i'm yasmin vossoughian. that was back in 2011 arguing president obama would start a war to get re-elected. the several tweets trump posted over a two-year period accusing president obama of wag the dog style politics. instead obama made a land mark deal that he ripped up and ordered that strike on general soleimani. now with impeachment hanging over his head in an election year, many are wondering if the country president are doing exactly what he so often accused his predecessor of doing. deert having the attention of the public. joining us now from washington we have white house reporter for "washington post" ann garen and mona sharon and with me on set, former executive director bazzal. >> anne, i'm going to get started with you on this one. what are you hearing to the president's strategies here? >> yasmin, i think we can look at the outcome, right? whatever the president's intent in going after qassem soleimani, it did change the conversation from impeachment for the full week. those two story lines are

>> reporter: yeah, good morning to you, yasmin. overnight bernie sanders in the des moines area had a new year's eve bash down the road with a band that formerly played behind prince. it's the exact same thing that he did four years ago. of course, he pulled off what was a surprisingly close finish in that iowa caucus four years ago. he's hoping to do the same. you know, this is a caucus race here in which ultimately we are 33 days away. you mentioned those fundraising numbers. pete buttigieg just this morning announcing that his campaign pulled in a haul of $24.7 million. we should note that was near the highest mark of any candidate to date. bernie sanders, in fact, in the last quarter fund raised about $25 million. money becomes important because you want to be on the road as much as possible over the course of these next 33 days instead of being out on the road fundraising. that's where you saw buttigieg holding several fundraisers, particularly across the east coast and the west coast here over the last month, because a lot of

i'm yasmin vossoughian. iranians are in the streets protesting the government's roll in the downing of a ukrainian airliner killing all 176 passengers calling for members of their government to step down. however, this is only the latest episode in a very rocky relationship between iran and the united states. tension between the two countries began nearly 70 years ago in 1953 when the united states and british intelligence services orchestrated against a democratically elected leader. reimposing, this was a pivotal moment perhaps setting the stage for the next half a century and beyond. nearly 20 years later in 197, iranians took to the streets demanding democracy, overthrowing the shaw of iran. a group took over the embassy taking 52 hostages and begin the hostage crisis. it took 444 days before all the hostages were released. the hostage crisis marks the end of u.s./iran relations. the 1980s saw the start and the end of the deadly iran/iraq war. iran was further isolated when the community did little to re

ayman, yasmin?courtney kube for that report. >>> right now, i want to nbc news mat bradley. christopher livesay in the lebanese capital. matt, give us a quick read of the israeli assessment of how this has played out? do people feel, or do the israeli leadership believe at least that we are on an exit ramp off of this potential war footing? >> well, we're going to be hearing from the israeliing a little more. we just heard from benjamin netanyahu, the embattled prime minister of us real just recently. his only really substantive comment on this, if israel is attacked, israel will retaliate with strength. that's no surprise. it's hard a change in position,s we'll wou israel would always retaliate. ayman, air always looking for an attack from hostile neighbors so things really haven't changed. the security cabinet is meeting today around 2:00 p.m. local time. that's around 7:00 a.m. your time. so, we might get more information that far. so far, leading up to this, we've been hearing from the cabinet,

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

let's kick off with yasmin's point, how could this impact john bolton's position in all of this? how could the kupperman case have an impact on if? >> well, the kupperman case would have, had it been ultimately decided on the merit, had very serious implications whether or not john bolton could be compelled to testify. but now that's gone, it leaves us with a kind of vacuum, and we go back to the don mcgahn case, by the judge brown, which led to the conclusion, which is an issue that had only been addressed once before by another district court, that executive branch folks do not have absolute immunity. this very to come testify. and then assert privilege, as to individualized questions. so this still leaves the question open as to whether or not folks in the national security field are different from people like don mcgahn. it's still an open question. because the courts didn't reach any of the merits on kupperman's

