there's so much about bad news. but i want you to watch as one student finds out that she has a dream coming true and what that dream coming true means to her family. take a listen. >> in california, that's jacenia nunez surrounded by family waiting to get the results of her bar exam. at last. the results they all prayed for. she's a first generation salvadoran american who always dreamed of being a lawyer. >> my parents are from el salvador. they're farm workers. i think this moment was a big moment for our entire family. it feels like the american dream. >> big moment for the entire family. and to many of us as well. that wraps up the hour for me. i'm jose diaz-balart.

thank you for the privilege of your time. andrea mitchell has more news right now. >> right now on andrea mitchell report, ukraine's president zelenskyy is in washington in a last ditch effort to persuade reluctant lawmakers for billions more in aid. republicans are tieing it to more money for the border. also, president trump reverses course at the last minute and says he will not testify as a closing defense witness in today as new york civil trial despite previous claims that he would. this is our new nbc des moines register poll shows president, former president polling higher with iowa caucusgoers than any previous republican at this stage. steve kornacki will break it all down at the big board. plus, the recognition of penn's president shifts the attention to harvard and mitt after last week's testimony by the presidents of all three

universities. leaders of harvard are meeting today. and the abortion debate heating up in texas with a state supreme court court now blocking a 31-year-old woman whose fetus has a fatal diagnosis and her life is at risk. good day. president zelenskyy is back in d.c. to plead for billions that he and the white house say ukraine needs to stop putin. president biden has warned u.s. aid will run out if congress does not act now. senate republicans blocked aid for ukraine and israel last week because they want changes in the asylum policy at the border, but after a disappointing counteroffensive and questions over how past u.s. funds have been used, ukraine's troops have been dug in for a winter in what is a stalemate with putin. while in washington, zelenskyy

will be meeting about the billions needed to rebuild his country, but it is his last ditch personal appeal to congress. we start with ryan nobles. jonathan lemire and alexander vinman, former director for the national security council and author of why it matters. ryan, this is crunch time. only five more days if they were to leave today. four days, really. considering friday isn't a workday. both chambers breaking for the holidays this week. aid for ukraine, israel, an the border and the future of the fisa 702, you know, procedure. all on the line. is there a clear path to navigate these prospects? >> even less than that when you consider they're not here yet. the senate not scheduled to get here until 5:00 this afternoon. they are really running out of time to get anything done and

there are so many things on the to do list before they break for the holidays without a clear path to get there. what's interesting about the dynamics with this visit of president zelenskyy to capitol hill versus the two previous times he's been here, you'll remember when he was welcomed as a hero when he gave that joint address to congress almost more than a year ago now. this last time around, he came and was a quiet meeting behind closed doors with senators. this time around, really the debate isn't over ukraine. it's really about the southern border. that's what republicans are insisting they are not going to release any more funding to ukraine until they believe there are substantive policy change that is the aintration approves and is a part of on the southern border. let's look at the details of this supplemental aid package the white house is hoping to push throu he in the next couple of days. $61 billion for ukraine. $14 billion for israel. assistance and 13.6 billion for the border. the money is only part of it and

that's really where the breakdown is. republicans are pushing for as much they can get in terms of policy changes when it comes to immigration in the united states which has been such a difficult area to find common ground. but the more republicans get then becomes the likelihood you lose democrat votes. so what they're going to try and to is come up with a deal that can get both sides to the table and do it before thursday, andrea. >> and jonathan, how did this visit come together? does the white house really think zelenskyy can say anything now? he was you know in the states not too long ago, that would convince the speaker to back down, putting additional aid behind border overhauls? >> the white house feels like they have to try. they have, white house aides have told me since the war again, anytime that there is either a major moment on the battlefield in europe or zelenskyy delivers some sort of significant public statement,

they see in polling that support for ukraine goes up. most recently when we heard from zelenskyy at the nato summit this summer, i was there for that as well. aides were quick to note that the american people were behind what he had to say. but while most americans and frankly most republicans still back ukraine aid, there's that handful, that holdout, in the house of representatives that's become such a problem. right now, any bill i going to have to come from the senate first then move to the house. zelenskyy's going to spend time with senators tomorrow. we'll see him in the oval office with president biden tomorrow and then a rare ns conference. we'll hear from zelenskyy and he'll make a public, emotional appearance. they also suggested they are willing to deal on the border. white house has largely stayed out of this process. they've been successful referring to their democratic colleagues on the hill for previous legislative efforts.

