dom. can you give me a crystal ball on interest rate cuts coming up this year. >> i wish i could. here's what i'll tell you, inflation is key. jobs numbers, cpi data, all of that stuff is important. but i will tell you this, the markets are fairly aggressive, they're pricing in what could be a probability of 73% that the fed will cut rates as early as march and certainty perhaps in may and june. there's your crystal balance. >> so if you're looking to buy a new house, wait for the summertime. that does it for me, everybody, i'm yasmin vossoughian. andrea mitchell picks up with more news right now. and right now on "andrea mitchell reports," twin blasts in iran kill more than 100 people at a memorial recent for an iranian leader hasan souleymane on an air strike that killed him. and the assassination in beirut,

a hamas leader linked to the october 7th massacre. all of this escalating as the conflict could become a regional war. also, with less than two weeks before the iowa caucuses, the race for the white house kicks into gear with top trump challengers. and president biden returning from vacation to face new challenges, as he plans to hit the road with a retooled re-election message. and i'll be joined by the premium ambassador to the united states, after a new year began there with a barrage of deadly strikes against kyiv and kharkiv, and no agreement with continued u.s. military aid. ♪♪ good day, everyone. i'm andrea mitchell in washington. tensions are growing throughout the wider middle east today, stoking international fears that the israel hamas war is now

spilling far beyond gaza's borders. more than 100 people, including children, are dead after two explosions in iran ripped through crowds commemorating general souleymane. he was the prominent ahead of the revolutionary guard qods force killed. and the timing with the death of a hamas official on tuesday. but we begin with news chief ali arouzi, ali, this is striking, extraordinary to iranian leaders and their followers, he's a martyr and national icon. >> reporter: that's right, andrea, he's still a deeply revered figure in this country. i just got back into town yesterday. driving from the airport to the center of town, the roads are just covered with billboards of souleymane, with slogans, with

the demand on palestine. amongst government and military officials, he's a very revered figure in this country. not a day passes by where government or military officials don't vow revenge against the united states for his assassination four years ago. and let's remind audiences why he's such a revered character. i mean, we talk about iran and its influence within the region with all of its proxies and the ability to ratchet up and down tensions, whether the houthis or red sea militants. and that was created by him. he gave him that power in the region. he had enormous respect amongst those proxies, amongst prominent groups in lebanon. he famously said during the lebanese/israeli war saying he was sitting in the control room

with him directing the attacks. he was very important for the iranians. and for this attack to happen on the day of the anniversary of his death is very embarrassing, firstly, for the iranians, because it's a massive security breach. and also, it's a devastating attack. it's the worst terrorist attack in the history of the islamic republic since it's been around for the last 45 years. they've never had such aine devastating attack in this country. now, people are starting to point the finger at israel. we've had one ask member of parliament here saying he's awaiting further information but this bears all of the hallmarks of israeli operation. but he didn't name israel. >> ally arouzi, thank you for starting us off. those blasts come 24 hours after the assassination of the top leader inside of hezbollah, in

beirut. several officials telling nbc news that israeli officials informed washington during, but not in advance, of that attack. moments after the strike, mark regev, the top adviser to prime minister netanyahu would neither confirm nor deny israeli responsibility and with me. >> my prime minister, my defense minister, my chief of staff have all said in the past that people, terrorist commanders involved in killing israeli civilians, anyone involved in the october 7th massacre is a legitimate target. whoever did this. has a gripe with hamas. it's, once again, whoever did this, it's not an attack on the lebanese state. it's not an attack on the hezbollah terrorist organization. whoever did this, it's an attack on hamas, that's very clear. >> and ali a al arouri was the

most senior member of hams. and he helped establish the west bank. they're urging in the west bank to practice maximum strength as they demand retaliation. nbc news correspondent matt bradley is back in tel aviv and joins us. matt, to sort this out, this is all very speculative. the connection between the attacks in iran and lebanon, certainly. but it's very clearly, certainly, from the nondenial from mark regev yesterday and what we have learned from u.s. officials as well that it was israel responsible for that attack? >> reporter: that's right, you know, it is speculative. but there's some reason to speculate here, because the fact is that we're seeing the head of hezbollah speaking right now, talking about qassem sulimani. he's addressing his adoring

