you re watching cnn newsroom and i m rosemary church. ahead. the blood of black america is on your hands, stand up and do something. demand for employees reform in the u.s. following outrage over the harrowing video we saw of police beating tyre nichols to death. why many say change begins in washington. we ll bring you the latest s the debate over the u.s. debt ceiling and how the outcome will be felt well beyond the united states and the u.s. secretary of state arrives in the middle east amid rising tensions between israelis and palestinians. . . . live from cnn center. this is cnn newsroom. with rosemary church. and we begin this hour with the beating death of tyre nichols and efforts to prevent police brutality in the future. on sunday, the nichols family attorney told cnn he hopes this will become a water shed moment in the push for criminal justice reforms. hours after video was made public showing nichols ruthless beating at the hands of memphis police, of
i m jessica dean in washington, d.c. in today for fredicka whitfield. a major move by the memphis police department. less than 24 hours after the release of the video showing the brutal building of tyre nichols, the s.c.o.r.p.i.o.n. unit will be disbanded. this move coming after nichols family and protesters around the country demanded the unit be dissolved. cnn s isabelle rosales has more on these developments. what are you learning? reporter: the police chief cerelyn davis, in a statement she put out, talking about how it was disbanded, she touted the quality work of this unit. clearly there s been tensions between the community and this s.c.o.r.p.i.o.n. unit. what happened here is the police chief, she met with members that were not involved in the beating of tyre nichols and determined it was in the best interest of the community to disband. this goes to the direct wis activists and the family attorney as well. here is what we know about the s.c.o.r.p.i.o.n. unit. this
welcome, you are watching cnn newsroom. i m rosemary church. just ahead, we re hearing for the first time from the family of the man accused of killing four college students in idaho. residents of northern california starting the new year with an evacuation warning as longtime residents face the worst flooding they ve seen in years. the late pope benedict xvi is lying in state at the vatican for mourners to pay their last respects. we ll bring you a live report from st. peter s square. thanks for being with us. the family of bryan kohberger, the suspect in the stabbing deaths of four idaho college students, is speaking out and offering their condolences. kohberger himself is sitting in a pennsylvania jail awaiting extradition and facing four counts of first-degree murder. cnn s veronica miracle has the family s statement and the mood in moscow, idaho. reporter: bryan kohberger s family has put out a statement through his public defender saying, first and foremost w
the uk chancellor nadim zahawi has added his name to the conservative leadership contest joining a field of eight including sajid javid and jeremy hunt. and in the tennis, moscow born elena rybakina wins the women s singles title representing kazakhstan. sri lanka is in the grip of chaos and uncertainty after a dramatic 2a hours which has seen the country s president and prime minister pledge to step down. they were left with little choice after demonstrators stormed or set fire to to their official residences a howl of anger after months of protests about economic mismanagement. sri lanka is suffering rampant inflation, and is struggling to import food, fuel, and medicine. our correspondent anbarasan ethirajan reports from the capital, colombo. the barricades were meant to keep the protesters back, but they were no barrier for the furious and desperate crowds, all suffering the effects of living in economic collapse. police used water cannon and fired shots in the air, b
wins the women s singles title, representing kazakhastan. in the last hour, the united states has urged the sri lankan government to work quickly to address discontent in the country. discontent is putting it mildly protesters have stormed government buildings, and the president and prime minister have pledged to step down. it s all due to to months of economic mismanagement. sri lanka is suffering rampant inflation and is struggling to import food, fuel and medicine. our correspondent anbarasan ethirajan reports from the capital, colombo. the barricades were meant to keep the protesters back, but they were no barrier for the furious and desperate crowds, all suffering the effects of living in economic collapse. police used water cannon and fired shots in the air, but the crowds were more determined. and they kept surging forward until eventually they converged on the presidential palace and took over the home and office of the man they want to force from power. he had alre