the radio. >> that's a good one. >> reporter: the man they called steven b. >> have a good weekend. bye! >> that's all for this edition of new details about opposition from within the house to president trump's demand to halt military aid to ukraine. john bolton, mike pompeo and mark esper all tried to convince him to release the aid. >> plus people are speaking out to condemn an attack that left five people wounded at ar rabbis home. >> authorities say worshippers returned fire after the gunman began shooting.

good monday morning, everybody. it's december 30th. aman is off this morning. we begin with new information at the heart of the impeachment investigation into president trump. it's part of an extensive piece by the new york times on the nearly $400 million in military aid that was withheld from ukraine. as democrats push for witnesses at the senate trial, the times reports that during an oval office meeting in late august, secretary of state mike pompeo, defense secretary and then national security adviser john bolton tried but failed to convince the president to release this aid. the times cites in part this, interviews with dozens and current and former administration officials, congressional aids and others as well as previously undisclosed e-mails and documents. the report also lays out the

battle within the administration naming the acting chief of staff as a key conduit for transmitting the president's demands. as the national security counsel, white house budget office developed an argument that the president's role as commander in chief would, quote, simply allow him to override congress on this issue and then as we now know the president didn't release the aid until september 11th after learning about the whistleblower report. and despite concerns from one republican lawmaker, join an interview last week with an nbc affiliate in alaska lisa said she was disturbed by mcconnell's coordination with the white house. here's how senator kennedy responded to those remarks just yesterday.

>> senator mcconnell is entitled to his opinion and his approach. so is senator schumer and blumenthal. the senate is not a jury. it's jury and judge. the chief justice is not the judge he's the presiding officer. there are no standards of proof. there are no rules of evidence. and every senator is entitled to approach it his own way. i thought that the house proceedings were unnecessarily unfair and when the american people walk away from the senate trial, if we ever have one, i don't want them saying well, we were just run over by the same truck twice. >> so meanwhile they argued that

she has a duty to send over articles of impeachment. they're going to be sent over but it might not be until february. watch this. >> it's our duty to turn it over. it's not like a mechanism that she can control. the house passed it. they shouldn't have. >> do you believe she is overreaching by trying to influence a senate trial. >> she could run for the senate if she wants to be a senator but the house has a role. the senate has a role. it's time for the senate to do their job. for months she's saying how important it is they have to remove this president immediately. a threat to their whole way of life and then once she passed the impeachment she doesn't want the senate to start the trial. they can't have it both ways. i think people see through the charade. >> how long is too long to wait

here? i mean i'm talking like into february. >> over the weekend president trump reupped his attacks on speaker pelosi. he tweeted she should spend more time in her decaying city and less time on the impeachment hoax and president trump blasted to his 68 million twitter followers the name of the alleged twitter follower that lead to his impeachment. last thursday the president tweeted an article that contained the whistleblower's name and then on friday he retweeted a post that placed the name prominently in his time line and in all of his followers feeds. and it's no longer visible to some users making it appear as if the post was actually deleted. they said it was a technical glitch and it was not deleted.

the whistleblowers name has not been released. msnbc legal analyst, it's nice to see you. >> good to see you too. >> let's begin with new reporting by the new york times. what do you make of the fact that you had mike pompeo, and john bolton sitting down with the president and saying you have to give up the money. >> it's really fascinating. congress has the power to spend. it's a constitutional power given to it. so any time the executive branch is holding up that money, congress is going to want to know why and what you have seen through the times report is all of these efforts made to delay, delay, delay money that shouldn't have been delayed. so it really, i think the way republicans are going to react to this is they're going to say wait a minute the request for assistance with investigations and the delay of the funds were two separate things that were not related. they did not

quo pro. even then, independently holding up the funding is going to create problems because congress appropriated it. >> this was to only drive home the idea that john bolton needs to testify during the senate trial if, in fact, that would actually happen. >> it does. the idea that the house is limited. it not born out by any precedent nor is it a rule at all. if this is an accusation in the house and trial in the senate it's routinely the case that in a grand jury proceeding the prosecution puts forward less evidence. not the complete evidence they have. because the burden of proof is different. it's beyond a reasonable doubt at trial.

