american history and principles taught in civics education. >> all right, news week's tom rogers and founder of the common good, patricia duff, thank you both so much. and speaking of compromising and everybody coming to the, first of all, susan page, thank you so much for your kind, moving words, greatly appreciate it. and for people that are watching and are uninitiated and they don't know, eddie and i love each other, respect each other, and we've even gotten each other out of jams before on -- i forget what that app was called, eddie, but we shouldn't have been talking on that app. but love and respect to you, eddie, same with reverend al. >> i try to bring us together. i try to bring us together. i'm pastoring both of you this morning. >> you always do and all the people said -- >> amen. >> amen. >> and eddie, i'm waiting for

your assignment for me. >> i got you, i got a whole syllabus for you, doc. >> all right, you send it to me, buddy. all right, love you. >> love you too. have a great weekend and ana cabrera picks up our coverage right now. and right now on "ana cabrera reports," breaking news out of georgia, a court hearing happening right now on the latest bid by mark meadows to move his fulton county case to federal court. will trump's former chief of staff succeed this time? plus, a jury deliberating now in rudy giuliani's defamation case, what jurors have asked the court and what giuliani could have to pay. also ahead, president biden's national security adviser in the middle east this morning as the white house presses israel to move into a new phase in its war against hamas. and later, keir simmons' exclusive interview with the spokesman for the kremlin, what

dmitry peskov said about the possibility for a prisoner swap with the u.s. happy friday. it is 10:00 eastern. i'm ana cabrera reporting from new york. we begin with that breaking news out of georgia where former white house chief of staff mark meadows is trying again this morning to move his case there in fulton county from state court to federal court. a three-judge panel on the 11th circuit court of appeals just hearing oral arguments, meadow s is one of 19 co-defendants originally charged in that sprawling election interference case involving former president trump. he's trying to invoke a 200-year-old statute to move his case, arguing that the alleged criminal conduct was part of his official duties in the white house. joining us from atlanta is nbc's blayne alexander, katie phang, anchor of the katie phang show, gwen keys, and former federal

prosecutor paul butler. blayne, we didn't get to see these arguments, but we did hear them. walk us through what just happened. >> reporter: so ana, what we heard for the better part of 30 to 40 minutes or so was this kind of back and forth between meadows' attorneys and the d.a.'s office, and of course a lot of questioning from judges. the central argument for all of this is that meadows says that basically everything he did while he was the white house chief of staff fell under those duties. in fact, during today's hearing, it kind of harkened back to meadows' testimony a few months ago. he was on the stand for three hours and essentially described that, you know, his duties as chief of staff were anything and everything and in between. basically whatever the president needed and wanted. we already know that judge jones shot down that argument basically saying, no, we were acting more toward the trump campaign than you were as chief of staff. that's why this case shouldn't be removed. this was at the center of today's appeals hearg. i want to play for you a little bit of the exchange betwe george ter willinger and the

judges questioning him on this. take a look. >>or purposes of removal, he doesn't have to establish the outer limits of his office. he merely has to establish the nexus t his duties, and his contdied testimony -- >> but the problem -- but t problem here. i'm sorry, the problem here is that he wasn't able to -- according to him it seems like everything was within his official duties, and that just cannot be right. >> reporter: now, ana, i know that you'll get into of course the legalities of the hearing today and the arguments there, but i think it's very important to remind our viewers why he's trying to remove this to federal court in the first place. if he's able to do that. he's able to basically try and claim immunity and basically get those charges moved away because you could say he was acting as a federal officer. even if that immunity claim doesn't work, he would also have other benefits. he would likely be able to draw from a larger, perhaps more favorable jury pool if this were tried in federal court instead of just in the fulton county

court. fulton county is a blue county. if you come to federal court, you would be drawing from the entire northern district of georgia, which includes red counties as well. the other thing, and this would be a small thing, but certainly something has under consideration, if it's tried in federal court, there are no tv cameras inside. >> blayne, thank you. keep us posted as this develops. katie, one of the concerns raised by the judge was the chilling effect this may have and in response, the georgia lawyer said, quote, perhaps it would be best for the country and the office of the presidency if certain individuals were chilled from taking certain actions. your reaction to sna. >> yeah, ana, there were a, you know, let's slide those kind of insinuations in during today's oral arguments. i want to set the table very quickly. there were three judges that we heard today from the 11th circuit, judge pryor who is one

