and that's going to crap up th -- wrap up this hour. it's so good to see you in person, chris. the best holiday gift there is. >> likewise. >> happy early thanksgiving to you. and we have a jam-packed show. we may be heading into the holidays, but democrats are moving full steam ahead with the next phase of their impeachment investigation. this morning there's new reaction from the white house after house judiciary committee chairman jerry nadler invited the president and his lawyers to attend a hearing one week from today. the president had plenty to say, even using salty language about impeachment at a rally in florida last night. we've got new reporting that the president knew about the whistle-blower complaint before he agreed to release the money to ukraine. kelly o'donnell is traveling

with the president, lee an caldwell is on capitol hill for us and less lee parker is in the newsroom. >> kelly, i would like to start with you because moments ago the white house responded to that invitation that we're talking about to appear on the hill next week. this is from stephanie grisham. let me read it to you and get your reaction. she says, quote, the white house is currently reviewing chairman nadler's letter. but what is obvious to every american is that this comes at the end of an ill legitimate sham process. what can you tell us about these behind-the-scenes deliberations. >> reporter: good to be with you, kristen. and this is a new question for the white house, because one of the chief defenses that the president, his republican allies have been making is that impeachment process thus far has excluded the president from having the kind of due process that he thinks he is entitled to and would want. and so this is a difference that

the rules allow under the house judiciary for the president to appear himself. now, we happen to know that he is scheduled to be in europe for a nato conference, but it also extends to having his own counsel present to question the witnesses who will be on the panel next week. and so for the white house to say they're considering this opens the door to the possibility that they could answer that issue that has been animating a lot of their arguments that they haven't had a voice, haven't had a chance to be heard during the first public phase of the questioning, which was in the intelligence committee, except for the republican side of the committee. so we'll see what the president and his team wants to do about that. we certainly saw here in florida the president being fiery, and as you mentioned, salty, even colorful in his attacks on the impeachment process when he addressed what was for the first time a home town crowd. the president now officially a florida resident. he attacked the impeachment

process and attacked the polling that suggests that there are many americans who do believe he should be removed from office. here's how that played out before a crowd in sunrise, florida. >> now the same maniacs are pushing the deranged impeachment. think of this, impeachment. and here pushing the impeachment, witch hunt, and a lot of bad things are happening to them. because you see what's happening in the polls? everybody said that's really bullshit. >> and that led to some chanting from the audience that followed that. of course it was a mixed crowd, including some children, and the president was using occurs words, which we see him do from time to time. he held off on that for a while. but apparently his anger was such or his frustration, that he resorted to that kind of

punctuation. and we've also learned through the release of the depositions and transcripts from witnesses who appeared behind the scenes that a top budget official, a career employee, not a political employee, mark sandy testified that at the office of management and budget, he believes there were two officials, staffers there, who were not named, who left their jobs after expressing frustration over the hold of military aid for ukraine that had been passed by congress, but held up by the president. mark sandy, the official who testified, did not say it was absolutely the only reason they left their jobs. but he was clearly aware that they were frustrated. it's another piece of information the democrats are assembling to say that there was a concern about why the president held up military aid. he says it was because he wanted other countries to contribute more. kristen. >> certainly something the democrats are going to be paying attention to. thank you, i know it's holiday duty, but i have the sense that you're going to be quite busy

over the next few days. i want to bring in lee ann kald well who is on capitol hill for us. i know there are question marks about what we're going to see and hear next week on capitol hill on this december 4th hearing that has been set. what do we know so far? >> kristen, we know that the first hearing in this new phase of the impeachment inquiry is next wednesday. they haven't announced who the witness or witnesses are, but we do know that it's not going to be a fact witness or someone like ambassador sondland or yovanovitch. instead, it's going to be a constitutional scholar or an expert. and their role is going to be to sell and explain impeachment to the american public. now, republicans on capitol hill, they say that they should have a say in who their witnesses are as well. and they are calling for adam schiff to come and testify. they say that since adam schiff was running the investigation,

running the depositions, just as ken starr did in the 90s under the clinton impeachment, then like ken starr, adam schiff should come and present his evidence to the committee. so democrats, though, they do have a final say on who the witnesses are, and there's been no indication that adam schiff is going to present himself before the committee. but in judiciary committee nadler's letter to the white house and his announcement of this hearing next wednesday, he wrote to the president and he said this: he said that he's hopeful that you and your counsel will opt to participate in the committee's hearing, consistent with the rules of decorum and with the solemn nature before us. so as you know more than i, we have not yet gotten an answer from the white house yet on if they're going to bring in counsel. but again, republicans on capitol hill would like adam schiff to come testify. >> very quickly, before i let you go, we're going to be

