>> he raises a fair point for consideration, hallie. but there were depositions in the clinton impeachment trial. again, i was not in the white house so i didn't follow it from that perspective, but i certainly followed it closely having been part of the clinton administration. so i think there was much more information. and hallie, to be fair here, president clinton's mistake was a personal indiscretion, a serious one. he paid a big price for that both personally and politically. although most people felt like the impeachment apparently was not conducted the way they thought was fair because his poll numbers actually went up. there was a lot of factors in that. this really involves, though, much more serious issue of dealing with a foreign leader and national security. this is very different than the clinton impeachment trial. but still, even in the clinton trial, impeachment trial, you had additional information. that's what speaker pelosi is basically staking out her position on. >> john, given your former boss, senator mansion, of c

>> right, hallie?d by the democratic party, everything he says is going to be read and interpreted -- he's a careful guy. he doesn't speak off the cuff that often. it could certainly be interpreted that way. i wouldn't be surprised if elizabeth warren or amy klobuchar mentioned the women angle here. but to be fair, he was speaking in singapore at a business event. he might have been speaking more generally about leadership in the private/public sector across the globe. >> that's fair. while i have you, i want to talk 2020 too. there are some real questions about this next democratic debate. you now have, correct me if i'm wrong, every candidate who is supposed to participate now saying they're not going to because they're not going to cross the picket line that's currently in place here. are we going to have a debate? what's the deal here? >> tbd, hallie. so there are two issues going on right now. one is, there's a labor dispute going on at venue, it's the loyola mary mount university against sedexco,

appreciate it. >> hallie, ru ho you? >> good.here's a little bit of a delay, but we'll make it work. it was hard for viewers to hear. you were talking about how you believe the president is basically faking it on the economy. your message is largely about the economy and specifically inequality. but if you look at the president's economic approval ratings, they are very strong. they actually just hit their highest level in a year. how do you actually convince the american people who are looking around and saying i feel like i've got a little more money in my pocket book and we're doing a little better. how do you say that's not real? >> well, i don't think it is real, because i think what this economy is doing -- we have very slow growth under mr. trump. we have a gigantic deficit. and the money that he is using to prop up the economy is going to rich people in big corporations. so in fact, we've had 40 years of working americans getting the short end of the stick. i think that there's no question, he looks at averages and talks

. >> let's go to hallie jackson. the president tweeting a message delivered to congress. >> he's not happy about it, lester. he's out with several tweets. can you believe i will be impeached today as he will describe as the radical do nothing democrats. i did nothing wrong calling it a terrible thing. he goes on to say what he said. read the transcripts. this should never happen to another president again. say a prayer. nancy pelosi often praise -- he is angry, lester. based on the conversations i've had. he does not want to be impeached. this is a president who understands that this is going to be a forever tarnish on his administration and on his legacy. that said, i'm told by people close to the president that he is ready for a fight. he relishes it. he knows this is coming. he knows it is inevitable. but there is a sense inside the west wing here from officials around the president as well that they're just mad, that this is now happening, some 70-plus days, 80 days after the initial proceedings were opened. you

coming up, more news with hallie jackson. >> thank you much. with roughly 24 hours until what by every indication so far will be the third-ever impeachment of a united states president, we've got the final fireworks before the historic vote. any moment we could hear from mitch mcconnell as the senate floor is just gav eling in. that's expected to be a marathon session on the other side of the capital over in the house. you've got the rules committee laying out how tomorrow's vote is going to go down. and we know a wave of democrats from highly competitive districts will vote to impeach the president. that is new in just the last 4 hours. and so is this. the president's personal attorney saying the quiet part out loud, with rudy giuliani on a tear admitting he did go after the ousted ambassador to ukraine, saying in print, on tv, on twitter, that he needed her out of the way. we've got a lot of developments on this tuesday morning with our nbc news team reporting on all of it. and you're going to hear from major players on both sides of the aisl

hallie, we're also getting word of a key republican senator who is signaling that she's uncomfortable with how mitch mcconnell has been handling the impeachment process. what can you tell us >> reporter: you're right, kristen. we're talking of lisa murkowski of alaska, a key moderate voice. she's saying she's disturbed by senator mcconnell' comments promising total coordination between republicans and the white house in an impeachment trial. it is still early in the process and ultimately democrats would need more republicans to break ranks in order to, for example, determine procedures like whether witnesses can be called. kristen? >> hallie jackson, thank you. >>> across the country now, christmas of weather extremes with record-high temperatures in some areas and a winter system that could mean trouble for holiday travelers as it moves east steve patterson is tracking it all. >> reporter: in a rare holiday twist wurngs of t twist, one of the few places across the country with a whit christmas is california. snow fell in the mountains with up to two feet expected making for a skier'

