From that to multiple allegations of plagiarism,

...