trump's appeal >> all right, garrett haake with our breaking news. thank you. >>> meantime, several states in the northeast remain under flood alerts tonight in the wake of yesterday's extraordinary storm event along the east coast. tonight, a nervous watch in places as river levels near their crest in flood-vulnerable areas. today, rescuers were still ferrying people left stranded by floodwaters to safety. nbc's emilie ikeda is in the flood zone for us tonight. >> reporter: tonight, first responders fanning out across the battered northeast, as lingering floodwaters from monday's monstrous storm continue stranding families >> obviously with the water starting to crest now, it's only going to get worse before it gets better. >> reporter: with parts of maine and new jersey under states of emergency. michele called for help when water rose around her home with her sister still inside what was going your mind >> traumatic the water is disgusting and i want her safe. >> reporter: we followed the rescue team to the family's doorstep >> getting through the

garrett haake is following this. he has the latest details for us. garrett, could this have an impact on the republican front-runner? >> reporter: it absolutely could. this is a stunning decision from the colorado supreme court, which tonight ruled that former president trump is disqualified from serving as president again citing his actions on january 6th then ruling that, quote, because he is disqualified, it would be wrong to allow him as a candidate on the colorado primary ballot. the court here citing the 14th amendability -- amendment of the constitution which says no person can serve as an officer of the united states who engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the u.s. the trump campaign tonight calling this decision completely flawed and vowing a swift appeal to the u.s. supreme court. now, all of this comes as other state courts have heard similar challenges but ruled in mr. trump's favor. this ruling, lester, has been temporarily paused pending mr. trump's appeal. >> all right, garrett haake with our breaking news. thank you. >>> mean

garrett haake is in tuscaloosa, alabama. >> reporter: just hours from another republican debate that he is skipping, front-runner donald trump dominating headlines with this answer about abuse of power. >> do you in any way have any plans whatsoever if re-elected president to abuse power, to break the law, to use the government to go after people? >> you mean like they're using right now? >> reporter: pressed later. >> you would never abuse power as retribution against anybody. >> except for day one. >> except for? >> he's going crazy. except for day one. >> meaning? >> i want to close the border and i want to drill, drill, drill. >> that's not retribution. >> i'm going to be -- [ applause ] i'm going to be -- you keep -- i love this guy. he says you're not going to be a dictator. are you? i said, no, no, no other than day one. we're closing the border, and we're drilling, drilling, drilling. after that i'm not a dictator, okay? >> reporter: but mr. trump has long promised payback vowing for a special counsel to investigate the biden family. >> we're going to come after the people in

garrett haake is in tuscaloosa, alabama. >> reporter: tonight, just hours from another republican debate that he is skipping, front-runner donald trump dominating headlines with this answer about abuse of power >> do you in any way have any plans whatsoever, if re-elected president, to abuse power, to break the law, to use the government to go after people >> you mean like they're using right now? >> reporter: pressed later -- >> you would never abuse power as retribution against anybody. >> except for day one. >> except for? >> he's going crazy. except for day one. >> meaning? >> i want to close the border, and i want to drill, drill, drill. >> that's not retribution. >> i'm going to be -- [ applause ] i'm going to be -- you keep -- we love this guy. he says, you're not going to be a dictator, are you? i said, no, no, no other than day one we're closing the border, and we're drilling, drilling, drilling after that i'm not a dictator, okay? >> reporter: but mr. trump has long promised payback against political opponents including vowing to appoint a special counsel to investigate the bid

here is garrett haake. >> reporter: tonight, former president trump's potential road back to the whitegain winding through a manhattan courtroom. >> they're doing this to hurt a political opponent. this is third world country stuff. >> reporter: with the republican presidential front-runner choosing to attend his civil fraud trial in new york, even as his rivals campaign in the early nominating state. >> i'm sitting in a courthouse instead of being in iowa where i should be, even though i'm leading by about 40 points. >> reporter: while recent iowa surveys have shown a closer race there, a new national wall street journal poll has mr. trump holding a commanding 44-point lead over nikki haley and ron desantis, who in last night's debate largely focused their fire on one another, not the absent front-runner. >> she caves any time the left comes after her, any time the media comes after her. >> ron has continued to lie because he's losing. >> reporter: the debate full of ugly personal attacks. >> you would be voted in the first 20 minutes as the most obnoxious blowhard in america. >> do e