talking about this throughout the hour. the democrats obviously feeling a lot of heat to get this right, to try to build public support for their case. what are your sources telling you about that? >> reporter: absolutely. the pressure is going to be on them. so remember that this hearing is going to come around the same time or just after the intelligence committee, adam schiff is going to release their report on everything they found as far as the witnesses and the depositions in this entire impeachment inquiry. so that, combined with these public hearings to try to explain to the american public why impeachment is necessary is going to be critical. >> thank you so much for all of that reporting. i also want to get to new reporting from "the new york times," which says president trump was aware of the whistle-blower complaint when he released aid to ukraine. the "times" reporting president trump had already been briefed on a whistle-blower's complaint in august about his dealings with ukraine when he unfroze

military aid for the country in september. that's according to two people familiar with the matter. michael schmidt has the byline on this story and he spoke to brian williams overnight. >> what our reporting did is it provided a very key, sort of basic point about the entire saga. the simple fact of when the president knew about the whistle-blower's complaint to sort of help fill out the larger picture of the information the president had when he made one of these crucial decisions. >> really great reporting there by "the new york times." i'm joined by ashley parker of the "washington post." i want to pick up where michael schmidt left off. how significant is this revelation and this development? what might it mean for the broader impeachment investigation moving forward? >> the reason this new bit of reporting is potentially highly important is because it undercuts a key white house and republican talking point, which we've heard for a while, which was basically that nothing

untoward happened because the president released the aid. there was nothing going on, the aid was always released. and now you find out that yes, the aid was released, but it was potentially released because the president knew there was this whistle-blower complaint and he was about to get in serious trouble. so again, we don't necessarily know why the president released the aid, but it does offer a possible motivation that is far more incriminating than the president simply released the aid in due course as he had always planned to do. >> ashley, as you and i know and we've been drilling down on, this is going to be a two-step process. you're going to have house democrats trying to move to bring impeachment articles, if in fact that passes. if that is what happens in the house. then this moves to a trial in the senate. the republican-led senate. so the question really becomes does this type of a revelation have any impact on those republicans in the senate who right now are saying they're not going to throw the president out

of office? >> that's a great question and we don't yet know the answer. but i will say if you look at the drip, drip, drip of previous revelations and house senate republicans have responded in general, they seem to be impervious to new details to change their position. so you have a lot of contortions from senate republicans to defend the president or say this is not an impeachable offense. we heard the call was inappropriate, but it wasn't a quid pro quo. or maybe it was a quid pro quo, but i don't think that means he should be thrown out of office. as of now, based on how they've behaved previously, it seems unlikely that this new detail will change their minds. but they're going to have a full hearing to witness before they ultimately take the vote. >> great reporting and analysis as always. go to see you. >> thank you. and we want to bring in some more expert analysis with adrian elrod who served on the hillary clinton campaign as the director of strategic communications and

also served as a chief of staff on capitol hill. and in miami is former florida republican congressman carlos carbello. thanks to both of you for being here. >> adrian, i want to start with you and pick up on something i just brought up, the pressure on democrats to get this right. you have jerry nadler who is going to be chairing this hearing that we're going to be watching next week. this is what politico writes, democrats see one last chance to boost public support for impeachment, noting that's because after more than 150 hours of open and closed door testimony, support for impeachment is static or even slipping according to new numbers from the last quinnipiac poll. 45% say president trump should be impeached, down three points from october, 48% say no to that. so we've actually seen public support drop for impeaching the president and throwing him out of office. talk about what democrats have to do next week. >> look, i think they have to continue making the case to the

american people why donald trump should be impeached. and they've done a great job so far of laying out the facts in a simple way. i think when it came to the situation in russia some of the facts could be confusing. there was so much to that story. but with this quid pro quo, with this bribery, extortion, if you will, situation with ukraine is a much more easier situation to understand. but i also think it's important to keep in mind where speaker pelosi decided to move forward on an impeachment inquiry. it's because she didn't want this abuse of power that's come from the white house and donald trump's executive branch to go unchecked. because what does that mean for future presidents? what signal does that send to future administration officials, that hey, you can get away with pretty much anything and we're not going to take charge, we're not going to impeach you or we're not going to do anything about it. so i think we've got to keep that in mind. pelosi is very aware of the numbers. she's aware that the numbers are on the side of impeachment in