hallie jackson has more >> reporter: a holiday hold on impeachment proceedings as key leaders dig in today. >> we can't take up a matter we don't have and so, hopefully, it will be on the way over at some point. >> reporter: republican leader mitch mcconnell waiting on house speaker nancy pelosi to send him those two articles of impeachment so a senate trial can begin, but pelosi today insists she won't take the next step in the process until "we know what sort of trial the senate will conduct. the president tonight on twitter responding, "she is trying to take over the senate and cryin' chuck is trying to take over the trial. no way!" but democrats say they just want what is fair, with senator chuck schumer today making the case in a new letter to colleagues, pushing not just for witnesses in a trial, like acting chief of staf mick mulvaney and former national security adviser john bolton, but documents, too, about the president's request for investigations in ukraine that could have helped him politically, even as military aid to the country was on hold. >> we say to president trum

hallie jackson traveling with the president in florida. do we have -- hallie, we haven't heard a whole lot from the white house about these newly-released e-mails. what are your sources telling you? and any indication they're going to comply with what chuck schumer's demanding? >> so that would be i think, kristen, breaking with the precedent that the white house has set so far in this process. right? you and i at the white house back home in washington and even here over these last few days in mar-a-lago have watched as the white house has been very consistent. they do not want to cooperate or at least share information or witnesses or documents with what they perceive to be this partisan investigation. this partisan impeachment led by house speaker nancy pelosi. so any change would have to have been instigated by something dramatic at this point. and unfortunately, i get the sense that chuck schumer's letter isn't going to cut it, right? that's simply not dramatic enough for this white house. and laying those out. keep in mind, the presi

soming up, more news with hallie jackson. >> president trump is getting ready to hit the road with my colleagues gathered on the south lawn with plenty of questions for the president, like why not send somebody to defend him at wednesday's key public hearing with the judiciary committee? we've got new reaction this morning to the white house taking a pass on participation, calling the hearing a baseless and highly partisan inquiry. and today on capitol hill, lawmakers will meet behind closed doors to get their first look at the house intelligence committee's impeachment. we've got a lot going on, as we wait for that and the president to walk out of the white house. and we've got our team here following all the developments. garrett haake is on capitol hill, hans nichols is going to be joining us from london. let me start with you, because you're hearing from republicans and democrats about the president's decision to not participate in wednesday's hearing, although the white house is keeping the door open to maybe doing so down the road if things turn out fairly for them. >> hallie, g

let me go to hallie jackson. let's talked about that senate trial, which we know will happen. what have you heard about what input the team will have on that as it goes forward? >> chuck is right when he says there's still a lot of questions about how the defense will look and the unknown pieces of this, in regarding to the more moderate senators here, as we look at the time is out. the white house white house counsel is expected to lead the defense for president trump. he's not frankly all that familiar to our viewers. he's critical behind the scenes, but has done anything in front of cameras, which he could be in front of for two weeks or so, deng on how long it goes. we've been told that there are some house lawmakers, like jim jordan, like mark meadows, who are in discussions to be a part of the president's legal defense team over on the senate side, to give basically this full-throated defense of president trump. i've been told publicly and prieferly behind the scenes that president trump is still weighs his options. he feels like he still has time before the senate trial

>> reporter: i think so, hallie. as you know a lot of times the anger and outrage that you see from members during these impeachment proceedings, it's perform afternoo performative, right? that outrage that you saw from congressman collins last night was real and palpable. to pull back the curtain a little bit and help explain why it is here on a friday morning we're still talking about a committee vote that was supposed to happen last night, democrats say that they were given private assurances from republicans that republicans only intended to offer amendments up until around 5:00 p.m., which would have meant that last night's proceeding would have ended around 5:00 or 6:00 p.m. because there was, as you know, that white house party last night, that christmas party at 7:00 that a lot of those republican members intended to go to. but as 5:00 turned to 6:00, 6:00 turned to 7:00, 7:00 turned to 8:00 and beyond, democrats say they slowly came to realize that republicans intended to offer up amendment after amendment t