it was an extraordinary scene, yasmin. i have never seen anything like that in all the years i have covered iran, and then ayatollah hamehni, they were broadcast on state tv, put on loud speakers throughout the streets of downtown iran. his voice was trembling, he was crying while he read the prayers for qassem soleimani, and a lot of people here that are in the know tell me that that is an indication of how harsh the retribution is that he is planning against the united states. this is on outpouring of grief and anger in this country, and as you mentioned, all we've been hearing for three days are threats and counter threats from the united states and from iran. iran is promising a swift blow against the united states. they're talking about targeting u.s. military assets and personnel in this region. but that would probably be done by their proxies rather than the iranian army themselves, those proxies are scattered all over the region near u.s. assets. >> ali, let me get your thoughts quickly on the sentiment of concern

stan in washington, d.c., hopefully we'll have yasmin and geoff back with us.the meantime, i would like to bring in editor at "buzzfeed" hayes browne. what are your take aways after last night's closing. >> after a long 24 hours, and three days, the house managers made the best case they can with the amount of evidence they were able to get from the white house and the testimony they had. i think that in their closing, they are making the point that, yes, we have all of this evidence that the president committed abuse of power, that the president has obstructed congress, not just the house but the senate now, and that in this appeal that adam schiff had to the various senators in the room to actually take up the mantle of a jury, to actually take up their job, and actually try and get the white house and executive branch writ large to turn over more evidence, was a compelling one. in his closing, adam schiff mentioned a cbs report that said the white house threatened republican senators. they seemed to take offense to that. given the president's history of bull

yasmin vossoughian picking up our coverage. >>> hello everybody. i'm yasmin vossoughian. hundreds of u.s. troops are on their way to the middle east in response to the dangerous and developing situation in bagdad as the u.s. embassy faces a second day of protests. also, a new year's threat. kim jong-un says he's ready to take shocking action and unveil a new weapon as the north korean leader signals he could restart nuclear and long range missile testing. with the iowa caucuses about a month away, new fund-raising numbers from 2020 contenders that are giving some candidates a reason to celebrate. >>> we begin with the hundreds of u.s. troops heading the the middle east in the wake of the storming of the u.s. embassy in iraq. defense secretary mark esper saying 750 troops have been deployed and more can ship out if needed. they join the 14,000 troops already there, sent to the region in response to concerns about iranian aggression. the deployment comes as embassy security guards fired teargas to disperse hundreds of protesters who gathered outside the compound for a secon

i'm yasmin vossoughian. alongside ayman mohyeldin, we begin with the significant development involving former national security adviser john bolton that could impact republicans' impeachment strategy. in a statement posted just yesterday, bolton says he's now willing to testify in the senate impeachment trial if in fact he's subpoenaed. he writes in part this, since my testimony is once again at issue, i have had to resolve the serious competing issues as best as i could. based on careful consideration and study, i have concluded that if the senate issues a subpoena for my testimony, i am prepared to testify. the surprise announcement came as a win for senate democrats who have been pushing to call witnesses at the upcoming impeachment trial. senate republicans, though, appear divided on the idea. >> senator, are you amenable to hearing from ambassador bolton in stage 3? >> there are a number of witnesses that may well be appropriate for the stage 3 of which he would certainly be one. >> i don't know quite w

i'm yasmin vossoughian alongside ayman mohyeldin. a lot to get to at this hour.ocrats prepare to send the two articles of impeachment over to the senate. but we want to begin with last night's democratic debate in des moines. six candidates taking to the stage as we enter the final stretch in the iowa caucuses, just 20 days away. let's go to ali vitali live for us. good morning. >> an early wake-up call or did you stay up all night like yasmin did? >> reporter: we're pulling an all-nighter, feeling like a college kid. >> of course, there's the "vanity fair" -- >> afterparty then the live shot. talk to us, ali, about the matters that mattered the most last night. >> reporter: well, you defied talked about the final stretch to iowa. and that final stretch is being interrupted by that impeachment trial that we know that's looming over this race and finally it seems coming into the collision course with the 2020 race. that means for several contenders on the stage, it was really the last chance to make an impression on voters. polling has been muddled here. everyone