there have been some calls from republicans and democrats for president biden to be more alike. jeff has been in more and more phone calls. the president himself yet to do that. but may look as the closer here in the days ahead to try to get some deal done. perhaps at a smaller number. not that 60 billion, but still a number that would help ukraine. include some measures for the border and then prevent what would be the unthinkable, which would be if the u.s. were to stop supporting ukraine which could lead to a domino effect across europe and allow putin to at least harden his gains and think about venturing further. >> and in talking, alex, to several leading europeans, that he say they'll step in. they're not going to let putin gain this huge advantage and arguably win a war that has been fought so valiantly. but it's so diminishing to u.s. pris teej at a critical time. that will be the immediate

impact in terms of the military if funding is cut off by the u.s.? >> first, there is no solution that the europeans could provide. they haven't managed to meet their own 2% spending threshold for nato spending towards defense. i spoke to state department last week and i asked the specific question. is there a plan b. are there any -- the fact is, there isn't. the u.s. has been doing the lion's share of security assistance funding. it's been providing an enormous amount of budgetary support and it looks like that support ran out in october, november, and december. the ukrainians have been trying to do this on their own. that's not a realist solution. the u.s. has to be there. the immediate impact is that it means a lot more deaths on the ukrainian battlefield. the russians are already kind of getting an upper hand with regards to artillery, superiority. there are pockets where ukraine was successful in matching the

russians. that window has closed. same thing with drones. the russians have vastly upgraded their industrial base for joint manufacturing and i think this means more casualties and eventually, we could see a dam break moment and the russians really regain the initiative and surge forward. is it realistic that russia could threaten ukraine? no. can they make significant gains and inflict significant damage and humanitarian catastrophe, the answer is yes. that's what's looming if we don't pass security assistance for ukraine. >> ryan, jonathan, thanks to all of you. and poll positions, next. steve kornacki joining us from the big board to go inside the numbers of our new iowa poll. that's next on "andrea mitchell reports" when we're back in just 60 seconds. you're watching msnbc. in just 60 seconds you're watching msnbc.

former president trump's lead in iowa is growing. he's now more than 30 points ahead of his closest rivals and the enthusiasm of trump supporters has also grown. according to a new poll. joining us to break down the numbers, steve kornacki at the big board and mark murray. so, steve, first to you. is donald trump's strength based on the evangelical voters, other key parts of the republican base? he's been campaigning there, but not as much as some of the other candidates. >> yeah. let's look and break that down a little bit. as you mentioned, overall, here's where the race is. trump notably now with an outright majority. 51% among likely caucusgoers. an increase of eight points since october. so where is that 51% drawn from? you mentioned evangelicals.

they're a huge part in iowa. this is how they break down in our poll. it's the same number. trump's at 51% statewide. 51% among evangelicals. t importantly here, if you remember back this 2016 when trump first ran, he actually lost iowa and one of the reasons he lost iowa, he finished third among evangelicals in 2016. now he has a dominant lead among them. basically doubling up his next competitor, ron desantis. so his relationship with these voters has changed a lot. by the way in 2016 as well, evangelicals were two-thirds of the caucus electorate in iowa. that's how big a group they can be. trump also doing extremely well with those who say they will participate in the caucuses for the first time in 2024. this tends to be a younger group than the overall republican electorate as a whole and look at this. trump more than 50 points stronger than desantis here. 63-12 among first time

attendees. if there's any softness in trump support, it's here. call it softness, but independents. trump still leads, but he's down to 36% among independents. nikki haley, this is one of her strongest groups. she's at 23. desantis at 17. independents are a small share of the republican electorate. the evangelicals, trump is rolling out massive numbers there. >> mark, iowa doesn't always predict, you know, who wins a nomination, but it's an important tell and certainly can create momentum going into new hampshire. >> yeah. >> obviously, nikki haley has a better shot than donald trump. >> while we're all paying attention to iowa is it comes first and it might end up being the best opportunity if you are ron desantis or nikki haley, to be able to knock donald trump off. trump ended up finishing in second place in iowa in 2016 so this isn't necessarily an environment that you would say is actually trump country.