chief white house correspondent hallie jackson has the latest from west palm beach >> reporter: on thistmas eve, the president is making his own list of who's nice, like mitch mcconnell. >> very smart guy, very good guy, and a very fair guy. >> reporter: and who is not, like nancy pelosi. >> she is doing a tremendous disservice to the country she hates the republican party she hates all of the people that voted for me >> reporter: it's a familiar refrain from the president, frustrated as negotiations over a senate impeachment trial appear to be on a holiday hiatus democrats back the house speaker as she holds off on sending those articles of impeachment to the senate until she is confident that process will be fair still, the president insists it's republicans who have the upper hand >> we're in a very good position. ultimately that decision is going to be made by mitch mcconnell, and he has the right to do whatever he wants. he is the head of the senate >> reporter: the trial start date in question here at home and overseas, questions on the timing of something else the so-called chris

hallie jackson is at the white house tonight. >> reporter: a moment months in the making for just the fourth time in u.s. history >> the house committee on the judiciary is introducing two articles of impeachment, charging the president of the united states, donald j. trump, with committing high crimes and misdemeanors >> reporter: the first article introduced by house democrats, abuse of power, charging the president with dangling a white house meeting and military aid money to ukraine in exchange for its leaders publicly announcing investigations that would benefit his re-election. the second article obstruction of congress for blocking testimony from key administration officials in what democrats describe as unprecedented categorical and indiscriminate defiance they say the time to act is now. >> if we did not hold him accountable, he would continue to undermine our elections. >> reporter: president trump defending himself late tonight do you believe your impeachment is inevitable, sir? >> well, i think the democrats -- i can't imagine they vote for it, because we did nothing wrong

spending the hallie, good morning. >> reporter: hey there, craig, good morning to you. president trump is spending his christmas down here near west palm beach where we are but i have been told his aides will be working through the holidays planning for a senate impeachment trial. there's not a lot of clarity on when that trial will happen, though, as house speaker nancy pelosi looks for leverage over top republican mitch mcconnell. the speaker, the senate and the standoff triggering new fall out this morning. >> what she's trying to do is to get mitch mcconnell to bend to her will to shape the trial. >> they had to rush to this impeachment vote and then all of and everybody enjoy the holidays. >> reporter: with nancy pelosi holding off on sending those articles of impeachment from the house to the senate until she has confidence the process will be fair. >> a fair trial means you get to call your witnesses. >> everyone wants to get this thing moving, get it over with but do it in the fair, complete, full way. >> reporter: the key questions what a trial on impeachment w

>> it wasn't bad, hallie. nothing like florida. good morning. i'm phillip mina apt msnbc headquarters in new york in for craig melvin. christmas has come and gone. the impeachment is here to stay into the new year. this morning president trump is staying in attack mode on the impeachment process. keeping with the theme of his tweets from christmas day where he aired his grievances against speaker pelosi and congressional democrats calling them hypocrites and the process a sham. joining me now, brendan buck former chief communications adviser to former house speaker paul ryan, press secretary to former speaker john boehner. benjamin wit that, id tore in chief of law fair, a national security blog, also an msnbc legal analyst. good morning and thanks for joining me today. ben, i want to start with you. the president in his christmas tweets attacked the impeachment process as unfair, a message he continues to hammer. he said there was no due process, no proper representation and no witnesses. nothing new here in attacking the process. are the attac

hallie jackson in west palm, thank you so much. natasha bertrand, national correspondent for politico. david ignatius, columnist for "the washington post," and harry litman who served as deputy attorney general in the clinton administration. let me ask you about this standoff between mitch mcconnell and nancy pelosi. she wants assurances about what the senate trial might look like before she sends off the articles of impeachment. the president says mcconnell can do whatever he wants. how will they solve this problem? >> first, they're not going to solve it for a couple of weeks, as hallie good, in that good report from mar-a-lago. pelosi i think is clearly seeking some leverage to get some assurances that the senate trial will not simply be a rubber stamp instant acquittal of donald trump. the partisan rage that greeted the house's passage of impeachment articles made it sound like we're going to rush through this and it's going to throw a lot more logs on the national bonfire. pelosi wisely decided to slow it down, to bargain for

