hans nichols with the new news for us this hour. our exclusively to nbc news, thank you, tom nichols. thank you both. following a historic vote from the house judiciary committee, we're going to look ahead to another big one on wednesday. that is when the full house votes on whether to impeach an american president for only the third time in the nation's history. >>> but first, some new developments. nbc news confirms one moderate democrat, new jersey congressman, jeff van drew, expected to switch parties after a personal meeting with president trump. democrats can afford to have 17 defections on the impeachment vote expected on wednesday. but no more than that.

hans nichols, thank you. >>> again, while the president was speaking there, we could actually watch the dow drop in realtime. at one point it was down 440 points. just down over 4000 now. at one point we saw the biggest fall in roughly two months. all of it coming as the president said he would be willing to wait on a trade deal with china until after the election. the president at one point saying, i don't watch the stock market. that's what president trump said when asked about it. it should be pointed out when he did say u.s. markets are up as much as 21% since the announcement of tariffs. dominic chu joining me now with what's going on. dominic, is all of this related to this on going trade war with china? >> we'll see the thrust of it, the large bulk will be driven by all those trade headlines coming out. the reason we're saying that, it's the incrementally, somewhat positive trade headlines over the last couple months pushing markets towards record highs. we hit record highs in the stock market on the day before thanksgiving. this was on some kind of assumption, some kind of forec

let's go to hans nichols traveling with the president in west balm beach. i can guarantee it's warmer where you are than it is here. you've got congress back in session not until january 7th. is there a sense that this impeachment battle is percolating? do you make any sense of that? >> reporter: well, the president didn't directly address it last night, and that, alex, is something different. usually the president will try to find a way, especially in front of what seems to be a friendly eyes. now last night it was an official military audience, but he didn't directly engage on the impeachment subject matter. what he did was a victory lap on the pentagon defense spending. there are two spending bills that the president signed. he did the one for the overall government. he did that one up in the air on air force one without much fanfare. and the other one he did in front of all those troops in joint base andrews clearly wanting to foot stomp and celebrate both the launch of the space force but what he says is a lot of funding and the numbers bear this out,

hans nichols in front of parliament. it was interesting to watch that exchange between macron and trump. a short time before that when the president was sitting with stoltenberg he went on and on about macron being insulting nato. he has to from moment to moment from exchange to exchange he has to take these new positions and today we'll see him sitting next to chancellor merkel. there's not a lot of love lost between those two. >> among the european leaders he probably has the least chemistry with her. they have certainly had issues in the past. it was fascinating to watch this unfold yesterday, and i've been to the nato meetings the last two years. i've been in the room. macron for a while, for a time there was a bromance, the handshake, the firm handshakes, the back slapping, the body language. that all evaporated yesterday amid real tension about isis and trade and other issues. the president talking about iran and briefly saying the u.s. did not support the protesters there, having to walk that back. he said later h

. >> hans nichols, sorry about the technicalities, and i am the one who started that snowball rolling, but thank you very much. and joining me is josh gerstein whi writer for politico, and natalie, welcome. what stands out to you on the impeachment? >> well, what it shows to me is the maneuvering that was set up behind the scenes of the showdown between the president and officials within his

. >> hans, thank you as always. hans nichols traveling with the president in london. up next, from increasing number of supermarkets in low income communities to expanding accessibility of school meals, 2020 presidential candidate julian castro has a sweeping plan to eradicate hunger here in the united states. he joins me next to discuss. plus, the supreme court hears its biggest second amendment case in nearly ten years. a case that tests the breadth of a person's right to keep and bear arms. we live -- we're live at the supreme court with the details. you're watching msnbc. welcome to the place where people go to learn about their medicare options... 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.

hans nichols, stay close. i'll talk to you later in the hour. >>> joining me is former ambassador to iraq, afghanistan and syria. concerning 24 hours or so, you think this as well. i want to get your take overall on your biggest concerns right now and what you've seen take place over the weekend and the escalation in iraq. >> thanks for having me. i think ari got it right. this is not an imminent or immediate threat to our folks in the embassy right now. the embassy is very well constructed, very hard to get into. the outer perimeter wall is designed to block car or truck bombs, massive attacks. it is not an anti personnel barrier. that in itself is not a problem. we see what happens next. it's clear to me yasmin, that we're in a period of extraordinary turbulence in iraq. i don't think anyone can predict what the next steps are. while it is technically true that the iraqi government is responsible for the safety of diplomatic personnel and missions, this is a government without a great deal of power, and we w