of the oldest e and kind of relatively in the middle is judge rosenbaum, your question is a good one. the way that the statute is currently looked at, does it necessarily cover people that are former federal officers versus current federal officers. that took up a lot of the oral arguments today. mark meadows clearly a former federal officer. judge rosenbaum asking current offices versus former officers shouldn't congress maybe get involved to decide whether or not if a statute doesn't include language to cover those, former officers and the answer is yes, obviously. that's congress's duty, judge rosenbaum showing we really need to stay in our lanes when it comes to the executive branch, and the judiciary. if you are currently an officer serving in an administration, if you're a federal officer, if you knew that you had exposure when you left that office for the dutys that you undertook in that office, would it have a chilling effect on what you decided to do. that was the basis of that

question. what's interesting is that answer that you just read which is maybe certain people that hold office should have a chilling effect in terms of what they decide to do. as we've seen, mark meadows has taken the position, an untenable one according to these judges that everything he did when he was white house chief of staff is federally authorized and covered duties. and we've seen the judge steve jones on the trial court level say, no, it's not. >> exactly. this is before the appeals court now, gwen, the district court judge had ruled back in september that meadows didn't meet the legal burden for demonstrating that this case should be removed out of fulton county, removed from a state court and put into a federal court, so is there any reason to think these three judges on the appeals court would feel differently? >> i don't think so, but obviously we'll wait and have to see what they decide. let's go back and remember the evidence that steve jones heard and what is alleged in the indictment. mr. meadows is alleged to have

offered campaign resources, money and funding, to expedite the count. he made arrangements for the former president to have direct contact with the georgia secretary of state during that infamous call. those are things -- and we know for a fact that elections are squarely within the role of our state officials. there is no official role for the president or any member of his team, and so when we look at the underlying conduct, it seems to me, and again, as a former chief of staff myself, these are campaign activities, which recent courts have said are outside the bounds of one's federal role, and therefore, i think there's a good basis for this bench to deny the motion and allow mr. meadows to be tried in state court as the d.a. intends. >> so paul, just to be clear, ads is relying on this 234-year-old federal removal statute, which allows federal

officials charged with state crimes to are transfer them to federal court, if the alleged criminal behavior was carried out as part of a person's official duties. so what do you think of meadows' argument that he was just helping president trump and his chief of staff duties, like setting up that phone call with georgia's secretary of state. >> ana, that's a losing argument. the trial judge said that when meadows did things like set up that call for trump to beg and threaten for those 11,780 more votes that wasn't part of his work of being chief of staff. i think the court of appeals will agree, even if he gets the case moved, it's extremely unlikely that a federal judge would dismiss the charges. meadows is making this extraordinarily broad immunity claim and courts haven't even bought that from former president trump.

>> gwen, if meadows were to win, the other thing here is others are trying to move their cases too to federal court, so maybe others would follow. if it were to move to federal court, how does it change the case for prosecutors? >> i think it's just like blayne said, there are various advantages to the defense if it's moved to federal court. there are no cameras. they have the benefit of getting jurors from a broader and possibly more red cadre of citizens and residents in the northern district of georgia, but i still believe the prosecutors will vigorously go forward with the case and present all of the evidence. remember, now they have the benefit of testimony from at least four co-defendants, possibly more, that either have entered pleas or may enter pleas in the future, so each and every day the d.a.'s case is getting stronger here and whether she tries it in state court or

federal court, i think she's very confident in the case she's going to put forward. >> speaking of plea deals, katie, four defendants in this case have taken plea des. they agree to write an apology letter to the citizens of fulton county as part of those deals and the atlanta journal constitution managed to get their hands on three of those letters. one of them is from jenna ellis who already read hers in court. remember this? >> if i knew then what i know now, i would have declined to represent donald trump in these post-election challenges. i look back on this whole experience with deep remorse. i now take responsibility before this court and apologize to the people of georgia. >> she was tearful and seemed heartfelt, but let me read the others to you. they're just one sentence each. this from sidney powell. i apologize for my actions in connection with the events in coffee county. that's t. and here's the apology from kenneth chesebro.