. >> nbc news chief white house correspondent hallie jackson traveling with the president in floor. she rejoins us. i'm also joined by joyce vance, former u.s. attorney in the northern district of alabama. she's also an msnbc contributor. ms. jackson, i'll start with you. let's start with impeachment. it remains very much on the mind of the president apparently on this christmas eve. >> it sure does. you can tell by what he said in this pool spray over mar-a-lago. just down the road, hosted up at west palm beach. you saw the president engaged in cable news, watching fox news it seems, quoting or talking about different segments he heard related to impeachment and also related to the economy. it's clear the president is trying to get a message out that relates to the positive things he's done over the past year and will do over the next year. chief among them, focusing on economic numbers as the president so often does. the specter of impeachment yet hangs over this white house because there is still a holiday hiatus on any negotiations over a senate trial. the president has said tod

thanks, hallie. >>> and former u.s. district of alabama and an nbc legal analysts has a new op-ed in time magazine entitled trump may be acquitted in an impeachment trial. she writes in part, imagine this scenario in a courtroom. the prosecutor and defense lawyer speak to the judge in advance of a trial for attempted bank robbery indictment voted on by the grand jury and they demanded money from a teller and threatening her if she didn't give it to him about the. but the crime was interrupted by others in the bank who saw it in progress and they weren't able to finish the robbery. now, the prosecution learns the usual rules won't apply. of course this could never nap our criminal justice system, but apparently it can happen in the senate impeachment trial of president donald trump. the founding fathers anticipated potential issues that might necessitate the removal of a president, but as house speaker nancy pelosi said last week, they did not foresee a complicit senate unwilling to check a president who is acting in his

hallie jackson reports. >> reporter: small but possibly critical crack emerging in the gop wall of support for president trump. a key moderate republican, lisa murkowski of alaska signaling she's not satisfied with mitch mcconnell's pledge to coordinate with the president's impeachment team. >> i heard that, i'm aye was disturbed. >> reporter: she's referencing this remark from last week. >> i'm going to take my cues from the president's lawyers. we'll be working through this process in a short period of time in total coordination with the white house's office. >> reporter: murkowski cite iin the need for impartiality. >> to me it means that we have to take that step back from being hand in glove with the defense. and so i heard what senator mcconnell had said. i happen to think that that has further confused the process. >> reporter: the process itself remains at a standstill with house speaker nancy pelosi refusing to send articles of impeachment to the senate until, she says, she's confident it will be a fair trial. overnight demandi inin ining overnight mcconnell saying pelosi is deman

jackson is traveling with the president this holiday hallie, good morning. >> craig, good morning to you. these are some interesting new comments from senator lisa mur murkowski. a key republican we haven't really heard much from in this impeachment process. and it comes as president trump, overnight, blasts democrats for being what he describes as hypocrites for their insistence a senate trial be conducted fairly. >> a small but possibly critical crack emerging this morning in the gop wall of support for president trump. a key moderate republican, senator lisa murkowski of alaska signaling she's not satisfied with leader mitch mcconnell's pledge to coordinate with the president's impeachment defense team. >> in fairness, when i heard that, i was disturbed. >> she's referencing this remark from mcconnell last week. >> i'm going to take my cues from the president's lawyers we'll be working through this process, hopefully in a fairly short period of time, in total coordination with the white house counsel's office. >> murkowski, one of the few republicans seen as open to voting with de

the trip comes after his legal team rejected an invitation to take part in the new hearings here's hallie jackson. >> reporter: landing in london late tonight, the president set for a t-wi nas while a new phase of the impeachment inquiry ramps up at home. erybody knows it. >> reporter: the white house is choosing not to participate in a key public hearing wednesday, blasting a, quote,ly broken process with the top democrat now calling that decision unfortunate, republicans defending the president with new fallout today after an explosive moment on "meet the press. republican senator john kennedy now standing by his comments, citing several news articles when asked about the criticism he's been pushing a kremlin talking point by suggesting ukraine interfered with the 2016 election. that's despite widespread consensus russia was behind it. >> the fact that russia was so aggressive does not exclude the fact that president poroshenko actively worked for secretary clinton. now, if i'm wrong and if -- >> actively worked for secretary -- you now have a president of ukraine saying he actively wor

morgan, back to you. >> hallie jackson, joining us live thanks, hallie >>> the british royal family attended her country, where she will describe the past year as, quote, quite bumpy. prince philip did not attend services services >>> pilgrims were celebrating ao the church of the nativity the mass spoke of the deep divisions that that region thousands attended, which is a major boost for terrorism in the west bank. >>> let's look at the national weather forecast most of the country will be dry and mild today temperatures well above average in the plains and the midwest. a few record highs are possible today. temperatures will soar into the 60s in the nation's midsection, while parts of the southern >>> good morning. i'm kari hall. we are tracking some scattered showers moving through this morning. heavier rain was moving through as we started out right around midnight to 2:00 in the morning. we are starting to see things drying out for the bay area as we go into the rest of the day. we will see some drying conditions. the storm system that's just off the coast moving to our south, going int