garrett haake did a great year ender to tell us about what's happened and where we may be going.th johnson now this charge -- and we've seen at least halfway through there congress the most unpredictive congress as you know -- unproductive congress as you know, they well a yield of 3.5% based on the number of bills they put up for votes. 3.5%, about two dozen passed overall. we know january's going to be packed full of very important decisions. is johnson going to be, as some people say, knock some heads together to get some stuff done? >> well, i think they're going to be consistency which means they're going to be completely unproductive in 2024. the problem that johnson has, and you can question him as a leader and all that and as i have, the problem is his caucus. and the -- it's a caucus like herding quail. and you can't herd quail because they're all over the place. they all have different viewpoints. they don't want -- some don't want to support being with trump, most don't want to support being with trump. so i think he's in an untenable position. the other problem he has

>> this goes back to the initial discussion you were having with garrett haake and with me. for people who are listening who think that this is media hyperbole, it is not. the idea that somebody would say that and that there would not be universal and unanimous criticism tells you where we are as a country. and it is imperative that people think about this, not in terms of political terms but about what our country is going to be. this is really not a question of, gee, is donald trump and his allies people like kash patel, are they going to do this? they're telling you they're going to do it. the issue is whether you care, whether it is something that you think our country, a road that our country should go down. it will be, just to be clear, the end of the rule of law in this country. >> andrew weissmann, lisa rubin, thank you, guys, very much. we're going to obviously keep on reporting on this. we have also have breaking news to report, not great news. we're following this out of las vegas. the university of las vegas, the politics there are reporting that they're respondi

there is disagreements in every household in america. >> reporter: garrett haake, nbc news, washington del percio and bazell smikle. welcome. happy late christmas and happy early new year's. let me show you this word cloud shared by the former president of the united states and the words that stick out to me, he's got economy on there, power, revenge, dictatorship, dictator, and america. you couple that with this morning former president calling the president, president biden, a quote, unquote threat to democracy, what do you make of it? >> that's donald trump. he is what he says. there is just no questioning it. when he talks about i'll be your retribution and revenge, he means it. and that's a reflection in what you just showed with that word cloud. the idea for revenge, though, i think something that will -- the biden campaign will kind of turn upside down and make it more about democracy. it is a good thing to do. because right now donald trump is locked up with the republican nomination unless something drastic changes. >> what do you make of this kind of attack on democracy when

nbc senior capitol hill correspondent garrett haake joins us now with the latest hey, garrett, good morningonths and months but has so far failed to connect president biden to any wrongdoing. the investigation is focused on the president's son, hunter biden's foreign business deals and whether joe biden either as vice president or afterwards improperly profited off them in some way hunter biden yesterday defied a congressional subpoena for closed-door deposition with the committees running this investigation, but he came to capitol hill anyway, even as house republicans were outlining their investigation's goals to defend himself and his father. >> we have a simple question i think an overwhelming majority of americans have, what did the bidens do to receive the tens of millions of dollars from our enmist around the world? >> in the depths of my addiction, i was extremely irresponsible with my finances but to suggest that is grounds for an impeachment inquiry is beyond the absurd. >> reporter: democrats agree with hunter biden's assessment of the situation here, but the house is now likely

." >> let's get started in tuscaloosa with nbc's garrett haake. garrett, good morning. >> reporter: hey, hoda, good morning. time is running out for the four candidates on stage last night. to change the dynamic you just mentioned. a surging nikki haley was clearly the focus of most of the attention last night, some of the fieriest debates came when donald trump was discussed. >> reporter: overnight, the fourth republican presidential debate devolving into a four-way brawl, with nikki haley and the absent donald trump taking most of the punches. chris christie calling out his fellow candidates for ignoring their party's dominant front-runner. >> he's the one who, as you just put it, is way ahead in the polls. and yet i've got these three guys who are all seeming to compete with, you know, voldemort, he who shall not be named. they don't want to talk about it. >> reporter: christie also asked about this trump comment. >> he says, you're not going to be a dictator, are you. i said, no, no, no, other than day one. >> this is an angry bitter man. who

