know, martin mcginnis had shaken hands with the queen and then she goes, oh, we have got to move on. it is crazy. >> it is. this is the thing. so, 1998, good friday agreement ends the troubles, this grinding 30-year conflict. and it is a diplomatic miracle. that was a conflict that nobody thought would end. >> it was a miracle. >> the thought it ended is extraordinary and should be celebrated. but you can also acknowledge it is kind of a cold peace. even today, it is a cold peace. you have very divided communities in northern ireland. and they're not killing each other in the streets, something to celebrate. what is the perspective of these young people who joined the i.r.a. in the early 1970s and did awful things in the name of united airland, d ireland, how evaluate looking back, the choices they made as young people? wait a second, i did thesething

planting bombs in ireland. how do i make sense of that morally today. >> this is extraordinary. i heard incredible things about it, i can't wait to see it. thank you for being with us. i hope you'll come back. all episodes of fx limited series "say nothing" are streaming now on hulu. executive producer and "new york times" best-selling author patrick radden keefe, thank you so much. >> great to be with you. thanks. >> ana cabrera picks up the coverage right now. >> the house ethics committee prepares to meet behind closed doors, could they release their report on gaetz today? plus, more controversial trump picks. a tv personality, and a former ing industry exec tapped for two of the most powerful jobs in the nation. also ahead, ukraine on high alert. the u.s. shutting down its

embassy in kyiv, warning that a major attack by russia could be imminent. and a bomb cyclone slamming the west coast. why it may be one of the worst storms that the pacific northwest has seen in decades. s. it is a busy wednesday morning. thank you for joining us. it is 10:00 eastern, 7:00 a.m. pacific. i'm ana cabrera reporting from new york. a show of force on the hill today. jd vance has his first post election assignment from donald trump, he's there to convince republican senators to confirm controversial cabinet picks like matt gaetz. but it could be a tough sell. as vance meets with his soon to be ex-colleagues, with gaetz in tow, the house ethics committee will meet about their potentially damning report on gaetz. that report includes testimony that gaetz paid women for sex and knowingly or unknowingly i should say had sex with a minor

in 2017. gaetz denies all allegations. the president-elect showing no signs of backing down from his choice for ag. >> mr. president, are you reconsidering the nomination of matt gaetz? >> no. >> says he's not reconsidering na that nomination. let's get the latest from capitol hill correspondent ali vitali. also with us, susan del percio and basil smikle, msnbc political analysts. who is jd vance meeting with today and do we know or have a sense of how many minds have to change? >> reporter: well, he could have a lot of minds to change, but clearly capitol hill's club is outside the senate judiciary committee, we're waiting to see some senators who serve on this committee and met with gaetz or will meet with him at some point later today. you can sort of consider this the start of a charm offensive on the part of the trump transition team and the man that

they picked to be their attorney general as he tries to start changing minds here for some critical votes he will need on this committee before he even gets to the fuller body's consideration for the position of attorney general. notably one of the men who is going to meet with him later today, senator kennedy of louisiana, walked in this morning, just a few minutes ago, and told us he's looking forward to getting to know gaetz. that being said, that he is also already met with senators mike lee and senator josh hawley, senator lindsey graham. several key names here who are also trump allies meeting with gaetz and, again, starting the conversation point. those are not the names of the people whose minds have to be changed the most. the people that i'm thinking about are senator thom tillis of north carolina, vocal about his concerns about this nominee, but, again, this is the start of the process and you and i both know, in politics i two months can be a very long time and that's about the amount of time

that gaetz and the transition has to either make things better or potentially see things get worse here in the dynamics on capitol hill for him. >> and what are you hearing on the house side ahead of this 1:00 p.m. ethics committee meeting? >> well, that's going to be a very key meeting and i don't want our viewers or even us who are watching this to get spoiled by all the information that we suddenly have about what the ethics committee is doing. because typically this is a committee that is shrouded in secrecy. the fact that we know even that they're meeting today and what they're meeting about is particularly rare, but it also speaks to the high stakes of this environment that we're seeing. the fact that this committee is considering and has been investigating gaetz on and off since 2021, they're now considering whether or not to release that report, it all speaks to this larger environment that the senate is clamoring for that ethics they're going to release it. but there is also a bunch of different ways they could release it, they could release