so it's routine that they bring out much more evidence than at the earlier stage. so the idea that there should be more witnesses or witnesses at all is not outside of the realm of reasonableness. it's not part of the house's original package. that's the thing that for people watching this process, they need to understand that number one the senate can create whatever rules it wants but number two out of a notion of fairness, there's nothing wrong with having witnesses that maybe we didn't hear from. >> what's the precedence in regards to working with the white house in regards to how closely he is working with the white house ahead of the impeachment trial. what is the precedence there? >> the fact that mitch mcconnell is working with the white house raises concerns about impartiality. senators take an oath to do

impartial justice however this is not really a true trial of impartial jurors and i have been saying for many weeks now that the senate jury as a jury would be a completely unacceptable jury in our judicial system because they are biased and they are partial and is working with the white house directly going overboard with the partiality. i'm not sure and we don't require them to be completely impartial. >> correct me if i'm wrong but during the clinton impeachment trial the democrats also did work along side the white house and was in communication with the white house throughout the entire process. >> the clinton impeachment trial represented a more bipartisan process but communication with the white house is not the process but it's the disease of involvement that may raise concerns about the fundamental fairness of the trial. >> we'll see you again. so a man charged with attempted murder and burglary after stabbing five orthodoxed yous in

new york pled not guilty. the attack happened at arab buy's home on the 7th night of ha hanukkah. kathie park has the latest on this. >> do you care? >> our first look at 37-year-old thomas, the suspect in the brutal stabbing in new york. now facing five counts of attempted murder. he has pleaded not guilty to all counts. on saturday night, a hanukkah celebration turned into an evening of horror as the suspect stormed arab buy's home packed with adults and children. >> reporting serious injuries. >> witnesses say he began stabbing at random before running next door to the synagogue. >> he came in with a knife and said he didn't know what it was. officials have not announced a motive but the crime has shaken

this orthodox jewish community. on edge after a stage of antise mett -- semetic attacks. >> they have ordered increased patrols around the state. >> i consider this an act of domestic terrorism. these people are domestic terrorists. >> the president tweeting we must all come together to fight, confront and eradicate the evil scourge of anti-semitism. on the final night of hanukkah, a call for peace while a community moves forward for resilience in the wake of darkness. >> our thanks for kathie park for that report. two people were also dead following a shooting during sunday services in texas. two partioners volunteer as

church security guards. security guards returned fire. >> a couple of members returned fire and actions of those two service members, partioners at the church. >> the man sat down in church yesterday a shotgun and opened fire. a tragic weekend to say the least. still ahead, the pentagon says the u.s. military carried out air strikes on iraq and syria. what they're saying about that matter. plus a temporary ceasefire involving the taliban and what it could mean for peace talks. those stories and of course a check on your weather when we come back. course a check on your weather when we come back.

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welcome back, u.s. officials say they have successfully targeted a milita group. on sunday, the pentagon said that it conducted strikes against three locations. one in iraq and two in syria. the targets included weapon storage facilities and locations used to core late attacks on coalition forces. the defense secretary calling the strikes successful while issuing a warning saying quote this, we will take additional actions as necessary to ensure that we act in our own self-defense and deter from militia groups or iran. let's turn and get a check on your weather. >> good monday morning. >> good monday morning. it's been a little bit difficult travel over the last couple of

days. especially through the midwest and now overnight this all arrived in the northeast. a nice storm underway in northern new england and getting snow right now too. on the radar, this is our winter radar. we color it in different colors. the green is where it's raining and the yellow is where it's raining pretty hard now and then when we get to the pink that's either sleet or freezing rain and we have had significant bout of sleet and freezing rain all the way through southern portions here and heading up through quebec and a lot of the mountainous areas are getting it the worse. especially the berkshires and the green mountains of southern vermont. we have ice storm warnings in effect. it's been freezing rain all night long. that's the worst of it and then the blue on our map, show you where the snow is. and then the white inside of the blue, heavy snow. so central new hampshire and southern portions of maine, that's the worst of it. watches and warnings.

