tomorrow. and an nbc news exclusive. evidence the fbi was warned the far right heard a presidential call to arms in the weeks leading to january 6. reaction from the former army general who led a review of capitol security. "the 11th hour" gets underway on this wednesday night. good evening once again. we gun this broadcast with ukrainian president zelenskyy's historic visit toin washington, d.c. this v is the first time he lef ukraine since russian forces invaded 300 days ago. after flying to washington in a u.s. military jet, he spent

several hours with president biden and then he spoke directly to the american people. >> i wish you peace. i think that the main thing and you understand it only around the world in your country when somebody like these terrorists from russia come to your houses. and wish you to see your children alive and adult. and wish you to see your children t when they will go to universities. and to see their children.ld i think that is the main thing what i can wish you. and, of course, to be together with us jointly because we really fight for our common victory. again, this tyranny that is real life. and we will win. and i really want win together.

>> biden administration announced near will you $2 billionne in new military aid including patriot missiles.tr this evening dressed in military clothing, president zelenskyy spoke before jount meeting of congress walkingou into the hou chamber to a lengthy standing ovation. heta thanked the united states e supporting ukraine. >> ukraine holds its lines and will never surrender. thank you for the money you already provided us with. your money is not charity. it is investment in democracy that we handle in the most responsible way. >> alsond tonight, we're awaiti the final report from the january 6 committee.

it is now expected to be released at some point tomorrow. tonight the panel did release transcripts of 34 different witnesses who pleaded the fifth during part or all testimony. michael flynn took the fifth on every single question during his interview. we're also waiting for the full release of donald trump's taxes from thep' house ways and means committee. yesterday the committee said the irs failed to audit his taxes even though that is the agency policy. oregon democrat accuses the irs of being asleep at the wheel. but tonight "the new york times" reports that presidents obama and biden were audited regularly. so far the irs is refusing to comment on any of this. there is also news tonight about former ftx ceo who is now in fbi custody here in the united states. after extradition from the bahamas, he is about to face

federal charges here in the u.s. with that, let's get smarter tonight. pulitzer prize winning journalist joins us and former fbi special agent and fellow at the foreign policy research es institute. chuck rosenberg is here, a former u.s. attorney and former fbi official. mr. watts,me to you first. what type of message does president zelenskyy's visit send to putin? you know he's watching. >> yeah. excellent job on president zelenskyy's part.ll he came out in the uniform of combat. he did not come out wearing a suit. second, was he spoke in english. and he did it very well to an

american audience. and third, he always related to the idea of the holiday season coming up right now. but alsoco he mentioned things like the battle of the bulge, the time u.s. forces fought against the nazi regime from germany. he was doing a good job communicating what his message was, being very appreciative. at the same time, i thought remarkable across the board with the exception of a few, it's bipartisan support. you have senator mitch mcconnell even noting tonight that this is one of the few things they agree on. you see a fully packed house there giving him applause.gi i think it's a powerful message. definitely sends a message to putin based on the aid packages coming up, particularly patriot missiles. it seems to be now ramped up by the u.s. >> luke, go deeper on that point. walk us through how president zelenskyy has been received on the hill.

>> yeah, very well. you know, there were a lot of concerns about some of the noises that have been made from some of the far right of the republican party, particularly in the house. but it was pretty clear as you watched the reception to president zelenskyy that those aren only a few voices in the minority of the congress. the vast majority of democrats and republicans are really in lock step hindu crane. if you talk to them in the halls on the hill, almost all of them will tell you they view this as sort of the battle line of democracy. and that if they can't help ukraine stand up to an invasion from russia, what is to stop them next strong man or dictator from invading another neighbor or another country? and so they really see that whatever ukraine needs, i think the majority of the congress is going to get behind to make sure this type of aggression cannot

stand. >> let's change topics and talk donald trump and the irs. we all watched his pattern for fourat years. donald trump hand selected peopleru for key roles and one one they did his personal bidding. in this case, trump appoints the head of the irs. and poof, he doesn't end up with the automatic audit that every other president gets. somehow his enemies like jim comey, they were personally audited. was this really an oversight, the irs dropping the ball, or dt you think it is much worse? >> i don't know. it could be either. but if you're talking about certain parts of government, always a plausible answer. it could be nefarious. i think that's why we have to look at it. it certainly is odd that both comey and mccabe were audited and president trump's successor