it publicly and say, here, everyone can have a look at it they can quietly give it to the senate judiciary committee because that's the committee that will initially consider the gaetz nomination. there could be potentially, if the committee doesn't decide to release it on the house side, maybe someone tries to push it on the fuller house floor for some kind of public vote that has never succeeded, though it has been tried at one point in the '90s according to our team historian here kyle stewart. there is a bunch of different ways this could go. i think notably, though, as much as we heard from senators on the judicialry committee who say they would like to see this ethics committee report, the chairman of the judiciary committee dick durbin in the last few minutes walked by and said there is no precedent for the senate to subpoena the house ethics committee for that. that's an option that is off the table. >> it is a dynamic day on the capitol hill. keep us posted with new developments. as she was speaking, we just got word that lindsey graham had his meeting with the vice president

elect and matt gaetz and coming out of the meeting, he said he will be held to account in the confirmation process, he deserves a chance to make his argument on why he should be attorney general, he called matt gaetz a very, very smart guy, said these allegations will be dealt with in committee. what is your read on vance and gaetz pitching these senators before this ethics report gets out? >> i think they're -- both of them are out there saying donald trump expects you to support matt gaetz for ag and he will have the wrath of god come down on your head if you go against him on this. you will be done. i don't think they'll be as threatening but the threat will be there. there is no other reason for frankly for them to meet. you can't talk about gaetz's qualifications. they can't answer questions because he's already denied those charges against him when it comes to the women who are underage, or he may or may not have paid or apparently did not

know that they were underage when he slept with them. but this is all a character issue. there is nothing they can do on the hill right now except probably get into more trouble. as ali mentioned, two months is an awful lot of time. and these committee hearings, first it will be the committee hearings, then it will be the -- up to the full senate to hear from the nominees. and i think that's going to be very grueling and very embarrassing for senators to have to vote on if they want to vote in the affirmative and that's why donald trump asked for the recess appointments. >> gaetz is there pitching himself right there with these senators. what types of tough questions should he be asked? >> well, you know, did you do it, right? what did you know and when did you know it? those kinds of questions. look, what i really want to highlight is that it really only takes one courageous republican

on the house side right now to vote to release this report. and to susan's point, once it is out there, whether given direct ly senate or released publicly, it will be in the hands of those who will have to hold him accountable. it is not just about matt gaetz being asked questions. it is all the people that are going to read the report that have to answer, what was in the report, do you agree with some of the findings and how is that going to impact your ability to ask this nominee questions? are you going to overlook what's in that report to ask certain questions? there is more than matt gaetz at stake here now in terms of accountability. this house committee, it is equally divided between democrats and republicans, and democrats said they want this released. it only takes one republican. i'm curious about the pressure being put on individuals on both sides of the capital right now.

>> with gaetz confirmation or others appear in jeopardy, there is the recess appointment angle, which donald trump floated out there. listen to stephen miller, here he was on fox last night. >> if there are some cabinet appointments that become troublesome, will the president use the recess appointment process? >> yes. the president has won a mandate and he'll use all lawful constitutional means to fulfill that on behalf of the people who voted for him. >> it appears some republican senators oppose this play. here's lisa murkowski. >> this is our job. this is the role of advise and consent and we need to embrace advise and consent with full enthusiasm. we are a separate but equal, separate but equal branch. so let's not cede any of our constitutional authorities. let's take it seriously. >> i just wonder, what is the

upside for trump nominating somebody like gaetz? when he could just go the regular route, not open up pandora's box, with somebody with less baggage. >> that's a great question. he really should, frankly, put -- i don't think you'll ever see donald trump back down from his appointments. what the pressure will be is for matt gaetz to say, i withdraw my name. watch out for that. you may hear it two or three times of some of the names we had put forward. especially once the investigation of these individuals, like every cabinet nominee has gone through. it is your personal records, it is your family's records, it is your finance records, your donation records, this say very in depth background people that people go through and the committee members will have that information. i suspect as things fall out that you're going to see a couple of people maybe not being able to handle it.