but as steve was remarking, donald trump has an absolutely commanding lead. but if you are halely or desantis, there are sizable numbers of likely iowa caucusgoers who are actively considering both haley and desantis. as the long-term pollster points out, the unpredictable has happened in iowa. it's important to see one, donald trump's commanding lead and that iowa has produced some unpredictable outcomes. >> absolutely. i want to ask you briefly about this texas abortion case because abortion is such a dominant issue and has been in the midwest and kansas, wisconsin, michigan in terms of referendum, but not in iowa because of the evangelical base. you've got this texas woman who is being blocked by the supreme

court there and basically by the attorney general appealing a lower court ruling. from getting a late term abortion because of a fetus that is fatally ill and could threaten her life and her future fertility. >> outside of this republican contest and the republican primary season as a whole, the issue of abortion remains one of the biggest issues that we're going to cover over the next year. it's really become almost, abortion rights side gets about 60% of, and referendum and other things. whether you think that roe v. wade was wrongly decided, this is a kind of almost a super majority on the support of abortion rights and that is something i think we're going to continue to see into the 2024 general election. just like we saw in the elections from a month ago. >> yeah, this is an issue that doesn't fade even as roe v. wade, the decision overturning it recedes in the distance. it's now been more than a year,

but it gains more strength. >> and we'll have plenty of poll numbers on that in the months ahead. >> mark murray and thanks to steve kornacki. and life on the line. next. more on that crisis for the texas woman after the state supreme court blocked an emergency abortion for this woman. her health could be at risk. and her, the child she is carrying has no chance of survival. chance of survival ♪ shelves. shelves that know what taste buds want. shelves smart enough to see, sense, react, restock.

♪ so caramel swirl is always there for the taking. rsv is out there. for those 60 years and older protect against rsv with arexvy. arexvy is a vaccine used to prevent lower respiratory disease from rsv in people 60 years and older. arexvy does not protect everyone and is not for those with severe allergic reactions to its ingredients. those with weakened immune systems may have a lower response to the vaccine. the most common side effects are injection site pain, fatigue, muscle pain, headache, and joint pain. i chose arexvy. rsv? make it arexvy. why choose between a longer life or quality of life? you deserve both. and with kisqali, a treatment for people with metastatic breast cancer, you can have both.

kisqali is a pill that, when taken with an aromatase inhibitor is the only treatment of its kind shown to both help people live longer and improve or preserve quality of life. because you shouldn't have to sacrifice one for the other. kisqali can cause lung problems, or an abnormal heartbeat, which can lead to death. it can cause serious skin reactions, liver problems and low white blood cell counts that may result in severe infections. avoid grapefruit during treatment. tell your doctor right away if you have new or worsening symptoms, including breathing problems, cough, chest pain, a change in your heartbeat, dizziness, yellowing of the skin or eyes, dark urine, tiredness, loss of appetite, abdomen pain, bleeding, bruising, fever, chills, or other symptoms of an infection, a severe or worsening rash, are or plan to become pregnant, or breastfeeding. live longer and live well. ask about kisqali, and long live you.

i'm a little anxious, i'm a little excited. ask about kisqali, i'm gonna be emotional, she's gonna be emotional, but it's gonna be so worth it.

i love that i can give back to one of our customers. i hope you enjoy these amazing gifts. oh my goodness. oh, you guys. i know you like wrestling, so we got you some vip tickets. you have made an impact. so have you. for you guys to be out here doing something like this, it restores a lot of faith in humanity.

i think forcing me to continue the pregnancy and the pain and suffering, put me through the risks of continuing the pregnancy. the risks of childbirth, especially given how my last two went. think it's cruel. >> that is the tex mother, kate cox, in an interview laura jarrett. she's running out of time to get the emergency healthcare she needs. the texas supreme court has put a hold on a lower court decision that potentially granted her a life savings decision. cox is about 20 weeks pregnant. doctors have diagnosed her fetus with a rare chromosomal disorder that will likely result in her delivering a dead child or her daughter would die moments after birth. carrying the pregnancy to term could also threaten cox's own life or leave the mother of two