and predecessor were audited. so it's at least curious. it may be worse. i hope that either the inspector general at treasury or congress or some adult in the room takes a hard look at it. it is disturbing to me that, you know, many things that are disturbing to me about the trump presidency. it isru disturbing that irs seed to give him a pass on the audit. >> and alas, as i mentioned before, they made no comment on any of this. what are your sources on the hill saying? irs just drop the ball or worse? >> well, the ways and means committee, the whole point of this discussion around the taxes is to make sure that the audit program is functioning

appropriately. now they made real questions about why it's not happening. they need to do additional investigation. they need to have the irs come in and answer tough questions. they're seeing two systems of justice. one for the other guy and one for donald trump. they want to know why that is at happening. they're trying to get to the bottom of it. >> i want to know why they're only trying to get to the bottom of it now. the audits should have been taking place early in trump's presidency. why do we only know about it today, yesterday, tomorrow? >> right, they fought for years to get the documents that chairman neil really tried to get the trump tax returns. they really trud to get answers

to the questions. and they were fought every step of the way by donald trump and his allies in court. they went up through appeal and appeal and appeal and finally got the documents. i think they would argue it's not for a lack of trying. they did get answers early on. it just took forever to go through the court system. >> clint, let's talk about the january 6 report and the transcripts. you're a former investigator.or what you are looking for? >> i think the key point is there is no reprecushions for it unless it goes to the doj. a lot of this is interesting in the fact they did plead the fifth. it doesn't mean everything. everybody has the right to pleaa the fifth. there is not a lot of details there. i think what i'm most interested in is the connections between those plots that we do know of

sedition, the plots that have gone to trial, the oath keepers and proud boys and how that connects or does not connect with folks that were in the white house on the day of the insurrection and leading up to d it. particularly from that mid december 2020 period into january 6. how close were we to a violent coup? i think that's been remarkable in terms of the only keeper's case with the sedition case being prosecuted with stewart rhodes. but can they put more pieces together and let us know how close were we to having bloodshed on that day? i think we got very lucky. awful day for democracy and the country. we got lucky that we didn't see someone come storming across the river to virginia in a hotel where they had weapons stacked

up that day. >> and, of course, democracy did hold which is a huge positive. luke, let me ask you about the transcripts we got tonight, unlike roger stone taking the fifth when askedak his age, was there anything we learned that was important? not a surprise he didn't answer things like that. just ridiculous which is what he is. >> right. we did learn who the 34 witnesses are that invoked the fifth amendment. we knew some of them. the reason to invoke is that you believe you may incriminate yourself. there were hints and facts and evidence revealed. if youan read the transcripts a watch the questions the investigators are asking, they're often reading from text messages and from e-mail that's they obtained through subpoenash for instance, we learned some more information about the fake

electors plot. we learned that mike roman who worked for the trump campaign directed the deputy to take the documents to capitol hill and taken a photo of himself and said mission accomplished and sent it back to the group. so there is direct tie between the trump campaign and the fake elector scheme.ec we learned about some of the infighting and the financing for the rallies that preceded the attack on the capitol on january 6 about the disputes over the millions of dollars that were raised to put on these rallies and the payments to people like kim gillfoil. $60 million for a few minute speech. the committee is going to get into this in the big grift about all the fund-raising that went on and the lies of the stolen election. so we're starting to see the evidence come out in these

transcripts that we're likely t' see tomorrow when this 800 plus page report is released. >> one more topic before we go, chuck. sam bankman-freed. two of his closest associates plead guilty. how did they get him so quickly? it's not that hard when your two closest associates flip on you. this cannot be good for him tonight, right? >> not good at all. in fact, credit to the southern district of new york and to the fbi for moving this case so quickly. you know, if you have done something wrong and you have information to offer to the justice department and the fbi that can lead to the prosecution of someone else, give it. here's why it matters, stephanie. there are two ways to get credit if you're a criminal. one is by pleading guilty and accepting responsibility. and to your point, to this