but when you talk about the recess appointment, it takes the senate to vote for the recess appointment. you need to still get the majority of senators to do it. unless, and i think this is what stephen miller was talking about, the president declares the house and the senate in recess. i don't think that it is -- it has never been done. i don't think he could get away with it. thankfully he said lawful. so, let's see what happens. >> "the washington post" did lay out how trump's transition apparatus has operated in a rogue way. by passing standards and practices his predecessors . is this what american voters wanted? >> they wanted a political disruptor and they got that. now i have a -- my concerns about donald trump are well noted. but what he's looking at is the fact that essentially he's built a lot of his base on a

repudiation of a lot of the political movements over the last decade, whether it is me too, black lives matter, dei, it is a kind of repudiation and backlash against that. in some respects, a lot of these appointments are his message to the american people, and certainly to his base that i'm willing to go against the grain and i'm willing to make appointments to these positions of people that i like, he's actually appointing a lot of the celebrities which he knows he likes because fame and fortune are his currency. and so, you know -- >> a lot of american voters wanted a better economy and somebody to deal with immigration issues, that's what we heard from those voters. >> that's what we heard. but how we got there was also -- part of that permission structure, a repudiation of other stuff. i think what he's saying is, you know, i'm not going to fall to the political pressure on the left, i'll do what i want. and that, you know, that's why

in many ways he wants to push through. >> there are people who can disrupt the system and tear it apart who are qualified to manage these organizations. you at least want qualified people who have a management background. forget the policy, who can at least go into these places and make sure the social social security checks get mailed out every month. just something like that. >> guys, got to leave it there. there will be more appointments. we'll talk about other picks as we go this hour as well. basil smikle and susan del percio, thank you. matt gaetz isn't the only trump pick facing increasing scrutiny. pete hegseth and his time in the d.c. national guard, one military saying he showed, quote, zero leadership capability. nbc news senior national security correspondent courtney kube has this reporting. there are questions about hegseth's experience level and his ideology.

what have you learned? >> reporter: yeah, that's right. so one of the concerns about pete hegseth is the fact that he has no real leadership or government experience. but what we learned is during his time, while he was activated with the d.c. national guard, particularly in 2020 urks , he activated and used riot gear around the time of the george floyd protests throughout the united states. what we learned as you said from one u.s. military official is that he simply did not show leadership capability during that time. but in addition to that, he was using the opportunity during his time of being deployed with the d.c. national guard to take video and pictures and use it as a reporting experience, which he then put on the air, with fox news. at the time he was already working with fox news. now, the official says he did not release any classified information or sensitive information, but it was the kind of information that his d.c. national guard leadership did

not want necessarily released and you mentioned ideology. as part of his time during -- with the d.c. national guard, at some point he put up some photos on social media that showed tattoos that caused some of his guard leadership some concerns because they could have had some links to white nationalist groups. now, because of those concerns, they ended up not deploying him as part of the inauguration in 2021. pete hegseth has been very outspoken about that, saying he was labeled as an extremist in the military during that time. we have the rare opportunity today to put some questions to the current secretary of defense lloyd austin about some of the policy decisions that his potential successor pete hegseth voiced, very vocally spoken about in the past and recently, ana. one is women in combat. i asked secretary oft been aust

about that policy issue and here is what he had to say. do you have any concerns about the women in combat roles, do you have any concern that women impact readiness of these units? >> they do impact readiness. they make us better. they make us stronger. and, again, what i've seen from our women is quite incredible. and i'm not -- this is not hyperbole. this is fact. this is what i've seen. and i think, you know, as the years have gone by, our women get better and stronger. >> reporter: secretary austin defending women in combat, saying that they make the u.s. military better. ana? >> courtney kube, great interview with the secretary. thank you for bringing us your reporting. up next, the tv personality tapped by trump to overseed ed me medicare and medicaid. plus, the u.s. shutting down its embassy in kyiv overnight,

warning of a potential large scale attack by russia. also ahead, closing arguments now under way in the laken riley murder trial. how n could this get to the judge? a story that gripped the country 30 years ago. could susan smith, the mother who drowned her own children, get out on parole? we're back in 90 seconds. out on? we're back in 90 seconds . plus, it's 360-degree swivel head cleans up along baseboards and even behind the toilet. bye, bye bucket. with the swiffer powermop. ♪ limu emu & doug ♪ woah, limu! we're in a parade. everyone customize and save hundreds on car insurance with liberty mutual. customize and sa— (balloon doug pops & deflates) and then i wake up. and you have this dream every night? yeah, every night! hmm... i see. (limu squawks) only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪

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the president-elect is naming key members of his incoming administration at a record pace. in just the last 24 hours, he tapped billionaire and transition adviser howard lutnick to lead the commerce department. tv personality dr. mehmet oz, heart surgeon, who has at times shared questionable medical advice and has no experience running a large government bureaucracy, to run the centers for medicare and medicaid, and linda mcmahon, a former world wrestling entertainment executive and former head of the small business administration in trump's first administration to be education secretary this time around. our dasha burns joins us now with more on these new picks. trump promised to dismantle the department of education, as a candidate. now he's naming somebody to lead it who has no teaching experience, someone who has very little experience when it comes to education policy. what do we know about this pick? >> what we could know is they is extremely loyal to trump, she's a co-chair of his transition team, and she donated upwards

$20 million behind him in this campaign cycle. and we have been seeing that a lot of these megadonors are getting big roles. mcmahon, lutnick, chris wright, department of energy, she sat on the connecticut board of education for a couple of years, but she's very much in line with trump's idea for this department, which is to dismantle it and to essentially diffuse it, to make the states really run these programs, which is not something that is really been done before. they want to use school vouchers, universal school choice is something they're pushing for, and there are a few things that are kind of immediately on the cutting room floor, in terms of biden's initiatives. for example, student loan debt cancellation, that's something that can mix right away. and things like title nine protections for lgbtq students. pretty immediately they can start to dismantle pieces and the idea is to leave education policy to the states.

>> let's turn to dr. mehmet oz, selected for medicare, medicaid, heart surgeon, professor. this job is about getting health insurance to 160 million americans. what do we know about this selection and why trump chose oz? >> he's number three or four now of tv personalities that he's brought into the cabinet. trump cast his cabinet like he would cast a show. that is very much a trump way of doing things. oz, of course, ran for senate in pennsylvania back in the midterms, trump endorsed him in that republican primary. melania is a big fan of dr. oz, that was a big reason why for that endorsement. he's been in that trump world for a really long time. so another person who is very loyal, who is on television, but doesn't have the traditional qualifications to run what is -- it is an administrative role, you're negotiating drug prices, you're making sure people have coverage. this isn't typical for the

resume of someone like dr. oz. >> dasha burns, thank you for bringing us all of that. i want to bring in dr. kavita patel, nbc medical contributor and former policy adviser to former president barack obama. dr. patel, dr. oz brings years of tv hosting experience, has never run a government agency and drew altman, the president of independent health policy nonprofit kaiser family foundation says cms is responsible for, quote, virtually every family in america through medicaid and medicare. and it is probably the most challenging technical policy and political job in government, even small daily decisions at cms are billion dollar decisions. how do you see it? what kind of job is dr. oz walking into here? >> i actually have told people there has always been kind of conversations inside and outside of the government that cms is such an important agency that it deserves to be taken out of hhs and elevated to a cabinet

position because of the importance of all the programs you're talking about. not just the ms, medicare and medicaid, oversees the individual marketplace, children's health insurance, a number of programs for nursing homes, homes, how we staff nursing homes, all of this, everything from the pills you take overseen for safety and effectiveness by the fda, and then how they're reimbursed are determined by cms. even if you don't ever have medicare and medicaid in your future, you will be affected by this agency. to have someone not just with no management experience, i would take that if he had a really rich understanding of the public and private sector, but to have none of that and to walk into a billion dollar agency can be dangerous. >> dr. oz has also sparked controversy for some of his stances and some of the products he pitched on his show, he's falsely promoted the antimalaria drug hydroxychloroquine to treat

