before. we have been in much worse circumstances before. and our democracy did hold. so, nothing is impossible. nothing is already lost. but it took work. it took work and commitment and dedication and belief to make this nation survive and we need some of that right now. >> we most certainly do. all right, thank you so much. and that does it for us this morning. thank you for being with us. ana cabrera picks up the coverage right now. right now on "ana cabrera reports," a fast-moving storm slamming into the northeast. 46 million under winter weather alerts. up to a foot of snow expected. the most some cities have seen in years. plus, polls open in a special election tossup here in new york. who will long island choose to

replace indicted and ousted george santos? and ahead, the senate passing aid for israel in ukraine in a predawn vote, but the house already calling it dead on arrival. and donald trump officially asks the supreme court to intervene again. we just heard from the court, what they're asking for now. thanks so much for joining us. it is 10:00 eastern. i'm ana cabrera reporting from a very stormy new york. it is the breaking news this morning, all across the northeast. some 46 million people under winter weather alerts. some cities expecting more snow than they have seen in years. and people being told to stay at home and off the roads. here's why. snow could fall at 1 to 2 inches an hour along the i-95 corridor from philadelphia to new england and new york city could see 6 inches or more, which would be

the city's largest snowstorm in two years. with the faa just issuing a ground stop at jfk airport. nbc's meteorologist angie lassman is tracking the system and erin mclaughlin is out in the elements in new york city. angie who is getting the brunt of the storm right now? >> this is going to be a fast-moving storm, ana. we have seen some spots start to taper off when it comes to the snow. new york, philadelphia, points north of there, that's where we're seeing the heaviest of the snow with the impressive snowfall rates. we're going to quickly here start to see places like washington, d.c. be done with the snow already this morning. but in the meantime, we have got those alerts up across this region. they'll stay that way through the day today, potentially some spots into tomorrow, although as this system works out, i have a feeling a lot of those will come down. either way, the snowfall ending in washington, d.c., we're going to see this wrap up here within the next hour or so. now through 11:00 a.m., we'll see the steadiest of that snowfall across philadelphia. and we have got to really noon

or pretty shortly after that to see the snow tapering off when it comes to new york city. the winds, though, those will stick with us, those aren't going anywhere through the day today. it is quite gusty. but at least that heavier snowfall will start to end. hartford, boston, providence, that lasts into the early afternoon hours, but, again, even by the afternoon commute, a lot of this is out of the picture. when it comes to the accumulations, though, we're seeing some impressive spots, especially when you consider where we have been over the past two winters. you got to go all the way back to early january of 2022 to see a snowfall total anywhere near this. we had 8 inches in places like new york at that time. late january. we're going to see somewhere between 4 to 8 when this is all said and done for places like new york city. not quite as impressive through philadelphia. up to 3 inches will be possible. some of those higher amounts, providence, hartford, anywhere from 3 to 5 inches, boston, you've seen a big fluctuation with your snowfall totals expected over the past couple of

days. looks like you'll come in around 2 to 4 inches. we have winds that i mentioned, 30, 40-mile-per-hour winds and that could lead us to coastal flooding, some inundation in those areas that oftentimes flood. we'll see those stronger on shore winds here as the time goes into the afternoon hours. and we could see that happening during high tide. so, ana, this is something we'll have to watch for along the coast, for some flooding concerns through the afternoon hours even. back over to you. >> good old punxsutawney phil got it wrong again. erin, tell us what you're experiencing outside right now here in new york as the city anticipates what could be the most snow it's seen in two years. >> reporter: well, ana, as you can see in central park, we are right now in the thick of it, as you say. this is the most snow that new york city has seen in at least two years. and it is already impacting air travel, jfk international airport. there is a ground stop there from 9:00 a.m. eastern to 2:00 p.m. eastern. country wide, according to flight aware, more than 1,000