i apologize to the citizens of the state of georgia and of fulton county for my involvement in count 15 of the indictment. katie, your reaction? >> i think i tweeted last night that my dog has more remorseful looks than those apology letters. i mean, listen, fani willis can take them as they are. these were conditions of the plea agreements that these defendants reached. whether jenna ellis meant it or not with the crocodile tears. we'll see, maybe when push comes to shove and she's called to testify against people like donald trump at trial, but the one sentence apologies, they didn't really move the needle for me. we also know, ana, don't we, that sidney powell is still running around claiming that she was kind of bullied into taking this plea. kenneth chesebro, i will give him a little bit of credit, he is cooperaing with authorities in other states when it concerns the fake elector schemes investigated in those other states. to that end perhaps kenneth

chesebro is still making amends on his retribution tour. these were conditions of the plea agreements that these defendants reached. apparently the d.a.'s office found them to be satisfactory, but i think the real question is how good were those recorded proffers that they were required to give as well, and how good is their testimony going to be should these cases go to trial. >> but gwen, still, a one-sentence apology letter, is that what the d.a. had in mind in this plea deal? do you sense any remorse? >> i highly doubt that that's what the d.a. had in mind, but to katie's point, that's why we have the vary proffers that were on video, some of which have been leaked already, so we know that they are much more substantive and could go to the elements of the crime that the d.a. has the burden to prove at trial. so while these one line or one sentence apologies may check the box, i am confident that the d.a. and their team have gotten what they needed through the various video proffers and we'll

have to wait and see and confirm that at trial. >> gwen keyey, katie phang, thank you ladies. when we come back in 60 seconds, the fate of the man once known as america's mayor, what the jury has asked for as they're deliberating in rudy giuliani's defamation case. plus, the white house national security adviser in the middle east, what he's saying this morning about a path forward for freeing more hostages. also, an nbc news exclusive interview with vladimir putin's spokesman, the type of leader he says russia would like to see in the white house. and later, taking a page out of santa's book, how to ensure your special delivery makes it in time for christmas. in time for christmas.

a few years ago, i came to saona, they told me there's no electricity on the island. we always thought that whatever we did here would be an emblem of what small communities can achieve. trying to give a better life to people that don't have the means to do it. si mi papá estuviera vivo, sé que él tuviera orgulloso también de vivir de esta viviendo una vida como la que estamos viviendo ahora. es electricidad aquí es salud. also happening right now in federal court, jurors at this moment are weighing how much rudy giuliani will have to pay

two former georgia election workers that he defamed with lies and conspiracy theories about the 2020 election. prosecutors urged jurors to, quotes send a message with the amount of damages they ordered giuliani to pay. giuliani, notably, did not take the stand himself, but in closing arguments, his defense team urged jurors to remember the good giuliani that he's done in his life, invoking 9/11, his work against the mob in new york. they called him a good man but admitted he did commit wrongful conduct. let's get right to nbc's ryan reilly outside the courthouse, and back with us former federal prosecutor paul butler. jurors sent a note during deliberations yesterday, what can you tell us about that? and what are we watching for right now? >> reporter: they were asking for a powerpoint presentation that laid out essentially what the damages were in the view of the plaintiffs to their reputations, how much it would cost to repair those reputations. because that powerpoint wasn't

introduced into evidence, it's not something they were able to give them. there's other information they can look at. typically there's expert reports. but basically what it means is that eight people are sitting in a room right now trying to come one a few numbers, right? they're all trying to figure out what exactly is due, how much of this would be required to repair the reputations of the two women who giuliani defamed and potentially any punitive damages. we're just talking about how many millions here really is what this ultimately is. rudy giuliani's defense attorney is trying to reduce that to a small of a number as it can. during the closing arguments here, you basically heard him center in on what the damages were in terms of their life and comparing them to these other cases, the johnny depp defamation case, for example, where that stood and said their reputations weren't worth as much. that gave the plaintiffs more material to push back on, suggesting that just because