covid-19 and a british medical journal report only about half of dr. oz's talk show recommendations were supported by any actual scientific evidence. that being said, he's a physician, a heart surgeon. should americans trust him at the helm of an agency that impacts healthcare for more than 160 million in this country? >> i would love to say we should trust him because he has had this respected history of communicating information. but as you pointed out, not just the supplements, then senator claire mccaskill really grilled him about ten years ago in a hearing about some of the supplements but then to your comment about when he was running for senator and talked about covid and promoting high hydroxychloroquine and those are comments and misinformation, not based in evidence, and because of his celebrity, because of the platform, which you share, i share, we take very seriously

because people listen to the words we're saying, because of that misinformation you can do more damage. so what i would love to see are candidates that have these platforms and use science and make a commitment up front. this is a challenge to him. make a commitment up front that you will work with technical experts and you will promote evidence and science in your policymaking and in the words you choose. so far unfortunately to date i don't have evidence of that. >> dr. kavita patel, thank you for the conversation. i appreciate it. up next, the ratcheting exchange of fire between ukraine and russia as the u.s. shuts down its embassy in kyiv overnight, citing fears of a significant air assault. nbc's courtney kube sitting down with lloyd austin. we'll bring you his response to putin lowering the threshold now for using nuclear weapons. hreshw for using nuclear weapons. all e difference. at humana, we know that's especially true when you're looking for a medicare supplement insurance plan. that's why we're offering "seven

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back. now to the war in ukraine. the u.s. shutting down its embassy, warning of a potential large scale attack by russia. the renewed threat follows ukraine's first strike inside russian territory with u.s. supplied long range weapons, raising fears of russian retaliation. and after vladimir putin formerly revised his country's nuclear doctrine, lowering the threshold for the use of nuclear weapons. here's more from defense secretary lloyd austin, reacting to this news in an interview

with nbc. >> but putin has also es ca late, announcing that he's lowered the threshold for using nuclear weapons, announced this right after press reports that the u.s. had authorized atacm strikes inside of russia. is there a reason to believe that vladimir putin may use a nuclear weapon? >> we have known for several weeks they were revamping their policy on the use of nuclear weapons. as i look at what they're doing, and i -- we watch their strategic forces, you know, very carefully, i don't see a change in their strategic force posture. and so we'll continue to remain vigilant in this regard. but at this point, no, i don't see an indication there is an imminent intent to use nuclear weapons. >> nbc news chief international correspondent keir simmons has more on the latest developments in the region. >> reporter: good morning. this morning, former russian

president dmitry medvedev writing that nato could be targeted with weapons of mass destruction. he made those threats many times before, but the confrontation between russia and nato is escalating. this morning, a serious warning to u.s. embassy staff in kyiv, just days after russia launched its largest air strikes on ukraine in months. the u.s. embassy closing its doors and telling employees to shelter in place, saying it has specific information of a potential significant air attack in a city today. overnight, ukraine's grinding land battle with russia will be bolstered by more u.s. arms. and the biden administration ing the supply of land mines. it is another major u.s. policy shift after the white house allowed ukraine to use long range missiles inside russia, a

move president biden long resisted. ukraine quickly firing six u.s. missiles across the russian border for the first time. moscow saying it intercepted five of the missiles and firing back with a message unmistakenably directed at ukraine and the u.s. russia's foreign minister at the g-20 summit in brazil. >> we are strongly in favor of doing everything not to allow nuclear war to happen. >> reporter: nbc's courtney kube speaking with defense secretary lloyd austin at a summit in laos. >> i don't see an indication there is an imminent intent to use nuclear weapons. >> reporter: president zelenskyy asked last night by fox news what would happen if the new trump administration cuts funding to ukraine. >> if they will cut, we will -- i think we will lose. of course anyway we will stay,

we will fight. >> reporter: now supplying land mines to ukraine suggests that a determination to hold the battle lines where they are until president-elect trump arrives. ukraine has consistently said it would not do a deal with russia unless moscow handed back ukrainian territory. >> keir simmons, thank you. closing arguments in the trial of the murder of laken riley. we're at the courthouse. a mother drowning her own children, could a parole board set susan smith free? >> your ex-wife is going to face a parole board and you're going to be there. what do you plan to say? >> they can't let her out. 30 years is just not enough. t. 30 years is just not enough. ner, nutrients for immune health. and ensure complete with 30 grams of protein. (♪♪)