joining us now, garrett haake. so, garrett, explain the procedural hurdles here.ot only has the house gone home so you can't call them back, but in the senate alone to get this through. >> look, the senate, the house being gone and the speaker johnson making very clear he's not bringing them back early is the largest hurdle here. the simple fact is you can't vote on a deal or a framework. you have to vote on bill. negotiators involved here all of who have experience with these thorny issues, understand that getting every word right of a potential deal is critical because the law around immigration is so complicated and they don't want to get bogged down in years if not decades if they make changes to the asylum system or giving the administration more power to deport immigrants that are already here. they have problems in both substance and the mechanism of passing something quickly even if they reach a deal, which everyone involved, andrea, has said they are not close yet. >> garrett haake, thanks for setting that up and joining us now is former republican congre

joining us now is garrett haake. garrett, good morning. how soon can we see a vote on this?t is going to happen, if not this week, then next week. after that, the house is expected to be gone until the end of the year and house republicans really want to show some progress on an inquiry that has thus far failed to get off the ground, or generate much interest outside the conservative media ecosystem. they're trying to line up at least one more hearing and they hope a closed door deposition with hunter and james biden, the president's brother. we will see if they're able to get all their ducks in a row to do this. they can only afford to lose three votes now that george santos is gone. slim margin and very tricky vote for a lot of members. >> and garrett, speaking of george santos, says he's going to be filing ethics complaints today? >> yeah, he's been saying this on twitter or x over the weekend, jose. i don't think we should give it much credence. he can file them as any citizen can, but this feels more like an effort to stay in the spotlight by the now former new york con

it will be tumultuous. >> reporter: garrett haake, nbc news, washington. >> there's a lot to discusse and carlos cabello. david, the first challenge the gop faces is donald trump's dominance in a still somewhat crowded field for 2024. are we seeing any signs of real vulnerability we seeing any rea vulnerability for him? >> it's unclear, alex. we're seeing signs in new hampshire only right now, where nikki haley, incredible polls with good sample sizes, solid margins of error, has separated herself from the remaining candidates vying to become the consensus alternative to donald trump. of course, new hampshire will vote second on january 23rd. iowa comes first january 15th. trump looks to be in a command been position there. primarying are all about momentum. if he can emerge with a big victory, he could roll into new hampshire with a sense of inevitability that i think makes it more difficult for nikki haley to capitalize on her recent surge, which i do think is real in that state. on the other hand, if the former president's victory in iowa is not as bit as anticipated based on poll

joining us now, nbc news senior capitol hill correspondent garrett haake. garrett, good morning.zelenskyy's visit going to move the needle at all for him? >> jose, it may be too little too late for zelenskyy's presence here to change anything. his previous visits to the capital capitol were received quite powerfully by lawmakers. at this point the argument here isn't really about ukraine aid. it's about trying to tie it to some kind of enhanced border security measure, and so even lawmakers who are, you know, on the fence or perhaps even leaning no on this broader package aren't really doing so because of anything to do with this situation on the ground in russia. we've heard as much from some of those republican lawmakers late last week. the domestic side of this bigger deal, not the ukraine aid side of it. zelenskyy can raise awareness and he can raise kind of the threshold of people understanding how dire and urgent the need is. but whether that actively leans on, lobby, pressures lawmakers in this circumstance, i think it's unlikely. >> and so meanwhile, and speaking of the d

our senior capitol hill correspondent garrett haake joins us now from the hill.ett, 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 fo

let's get to nbc's garrett haake on capitol hill.-seat majority here. if the full house takes a vote, where will this go? >> reporter: well, ana, as of right now, it looks like republicans will have the votes to pass this inquiry and get it started formally. but by a very narrow margin. we heard from one house republican, a retiring member, it should be noted, who has come out publicly and said they shouldn't take this step. what i'm watching are a lot of the folks in biden-leaning districts, are they ready to essentially walk the plank on an impeachment inquiry they will argue on the front end is just them authorizing their ability to ask questions. house republicans have said they don't think they're getting all the evidence that they need from the white house, from hunter biden and his attorneys and so forth. they need this backup to go ask better questions. my question to them is, what happens if you don't find anything? would you really be willing to acquit president biden or shut down an impeachment inquiry in a presidential el

nbc senior capitol hill correspondent garrett haake looks at what is in store for 2024. >> reporter:gth of donald trump's hold on the republican party is one of the first questions 2024 may answer. the gop presidential field, which peaked with more than a dozen active candidates in 2023, and the year with just five credible campaigns remaining. polling shows the republican race remains donald trump's to lose. >> we are leading with 51% while rhonda sanctimonious is atlas than 19 and haley is that 16. what happened to the haley surge? >> reporter: iowa, new hampshire, and south carolina likely to -- be for what could be a decisive super tuesday on march 5th. trump's biggest roadblock on the path to the convention and nomination in july may not be another candidate at all, but his legal challenges. including 91 criminal charges, spread across four cases. and a civil fraud trial set to conclude in january, which has already bogged him down in new york. he has denied all charges. >> i should be right now in iowa, new hampshire, and south carolina. i shouldn't be sitting in a courthouse.