flights canceled. but other than that, an emergency new york state official tells me there has been no major impact, which is really good news so far considering they're really concerned about the amount of snow falling in a very concentrated period of time. that period of time, of course, being the morning rush hour. they were extremely concerned about that, which is why they're telling folks to stay off the roads, to stay home, work remotely if you can. schools also remotely here in new york city. more than a million schoolchildren staying at home, studying remotely, over 1600 schools in new york city alone impacted. they are not closing schools today, the mayor says he's very concerned about that learning loss, so they want to continue school today. nevertheless, happening at home, urging folks to stay off the roads when they can as this snowstorm is expected to pass in the next couple of hours. again, a new york state

emergency official telling me no major impacts so far. so right now, officials are sort of holding their breath over the next few hours and potentially breathing a sigh of relief on the back side of this. >> thank you, we know you'll keep on all of this for us. and the winter weather could prove to be a big wild card today in the new york special election to replace ousted congressman george santos. also a big wild card, the race itself, the contest labiled a complete tossup for democrats, the candidate is tom suozzi. for republicans, massey philip. republicans have one of the slimmest majorities in house history and a toss here would then -- a loss here would shrink the razor thin majority even further. joining us now is yasmin vossoughian from farmingdale, new york, inside santos' former district. and with us, donna edwards and

charlie dent. so, thank you, all, for joining us. yasmin, hard to forget george santos and then this nor'easter slamming into the area. what are you hearing from voters? >> reporter: let me show you, real quick, ana, if i can, the wild card here. i'll open up the door, i don't have my big coat on. take a look at what people are faring here as they're coming into vote this morning. and, by the way, they are coming. and they have been coming all morning. we have been here since 7:30 in the morning and they have been coming, streaming in throughout the day so far. jerry, one of the poll workers here. what have you been seeing? >> it has been really good so far. as of 8:50, we had 161 people. we're probably going to get into 400 or 500, which is a good day for us. >> are you surprised considering the weather outside? >> and also the fact we had so much in the early voting that i really thought this was going to be a fairly dead day.

not turning out that way at all. >> jerry, thank you so much. thank you for volunteering today. not turning out that way, ana, at all. if you can believe it, folks giving their names there. getting the table number as to where to go to and picking up their ballots and then putting in their votes. and then sending it through the machines behind there. and it has been as jerry said a pretty busy day despite the fact that we have inches and inches of snow on the ground. you mentioned the candidates that are running. tom suozzi, mazi pilup. i've been speaking to voters outside, as they have been coming in, talking about some of the issues that are most important to them. not a surprise here. immigration, economy, top of mind, take a listen. >> what issues matter most to you this year in this election, and in this election year?

>> economics, police, you know. i want some safe streets. and crime has really been up on the island lately. >> why does immigration matter so much for you on long island? >> it is taking away jobs from the regular folks. >> for me, i would say illegal immigration, economy, foreign policy, they're all weighing heavily on my mind as i vote. >> by the way, you would be surprised, a lot of folks are enthusiastic who talked to me amidst all this weather. they were stopping a lot to talk to me. this matters to them. this seat matters to them in this election year, especially as it was plagued by so much controversy with george santos. two things here to think about, right. the small margin republicans have in the house right now, we saw that with the impeachment vote for mayorkas, so this really matters for republicans. second is what it means for november. when you think about november,

this is a republican-held seat, but it went to biden. so what will it say after today's results come out? we'll be watching and we'll be here all day. >> yasmin, thank you, great to see the voters engaged there. congresswoman edwards, suozzi has won with voters here before, right? how confident are you that he wins his seat back? and what would a potential loss mean for democrats? >> well, look, the voters in new york 3 really know tom suozzi and so, you know, i might give him a slight edge, but the thing about special elections is that they are completely unpredictable. the weather obviously, it sounds like there is still a lot of passion and passion sometimes can win out over weather. so i think it is going to be a matter of turnout in this election. and i think there is a lot on the line for democrats. you know, this is the only race in the country today, and i think that it proves that this is a nationalized race, you can hear that in the comments of the