public the same reason they were at his grave. the fourth anniversary of his assassination in a u.s. drone strike. so, we don't know if they're connected, these blasts in beirut and the ones in iran. we don't know if there's any connection at all or what it is. the fact is there's a lot of moving parts here, as ali arouzi just mentioned, it's the constant sulimani life's work. all of the nations and militant groups sorely opposed to israel, the united states and the sunni arab muslim monarchies in the gulf. this is something that he's spent his life putting together, he died four years ago in that u.s. air strike, only now since the hamas attack on october 7th, have we seen the full axis of resistance including the houthis in lebanon, hezbollah in

lebanon, iranian-backed groups all contacting in concert against israel and against the united states in this region. so, yes, it's speculative to say that these two events have any connection at all, but, really, there is a lot that brings them together, i think in the coming days and weeks we'll understand a lot more what connects, if anything, these events. andrea. >> matt bradley, thank you. joining us nbc news chief national analyst and supreme commander of nato admiral james savvides. add miller, you're the exact person i want to talk to now. there's so much going on in the red sea and some with politics and the navy, that the u.s. has not done enough for deterrence there, but iran getting much more active and now israel getting more active, clearly. >> yeah, it's a lot of moving parts as our previous correspondent just said.

let me start with the explosion in tehran, to me, that does not feel like an israeli operation. it's not targeted. it's a mass casualty event that would have deliberately killed many, many civilians, including children. it comes for a terrible time from the israeli perspective. it just doesn't feel to me like an israeli operation. i would guess it could be the work of islamic state which is, of course, a sunni radical organization that has no great affinity for iran. it could be internal resistance. so as all of our correspondents are saying, we'll have to wait, hear more, but it just doesn't feel like the israelis to me. but it's all part of this larger fabric of violence that's spreading across the region and simply the fact that that

explosion ocrred, when you add it to what's happening in the red sea, with the houthi-backed, iranian-backed piracy, and add that to what's happen ago shore in gaza, of course, the attacks on u.s. forces, andrea, i have to say that the chances of a wider regional war feel to me like they're ticking up from maybe 10% to 15% two months ago to something like 25% to 35% now. that's very uncomfortable. >> and there had been an attempt by the cia director, the head of others. to restart negotiations and that is, at least hamas has said, broken off certainly yesterday, with what does appear to be a target of an assassination? >> yeah, i think the losers, terribly, tragically, in both of these explosions, both the one

in lebanon that killed the hamas leader. and this terrible one in iran. that killed civilians there, i think that is going to freeze the frame on hostage negotiations for the foreseeable future. and that's really unfortunate. in that what i think the white house is going to be grappling with today, in addition to what you and i have just discussed, is how to respond to these priority attacks at sea, these houthi rebels. you can call them iranian pirates if you want. they've been shooting missiles at u.s. warships. firing missiles at civilian merchant shipping. effectively, they're shutting down the red sea. 15% of the global supply chain goes through there. the white house, i think, is going to have to move towards a response that's more aggressive against the houthis ashore. ma that means going after an

iranian proxy. that's going to inflame tension. i think president biden is walking into this conversation with his team today. >> the u.s. navy did return fire on sunday. and there were some casualties there. you mean, something that is more direct. >> i do. on the shore. yeah, indeed, the u.s. navy sent out a group of warren helicopters that sank. houthi speed boats that were attacking merchant shipping. that's good, entirely appropriate. but i think to really get the attention of the houthis and really, we're talking the attention of tehran, it's going to require strikes ashore, against the houthi land infrastructure, dual depots, stocks and the point at which they exploit as well as the missile launch site which are directly targets u.s. warships. that's unsustainable from a u.s. military perspective, in my

view. >> and just the idea of now announced that a hostage was killed on december 8th. now, they don't say whether it's friendly fire, as those three other hostages have been tragically, or whether or not it was from hamas, or as a result of war or some other factor. but that's just one more factor. there was at least one interview that we did with a hostage family who were concerned what happened yesterday would endanger the hostages and certainly make it harder to get them out. >> yeah, the only ray of hope i can offer there is simply the israelis are moving to reduce the number of troops moving into gaza. and bringing nor specialized forces in, special forces, engineers, perhaps the chances of rescue might go up a bit.