much of the cat skill regions has an ice storm warning. and southern portions of vermont. those are also areas that we're concerned with ice and ice storm warnings. the hills outside of wooster and all winter storm warnings north of that. and additional snowfall in the southern portions of new hampshire. maybe a couple of inches. maybe as much as 12 inches here in some areas of maine and the problem as far as the ice goes, if we're going to get power outages it's going to happen in areas of the a areas. that's the general rule. when we see half an inch of ice on the trees and then we get the winds going that's when we start to get the power out annals. there will be areas that will be difficult. as far as the airports go today, new york, heartford, there will be delays but won't be like

cancellations. >> thank you. we know the holidays are all about giving back. a 6-year-old cancer survivor who knows what it's like to spend the holiday in the hospital giving back to others this year. the story of one little girls that is helping spread cheer. >> she is on a mission to deliver joy this holiday season. gathering up legos. she knows how it feels to spend holidays and even her birthday in the hospital. so just a year ago she was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia. >> it was the worst thing that you could have happen to you and hear about your child. >> it was just a very wholesome feel good thing for her when she

just wasn't feeling good. >> but poppy never lost her spark. she thought of others loading a red wagon with donated toys and delivering them to other children. >> they would be like oh, another round on the red wagon, yea. >> after 168 days in the hospital, poopy was released. >> how do you feel now. >> good. my hair is very fluffy. >> now the so-called former mayor is back spreading holiday cheer. >> i just want to put smiles on kids faces. >> a simple facebook request for donated legos bought nearly 400 sets. poppy's lego express. delivering joy with a big wagon, a big bow and an even bigger smile. nbc news, virginia. >> i'm so happy that poppy is doing so well now. thanks for that report. still ahead, amid the battle

over impeachment, former vice president joe biden walks back a comment about not cooperating with a congressional subpoena. we'll show you the new comments coming up next. poena. we'll show you the new comments coming up next

welcome back after saying he would refuse to testify in a senate impeachment trial former vice president and 2020 candidate joe biden is now reversing course. on friday during an appearance

at the demonies register editorial board he said he would not comply with a subpoena for testimony but then the next day he backtracked. here's what he said followed by his reversal. >> what about your earlier statements that you wouldn't comply if you were compelled to testify before the senate. >> correct. the reason i wouldn't is because it's all designed to deal with trump doing what he has done his whole life. trying to take the focus off of him. think what it's about. it's all about what he does all the time. his entire career. take the focus off. this guy violated the constitution. >> first of all, i would obey any subpoena but the point i was making as relates to me is the

only rational reason and you know this, that i could possibly be called in an impeachment trial is could i shed any light on whether or not he committed the crime he is accused of and there's no reason to believe i would have any notion about whether he committed that crime. every single solitary person that's investigated what happened in ukraine including all the people under oath in his administration says biden is as clean as a whistle. biden did his job. the question is did, in fact, trump do his job? >> so biden also tried to clear up the matter in a series of tweets on saturday writing this in part, i want to clarify something that i said yesterday in my 40 years in public life. i have always complied with a lawful order and in my 8 years as a vp, my office, unlike donald trump and mike pence cooperated with legitimate congressional oversite requests but i'm not going to pretend that there's any legal basis for republican subpoenas for my

testimony in the impeachment trial. that is the point i was making yesterday and i reiterate this impeachment is about trump's conduct and not about mine. the subpoena should go to witnesses with testimony shaking down the ukraine government. they should go to the white house. mayor pete buttigieg slammed vice president biden for his judgment on the iraq war. he criticized biden for the october 2002 vote when he represents delaware in the senate. watch this. >> well, i certainly respect the vice president but this is an example of why years in washington is not always the same thing. he supported the worst foreign policy decision made by the united states in my lifetime which was the decision to invade iraq. >> buttigieg doubled down yesterday during a campaign stop in iowa. >> anybody that's qualified to

run as a basic constitutional threshold and then the voters get to decide and part of what they decide on is based on our judgment. it's so precarious for the people in the united states. >> still ahead, new details about michael bloomberg. and senator elizabeth warren's 2020 campaign is sounding the alarm over fund-raising dollars. those story and much more 2020 news is coming up next. y and mu0 news is coming up next - when you're volunteering, you never hear

