mom finally and that they're together. it's not my time yet, but i can't wait to see them again.ag. we're kicking off a historic week on capitol hill. the impeachment trial against president trump is set to resume tomorrow, but the democratic prosecutors and the white house defense team are already trading barbs. plus two weeks away from the iowa caucuses and the democratic presidential candidates are ramping up their attacks on each over the. and the super bowl is all set, next month the san francisco 9ers will face off against the kansas city chiefs after both teams won their conference championships yesterday. good monday morning, everybody, it is january 20th, i'm yasmin vossoughian. ayman is out today.

president trump's long awaited impeachment trial will resume tomorrow. the process is expected to kick off with majority leader mitch mcconnell introducing the organizing resolution that outlines the rules that will govern the trial. there will be up to two hours of arguments between the democratic prosecutors and the white house defense team. after that minority leader chuck schumer is expected to introduce an amendment that would take up the issue of witnesses and documents. the last night schumer vowed to force a vote on the issue and criticized mcconnell for not yet releasing the organizing resolution. >> we are going to demand votes, yes or no, up or down, on the four witnesses we have requested and on the three sets of documents we requested. we will force those votes. mcconnell has still not come up with this proposal. that's unheard of. we don't know what it is. i as democratic leader don't know what it is, even though

it's going to the floor tuesday morning. most republicans don't know what it is. why is mcconnell being so secretive about his proposal? >> so once the organizing resolution is laid out, opening arguments will take place. republicans are considering a plan that would give each side 24 hours to present their case, followed by 16 hours for sharts sharts to ask questions in writing. prosecutors and the defense team trading sharp attacks ahead of the impeachment trial. the seven democratic congressional leaders that will try the case against the president outlined their arguments in an 111-page briefing to the senate. they argue that the president's conduct in office is the founding father's, quote, worst nightmare. and called trump a, quote, danger to our democratic pro he is s they write in part this, president donald j. trump used

his official powers to pressure a foreign government to interfere in a u.s. election for his personal political gain and then attempted to cover up his scheme by obstructing congress' investigation into his misconduct. in a six-page statement president trump's defense team hit back, calling the impeachment charges brazen and unlawful. they write in part this, the articles of impeachment submitted by house democrats are a dangerous attack on the right of the american people to freely choose their president. they go on to say that, quote, president trump categorically and unequivocally denies each and every allegation in both articles of impeachment. democratic prosecutors slammed trump's defense team with another statement, rather than honestly addressing the evidence against him the president's latest filing makes the astounding claim that pressuring ukraine to interfere in our election by a nuancing investigations that would damage a political opponent and advance his reelection is the president's way of fighting corruption.

it is not. rather it is corruption itself, naked, unapologetic and insidious. this is precisely why the president must be removed from office. the white house legal team sent their response last night to the articles of impeachment, abuse of power, o.j. simps obst justice. they argue that there was no violation of any law and on the second point they argue that the president had the right to refuse to produce documents and witnesses due to executive privilege. how are you going to prosecute this case? >> well, both of those statements are errant nonsense. any jury would convict in three minutes flat that the president betrayed his country by breaking the law. >> let's get to the president's defense team. white house counsel pat cipollone and jay sekulow will play leading roles but with the

addition of alan dershowitz and ken starr, they are hardly the most high profile members, dershowitz and starr among the president's staunchest cable news defenders, two of the biggest legal names of the 1990s, dershowitz helping with o.j. simpson's murder defense and starr the independent counsel who investigated then clinton. in the 2000s, they found a common client in jeffrey epstein. dershowitz a friend of epstein until his suicide sued a victim for defamation after she claimed she was trafficked the attorney while underaged. starr played a role in the controversial plea deal in which epstein avoided federal charges and served 13 months in jail with work release. starr defended his role in a march 2019 he had letter in the editor to the "new york times" if which they argued that the deal was fair. on the impeachment defense team pam bondi and former independent

counsel robert ray. the "washington post" reporting that they were selected personally by president trump for their celebrity and vocal defenses of the president in the media despite their baggage. mean while, alan dershowitz is arguing that the president should not be removed from office even if he is guilty of the house charges. watch this. >> as you know, the house materials have cited crimes that were committed as -- >> but they are not articles of impeachment. the articles of impeachment are two noncriminal actions namely obstruction of congress and abuse of power and those are what have to be voted on by the senate. >> is it your position that president trump should not be impeached even in all the evidence and arguments laid out by the house are accepted as fact? >> that's right. >> so mean while constitutional law professor at harvard laurence tribe is among those pushing back against the dershowitz argument that the articles should be dismissed