they aren't famous celebrities that their lives aren't worth it and their reputations aren't worth somethingsignificant. they'll never go back to what they were before this because of these lies that were spread after the 2020 election. >> as ryan explained, this cincinnati typical guilty or not guilty decision, of course it's civil court to begin with but the judge has found giuliani liable for defamation so what exactly do the jurors have to consider as they decide how much he'll have to pay up? >> so ana, when jurors asked the judge if they can see the expert witness powerpoint when the expert witness talked about the level of damage, that's a really good sign for shaye moss and ruby freeman. the expert witness testified that it would cost up to $47 million each to repair their reputation, and so that suggests

that the jury might be considering even a higher number than the 4 million that they're asking for for each plaintiff. >> wow, that is a lot of money, which i'm going to circle back to in just a second with you, paul, but ryan, we have some exhibits that jurors are looking at as evidence in this trial as they make this decision. what do you think stands out? >> reporter: they really some terrible messages that were played for the plaintiffs here. this set off this racist onslaught. we actually have a voice mail if you take a listen. >> you're g to jail, ruby. you're goi tget locked up, ruby. that's election fraud, ruby. what was on the usb drive, ruby? you're all going to [ bleep ] jail, you piece of [ bleep ]. >> reporter: so that usb drive that was mentioned there was not a usb drive.

that was a ginger mint, and actually, during closing arguments, the attorney for ruby freeman and shaye moss actually had a ginger mint with him. that's what this was all about. during her testimony, ruby freeman said she had ginger mint still on her. she talked about how the judge had been coughing the day before and that she wanted to offer a ginger mint to her at that point. just i mean, the testimony was just extremely powerful. we saw a taste of that obviously before the january 6th committee with shaye moss testifying, but hearing what they've gone through since these lies were spread about them was really devastating and i think it would have an impact on the jurors, ana. >> yeah, crying on the stand, talking about being afraid to use your real name, to show your face, having depression and stress disorders, and so, paul, giuliani could end up owing tens of millions of dollars as you just discussed, but his financial troubles are long documented. does he have any money?

he's already on the hook for unpaid taxes. the irs has put a lien on his property in florida. he's listed, he slashed the price of his new york city apartment and his consulting firm defaulted on a debt for a phone bill. so what happens if giuliani can't pay? >> then the creditors have to line up, so he's not what lawyers call judgment proof, meaning he does have some money. his property holdings are quite extensive, and so he could be forced to sell that property and pay up everybody he owes including shaye moss and ruby freeman. again, in this trial the judge has already decided that he's liable. the question is just how much. and so unfortunately, moss and freeman will have to get in a long line with giuliani's other creditors including some of his lawyers.

but at some point, hopefully they will receive the money that the judge has already ruled their entitled to that they deserve for the extreme pain that giuliani caused. to show you how pitiful his defense is, ana, his lawyers have the nerve to argue that because president biden awarded moss and freeman the national medal of honor based on what they've been through, giuliani's lawyers argued that what that -- what their client did actually enhanced moss and freeman and their reputation because they got that medal. that's a pathetic argument, and i think the jurors in the district of columbia are likely to let giuliani know how pathetic that argument is with the damages that they returned. >> paul butler and ryan reilly, thank you, gentlemen, ryan keep us posted if there's any rumblings of a verdict, we'll be

watching intently. up next on "ana cabrera reports," the new message to president biden from israel about its large scale ground invasion. but are they listening. sobering new comments from the white house national security adviser about the path forward to release more hostages. ath forward to release more hostages not a phone. get a free, $30 egift card at chewy. this is better than toilet paper get great deals on gifts that deliver excitement, at chewy. (man) mm, hey, honey. looks like my to-do list grew. "paint the bathroom, give baxter a bath, get life insurance," hm. i have a few minutes. i can do that now. oh, that fast? remember that colonial penn ad? i called and i got information. they sent the simple form i need to apply. all i do is fill it out and send it back. well, that sounds too easy! (man) give a little information, check a few boxes, sign my name, done. they don't ask about your health?