who wants another child, infer tile. >> we're going through the loss of a child. there's no outcome here that i take home healthy baby girl, you know. so, it's hard. you know. >> joining me now is mark herron from the center representing kate cox and her doctors. thank you very much. first, how is she dealing with the setback from the supreme court? >> andrea, the state of texas is failing kate cox and she is understandably on pins and needles waiting for a decision. what the texas supreme court did was to temporarily put on hold that the victory that we got in the district court just last week and saying it needs more time but with every passing day and hour, she's running out of

time. so she's desperately hoping for a ruling from the texas supreme court. >> the texas attorney general argued that cox kuz does not need the criteria for medical exception, but tell me about the bar that texas places on this. is it the life of the mother? how does one prove it? i've talked to doctors who said by the time you can prove that the life of a mother is in danger, the mom could have died. >> right. the state of texas does have an exception in name. doctors across the state don't know what it means and they're afraid to rely on it. but there is an exception for either the patient's life is in danger or a substantial, for risk of irreversible damage to a major body function and it's clear that kate's reproductivity is a major body function. so you know, and if she is forced to give birth as ken

paxton is trying to force her to do, she may lose that, her fertility. look. the broader issue here and the thing that i think is the most shocking is ken paxton, who doesn't have a medical degree, has decided that he can practice medicine better than kate's doctors and better than, and can decide the law better than the trial court judge who actually decided it last week. so he has sent letters out threatening hospitals, threatening doctors, saying i don't care what the order even said last week. we're going to disregard that and you can be prosecuted. he's taking the rule of law and the practice of medicine into his own hands. the idea of a person suffering a medical crisis should have to go to court or to ken paxton and ask for permission for healthcare is ridiculous. >> the supreme court in texas is, well, excuse me, the supreme

court in three states now including arizona, are considering cases right now and in texas, this deadline involves threats as you point out, against hospitals and doctors. so are doctors just, you know, unwilling, afraid of lawsuits to take this on? >> right. wherever abortion is banned, there is a healthcare crisis that is unfolding. because the exceptions to these bans are written in such obscure and vague ways that doctors are afraid of relying on them. in texas alone, let's take a look at the penalties if a doctor relies on the exception and turns out to have been wrong. up to life in prison. hundreds of thousands o dollars in fines. loss of their medical license. what doctor, what rational doctor is going to put themselves out on the line without a court approval and understanding you know, especially if it's not super clear whether a patient needs

the exception. we think kate cox does here and a lower court judge agreed with her and yet the state of texas is threatening the doctors anyway. so of course, this is putting a huge chill on the provision of medically necessary healthcare all across the state of texas but it's not just in texas. that's why the center for reproductive rights has filed in tennessee, idaho and oklahoma. this is a crisis unfolding all across the nation. >> arizona, in fact, they're considering a hearing if it goes through, send arizona law back to 1864? a total ban? >> yeah. the arizona case will be watching and waiting to see what happens there. and arizona you know right now has a 15-week ban in place and these medical issues that arise in pregnancy often arise after that 15-week point.

so when people talk about you know, oh, some reasonable compromise about 15 weeks, that leaves people like kate cox in the lurch. still having to deal with medical crisis and situations that she's going through in texas right now. >> thank you so much, mark, for being with us today. and explaining this. >> thank you. and buying quiet. amid conflicts reports about how many israeli hostages have died in captivity, a "new york times" report details more about how they thought they were containing hamas. one of the authors of that stunning report joining us next. you're watching "andrea mitchell reports" only on msnbc. watchinl reports" only on msnbc more sher part of it to coventry for cash. even a term policy. even a term policy? even a term policy! find out if you're sitting on a goldmine. call coventry direct today at the number on your screen, or

visit coventrydirect.com. (christina) with verizon business unlimited, i get 5g, truly unlimited data, and unlimited hotspot data. so, no matter what, i'm running this kitchen. (vo) make the switch. it's your business. it's your verizon.

whenever you're hungry, there's a deal on the subway app. buy one footlong, get one 50% off in the subway app today. now that's a deal worth celebrating. man, what are you doing?! get it before it's gone on the subway app. ♪♪ dad and i finally had that talk. no, not that talk. about what the future looks like. for me. i may have trouble getting around, but i want to live in my home where i'm comfortable and my friends are nearby. i can do it with the help of a barber, personal shopper and exercise buddy. someone who can help me live right at home. life's good. when you have a plan.