because abuse of power and obstruction of congress are not impeachable offenses. in an op-ed for the "washington post" tribe writes in part this, the argument that only criminal offenses are impeachable has died 1,000 deaths in the writings of all the experts on the subject, but it staggers on like a vengeful zombie. in fact, there is no evidence that the phrase high crimes and misdemeanors was understood in the 1780s to mean indictable crimes. any number of such violations of the public trust in working with foreign governments in ways that make the president dee holden to their leaders or cooperating with those governments to bolster the president's reelection clearly must be impea impeachable even though they may violate no criminal law or federal statute at all. the president is entitled to robust legal representation. tribe continues, but his lawyers should not be allowed to use bogus legal arguments to mislead the american public or the senators weighing his fate. let's get into this a bit now,

joining me from washington political reporter for the hill julia manchester. julia, good morning to you. thanks for joining us so early this morning. appreciate? >> good morning. >> quite a week ahead to say the least. we are finally here, staring down the barrel of the senate impeachment trial set to begin officially tomorrow. let's discuss the senate impeachment trial in general. what can we expect from your vantage point? >> well, the one thing i'm really looking out for, yasmin, is how this issue of new witnesses is going to play out. we know there has been quite a bit of debate between republicans and democrats as to whether new witnesses such as john bolton the president's former national security adviser will be called to testify in the senate. we know that democrats are hank ring to have him in particular testify to see what he knows. you've had a lot of push back from republicans about that. it will be interesting to see how that's agreed upon, when those witnesses will be called, whether mcconnell will shift in

that direction, but we will be paying attention to four republican senators in particular who have signaled that they would be willing to at least listen to the idea of in you witnesses from democrats, senator lamar alexander, mitt romney, lisa murkowski and susan collins. we know that romney, murkowski and collins have been more critical vocally of the president in the past so it will be interesting to see where they shift in this trial, but i think the first thing i will be looking out for is that issue of witnesses. >> julia, let's talk about this comment by alan dershowitz that i played a little earlier when he was on with george stephanopoulos saying no matter what the president shouldn't be removed from office and you have this op-ed that i read basically arguing that only criminal offenses are impeachable -- the argument that only criminal offenses are impeachable has essentially died. what do you make of this argument of from dershowitz? >> i don't think it's a

surprise. we've heard similar arguments from president trump and his team in the past since it wasn't illegal that's okay essential that he will did it or he shouldn't be removed that he did this. you will hear this argument repeated throughout the impeachment trial but you will also hear this argument that they voiced earlier last weekend essentially saying that this is the will of democrats to overturn the results of the 2016 election. this is going to be an argument that you're going to hear president trump in particular use to really rally his base on the 2020 campaign trail and maybe throughout the impeachment process saying this is democrats going against the democratic will of trump's base and the voesers despite the fact that hillary clinton won the popular vote in 2020. it will be interesting to so he how president trump reacts during this process. he has been his own spokesman in the past on a number of issues but now he has this whole legal team. it will be interesting to see what he says and how his message

kind of lines up with their message and how they coordinate around his tweets whatever they might be. >> we've seen historically with regards to the president that he is being advised by his legal team and not necessarily listened to his legal team as to not react publicly as to what was taking place and he has still gone on twitter and reacted publicly in many instances as we've seen over the last three years. what is our expectation here with regards to the advice he is getting from these pretty high profile lawyers which he has hired for his legal team as to stand down with regards to reaction as this senate impeachment trial plays out? >> right. i think president trump very much had an idea in mind by picking people like ken sar, alan dershowitz and pam bondi to lead his impeachment defense team. one thing all three of those figures have in common is that they are very much on television. fox news in particular. and they are very well known public figures. i think president trump had that in mind.

