good morning. i'm chris jansing live at msnbc headquarters in new york. right now the final countdown in georgia. one day until the senate runoff. and this morning, democratic senator raphael warnock and his republican challenger herschel walker are out making their final pitches. both men are sticking to very different strategies in these closing hours. >> georgia deserves a senator

who actually knows what he's talking about. >> we need warriors out there. we don't need politicians. we need people who are going to fight for this country. >> but this morning, walker is facing more explosive allegations. nbc news has an exclusive interview with an ex-girlfriend with his, including what she says was his abusive behavior toward her. >> he had his hand on my throat and my chest and then he leaned back to throw a punch. >> we're live in georgia with more of that conversation. plus, nearly three weeks after donald trump announced he's running for president again, republicans are, for the second week in a row, forced to answer more questions about his conduct. this time after trump called for suspending the constitution in a jaw-dropping post on truth social. but this morning, top republicans have so far stayed silent. and a state of emergency in north carolina. tens of thousands of people are

in the dark, potentially for days after a malicious targeted attack on a power station. authorities believe vandals armed with guns are to blame and the fbi is joining the investigation. ahead, what we're learning about the search for suspects or a suspect and what police are saying about a possible motive. a very busy monday. but we start in georgia with that crucial senate runoff. starting us off, steve kornacki is at the big board, vaughn hillyard in atlanta, tia mitchell, washington correspondent for "the atlanta journal-constitution," and doug jones is a former democratic senator from alabama. thank you all for being here. steve, one day to go. where does this race stand? >> interesting suspense here. we've seen democrats happy with the early voting numbers. the question tomorrow is going to be who shows up, how many voters show up tomorrow and how well do the republicans in particular do with the same day turnout. because the dynamic at play here

in the november general election, what you see is the senate result where herschel walker finished a point behind raphael warnock. nobody got 50. that's why we're having this runoff. in the governor's race, the republican brian kemp won easily. he got 53.5% of the vote. there was a five-point drop-off from the republican candidate who won. there's a substantial number of voters, a significant number of voters who were comfortable voting republican in the governor's race, but who were not comfortable voting for herschel walker in the senate race. who are these voters? they seem to be -- if you take a look at where they come from in the polls, independents, maybe republican-leaning independents, generally. take a look at this. here's how the independent vote broke in the senate race. warnock by double digits in the senate race back in november. the independents in the governor's race sided with kemp by a point. why was there this split? check out this question. this really jumped out in the

exit poll. asked about candidates and their judgment, does raphael warnock have good judgment. 50% of voters said yes, 47% said no. check out the contrast to the number for herschel walker. only 34% of voters in the november exit poll said that walker had good judgment. nearly twice as many, 63%, said no. when you break this down by party, it's even more stark. most democrats said that walker does not have good judgment. look at that. nearly 30% of republicans said that walker doesn't have good judgment and almost three in four independents said that he doesn't have good judgment. i think that gets into that issue of voters who were comfortable for voting for brian kemp in the governor's race but weren't for herschel walker. we're going to be looking in one county south of atlanta, fay yet county. mitt romney ran for president, he won this county by 30 points.

herschel walker barely won it. he barely carried this county. compare that result in county in the governor's race, brian kemp won it by 14 race. in the senate race, walker by only three. you see a lot of these counties on the edge of the atlanta metro area, a little bit outside of atlanta here, where you saw this was most pronounced. voters who were comfortable going for kemp, but then were not comfortable voting for walker in the senate race. does that dynamic change? do those voters stay home tomorrow? do they turnout? if they turnout, do they end upholding their nose and voting for walker. they're hoping republicans that kemp campaigning with walker will make the difference. >> steve kornacki with anacki w critical questions. look who is just joining me now with what i hope are some of the

answers. charlie cook, an msnbc contributor. to the point that steve is making with all those questions that are out there, let me add the -- sort of the old one which is, it's supposed to be rainy tomorrow. does that mean more people will stay home. what are you looking at factually? what are you looking at that's going to give you an indication of what we're going to see tomorrow? >> every indicator suggests that reverend warnock is going to win. >> okay, but -- >> this is what gives democrats reason for cause is that people are now voting more for teams than players. i listened to a focus group the other day, a woman, republican woman, called walker a bafoon and said she was voting for him. >> part of the bigger picture -- >> it's about our team versus their team.