voters. immigration and the economy. and so thosemessages, i think are going to be instructive for democrats going into november. >> george santos left in disgrace, he's facing criminal charges and as yasmin mentioned, pilip is a registered democrat, but plans to change her registration given all of that are republicans facing an uphill climb here? >> well, i think republicans do have a challenge. to be fair, the long island republicans nassau county republicans are very organized they're very effective and things are trending republican on long island because of the crime and immigration issue. but there could be a george santos penalty here being the party of george santos in this district. that could cost them some votes. also, right now, this weather is a real thing. i don't usually cry weather, but i was out in the road this morning at 6:30 on my way to you and i made it five miles before i realized this was going to be

an all day affair. this weather is bad. republicans, of course, had not been as effective as democrats in the early mail-in voting. better at it in long island, but still not where the democrats are, so if the election day vote is a bit suppressed because of this weather, that might be bad news for republicans and, of course, suozzi is a moderate democrat, and so i think republicans have a slight disadvantage going into this election, but as donna said, this is a special election and really hard to predict -- anything can happen. >> yes. i'm glad you decided to get off the road and turn around, better safe than sorry, congressman dent. congressman edwards, president biden, we know, has critically low approval ratings. donald trump is obviously facing a slew of criminal charges, even as he dominates the gop primary field. how much of this special election race is a referendum on the current and former president? >> i think that remains to be seen. i think largely when voters show

up in their individual congressional districts, it really is about the district and it is about the candidates who are running. and so we will see. and i think it will be quite instructive, i guess, for democrats going into the general election, depending on how that plays out. but i do give congressman suozzi a little bit of an edge in this race. and i think turnout is going to be critical. look, president biden faces quite a climb, but there is a lot of runway between now and november for him to recover, the economy is recovering, the issues that people care about. i'm confident that the president is going to be able to pull this out. >> and congressman dent, also on the national level, there is this question of who will lead the republican national committee. trump just endorsed michael lotly, who is going to be apparently the next head of the rnc, backed his daughter-in-law

lara trump for co-chair, not a done deal, but as we have seen before, where trump endorses somebody, it has a lot of weight. is this the right call? trump's daughter-in-law? >> well, apparently ronna mcdaniel was not sufficiently pro trump, though she couldn't have been more sycophantic in my view. that wasn't enough. i guess she didn't pay enough of trump's legal bills at the rnc. so i'm not surprised trump would try to install a family member or somebody very close to him. he wants the rnc just to be -- just to be an appendage of the trump campaign and basically to do whatever it wants. my criticism with the rnc in recent years is that they have not been very serious about winning. if they were serious about winning, they would be doing things to make sure we have somebody other than donald trump at the top of the republican ticket because they know, most of the smart political people know republicans are just -- are just struggling so badly in these suburban communities and in these swing districts and

swing states where trump is a major boat anchor. the rnc has not done anything. i'm afraid whoever the new chairman is going to drink the trump juice and say we need to play base politics and somehow we're going to win races in areas that we're losing. it is just not going to happen. so, my guess is this will actually be a change for the worse, even though i thought mcdaniel should have gone some time ago, but they won't replace her with somebody better than her. >> thank you, both. it is nice to have you here. when we're back in 60 seconds, we have breaking news from the supreme court related to donald trump's election interference case. the new deadline for the special counsel. plus, an early morning senate vote sends a big foreign aid bill to the house, but is it already dead on arrival? also a case of deja vu. the house looks to impeach dhs secretary mayorkas again. do republicans have the votes this time? and later, it might be cold outside, but the new inflation