we know that he very much values that tv and media experience with those who are representing him, not only in the white house but on his legal team and personal affairs as well. it will be interesting to see what he does because they -- i would assume they are very much on their toes watching for whatever he's going to say because they're going to have to cater their message and morph it to whatever his message is. we don't know if he's going to sit back with the rest of the public and watch this and let it be in their hands, or if he's going to very much influence -- >> you just wonder considering who he did choose for his legal team because so many of them have such strong personalities and are so media savvy as you rightly pointed out, that maybe the president does stand down more during this moment and allow them to take the lead. we will have to wait and see what happens there. julia manchester, thank you. stay close, i will talk to you in just a little bit. we're digging into reporting that president trump shared details that killed iran's top

official at his mar-a-lago he estate. what prince harry is saying about their decision to give up their royal titles. their decisi their royal titles (janine) i used to be a little cranky.

dealing with our finances really haunted me. thankfully, i got quickbooks, and a live bookkeeper's helping customize it for our business. (live bookkeeper) you're all set up! (janine) great! (vo) get set up right with a live bookkeeper with intuit quickbooks.

wthat's why xfinity hasu made taking your internetself. and tv with you a breeze. really? yup. you can transfer your service online in about a minute. you can do that? yeah. and with two-hour service appointment windows, it's all on your schedule. awesome.

so while moving may still come with its share of headaches... no kidding. we're doing all we can to make moving simple, easy, awesome. go to xfinity.com/moving to get started. welcome back. president trump over the weekend told donors at his mar-a-lago resort details about the strike that killed iran's top general qassem soleimani. an audio obtained by the "washington post" and by cnn trump can be heard delivering a dramatic retelling of the drone strike at a friday night private din ter at his resort. trump at times in a subdued and conversational tone explained his motivation for the attack and recounted the final minutes before the strike, watching and listening from the situation room. he told donors that he heard almost two weeks ago that the u.s. had soleimani under surveillance and that he was talking about bad stuff, however, the president did not mention any of his previous reasons for justifying the

military strike, including an imminent attack on u.s. interests or threats to four u.s. embassies in the region. trump said this, quote, he was saying bad things about our country like we're going to attack, we're going to kill your people. i said, listen, how much of this expletive do we have to listen to, right? nbc news has not reviewed the audiotapes. and laura trump, president trump's daughter-in-law is being slammed for her recent comments at a campaign event mocking joe biden's stutter. watch this. i don't believe we have the audio for that, but pilot captain chessie sullen berg wrote about trump's comments in a "new york times" op-ed on saturday where he recounted his own struggles with stuttering as a child. sullen berg wrote in issue goes beyond politics. whether you are a republican, a democrat, or none of the above, whether you stuttered as a child or laughed at one who did,

whether as a parent you try to protect your own stuttering child from taunts such as those made by the president's daughter-in-law, these words come without hesitation. stop. grow up. show some decency. people who can't have no place in public life. laura defended her remarks in a tweet writing this, yet another example of the egregious reporting we see every day. everyone who takes ten seconds to watch what i actually said can clearly see that i never mentioned the stutter, didn't even know he had one, but they can't help themselves. let's switch gears and get a check on your weather with nbc meteorologist janessa webb. >> good morning, yasmin. good morning, everyone. man, the chill is in place. this weekend we had temperatures wind chills down to 35 below in the upper midwest and the core of this cold is not backing off just yet. it will continue to slide east, but you're waking up this morning to feel like temperature down to 12 below for fargo and we're seeing a brighter pink and

we're going to continue to see this cold stay in place for at least two days before it starts to back off. also lake-effect snow warning in place for areas of the greater cleveland area into erie, pa, where they could see 3 to 6 inches, isolated totals to 10 inches where squalls persist. this is behind that front, that big snowstorm that made its way across the country, the leftovers is that lake enhancement and that's going to stay in place at for at least 24 hours. you see this temperature swing, we have seen temperatures drop about 15 to 20 degrees from the ohio valley and even the northeast, really going to feel it this morning with winds starting to pick up. even for areas of the southeast to the deep south, new orleans only going to be at 50 degrees, that's 13 degrees below average. i promise you if you just hold on things are going to start to slightly change and it's all due to our next storm system for the pacific northwest. it will bring in a little bit of

warmer air so the cold air that we're currently seeing across the eastern two-thirds of the u.s., it will back off by midweek and then, yasmin, it's like we're doing repeat once again, another potential winter storm for this weekend. >> so we had a little bit of a respite with the warm weather and now back to winter storm territory and frigid temperatures. >> it's back again. still ahead, we are taking a look at all the highlights from yesterday's two nfl conference title games ahead of the super bowl in just two weeks' time. we're back in a moment. n just te we're back in a moment