i'm garrett haake.m all of us here at nbc news, merry christmas and good night . >>> right now at 6:00, time is running out to get those last-minute christmas gifts. we catch up with shoppers rushing to check the final items off their list. >>> plus -- >> i got that

nbc's garrett haake has more on the fall out from the ruling >> reporter: president biden weighing in on the colorado supreme court's dramatic ruling, banning republican frontrunner donald trump from the state's ballot the court citing the 14th amendment, saying the former president engaged in insurrection on january 6. president biden was asked if mr. trump is an insurrectionist. >> well, i think it's self-evident you saw it all now whether the 14th amendment will apply, we'll let the court make that decision but he certainly supported an insurrection no question about it none, zero >> reporter: the 14th amendment was ratified after the civil war. the former president writing on social media, every case i am fighting is the work of the doj and white house. no such thing has ever happened in our country before. with the campaign labeling the split decision by colorado's highest court with all seven of its justices appointed by democratic governors as completely flaw ed and a scheme to interfere in an election. the rivals echoing the frontrunner's complaint. >> we don't need judges mak

garrett haake joins me now. what will you do with all of your guys gone?onald trump and everything else you are covering. the fact that the house spent 21 days without a speaker and got nothing done, that they then spent all this time arguing about something as big as immigration, which has bedevilled congresses under republican and democratic presidents for decades, and that is holding up aid to ukraine, which is out of ammo or getting out of ammo. >> the ambitions of the congress and its track record do not match in any sense. the house is long gone. this is the least productive congress in modern history. senators wrapped up their official business last night. that small group did stay hold. mayorkas was on the hill for an hour. he met with sinema and murphy. i'm not sure if langford were there. they told reporters, they are going home. they will talk remotely. they understand that despite the very challenging specific circumstances, like record breaking numbers of migrants crossing we are seeing now, and the broader macro picture of immigration that ha

garrett haake, thank you as well. >>> up next, we're going live to the courthouse with the three thingsds to decide on as they deliberate in rudy giuliani's defamation case. you're watching "jose diaz-balart reports." you're watching "jose diaz-balart reports. oh. [dog barks] no it's just a bunny! only pay for what you need. ♪liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty.♪ (carolers) ♪ iphone 15 pro, your husband deserves it! ♪ only pay for what you need. (mom) carolers? to tell me you want a new iphone? a better plan is verizon. (vo) it's your last chance to turn any iphone in any condition into a new iphone 15 pro with titanium and ipad and apple watch se - all on us. only on verizon. children are the greatest joy and our best hope for a better future. friends, they are the future. but did you know that millions of kids right here in our own backyard are facing hunger every day without healthy food it's harder to grow, to thrive, to feel their best. the impact when children don't have enough to eat is tremendous, because when you're hungry and your basic needs aren't being met, you cannot learn.

garrett haake, steve kornacki, george solis, thank you all. please stay close as we keep a close eye on this vote. >>> up next here on "ana cabrera reports." we have more breaking news today, the truce between israel and hamas is over. what it means for efforts now to save more hostages still held captive in gaza. i'm still going to eat your socks. no, you're not. get great deals on gifts that deliver excitement at chewy. liberty mutual customized my car insurance and i saved hundreds. with the money i saved, i started a dog walking business. oh. [dog barks] no it's just a bunny! only pay for what you need. ♪liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty.♪ bowel leakage is more common than you think. an expert physician recommended axonics therapy, and it gave me my life back. go to findrealrelief.com to get started. get back to doing the things you love! ♪♪ vicks vapostick provides soothing, non-medicated vicks vapors. easy to apply for the whole family. vicks vapostick. and try vicks vaposhower for steamy vicks vapors. >>> and now to the breaking news i