but in terms of negotiation at the moment, very difficult. >>ed miller stavridis, thank you so much. thank you for joining us today. and the appeals process, former president trump trying to stay on the ballot in two states now. will the supreme court step in, and what will they do? that's next when "jose diaz-balart reports" is back in just 60 seconds on msnbc.

former president trump has appealed a decision by maine's secretary of state to remove him from the primary election ballot this year. mr. trump's lawyer said the ruling is affected by bias, that's a quote and claims it lacks due process. on "morning joe," maine secretary of state shenna bellows is responding to the threats that she and the staff have been receiving. >> the proper process is to follow the rule of law, and that

is what i have done. i have done my duty under the constitution. and it is now in the hands of the courts. and i will implement whatever the courts direct me to do. that's what we do in a democratic republic. let's bring back respect and civility. we can agree to disagree, without threats of violence. >> joining me is andrew weissmann, former fbi general council and senior member of the mueller investigation. and adam liptak, reporter for "the new york times." first, adam to you, what is your reading of the trump appeal to the maine superior court, first of all, on this issue? it's the same effect as colorado's, but different procedures in the two states? >> absolutely. in colorado, that case went all the way already to the colorado supreme court, so the highest court in that state. and the republican party has

sought cert to the supreme court of the united states. donald trump has not yet sought to seek cert himself. that remains to be seen, i'd be surprised if he doesn't. now in maine, it's a decision, you have the secretary of state that you had a clip of, she made that decision, that's the proper procedure in maine. they're entitled to have their own processes. and then it goes to maine state court so there has been an appeal there. and ultimately, that will work its way up through the state courts there, and ultimately, it may, too, like colorado lend its way to the supreme court of the united states. there are two different processes in two different states. >> and this, of course is all on the 14th amendment and the constitutionality. i guess, adam, first question

would be, do you think knowing the court as you do that chief justice roberts is going to avoid a bush v. gore decision on this? and try to decide something with due process, perhaps that there's been no charge of insurrection, or something, to try to get an exit ramp for the court? >> i do think he's going to want to avoid a divisive decision like bush v. gore. he's going to want to avoid the decision that splits 6-3 with the six republican appointees an three democratic appointees in disscent. i don't think he's going to be eager with that with insurrection. so there may be technical ways to avoid the issue by calling it a political question, say, by saying congress has to enact legislation before the courts can act. but it's a tricky, tricky thing.

and i think it's quite unwelcome at the court. but at the same time, this question really would seem to need an actual resolution. and i think it's more likely than not that the court hears the colorado case and decides it pretty quickly. >> and let me ask you about immunity, and the former president saying that he has immunity from jack smith's prosecution. because he was already acquitted in the impeachment, certainly, he's not within the legal system. it was within the political system. >> so, trump's immunity claim is a long shot. that's going to be argued next week in the d.c. circuit, the federal appeals court in washington. and almost certainly, it's going up -- once the supreme court turned it away once, it's almost certainly going to go up again. and i think is might be attractive for the court to hear both things. immunity, where they can rule against trump because he's

asking for something quite extraordinary. and ineligibility for enable for trump but on narrow grounds. >> and andrew, i want to turn to senator bob menendez, and the separate of two superseding indictments filed by a grand jury, alleging he made positive statements about qatar to help new jersey get a multidollar investment from qatar. let's play what chris christie had to say about this on cnn last night. >> one of the things that shocked me the most is how cheaply you could buy a politician. i mean, $5,000 in cash in an envelope could get most elected officials. i don't understand how chuck schumer can't go to mitch mcconnell right now and say, look, we need to have a vote to kick him out. >> it could be, andrew, because of such a closely divided senate. what about menendez, though, i

mean, these indictments are pretty extraordinary. >> they are pretty extraordinary. you have a claim that's not only -- is it a sitting senator, but it's somebody who has access to the nation's most secret and important information and the allegations that we have that he was first -- not one, but two foreign countries, i do think, though it's stepping outside of my legal realm, it does raise the issue of why the democratic party is not doing what was done with respect to george santos. where, you know, congress does have the ability to not wait in these charges are brought to fruition in a court of law, where the standard is proof beyond a reasonable doubt, but to do an investigation, take action now. so, you know, the shoe is on the