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we're back with breaking news out of georgia. closing arguments under way in trial of the murder of laken riley. after ibarra's team took less than a day to present their defense, priya sridhar is following it all from the courthouse in georgia. ibarra waved his right to a jury trial. how soon ght we see a verdict from the judge? >> reporter: we're expecting that we'll likely heard a

verdict today. it was quite surprising to see how quickly ibarra's defense team wrapped their side of this case. we were expecting to hear from at least two more witnesses today, including e ing ibarra's brother diego, they were saying that the state can't prove beyond a reasonable doubt that it was jose ibarra who conducted this brutal killing and that perhaps it could have been his brother diego. everyone was very interested to see why the defense was going to be putting diego on the stand. but it turned out that he never took the stand and that's because his lawyer in a separate immigration case told him not to do so. we are in closing arguments now. the state just wrapped their closing arguments. going back over all of that evidence that has been presented over the last several days, including the forensic evidence which included, they say, dna that was found underneath laken

riley's right fingernail that can be tied directly to jose ibarra, a thumb print found on laken riley's cell phone that can also be tied to ibarra. they also have been showing surveillance video from laken riley's final moments when she was taking the morning jog in february. they went over the medical examiner's autopsy conclusion that said that laken riley ed as a result of -- this has been incredibly emotional for laken riley's family inside of this courtroom every single day. they had to step outside while a lot of this testimony was happening because they just simply couldn't handle listening to it. >> priya, thank you, again. the closing arguments already under way. we appreciate that. up next, we're going to head to south carolina now, where this morning a notorious murderer is making her first appearance before the parole board, nearly 30 years ago susan

smith's crime shocked the country. she drowned her two young sons letting her car roll into a lake with the boys trapped inside. smith eventually confessed after she initially claimed for days that a black man had kidnapped the boys after a carjacking. smith's ex-husband, the father of her children, told nbc's craig melvin he'll ask the board to keep her behind bars. >> they can't let her out. 30 years is just not enough. this wasn't an accident. she deliberately killed michael and alex. >> you don't think she's been rehabilitated? >> i don't think she'll ever be rehabilitated. to me, she's never been sorry for what she did. >> kathy park is outside the parole office in columbia, south carolina. we know smith's ex-husband will speak against her release. what else should we expect from this hearing? >> reporter: good morning to you. this is a story that really stunned the nation as you

mentioned. 30 years ago. and now susan smith is back in the spotlight. she is -- will be appearing virtually in front of a parole board and these members were appointed by the governor. right now we have heard from six cases, six inmates because they also have their parole hearing as well. but it is unclear when susan smith will be up. we do know that her defense attorney will be speaking virtually, so will her brother. as you mentioned, her ex-husband david smith, we saw him earlier this morning walking into the courtroom and he had a chance to sit down with our craig melvin ahead of today and here's more from that conversation. take a listen. >> what scares me is she would get out and then running into her somewhere. >> why does it worry you? >> i don't want to see her. i don't ever want to have to face her. craig, god gives us free will. and that was her choice that night. nobody else's choice.

nobody made it for her. she made the choice to murder michael and alex. >> reporter: and, ana, as of monday, more than 400 people actually wrote into the state of south carolina regarding this parole hearing and only six were in favor of her release. we should also point out that the likelihood of her being released, pretty low, because here in the state of south carolina, only 8% of violent offenders are actually released and granted their parole. and if she is denied today, she will be able to reapply again in two years. >> you can still hear the pain in that voice, 30 years later in that father's voice. thank you very much, kathy park. next on "ana cabrera reports," postponed but not forgotten. new york prosecutors say they're open to putting donald trump's hush money sentencing on hold, for the four years he's president. will the judge agree? and later, the bomb cyclone and atmospheric river delivering

a nasty wallop of fierce winds and heavy rain to the pacific northwest. where this 1-2 punch of dangerous weather is headed next. -2 punch of dangerous weather is headed next get four on us. only on verizon.