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we're back with breaking news on one of donald trump's legal fights. the supreme court just replied to trump's new request to the supreme court where he asks for a stay on the appeals court ruling that rejected his presidential immunity claim. now, the court is asking special counsel jack smith to file a response to trump, by next tuesday. i want to bring in former assistant manhattan district attorney catherine christian and former federal prosecutor and former senior investigative counsel for the january 6th committee temidayoakanga williams. >> the supreme court is expediting whatever decision they're going to make and i

suspect that the special counsel already has their response ready to go, remember monday is a holiday, presidents' day, so that trump team met their deadline yesterday, and then the next morning, the supreme court and the chief judge says respond by next tuesday, it is a good sign that whatever decision the supreme court makes, it will hopefully be expedited. >> so trump's lawyers write in their filing that the court should, quote, allow president trump's claim of immunity to be decided in the ordinary course of justice. meaning he should get to appeal to the full d.c. appeals court before it officially goes to the supreme court for a decision on the merits. is this about ordinary course of justice or is this just about delay, delay, delay? >> i mean, i think frankly it is nakedly about delay. what the former president is hoping to do is have his cake and eat it too. he does not want the court to get to the merits. he wants more and more process

and that's what he's hoping for here. critically with the d.c. circuit, the three-judge panel decided his case, what they did not forbid him to do was to have a stay while he went to full court, the d.c. circuit, the entire d.c. circuit. so he's asking that of the supreme court to grant him the stay and allow what is called this ordinary course. but really he's asking for an elongated process, that will slow this and make his trial not happen for the election. i think that's really the -- they are appearing to move quickly here which from my vantage point is heartening, i hope they will resist his request to slow this down even further. >> they're trying to influence the judges here by writing in the brief, if prosecution is allowed, then, quote, such prosecutions will recur and become increasingly common, ushering in destructive cycles of recrimination. that was something that we heard when we took the oral arguments

that went before that appeals court panel. but, catherine, your thoughts about that argument, is this how you see it? could the supreme court see it that way too? >> i don't believe so. and they made their argument and they're sticking to it. absolute immunity. a president can order the navy s.e.a.l. team to assassinate a rival and he or she can't be criminally prosecuted. they're sticking with their, i'll call it, extreme argument about this absolute immunity for this former president that you can commit crimes when you're a president and you're beyond the reach of the law. and i still think that maybe the supreme court may not even hear the case. but it does give me a little hope that they -- if they do decide to do that, they will do it expeditiously, just by, you know, before it is even, like, 10:00 they're saying, okay, let's respond, let's get this on track. they don't want to be the ones, the supreme court, to delay this

because they are the ones that are going to decide really whether or not this case, this federal election case gets tried. their decision will make that -- will mean the vote for whether or not this case gets decided. i mean, the case gets tried. sorry. >> right. which then could ultimately result in whether it happens before the election, which, like you said, will depend on whether it gets decided at all, if trump is re-elected. so, temidayo, let's talk about the georgia case. a lot of developments this week alone. judge scott mcafee says it is possible fani willis could be disqualified from this case over allegations of an improper relationship with the special prosecutor that she brought on board. so there is going to be a hearing on this on thursday. how could this impact the overall case and trial and, again, the georgia case. >> so, i think this really could potentially be fatal to the georgia case.

if fani willis is disqualified, the expectation is that her entire office will be disqualified as well. that's what the defendants are asking for, which means they're not going to be able to keep this case on the august trial schedule that d.a. willis was planning on. i think what i'm looking for in this thursday hearing is he's going to -- the judge is going to push to see whether d.a. willis and mr. wade made any false statements or misrepresentations as to when the relationship began, and the nature of the relationship. i think that's going to be critical because if there is a disqualification here, i think it is likely that we're going to have the election without a criminal case being tried there, and if the former president were to win re-election, who knows if that case will see the light of day. this is a truly critical day and i'm looking to see if the judge will put d.a. willis on the stand under oath and that will be explosive if he does. >> we'll take that live if and when that happens. we have cameras in the courtroom