let's bring in chuck todd and hallie jackson.allie, let me start with you there's a big difference from the clinton impeachment in the '90s >> first president every -- ever to be running for reelection during this he i trying to get his supporters invested in this, because he knows that is the way to keep them energized over the nex what, roughly year, until the 2020 election you have senior officials making the bet this could actually help the president political. there's an expectation over the next 48 hours there will be gangbuster fund-raising numbers, but keep in mind this president does not want to be impeached he's got a fight, but it's not the fight he wants. >> the president is all but assured of being acquitted, but will always be saddled with the mark of impeachment. >> he is i think we're all going to sit here other the next couple weeks and say how is impeachment playing for president trump? i won't answer that question, because i'll simply say you'll know on election day. the reason i say that, even with our polling

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hallie jackson traveling with the president. thank you. >> we'll have a norad update, now a new warning about a popular gift this year. those dna testing kits, the pentagon is urging members of the military not to use them. they say that the kits presenting a security risk. nbc's justice correspondent pete williams has more on that. good morning. >> reporter: this is an unusually blunt message from the pentagon. they're saying that members of the military should not buy home dna testing kits. the memo says they're largely unregulated and that they could put servicemen and women at risk. it comes just a few days before christmas, and says military personnel should not buy kits that allow sending off a sample of dna for testing. the kits could expose personal and genetic information and create unintended security consequences and increased risk. the data in the wrong hands could be used to conduct mass surveillance or track individuals. more than 26 million people have already submitted their dna using the home test to trace their

and what he's putting in his report and i question the motives of of why he's doing it. >> that was hallie jackson reporting. now i'll cover the impeachment inquiry on wednesday in my checks and balances segment on "today in the bay." >>> before we get to wednesday. what is it? monday. and cyber monday. have you been glued to your computer screen? pay attention when we come back. we'll break down the best deals out there. >>> and the beginning of december brings the first major storm across the country. snow, ice, strong winds slam several states. a look at what the rest of the country is dealing with. welcom. the chp talking a little more this morning about the most recent attacks targeting drivers south of the bay area where someone is shooting or throwing projectiles. four cars were hit on thanksgiving night alone. adding to the nearly 50 attacks in that same area since february. now it is not clear if all of the cases are linked but the truth is the chp has a new name even for that area. they're calling it projectile alley. >> they do match some of the previous incidents we have had. s

nbc's chief white house correspondent hallie jacks joins us from washington. >> reporter: on christmas eve, democrats don't want gifts just the presence of white house officials at a senate impeachment trial and documents related to ukraine. >> we say to president trump, release the emails, let your aides testify. we say to leader mcconnell, a fair trial with the facts. only the facts. >> reporter: that new push coming from senator chuck schumer sending a letter to colleagues telling them no good reason has been offered as to why the senate should not hear all of the available evidence in this trial. the trial timing remains in limbo as house speaker nancy pelosi now insists she will not take the next step in the impeachment process and turn over the articles of impeachment to the senate, quote, until we know what sort of trial the senate will conduct. pointing out the president blocked witnesses from the house so she said, what is his excuse now? in his own tweet the president's firing back writing, pelosi trying to take over the senate and crying chuck is trying to take over the tria

hallie jackson has more on the rising tensions rooted in north korea's nuclear program. >> reporter: u.s. officials tonight bracing for new aggression after north korea's ominous warning of a christmas gift. and today deploying four american surveillance planes over the korean peninsula. according to south korean media reports. the pentagon has not responded to nbc news requests for comment. it comes as there's increasing concern over what pyongyang's prodding like perhaps a long-range missile launch soon. that hasn't happened since 2017 when kim stopped testing those rockets during a window of diplomacy with president trump. >> a very talented man. >> reporter: the president now publicly playing down concerns over a potential test but pledging to respond if and when it happens. >> we'll find out what the surprise is and we'll deal with it very successfully. let's see what happens. >> reporter: the now impeached president bracing for a fight on another front as negotiations remain at a standstill over the details of a senate trial considering whether to remove him from office. house

a bit of a winter warmup. >> it wasn't bad, hallie. nothing like florida. good morning. mina apt msnbc headquarters in new york in for craig melvin. christmas has come and gone. the impeachment is here to stay into the new year. this morning president trump is staying in attack mode on the impeachment process. keeping with the theme of his tweets from christmas day where he aired his grievances against speaker pelosi and congressional democrats calling them hypocrites and the process a sham. joining me now, brendan buck former chief communications adviser to former house speaker paul ryan, press secretary to former speaker john boehner. benjamin wit that, id tore in chief of law fair, a national security blog, also an msnbc legal analyst. good morning and thanks for joining me today. ben, i want to start with you. the president in his christmas tweets attacked the impeachment process as unfair, a message he continues to hammer. he said there was no due process, no