yasmin and i were having this conversation. senators aren't really jurors, right, they're sort of amped up jurors, they have a certain ability to decide what the law is and what the process is, that typical criminal trial jurors do not have. nonetheless, their inherent inability to set aside plolitic, even to listen to the evidence, to weigh the evidence fairly. that should be disturbing to all of us. >> danny, we can go so far as to say, it seems misleading to the american public to identify these senators as jurors at this point when they have been completely forthcoming from the get go, from the start, from the jump of all of this, which way they stand, and which way they're likely going to vote. the majority of them, aside from four or five, that could vote in another direction if the tide changes. >> they're not jurors, and this was an issue that was addressed via objection during the clinton impeachment trial. one of the senators stood up and objected that they were being called jurors because they are, as joyce said, so

i'm yasmin vossoughian. and ayman mohyeldin is on assignment. we begin with uncertainty on capitol hill. ahead of the vote expected tomorrow on whether to call witnesses at the impeachment trial. republican sources are telling nbc news they expect to have enough votes to block senate testimony. with democrats possibly coming up one vote short of the four republican votes needed. yesterday, two vulnerable senators up for reelection, cory gardner and martha mcsally said they would vote against calling new witnesses. senator pat toomey of pennsylvania who proposed trading one republican witness for a democratic witness says he's quote very skeptical that any new testimony would change his mind. mitt romney says he is a definite yes. susan collins says she will likely vote yes and lisa murkowski who met privately with mitch mcconnell yesterday refused to share her own personal thoughts, despite saying tuesday she may want to hear from john bolton. another senate republican to watch is lamar alexander. he has exp

i'm ayman mohyeldin alongside yasmin vossoughian.e begin with the scramble that is taking place on capitol hill ahead of friday's vote on whether to subpoena witnesses at the senate impeachment trial of president trump. mitch mcconnell told members in a closed-door meeting yesterday that he had not yet secured the 51 votes needed to block witnesses and their testimony but that situation remains fluid. democrats need four republicans to break ranks. chuck schumer said he believed 10 to 12 republicans are at least open. right now, we count three. >> reporter: how confident are you that the republicans are able to secure witnesses? >> i don't think they're all settled as a group or individuals as to exactly how they're going to vote but i'd like to hear from john bolton. i think the idea expressed in the media about having each side choose a witness or maybe more than one witness on a paired basis has some merritt. >> it is very likely that i'm going to conclude that, yes, we do need to hear from witnesses. i for one believe that there'

i'm yasmin vossoughian alongside ayman mohyeldin, we begin with president trump backing away from the brink of war with iran saying he will respond to teheran targeting u.s. forces in iraq with economic sanctions, and not military force. first reported by "the washington post," a senior administration official confirming to nbc news that when it became clear tuesday night that there were no casualties, the president told his top advisers in the situation room that he did not want to escalate the crisis. >> i'm pleased to inform you the american people should be extremely grateful and happy. no americans were harmed in last night's attack by the iranian regime. we suffered no casualties. all of our soldiers are safe. our great american forces are prepared for anything. iran appears to be standing down, which is a good thing for all parties concerned. nations have tolerated iran's destructive and destabilizing behavior in the middle east and beyond. those days are over. iran has been the leading sponsor of terrorism in their pursuit of nuclear weapons threatens the civilized world. we w

i'm yasmin vossoughian alongside ayman mohyeldin.a round of applause? >> please clap. >> you have to clap for this. >> it's when you guys are supposed to cheer, okay? all right. >> so can i look to you to spread that sense of hope to those that you know? come on. >> no, he is not going in that category. he is too adorable. >> by the way, i think that is a good category to be in, having fun with the crowd. >> former mayor pete buttigieg yesterday in iowa adding to our list of great moments in political persuasion. good morning and welcome to "morning joe," it is wednesday, january 22nd. along with joe, willie and me we have msnbc contributor mike barnicle, former aide to the george w. bush white house and state departments elise jordan. white house reporter for the associated press jonathan lemire and msnbc national affairs analyst, co-host of show time's "the circus" and editor and chief of the recount, john heilemann is with us. great group. >> i did want to say really quickly, willie geist, just for the record, i'm still defending