for that particular case. catherine, we also learned today that trump plans to be in court on thursday as well. here in new york. for the hush money case where the judge could determine when that case will go to trial. what do you make of his new tactic, it seems, to be in court for more of these hearings and more of his cases? >> it is all for show. so, when he comes out of the courtroom, he can then pontificate and speak to his followers about how he's being persecuted. thursday's court appearance is not a hearing as the judge will decide, you know, whether or not to dismiss the indictment. he won't. and whether or not the court date which was set for trial, march 25th, will still stand. so this is just trump coming to manhattan, which has the most probably reporters of any city and getting all of that attention for his campaign. >> right, catherine christian, temidayo aganga williams, thank you for your thoughts and

expertise. up next, what's next for the senate's foreign aid bill as it heads to the house. and are enough lawmakers on board now to impeach dhs secretary alejandro mayorkas? we're on capitol hill with the latest there. new inflation numbers coming in higher than expected. how it could impact your budget. . how it could impact your budget. your business bank account with quickbooks money now earns 5% apy. (♪♪) that's how you business differently. intuit quickbooks. remember the things you loved...

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aid package for ukraine, israel and taiwan. the senate pulled an all nighter with debates on the floor dragging into the early morning hours. this bill heads to the splintered house, where speaker mike johnson is already signaling he plans to ignore it. and instead try again later today to impeach homeland security secretary alejandro mayorkas. joining us from the hill is nbc's julie tsirkin. let's start with the aid bill. the 70 to 29 vote showing a broad consensus with 22 senate republicans supporting this measure. the president just issued a statement calling on the house to take action. but doesn't sound like that's going to happen. >> yeah, no, it doesn't. and to be clear, if the house ignores this package as you signaled correctly, speaker johnson said he may do, that means $60 billion in military security, economic assistance to ukraine that has already been stalled for months. it means $14 billion for israel,

$9 billion in humanitarian aid, not only to gaza, but also ukraine and other areas around the world. that is all on the line. it also signals billions for the indo-pacific region and if speaker johnson does not put this package on the floor, which my sources say he would break it up, tie it potentially to the senate funding bills in the beginning of march, all of those countries around the world miss out on the aid that they have been long promised by the u.s. here's what senate majority leader schumer had to say to this point a couple of moments ago. >> with the strong bipartisan vote in the senate, it is clear that if speaker johnson brings this bill to the house floor, it will pass with that same bipartisan support. and i call on speaker johnson to rise to the occasion, to do the right thing, bring this bill to the floor. >> reporter: of course, with waning support among house republicans, particularly for

ukraine aid, speaker johnson's political calculations to make here and certainly if this package moves in one it will be met with a two-thirds vote in the house and if he puts that on the floor, schumer said he would get those votes to pass. >> let's turn to this second impeachment vote against secretary mayorkas. congressman steve scalise is expected back on the hill after he underwent cancer treatment. with his vote, are house republicans sure they have the votes this time? >> reporter: well, they were sure they had the votes last week and we remember what happened in that spectacular moment on the house floor. yes, steve scalise who has been undergoing cancer treatment, is set to return today. but also we have weather that is concerning, we have been following that critical election in new york to replace santos, whether republican or democrat wins there, of course, the mayorkas vote tonight is tied to that. this is really republicans' last ditch effort to get this impeachment vote across the finish line, to impeach for the first time in 150 years a cabinet secretary. it is a split screen moment here

in the house and the senate. you had early this morning the senate pass with 22 republicans, just under half of the conference, this aid to israel, to ukraine overseas. in the house, you have them ignoring that for the moment and instead pursuing this political impeachment of mayorkas that is dead on arrival in the senate. >> right, julie tsirkin, you're on top of it all, thank you so much for those updates. up next on "ana cabrera reports," quote, catastrophic, a warning from the united nations about israel's potential next move in gaza. plus, the ominous warning from the joint chiefs chairman about donald trump's nato comments and our country's national security. o comments and our country's national security. ider about the prescribed h-i-v treatment, biktarvy. biktarvy is a complete, one-pill, once-a-day treatment used for h-i-v in many people whether you're 18 or 80. with one small pill, biktarvy fights h-i-v to help you get to undetectable—and stay there whether you're just starting or replacing your current treatment. research shows that taking h-i-v treatment