welcome back. time now for sports in the nfl playoffs. the super bowl liv matchup is set after yesterday's conference championships. we begin last night in santa clara, california, the san francisco 49ers hosting the green bay packers in the nfc title game, the niners going from a four-win team last season to now being one of the final two remaining as they head to the super bowl for the seventh time in franchise history shutting out the packers 27-0 in the first half, san fran did not need to rely on star quarterback jimmy garoppolo, but instead were carried by running back rahim moster who scored four touchdowns in the game, rushing for 220 yards on 29 carries. that's the second most rushing yards in a post season game in nfl history. final score, everybody, 37-20 if you missed that game last night.

and kansas city and the chiefs hosting the tennessee titans in the afc championship game. after going three and out in their first possession, the chiefs would score on their next five, outrushing the titans 112 to 85 led by quarterback patrick mahomes. 53 yards on the ground including a 27 yard scramble up the sideline into the end zone for kc's first lead of the game at the end of the first half. mahomes also tossed three touchdown passes in the game, connecting with receivers tyreek hill for 8 and 20 yards and sammy watkins for 60 yards on the way to 404 yards of a total offense for the chiefs. kansas city finds its way to its first super bowl since 1970 with a 35-24 victory over the titans. let's turn now to the uk, prince harry for the first time yesterday speaking publicly about he and his wife meghan markle's decision to step back

as members of the uk royal family. watch this. >> the decision that i have made for my wife and i to step back is not one i made lightly. it was so many months of talks after so many years of challenges and i know i haven't always gone at it right, but as far as this goes there really was no other option. what i want to make clear is we're not walking away and we certainly aren't walking away from you. our hope was to season serving the queen, the commonwealth and my military associations, but without public funding. unfortunately that wasn't possible. i have accepted this knowing that it doesn't change who i am or how committed i am. >> so harry's comments come a day after the couple and buckingham palace struck a deal which requires them to stop using royal titles, give up state funding and repay almost $3 million in taxpayer funds used to refurbish their home at windsor title.

they will retain their title as the duke and duchess of sussex while splitting their time between canada and the uk and continuing to do legal duties on behalf of the queen. ahead of opening statements in the impeachment trial this week. plus, "the new york times" is endorsing not just one but two democratic presidential candidates. those stories and more coming up. candidates those stories and more coming up road-trip companion. it's kind of my quiet, alone time. audible is a routine for me. it's like a fun night school for adults. i could easily be seduced into locking myself into a place where i do nothing but listen to books. i never was interested in historical fiction before, but i'm obsessed with it now. there are a lot of like, classic and big titles that i feel like i missed out since i don't have time to read, mean i might as well listen. if i want to catch up on the news or history or learn what's going on in the world, i can download a book

and listen to it. because i listened to her story over and over again, i made the decision to go ahead and follow my own dream, which was to help other veterans. i think there's like 180 books in my, in my library now. it changes your perspective; it makes you a different person. it's true, it's so true. (laugh) for a limited time, save $50 on your first year of audible membership. text offer13 to 500500. my schizophrenia for a while, and then my kids asked me why my body was rocking back and forth. my doctor said i have tardive dyskinesia, which may be related to important medications i take for my schizophrenia. i also felt my tongue darting and pushing against my cheeks. i was worried what others would think. td can affect different parts of the body, and it may also affect people who take medications for depression and bipolar disorder. i know i shouldn't change or stop my medication so i was relieved there are treatment options for td. - if this sounds like you or someone you know,

visit talkabouttd.com to sign up to receive a personalized doctor discussion guide to help start a conversation with you doctor about td. you'll also be able to access videos and a free brochure that show the different movements of td. visit talkabouttd.com or call to learn more. - i was glad to learn there are treatments for td. learn more at talkabouttd.com. some things are too important to do yourself. ♪ get customized security with 24/7 monitoring from xfinity home. awarded the best professionally installed system by cnet. simple. easy. awesome. call, click or visit a store today.