other foot. and the allegations, certainly, at least appear, to be quite strong. and as you noted, quite shocking. >> andrew weissmann, thank you for that, and adam liptak, thank you for joining us on the supreme court today. appreciate it. and the insiders, a top biden official campaign official joining me next to talk about the big challenges his boss is facing in the new year. this is "jose diaz-balart reports." you're watching msnbc. (ella) fashion moves fast. (jen) so we partner with verizon to take our operations to the next level. (marquis) with a custom private 5g network. (ella) we get more control of production, efficiencies, and greater agility. (jen) that's enterprise intelligence. (vo) it's your vision, it's your verizon. [coughs] when caroline has a cough, she takes robitussin. so, she can have those one on ones again. hey jim! can we talk about casual fridays? oh sure.

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president biden is expected to cast on trump as a threat to democracy in his speech at valley forge outside of philadelphia this weekend, as the president marks the third anniversary of the january 6th attack and kicks off the 2024 campaign season in that battleground state. and next week, mr. biden is going to be heading to the all-important state of south carolina to speak at mother emanuel church in charleston, of course, that's the site of the white supremacist killing of nine black churchgoers nearly ten years ago. joining me now is biden campaign campaign manager clinton fowlkes. thank you for being with us. the campaign is trying to paint the contrast with donald trump. here's a preview of the message we'll hear from the president at valley forge and the campaign coming up. >> thank you for having me,

andrea, when president trump ran. and donald trump is telling us who he would be if elected president again. saying he would be a dictator. and to punish black and brown communities, open detention camps, use the american military to round up its own citizens, ripping away health care from millions of americans. and it's a real obligation that we paint the picture that donald trump and the republican party pose to america. for us, it's that simple. we have to communicate. this isn't a game. this isn't just rhetoric. this isn't who donald trump is. this is what the republican party stands for and we're going to paint that picture bright and clear. >> an nbc news poll shows president biden and president trump were nearly tied 44% to 46%. the president's approval rating dips down to 40%. i know polls are snapshots of

any events. but are you troubled by those numbers, the lowest approval ratings, with the president coming into the second term, in a final stretch of the campaign. >> we're not troubled we use them as a guide. we have to communicate with voters which is why we hit the ground running. when the president announced his plans to refor re-election in 2024, we've done that large by with constituents and media, on the ground, innovating and pilots to make sure we're in position to use the sources we have in strong grassroots supports in the most effective ways in 2024. we've made no assumption. this is going to be a close election, we know that, but also the guiding principle to come to work and be successful. polls are snapshots at times, they're not indicative.

the polls said the same thing about barack obama and democrats in 2023, and we've been successful. the reason is we continue to double down republicans are a threat to democracy in this country. and donald trump is running and bragging about it. for us, it is a clear picture that we need to continue to communicate what the biden/harris administration has done for voters and the threats that the republicans continue to pose and we're going to do just that. >> are you concerned, you need a better way of communicating, because the polls, as i said, just a snapshot, show disengagement, people of color, as well as people feeling, large number of democrats feeling that the president is too old, even though he's only three years ordinary than donald trump. people do not see him in the polling. see donald trump as too old to be president. but they do see joe biden. what is not connected there?

>> well, look, andrea, when you talk about a number of those coalitions, you know, those constituencies, they were all part of a coalition that joined together to send joe biden and kamala harris by the largest margin in presidential history to the white house. they're also the voters that have the most at stake in the election. they're the voters that donald trump poses the biggest threat to. we have to continue to communicate with them and engage them. when were talk about the president going to valley forge to deliver remarks, that's not an accident. because it's the place where george washington brought a lot of colonial militias together to fight for democracy. that's what we have to do with voters. we have to bring the constituencies together to fight those led by donald trump and his agenda opposed to it and we're going to stay extremely focused in 2024. nothing is going to deter from that message because it's the right thing to do, we have to engage with audiences, again, this is going to be a close

election that's the reason we have to communicate in the way we are and the manner we are. >> quentin falks thank you very much. with the closely fought campaign. appreciate you coming in. >> thank you, andrea, happy new year. >> same to you. desperate times as russia ushers a new wave of attacks. i'll speak to the ambassador of ukraine on the need for more fire power. this is "andrea mitchell reports." you're watching msnbc. c. air, you get big deals for your home - every day. so big, we'll have you saying... am i a big deal? yeah you are, because it's a big deal, when you get a big deal. wayfair deals so big that you might get a big head. because with savings so real - you can get your dream sofa for half the price.