phillip, back to you >> wish they could do that hallie, thank you. >> a fallen soldier has returned home the remains of special forces soldier killed in afghanistan have returned to the u.s a dignified transfer ceremony was held at dover air force base for 33-year-old sergeant first class michael j. gobel of washington township, new jersey. the pentagon says he died from injuries he sustained during a combat operation the taliban has claimed responsibility for the attack that killed gobel. >> now to the shocking news about the death of a rising star at espn. the 34-year-old died on his birthday just weeks after being diagnosed with pneumonia so how did it become so deadly so quickly nbc's kerry sanders reports. >> our colleague and friend edward ashoff died yesterday >> reporter: only 34 years old, edward ashoff was a star in the making >> tough loss on the road. >> reporter: he made it from espn's website to camera work. he covered the michigan game, his cough became worse a colleague says after going to the hospital, doctors determined he had pneumonia posting online, had a virus for t

hallie jackson, nbc news, the white house. >>> joining us now, nbc news.com jonathan allen.g. busy year. you've been reporting it. what stands out for you in 2019 and certainly probably has the word trump attached to it. >> many, many things trump, richard. i think collectively as you step back and having looked at obviously that retrospective from hallie there, the incredible change in the balance of power and the shaking of the foundations of our government. you saw coming right out of that government shutdown last year, the president moving to building his border wall by grabbing appropriations out of the defense department and moving them toward the border wall. he's having tremendous difficulty building a new wall but attempting to do that, having a court fight that's still raging. his ukraine scheme that has been uncovered where he leveraged federal dollars as part of the effort to solicit hope from ukraine to investigate political opponents. this is a president who is grabbing authorities for himself in a way that really no president has before. and then of course the

. >> i'm hallie jackson in washington. you have been watching senate majority leader mitch mcconnell for 30 minutes on the senate floor railing against what he calls the toxic precedent being set by the house democrats after the impeachment of president donald trump. you heard senator mcconnell say if speaker pelosi ever does decide to send those articles of impeachment to the senate, which would be the next step in the process, the senate would be ready to receive those articles. the way that this morning is shaping up, despite the impeachment overnight, which was not a surprise, is a surprise today with speaker pelosi in a new twist suggesting she may withhold the articles until a time tbd until she gets what she and democratic leader chuck schumer describe as a fair trial. we expect to hear from the democratic leader in a couple minutes here. geoff bennett on capitol hill, kristen welker at the white house, on set a trio of people who know this building inside and out. antonio who served as press secretary to the guy yo

i hope you don't all feel that way, but obviously i can't fill his shoes, but i can provide as hallie has requested, some historical background on this really fascinating and important episo episode. i'll do this in small lightening fast chunk. the historical background, approximate causes and just run through some f the dates of events that happened during this crisis. i also brought some documents. these may help illustrate some of what i'm going to talk about. aside from john, the person we most miss here is bill miller who played a big part in these events and was a strong supporter at the national security archive on iran. so with that, let me start with the historical background. really three main things that i want to mention. the first is that you have to go back to 1953 to understand the motivation. that's not as straightforward a proposition that you might think. in the good old days, it was widely ak cement septembered that the ca and british were largely responsible for the coup against mohammed, but there have been some challenges to that thesis of late that basically pos

sending it back for more news to florida with my friend, hallie jackson. >> aman, thank you. good morning from a windy west palm beach. where i'm on a siebment covering president trump, where he is making news, telling reporters at mar-a-lago he thinks he's in a good position ahead of a senate impeachment trial. publicly leaving it up to mitch mcconnell to figure out how this plays out. but democrats want something else this christmas eve, not gifts but the presence of white house officials at a trial. chuck schumer says mitch mcconnell is, quote, hiding the truth. so with the president making his position clear and speaker pelosi not budging on her next step, refusing to send articles of impeachment to the senate until she knows what a trial would look like, all signs point to negotiations. i've got a team to break down the developments. we've got white house correspondent and politico's congressional brew chief and we are joined by other guests and analysts throughout the hour as well. i want to thank all three of you for being here. president trump making it pretty clear t