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an end to the sweeping ground invasion in gaza and for israel to move on to more targeted attacks against hamas. that's according to two u.s. officials familiar with discussions. this message as national security adviser jake sullivan meets with prime minister netanyahu and other top israeli officials and just gave this rather bleak assessment on more talks to free hostages. >> i have worked tirelessly along side the president, director burns, brett mcgurk and others, with the qataris and other government officials to secure the release of more than 100 hostages already and now to begin to explore what is possible in terms of another phase of hostage releases. i don't have any news to report today unfortunately because there is not yet a clear path forward. >> let's bring in nbc news correspondent hala gorani in tel aviv, israel, our white house correspondent allie raffa and retired u.s. army general steph

twitty. let's start with the new message from the white house to israel to be more targeted in its fight against hamas. what are you hearing? >> reporter: yeah, ana, good morning. this is a major shift that u.s. officials are asking very delicately but nonetheless still very publicly of their israeli counterparts, asking them to end their large scale ground assaults in gaza and asking them to be more targeted and more specific in their attacks against hamas. and we saw national security adviser jake sullivan in the region yesterday and today in a press conference earlier saying that he wasn't there to lecture prime minister netanyahu but he wanted to stress how important it was for the israelis to focus more on targeting hamas's leadership and their intelligence operations over the bombing that we have seen take the lives of so many innocent civilians. this is all in an effort to protect innocent civilian life as we see reports from the

hamas-run health ministry in gaza, a report nearly 20,000 deaths since this war began. the president himself talking tougher on this issue, warning earlier this week that israel was losing support globally because of what he called a, quote, indiscriminate bombing. here's what he said yesterday to reporters when asked whether he wanted israel to scale back its assault. listen here. >> i want them to be focused on how to save civilian lives, not stop going after hamas but be more careful. >> reporter: as far as a time line for these changes, ana, that's a very delicate layer to all of this because we saw the israeli defense minister say earlier this week that this war could take several more months as israel continues targets hamas, and that's something that u.s. officials say is consistent with what the israelis have been saying since the beginning of this war. so u.s. officials aren't giving a specific time line on when they want to see these changes

implemented, but the israelis no doubt walking out of these meetings knowing that there are more eyes and more scrutiny on their actions moving forward, ana. >> all right, allie raffa, thank you. so general, what do you think israel could do differently in their tactical approach to be more targeted? >> yeah, i think a couple of things, ana. you mentioned 40 to 40% of the bombs that the israelis have been firing have been dumb bombs. they need to transition to precision-guided munitions, and because gaza is so dense, even precision guided munitions could still cause significant damage and significant casualties, and so what i think the administration is trying to do is actually transition them to intelligence driven operations or special operating forc would primarily conduct these attacks

and they would do surgical attacks more so than -- attacks, that could reduce the rationalities on the battlefield. that's what i think the israelis need to move towards. >> how surprised were you to learn that nearly half of all the israeli bombs dropped in gaza right now are those less precise, unguided dumb bombs? again, this is part of the intel that we're learning, and according to two sources familiar with that intel. i mean, explain what those dumb bombs are. why do you think they've been relying on them? >> i have to say, i was extremely surprised. when you're operating in an urban environment, as you know, the intent is to reduce collateral damage and prevent casualties occurring on the battlefield with the civilian population. in order to do that, you must use precision guided munitions. you must do surgical attacks because you've got to keep the

population first and foremost. and so hopefully the israelis have received the message, reduce the dumb bombs, do more precision guided attacks, do more precision guided special operating missions in order to reduce the casualty levels. >> hala, what more can you tell us about the message we're hearing from jake sullivan and the state of freeing hostages? >> reporter: yeah, so jake sullivan is saying he's neither pessimistic nor optimistic, which sounds a lot like diplo speak. he did say that his meeting with the mu sad chief in tel aviv went twice as long as planned. the trip to qatar that happened in the past and resulted in deals to release the hostages a few weeks ago was canceled. we understand. that's something we can't confirm. we have an interesting development coming from the prime minister's office here in israel that as part of the agreement to release the