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vladimir putin has unleashed a barrage of missiles this week targeting ukraine's capital and second largest city kharkiv. and is vowing to intensify attacks, but congress has still not broken its deadlock about resupplying and desperate needed ammunition. joining me is the ambassador to the united states. ambassador, thank you for being with us. >> happy new year. >> it's good to see you, but, of course, the political challenge now is that congress has not approved the money. there's no agreement on the table being held up by the border dispute, and the israel funding. what is the information now, as you face the new barrage from russia? >> yeah, thank you. the past couple of days has been horrible in ukraine. we have seen, unfortunately, repetition of what we've seen in

2022. and 2023, and more than 500, together, missiles and this iranian drones have been sent to ukraine since december 29th, was the most recent one yesterday. and the damage is very big in so many cities, it's kyiv, it's kharkiv, like you said, but lviv and so many other civilian-populated areas in ukraine. and we already have hundreds of people who were killed -- we have hundreds of people injured and 50 killed. including a professor from my alma mater, the ukrainian university of kyiv. a very well-known hydrobiologist. and it's just, you know, a horrible war crime, after the war crime. and we're intensively using air provided by the u.s. and others and using other capability in

order to push russians back and not allow them to commit this genocide in the middle of europe. but, of course, it's critically important for us to stay the course and for us to have continued support. i would say it's especially important at this moment. but we, together, can turn, as you said, desperate times into hopeful times. we're hopeful that congress will come back and able to support ukraine and israel with other supplemental funding. >> ambassador, there was a prisoner exchange today, the largest since the war began since the invasion. and the first in five months. 240 ukrainian prisoners of war new returned to ukraine, which is great news, i know, for your country. it doesn't, you know, at all, reach the number of people who are probably still being held. but the question is, so there are conversations going on? there's a lot of pressure, as you know.

and some reports in "the new york times" and others reporting that vladimir putin might be ready to negotiate. is it time for some sort of a partial cease-fire, some kind of negotiation, given just the terrible beating that ukraine is suffering from all of this? going into its second year now. >> thank you, andrea. well, i think, you know, vladimir putin's words and actions unfortunately is the best answer to this, you know, notion some of people that he's ready to negotiate. he's ready to kill. and he kills so many people on a daily basis. and we have seen this before. we have seen this in 2014 and 2015, when ukraine was ready to negotiate. and ukraine did everything possible, and sometimes, impossible, in order to restore our territorial integrity, in return, they were attacked and

grabbed iegly in parts of ukraine through diplomatic solutions. putin used this tim to restore andrere the cells in order attack. look, nobody wants peace more than the ukrainians. but we all know too well and president zelensky put it in the peace formula negotiations more than a year ago, that it's only peace through strengths that is achievable when you deal with autocrats and again know inside aggressors like russia. so, we have to be able to defend ourselves, we have to be able to defend europe. let's remind again, all of the friends we're fighting in ukraine for. it's not just our territories, our people and our loved ones. it's also democracy, freedom. because that's the only reason putin attacked us in the first case. because we don't want to be destroyed and subjugated by him. and don't want to be part of the russian military machine,

together with the claw of iran and north korea and terrorist regimes like hamas and others. so, you know, we have to win this one to show the international that rules exist. and that freedom and democracy can defend themselves. of course, we're willing to negotiate on the future of operations and the seizure of russian assets but we cannot negotiate principles, neither us nor our friends and allies. so it's time to step up our efforts, it's time to win and might we remind you also that mr. putin is an indicted criminal, for the abduction of ukrainian children who are still so many in russia, held against their will. as many as ukrainian civilians as are prisoners of war. yes, today, is a good day, because 200 of them, and you have seen the videos how, you know, malnourished and tortured