so all of this is going to come to a head tomorrow at that hearing set to happen at this hour, hallie. >> and by the way, tomorrow there's also a senate luncheon with a very interesting guest who, by my count covering the white house, doesn't always show up to these things. we're talking about pat cipollone. >> reporter: yeah, the white house counsel who so far has said that he's not going to participate in the democratic impeachment proceedings, he's leaving the door open for future house judiciary hearings, but pat cipollone is going to be the guest of honor tomorrow at the luncheon and you can expect what republican senators are going to ask him about. that's the line of defense that he plans to have for president trump as this impeachment inquiry moves forward, most likely to a senate trial, expected to happen sometimes early next year, hallie. >> geoff bennett, thank you much on the hill. back with us, peter baker of the times and ambassador mcfaul as well. lots to discuss here. and antonio, let me start with you on the president and what he said this morning about republicans to

then we're going to bring in hallie jackson, who was in the roosevelt room for the rest of that statement. but why wouldn't a president say what chris ray said? why can't the president give the --ca why can't the presiden sort of say something that reflectssa what's in these page? say that, you know, there's a lot of room for improvement. there are fixes. i just hung up with chris ray. he's gonna rush them in. we're looking at legislation. we're looking at this. but on the question of whether or not the fbi conspired to undermine my campaign. i'm glad that wasn't true. >> well, because that would take some degree of honor, integrity, sophistication, and intellect that this president lacks. yout know, what chris ray said was exactly what a director should say. i'd also love to hear him say, on behalf of the men and women in the fbi, i'm really proud of you but let's get this right and let's be better. >> hallie jackson joins us now. you were in that room. what else did the president have to say? >> so you cut away, nicolle, as he was talking with you're right pam bondy and kelly anne conwa

hallie jackson, jeff bennet. guys, thank you very much. for more, i am joined on set by new york magazine national correspondent, nbc political analyst zerlina maxwell, and msnbc contributor jon horowitz. everybody, welcome. i just wonder what this senate is trial is going to look like and how much of a trial it's actually going to be. mitch mccobbnnell is out there saying we're going to coordinate with the white house. don't worry, sean hannity, the president will be acquitted. he seems to think that there are people in the senate that might be convincible. >> well, i think he's operating probably not in the real world. but he's operating in an ideal world where both parties have serious people elected -- in elected office. i think we should move forward under the assumption that republicans are going to take this seriously. and then they should prove us wrong. i don't think that we should assume that they're not going to uphold their oath. they have to actually take an oath before the impeachment trial begins that says they'll be imparti

hallie jackson has details. >> reporter: closing arguments as democrats close in on a vote to impeach the president looking to put the public on their side. >> the evidence shows donald j. trump, the president of the united states has put himself before his country. >> recapping weeks of public hearings arguing the president abused his power, betrayed the national interest and tried to corrupt the 2020 election by freezing military aid to ukraine while asking for an investigation into his political rivals. >> we talk about the abcs of presidential abuses. it is extraordinary the president's conduct was a trifecta. >> president trump's effort to convince a foreign country to cheat to win an election is a clear and present danger >> reporter: republicans furious and showing it. >> bang it harder. it still doesn't make the point. >> reporter: the president's allies are angry with the process they call rushed and unfair reiterating in their view he did nothing wrong. >> to impeach a president who 63 million people voted for over eight lines in a call transcript is bologna. >> reporter: th

nbc's chief white house correspondent hallie jackson tacks us through the highlights at the white house019 started with fireworks over the longest government shutdown in history. are you still proud to own this shutdown? >> very proud of doing what i'm doing. i don't call it a shutdown. >> reporter: after 35 days of fighting over funding for the border wall, a presidential retreat that reopened the federal government and the state of the union delayed but delivered. >> called a state of the union. it is in the constitution. >> reporter: a week later -- >> i want it done faster. that's all. >> reporter: a declaration of a national emergency at the border infuriating democrats an setting off a court fight that continues even today. overseas a spring summit scrapped early with president trump leaving vietnam and his meeting with north korea's kim jong-un without a deal on denuclearization. that relationship repaired enough by the summer for a surprise visit to the dmz with donald trump stepping where no president has before. >> a great honor to be here. >> reporter: back home, the investig

hallie jackson has what you may have missed and what could come next. >> reporter: 2019 started witheworks over the longest government shutdown in history. are you still proud to own this shutdown? >> i'm very proud of doing what i'm doing. i don't call it a shutdown. >> reporter: after 35 days of fighting over funding for the border wall, a presidential retreat that reopened the federal government, and a state of the union delayed but delivered. >> it's called the state of the union. it's in the constitution. >> reporter: a week later. >> i just want to get it done faster, that's all. >> reporter: a declaration of a national emergency at the border, infuriating democrats and instantly setting off a court fight that continues even today. overseas, a spring summit suddenly scrapped early, with president trump leaving vietnam and his meeting with north korea's kim jong-un without a deal on denuclearization. that relationship repaired enough by the summer when donald trump stepped where no president has before. back home, the investigation that loomed over the white house for two years