gentleman's top lieutenants just did that. and the other is cooperating in the prosecution of others. i assume that's precisely what they're going to do. so if they were caught and they had done something wrong and they have criminal exposure and want to sort of lessen the um -- impact, you plead guilty and you cooperate. that is bad news for the guy holding the bag or the guy still standing when the music stops. that seems to be mr. bankman-fried. he has top lieutenant testifying against l him. that makes for a very bad day. >> the music stopped and for sam, the party is absolute will you over.m,il gentlemen, we're 15 minutes in and you absolutely made us smarter on a host of topics to neutral. thank you for joining us. when we come back, former u.s. ambassador to ukraine bill taylor is here on president zelenskyy's historic address to

congress. and what it means for the war in ukraine. and later, new reporting about a warning to the fbi in the days leading up to january 6. we'll ask the army veteran who led a security review after the riot to lawmakers may take action after the report. "the 11th hour" just getting underway on a wednesday night. hg underway on a wednesday night. 'h with powering through, it's time for theraflu hot liquid medicine. powerful relief so you can restore and recover. theraflu hot beats cold.

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every inch of that land is

soaked in blood, roaring guns sound every hour. trenches in the dunbas change several times a day in fierce combat and even hand fighting by the ukrainians and the dunbas stands. >> some of president zelenskyy's powerful and historical address to congress. this was the first trip outside ukraine since the start of the war at a time when his country fears a new russian offensive may be coming. back with us tonight to discuss, former u.s. ambassador to ukraine, william taylor. he is also the united states institute of peace vice president for russia in europe. ambassador, i'm so glad you're here after the historic remarks. what's your reaction to what president zelenskyy said? how big of a moment is this for the war? >> i think this is enormous moment for the war. i think as he said, we could be looking at a turning point next

year. we could be looking at the success, continued success of ukrainian military. president zelenskyy was here to talk about that success, talk about why he needs to achieve that success. why we need to help him achieve that success. so this was historic in that the congress listened and as you reported, broad bipartisan support, enthusiastic support for continuing to provide the weapons, ammunition, finances, the support that ukraine is going to need to win this war and turn it around next year. >> how humiliating must that be for putin watching that? watching president zelenskyy walk in to that standing ovation. this is just two weeks after putin canceled his end of the year public remarks in russia. he didn't want to answer questions. what was he feeling tonight

watching that? >> someone said that they normal will you don't feel much sympathy for vladimir putin. i share that view. but you're right, he looks terrible. president zelenskyy looks great. one reason that ukrainians support president zelenskyy is they're so united. they're united with him. he reflects them. they support him. and president putin doesn't have that. president putin doesn't have the support. he can't tell the russian soldiers that he's supposed to be leading why they're even there. president zelenskyy can. every soldier knows that their president is the leader they want to follow. president zelenskyy ended his

speech with the determination of ukraine. watch this. >> we'll celebrate christmas. celebrate christmas and even if there is no electricity the lite -- the light in our faith and ourselves will not be put out. if russian missiles attack us, we'll do our best to protect ourselves. if they attack us with missiles and our people have to go to bomb shelters on christmas eve, ukrainians will still sit down at the holiday table and cheer up each other. >> you served in ukraine. talk to us about the spirit of ukrainians and what this visit means for them, to see president zelenskyy standing there alongside president biden. >> you're right. ukrainians that i talk to regularly are very, very proud of their president.

they're very proud of themselves. they are standing up to the russians. they are determined to continue to stand up to the russians and to succeed. president zelenskyy said it a couple of times this evening. we will succeed. we will win this war. he believes that they believe that. they've got the spirit. they've got the determination and grit. it's their soldiers but it's also their people, their society, their individuals. they are all in and they're going to win, stephanie. i believe they will. >> they've also got the support of the u.s. and our nato allies. congress is proposing over $44 billion in new aid. and president zelenskyy said something interesting. he said this money is not charity, it is investment in global security. do enough americans realize that? >> probably not. and that's why it's so valuable for him to come speak to americans. he spoke to americans tonight