abductees, israel is saying that it will open for transit the kerem shalom crossing, which is another crossing into gaza from israeli territory as opposed to just relying on the rafah crossing on the egyptian side. this will allow the number of trucks to double from 100 to 200 a day, and it's interesting that the wording is about framing it as part of the agreement to release the hostages. so in other words, it does appear as though these sensitive talks, as jake sullivan has termed them, to come to some sort of agreement to release another batch of hostages may be yielding some sort of result. operative word here, ana, maybe, because we don't have confirmation. the qataris have been quite mum, the qatari sources we've been speaking to about whether or not there is any kind of significant progress. the fact that this announcement is coming from the prime minister's office tonight, date after the jake sullivan visit is

quite significant, so we'll see if in the next few days this yields some results on that hostage release front, ana. >>ala gorani and general steph twitty, appreciate you, thank youo much. meantime, we are going to head overseas to some terror arrests across europe, we're learning about, law enforcement arresting three people in germany and a fourth in the netherlands all suspected to be hamas operatives with close ties to hamas leadership. they're accused of trying to build an underground arsenal in berlin acting on orders from hamas leadership. in denmark, three others were also arrested on suspicion of planning attacks on jewish institutions in europe, still not clear whether the arrests in denmark are linked to those arrests in germany and the netherlands. next on "ana cabrera reports, nbc's exclusive interview with vladimir putin's spokesperson, how moscow views the west's division over further aid to ukraine. plus, digging deeper into

that funding fight, the senate delaying its holiday recess to work on an immigration deal that would include aid for ukraine. are they making any progress?

a war orchestrated by the u.s. against russia. that is how kremlin spokesperson dmitry peskov is characterizing the war in ukraine this morning. in a new, exclusive interview with nbc's keir simmons, as this war approaches its two-year mark with no clear end in sight. and keir's joining us now from moscow. keir, what more can you tell us about your interview? >> reporter: let's get straight to it, ana, we had an uncompromising rhetoric from president putin yesterday. today his spokesman telling me that the kremlin would like to see someone more can constructive in the white house. remember former president trump had said he could solve the ukraine crisis in a day. i asked dmitry peskov about that.

take a listen. >> president trump? >> i have no doubt that president putin will be ready to work with anyone who is ready to work with him, and he will be ready to work with anyone who would understand that from now on you have to be more careful with russia, and you have to take into account. >> reporter: dmitry peskov saying that the kremlin would like to talk with washington but on russia's terms, and clearly, that is where the challenge is to put it lightly. >> and also, we're following developments involving the eu, hungary blocking the european union funding that was supposed to go to ukraine for this war. what more can you tell us about that? >> reporter: that's right. and of course you remember that president zelenskyy went to

washington and had a very difficult time, hasn't secured billions of dollars more from the u.s. either. i asked dmitry peskov about how russia is viewing all of that. >> what did president putin make of president zelenskyy going to washington not able to secure the billions of dollars in extra funding, not able to hold a news conference with speaker johnson. >> listen, america is strongly involved in this conflict, american european countries, supplying ukraine with weapons, you are becoming a part of this conflict, willingly or unwilling ly, and you have to understand -- you have to understand your responsibility for that. you are making this conflict longer. i mean, america is simply throwing money to a wind, you're just spending money of your

taxpayers and you are getting involved in this conflict deeper and deeper. >> but you accept that so far america -- >> this is a great mistake of washington actually. >> reporter: i made the point to him, ana, of course, that american support has enabled ukraine to fight that brave fight against russian forces, of course, he rejected that, ana. >> interesting conversation, keir, thank you for bringing us your interview. members of the u.s. house are headed home for the holidays, but the senate is staying past its scheduled holiday recess. the hope is to move along these contentious border negotiations holding up president biden's high priority aid package for ukraine as well as israel, and as politics play out in congress, officials continue to apprehend migrants at record levels at the border. our senior capitol hill correspondent garrett haake joins us now from the hill. garrett, at the beginning of the week, democrats criticized