terms of going forward with that process in the house because democrats have the majority. she knew it was going to be a steep climb in the senate. we've known as democrats that we've got to beat donald trump at the ballot box, but i think it's important to show the american people that we will not let this abuse of power go unchecked and that's what the democrats are doing by going forward. >> there also seems to be some concern about the timeline of all of this, that it might seep into the heat of the democratic primary and that that could be bad for the democratic candidates. how many hand-wringing is there behind the scenes about all of that? >> it's certainly not ideal. we've got six senators who will be -- who are running for office that will be involved in the trial presuming that goes forward in january in the senate. but i think if you're somebody like kamala harris and cory booker who have had some strong moments in the judiciary committee when they've questioned witnesses from the trump administration, this might be a good chance for them to

come back and remind the american people how good they are in these moments, how good they are in these situations. so if you're mayor pete or joe biden, you're not in the senate, it's probably good for you because you're going to have more time on the campaign trail. but i don't think that -- i think there's a little overhype to the extent that this is going to impact 2020 and the iowa caucuses. >> congressman, one of the unknowns right now is whether the white house will send a legal representative for president trump. we know that the president is going to be traveling overseas at the nato submit. i'm going to be with him in london. stephanie grisham saying that they're reviewing nadler's request to do so. what do you make of that? does it underscore the fact there's not a real strategy that the white house is bringing to this, and should they send a representative? after all, they've been saying these proceedings are unfair because they haven't been allowed to send local counsel. >> this is a complicated decision for the white house. they've been complaining for weeks that they've been shut out of the process, but at the same

time, they've been trying to delegitimize the process, call it a hoax and say it's a political employ to overturn the 2016 election. if they do send someone, they're lending legitimacy to the impeachment process. they are validating the process that democrats have laid out. however, if they don't send anyone, then it kind of undermines these arguments that they've been making and it would perhaps make them seem a little hypocritical before the american people. i personally think that they should send someone. if they have arguments that they want to make, if they have questions they want to ask, they have every right to do so. and they could also show that they're being transparent and putting the president's attorneys out there, making his case, rather than the president just railing against this at rallies and doing name-calling and everything else. >> and there's even been some speculation, congressman, and adrian, that they might send rudy giuliani, the president's outside attorney. hard to see that happening.

but the president did weigh in on rudy giuliani overnight in an interview with bill o' riley and he distanced himself from giuliani's actions in ukraine. >> no, i didn't direct him, but is a warrior, rudy is a warrior. >> what was rudy giuliani doing in ukraine on your behalf? >> well, you have to ask that to rudy. but rudy -- i don't even know. i know he was going to go to ukraine and i think he canceled the trip. but rudy has other clients other than me. i'm one person. >> you didn't direct him to go there on your behalf? >> no, but you have to understand rudy is a great corruption fighter. >> congressman, what do you make of those comments? >> clearly the president is trying to create some distance. i would be absolutely shocked if they sent him to the capitol to defend the white house and the administration. it would make for great ratings, very entertaining, but probably

extremely damaging to the president. rudy giuliani cannot be relied on to be sober and stable these days. >> great conversation, adrian and former congressman carlos carbello. hope you both have a fantastic holiday. democrats frustrated that the justice department's isn't looking at the conduct of the inspector general. how the doj is responding. and also pete buttigieg facing a new controversy over some old comments he made. why the dispute could hurt the 2020 contender with a key group of democrats. stay with us. their medicare op. before they're on medicare. come on in. you're turning 65 soon? yep. and you're retiring at 67? that's the plan! well, you've come to the right place. it's also a great time to learn about an aarp medicare supplement insurance plan, insured by unitedhealthcare insurance company.