republicans now have to depend on election day voting. democrats vote early by a very big margin. if that were the case, it could make a difference. but, you know, i think democrats -- this is as good as they can feel, but could it bite them, sure. >> so, vaughn, as both warnock and walker are making closing arguments today, you spoke with an ex-girlfriend of walker's who we heard a little clip of it who is alleging abusive behavior. tell us more. >> right. and i think that she is just the latest story -- the latest allegation to come out against the likes of herschel walker here. we have seen a history of voters who -- as charlie just said, stuck with their teams. i had a conversation with brian kemp about this particular allegation and he said his justification for voting for herschel walker was that there are questions about both candidates' character and that he wants a republican party up on capitol hill but we've also seen the history of americans

willingly jumping party lines and, especially even independents, go and vote despite it not being the norm in the state. we could go back to the neighboring state next door, voters rejecting individuals who have questionable integrity and questionable judgment and character. and that is why we flew out to texas to have this conversation with cheryl because over the course of the last year, there have been numerous women who have come forward but spoken anonymously about walker. she's the first to go on camera to detail serious allegations including one episode of physical altercation. i want you to listen to her as to why she's coming forward now just ahead of this runoff. >> i never thought that i would be in this situation today. who would ever thought he would be running for senate. and i would feel this -- compelled to come forward. but it was the women.

it was for me because i had lived in silence for so long carrying the shame of what i allowed. >> reporter: chris, the last woman we've heard on camera go forward was back in 2008 when herschel walker's ex-wife recounted an allegation that herschel walker held a gun to her head and threatened to blow her brains out. it was herschel walker's own son who alleged that walker threatened to kill the family. this is the latest in a tough campaign that has been plagued by these serious allegations against the republican. >> and, tia, that raises a lot of questions for herschel walker, questions that he's not been answering. you were there for walker's only campaign event this weekend. talk about what you see as the reason for his strategy and can it work? >> so, you know, it appears that part of his strategy is to stay

out of the spotlight somewhat to avoid some of those tough questions, to avoid the potential -- but at the same time he is going to be campaigning pretty heavily today, he's sticking with his base. he's sticking in reliable parts of georgia today. he's talking to a friendly crowd. some of these people that as we've heard this morning, you know, people who say they don't care. they don't -- they either don't believe the allegations or they believe that they've been exaggerated by the media and herschel walker's opponent and they say no matter what, they are in for herschel walker. that's what we hear from voters at these herschel walker events. >> given what tia learned, given, charlie cook, what you say you heard from this focus group, it sounds like things are baked in and people have other reasons beyond just do i like herschel walker, do i think he's smart for maybe voting for him,

right, we know it's a turnout game, but in that context, are fewer campaign spots which he's had for quite awhile now, a smarter move for him? >> they're keeping him from saying anything else that would -- >> my cleveland browns didn't get in the super bowl a couple of times running that defense. >> and the fact that he came within a point of warnock in the november election just tells you that there are other things at play other than effectiveness or character or intelligence or whatever. there are other -- other factors that are coming into to play with a lot of voters. this is the new world order. >> doug, senator warnock has been busy. he's in atlanta today, he's going to be addressing union workers, college students. are you surprised given what an aggressive campaign he's run and all of the problems that we've enumerated on the other side

that the policy at least post the original vote since the runoff began are still so close? >> you know, i'm not really not surprised. and the reason is, the very reason that charlie just talked about, that's the fact that in the south right now you have teams. you got a red team, a blue team. and people don't always go across. the reason that this is that close is because of the tribalism in georgia like it is in so many states in the south. the difference is, over the last 10 or 12 years, the democratic party of georgia led by stacey abrams have tried to build up the party and reach out to build a broader coalition. that's the main difference i see. walker is stuck with his tribe, getting national republicans in there to try to bring in and bring out that vote. but warnock has tried to build that coalition. i think he's done an excellent job of doing that to bring in those moderate republicans, bring in independents. and that's going to be the difference, i believe, in the