. >> joining us now, nbc's garrett haake. good morning.ving an impact one way or another on the gop primary? it seems like everything that is happening right now has only been to the benefit of the former president, but could this politically play a big part? >> reporter: i think it could, jose, in part because of the timing, so close to the iowa caucuses. i think there is a widespread belief in republican circles, both close to the former president, and even from folks who are supporting his opponents, that this is the kind of thing that actually helps the former president because it, again, makes him look like a victim. he can play up his victimhood as though he's being attacked by a liberal judicial machine that is desperate to keep him off the ballot. s that that's the way you're hearing this discussed by trump allies and you hear the frustration from his opponents on the campaign trail, like ron desantis, discussing this a little while ago. here's what he said. >> could we just say biden can't be on the ballot because he let in 8 mill

garrett haake has the fallout tonight. >> reporter: tonight, president biden weighing in on the colorado supreme court's dramatic ruling banning republican front-runner donald trump from the state's ballot the court citing the 14th amendment saying the former president engaged in insurrection on january 6th. president biden was asked if mr. trump is an insurrectionist. >> well, i think certainly it's self-evident you saw it all now, whether the 14th amendment applies, we'll let the court make that decision, but he certainly supported an insurrection no question about it, none, zero. >> reporter: the 14th amendment was ratified after the civil war in part to keep supporters of the confederacy out of office the former president writing on social media today, quote, every case i am fighting is the work of the doj and the white house. no such thing has ever happened in our country before with his campaign labeling the split decision by colorado's highest court with all seven of its justices appointed by democratic governors as, quote, completely flawed and a scheme to interfere in an electio

garrett haake has the fallout tonight. >> reporter: tonight, president biden weighing in on the colorado supreme court's dramatic ruling banning republican front-runner donald trump from the state's ballot. the court citing the 14th amendment saying the former president engaged in insurrection on january 6th. president biden was asked if mr. trump is an insurrectionist. >> well, i think certainly it's self-evident. you saw it all. now, whether the 14th amendment applies, we'll let the court make that decision, but he certainly supported an insurrection. no question about it, none, zero. >> reporter: the 14th amendment was ratified after the civil war in part to keep supporters of the confederacy out of office. the former president writing on social media today, quote, every case i am fighting is the work of the doj and the white house. no such thing has ever happened in our country before. with his campaign labeling the split decision by colorado's highest court with all seven of its justices appointed by democratic governors as, quote, completely flawed and a scheme to interfere in an e

garrett haake leads us off from washington. hey, good morning. >> reporter: good morning.his is a case viewed by legal experts as a long shot with similar efforts having failed across the country, but this ruling now sets up a potential showdown at the supreme court as donald trump's campaign and his republican primary opponents are blasting the decision, saying it should have been left to the voters. president donald trump campaigning in iowa overnight, making no mention of a bombshell decision by the colorado supreme court ruling he engaged in insurrection when he tried to overturn the 2020 presidential election. the decision also making him ineligible to hold office and disqualifying him from march 5th ballot. the court repeatedly reciting mr. trump's own words on january 6th as evidence of the insurrection when he urged supporters to march on the capitol and fight insurrection. >> we're going to walk down to the capitol. we fight like hell. if you don't fight like hell, you're not going to have a country anymore. >> reporter: mr. trump's campaign calling the court's de

garrett haake on duty for us merry christmas. >> reporter: hey, guys, good morning, merry christmas, and good morning to you at home. this christmas day finds the united states and the world facing dire challenges to peace and stability. president biden did leave washington for the holiday, but with a long agenda of urgent matters to deal witht has a loo what's on the president's plate. >> reporter: the president spending the holiday at camp david. on saturday we saw president biden, his son hunter and several other family members leaving the white house. the last order of business before the holiday was a phone call with prime minister from israel, benjamin netanyahu the white house saying the leaders talked about israel's military object in gaza an and precise. president biden we're told also stressed the need for help for civilians as the death toll climbs i asked president biden about a cease-fire, and he said he did not ask for one during his cal with netanyahu war sure to continue to challenge the president in the new year as the congressional bad for aid for ukraine will heat

nbc's garrett haake covers the trump campaign and joins us with the latest hey, garrett, good morning> reporter: hey, hoda, good morning. this colorado court's conclusion that donald trump is in violation of the 14th amendment's prohibition agains insurrection and is no longer eligible to serve as president sent shock waves through the political world. but it's also the latest example of a presidential campaign now being waged in courtrooms, just as much as it is on the campaign trail. the legal ruling that could keep donald trump off colorado's primary ballot looming large on the campaign trail, with his republican rivals defending the man they hope to defeat. >> just because these liberal justices don't like him, they want to take him off the ballot. that's not a democracy >> reporter: former attorney general bill barr who has been critical of mr. trump questioning the legal merits of the case, arguing it will work work to his former boss' advantage. >> he feeds on grievance, just like a fire feeds on oxygen. and this is going to end up as a grievance that helps him >> reporter: at