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i'm katie porter and i approve this message. welcome back. a fresh round of talks this morning for a new cease-fire and hostage deal in gaza. cia director william burns is in cairo, meeting with egyptian, israeli and qatari officials on this new proposal.

and these meetings, just after israeli security forces rescued two hostages during a military operation in gaza and as president biden hosted jordan's king at the white house, his first meeting in washington with an arab leader since october 7th. >> seven decades of occupation, death and destruction have proven beyond any doubt that there can be no peace without a political horizon. >> nbc's molly hunter is joining us now in jerusalem. molly, there are these new talks as the world is focusing its, you know, attention on israel's looming offensive there in rafah, in southern gaza, which the u.n. warned would be catastrophic for the people seeking refuge there. what are we learning? >> reporter: yeah, ana, that's right. we're trying to keep an eye on rafah and on the high level, all of this high level activity happening in cairo. it feels like a race is on, the clock is ticking between either agreeing to a deal or israel

launching that ground incursion into rafah. and for two families here, obviously, that hostage rescue yesterday we talked about really good news, but for the remaining families of the hostages, it is not a substitute for a deal. this morning, israeli hostages fernando marman and louis har home with their families. this reunion, these hugs, 129 days in the making. >> it was very emotional to see them, to hug them, to feel them. it feels almost unreal. >> reporter: and today the united states pushing urgent high level diplomacy in cairo. cia director bill burns and israel's spy chief david barnea meeting today to try and close the significant gaps in deal talks. more than 100 hostages remain in gaza, after monday's risky operation in rafah. israeli military video showing commandos racing into a civilian building. the two israeli hostages on the second floor guarded by three

hamas gunmen. a minute later, a heavy wave of israeli air strikes providing cover, destroying the neighborhood, killing dozens of palestinian civilians, according to gaza health officials. the hostages then taken by helicopter to a hospital near tel aviv. do you want a blanket? no, har says, it is warm in my heart. hours later, president biden meeting with jordanian king abdullah at the white house. biden framing the deal as a six-week cease-fire, allowing both sides to agree on a more enduring deal. but also ramping up pressure on israel as the death toll in gaza continues to rise. >> too many, too many of over 27,000 palestinians killed in this conflict have an been innocent civilians and children. >> reporter: but prime minister netanyahu argues to root out the final hamas battalions, razing the city of rafah is mission critical. for months, the israeli military

told palestinians the south would be safe. seen in october, now packed with 1.4 million displaced palestinians. where can we go, this man asks. god knows there's no safe place. and, ana, you hear that panic in that man's voice, the u.n. warning ground incursion would be catastrophic and they're also saying united nations organizations will not aid in any plan that amounts to the further forced displacement of palestinians. ana? >> molly hunter, thank you for that reporting. and now, the nation's highest ranking u.s. military officer is responding to donald trump's comments that sparked international backlash after the former president said he would let russia do whatever the hell they want, quoting him there, to nato nations who aren't paying their fair share of defense spending. the chair of the joint chiefs, general charles q. brown jr. giving this reaction in an

exclusive interview with our own lester holt. >> i think we have a responsibility to uphold those alliances. u.s. credibility is at stake with each of our alliances and u.s. leadership is still needed, wanted and watched. >> it is part of your argument to reassure nato, despite what they may hear that the u.s. is still committed? >> the u.s. is committed. that's the message i communicate and the message that has been received. >> let's bring in susan glasser, a former moscow bureau chief for "the washington post" and the co-author of the book "the divider: trump in the white house 2017 to 2021." also with us, former u.s. ambassador to russia, michael mcfall. nice to see both of you. ambassador, what do you make of the comments we heard from the joint chiefs chairman? do you think the u.s. credibility is at stake after trump's comments? >> well, i'm glad he said it.

