plagiarism? what we are learning today from harvard insiders. plus, the deadly airport runway inferno. two lanes collide, five on one jet nearly killed, 400 escaped alive. how did the planes and up on the runway in the first place? and the senior member of hamas assassinated at an explosion in beirut. 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 out with raking news. harvard university s 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 august history. it has been quite a tumultuous month for the now former present. when asked for calling for the genocide of would violate harvard campuses code of conduct. yes or no. it can be, depending on the context. from that, to multiple allega
a senior hamas leader has been assassinated. according to hamas, saleh al arouri was one of the founding members of what they call its military wing. considered so integral to their terrorist activities, the u.s. issued up to a $5 million reward for information on him in 2015. moments ago, israel s finance minister said all of israel s enemies would, quote, parish, though israel has not officially taken on stability for the assassination. israel did not notify the u.s. in advance of the attack, rather, as it was ongoing. not as significant of a figure, how significant was he in hamas? we are talking about the number two, really, he is
all right, as 2015 winds down, we re looking back at the personnel tease and stories that made headlines, 2015 behind us now. 2016, this year, we met caitlyn jenner in 2015. donald trump, triumphed in the polls and who could forget the faces of refugees. top ten media stories of 2015. debates, shootings, scandals, relentless news buzzing in 2015. moments stood out among the crowded landscape. top ten media stories of the year. hello everybody, thank you so much. number ten, late night s new year. stephen colbert taking over for