♪ ♪

conditions in gaza are catastrophic according to international aid organizations and the united nations. they say 20 hostages have died in gaza. hamas is denying that. on the diplomatic front, no progress at all on getting any hostages out as pressure mounts from hostage families desperate to get their loved ones home. richard engel has more on the deteriorating humanitarian situation inside gaza. >> a senior u.n. official says

half of gazans are now starving. 91% of households go to bed hungry according to the world food program. >> overcrowded combined with the lack of adequate food, water, shelter, and plantation are creating the ideal conditions for diseases to spread. >> 12-year-old mohammed and his 8-year-old sister are sheltering in a school in rafah. we can't find the inhaler for my sister. i am hungry. we didn't eat for two days now, he says. >> and joining me now is richard engel from tel aviv. richard, the conditions just are appalling. there's no hope for any negotiations right now. tell me about the u.s. veto, also. the u.s. vetoed a u.n. resolution on friday night calling for a cease fire. their point is immediate cease fire would doom israel because

they could not go after hamas. but they were the only ones, i mean was the u.s. vetoing and the u.k. abstaining. >> reporter: and everybody else voting in favor of it. >> right. >> reporter: that has not gone unnoticed in gaza. around the arab world. this was initially proposed by the united arab emirates but many other countries wanted it as many others did. only two countries not expressing support. and the u.s. said that it vetoed because it didn't explicitly condemn hamas for the october 7th attacks and it didn't call for the hostages being released. but more in principle as you said, that it would stop things as they are and stop the offensive and that would not lead according to the u.s. position on this, to long-term stability in the region of a new

possibility for a two-state solution, but people who don't agree with that and that is many that i've been speaking to, thought that this is a crisis mode. what is happening in gaza is catastrophic. that every day, more and more people are dying. that you need to have a cease fire in order to start anew. in order to resume negotiations. in order to get the hostages out. we just spoke a short while ago to a hostage family member and a hostage who talked about the need right now to do everything possible to reach a cease fire. everything that can be done now because the hostages, all of the health of the hostages, are deteriorating with each day that passes. they're particularly concerned that we're now entering a holiday season and why that shouldn't matter to the hostages, they're worried about going into christmas, the new year, that people will move on. they're watching the story already dropping in the news

agenda and every day, every hour matters for the hostages. so the hostage families want the cease fire. many of the negotiators express deep disappointment that the u.s. put a veto on this resolution. they felt it was, well, it was very strong language, culpable of genocide. >> i want to ask you about conflicting reports, if you've been able to sort them out about some palestinian men. one version is they are fighters and are surrendering. i guess we have not yet verified and this is standard protocol. these are civilians being humiliated. could it be a combination of the two? what do you think is going on here? >> i think it's a, you nailed it on the head. a combination of the two. the pictures have been authenticated by the israeli military and they said that this was standard protocol. that these were military age men

who were detained in areas that were described as hamas strongholds and it is standard procedure in israel when approaching a terror suspect to make them take at least their shirt off. pants, not always. to see if they're carrying some sort of explosive device. palestinians say it was a collective act of humiliation. that also could be true because israel is trying to show it is in control of the gaza strip. that it is winning over hamas. it put up a flag in the center of gaza city. that's a symbolic act to show dominance. to show that israel controls terrain. so israel is trying to show that it is setting the rules. it determines what happens in gaza and israeli media reporting that many of those, most of those people in the photographs were questioned and then subsequently released. >> richard, as always, thank

you. and "the new york times" is reporting that the netanyahu government was aware of and approved of millions of dollars in aid to hamas from the governf qatar and believed it would buy them off and prevent a terror attack. but following the attacks, there were lots of questions abo how the plan backfired. the time is writing, quote -- prime minister netanyahu of israel not only tolerated those payments, he had encouraged them. allowing the payments, billions, actually, over roughly a decade, was a gamble by mr. netanyahu that a steady flow of money would maintain peace in gaza. the eventual launching point of course, the october 7th attacks, and keep hamas focused on governing, not fighting. joining me now is co-author of that important story, mark. correspondent for the "new york