republicans' border proposals calling them cruel. has there been any compromise? >> reporter: talks appear to be making progress. but the idea that the talks could get to a compromise before the end of the year seems farfetched. this small group of senators who have been working on this issue continue to work on it even now. the dhs secretary, alejandro mayorkas has been spotted in the capitol today. the senators have welcomed the involvement of the white house, which they feel like has been a pivotal step in moving closer to a deal, and kyrsten sinema, the former democrat, now independent who's trying to peel off the most amenable members on both sides of the aisle to form a coalition to get this done struck a slightly more conciliatory tone about how she hopes democrats are looking at this question of border policies going forward. here's what she told my colleague julie tsirkin yesterday. >> what's unimaginably cruel are the folks and the images that we see of folks and families

sitting in the desert, you know, down at lukeville, there were individuals who were sitting out in the desert without access to rest rooms, without food, without water waiting to be processed by customs and border control because we don't have enough person to manage that inflow. that is a humanitarian crisis. >> reporter: i think if there is a compromise here that's probably part of how you'll hear democrats talk about it, the idea that this is, you know, this is a solution. it's a fix, it's not a hardening. you're going to hear very different rhetoric about very similar proposals if they get there. still very much an open question. >> garrett, let me ask you about this new bill passed on the hill and headed to the president's desk that will require congressional approval for the u.s. to withdraw from nato? why are we seeing this right now? >> this was a provision tucked away in the giant defense authorization bill that passes every year. it's really all about donald trump. you'll remember during the trump administration, the former president complained all the time about nato suggesting that

they were ripping off the u.s. and that the united states ought to just get out of it. that alarmed democrats and republicans alike, and so you saw this provision kind of slip into this bill here that would make that much harder. now, there are questions about the constitutionality of tieing the president's hands in this way, but it sends a strong signal from congress that at the very least, there would be a massive fight over a future president trump trying to follow up on the former president's threats. ana. >> garrett haake, thanks so much for all of those updates. and this hour, former first lady melania trump making a rare public appearance and some remarks at the national archives for naturalization ceremony for 25 immigrants. mrs. trump was invited in her official capacity as former first lady to speak at this event, but it is somewhat surprising for her to be speaking at this venue specifically considering just under two years ago the national archives asked the justice department to investigate her husband's handling of official documents. next on "ana cabrera

reports," the new plan to take down a dark reminder of the tragic killing of four university of idaho students. plus, the extreme weather you could be in for this weekend. extreme weather you could be in for this weekend. electricity on the island. we always thought that whatever we did here would be an emblem of what small communities can achieve. trying to give a better life to people that don't have the means to do it. si mi papá estuviera vivo, sé que él tuviera orgulloso también de vivir de esta viviendo una vida como la que estamos viviendo ahora. es electricidad aquí es salud.

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we're back with a new twist in idaho where the defense team for accused quadruple murderer bryan kohberger has been given access to the home where he's accused of slaughtering four

university of i'd students last year. this final opportunity to comb through the property for evidence comes the week before demolition of that site is set to begin. even as the victims' families have pushed to preserve the home. nbc's senior legal correspondent laura jarrett has more. laura? >> the families of the victims want that house as painful as it is to stay up at least until the man accused of that grisly crime that took their four children can stand trial. but the school clearly decided in a case with no trial date set, they can't wait any longer. it is a haunting reminder of an unthinkable tragedy, but soon the house at 1122 ken road will stand no more. the university of idaho announcing plans to demolish the house on december 28th. its president saying in a statement, while we appreciate the emotional connection some family members of the victims may have to this house, it is time for its removal, and to allow the collective healing of our community to continue.