i'm ayman mohyeldin alongside yasmin vossoughian. we want to begin this hour with the highly anticipated vote over whether to allow witnesses. it appears democrats will come up short of the four votes needed from senate republicans to compel new testimony. here's where the key swing votes stand as of now. lamar alexander of tennessee confirmed that he will vote against calling witnesses. lisa murkowski says she'll announce her decision this morning, leaving susan collins and mitt romney as the only republicans who have committed to voting for more witnesses and documents. if murkowski decides to join them and all other senators vote along party lines, the finally tally will be 50 votes for new evidence and 50 votes against. the vice president would be called upon to break this tie but because of the obvious conflict of interest it is the chief justice of the supreme court who presides over presidential impeachment trials and those who have studied john roberts say he is unlikely to intervene. >>> senator lamar alexander said he's a n

i'm yasmin vossoughian alongside ayman mohyeldin.ing. >> he climbed into a hole and blew himself up while his people blow up on the ground. what they did. i'm not able to confirm anything else about his last seconds. can't confirm it one aor anotwa another. >> and fictionalized story about the killing of isis' leader. >> as if the killing of isis wasn't enough. you had to add to that. >> add color to that. >> now america's defense secretary is refusing to endorse the plresident's claims about te specific threat against u.s. embassy posed by iran. >> the president didn't say it was -- didn't cite a specific piece of evidence. he said he probably, he believed. >> are you saying he didn't have one? >> i didn't see one. i'm saying i share the president's view, my expectation they would probably go after our embassie

i'm ayman mohyeldin alongside yasmin vossoughian. evidence suggestis that the ukraine airliner that crashed wednesday just hours after an attack on a base was downed by an iranian missile by mistake. video taken from the ground shows the moment the plane was struck or at least explosion taking place in the sky. it left iran headed for kiev. two minutes later, two missiles fired at the plane sending it crashing to the ground. nbc's tom costello reports that the missiles were russian made. canadian intelligence sources pin blame on iran telling reporters the evidence indicates it was shot down by a surface-to-air missile. this may well have been unintentional. president trump said yesterday he believes the missile strike was a mistake. >> well, i have my suspicions. i don't want to say that because other people have those suspicions also. it's a tragic thing when i see that. it's a tragic thing. but somebody could have made a mistake on the other side, could have made a mistake. it was flying -- it was flying, not our system, it has no

i'm yasmin vossoughian alongside ayman mohyeldin. we begin with speaker nan pelosi and house democrats, at this morning's meeting, the caucus is expected to discuss the timing for a vote on impeachment managers andte transmitting the articles to themi senate. when askedo by nbc news last night when a vote on impeachment managers would actually take place, pelosi wouldn't say, but congresswoman debby dingell said to expect a vote tomorrow or thursday t.te steny hoyer said democrats could name their impeachment managers tomorrow but pointed out the senate would have practical problems if the house moved sooner, including missing three senators expected to take part in tonight's debate. >> a vote ont' whether to call witnesses in the upcoming impeachment trial. there are at least four republicans to watch during all of this, including lisa murkowski, susan collins, mitt romney of utah and possibly cory gardner of california. rand paul of kentucky is also viewed as a wild card and lamar alexander of tennessee thought of as an institution

i'm ayman mohyeldin along with yasmin vossoughian.ng, and welcome to "morning joe." it is tuesday, january 21st. just hours from now, and only for the third time in american history, the chief justice of the supreme court will gavel in and impeachment trial for the president of the united states before the u.s. senate. while that is happening in washington, donald trump is in davos, where his domestic troubles are never more than a tweet away. he's speaking right now about the u.s. economy. >>> along with joe, willie and me we have president's the council on foreign relations and author of the book "a world in disarray" richard haass. and an nbc news national security analyst jeremy bash is with us and historian, author of "the soul of america" and rogers professor of the presidency, jon meacham. nbc news and msnbc contributor on this very, very important morning. >> very important morning, mika an