we have breaking news right now in donald trump's criminal hush money case. just moments ago, trump's team filing a new motion calling to dismiss it, citing presidential immunity and his victory in the 2024 election. that comes one day after manhattan district attorney alvin bragg told the court sentencing should be postponed while the appeals process plays out, potentially even postponed until after trump's second term in office. judge juan merchan would need to approve this proposal. it is all unchartered territory as this country has never before had a president-elect facing a criminal sentencing. joining us now, msnbc contributor and former u.s. attorney chuck rosenberg and msnbc legal correspondent lisa

rubin. lisa, at more are we learning in this letter? >> we learned yesterday that former president trump's lawyers intended to file a motion to dismiss the entire indictment. that wouldn't just wipe the slate clean with respect to the existing conviction, it would mean that the case essentially wouldn't exist at all. the new york district attorney's office telling judge merchan they oppose that and want the conviction to stand. in the letter they sent to judge merchan, they're putting more meat on the bones as to y they believe the case should be dismissed, citing not only the presidential immunity decision, but also noting acording to department of justice policy, a sitting president can't be prosecuted and for the same reasons that animate that policy, those principles should be extended to a president in transition that essentially the person needs to attend to those core constitutional functions of preparing himself for the office and therefore they believe the whole thing should be dismissed. but the most interesting thing to me is the date on which they

are proposing to file a motion and that's december 20th, because according to the d.a.'s office, they would like to even oppose a brief, much earlier on december 9th, if former president and future president trump's lawyers don't file their brief until december 20th, that is setting up a motion to dismiss that is not fully briefed until after the inauguration when he is not just a president-elect in transition, but then becomes a sitting president and the issues to be litigated become different. this looks to me like an efforten effort en to kick this can down the road until he's president again and move this to a federal court to litigate the question of whether sentencing is appropriate once trump is once again in the oval office. >> chuck, which at is your read? >> lisa did a great job summarizing the legal positions. judge merchan has two sort of possible paths here. he can treat the jury vert as d

and proceed to sentencing, but there is a problem. as lisa articulated, you have a president-elect, soon to be a president again, a sitting president, and there is an incompatibility. the constitution for any president treats him differently. meaning that he ought not be prosecuted or held to account in a criminal court while he is president. whether or not that extends to a president-elect, that's not been determined. but judge merchan has to decide, do we treat mr. trump as off limits for some period of time, four plus years 9/11 until he' longer president again or honor the jury verdict as it stands and proceed to sentencing? i think the district attorney has the right here. they're all imperfect choices, but the least imperfect choice is to defend the jury verdict, and to postpone the sentencing

until mr. trump is no longer president. then you can do both things. you can respect the constitutional prerogatives of a president, and give him the ability to meet the requirements of his job, to the extent mr. trump can, and you can honor the jury verdict. it will just be years from now. >> so this is a big if, with trump's team still pushing for dismissal, but trump's attorneys argue leaving sentencing just hanging over trump's second term could lead to extended proceedings that could make trump, quote, unduly cautious in the discharge of his official duties as president. your thoughts on that argument? >> well, it is an argument, but i wouldn't give it much credence. defense attorneys make arguments, all the time. some are thoughtful, some are silly. this seems to me silly. there will be nothing hanging over mr. trump's head while he's president if the sentence is delayed. the attorneys can file other motions and make other argument anz

s and litigate as they see fit. he will face the consequences as any other criminal defendant. so the fact that someone files something doesn't make it meritorious. i don't see any merit in the notion that something hanging over mr. trump's head, a delayed sentencing in this case, would interfere with his duties as president of the united states. >> let's not forget trump has tapped two of his defense attorneys in the hush money case, todd blanche and emil bove, for senior roles in the justice department in his incoming administration. if this case does drag out, what impact could that have? >> i think it causes a conflict of interest, because if they can continue to brief the issue about whether this case should exist into a future trump presidency, if todd blanche and emil bove are then in the department of justice, the department itself will have an interest in getting involved in the case on behalf of the executive office of the