"it's not my job." that's because right where you live, there's a need for your time and skills and effort and talent. please consider volunteering and feeling that feeling that you helped someone today.

it's in response to the killing of an american civilian contractor in iraq. we get the latest from nbc news national security correspondent. >> u.s. f-15s targeted an iranian backed militia on sunday in retaliation for a deadly barrage of rockets last week. in a statement the pentagon said the group has a strong linkage with iran and has repeatedly received lethal aid and other support from iran used to attack coalition forces. the militia conducted 11 rocket

attacks against coalition bases in iraq in the last two months. the largest last friday when militants fired 30 rockets at a base killing an american contractor and wounding four u.s. troops. on saturday, defense secretary briefed president trump on a u.s. response which required presidential approval striking three locations in iraq and two in syria. the militia group says dozens of the fighters were killed and wounded in the strikes. the u.s. was still assessing whether they knew any on the ground. the u.s. military said sunday it also carried out air strikes against the militant group after a deadly car bombing killing 79 people in the somalian capital. the u.s. military conducted the operation with the somalian government. they increased the strikes and

in april of this year the u.s. military after ka command said that more than 800 people have been killed in air strikes since april of 2017. no one claimed responsibility from the recent car bombing attack but the capital is regularly hit by al shabaab militants allied to al qaeda and the ruling counsel agreed to a temporary ceasefire on sunday which could provide a path to a peace deal with the united states. the white house did not comment but the u.s. maintained that any peace deal would have to ensure that terrorists would not use afghanistan as a base. for now, the details as to when the ceasefire would begin remained unclear and the chief still has to improve the decision. the u.s. currently has about 12,000 troops in the country and a peace deal could end the 18 year involvement in afghanistan which is the longest running war in u.s. history. a man charged with attempted

murder and burglarly after stabbing five orthodoxed yous in new york pled not guilty. it happened at arab buy's home in suburban new york on the 7th night of hanukkah. the suspect entered wearing a scarf on his face. the 37-year-old man was stopped after victims fought back using pieces of furniture in the home and the suspect fled the scene and tried to enter a nearby synagogue but was blocked by those inside. the suspect was arrested two hours later covered in blood. four of the five victims were treated and released from the hospital. new york governor andrew cuomo has called the latest attack an act of domestic terrorism. the lawyer said he had a long history of mental illness and hospitalizations. the man remains in jail on $5 million bail. and president trump called the attack horrific adding that we

must all come together to fight, confront and eradicate anti-semitism. his daughter who is jewish weighed in calling it an act of pure evil. chuck schumer insisted the string of recent attacks on yous would not be tolerated. house speaker nancy pelosi tweeted this. we must condemn and confront anti-semitism and all forms of bigotry and hate whenever we see them. he announced a series of measures to tackle the wave of attacks including stepping up security in predominantly jewish areas. we're also following that deadly church shooting in texas. two people were killed during sunday service. the gunman is also dead after two partioners returned fire. we get the latest from our station kxas. >> it happened in the middle of church service. this live stream showing the

gunman approached someone standing at the side. even pulls out what appears to be a long gun and fires. shooting two people. another church goer pulls out his gun and terrified paritoners and others moving toward the gunman. their own guns drawn. the shooting happens at west freeway church of christ in the town of white settlement texas just outside of ft. worth. 911 calls about gunshots started to come in just before 10:00 a.m. >> the person shot by the suspect died at a local hospital. as we stated the suspect is deceased. >> governor greg abbott issued this statement in response. our hearts go out to the victims and families of those killed in the evil act of violence that occur. i'm grateful for the church members that acted quickly to take down the shooter and help

prevent further loss of life. >> places of worriship have all been under attack. they're easy targets. multiple law enforcement agencies are now assisting the investigation as police work to figure out a motive for the deadly attack. it's all very tragic. it not only effects the people that are here today and it effects the first responders as well. >> our thanks for that report. five people are dead including an nbc reporter after a small plane crashed shortly after take off in louisiana on saturday. a plane was on its way to atlanta when it crashed and you see some footage here leaving multiple people injured. a journalist that work for wsdu in new orleans is among those