they have been. it's clear, even if you watch this video, that all of them are so happy to be home. all of them were singing the ukrainian anthem. and, you know, it's our duty as democrats, as christians. as people who will believe in principles and values to free all of them and to return peace. and we have to stay strong in order to be able to do that. >> ambassador makarova, thank you as always. >> thank you. happy new year. >> staple to you. and destination iowa, just 12 days away from the republican caucuses. we're live in the hawkeye state coming next. you're watching "andrea mitchell reports" on msnbc. don't let rsv take your breath away. protect yourself from rsv... ...with abrysvo, pfizer's rsv vaccine. abrysvo is a vaccine for the prevention of lower respiratory disease from rsv

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dice dreams, attack your friends and steal their coins. play now. now, we've got less than two weeks to go before the iowa caucuses, ron desantis and nikki haley are on the campaign trail today. still playing catch-up, though, as former president trump continues to dominate beating them by double digits and given the opportunity to go after trump or comment on a potential conviction for the former president, desantis demurred. >> if trump is found guilty and -- >> stand by. >> well, he certainly blew that one off. joining us now, nbc news correspondent vaughn hillyard from waukegan, iowa, and fred

hopton. vaughn, there's this tight rope, wanting to go after him this much, but not offend. chris christie saying they're both wanting to be vice president. >> reporter: i tried to ask ron desantis a question here. there's a reality, ron desantis, nikki haley, if donald trump runs away with new hampshire and iowa, they're looking at donald trump being the nominee. there are decisions that have to be made, not only the criminal trial but conviction of donald trump before the convention. there's actually a voter here in the crowd here in this event of ron desantis' this morning that pleaded with him, challenged him and directly went at ron desantis who he said he was going to vote for. the gentleman's name was christopher garcia, he said he lives down the road from here. he all but pleaded at ron

desantis to go directly at donald trump, suggesting that donald trump alienates his voters when he attacks john mccain and refers to women as horse face. and when asked why he isn't more direct to voters to donald trump and the effect that could have on the general election. desantis said he said, in his words to choose not to smear others on the campaign trail. that leaves what the right approach is, but right now ron desantis is at a deficit at least to the polling here with just 30 days left to the caucus. >> trump has called nikki haley the chaos candidate. both said they would pardon donald trump if he is convicted. do you think that is because they're trying to not offend the trump base? >> you know, i think that's part of it, i think in reality, neither one of them have a chance to repeat. of course, they're not going to say they're running for that

either. trump has called nikki haley bird brain. he's got some pretty hard-hitting ads on her, on tax tax and china. desantis, he wants to -- it's like he's got his foot on the head of a snake. i mean, they are not going to come back together under any circumstance. i think their best bet is to maybe wait in '28, perhaps. i mean, they've got their strategy now, in the end, in the 15th of iowa, leading into new jersey. one of them, whoever finishes second, has got a chance, perhaps, in new hampshire put but if either one -- whoever finishes third, they're out. i mean, they're gone. just ain't going to happen. so, trump's got a big lead, he's got more big endorsements this week. he's got tom emmer, the republican w.h.i.p. he's got mike johnson, the speaker, of course, last week. he got steve scalise yesterday.

so it looks pretty good that the trump machine is running pretty well right now. i don't expect they're going to stumble in iowa. but it could be a big fight in new hampshire. whoever finishes third here in iowa drops out. >> that's exactly why we watch all of this. and iowa is going to be exciting and new hampshire, of course, to . vaughn hillyard, fred upton, thanks to both of you. breaking news from several state capitals across the country now. authorities were for to evacuate capital complexes in georgia, kentucky, mississippi and michigan after a series of . no explosives have been found. similar threats were also made in connecticut, montana, and minnesota. we're monitoring the situation and we'll bring you anything that we get from investigators from our teams as the investigations continue. and border breakdown, the house speaker leading a delegation to the border to raise the political heat on the white house after migration reached historic levels last