hans nichols live for us in west palm. thank you. nope, hans, thank you. we'll talk about when this thing may happen. that could throw a wrench into the political calendar for 2020 candidates. you've got the senators who are running for president also running into this possible logistical conflict since the trial could come crashing into the race for the early states. ali vitali has a look at how the strategies are shaping up. >> that's the sound of impeachment's long-awaited collision with the 2020 campaign. for months what's going on has followed the candidates onto the trail. now it threatens to take some of them off the road at a crucial time. >> we're just going to find a way to do it. >> five candidates who are also senators preparing to trade precious face time with voters for long days in dc. they're aware time with the candidates could soon be scares. >> i didn't want to get up early this morning and my dad pointed out, well, if they're busy in the senate you might want to get on move on that. >> candidates and staff now trying to contend with jug

hans nichols with the president. thank you so much, hans, as always. now joining our discussion here, the panel. daniel strauss. susan, senior writer. and senior politics reporter for roll call. let's kick it off with you, daniel, here. joe biden. part of the conversation here. clearly, as we move into 2020, impeachment. also, that big wrapper that's around the discussion today especially when it comes to joe biden really getting ahead of the game. not even knowing he's going to be officially asked to testify by the senate or not. but for some reason, they may think that they are going to have him asked. >> i mean, it's obviously something that the trump administration and trump's allies really want to see. they want to turn this impeachment trial in a referendum on joe biden. that's really what this is all about. turning this into something that they can use as a bludgeon against the former vice president. they see this as the entire impeachment effort by democrats as a partisan move. and they want to prove that the -- that the president's claims thro

nbc hans nichols is our white house reporter. another person in trump's orbit who is feeling the heat from the impeachment saga is attorney general william barr. barr's defense of president trump has raised questions about potential conflicts of interest. last wednesday, as the house was moving to impeach trump, barr told fox news that democrats were trivializing the impeachment process. he said the articles of impeachment here do not allege a violation of the law. i'm concerned about it being trivialized and used as a political tool. legal experts slammed those comments. accusing barr of ignoring his responsibilities as the nation's top prosecutor. one of them was the former federal prosecutor michael j. stern, who told "newsweek" that barr's loyalty to the white house is a perversion of his job. he also told "newsweek" there is inherent conflict in barr's designated role as chief law enforcement officer of this country and his efforts to protect the man who gave him his job. it is unfortunate that bill barr never misses an oppo

hans nichols at the white house for us, thank you so much. it is remarkable on so many levels that rudy giuliani is at the white house today walking, hans nichols reports, walking across that short driveway where senior staffers park from the old executive office building to the west wing with his son to see the president as the house votes on articles of impeachment. >> many presidents wouldn't want to be seen with individuals under criminal investigation. >> that's a great point. the head of the criminal division as doj put out a notice saying he would have never met with rudy giuliani if he knew he was under investigation. >> presidents are properly careful about the images. all presidents. you don't typically want to be photographed with folks who are under investigation or under indictment. not only are they together, this is the president's lawyer. i mean, in part because the president's last lawyer's in prison and much more difficult for him to come visit. it is a bit jarring, nicole. now, the president is -- you know, mr. giuliani is

jose >> hans nichols at the white house. thank you. we will be covering all the news out of the hearings on monday on nbc starting at 9:00 a.m. eastern time >>> an american graduate student is on his way home tonight after being held in an iranian prison for more than three years. his release part of a high-profile prisoner swap we have more from tehran >> reporter: this was the moment american xiyue wang became a free man, hugging a diplomat in switzerland after being held in an iranian prison since 2016 the chinese american had been charged espionage. his family said he was there for graduate studies work. on that same tarmac, the iranians got back a scientist, arrested in the u.s. last year, accused of violating u.s. sanctions by attempting to export biological materials from the u.s. to iran returning today to a hero's welcome. the exchange brokered by the swiss. in 2017, wang faced those espionage charges on iranian tv. his response delivered under apparent duress. >> the more knowledge the united states possessed about iran, the

nbc's hans nichols is traveling with the president in west palm beach. >> reporter: tonight former vice president joe biden working to clarify if he would honor a senate subpoena in any possible impeachment trial for president donald trump, vowing to cooperate only with a legitimate or lawful congressional investigation. >> would you comply with a subpoena >> yeah, well, i would -- i would honor whatever the congress in fact would legitimately ask me to do >> reporter: his comments after he told "the des moines register" friday he would not submit to a senate subpoena. >> the reason i wouldn't is because it's all designed to deal with trump doing what he's done his whole life, trying to take the focus off him. >> reporter: president trump has said he would like biden to testify at any trial, pointing to unsubstantiated claims that the former vice president improperly aided his son's dealings in ukraine. today biden took to twitter to clarify his remarks. "i have always complied with a lawful order and cooperated with legitimate congressional oversight. this impeachment is about trump's