♪ welcome back, everybody. i'm yasmin vossoughian.

ayman is off this morning. we begin this half hour with the latest on impeachment as the senate trial is set to resume tomorrow. nbc news correspondent hans nichols has more. >> reporter: president trump touching down in texas to tout his china trade deal before a friendly audience. after the president's legal team formally responded to the senate impeachment summons, calling the articles braise be and unlawful. democrats dismissing that argument. >> there is ample evidence, overwhelming evidence, any jury would convict in three minutes flat. >> reporter: while alan dershowitz a retired harvard law professor distanced himself from the white house legal team that he's joining. >> i did not read that brief or sign that brief. that's not part of my mandate. my mandate is to present the constitutional argument. >> reporter: aside from knowing tuesday's start time, there is still uncertainty if new witnesses and evidence will be allowed during the process. >> senator mcconnell prevails and there are no witnesses, it will be the first impeachment

trial in history that goes to conclusion without witnesses. >> reporter: some of the rules are known. no cell phones, no standing, no talking. senators are commanded to keep silent on pain of imprisonment. and senate republicans suggest that the house may want to consider a redo. >> maybe they ought to withdraw the articles of impeachment and start over again. >> reporter: with one of the president's closest allies saying that mr. trump wants the trial wrapped up by the state of the union address on february 4th. >> but his mood is to go to the state of the union with this behind him and talk about what he wants to do for the next rest of 2020. >> reporter: and on sunday night the president weighed in on impeachment saying he was being impeached by radical left lunatics but insisted that farmers would stay with trump. as for that tuesday's trial when it starts the president plans to be in switzerland at the world economic forum meeting with foreign leaders and touting america's economic strength. >> thank you. as the gop-led senate begins

the impeachment trial republican lawmakers yesterday defended the president. senator richard shelby of alabama argued that while the president might have made, quote, mistakes, he did not commit an impeachable offense. >> setting aside whether it's an impeachable offense, do you think it was proper for the president to solicit foreign interference in our election? >> well, i don't know that has been actually proven. you know, that's all in dispute of what happened, whether russians were involved in it, whether ukrainians were involved in it, who was involved in it and to what extent, but i've never seen anything that where trump actually was involved in it. >> well, no, i asked if it was okay to solicit. we've seen the president in public squ the ukrainians to get involved, ask the chinese to get involved. >> those are just statements, political, they make them all the time. >> so it's okay. >> i didn't say it was okay. i said people make them. people do things. things happen. >> well, this is the president of the united states. >> well, it's still the

president of the united states is human and he's going to make mistakes of judgment and everything else. they have historically, both parties, both from the beginning of our republic. >> so you say it was a mistake, but not necessarily impeachable. >> well, i'm saying i don't believe -- like professor dershowitz at this point -- that it rises to the standard of an impeachable offense. >> okay. so senators david perdue of georgia and john cornyn of texas dismissed lev parnas as a credible witness. >> why shouldn't the senate hear from lev parnas under oath? this is somebody who is an associate of rudy giuliani, who was at the center of this. why not have the united states senate put this man under oath and hear what he has to say? >> again, second-hand information. this is a distraction. this is a person that's been indicted, right now, he is out on bail, he's been meeting with

the house intel committee. if the house felt like this information was pertinent i would think they would have included him in this -- his testimony in this information. >> how was it second-hand? he was in ukraine. he was doing the bidding. he's got -- he seems to have some material evidence that might be helpful in connecting some dots. >> well, that's the deal he's trying to make to get his sentence reduced, i'm not sure he does at all personally. >> why do you think folks like mr. parnas end up so close to the president? >> the president says he doesn't know who he was. he wasn't close to the president at all. i don't accept that at all. i would be careful before crediting the veracity of somebody who is under indictment in new york, the southern district of new york, and who is trying to get leniency from the prosecutor and who has ties from russian oligarchs. the russians -- >> exactly. >> -- have a lot to do with our elections and disinformation campaign and this could be part of that.