times." mark, this is apparently been well reported in israel for quite some time. and we knew that some of the hamas leaders were living in doha. and being supported to keep communications going. but this is a more extensive involvement. >> right. what we showed in our story was the over years, the netanyahu government but not just netanyahu. it was military and intelligence leaders had this collective judgment that hamas was neither capable nor interested in doing the large scale attack we saw on october 7th. so with that assessment, they said well how do we quote what came to be known as buying peace. they allowed millions, even billions of dollars to come in from qatar to the gaza strip. some for humanitarian reasons. some for buying, paying salaries to various government functions, which now intelligence officials

assess likely were used to help plan and fund this type of attack on october 7th. so it was counterintuitive that on one hand, israel is bashing qatar and others are bashing qatar for funding hamas and yet they're blessing these secret payments. even encouraging them. >> it's the middle east, after all. >> that's right. there are episodes where netanyahu even would send his chief to doha when they were threatening to turn off payments because they were getting beaten up for them, to say stop. keep going, keep going. keep paying these off. and one time where netanyahu sent people to washington because republicans were pushing a bill through congress to sanction qatar for funding hamas. well, he sent mehsud and others to go and basically say no, no, no. the qataris are helping. it's counterintuitive. >> your ko author was involved in reporting there had been a warning on july 7th by

intelligence analysts. again, asleep at the switch. at least that unit in southern gaza. not taking reports seriously. one of the things that keeps coming up is how did hamas have such detailed knowledge of the defenses along the gaza border? and what occurs is that the policy of the last year or so of grants visas so the gazans could come and work in factories and agricultural in israel helped them economically. maybe that, you know, helped them gain a lot of intelligence how the border was defended is what some people are suggesting to me. >> there's certainly those questions of how did they know where to go. how did they know what might be weak points. the daily routines of the soldiers at some of the bases, that they would just be watching every day. well, it could be just from surveillance, from people who went over each day as laborers as part of this visa program.

these are the things that not only the press is still trying to learn, but also there will be a commission that will look at all of this. look at all of the failures. look at how hamas planned it and who really was to blame for the failures leading up to the attacks. >> mark, thank you so much. you and "the new york times" have been extraordinary on this. >> thank you. >> appreciate it. and ukraine's president zelenskyy is now speaking at the national defense university right here in washington starting his remarks just moments ago by calling putin's aggression the enemy of freedom. zelenskyy is here in washington as congress debates whether to send billions of aid on ukraine. we're monitoring zelenskyy's remarks. we'll bring you any news as it happens. and the legal hurdles. no court time for donald trump today as rudy giuliani's trial starts today. a jury has been reportedly chosen. the latest from the courtroom on the challenges for both men, next. you're watching "andrea mitchell reports." this is msnbc. g "andrea mitchell

reports. this is msnbc. that always puts you first. (we did it) start today at godaddy.com whenever you're hungry, there's a deal on the subway app. buy one footlong, get one 50% off in the subway app today. now that's a deal worth celebrating. man, what are you doing?! get it before it's gone on the subway app. ♪♪ somedays, i cover up because of my moderate to severe plaque psoriasis. now i feel free to bare my skin, thanks to skyrizi. ♪(uplifting music)♪ ♪nothing is everything♪ i'm celebrating my clearer skin... my way. with skyrizi, 3 out of 4 people achieved 90% clearer skin at 4 months. in another study, most people had 90% clearer skin, even at 5 years. and skyrizi is just 4 doses a year, after 2 starter doses. serious allergic reactions and an increased risk of infections or a lower ability to fight them may occur. tell your doctor if you have an infection or symptoms,

had a vaccine, or plan to. thanks to clearer skin with skyrizi - this is my moment. there's nothing on my skin and that means everything! ♪nothing is everything♪ now's the time. ask your doctor about skyrizi, the #1 dermatologist-prescribed biologic in psoriasis. learn how abbvie could help you save. he hits his mark —center stage—and is crushed by a baby grand piano. you're replacing me? customize and save with liberty bibberty. he doesn't even have a mustache. only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪ at bombas we make the comfiest socks, underwear, and t-shirts that feel good and most of all do good. because when you purchase one, we donate one to those in need.

visit bombas.com and shop our big holiday sale. bombas. give the good.