hallie jackson with the latest. >> reporter: this christmas eve the president is making his own listf who is nice, mitch mcconnell. >> good, smart, fair guy. >> reporter: and who is not, nancy pelosi. >> tremendous disservice to the country, hates the republican and everybody who voted for me. >> reporter: familiar refrain. impeachment appeared to be on holiday hiatus, democrats backed the house speaker sending off on sending the papers to senate until she's confident the process will be fair but press insists the republicans have the upper hand. >> in good position, ultimately the decision will be made by mitch mcconnell, he will make it, do whatever he wants. he's head of the senate. >> reporter: overseas, questions orn on the timing of so-called christmas surprise that north korea has hinted about for weeks. kim jong un on horse back visiting site. >> we'll find out what surprise is, deal with it successfully. see what happens. >> reporter: u.s. military on alert for possible long-range missile test. showing north korea expanding a factory used to produce the missiles. president d

i want to bring in geoff bennett, and white house correspondent hallie jackson, live from the white house. through the process, republicans painted this inquiry as ill legitimate, democrats said we are going at it methodical, pointedly. we have another escalation in the partisan constitutional clash. talk about the mood on the hill and what's next. >> great to see you. on this historic day when they introduced articles of impeachment against president trump, the line of defense from republicans is really the same as it ever was. they tried to cast the entire inquiry as a partisan sham. they tried to suggest and characterize the entire ukraine controversy as being a manufactured scandal coming at the end of a yearlong fishing expedition on the part of democrats. one of the things you heard the republicans say today, democrats were unsuccessful in trying to get president trump on the russian investigation, they were unsuccessful trying to get president trump on issues having to do with his tax returns, although that story is incomplete, and now they're saying, republicans are saying that de

joining me now for our coverage, andrea mitchell in washington, jeff bennett on capitol hill and hallie jackson at the white house. we'll hear from former u.s. ambassador to russia and nbc news analyst michael mcflaw, presidential historian and former u.s. attorney and nbc news legal analyst. jeff, set the scene. this is a very different hearing to those we've seen thus far. >> you're right about that, lester. good morning. think of this as a day of final arguments in the life of the trump impeachment inquiry. today committee members and for that matter the american public will hear from committee staffers for democrats and republicans of the house intelligence and how judiciary committee. those attorneys will lay out all of the evidence that house investigators have compiled over the past several months. democrats will also make the case for the legal right and responsibility as they see it for pushing ford with impeachment. a source close to the committee tells me they expect the proceedings to have the feeling of a trial with lawyers laying out the evidence, testifying and answering

nbc chief white house correspond pt hallie jackson takes us through the year's highlights at the white>> 2019 started with fireworks over the longest government shutdown in history. are you still proud to own this shutdown? >> i'm very proud of doing what i'm doing. i don't call it a shutdown. >> after 35 # days of fighting over funding for the border wall, a presidential retreat that reopened the federal government and a state of the union delayed but delivered. >> it's called a state of the union. it's in the constitution. >> a week later? >> i just want to get it done faster. that's all. >> a declaration of a national emergency at the border. infuriating democrats and instantly setting off a court fight that continues even today. overseas, a spring summit suddenly scrapped early with president trump leaving vietnam and his meeting with north korea's kim jong-un without a deal on denuclearization. that relationship repaired enough by the summer for a surprise visit to the dmz with donald trump stepping where no president has before. >> great honor to be here. >> back home, the invest

craig. >> hallie jackson from the white house on this monday, hallie, thank you. >>> new details on the stabbing attack in london, two victims have been identified as graduates of cambridge university, a memorial service was held there overnight, and we're also learning more about the attacker nbc's chief global correspondent bill neely joins us from london bridge bill, good morning. >> reporter: yeah, good morning, savannah, from london bridge which has just reopened just over there is the spot where the killer was cornered by that extraordinary, ordinary group of londoners and shot by police and right now, not far from here, the victims are being remembered at a ceremony attended by the prime minister, boris johnson. they were murdered in that building just over there two college graduates who were at the same meeting as their killer a vigil for the victims this morning, in a city still in shock at the brutal killings and the chase on london bridge that ended in police gunfire. the victims had tried to help the man who killed them. a convicted terrorist one of many they worked to reha