>> you would have knowledge since you are on senate intelligence on that. are lev parnas' ties to russia oligarchs, doesn't it trouble you that he was working so closely with rudy giuliani who was acting on the president's behalf and saying he was acting on the president's behalf? >> well, there is no question that there have been a series of grifters and other hangers on that have associated themselves with the president's campaign or claimed to have special relationships with the president, but this is not the issue that the senate is going to be deciding. >> so meanwhile senator lindsey graham of south carolina, the chairman of the judiciary committee said trump's greatest concern in the impeachment trial is the potential threat to the office of the presidency. >> he is very much comfortable with the idea this is going to turn out well for him. he believes politically this has helped him. he thinks it's a threat to the presidency. the one thing he talks to me constantly about is what does

the next president do after this if this is successful? he does not want to legitimize attack on the presidency. >> so in a sharp break from senate election protocol "the new york times" editorial board has endorsed two democratic candidates for president, senator elizabeth warren and senator amy klobuchar. they argue that among 2020 democratic presidential candidates, quote, an essential debate is under way between two visions that may define the future of the party and perhaps the nation. both the radical and the realist models warrant serious consideration, that's why we are endorsing the most effective advocates for each approach, citing elizabeth warren's medicare for all plan and tax on the wealthy. the editorial board argue that the massachusetts senator has emerged as a standard bearer for the democratic left. mean while, the board quotes that, quote, the lack of a single powerful moderate voice in this democratic race is the strongest evidence of a divided party. amy klobuchar has emerged as a

standard bearer for the democratic center. and senator bernie sanders commented on the dispute wedged between fellow progressive presidential candidate senator elizabeth warren. >> do you think that female candidates experience -- have a different experience running for president than you and do you think that gender is still an obstacle for female politicians? >> look, the answer is yes, but i think everybody has their own sets of problems. i'm 78 years of age. that's a problem. there are a lot of people that say, i like bernie, he is a nice guy, but he is 78 years of age. so we have to argue please look at the totality of who i am. if you are looking at buttigieg, he is a young guy and people will say, well, he is too young to be president. she is a woman. so everybody brings some negatives, if you like. >> while campaigning in iowa yesterday warren declined to escalate the political back and forth when asked about the rift by nbc news. >> are you concerned about the back and forth between these campaigns right now and the

impact that it has on the democratic party leading into the summer? >> i think that we ought ought to be out here talking about why we're running for president. that's what i'm doing. that's what i've done today in des moines and that's what i keep doing. >> former vice president joe biden is demanding an apology, though, from senator bernie sanders' campaign for circulating what he called a doctored video which he says miss construes his record on social security. in the record biden during an april 2018 speech at the brookings institution said that then house speaker paul ryan was, quote, correct in trying to dismantle social security. his campaign said he made the remarks sarcastically. the video was posted by an unverified twitter user and retweeted by a senior sanders campaign adviser. at an event on saturday biden responded to a question on his record on social security. >> it is simply a lie that video

that's going around and ask anybody in the press, it's a flat lie. they have acknowledged that. this is a doctored tape and i think it's beneath -- and i'm looking for his campaign to come forward and disown t but they haven't done it yet. >> sanders' campaign hit back in a statement accusing biden of, quote, dodging questions about his record, writing in part this, joe biden should be honest with voters and stop trying to doctor his own public record of consistently and repeatedly trying to cut social security. the facts are very clear. biden not only pushed to cut social security, he is on tape proudly bragging about it on multiple occasions. sanders' campaign also released a memo listing video statements and quotes from biden on social security as far back as 1984. joining me once again to talk about this from washington political reporter for the hill julia manchester. at that you can to me about some of these rivets we've been seeing between the sanders campaign and everybody he is up against with regard to 2020 talking first about senator elizabeth warren and their rift and the back and forth with

regards to that conversation that took place back in 2018 as to whether or not they believe a woman could be president of the united states and also the debate that i just mentioned with regards to joe biden and his record. what do you make of these rivets? >> i think stepping back and looking at all of these rivets all together it's clear that a lot of candidates are threatened by sanders. he has been very consistent in the polls over this campaign and he also had a very successful quarter for fundraising numbers, $34.5 million. so clearly he has risen, actually, in a number of polls recently. clearly a lot of candidates, elizabeth warren and joe biden who have also been in those top three spots in the primary are clearly on edge and looking at sanders as a potential threat. now, in terms of the gender issue and that question with elizabeth warren, you know, i think the warren campaign did need to bring up that question of gender and they were looking for an opportunity to bring that up. now, some would say that the time that they brought it up