race. >> let me read to you, if i can, doug, what "politico's" playbook laid out saying if warnock pulls it off again, that means georgia is a bona fide purple state. on the other hand, if walker wins, that suggests warnock's 2020 victory was just a fluke and it takes special circumstances to turn georgia blue and governor brian kemp is a political juggernaut. do you agree with that? >> i'm not sure i agree with any of those. i think georgia may be a light purple state if warnock wins. look, there's been a lot of work going on in georgia for ten years. i mean, at least 10 or 12 years. and the fact of the matter is, you still got most of the statehouse is still republican. the state offices are still republican. one election and even with jon ossoff doesn't turn a state blue or even purple. there's still work that has to

be done every day in a state like georgia and there's a hell of a lot of work that has to be done in the other states in the deep south to get to that point. >> what will a win tell us on either side? >> former president trump has a lot riding on this tomorrow night. if warnock wins, it's going to be the final exclamation point that the republican party cannot afford to go with his hand-picked candidates in the future. and so if i were in mar-a-lago, i would be watching this tomorrow night real, real closely. >> charles cook, great to have you, tia mitchell, vaughn hillyard, thank you. coming up, tens of thousands of people in north carolina don't have power or heat after an intentional attack on two local substations. why were they targeted, though? we've got the latest on that investigation. plus, the arguments under way right now at the supreme court in a case centered on lgbtq rights and religious freedom. we're live outside the court. and the republican reaction or lack thereof after former president trump called to

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this morning, tens of thousands of people in north carolina are under a state of emergency and without power after a shocking attack on their power grid. police believe someone fired a gun at two energy substations.

the fbi has now joined in the investigation. in the meantime, some areas may be without power until thursday and temperatures are getting awfully cold there. blayne alexander is in north carolina with more on this. blayne, it looks like you've got your puffer jacket on, so i know it's cold. what do we know about a possible suspect or motive here? >> reporter: let's talk about those temperatures. it was as cold as 31 degrees last night and keep in mind this was the second straight night that some tens of thousands of people woke up with no power, went to sleep with no power. certainly, it is becoming a very time-sensitive situation when you talk about the fact that, yes, there's no heat, no power. for many people, no answer on when this is actually going to return. we just checked, there are about 33,000 people still without power. we know that duke energy has crews working around the clock. we saw truck after truck coming in and going out of the broken

fence, but still they say it's likely going to be a few more days before everybody sees their lights turn back on. as for this investigation, that's the other time-sensitive thing in all of this. i spoke with a sheriff not too long ago. he tells me that so far there's no motive, no leads, no suspects, anything like that. but he did say that what's notable about this is that they believe whoever is responsible for this had an idea of what they were doing. that means they had to have had some knowledge of how the power system works in order to go in and know where to aim their guns and shoot and take out two substations. he said that's the thing that concerns him the most about this entire thing, that it was somebody who has knowledge of how power systems work. he also said that the biggest concern here is when the nighttime hours fall. that's why there's a mandatory curfew in place, it's going to be in place at least until friday, possibly longer. that's because all of the stoplights are out, the temperatures are dipping.

he's concerned about traffic incidents. there have already been several of those. on top of that, if that's not enough, there's been reports he says of people trying to break into stores, at least one gun shop that was targeted as well. so they're fanning out, putting extra security around to watch out for people trying to take advantage -- further advantage of this situation. >> blayne alexander, thank you for your reporting. the supreme court is hearing arguments in a major case on the clash between lgbtq rights and faith. it centered around colorado web designer and evangelical christian lorie smith who opposes same-sex marriage. she wants to turn away lgbt couples without penalty. it's a law the high court did take up in 2018 with the case of a colorado baker who turned away a same sex couple.