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house speaker mike johnson is leading more than 60 house republicans to the u.s./mexico border today trying to ramp up the pressure on president biden on the volatile border issue. a bipartisan group of senators, meanwhile, is trying gone this week to negotiate a deal with the white house on a tighter immigration policy. republicans are using this deadlock to block all aid that the white house wants for both ukraine and israel. the time is running out before a mid-january deadline, the first of two deadlines that could trigger a partial government shutdown here at home. adding to the partisan tensions of course next week the house homeland security committee is expected to start impeachment proceedings against department of homeland security secretary alejandro mayorkas. joining me now is nbc's homeland security correspondent julia ainsley and nbc capitol hill

correspondent ryan nobles. the biden administration is also asking the supreme court to allow border patrol to cut or move the razor wire at the texas border. what's the latest from the courts? you've got greg abbott, the governor, up against not only the big cities, sending migrants to them, but up against the justice department now. >> reporter: yes, and andrea, this is the third ongoing lawsuit between the biden administration and governor greg abbott's administration over those policies he's put in place where texas is trying to take stands on the border by putting up buoys along the rio grande valley while sending buses of migrants into u.s. cities, while trying to allow state judges to deport migrants. the razor wire issue is now being sent back -- well, they have told -- they've asked the supreme court to tell the fifth circuit that they should be allowed to cut the razor wire. just today the solicitor general said while they are deciding this, they should know that

arguments between the fifth circuit over that injunction will happen in early february. so in other words, the supreme court could allow that argument to play out to see what happens, but undoubtedly, the supreme court is going to have to weigh in on this issue and many of those other lawsuits that i talked about, andrea. >> thanks, julia ainsley. and ryan nobles, what's the latest from capitol hill? they're supposed to be back full-time next week. a lot of them are on congressional delegations traveling around the world. what about the negotiations? border security, the key to unlocking aid to israel and ukraine potentially? >> reporter: yeah, andrea, you're right, they're not going to return here to session until next week. we know these key negotiators are in washington, and they do appear to be making at least some level of progress. listen to what the senate majority leader chuck schumer told us just a minute ago. >> first on the border, our negotiators have been here now

and they have been negotiating with the administration who's now very closely involved all over the holiday break. we're making progress. we're closer than we have been, but this is a very difficult issue and there are still different things, different issues to being overcome with. >> you heard the senate majority leader say they are closer than they've ever been, and he does seem optimistic they can hatch a deal. it's important to keep in mind if the senate passes a deal, the negotiators that have been hachg hatching this deal would be senate democrats, senate republicans, and of course the white house the key group not involved in these conversations right now are house republicans, and there have been some house republicans that have signaled that they're going to want more than whatever the senate is willing to pass, and that could stymie these negotiations even if the senate were able to pass a bill and send it over to the house, the house may try and change it. that of course doesn't just put this border security package in danger as you rightly point out. it also means that ukraine aid,

aid to israel, the indo-pacific would also be hostage as a result of these negotiations. i asked senator schumer if speaker johnson should be involved at this stage. he essentially said they are going to pass something and it's going to make it very difficult for house members to vote against it, especially if it has bipartisan support in the senate. andrea. >> that's a gamble, especially facing a budget deadline mid-january for the contining resolution to fall apart as well. there's a deadline there on that. there's a possibility of a shutdown. >> yeah, that's right, andrea. this all comes at that same time. the pressure points are converging in one fell swoop. this is going to be a very delicate balancing act to not only pass the supplemental, but also to deal with that spending package before the deadline hits. >> ryan nobles, thank you very much, and we do have a quick update about the escalating tensions in the red sea. we talked about it earlier tonight, earlier today rather.

the white house and 11 other countries now are condemning the two dozen attacks by houthi, iran-backed houthi rebels launched in the past weeks. the white house is calling the ongoing attacks illegal, unacceptable, and profoundly destabilizing adding there is no lawful justification for intentionally targeting civilian shipping and naval vessels. the houthis statement says will bear the responsibility of the consequences should they continue to threaten lives, the global economy and free flow of commerce in the nation's critical waterways. that does sound like a very tough warning and they are under pressure to do more to deter iran. that does it for this edition of "andrea mitchell reports," "chris jansing reports" starts right now. ♪♪ goods day,