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>> now to an nbc news exclusive, questions among democrats about the justice department's internal watch dog. the report describes frustration reaching a boiling point over repeated decisions by the doj and inspector general against investigating president trump's attorney general. democrats want the ig to look into recent decisions and actions by bill barr, matthew whitaker and jeff sessions. the office's focus right now is that the reporting on the russia investigation which is set to drop in a little more than a week from now. julie ainsley is one of the reporters that broke the story. great to see you. fantastic reporting. congratulations on all of this. set the scene for us. what are the key issues here? and it's worth noting that the

ig was actually appointed by former president obama. >> that's right. so people we've spoken to, a lot of former joist officials say michael horowitz, the inspector general is not seen as someone who is politically biased or being pressured to be loyal to president trump. but democrats in congress are concerned when they just look at the track record here of the investigations that the inspector general has taken up and those that he has not. we know that since 2016 there have been investigations into the origins of the russia probe, the big high-profile investigation you point out is coming up soon, to former deputy director at the fbi, andrew mckrab, james comey and the handling of the clinton investigations. at the same time, what he has not looked into are things like whether or not current attorney general barr has had communications with the white house that have pressured him to open a criminal probe such as

into the origins of the russia investigation that's currently being done by john durham out of connecticut. things like whether or not jeff sessions violated his recusal. the appointment of matthew whitaker, even though he wasn't confirmed by the senate. possible interference of don decisions and the kplimplementan of the trump administration's zero tolerance policy. we understand that the inspector general is looking into zero tolerance, but the dhs inspector general had their report on that far before. it's now been almost two years. >> i know you spoke to the spokesperson, stephanie logan, for the office of the justice department's ig and she told you that the office is carefully considering any request for oversight made by any member of congress. so what is the crux of their explanation for how they pick and choose what to investigate and what not to? >> well, it was really interesting to speak with stephanie and to hear their side of this. they say that really their

office needs more authority, that right now they are being kept from looking at professional misconduct by attorneys within the justice department. and that has kept them from looking at things like barr's communications with the white house. they also point to the questions over things like jeff sessions's recusal and say that was something for robert mueller to handle. that some of these things were taken out of their hands. >> and you'll julia, what impacu think this has on the perceptions of the report we're waiting for to come out next week? >> well, it certainly gives democrats something to hold onto as they prepare pofor the repor. the report has gotten more loaded because we know it could be used in the michael flynn sentencing. this is something that people who want to disagree with the outcomes of the mueller investigation and people who were indicted, this is something they want to hold on to. democrats will want to look at the ig's record and say perhaps

he was pushed too far to go against democrats and for the administration's interest. >> all right. great reporting. nbc's julia ainsley. great to see you. thanks so much. another poll shows senator elizabeth warren's numbers taking a hit. we'll take a look at why the support may be sliding. first, utah's governor is announcing a new agreement for a statewide ban on conversion therapy for lgbtq youth. the move pushed for. studies have found the practice sparks thoughts of suicide among those subjected to it. the governor credited those who had endured conversion therapy and were brave enough to tell their story as the real heros of the campaign. the new rules likely to take effect in january. we'll be back after a quick break.

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xfinity customer service simple, easy, awesome. not my thing. >> right now the dow is down just a bit in the first hour of trading. we're getting new information on the state of the economy. new numbers out this morning on just how much it's growing. cnbc's senior economics reporter steve leaseman is following all

of this for us. this was higher than some expected, but what does it say about the broader health of the economy? >> it's just a little bit higher than expected. we revised up from 1.9% to 2.1%. but people should really think about 2% at the right run rate of the economy. that's seen as a potential growth. it's kind of interesting how we got there. very strong -- well, relatively stronger consumer spending and also some help from the federal government and federal spending that you know has been quite high. but not from business spending. business spending now negative two quarters in a row and it's not really picking up. we think the fourth quarter is going to be even a little bit weaker, though the consumer, kristen, should be set up pretty well to be spending come the holiday season. >> i was going to ask you, what are you going to be looking at specifically when we head into the holiday shopping season, which really starts on friday? >> yeah, maybe even thursday night for some people. so i like to look at this sort

of general metrics. consumer sentiment is pretty good, unemployment is low, wages have been rising pretty modestly. those are the kind of things if the consumer wants to spend, they have the wherewithal and the means to do so. the question becomes whether retailers are successful in separating them from their hard-earned money. >> i know you'll be tracking all of that. hope you have a great holiday. thank you for joining us. now we want to head to the 2020 campaign trail. joe biden is cementing his lead in brand new polling out just this morning. the former vice president hitting the 28% support in the newest national poll, while bernie sanders and elizabeth warren essentially battle for second place at 17 and 14%. and not too far behind, pete buttigieg is 11%. the south end mayor is up five points since last month and it's the highest he's reached nationally in this particular poll. notably, no other candidate is above 3%. nbc's alex seitz-wald is