ahead of the debate and how it transpired, you know, that hot michelle caruso-cabrera moment with her confronting sanders afterwards might have backfired, she might have looked too calculated and such, a lot of people raising the question as to whether that was completely planned out before. so i think that sort of backfired on her. in terms of the joe biden rift, you know, this is definitely -- i think these rivets -- this rift between the progressive and centrist wing of the party has always been there, so these aren't necessarily surprises in terms of the back and forth that you've seen between joe biden and senator sanders. they're seizing upon comments that they've made at previous events, which is not unheard of in campaigns. now, as to whether that was phrased in the right context or fair in how the sanders campaign presented it, that's a whole other question, however, i think this really comes down to the fact that we are weeks out from the first democratic nominating process and the race is getting very close. >> you do have to wonder, though, if it would have

backfired on elizabeth warren had elizabeth warren been a male candidate and people not necessarily saying that using the word calculated had she been a male candidate into absolutely. >> just wondering there. want to circle back to the "new york times" editorial board endorsing both senators elizabeth warren and amy klobuchar for president. pretty unprecedented to say the least when it comes to the "new york times" here. what are your thoughts on this decision? >> i think it's remarkable the fact that these are two women, the two leading women in the race, that they've decided to endorse and i think it shows the direction maybe that some in the party are k look towards. that they want more female representation at the top of the ticket, but it also represents the two sides of this democratic rift that we were talking b the progressive side of the aisle and the more centrist establishment side of the aisle. we've seen that elizabeth warren has this very star power within the party that she has been able to very much rise to the occasion in terms of being a progressive and then amy klobuchar is seen as a deal-making moderate.

it's definitely unprecedented and really remarkable to see these two women endorsed by this major newspaper. >> julia manchester, thank you. great talking to you. >> thank you. still ahead, a void in the white house when it comes to pushing back against russian aggression as the top official responsible for the effort is placed on indefinite administrative leave. plus a heightened nuclear threat from north korea after a top pentagon official warns the country could resume nuclear testing with missiles that could be capable of hitting the u.s. your first look at "morning joe" is back in a moment. k at "morni" is back in a moment. [♪]

looking to simplify your skin care routine without sacrificing results? try olay total effects. one dose provides more vitamin b3 than 50 cups of kale and improves 7 key areas of visibly healthy skin. try olay total effects.

welcome back. a top white house official responsible for russia and europe has been put on indefinite administrative leave amid a security-related investigation. andrew peek took over the russian portfolio at the white house national security council back in november and had been scheduled to join the president at the davos forum in

switzerland this week but was suddenly put on leave according to one official. it is unclear the specific nature of the investigation. peek did not respond to a request for comment. peek's absence at least temporarily creates a void in a key position responsible for pushing back on russian aggression and coordinating u.s. policy towards moscow. before starting his post at the white house peek had been a deputy assistant secretary of state overseeing iran and iraq in the state department's bureau of near eastern affairs. according to a top pentagon official north korea is building new missiles and weapons, quote, as fast as anybody on the planet and an indication that the hermit country could resume nuclear testing with missiles capable of hitting the united states. according to the vice-chairman of the joint chief of staff he made the comments friday in washington saying speed is efficiency. the trump administration has reached out to north korea to resume negotiations after the two countries broke off talks in october.

a white house national security adviser recently told axios that earlier this month, though, north korean leader kim jong-un said they are, quote, there never be denuclearization on the korean peninsula if the u.s. persists in its hostile policy towards the nation. he also announced, quote, the world will witness a new strategic weapon in the near future. let's get a check on your weather with nbc meteorologist janessa webb. >> good morning, i can't say anyone. good morning, everyone. the chill is in the air and it is not backing off. we're watching this morning lake enhanced snow after that really strong cold front has made its way through on the backside of it is some drier air but the lake enhancement where squalls persist, northeast ohio, the greater cleveland area, to erie, p.a. under lake-effect snow warnings this morning, 3 to 6 inches, another 10 inches in isolated spots. look at the chill today, please have that big winter coat handy. the core of the cold is it is

not backing off from the upper midwest to portions of the midwest. st. louis 23 degrees with a feel like temperature in minneapolis down to negative digit territory, 7 below. by tuesday parts of the deep south to the southeast you're feeling it as well. we are 15 to 20 degrees below average and even for the northeast by wednesday afternoon we are at 34 degrees. please just hold on, we're going to see the relief, it's going to come in from the pacific northwest. what you can count on, though, today is a lot of sunshine across the country. then the game it changes fairly quickly. by wednesday we are talking about another storm system and heading into your weekend a potential for another winter storm so i'm going to get a few days break but get ready. >> thank you, janessa. still ahead, in you documents further implicate republican congressman devin

nunes in the effort to dig up dirt on former vice president joe biden. plus secretary of state mike pompeo breaking his silence on the alleged surveillance of former u.s. ambassador to ukraine marie yovanovitch. those stories and more next. ukrae inmarie yovanovitch. those stories and more next.