from the beginning to the end. and that line that you just quoted is an important one. we have to understand, americans have to understand that this is an investment that we're making in our own security. we're not -- as he says, this is not charity. we're not doing this because we're good people. we're doing this because this benefits us. our security, european security is better. the our children, our grandchildren will grow up in a better place if ukraine wins. so this is something that applies to us all. not just americans. it applies around the world. and that was a great line. this is an investment. >> you said this a moment ago. one of the extraordinary things tonight which you rarely see on capitol hill is bipartisan support. and for the most part we're seeing it. are you concerned though that a couple weeks from now when republicans do control the house this support that we've seen for

ukraine could wayne? there are some republican members of the house that aren't so supportive. >> there are some members of the house that are not supportive. not many. there are not that many. we saw a lot of republicans in the house today in the crowd today. most of them were clapping enthusiastically. most republicans, virtually all of the democrats are strong supporters of these packages, assistance packages of weapons, of finance, of humanitarian, of energy support. so this is going to pass -- i'm convinced this will pass. i think president zelenskyy did himself a great service this afternoon, this evening both at the white house and at congress in building support, making the case for this, explaining, as you say, stephanie, explaining to americans why this is so important to pass that $44 billion, to pass that larger

effort. you know, we provided about $20 billion in military -- of all of the other assistance, finance, humanitarian, energy, but strictly military, it's about $20 billion. that's less than 3%, less than 3% of our defense budgets. a lot of our defense budget goes to protect us against the russians, from the russians. and 3% of that is what we're providing to the ukrainians. and they are fighting the russians for us. so this is a good investment. i think the republicans will be there. i think the republicans are there. i think the congress is there. i think we're going see that strong bipartisan support as he referenced a couple times tonight. >> all right. ambassador william taylor, always appreciate your insights. thank you for joining us tonight. >> thank you. when we come back, a very special guest. the army veteran who is charged

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when the january 6 released

the documents, they were warned by an informant that the 2020 tweet promoting a wild protest at the capitol was considered by the far right as a call to arms. what do you make of of this report that fbi was warned that january 6 could be violent? >> yeah that, is quite concerning. that's the job of the fbi. that's the job of homeland security. it's the job of the secret service. the government didn't work that day. when it comes to reading the room, reading the web and

information that was coming forward and when the security information came from norfolk on the 5th, it went to the jtf headquarters in washington, d.c. we traced that. it was given to an officer in the capitol police and somehow that information didn't get to the line officers that there could be a threat to the capitol with people armed, ready to come and enter the capitol. that information never got to the line officers through a misinterpretation of how they could use the secret information. and in our review, we made recommendations on how they can better handle intel and right now all the capitol police has a phone as a part of the recommendation. they couldn't communicate that day. while they stood strong and prevented the insurrection from if destroying our democracy, there were a lot of issues through security that we all see laid out and we highlighted

that. as a result of our recommendation to put fencing, retractable fencing, add more bomb-sniffing dogs or horse platoon for crowd control and improving cameras at the capitol, the house put a 2.9 billion supplemental in. but that was turned back by senator leahy. so much of the recommendations we did for physical security to include 800 officers, 400 of them to go protect dignitaries en route and at home and another 400 at the capitol that we think they need, stephanie. >> do you believe that when we all see this final january 6th committee report that could motivate congress to do more, take more action, to make us more safe and secure? >> i hope so. because there are still gaps. the capitol is secure.

capitol police bounce back. they're doing -- they're resilient. they're still woefully short 400 officers by the new capitol police chief who said he needs 400 more officers. it's going to take time to produce that because of training issues and getting them certified. but they need 400 more officers at the capitol. the capitol is secure for normal protests. it's not secure to deal with domestic terrorists who show up in a group of 10,000. we need a better reading of the intelligence so we can call in to national guard betalon it's we need them and have them there on time. we can do better and be prepared had we read the room, had the fbi and the secret service had been directly communicating with the capitol police is quite likely we could have prevented the capitol from even being penetrated that day, miss