joining us now is garrett haake, former obama white house press secretary, robert gibbs, and the bullwork large, charlie sykes. garrett, does the speaker have the votes? >> it's something we're going to find out soon, andrea. so far, the only vocal no vote has been colorado's ken buck who's made it clear he doesn't think republicans have found the goods here. impeachment of joe biden has been one of the few things that's tended to unite this conference which has been so unruly over the past year. the speaker thinks he needs to have this vote to add inquiry to get this vote on the ground out of of conservative media and to give his members something to go home and talk about. they really sputtered through the end of this year to really pass anything. they've struggled on spending. they'll continue to do that into next year. they seem to think this is the kind of vote even for the moderates, they can at least take back to their constituents and say we did something. now whether they can schedule that remains to be seen. we just learned from ryan nobles that james biden, who the committee ha

garrett haake for us. thank you. >>> the baltimore ravens showing everybody why they are the team to beat in the afc. >> it gets a little bit harder. jackson steps back and flicks it to the end zone. touchdown! >> there you go. ravens win that one 23-7. right now they are the number one seed in the afc just three weeks to go in the regular season. >> the ravens might be the best team in football. sorry, sorry. eagles look good. >> yeah, yeah. what about the niners? >> niners look good, al. >> al, what do you think? >> i'm switzerland. i'm doing okay. hey, let's show you what's going on. again, this storm is just -- the good news is, and tom costello alluded to this, 20 degrees colder, a major nor'easter. heavy rains. but it's starting to taper off down the carolinas. look at the lake-effect snow starting to crank up. we'll be watching that. above-average temperatures back through the plains. snowy conditions through the great lakes. the flood threat continues in new england. sunshine down through florida.

. >> nbc news senior capitol hill correspondent garrett haake joins us. good seeing you.o things stand right now? >> reporter: the congresswoman is right, broadly curtailing asylum claims is one of the goals of this negotiation from the republican perspective, but it's one of several really thorny immigration issues that have bogged down this negotiation now. the senators were in this small group over the weekend, negotiated for hours on saturday, again on sunday. they're expected back today, but they're trying to break what's basically 30 years of an impasse on any significant changes to our immigration system on a very short time line with a carrot at the end essentially for this ukraine and israel funding, and you don't have to take my word for it, the senators involved who are pretty experienced deal makers, all of them, are describing this as one of the most complex things they've ever undertaken in a short time frame. here's a little of what we heard from those negotiators over the weekend. >> i think people don't understand the complexity and the number of decision

joining us now garrett haake in washington, and here with me, nbc's vaughn hillyard and msnbc legal analysta rubin. garrett, the court has stayed its own decision until january 4th. walk us through this ruling and what it means. >> that's right, and colorado closes that ballot out on january 5th. what this means is that donald trump will stay on this ballot basically unless and until the supreme court acts. and there's every indication including the fact that there are more states with challenges like this working their way through their court system, that the supreme court is going to have to take this up in some capacity, at least that's what colorado's secretary of state said on msnbc last night. let's listen. >> so whether or not the united states supreme court decides to review the case, whether or not they issue a decision by january 5th, if they do review the case, i believe that they will issue some type of order or be cognizant of the fact that we have an election that is quickly approaching. we're a super tuesday state with a january 5th deadline for ballot certification. >> so le

nbc's garrett haake joins us from capitol hill. good morning. what do you expect today? >> reporter: we expect the house to vote on this inquiry late this afternoon. because of the republicans' razor thin majority, it will likely pass but barely with only one republican lawmaker saying aloud he will vote against it. house republicans have been investigating whether president biden committed any impeachable offenses or crimes related to his son hunter's his dealings. . >> speaking of this investigation, there has been a call for hunter biden to testify. he said he would, but it had to be public. how do you see that playing out? >> what are they afraid of? >> a striking moment there. one of the first times we have heard from hunter biden himself directly about this case. he was scheduled to appear for a closed door oversight committee, and he said he will only testify in public, and it's possible tho committee could choose to hold get everything on the record first. >> craig joins the table now with some hopeful signs for the economy. >> good morning to you a him in contem