this case is going before a right-leaning supreme court as well and it comes with the house about to send a same-sex marriage bill to the president's desk. joining me now from the supreme court, yamiche alcindor. i think it's worth noting that smith hasn't actually refused couples and hasn't been punished, but what is her basis then for bringing this case? >> reporter: that's right. good morning. what she is saying is that she wants to -- lorie smith, the owner of this 303 creative which is a website designing and creating company, she wants to preemptively sue the state of colorado, which is what she did, because she wants to be able to told she won't be sanctioned if she wants to create wedding websites that are opposite sex but not of same sex. listening to his oral arguments has been fascinating and they've gotten contentious. here's justice sotomayor

questioning the lawyer for lorie smith. take a listen. >> how about people who don't believe in interracial marriage or about people who don't believe that disabled people should get married? what's -- where is the line? i choose to serve whom i want if i disagree with their personal characteristics like race or disability? i can choose not to sell to those people? >> justice ketanji brown jackson was asking a pointed question, asking the lawyer for lorie smith if it would be okay if a photographer said i only want to photograph white children with a white santa. the lawyer for lorie smith has been saying there are lines to this but overall creative expression and free speech should not be something that the government should be able to force you and compel you to do.

an interesting case and one that could have a big consequence. >> chris. >> thank you. it's about to be in a jury's hands. will they find that donald trump's company committed tax fraud. why aren't more constitutional conservatives calling out mr. trump? rvatives calling out mr. trump? you need a better network. 'tis the season to switch to verizon. they'll give you the new iphone 14 pro. (scrooge) amazing phone! (vo) this holiday season verizon gives you the new iphone 14 pro. plus an apple gift, like apple watch se, ipad and beats fit pro. all on us. that's a value of up to $1900. (scrooge) wow! (vo) and there are unlimited plans for everyone starting at just $35 a line. it's our best deal of the year. get the network you deserve and the savings you want. only on verizon.

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jury deliberations are expected to begin today in the trump organization's criminal tax fraud trial. in closing arguments on friday, prosecutors argue that had the former president must have known about the tax fraud at his company alleging, quote, mr. trump is explicitly sanction tax fraud. trump is not on trial himself. but his organization is charged with helping executives, notably former cfo allen weisselberg knowledge millions in income taxes for 15 years. joining me now tom winter. look, the evidence suggested that the fraud involved, what, on tax luxury apartments,

mercedes-benzs, private school tuition, how complex are these deliberations likely to be and what's the question question that jurors will have to answer? >> right. all the things that you just talked about there, chris, are things that the jury heard from allen weisselberg himself. he's pleaded guilty here and part of that guilty plea in his coordination agreement is that he spoke here at the trial and testified against the trump corporation and trump payroll corporation which are the two specific legal entities that are, in fact, on trial and are the one that is the juries are going to decide whether they're guilty or not guilty. that is established. the fact that they received these perk and is the fact that allen weisselberg didn't pay his taxes on it, they've got that cold he said so. what this turns to as far as the specific elements of the law and what is actually going to be the consideration for the jury here is whether or not there was, quote, some benefit to the trump organization and whether that some benefit was conveyed by somebody who is a high -- in a

high managerial position or a higher managerial position. that's what the law prescribes. the judge said something that you said when we first started talking about that. that the former president is not on trial here. he's not sitting at the defense table. this is about two specific corporations and the jury is going to have to determine whether or not the trump organization and those two specific legal entities, in fact, are the ones that benefitted from this, prosecutors arguing, like, they didn't have to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars in extra salary to these executives, not just allen weisselberg, in order for them to not only get these benefits of cars, apartments and tuition, but for them to pay the appreciate tax on it. they benefitted from that and not paying specific payroll taxes. the trump organization arguing, this is on allen weisselberg. he could have paid taxes on it. that's what the jury is going to have to weigh here, chris.