welcome back. house democrats release new documents friday night that suggest that republican raping member for the house intelligence committee devin nunes was more deeply involved in the efforts to dig up dirt on former vice president joe biden than was previously known.

nunes initially denied knowing rudy giuliani's indicted business associate lev parnas but phone records released by house democrats last month showed several calls between nunes and parnas. the associated press reporting among the newly released documents are about 100 text messages between parnas and california republican staffer derek harvey who previously served in the white house on trump's national security council. the materials were provided to the house by parnas. according to a.p. the messages show parnas provided documents and helped set up meetings for harvey with ukrainians who, quote, have made unsubstantiated claims at vice president biden orchestrated the firing of a prosecutor who was investigating corruption allegations involving burisma. the a.p. notes that the documents also show parnas sent harvey a scan of the ukrainian passport of burisma's founder and tech showing that harvey scheduled phone calls with harn nas and a face-to-face meeting

at the trump international hotel in washington. a spokesman for nunes' congressional office did not respond to messages left by email and phone on saturday. new documents for the senate trial reveal brand-new information about the apparent surveillance of former u.s. ambassador marie yovanovitch. the documents provided by indicted rudy giuliani associate lev parnas and released by house democrats on friday show screenshots of text messages exchanges between congressional candidate robert hyde and a belgian phone number. nbc news has confirmed that the phone number belongs to a dutch financial adviser named anthony dicaloui. in those techs messages he brights to hyde my contacts are checking we will give you the address next week. hyde responds awesome. in another exchange he said he had yovanovitch under physical and potentially electronic

surveillance in the ukraine. he brushed off the seriously of the secretary messages saying my engagement in this exchange are rob is ask that has no credibility. my friendship with rob was jovial and this exchange was part of a ridiculous banter. hyde downplayed the exchange bag he was just playing when he sent those texts to the parnas and told nbc news that he had been drinking. secretary of state mike pompeo broke his silence on the potential surveillance of former aim marie yovanovitch yesterday telling reporters at the state department is looking into the allegation. watch this. >> is the state department opened its own investigation into the security of ambassador yovanovitch when she was in ukraine? and something you said on some radio shows last week about not communicating not knowing lev parnas, can you say that you knew what he was tasked with as an associate of rudy giuliani on behalf of the president personally while he was in ukraine? >> i have never heard of lev parnas until this all became public. >> what about the investigation?

>> anytime there are allegations that some office of the state department is at risk we take a look at it. we are committed to that is correct we will keep doing it. sometimes we resolve these things very quickly, we conclude what we found might have been going on, if it was going on we can end it quickly. if we need to do more, we don't talk about it in any detail in terms of what we're actually doing but i want everyone of the members of the state department to know that if there are allegations that someone is doing something that might put them at risk the state department will take those allegations seriously and we will do our best not only to figure out what's real but make sure they're safe and secure. up next, the battle over impeachment waging on capitol hill as the senate trial is set to resume tomorrow. plus the 2020 democratic president primary race heats up, now less than two weeks away from the iowa caucuses. back in a moment. away from the ia owcaucuses back in a moment

historic week on capitol hill. the impeachment trial against president trump is set to resume tomorrow, but the democratic prosecutors in the white house defense team are already trading barbs. just two weeks away from the

iowa caucuses and the democratic presidential candidates are ramping up their attacks on each other. and the super bowl is all set, next month the san francisco 49ers will face off against the kansas city chiefs after both teams won their reference championships yet. ter reference championships yet. after both teams won their conference championships yesterday. good monday morning, everybody. it is january 20th. i'm yasmin vossoughian. ayman is out today. we begin with president trump's long awaited impeachment trial beginning tomorrow. the process is expected to kick off with majority leader mitch mcconnell introducing the organizing resolution that outlines the rules that will govern this trial. there will be up to two hours of arguments between the democratic prosecutors and the white house defense team after that. minority leader chuck schumer is expected to introduce an amendment that would take up the issue of witss