killed. she was a daughter-in-law of louisiana state university. he was there saturday for the college football semifinal. the sister of the deceased pilot confirmed to nbc news that the passengers were on their way and a 15-year-old boy was also among those killed on the flight. officials said the cause of the crash was unknown. want to turn now to to senator elizabeth warren's campaign that's seen a significant drop in fund-raising this quarter. so far her campaign has raised over $17 million in the fourth quarter. that's a 30% drop from the previous quarter which brought in 24.6 million. the numbers come after warren's momentum has slowed in recent months. the money trouble also comes after her attacks on

billionaires and wealthy political donors in order to pay for her progressive medicare for all plan she is proposing a tax that would see 2% of every dollar over 50 million of someone's network. that would go to network over a billion dollars. and michael bloomberg is spending millions of dollars each week on online ads in battleground states attacking the president. the new york times reports that the ads are focused on seven battleground states. pennsylvania, wisconsin, where polls show trump is likely to be competitive in november. the campaign says it has produced 160 versions of its ads on social media. over the last month on facebook and google alone, bloomberg spent $18 million on ads attacking the president according to a digital messaging firm that works with democrats. his campaign also spent $128

million on tv ads according to the firm advertising analytics. the former mayor is expected to spend between 300 and $400 million on advertising across all media before the super tuesday primaries in march. that price tag would be almost equal to what president obama's campaign spent on advertising over the course of the entire 2012 general election. wow. well the primaries are less than two months away and the 2020 democratic presidential field is back on the trail and some including mayor pete buttigieg stepped up their attacks in hopes of winning earliment. >> after a christmas break that took many candidates off of the campaign trial it was an extremely busy weekend in iowa as most of the field was here making pitches to voters he is

currently leading in this state. it's still a tight race but he is currently ahead here in this state and we heard new things. and that includes against vice president biden for example bringing up his iraq war vote and saying just because he had several years in washington doesn't mean he has exercised good judgment. we also heard him talking about medicare for all. referencing senator sanders and elizabeth warren's plan. despite the lead he's still running the und point but they're still meeting candidates and forming their evaluations. it's important to them to be

able to see the candidates. we know that many of them will move on from iowa which votes first in this process and go ahead to new hampshire. you can tell as we get closer to the month of february they're valuing their time with voters and valuing their time on the campaign trail. >> thanks for that report. rudy giuliani was also involved in efforts in another country. back in a moment. n another coun. back in a moment

months of rising tensions between the u.s. and venezuela. president trump's personal phone call with the took part

venezuelan president and in an effort to ease him from power. according to the post, giuliani along the pete sessions took part in a shadow diplomatic effort to remove him from power and reopen resource rich venezuela to business. one former senior administration official tells the post the way it eventually reached white house officials who did not know why the former mayor was involved. the post notes that national security adviser john bolton rejected giuliani's off the books plans from office. russian president vladimir putin thanked him from providing information that helped prevent terrorist attacks over the period. moscow initiated the call in which both leaders discussed a

range of issues and agree to continue bilateral cooperation in combatting terrorism. the wall street journal notes however that the white house did not immediately confirm the call. let's get a check on your weather once again with bill karins. >> it's been warm. we haven't had a lot of big huge snowstorms or ice storms out there. we still have the mountain areas of new england. the northern rockies and the northern plains but when you have rain this time of the year all the way up through the northern great lakes and the upper peninsula, we have rain and sleet and freezing rain all the way through northern new england this morning and it's rare for this time of the year even to get rainfall that far north into the region so we're in a very mild weather pattern that's going to continue at least for the next week. let's get into what we're dealing with now. we had some road closures in the last two days because of the snowstorm in the bay area and central and northern plains.