(carolers) ♪ iphone 15 pro, your husband deserves it! ♪ visit bombas.com and shop our big holiday sale. (mom) carolers? to tell me you want a new iphone? a better plan is verizon. (vo) it's your last chance to turn any iphone in any condition into a new iphone 15 pro with titanium and ipad and apple watch se - all on us. only on verizon. ♪♪ i was looking at my ancestry traits the other day. i figured it out why i never actually made the football team. yeah, because you're 5'8”. wait robbie, go look at the sprinter gene. i wonder if you have it or that's why you didn't make the team. let me see. let me pull it up. don't have it. yup, i knew it. what else does it tell you? no, hold on, i'm going to find some athletic gene in here. endurance, no. speed, average. i would say below average. give the gift of family heritage with ancestry.

and we have breaking news. special counsel jack smith's office -- the supreme court to immediately take action on a claim that he is immune. trump's lawyers argued his d.c. indictment should be dismissed and joining us now is former senior member, andrew weissman

and suzanne craig. so your reaction. i guess that was automatic? >> that is a very smart move on his part because there is a march 4th trial date. one of the exceptions with respect to appealing things. normally you have to wait for a trial to be over before you can appeal. that is not the case with respect by claims from donald trump that he enjoys presidential immunity with respect to all of the charges. it is also not the case with respect to his claim that double jeopardy can't be tried twice. now, the district court denied both in a very cogent opinion and that is now on appeal to the d.c. circuit, but there's an automatic stay that applies during that time. so that would jeopardize that march 4th trial date.

what jack smith has done is ask the supreme court of the united states to go ahead and decide the case now. in other words, leapfrog over the d.c. circuit. that is permitted under supreme court rules and one of the cases jack smith cites in supreme court doing that is united states versus nixon where the supreme court according to jack smith, did just that in order to expedite the hearing. while we all wait and see what the supreme court does, but this is a smart move on his part in order to try and maintain the march 4th trial date. >> then i guess ask, i should correct myself, how unusual is well, is nixon be the best president i guess to decide on presidential immunity. >> it is very unusual, this procedure of skipping over the d.c. circuit or any court appeals to go directly to the supreme court. it's unusual but it's done where

there's a need for expedition and in the nixon case where there was, there were also pending criminal investigations and claims with respect to presidential immunity, the supreme court did just that. so the supreme court at times does act quite quickly and that is clearly what jack smith is banking on. with respect to the merits of the case, i think that the sort of the betting is that the d.c. circuit and the supreme court will agree with the district court, but that's sort of beside the point because the real issue is delay. because if this takes a long time, they're long time, they'rg to lose the trial date. this is a case where putting a jury together could take months. judge chutkan has anticipated that. the reports are that she's already started that in terms of jury questionnaires.

that kind of delay could jeopardize this case actually going to trial before the general election which is why what jack smith is doing is a smart move in terms of timing. >> suzanne, why did donald trump decide not to testify in the new york trial? that had been his lawyer's advice according to his lawyer, but does this mean the state rests sooner than we thought? i know there's no court today, because he's not testifying? >> that's right. the court is dark today. there was anticipation that he would. in the end, there was a calculation made. he had nothing to gain by coming into the court and potentially something to lose, which is to upset the judge that he's in front of even more. he was up at the very beginning. he was examined by the government lawyers, and it didn't go well. i mean it was -- there was fury at times, and the judge was angry at him. it was a spectacle. i think they saw coming into this this really was nothing to

gain. i think he could have potentially done more damage. just to remind everybody, there's been a summary judgment in this case. so the judge has already made a ruling that he's libel and will be facing financial penalties up to and perhaps up to $250 million. by going in today, he could have further ticked off the judge really. i think they made a decision, let's stand down. remember last week eric trump was scheduled to testify, and he also stood down. i think they're hoping for an end to this at this point. we're going see now going into this week, there's going to be another -- probably the final witness now on donald trump's side, an expert witness that had been up last week who is testifying to these financial statements that are in question. he's saying that they're fine and looked great. they're going to wrap that up tomorrow. i think we're going to see a few rebuttal witnesses and those are witnesses that will be called by