i think it is important to react to the comments. i wish more gop officials, former national security officials in the republican party would do the same. i think complacency to these outrageous comments is a bad signal to our allies. i was just in lithuania last month, well before these comments, and already our front line nato allies are worried about our commitment to their long-term security. these kinds of comments make that even more dire and desperate. they're also making plans about how they might have to defend themselves against a russia attack, three to five years out, if the united states chooses to move in the way that mr. trump suggested just a few days ago. >> susan, some republican lawmakers are defending trump's comments. here's senator roger marshall. >> i just encourage people not to overreact. i've learned a long time ago not to overreact to what president trump says or tweets. i think people should take

everything he says seriously, but not literally. >> those comments really caused shock waves in our country and in other countries in our region. how can we rely on a president who claims that he will let russia do whatever they want? >> i think it is totally inaccurate reporting of what president trump was saying. they need to get over it. they need to stand up and be tough. >> get over it? stand up and be tough? susan, your reaction to what we just heard? >> well, i have to say, it is exhausting, ana, isn't it that here we are eight years into the trump phenomena and you have senators gas lighting the american public and pretending that donald trump doesn't mean exactly what he means. the nato article 5 guarantee of mutual defense not only is at the heart of the treaty, but it essentially depends upon the credibility of those participating in it. donald trump can destroy the

nato guarantee simply by his words. he doesn't have to withdraw from the treaty. and, by the way, it tells you something that the senators' colleagues were so alarmed and concerned about the prospect of donald trump returning to power that earlier this year they put a provision in a defense bill that would make it impossible for the u.s. to withdraw from nato without explicit action by the u.s. congress. and the reason for that is simple. it is donald trump. but, i think the fear in europe is that even without a formal action by the u.s. congress, donald trump simply by returning to office could essentially render nato's guarantees moot and, two, ambassador mcfaul's point, remember the baltic states are already assessing. there is a new report out today from estonian intelligence already assessing that putin is quite likely in the event certainly of a trump return to move militarily against a nato country sometime in the medium

term. this is a genuine risk and not a theoretical one. >> i think it was a denmark official that said that the next three to five years is the range in which intelligence is saying russia could invade a nato country. trump's current opponent and former ambassador to the u.n., nikki haley, said this. >> russia is completely intimidated by nato. they have never invaded a nato country. they have always invaded those that are not nato. not only is russia intimidated by nato, china is intimidated by nato. why would you put our allies and military in harm's way by saying something so careless? >> ambassador, is she right? is putin afraid of nato? and why haven't we heard from him since trump's comments? >> well, she's definitely right that putin has not attacked a nato country. nato has not attacked russia or the soviet union either. nato helps to keep the peace. ronald reagan said peace through strength, that's what we have accomplished, and eroding that

confidence in nato with comments like what mr. trump made, that could drag us into a war. think about it, if god forbid, three to five years from now, poland or lithuania or another country, nato ally is attacked, one, mr. trump by saying he won't support them might erode the alliance, but, two, eventually, we might get dragged into that war. that reminds me of what happened in the 1930s. i urge americans to study the 1930s so that we don't make those mistakes again. >> susan, coming back to what we're hearing on capitol hill, i recall during trump's time in the white house, he still had mitch mcconnell and others in the senate as guardrails who kind of kept him from acting on some of his most extreme ideas. i have to wonder, does that resistance still exist? >> well, i think you're right about mcconnell on certain matters of foreign policy that were important to him and mcconnell has always been certainly a strong supporter

both of nato and, you know, very concerned about the national security threats posed by putin. less so obviously on domestic matters where mcconnell was, you know, arguably the chief facilitator of some of trump's more radical proposals and his retaking the supreme court. i think what we're seeing in real time, right now, ana, is the erosion of mcconnell's authority over his senate republican conference. he became last year the longest serving party leader in american history in the senate. and yet i think we're sort of moving into a kind of a final days situation for mcconnell, this recent fight over the national security aid bill, finally passed, just early this morning, on a vote that -- in which there were only 17 republicans total, including mcconnell, who went along with it. so i think you can say that 17 right now more or less is the number of senate republicans who still have that more traditional