i'm ayman mohyeldin, alongside yasmin vossoughian. so formal arguments in the senate impeachment trial are officially underway, and democratic prosecutors are laying out the case for president trump's removal from office. in a series of speeches on the senate floor yesterday, lead impeachment prosecutor adam schiff along with six other house impeachment prosecutors argued that president trump pressured ukraine in order to help him win reelection. schiff warned senator ifs trump isn't held accountable, the damage to u.s. elections and national security could be long lasting. >> president trump withheld hundreds of millions of dollars in military aid to a strategic partner at war with russia to secure foreign help with his reelection. in other words, to cheat. his scheme was undertaken for a simple but corrupt reason to help him win reelection in 2020. but the effect of his scheme was to undermine our free and fair elections and to put our national security at risk. the president was the key player in the scheme. everyone was in the loo

i'm yasmin vossoughian alongside ayman mohyeldin.now. >>> not a single witness testified that the president himself said there was any connection between any investigation in security assistance, a presidential meeting or anything else. >> jay sekulow, meet john bolton. the "new york times" is reporting that trump told bolton last august that he wanted to continue freezing critical military aid to ukraine until government officials there helped with investigations targeting joe biden, his son hunter, and other

thank you so much, yasmin and ayman.urn to the president's impeachment and a new column that says democrats are the ones who stand to suffer from delaying the senate trial. "the washington post" explaining that argument next on "morning joe." at argument next on "mornig joe. searching for a way to help stop your cold sore? only abreva can get rid of it in... ...as little as 2 1/2 days when used at the first sign. abreva starts to work immediately to block the virus and protect healthy cells. abreva acts on it. so you can too. >>> what is your message to americans who might have concerns about your ability to be an impartial juror given your comments coordinating with the white house? >> i'm not an impartial juror. this is a political process. there's nothing judicial about it. >> i have tried to give a pretty clear signal i have made up my mind. i'm not trying to pretend to be a fair juror here. >> there wasn't any doubt here. >> that's a little preview of how the senate majority leader and the chairman of the senate jud

tried to do on ending child in my way down teenage pregnancy so this isn't a was a was it belief or yasmine fault it was very bad much now. it it is moving on the young those themselves impala what they have beginning to be a proud for once they are beginning to be mindful of their rights. so. a lot of. this is it wishes you know which. form implemented. get up a war get. quadrants. or decision to make so much. nobody. government has got it before they walk by the phone with what is this you know when i wake up i'm to go into the world. would you want me and then i will hold the haunting. is that this will run the con in time. will you not clear. so as i just assume that i just want to give. a justice with empty bits in this to see in kind that. you don't get into a washing. of women's one you know horns. to pursue me and tell me about being voted out i want to know was in b. that we knew him wasting the moon again even. members of the man do you know what it is up what was it. 20 c. dissing 90 take up one. stuff in the school fees. would i do well i'm. glad you have one you want. the cigar

to leave for yasmin for it was very bad months and now. it's it is moving on the young those themselves impala what they are beginning to be about for outfront they are beginning to be mindful of their rights not a child with that was. a lie. oh. this is it was you know. for me. to get up a war game. you know quite ends. up with. one of the model of the city. nobody. got it before. but what is this you know when i went into the world. would be and i don't know when i'm home pointing. it at wonder con in town. but will you not clear. so as i just assume you don't just want to get. to see this with empty because it's the seeing kind. of washing. of women is the new novel and. to pursue me in television is a sign of my being good i want to know was indeed the newest thing a moon a game to me. you know what it is up what was it. to run to the city to see 9 to take up a lot. of stuff in the school fees. body up i knew what. the city had to see and i knew what i mean when is up when you need one and when the. just one magic bullet you could actu