>> hans nichols at the white house. the president departing within the half hour for florida and a fund-raiser. >>> in the middle of the impeachment proceeding the president's personal attorney returned to the scene of the crime. rudy giuliani traveled to ukraine this week, but why? >> what's the ukraine trip all about? >> i am doing, today, all day, and all night, maybe, what i've been doing for a year and a half. i'm representing my client. >> so while he was representing his client, he's also tweeting about the investigation into the bidens as being unresolved, and as a major obstacle for u.s. assistance to ukraine, which some interpret as an explicit admission of quid pro quo. joining me now, msnbc legal analyst danny cevallos who knows what a quid pro quo is. are those tweets admission of that? >> not for rudy giuliani they're not. they're part of the core defense of republicans and the white house which is this. this is the only direction this defense is ultimately go. because trump happen admitted to the request,

hans nichols, thank you, my friend. still ahead, we'll dig more into the misgivings over the impeachment process, this time from republicans. >>> plus troubling claims from former colleagues of navy s.e.a.l. navy gallagher who allege in leaked videos that the former platoon leader was, quote, evil. a lot of folks ask me why their dishwasher doesn't get everything clean. i tell them, it may be your detergent... that's why more dishwasher brands recommend cascade platinum... ...with the soaking, scrubbing and rinsing built right in. for sparkling-clean dishes, the first time. cascade platinum. >> it's actually fundamentally as american as anything and it is a threat to the multi-racial, pluralistic, equal and open democracy that we've been fighting for in this country since people died on the battlefield in the civil war. >> welcome back, negotiations over the president's impeachment trial are still going on, despite congress being in recess until the beginning of the movement house speaker nancy pelosi has not yet transf

hans nichols reports >> reporter: the president tossing the coin at the army navy game as he prepares for his own impeachment battle ahead in the senate. comparing himself to brett cavanaugh during his contentious supreme court nomination after watching the disgraceful way that a wonderful man, brett cavanaugh, was treated by the democrats, i understand why so many dems are voting republican but ahead of next week's house vote, a possible democratic defection. >> there is nothing that has turned up that truly is impeachable. >> the new jersey democrat reportedly feeling the heat from the president. a democratic official telling nbc news they expect van drew to leave the party. but even with his anticipated no-vote, impeachment on track for a trial in the senate trump aide down playing reports that white house counsel pat cipollone will lead the president's senate defense. >> the president may have a number of attorneys helping him. >> reporter: as the president's senate allies advocate for a short trial without calling the bidens to testify. >> i want to end it. i don't want to legiti

hans nichols with the new news for us this hour. our exclusively to nbc news, thank you, tom nichols. thank you both. following a historic vote from the house judiciary committee, we're going to look ahead to another big one on wednesday. that is when the full house votes on whether to impeach an american president for only the third time in the nation's history. >>> but first, some new developments. nbc news confirms one moderate democrat, new jersey congressman, jeff van drew, expected to switch parties after a personal meeting with president trump. democrats can afford to have 17 defections on the impeachment vote expected on wednesday. but no more than that. a sign of the intense effort by the white house and house republicans to peel off democrats who might be on the fence on impeachment. now, earlier today, i spoke with california congressman harley ruda who hails from one of the reddest districts in california and i asked him what he thought about news of van drew's possible defection. >> i hope it's not true. in fact, i hope

hans nichols is traveling with the president. how is the president spending his downtime? >> reporter: well, he's gone to his golf resort. we never know for certain whether or not he's golfing there. they don't give you that information. we'll see if there's any update on that. sometimes you get a readout or a partner that he's played with confirms the president was playing golf. clearly impeachment is on his mind, impeachment as well as the president's counter-arguments and his most latest tweet is about the stock market. the nasdaq broke through the 9,000 barrier, an all-time high. the president is re-tweeting cnbc saying is best is yet to come. the president wanted to do a victory lap on the stock market. he also suggested in an indirect way the name of the whistle-blower, by re-tweeting something that linked to a washington examiner story that id'd the whistle-blower. and we had an acknowledgment that impeachment may be impeding his ability to undertake the duties of his office and is affecting his ability to be an effective commander in chief. he acknowledged this in