the government i think to address points that have have been brought up during the defense's case. then we roll through christmas. there's going to be briefs due in early january and closing arguments. it looks like right now january 11th. after that i would think it will take the judge several weeks to come to a decision. i think we're looking at end of january, early february for the final conclusion of this case. to put an asterisk on that, i have a strong sense this will head to the appeals court. this actual proceeding will be wrapped up probably end of january, early february. >> andrew weissmann, briefly, the giuliani case, the defamation case, a jury of eight has been seated. the judge already found that rudy giuliani is liable. this is the two women in georgia, mother and daughter, seeking over $400 million in

damages. >> this is a defamation case where liability has been found, and the jury is going to start hearing evidence at 1:30 today, is going to decide damages. whether they're compensatory damaged, out-of-pocket loss and punitive damages. they will decide the amount. this is a civil case. it's worth remembering that what happened to them is also part of the criminal case in jack smith's d.c. federal criminal trial and also fani willis' state criminal trial where rudy giuliani himself faces criminal exposure with respect to these allegations and others. but this is a civil trial. rudy giuliani fought the case being heard by a jury. that was rejected. that's why you have this jury of eight having been impaneled this morning, about to hear evidence starting at 1:30 today.

>> busy time in the courts. thank you very much. thanks suzanne and andrew. class dismissed. the university of pennsylvania's president stepping down. could the presidents of m.i.t. and har very be next? you're watching "andrea mitchell reports." this is msnbc. watching "andreal reports. this is msnbc. o our advisor and vanguard. now i see who all that hard work was for... it was always for you. seeing you carry on our legacy— i'm so proud. at vanguard, you're more than just an investor, you're an owner. setting up the future for the ones you love. that's the value of ownership. nexium 24hr prevents heartburn acid for twice as long as pepcid. get all-day and all-night heartburn acid prevention with just one pill a day. choose acid prevention. choose nexium.

you're probably not easily persuaded to switch choo mobile providersn. for your business. but what if we told you it's possible that comcast business mobile can save you up to 75% a year on your wireless bill versus the big three carriers? did we peak your interest? you can get two unlimited lines for just $30 each a month. there are no term contracts or line activation fees. and you can bring your own device. oh, and all on the most reliable 5g mobile network nationwide.

wireless that works for you. it's not just possible, it's happening. new fallout today from the congressional hearings on anti-semitism on college campuses from last week. university of pennsylvania president liz magill resigned after her testimony sparked outrage. pressure is mounting on m.i.t. and harvard. >> so the answer is yes, that calling for the genocide of jews violates harvard code of conduct, correct? >> again, it depends on the context -- >> it does not depend on the context. the answer is yes, and this is why you should resign.

>> after the resignation of the penn president saturday night, congresswoman stefanik who questioned all three of them wrote on x, formerly known as twitter, "one down, two to go." i should note i have been a voting trustee at the university of pennsylvania for the last seven years but i do remain active as an alumna. joining me is nbc's stephanie gosk. stephanie, harvard's corporation, their board, five or six members compared to penn, up to 50 members, they're meeting today. what are we hearing from harvard where 400 faculty members have come out in support of their president, where the faculty traditionally has a great deal of power in their structure? >> it's an interesting dynamic. we haven't heard from the corporation which, as you say, is small. when it comes to m.i.t., you had the corporation at m.i.t. express support for sally kornbluth last week on friday as all this z was happening.

i would put that separate from the kind of pressure being put on dr. claudine gay at harvard. this is fairly remarkable. you have 687 members of the faculty who aren't -- it's a letter they have all signed which is less wholesale support of dr. gay and really putting pressure on the corporation to act independently. they want the corporation to see the value in the education process being independent from the political process. these presidents obviously caught up in the political process and a lot of what they said in those hearings. harvard, a good portion of them, say they they need to assert their independence when it comes to the leadership of our university. >> the faculties at these universities, critics will say that's part of the problem, they're woke and too much

politics there. the faculties, the academics say there's too much pressure from donors. we heard that in the hearing. >> yes. it's also worth pointing out while it was harvard, m.i.t. and penn's presidents there for the hearing, this is an issue being dealt with by every university and college in higher education in this country. the questions are serious and everyone is grappling with them. >> stephanie, it's a tough issue. thanks for kofshg it. that does it for this edition of "andrea mitchell reports." remember, follow the show on social media @mitchellreports. "chris jansing reports" starts right now. good day. i'm chris jansing live at msnbc headquarters in new york city. in an