stephanie. >> read the room rather than read the intention of the former president. your expertise is in safety, security and humanitarian. another huge story this week is the surge of migrants that are making their way to the border. what needs to get done? >> we need to speek in plain language that people understand. coming to the border, try to seek asylum this is the wrong time of year to do this. people with their children. we know they walk hundreds of miles sacrificing trying to get to a country for a better life. but we have to get better at telling them coming in the winter time is not the right time to try to migrate to the united states. and the u.s. has to figure out what are the rules? i mean, we've had officer the last 2 1/2, 3 years mix

messaging. you can come, you can't come. if you come, we're going to send you back, we're not going to send you back, we're going to let you in. even i'm confused and i speak the language here. of we need to clean up the messaging and send the people. if you come, we're going to send you back if you don't follow the rules of i will inauguration. if you get here, we're going to take care of you. -- rules of immigration. if you get here, we'll take care of you. but it's dangerous these people coming during this arctic blast. it makes the country look like we're not treating people in a humane way when we see children and families laying on the side of a ditch. we go all over the world to save people's lives. by and large, we're doing best we can. but the ngos on the border are overrun. we have not put the resources there. we're going to process the people. we've got the resources to do this better. we can handle 10 to 15,000 people a day if we have to and put them on airplanes and say come back and apply later or

whatever that decision is. we need to know what the hell the decisio is. it is causing people pain and suffering in the cold and having a hell of a morale effect on the border patrol people. we can do this better. we put people on the moon. we can do this. this is not -- it's hard, but we can do this. we have logistics to do this better. >> well, sir, you always speak to us in a way that we can understand and we appreciate it. always good to see you. merry christmas you to. when we come back, a few far right republicans standing out tonight. why, because they were ridiculing ukraine's wartime president even before he arrived in washington. we'll examine the political strategy of that behavior when we come back. strategy of that behavior when we come back

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director for jeb bush. what in the heck are the republicans aiming for here? who does it serve to call president zelenskyy a welfare queen? beyond it being mean and cruel, it is stupid. >> i think that is the key point here. just get to the plucks in a second. it's important to say up front what we saw today was a moment that was as moving and as clear cut as a moral ethical patriotic, strategic matter as we've seen in quite a long time in washington. you know, i think that just this unity of some of the republican party, all of the democratic party, this president in ukraine fighting for free people for liberty, liberal democracy against an invader and this is a no-brainer. and yet, these people cannot help themselves. the maga wing of the republican party. and the reason why they're doing it is because there is a

minority within the party that does not want us spending any money or doing anything overseas, majrle with regards to a jewish leader in ukraine, particularly going against putin that many of them have sympathies towards. and, you know, they have become enamored with this argument. it is a moral argument and they are wrong and the most relevant thing on the politics, it's a massive political loser. all the swung voters that rejected the election deniers, the maga crazies, all of them watching tonight and not preparing for christmas, you know, they got the same tingles we all did seeing our countries standing together fighting for freedom. >> maria this is the same group of einstein that's -- einsteins

that couldn't find russia on a map. does it get the mitch mcconnells of the world to finally say, time to get this group to shut the hell up and go home. >> this is what we saw today is a celebration of democracy. this is the president of ukraine who thumbed his nose at former twice impeached donald trump when he tried to bribe the president of ukraine against president biden. and the president of ukraine said no way. he thumbed his nose at vladimir putin saying the same thing. he is someone able to demonstrate that he may come from a small country, the democracy is something that is incredibly important for his nation and for the world order. i don't say that lightly. what we recognize right now and what president biden is trying to tell us for a long time is in this 21st century, we're fighting between democracy.