covering the campaign and josh lederman is here with me. i want to start out on the campaign trail. what is senator warren making of these new numbers? and it's worth noting that it comes after she put out new details about her medicare for all health care plan, saying that she can do it without raising taxes on the middle class. what do you make of these numbers? >> that's right, kristen. a big drop for elizabeth warren in this latest quinnipiac poll, down 14 percentage points since october. two things going on, i think. number one is electability. it's been the biggest concern of democrats the entire time. it's been warren's biggest vulnerability. she overcame it for a moment but once the rest of the field kind of ganged up on her for medicare for all like you mentioned, they convinced a lot of voters that it's too much of a risk to put her up against donald trump. the second factor is pete buttigieg's rise. even though they're different

idealogical planes, they draw from the same kind of voters. so his rise has come at her expense. she has downplayed this. take a look at what they said about this when asked. >> i know you don't really ride the poll coaster, but this is a really large drop. >> so it's the same answer it's always been. i don't do polls. i'm out here fighting every day on behalf of working families. >> we're coming up on january in just a couple of months -- excuse me, february, the iowa caucuses. so definitely a little bit of concern there. this race is very fluid and she has room to grow. she's got to convince people she can beat donald trump. >> i think it's an important point, alex. the race is fluid. but you have to be a little nervous if you're inside the warren campaign looking at those numbers. and josh, alex makes the point that pete buttigieg is rising and that's hurting senator elizabeth warren. so talk about his rise.

in the iowa poll he's surging, doing well now in this national poll and still struggling with african-americans. >> that's right, iowa is surging first place, new hampshire doing very well. nationally the picture is very good for pete buttigieg with these two new polls, he's now in second place in the quinnipiac poll. in fourth place in this new cnn poll, but still a pagmajor rise 11%. when you start to drill down, kristen, still a lot of bad news for pete buttigieg as well. particularly with african-american voters where he's still struggling amid a new controversy that's been erupting over some comments from 2011 that were unearthed in which he's discussing that he feels that students in minority schools don't have role models showing the value of education. that led to a really terrible article in -- an article that made him seem pretty -- it was very critical of him with the

title pete buttigieg is a lying mf, being an acronym for something we won't say on live television. and i want to play for you what pete buttigieg had to say about first seeing that article. >> we had a conversation and he wrote about that later today. i thought it was a very healthy conversation. and yes, he is right, when he said my opinion. when he says that they've got to look at the structural factors that drive different racial outcomes in our country. >> and kristen, we have some new exclusive reporting on this from nbc news just out. pete buttigieg as he continues to struggle with african-american voters in south carolina, and in other states, will be going on the air with tv ads for the first time next week in south carolina. those will start on tuesday as buttigieg is touring the state of south carolina. >> that is a good nugget you got there. obviously south carolina

critical and african-americans critical in that state if he wants to do well. josh, alex, great reporting. really appreciate both of you being here. we are tracking two major storms now threatening to make folks' travel home for thanksgiving even more of a headache. we'll have your forecast next. first, last week i was so honored to be a part of an all-women panel of moderators at the fifth democratic debate. and while you saw us ask the candidates about their ideas, there was another young woman you may have missed, the ellen show sent their best resident presidential historian macy hensley to the debate. and despite being little, she asked the big questions, even putting cory booker on the spot about possibly being a bachelor in the white house. macy says she wants to be president one day, so i asked her about her plans. take a look. >> do you want to try standing up at one of those poed yudiums

>> macy hensley, come on out to the stage. here we go, macy. as president of the united states, what would your platform with. >> well, definitely my mom is a teacher, get teachers pay raised. we need to help our farmers, and of course make america kinder. >> macy hensley, everyone. great job. >> meeting macy was such a highlight and she has a very bright future, i can tell you that the future is in very good hands. we can't wait to see what she does next. we'll be right back. y to handle whatever monday has in store and tackle four things at once. so when her car got hit, she didn't worry. she simply filed a claim on her usaa app and said...