it is monday, january 6th, i'm ayman mohyeldin alongside yasmin vossoughian. lots of headlines to get through today. we begin with president trump's latest threats against iran, warning against retaliation for the assassination of its top general cass sem soleimani. while on saturday the president tweeted, quote, let this serve as a warning that if iran strikes any americans or american assets, we have targeted 52 iranian sites representing the 52 american hostages taken by iran many years ago. now, some at the very high level of government and important to tehran and the iranian culture and iran itself will be hit very fast and very hard. the u.s.a. wants no more threats. he also tweeted the united states just spent $2 trillion on military equipment. we are the biggest and by far the best in the world. if iran attacks an american base or any american, we will be sending some of that brand-new beautiful equipment their way. and without hesitation. and talking to reporters last night while flying back to washington from his 17-day vacation, the president was as

good monday morning, everyone, it is january 27th, i'm ayman mohyeldin alongside yasmin vossoughian. was just saying that it seems that we've been in 2020 for almost an entire year. >> when is it over? >> four weeks into it. we are kicking off week two of president trump's impeachment trial and new revelations from former national security adviser john bolton's upcoming book a shear to be reigniting the call for witnesses at his trial. "the new york times" is reporting that trump told bolton last august that he wanted to continue freezing critical military aid to ukraine until government officials there helped with investigations targeting joe biden, his son hunter and other democrats. the "times" says this is according to an unpublished manuscript. nbc news has not seen a copy of the manuscript or verified the report which cited multiple sources familiar with bolton's account. bolton writes how the ukraine affair unfold td over several months until he departed white house last september. it describes president trump's private disparagement about ukraine and details about senior offi

. ♪ >>> good morning, everyone, it is monday, january 13th, i'm ayman mohyeldin alongside yasmin vossoughianwe want to begin with the latest developments concerning iran as the trump administration's justification for the attack that killed iranian general qassem soleimani continues to evolve by the day, defense secretary mark esper says that he saw no specific evidence that iran targeted four u.s. embassies just days after the president had this to say on fox news. >> i can reveal that i believe it would have been four embassies and i think that probably baghdad already started, but i think it would have been four embassies, it could have been military bases, it could have been a lot of other things, too, but it was eminent. and then all of a sudden he was gone. >> the president didn't say -- he didn't cite a specific piece of evidence, what he said is he probably -- >> are you saying there wasn't one? >> i didn't see one with regard to four embassies, what i'm saying is i share the president's view that probably my expectation was they were going to go after our embassies. >> so demonstrat

good morning, thursday january 16th, i'm yasmin vossoughian, alongside ayman mohyeldin, we begin with those bomb shell allegations with rudy giuliani's indicted associate about the president, vice president and attorney general's alleged knowledge and involvement in the ukraine scandal. lev parnas who was arrested while attempting to leave the country is now currently free on bail after pleading not guilty to charges of making illegal campaign donations to republican candidates. one thing he does deny is his role in trying to pressure the government of ukraine to dig up dirt on joe biden. now, just days after handing over a trove of new evidence the house intelligence committee, par nas in a new interview with msnbc's rachel maddow is saying who else knew about the scheme. >> president trump knew exactly what was going on. he was aware of all my movements. i wouldn't do anything without the consent of rudy giuliani or the president. i have no intent, i have no reason to speak to any of these officials. i mean, they have no reason to speak to me. why would president zelensky's inner ci

i'm ayman mohyeldin alongside yasmin vossoughian.we begin this hour with the strike that killed top iranian military commander suleimani in baghdad last night. iran's supreme leader is vowing quote harsh retaliation and severe revenge. the iranian president rouhani says his country and other free nations of the region will take revenge. iran foreign minister says the u.s. quote bears responsibility for all kwons quences. now early this morning, the state department urged u.s. citizens to leave iraq immediately due to attacks at the u.s. embassy compound adding that all counselor operations are suspended and u.s. citizens should not approach the embassy. >>> the air strike has seemingly deepened the divide in congress and reignited the debate over the extent of president trump's war powers. in a state, house speaker nancy pelosi stressed that the air strike quote risks provoking further dangerous escalation of violence, adding the attack was taken without the consultation of congress. the connecticut senator chris murphy tweeted this,