we'll see where they take it and what they decide. >> thank you. also this morning, republican leaders still remaining largely silent after president trump called for the termination of the constitution so he could return to power in a jaw-dropping post on truth social. here's how a handful of republicans responded on the sunday shows. >> i don't think it's a good platform for a presidential campaign to say we should set the constitution aside. >> he says a lot of things. you have to take him in context. >> people are going to take into consideration a statement like this as they evaluate a candidate. >> back with me to talk about this, doug jones. i'm joined by charlie sykes, an msnbc contributor. charlie, what does it tell us that constitutional conservatives aren't up in arms about a call to essentially ignore the constitution? >> it tells you that they are not really constitutional conservatives, doesn't it? this should be the easiest

political move imaginable, the lowest possible hanging fruit to say that you reject -- that you reject sedition. it should have been easy for them to say they reject collaboration with nazis and it seems incredibly easy for them to take an off-ramp by saying, look, explicitly calling for the termination of the constitution so that he could be re-installed in office crosses any imaginable red line and, once again, republicans, you want to look at their feet and shuffle them and hope that somebody else will take care of the problem and they don't need to do it. i think we ought not to normalize this. it is genuinely shocking and dangerous and i believe that their silence is also dangerous. >> "the washington post" reports a republican operative close to the ex-president who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss private conversations argued the post did not literally advocate or call for

terminating the constitution. that sounds very much like what we just heard. you got to take it into context. is that what you saw in his post on truth social? should any suggestion of throwing out the constitution simply be immediately condemned? >> absolutely. what that response is, is the -- one of the biggest bs answers i think i have heard in the history of politics. there is nothing, nothing short of donald trump calling for the end of the constitution, the end of the rule of law, which is consistent, by the way, one thing that mark short did say in the show yesterday, it's kind of consistent with what he said to the vice president some two years ago. and i think that that jack smith at doj is going to probably have some interest in this. the one thing that i would argue is that you're not going to get republicans to affirmatively come out there and condemn this, except for maybe a few. what it's going to take, chris, with all due respect to the

media, is a relentless media questioning of these republican officeholders, republican candidates. this is one of the most important questions i think that faces this country right now, given donald trump's grip on the republican party, and the media needs to be relentless with these folks. don't let them get away with answers about defending the constitution and checks and balances. make sure that they answer a specific question about does donald trump have a place in american politics anymore because the answer should be absolutely not. >> i think we saw some of the tough questioning on the sunday shows yesterday. having said that, the usual -- what i would call the usual suspects, just explanatory, is we heard condemnation from liz cheney, adam kinzinger, but the silence with no change in sight, does it tell you that there's almost no line when it comes to trump? that frankly republicans including constitutional conservatives don't see a

downside politically in not condemning something like this? what do you make of it? >> well, again, that's been well established. they wouldn't break with him after the attempt to overthrow the government on january 6th, why would they break with him after a social media tweet? so i think that this is ingrained. what will be interesting to see, though, is if, in fact, you have another senatorial candidate go down in defeat in georgia, whether or not the prospect of losing more will focus their minds. we know they're not going to have a resurgence of principle, but if they think this is the route to defeat, maybe that will create a wedge between the republican party and donald trump. but i think it's naive to suggest that anyone is going to take any firm and definitive stand, even when you have the president endorsing this kind of sedition. >> but i would say to doug's point, the questions need to be asked. former senator doug jones, charlie sykes, thanks to both of

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that people have been very happy to see lately? >> reporter: yeah, chris, good morning. there's a few factors at play here. people when they show up at the pump and they see $3.30, they're surprised. that's not bad. here's the deal, there's a couple things going on. opec+ has agreed to cut 2 million barrels per day, 2% of global demand. it would raise prices. part "b," you have a european ban which would affect how much countries pays for russia oil. if russia chooses to retaliate, that portends higher prices at the pump. >> reporter: it's hard to find a single staple of the american economy that impacts our pocket books more than gas prices. which is why when they fall, it provides a noticeable lift for families. >> big difference. >> reporter: and falling they are. the national average this morning $3.40 a gallon.