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- [narrator] forget about vacuuming for up to a month. shark iq robot deep-cleans and empties itself into a base you can empty once a month. and unlike standard robots that bounce around, it cleans row by row. if it's not a shark, it's just a robot. and we have some breaking news for you now on former president jimmy carter, good news. just in time for thanksgiving, he has been released from the hospital. doctors at emery university hospital in atlanta say he was discharged this morning after surgery to relieve pressure on his brain caused by subdural hematoma. hospital officials say the president and mrs. carter look forward to enjoying their turkey dinner at home where he will continue to recover. the carters say they're grateful for all the prayers, cards and notes they've received and they are grateful he is home. as we head into one of the busiest travel days of the year, we are tracking two major storms that are bearing down on millions of american that could

make for a thanksgiving travel nightmare. out west, a rare and potentially historic bomb cyclone and bringing snow and winds to oregon and northern california, while another winter blast is moving east, where blizzard and storm warnings stretch from colorado up through minnesota. meteorologist michelle grossman is tracking both of these storms for us and molly hunter is in minneapolis. michelle, i want to start with you. how bad is this for travelers? yeah, it is a nightmare as we go throughout today, thanksgiving, friday, and then the return trip home is not going to be easy either. we have two storms you mentioned and an historic storm that moved on the coast of oregon. they're seeing rain and wind and the west all the way to the east being impacted by some sort of storm this wednesday into thanksgiving. let's talk about what's happening right now in terms of airport delays.

hopeful hopefully you got to the destination you want to be at. look at minneapolis with all the snow they received last night. 79-minute delay in minneapolis. we see a delay also in chicago. that's probably going to tick up as we go throughout the afternoon. as we head towards the east, that will tick up overnight into thursday. let's talk about what is happening right now. this is the setup in terms of the storms. we had a historic storm come onshore yesterday near oregon and northwestern california. we are talking a millibar of pressure of 970. wind gusts up to 80 miles per hour. that was a surprise for the folks living along the coast there. they've never seen anything like that in ordered history. back to the east, we are looking at an area of low pressure that brought snow to denver and now to minneapolis and this is moving off to the east. a big problem will be the snow, rain and also the wind in terms of air travel. so as we go throughout time,

this is what's happening in terms often alerts. we have plenty of alerts, so the southwest up to the pacific northwest towards the rockies, and also the upper midwest and great lakes, so many of us involved with these winter weather alerts. 19 million impacted with 4 to 8 inches along the track there. wind will be a big part of the story. we have a big parade if new york tomorrow. still to be determined if the balloons are going to fly. we are crossing our fingers, but it's not looking great so far. so nearly 90 million at risk for this. wind gusting up to 46 miles per hour by later on tonight in detroit. >> michelle, we hope everyone stays safe and we do hope that those balloons fly. we will be keeping our fingers crossed for that. appreciate that. i want to head out now to molly hunter, who is in minneapolis, hard-hit minneapolis. molly, how is it out there and what are folks saying to you? >> reporter: hey, kristen.

we are covered in snow. super morning was super windy and you see right now actually, it's kind of calm. the wind is not crazy and it's not snowing right this second. and we just heard the storm is moving out. this morning we saw plows. everyone absolutely, every maintenance crew, 800 plows, all hands on deck at the airport. the reason that there aren't more delays is because there are 160 pieces of snow equipment out there clearing all three runways and the airport tells us that they are operational. a couple dozen cancellations overnight. schools, 150 schools have been closed. the university of minnesota canceled classes today so everyone can get home a little bit early to spend some time with their family. as far as the roads, because it's not bitter cold, it means that all of the snow is going to turn kind of slushy, which means treacherous driving for everyone on the road. about 180 spinouts have been reported -- sorry, 180 crashes, 300 spinouts. just dangerous to be out there. if folks can stay at home, that

is clearly the best move. >> that is great advice, holly hunter. thank you for braving those conditions. go get warm. we appreciate it very much. coming up, we're tracking a growing crisis near the mexico border after more than 55,000 migrants have been sent back across the border. we have an inside look at what some are calling an emerging humanitarian crisis. wayfair's biggest black friday blowout ever is now on. yes! score unbelievable savings. like living room up to 70% off. storage solutions from $9.99. and area rugs up to 80% off. plus, tons of limited-time mystery flash deals. and free shipping on everything when you shop from thanksgiving through cyber monday. and we're just getting warmed up.