i'm ayman mohyeldin, alongside yasmin vossoughian. we'll talk about kobe bryant in a moment. we are kicking off week two of president trump's impeachment trial and new revelations from former national security adviser john bolton's upcoming book, paper to be reigniting the calls for witnesses at the trial. "the new york times" is reporting that trump told bolton last august that he wanted to continue freezing critical military aid to ukraine until government officials helped with investigations targeting joe biden, his son hunter and other democrats. the times says this is according to an unpublished manuscript. nbc news has not seen a copy of the manuscript or fingreport. bolton writes about how the ukraine affair unfolded over several months until he departed the white house. he not only describes president trump's private disparagement of ukraine but also details about senior cabinet officials who have tried to publicly sidestep any involvement. >> for example, bolton says secretary mike pompeo acknowledged privately that there was no basis to claims by president trump's l

i i'm yasmin vossoughian along with ayman mohyeldin. president says he is more than ready for the impeachment trial, white hill personal attorney rudy giuliani is offering to testify. >> i wonder how the president feels about that. >> we are going to get the latest from nbc news white house correspondent geoff bennet. >> president trump ringing in the new year while spoiling for a fight over his impeachment, telling reporters tuesday night that he welcomes his upcoming senate trial. >> i look forward to it. i think we'll see, we have absolutely, we did nothing wrong, all you have to do is read the transcript. the president of ukraine said loudly, and boldly, and i appreciate it, his statement, he said it many times, there was no pressure. >> as the president's personal attorney, rudy giuliani, says he would be willing to participate. >> i would testify. i would do demonstrations. i would give lectures. i give summations. or i do what i do best. i try the case. i'd love to try the case. >> the comments come as the supreme court chief jus

yasmin has the day off.f hour with the latest from washington, while the senate prepared for the impeachment office, the government accountability office said they did violate the law holding funds allocated for congress that were dedicated to ukraine. nbc who's encounter hallie jackson has the details. >> reporter: that explosive government watchdog report says the president broke the law, overriding capitol hill by freezing that military aid to ukraine, pointing out he can not substitute his own policy priorities for those that congress has enacted into law. >> 45 years here, i have never seen anything like this. >> reporter: but a senior administration official describes the findings as overreach. the military aid is part of what democrats have called a quid pro quo, accusing the president of using it as leverage to get ukraine to open investigations into his political rivals, like the bidens, a key player in that push was lev parnas, rudy giuliani's right-hand man in ukraine, explaining in a bomb shell i

love with yasmine bleeth?run like the wind. >>> it's a time of enormous turmoil. >> shut up in here! >> the '60s are over, dad. >> here's michael at the foul line. good! >> we intend to cover all the news all the time. we won't be signing off until the world ends. >> isn't that special. >> any tool for human expression will bring out both the best and worst in us. and television has been that. >> they don't pay me enough to deal with animals like this. >> people are no longer embarrassed to admit they watch television. >> we have seen the news, and it is us. ♪

daughter yasmin is also highly intelligent but it took a while for that to be recognized. still she wasn't exactly typical for girls of her age as if she was always more interested in technology than dolls. yasmeen is the 1st member of her family to go to university a secondary school only went to 10th grade and wasn't focused on preparing students to study so she switched schools for the last 2 years. the 1st school with set up to prepare students to learn a trade doing apprenticeship we were taught how to write applications but i realized that was not what i wanted most. so she completed high school and went on to study among her intellectual strengths logical and mathematical thinking. as though he has it this is the number to the right squared minus one same here. and same here number squared minus one. for her degree in mechatronics and information technology she's designing a flying wing glider. it's good preparation for a career in aerospace engineering. she enjoys the teamwork and gets on fine with her colleagues. but she is familiar with a number of not always fla