the family of victim kaylee goncalves responding to the news on facebook writing, she undied in that house but more importantly kaylee lived a fun happy life in that house when the house is torn down, it will be a very sad day for me. teams from bryan kohberger's defense visiting the house on thursday and returning today telling the university they intend to take photographs, measurements and possibly gather drone footage of the house in preparation for kohberger's trial, which still has no trial date. it was inside these walls that the four students were found stabbed to death in november of 2022. the victims' families called for the house to remain standing throughout the impending trial. >> the house is evidence, probably one of the biggest pieces of evidence. >> reporter: the fbi went to the house in late october, the university saying they asked to gather information that will let them create a physical model of

the home for trial, so prosecutors can map out what they say happened that night. a knife sheath, police say, they recovered from the bed where kaylee and madison were found dead on the third floor of the home. prosecutors allege that kohberger's dna was a statistical match to dna taken from the knife sheath. according to court papers, one of the two survivoring roommates was in her own bedroom on the second floor where zanna and ethan were killed. she told police she saw a man in black clothes and a mask walking past her, and that she stood frozen as that man walked toward the sliding glass door, leading out of that house. meanwhile, the university of idaho campus turning a new leaf in a new year. >> we're there for one another. we care for one another. we support one another. >> as for kohberger, a judge entered a not guilty plea on his behalf back in may. he said through a former attorney, he believes he will be exonerated.

back to you. >> laura jarrett, thanks. according to the climate prediction center, there is a 54% chance this winter's el nino could be one of the strongest in 70 years and could intensify to a rare super el nino. meaning more storms, flooding and heavy snow. this news as we are watching a storm system set to intensify this weekend as it tracksm the gulf of mexico up the east coast. flood alerts and wind alerts are already in place for parts of florida and are expected to expand later today with severe thunderstorms and coastal flooding. next on "ana cabrera reports," you may soon be out of luck for getting those christmas gifts shipped in time. we have the holiday deadlines that are fast approaching. and the new economic milestone that may have you adding a house to your wish list. adding a house to your wish list on car insurance with liberty mutual.” he hits his mark —center stage— and is crushed by a baby grand piano. are you replacing me?

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holidays. mortgage rates have finally fallen below 7% for first time since august. and now with the fed signaling it may interest rates next year, those rates could potentially keep coming down. and hold on to your wallets. gas prices are slaying this holiday season. gas prices have now dropped to an average of $3.09 a gallon according to aaa. and that is the cheapest gas has been since last year. there are just ten days left to finish your christmas shopping. and if you're not relying on santa's sleigh, sending things by mail could be a problem because those shipping deadlines are coming up even faster. nbc's marissa parra is at a u.p.s. store in coral springs, florida, for us. what are the deadlines we need to know about, marissa? >> reporter: you can see some of santa's elves behind me.

you thought they were at the north pole, no, they're at coral spring springs, hard at work making sure your presents get to where they need to be. the soonest deadline is ground shipping for fedex. let's say you can't make it by end of business today, fear not, there is alternatives. you can still do same day shipping until next friday. the additional prices, you may end up paying more for shipping than the actual cost of the present itself. let's talk about u.p.s., the soonest deadline there, three-day select, that deadline is tuesday the 19th. it depends where you're sending from and where you're sending to. and usps, you want to send that holiday card to your friends, your family, that deadline for ground shipping is saturday, december 16th. so, ana, what i've been saying all day today, there is no time like the present to send off those presents. santa and elves are busy enough. let's try not to make it harder for them. >> what should people be thinking about to make sure packages don't run into any issues along the way?

beyond those specific dates? >> reporter: yes. beyond the specific dates, you want to make sure your packages are sealed, but something you can do is you can put the label, the shipping label, the return address on the inside in case your package or box gets damaged along the way. and then one other thing, this is going to seem pretty obvious and simple, but triple check the entire address where you're sending it to, particularly the zip codes. even if the rest of the address is accurate if the zip code is not, it may get sent to someone else. you'll be spreading christmas cheer and joy, but maybe not to the right person. >> those reminders are helpful, especially with how busy it can be this time of year. that does it for us today. hope you have a wonderful weekend. see you back here monday, same time, same place. i'm ana cabrera reporting from new york. happy friday. yasmin vossoughian picks up the coverage right now. good