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this morning we have an inside look at conditions for migrants who made it to the u.s., but who were sent back to mexico to await their asylum claims, since a new policy from the trump administration went into effect, more than 55,000 have been sent back. migrants face what some describe as a growing humanitarian crisis on the other side of the border. nbc's gabe gutierrez is here after traveling to mexico. you saw the conditions firsthand and spoke the the migrants. what did you see and what are they telling hi, kristen, good . tent after tent full of migrant families steps from brownsville texas. they say there's a growing threat from the surrounding

cartels. the trump administration is touting what it calls a huge success, fewer migrants making it into the u.s. it's a bottleneck at the border. a sprawling makeshift tent city in mexico. >> this is 100% a humanitarian crisis. >> reporter: carlos says he's been here four months with his 2-year-old epileptic son struggling to find medical care. >> are you desperate? yes, he says. this year the u.s. started a new policy that requires migrants to remain in necks co-while their asylum claims are processed. before arriving families would be allowed to wait for court hearings in the u.s. the trump administration now says the changes are working. border apprehensions have plummeted from 144,000 people in may to 45,000 in october. that's a 68% drop. >> migrants can no longer expect

to be allowed into the interior of the united states based on fraudulent asylum claims. >> reporter: for some, the result is a dangerous limbo. the mexican government recently set up a shelter about a 30-minute walk from here. many migrants won't go because they're terrified of what they might find of who might find th them. this man tells us his two young daughters were sexually assaulted from who he believes was a cartel operative. >> abc number one priority on vid's list. >> reporter: volunteers are taking action. this group called team brownsville is handing out food and supplies. >> can't bring it fast enough. >> reporter: sergio car dove va started coming here in the summer of 2018. >> reporter: why do you do this? >> i crossed over one day and saw it. how can you look away? are we going to be a country that says we looked away or did

we do something? >> really powerful reporting, gabe, especially when you hear them automatic about the cartels, the fear of that. what else stood out to you when you were there and how does it compare so some of the other migrant communities? >> down at the sent city, there's a smoke-filled stench. safe drinking water is hard to come by. we've seen these conditions when reporting from guatemala and mexico several months ago during the migrant caravans as well. in this particular tent city, it's really turned into a bottleneck that immigration advocates say is spiraling out of control. they expect it to get much worse. julie ainsley has been reporting that this remain in mexico policy is expanding into arizona as well. so more of these migrants might have to wait at the mexican border. again, president trump's supporters say this is what they voted for, border apprehensions and numbers are down. the administration says this could be a powerful deterrent.

as you heard in the piece, this is the human cost of that policy change. >> what an incredible look at that and great reporting. so important to bring that to people. really appreciate it, gain. good to see you. 2018 wasn't a great year for republican women in congress. coming up in our next hour, we'll have an exclusive look at how one group is boosting gop women at the ballot box in 2020. we'll be right back with what our sources are saying. stay with us. as. only pay for what you need... only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪ gimme one minute... and i'll tell you some important things to know about medicare. first, it doesn't pay for everything. say this pizza is your part b medical expenses. this much - about 80% - medicare will pay for. what's left is on you.

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it is time to look at what our sources are saying. nbcnews.com's laura strict her joins me. what are your sources telling you? >> we did a story two weeks ago about a state department official named mina chang who embellished her resume. last week she resigned. today we have a story based on -- we heard from numerous people who came to us, house staffers, people that used to work with her, saying there was more to the story. that's our piece today. we're looking at how did she get this job at the state department. part of that was because she befriended key people along the way, a house staffer, another state department official. >> laura, kind of taking a step back here, what are the broader implications of this for the trump administration? obviously this is a story that got a lot of attention. what are the broader

implications for the trump administration when you look at this story? >> so i think the bigger point here is that here is somebody w who, their state department bio was vetted and approved by the state department. they received a security clearance from the fbi and the state department, and we've heard from both democrats and republicans that the vetting that goes on at the white house for political appointees, as you know, and you have reported on has been sloppy. i think this definitely shines a light on the vetting process that goes on for foez appointees. >> certainly does. laura strictler, thank you for your report. thank you for watching this hour of msnbc live. right now more news with my friend and colleague craig melvin. >> kristen welker, haven't seen you since the debate. fine work. >> thank you. it was an honor to do it. >> we'll see you tomorrow. >> have a good thanksgiving. >> craig melvin at msnbc

headquarters in new york city. the stage set for the next phase of the impeachment inquiry. a big question this morning, will the white house represent itself? as the judiciary committee pencils in the date for the first public hearing, it's waiting to hear back about that invitation extended. also, some new revelations this morning surrounding the very issue at the heart of the impeachment investigation, the timeline of the president's decision to withhold aid from ukraine. and another major shift in the 2020 race. one of the top candidates has taken a nose dhooif indive in a national poll. another candidate on cleanup duty this morning. with less than a week to go before the next big impeachment hearing, a decision will have to be made over whether an attorney representing president trump will show up. i'm joined from the white house by nbc's hans nichols, on capitol hill