. >>> good morning, everything, i'm yasmin vossoughian along with ayman mohyeldin in new york at msnbc world headquarters. you're watching special coverage following the u.s. air strike that took out qassem soleimani. we have all the latest developments from the middle east to washington, d.c. in baghdad, a funeral for an iraqi militia commander is wrapping up with thousands of mourners marching and chants anti-america slogans. iraq's prime minister made a personal appearance at the funeral amid reports iraq is reconsidering its relationship with the united states. the u.s. has ordered all citizens to leave iraq and closed its embassy in baghdad. iran has threatened harsh retaliation. president trump and his advisers are following up his actions with more tough talk. >> qassem soleimani has been killed, and his bloody rampage is now forever gone. i don't know if you know what was happening, but he was planning a very major attack, and we got him. >> one of the things i've heard today from some who have criticized president trump, which i find odd, but the criticism has been there's no

i'm ayman mohyeldin, alongside yasmin vossoughian here in new york at msnbc world headquarters. it is 6:00 in the east, 3:00 out west, you're watching special coverage of latest developments following the u.s. air strike that killed soleimani. there is a lot to cover today, from the middle east, to washington, here is the very latest. in baghdad this morning, thousands are on the streets for a funeral for the iraqi militia commander who was also killed in the u.s. air strike. u.s. marines are keeping up security at the embassy compound in baghdad which came under attack in the days before the air strike. and u.s. oil workers are leaving iraq, in keeping with the state department's urgent warning to all american citizens, to leave the country. now, the killing of soleimani has led to fears of reprisal from iran but president trump says the plan was not to start a war. >> we took action last night to stop a war. we did not take action to start a war. >> we have to pursue now that we are in a state of war with iran. the question is when iran does respond, then what do we do? where

. >> hi, i'm yasmine and i go to suffolk university. my question is referring back back to september 11th. since that day, did you see the evolution of nationalism in politics, and specifically within the republican party? and if so, do you see it getting better or worse in the coming election? >> yeah. no, i certainly didn't see it in the aftermath of 9/11. the republican party was just a very dramatically different party. the country was different, generally united after 9/11. when i began to see the changes within the republican party, and how it was changing toward a sort of ethnic nationalist flavor, i'd say probably right around the mid-2000s, we were pushing a comprehensive immigration reform bill. we ended up after the re-election of president bush, which was 2004, in 2005 our big effort was to reform security which went nowhere. we tried immigration reform later, in 2006, and almost got that immigration reform bill through, but it ended up failing. we missed the sequencing in retrospect, we should have led with immigration rath

with ayman mohyeldin and yasmin vossoughian.ed in the middle east. american forces launch another air strike, this one on the outskirts of baghdad, killing shiite militia leaders, all just hours before pro-iranian militias are scheduled to protest near the u.s. embassy in baghdad. >>> plus, what happens now? the american troops are on the move. the president says his strategy was to eliminate a threat and stop a war, but lawmakers have questions. some are calling for a vote. >>> and after the attack, what is the impact on the already chaotic politics of 2020? all of it as "the 11th hour" gets under way on this friday night.

and joining me now is yasmin if sumann and ayman mohyeldin, co-anchors of "first look" on msnbc.ce, msnbc contributor and author of "the plot to betray america" and naveed jamali, "newsweek" columnist and author of "how to catch a russian spy." we were talking about this tweet by the vice president. your thoughts on -- it appears, maybe, that he just fired off a tweet that he wasn't thinking much about, or that the preparation is being made to try to link this person to 9/11 as a justification after the fact. >> there is a clear and obvious narrative, it seems, that's being built by the trump administration when you're seeing that tweet from the vice president, you're seeing him connect to the heart of what americans think about, which is 9/11. that's poking at the emotional bear of americans. you think about what you hear from a national security adviser o'brien yesterday, talking about why in which they pulled off this, what they believe was an imminent threat from intelligence that they had. and in fact, we see no evidence of that imminent threat as of yet. and when pressed on