it's not snowing that hard anymore in the dakotas and minnesota. the biggest problems that we're seeing and what we're going to continue to deal with is icy problems in the area of northern new england. especially the white and the green mountains are getting mostly snow in northern portions of new england and especially southward down through the berkshires. it's been an ice storm overnight and also through the catskills. that's where you could have bigger issues out there and the snow is going to be new hampshire up through maine. here's how it's going to play out through the day today. let's fast forward tonight. rain goes over to snow in many areas, especially from madison to green bay. we have to do a little bit of shoveling out there. the rainfall will be ending in areas like philadelphia and new york city and still in areas all through southern new england. southern vermont and southern

new hampshire and much of western mass. as far as the impacts are going to go at the airports and on the roads, once you get north of saratoga spring icy mess and as far as the airports go, new york to boston just for the most part dealing with rainy conditions out there. as far as your new year's eve forecast goes, times square still looking good. 38 degrees and mild. it's not bad for this time of the year. >> i still remember that one year just a couple of years ago where i think it was a negative wind chill. it's still full of people. >> of course. watching that ball drop. thank you. civil rights icon, congressman lewis's office and now it will be undergoing treatment and louis was diagnosed after what he described as a routine medical visit. in a statement the congressman writes this.

while i am clear eyed about the prognosis, doctors told me that recent medical advances have made this type of cancer treatable in many cases, that treatment options are no longer as debilitating as they once were and i have a fighting chance. so i have decided to do what i know to do and what i have always done. so we are going to keep fighting for the beloved community we still have many bridges to cross. he plans to return to washington in the coming days as he begins his treat. louis elected to congress in 1986 was the last survivor of the activist lead by martin luther king. he was beaten by police while leading the bloody sunday march across the bridge in selma, alabama, congressman lewis received an outpouring of messages of support house speaker nancy pelosi wrote in a tweet this.

john know that generations of americans have you in their thoughts and prayers as you face this fight. we're all praying that you are comfortable. we know that you will be well. former president bill clinton wrote this, if there's anyone with the strength and the courage to fight this, it's you, john, hillary and i love you and we join with millions of other americans in praying for you and your family. and former president barrack obama also sent his support writing this, if there's one thing that i love about lewis it's his incomparable will to fight. i know he has a lot more of that left in him praying for you. still ahead, a republican senator and evangelical christian speaks out on the conundrum when it comes to the president. we're back in a moment. comes toe president. we're back in a moment

welcome back, president trump repeatedly attacked officials in california. he said so sad to see that new york city and state are falling apart. all they want to do is investigate to make me hate them even more than i should. governor cuomo lost control and lost his mind. very bad for the homeless and all. trump is being investigated in new york for a slew of violations. in november a new york state judge ordered trump and his family and the trump foundation to pay $2 million in fines over the misuse of charity assets for personal and business gain. the manhattan d.a. is also seeking trump's tax returns as

part of a criminal investigation and payments made to adult film actress stormi daniels. trumps decision to declare florida as his state of residency earlier this year is a way for him to avoid disclosing his finances. you don't want to miss that. also republican senator james lankford of oklahoma is commenting saying he does not believe trump is a person young people can look up to. >> i said very early on in the campaign time period when people asked me in 2016 what are you looking for? i said well i always hook flook president that can be a role model. i don't think that person trump as a person is a role model for a lot of different youth. that's just me personally. i like the way he tweets. some of the things that he says, his word choices are not my word choices. >> although he doesn't agree with trump's language, he often does agree with him when it comes to issues of faith and

abortion. his comments come after an evangelical magazine published an article calling for trump's removal, sparking debate nationwide. white evangelicals were among trump's biggest supporters, giving him 81% of support. and former vice president joe biden has written a new op ed entitled joe biden on restoring the soul of our nation where he discusses how his values have guided his political career including his 2020 run and hits president trump's over his leadership. biden writes this for me, leadership and basic human dekrd decencey meant confronting the abuse of power and fighting back against anyone by ripping children from their mother's arms and holding asylum seeking families in cages indefinitely. embracing dictators abroad by

threatening hard working families and food assistance by giving tax cuts to big corporations. in 2020 we must decide who do we want to be? trump has brought us some very dark days but in this darkness, i have faith. i'll make sure that we reaffirm our highest values and strength and come together to restore the store of our nation. still ahead, the freeze on the military aid to ukraine and the efforts from top members of the trump administration to have it released sooner than it was. plus impeached and eager to be acquitted president trump ups his attacks on nancy pelosi that ha will hand the articles of impeachment over to the senate. we're back in a moment. im

new details from opposition from within the white house to president trump's demands to halt military aid to