that's down 40 cents from a month ago and more than $1.60 from a peak of $5.02 in the middle of june. eight states are currently under $3 a gallon, part of a growing trend. >> the national average could fall under $3 a gallon, even ahead of our forecast. so we continue to see gas prices fall at a very brisk pace. >> plunging oil and gas prices are being driven by a deepening recession in europe, rising interest rates in the u.s. and covid outbreaks in china. but the fragile fall in fuel prices could take a turn. starting today, the european union putting a price cap on russian oil at $60 a barrel. >> reporter: what is the net impact of the eu deciding that we will only buy russian oil at this price point or less? >> it's significant that the eu is coming together to make this fairly significant agreement and risk this potentially

backfiring. russia could simply choose to stop exporting oil. this is kind of a high-stakes game here. >> reporter: at the same time there's the arrival of cold weather and americans are bracing for higher heating bills, likely paying in the neighborhood of 50 to 100% more than last winter. >> a $90 bill a month to 360-some-odd dollars. >> reporter: it could be worse with many utility companies locking in much of their petroleum supplies when rates were lower. as for those price caps going into effect, the kremlin is still analyzing a response, but the backers of that decision will rue the day that they made it. >> sam brock, thank you so much for that. and this morning russia is unleashing a new barrage of missile attacks across ukraine. once again, targeting energy and

other criminal infrastructure. more than 70 missiles today alone. in the zaporizhzhia region, a large part of that city now without power and at least two people have been reported dead. several injuries are also being reported including to a 1-year-old. air raid alerts sounded across ukraine as residents are being urged to stay in shelters with water and power still out. also this morning, new video that shows president putin driving across a newly rebuilt bridge from russia to crimea that was damaged by a truck bomb attack back in october. ellison barber is live from kyiv for us. how are the people in ukraine dealing with these brutal conditions? >> reporter: this has been an incredibly stressful day for ukrainians, a day that many of them had feared would come at any second, any minute. when those sirens started sounding across ukraine, it was about 1:00 p.m. local time. they lasted for hours.

ukraine's air force command says russian forces fired more than 70 missiles at points, locations throughout the country. they say ukraine's air defense was able to intercept about 60 of them. they encouraged people to stay calm, get to shelters and warned this could be the first wave of a series of attacks. we know that energy infrastructure facilities have been hit in at least three different regions. in odesa, there are reports of massive electricity power outages. there are also reports that water supply is not working right now. you mentioned the missiles that landed in zaporizhzhia. that reportedly hit a large number of residential homes killing at least two people, injuring two others, including a child who is just 22 months old. for a lot of people, a lot of ukrainians, this is something that they have been preparing for out of necessity since these

large-scale missile attacks started in early october. we spent time in one community here in kyiv where they were setting up a tent warming center, a place that a group of apartment complexes in that community, where they could all come to in the event of massive blackouts. some of the people there, they served in the defense and spent time on the front lines. they told us what they're experiencing right now, the stuff they're setting up is part of what they see as a new front line. russia's weaponization of winter. listen. >> yes, winter is a weapon. but i think it's a huge mistake by russians that they tried to use it. because they wanted us to stay separate. they wanted us to surrender, but obviously we would not.

we get around. we are much more close. >> reporter: the military administration for the city of kyiv says that ten missiles were detected in the air space of the city of kyiv. they say they were able to destroy and intercept nine of those. but right now, chris, about 40% of kyiv is without electricity. chris? >> ellison barber, thank you for that. coming up, after months of protests, a top iranian official says the controversial morality police may be disbanded, but will that actually happen? we'll have more right after this. have more right after this this... is the planning effect. this is how it feels to know you have a wealth plan that covers everything that's important to you. this is what it's like to have a dedicated fidelity advisor looking at your full financial picture. making sure you have the right balance of risk and reward. and helping you plan for future generations.