let's bring in garrett haake. how is this vote going to shake out today?ter: we got a preview yesterday with a floor debate heated and personal at times. everything about whether his mother died on 9/11 to the ethics committee report accusing him of stealing from his campaign. his critics think it is likely they will have the support to remove him today, but they aren't certain. the speaker has refused to say how he will vote. but the number two house republican steve scalise said he will vote against expulsion because he thinks santos deserves his day in court first, and that seems to be. some gop makers shared that concern saying santos is an embarrassment that deserves to be kicked out, worried about doing so before he's found guilty of doing anything. if the vote goes against him today, santos will be expelled immediately. >> well, to that point, garrett, money laundering. he's set to go to trial next step. >> garrett, thanks so much. >>> meantime, a highly unusual debate featured a heated face-off between florida governor ron desantis sparring with ca

nbc news senior capitol hill correspondent garrett haake has a look ahead. >> reporter: the strengthy is one of the first questions 2024 may answer. the gop presidential field, which peaked with more than a dozen active candidates in 2023, ends the year with just five credible campaigns remaining, and polling shows the republican race remains donald trump's to lose. >> so we're leading with 51%, while ron desanctimonious is at less than 19, haley is at 60. what happened to the haley surge? >> reporter: the early state's gauntlet of iowa, new hampshire, nevada and south carolina likely to win other fields still further before what could be a decisive super tuesday on march 5th. trump's biggest roadblock on the path to the convention and nomination in july may not be another candidate at all, but his legal challenges, including 91 criminal charges, spread across four cases, and a civil fraud trial set to conclude in january, which is already bogged him down in new york. he's denied all charges. >> i can see right now in iowa, and new hampshire, south carolina, i should be sitting in a

nbc news capitol hill correspondent garrett haake has the latest. >> reporter: former president donald the colorado supreme court, ruling that he engaged in insurrection when he tried to overturn the 2020 presidential election. the decision also making him ineligible to hold office under the 14th amendment, and disqualifying him from colorado's march 5th primary ballot. the court repeatedly citing mr. trump's own words on january 6th as evidence of insurrection when he urged supporters to march on the capitol and fight certification of the 2020 election for joe biden. >> we're going to walk down to the capitol. we fight like hell, and if you don't fight like hell, you're not going to have a country anymore. >> reporter: mr. trump's campaign calling the court's decision, quote, completely flawed and vowing to appeal to the u.s. supreme court. the political backlash to the ruling, instant, with the former president's allies rushing to his defense. house speaker mike johnson calling it, quote, nothing but a thinly vailed partisan attack, his rivals also attacking the decision, ron desanti

garrett haake has the latest. >> the yays are 221 and the nays are 212.ed by a vote to launch a formal impeachment inquiry, the house voing along party lines late wednesday to press on with an investigation of the president and his family's business dealings. >> we have a simple question i think a majority of americans have. what did the bidens do to receive the tens of millions of dollars from our enemies around the world? >> the republicans' probe focuses on hunter biden, accusing him of profiting off the family name while joe biden was vice president. so far, they've been unable to publicly demonstrate any concrete evidence that directly connects president biden to any wrongdoing. >> the republicans are going this for political retribution at donald trump's direction. >> reporter: president biden accusing house republicans of a, quote, baseless political stunt, writing in part, "instead of doing anything to help make americans' lives better, they're focused on attacking me with lies." earlier wednesday, a defiant hunter biden appearing just outside the

garrett haake as the latest. >> reporter: the legal ruling that could keep donald trump off colorado'sis republican rivals defending the man they hope to defeat. >> just because these liberal justices don't like him, they want to take him off the ballot. that's not a democracy. >> reporter: bill barr, who has been critical of donald trump, questioning the legal merits of the case, arguing it will work to his former boss' advantage. >> he feeds on grievance. >> reporter: the colorado supreme court citing donald trump's own words as evidence of inciting an insurrection. >> we fight like hell. if you don't fight like hell, you're not going to have a country anymore. >> reporter: president biden calling donald trump's role in the capitol attack self-evident. >> it's an insurrection, no question about it. >> reporter: the trump campaign has vowed to swiftly appeal the colorado case. a 4-3 decision by justices appointed by democratic governors. cases like the one in colorado have faced an uphill battle. litigation and appeals are pending in more than a dozen states. efforts to ban trump from