they're okay being on the side of an autocrat. but what we saw in the voters in november is they were not going to continue down the road of trump. and what the maga republicans need to figure out was that they did not come into january this coming january with a mandate from the american public. if anything, it said slow your roll. we want to make sure that we have democratic systems in place. and maga republicans are not the ones in if favor right now. so they won by small margins. they should really hold fast if they think the american people are anti-democratic. >> and apologies, i should not have used profanity. i can't believe at a time like this before christmas the way they're talking about the president of ukraine. tim, let's talk about republicans and their reaction to the ways and means committee about to release trump's taxes. kevin brady is saying how

dangerous this was, you do this, the next thing you know, people are going to want supreme court justices' taxes. again, what are republicans doing? we've always had our president's taxes audited. not to mention trump wants to run again. so it should just be part of the process. does kevin brady think the american people don't realize this? by the way, we would be happy to see supreme court justices' taxes. i'd love to know where their money comes from. >> i think that is what we call flailing, stephanie. i probably used a worse cuss word when it comes to donald trump jr.'s comments. i'll forgive you on that one. look, these guys are so ramped up in their own bubble. if you had turned over -- i suffered through what was happening on arrival network earlier tonight after that speech. and just the vitriol being pushed over the outfits, the absurd defenses of trump and the point of the tax returns, on the

1/6 release today and all of this stuff is tied together. this is a majority of the republican coalition that is representing a minority of the country. but a significant minority and one that they feel like they need in order to keep power. and so they've lost control of this beast and, you know, when it comes to what seems to be obvious things like standing up for liberal democracy and freedom and making sure that our president's elected officials do basic transparency measures, don't steal classified documents, they're grasping around something that is going to make their base that's in this bubble happy rather than saying the obvious things that appeal to the broad middle of the country. >> kevin brady is welcome to join me any day of the week. when we come back, travellers are struggling to stay ahead of what is being called the worst

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the last thing before we go tonight, travel chaos. a storm is moving across the eastern two-thirds of the country creating dangerous blizzard conditions with heavy snow, sudden arctic cold. sadly just in time for christmas. blame it all on what is being called a bomb cyclone parked over the eastern great lakes. this is what the wrapping winds around it are going to look like on friday. pushing wind chills in some places to 40 below or even lower. and for airlines, the timing could not be worse as tom costello reports tonight.

>> wednesday night and with snow already hitting a crowd of minneapolis airport, chicago o'hare is also running at full throttle. >> we're going to go for a san diego outbound. >> counting down with the storm expected to slow air traffic across the region to a trickle in 24 to 36 hours. this family among the thousands who decided to leave early for florida. >> we looked at our schedules and it maud sense to beat et and not have cancellation ands deal with issues come friday. >> airlines are waving change fees and encouraging passengers to rebook if they can. >> this is exactly the glitch you don't need this week, right? >> the timing of the storm is challenging, for sure. we're ready and prepared and good procedures, good policies. >> nationwide, passenger volume is approaching 2019 levels. >> we're expecting winds 30 to

50 miles per hour in chicago and midway starting tomorrow. >> to keep the system moving, the faa command center opened commercial airspace. alaska airlines focuses on the west coast and is also navigating volatile weather. >> you know, we operate in the 30 to 40 degree range. you don't know if it is raining or snow. you always have to be ready. >> you're right on the edge. >> right on the edge, yeah. >> you know it's not going to be good even in some places accustom to snow. this monster storm is forecast to be the worst we have seen in decades. so please, do not fool around. stock up on supplies especially batteries and nonperishable foods. if you really do need to go out in this storm though, please stay safe. we really do want you around in the new year. and before i let you go, i got one more thing. we need to acknowledge the retirement of a very, very

important member of "the 11th hour" team. sharon newman, the woman in my ear every night. the woman shouting wrap, wrap, wrap. she has been a leader on "the 11th hour" for four years. more importantly, she has been bringing you the news both over the radio and on television for nearly five decades. in that time, she has demonstrated an unbelievable work ethic, dedication, and a commitment to the most important thing, doing the right thing. i would like to thank sharon personally for allowing me to be a small part in the last chapter of a absolutely spectacular career. i'm so fortunate to share this time with you, sharon. we all wish you the best of luck. we'll miss you and congratulations on an absolutely brilliant career. it is my privilege to our dear colleague sharon newman take us off the air tonight.

thank you, sharon. and on that note, i wish you all a very, very good night. from all of our colleagues across the networks of nbc news, thanks for staying up late with us. i'll see you at the end of tomorrow. just like the brave american soldiers which held their lines and fought back hitler's forces during the christmas of 1944, brave ukrainian soldiers are doing the same to putin's forces this christmas. ukraine holds its lines and will never