republican view of foreign policy. i think what we're seeing is the trumpification. >> 17 is a slight amount of the senate right now. thank you so much, susan glasser and ambassador michael mcfaul. i appreciate your insights. up next on "ana cabrera reports," disturbing new details about the alleged shooter who opened fire inside pastor joel osteen's megachurch. pastor joel osteen's megachurch.

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new details now about the shooter who brought her 7-year-old son with her and open fire inside joel osteen's church. nbc's morgan chesky joins us for more on this report. >> reporter: more than 24 hours after gunfire rang out through houston's lakewood mega church, investigators are painting a troubling picture of the woman that opened fire. she was 36-year-old moreno, telling nbc news she was carrying an ar-15 with the word

palestine written on it. at her home, written materials with a clear message. >> we do have some anti-semitic writings we uncovered during the process. >> reporter: moreno had at least six prior arrests since 2005, including weapons charges. in 2016, authorities also placed moreno under an emergency detention order. >> she has a mental health disorder that is documented. >> reporter: and some of her family may be related to the shooting. she was wearing a trench coat and backpack when he walked into the church, and her 7-year-old son next to her. moreno was killed and the 7-year-old boy, critically

injured. the off duty officers credited with saving multiple lives. inside the sanctuary, hundreds of churchgoers tried to escape. >> you never think it's going to happen to you. or your family until it happens to you or your family. it could have been a lot worse. >> reporter: we are also hearing from neighbors who lived in near moreno, and one woman refusing to go on camera and she filed a restraining order against the shooter as recently as this past fall, and she was described as being a chaotic presence. because of the attack here at lakewood church they are increasing a visible security presence at places of worship

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so if you are planning to stay home and order in on valentine's day, you might need a backup plan. tomorrow thousands of uber, lyft and doordash drivers plan to avoid the roads and head to the picket lines. one group represents 130,000 drivers saying they will not provide airport rides in some cities, and drivers say the companies just take too big of a cut from each ride. now to a fresh look at our economy this morning. brand-new data showing inflation

continues to cool last month but not as much as experts predicted. consumer prices were up 3.1% in january compared to a year ago, but down 3.4% from december, year to year. now for us, brian cheung, who can explain all the numbers. not quite the good and rosy pictures economists predicted, right? what does it mean? >> some analysts said it's frustrating we have not seen more improvement on inflation, and this is in terms of what the annual inflation rates were looking like. after, indeed, progress since the 2022 period down to the summer of last year, we basically have been going sideways every since then, and that last number was around the 3.4%, 3.5% or 3.7% we have seen

in the months prior reported. here's the big reason we are concerned with where inflation might be going forward, shelter, right, mortgages, rent payments, that accelerating, .6% in december. food prices going up as well, although energy prices went down by almost 1% because gasoline prices went down. here's some of the prices you are seeing at the store this time in january compared to this time last year. basically everything mostly the same, and egg prices went up a cent compared to a year ago, and milk and bread about the same. it's great prices are not rising from a year ago, but they are not declining. maybe wages are keeping up, but i am not seeing an improvement in the basket when i check out

from the grocery store. >> does it have anything to do with what the fed will do in terms of rate cuts? >> yeah, absolutely, the fed is looking at the numbers and saying inflation is down, and they want this number to be somewhere closer to 2%, and the federal reserve not likely to cut rates as soon as some households and analysts may have expected, and some say maybe that will happen earlier in the spring. >> thank you so much for breaking it down for us. good to see you. that does it for us. see you back here tomorrow at 3:00 p.m. filling in for katy tur. thank you for joining us. i am ana cabrera,