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today, the stats department is brushing off reports that iran's morality police had been disbanded saying they refused to comment on quote ambiguous or vague claims by iranian officials. iranian state tv reported the country's attorney general made the claim over the weekend, but it's unclear if that amounts to an official government patriotically information. the attorney general doesn't even oversee the morality police and there has been no confirmation from iran's leadership, president, interior

ministry or police. you'll recall they were at the center of massive protests in the country after the death of the 22-year-old woman who died in hospital three days after arrested for allegedly violating the islamic republic's strict dress codes. ali joins me with more on this. also, cofounder of the iranian dice por ra collective, a group that's been working to support the protestors. ali, what more do we know about the status of the morality police? >> they're being deliberately convoluted about it. what's going on in iran now is a debate raging amongst the iran's leadership. the more so-called moderate elements are saying that maybe the hijab should be decriminalized where the more hard line elements are saying look, the morality police should be physically removed from the

streets, that the hijab should be enforced remotely by surveillance cameras, facial recognition and women not wearing it should be fined or they don't get their insurance or can't go into a bank. that really does underscore these deep rifts within the system. they can't make a collective decision because the country is in such chaos. but it's important to point out, this attorney general isn't some massive reformist that's talking about giving rights back to the iranian people. in that same press conference where he was unclear about the morality police, he also said all social media in the country should be made illegal. so these are not some people trying make some massive reforms. the only reason they're doing this right now is because they can't control the hijab anymore. about 60% of the population in the country, women, now refuse to wear the hijab, refuse to wear the coat that cloaks your figure. so if you wanted to enforce it,

you have to basically arrest 60, 70% of the female population and that's not tenable and now they're trying to figure out what to do. but if they try and enforce the remote hijab with fines and taking away social privileges, that's only going to further enrage a population that's right on the edge right now. >> moj, what do you think is going on with this statement from the attorney general there? >> look, i think this is a crucial week for the islamic republic because they were about to be voted off the u.s. commission for the status of women. that vote is happening on the 14th. i think there are three days of labor strikes happening this week. i think this spin doctors this headline is just reform rhetoric and i think on some level, it worked a little bit, but i think the diaspra pushed back hard, corrected the headlines, the digital narrative. i think we are winning the digital media battle because we are equipped. this is what we do every day and we're here to partner with the

iranian protesters because they're calling for a regime change. not reform. and all eyes are on the u.n. this week for this very critical, critical vote to dispel the islamic republic from the commission because this will send a strong statement that removing them, these crimes against women, will not be tolerated, not in iran, but not anywhere. >> what do you think the realistic chances are of that happening and how do you see the amount of power that the movement has right now? do they have enough momentum to push that kind of change? >> look, the islamic republic is a failed state. we're talking about inflation, unemployment, lack of women's rights. lack of minority rights. this is a company that is bus bussing, looking for regime change. if you look at the amount of commitment vital voices and the u.n. have put in after the commission, if you look at the hundreds of thousands of votes

of people who signed woman life freedom today, it is clear this is a woman's rights issue. this is a human rights issue. all eyes are on iran versus islamic republic and i do not think the iranian people will rest until the supreme leader and regime change has happened and the dice pra is not going to back down. we are the most successful out there. we are financially equipped. we are professionally equipped. we are influentially equipped and we are not going to give up on our country men and our country and we are going to take this country back that has been taken by hostages for the past 43 years. >> thanks to both of you and that's going to do it for me this hour, but i'll be back 1:00 eastern time. "andrea mitchell reports" starts next. "andrea mitchell reports" starts next they'll give you the new iphone 14 pro. (scrooge) amazing phone! (vo) this holiday season verizon gives you the new iphone 14 pro. plus an apple gift, like apple watch se,

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right now on "andrea mitchell reports," one more time. georgia's senate candidates making last minute campaign push with election day polls opening in less than 24 hours. and nearly 2 million ballots already cast by early voters. also, my exclusive interview with the director of national intelligence on the impact of the protests for womens rights across iran. >> regime continuing to crack down on this violently and they are poised to be more even as we see