president. there are interests for the office of the president that are different than the interests that trump has an individual has. and emil bove and todd blanche having represented the president in his personal capacity will have that conflict and they have to even recuse themselves from the department's involvement in this case in the future. >> lisa rubin and chuck rosenberg, thank you, both, very much. and now to breaking news we're following on capitol hill. you're seeing new images here of vice president-elect jd vance at the capitol with former congressman matt gaetz. the outgoing senator, the former congressman are there meeting with senators to try to push them to support gaetz's confirmation, in the face of a potentially damaging house ethics report that includes serious sexual misconduct allegations against gaetz, allegations he's denied and we should mention the justice department at one point did look into these as well and decided not to press criminal charges. now, moments ago, another

development, trump has announced he will tap matthew whitaker you'll recall, matthew whitaker served as acting attorney general in his first term, he's now going to be tapped to be ambassador to nato. on the campaign trail, trump frequently criticized that key u.s. alliance. next here on "ana cabrera reports," power knocked out to more than half a million customers in the pacific northwest, where the combo of a bomb cyclone and atmospheric river is wreaking havoc. river is wreaking havoc. you'll definitely want to hear. depending on the plans available in your area, you may be eligible to get extra benefits with a humana medicare advantage dual-eligible special needs plan. most plans include the humana healthy options allowance. a monthly allowance to help pay for eligible groceries, utilities, rent, and over-the-counter items. the healthy options allowance is loaded onto a prepaid card each month. and whatever you don't

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drop everything and get some magic of your own during the xfinity black friday sale. xfinity internet customers, our best deals of the year are back! switch to xfinity mobile and get your choice of a free 5g phone, plus your next unlimited line free for a year. get amazing savings and connect to wifi speeds up to a gig on the go with xfinity mobile. fly don't walk to get our best deals of the year. connect to the world of wicked this holiday, only in theaters november 22nd. people are waking up without power it this morning in the northwest where a bomb cyclone and atmospheric river are drenching the region, bringing strong winds and growing concerns of flooding and landslides. nbc's steve patterson is tracking the latest from eureka, california, where there is a high risk of flash flooding. what we are seeing, steve? >> yeah, thankfully mercifully we are in a bit of a lull in

northern california. the rain slowed, but that bomb cyclone has dropped, so to speak. it's uprooted trees, downed power lines and as this continues the danger only grows larger across the northwest. overnight hurricane-force winds packing powerful gusts up to 8 an hour in the northwest. this so-called bomb cyclone taking aim late tuesday. >> oh, my god. >> reporter: knocking out power to 500,000 people in northern california, washington and oregon. >> this is my street. it's literally dark. >> reporter: fire and rescue teams in washington responding to downed power lines and trees. one woman killed when a large tree fell on a homeless encampment and two taken to the hospital after a tree fell on their trailer. while in california an atmospheric river, a large plume of moisture, drenched the coast. while turning to snow in the mountains. >> it's going to bring some

significant precipitation to portions of northern california. we are talking rainfall totals 10 to 20 inches possible with feet of snow. several feet of snow in the highest terrain. is likely to result in significant flash flooding and landslides. >> reporter: one of the strongest storm systems in decades is expected to last through friday. >> we have flashlights, batteries, water, canned goods, you know. i am all stocked up. who knows, right? these are small roads. anything could happen. >> reporter: so wind, rain doing significant amounts of damage. the storm already turning deadly. the real threat is in the sustained rainfall over the next few days, especially if this stuff gets out over a burn scar, it could significantly increase the risk of a severe mudslide and, of course, flooding always a concern in city centers. >> thank you. we hope everybody there stays safe. that's it for us today. thank you so much for joining us. i'll see you back here tomorrow

same time, same place. i'm ana cabrera reporting from new york. jose diaz-balart picks up our coverage right now. good morning. 11:00 a.m. eastern, 8:00 a.m. pacific. i'm jose diaz-balart. a brand-new selection for president-elect trump's new administration. just in the last couple of minutes, trump announcing former acting attorney general matthew whitaker as ambassador to nato. in a statement, trump called whitaker a, quote, strong warrior and local pate right and will strengthen u.s. relationships with its nato allies. meanwhile, the house ethics committee is set to meet this afternoon to discuss its report on sexual misconduct and drug use allegations against trump's pick for attorney general matt gaetz. gaetz has denied the accusations against him. trump isn't back down from his choice. >> are you reconsidering the nomination of matt gaetz?