hans nichols at the white house for us. andrea mitchell. and peggy nunes. "wall street journal" columnist. nbc news political analyst. let me start with both sides of pennsylvania avenue. leanne, you know, in its own way, both nancy pelosi and mitch mcconnell seem to have one thing in common. they're very concerned about protecting their majorities. and they are trying to deal with this process in a way that both appeases a base and gives those vulnerable members some room to move. >> absolutely. you're seeing it first with house speaker nancy pelosi who's having to deal with -- with it more immediately. that's because they're in the impeachment process as we speak. and that's why they're watching all of these moderate democrats. these ones who come from the districts that president trump won in 2016. all eyes on them. in the past 24 hours, we've seen more than a handful of them come out supporting impeachment. so the floodgates might be opening. but republican sources have told me that they're very confident that republicans are going to stay united agains

. >> nbc's hans nichols is at the white house. the two articles of impeachment, abuse of power around the set of facts donald trump has largely fessed up to and obstruction of congress, policy there is a the white house has memorialized in multiple letters from the white house counsel. what's the reaction today to both those counts? >> reporter: nothing directly from the president. we should hear from him shortly. he's going to be greeting the paraguay president. we have two statements, one from the campaign and one from the press secretary. the press secretary one to me is the most interesting because it doesn't mention the word trial. the press secretary saying they look forward to the next process and to have due process and fair treatment, but nowhere in there is the word trial. that gives you an indication, especially when you add up all the comments this morning from pam bondi as well as mitch mcconnell last night that there's going to be no daylight between senate republicans and this white house. regardless of o who ends u

hans nichols, thank you. garrett haake, i know you have a busy one. we'll see you later on this morning. >>> i want to bring in congressman eric swalwell, democrat from california, member of the judiciary committee and intelligence committees. congressman, thank you for being with us. >> of course. >> and just in the interest of transparency, it's possible that senator mitch mcconnell is going to be speaking on the senate side. i want to be sure to have a conversation with you and we're going to listen in live to what he has to say, potentially to senator schumer. i've got to get your reaction to rudy giuliani claiming yovanovitch obstructed justice and claims she enabled ukrainian collusion. he says that she perjured herself before your committee. what say you? >> rudy giuliani is the president's lawyer and the president and rudy giuliani cleared and smeared ambassador yovanovitch so that the president could cheat an election using your taxpayer dollars for his personal gain. that's abuse of power and that's why we're voting this week to impeach the

hans nichols the following is president in south florida and he joins me now on all of this. hans, what might this actual news mean for the 12,000 plus american troops that are stationed in afghanistan? >> reporter: it means some of them might come home, kendis. we know that president barack obama has wanted to end this war, he campaigned on it and he's been boxed in by his generals to stay there alonger. when you listen to the president, he wants to get out, the notion of a crease fire, and i want to be clear here this is still notional, the u.s. has not confirmed this. the notion of a cease fire makes some sort of power sharing or peace arrangement more possible, more probably. you'll recall back in september the president had plans to bring the taliban to camp david to finalize a peace deal and then a couple of u.s. service members were killed. the president called it all off. there are so some concerns about the optics of having the taliban on u.s. soil so close to the 9/11 anniversary. now peace talks are back on track. the president talked about that when he visited afg

hans nichols is live for us in london, because hans, the president as we mentioned is getting ready to leave the white house. we showed a shot of air force one. the president, our colleagues are out on the south lawn now. the president is not. we are waiting for him. we've got our phones handy for updates. plenty of questions for the president, even as the white house is slamming democrats for purposely scheduling this hearing while the president is overseas meeting with world leaders. >> reporter: well, that's the democrats' take. the white house has said they're going to be planned on this trip which has long been in the books. the scheduling, regardless of that, the question here really is can donald trump stay focused on the nato summit. his aides clearly want him tochlt they've indicated to officials throughout the administration that they think that nato is in a much better place and they want the president to use a soft touch here. the challenge with any president, especially with donald trump, is how you stay on topic when the world is somewhat in flames. and to that extent, we

nichols the traveling with the president in florida hans, good morning >> reporter: good morning. the president is settling into vacation mode by settling scores, railing against everything from the green new deal to house speaker nancy pelosi, while thanking republicans for staying in lock step with him on impeachment >> on the first day of his christmas vacation, president trump receiving a warm welcome >> usa, usa. >> and the present that didn't need wrapping. >> it's a no vote on impeachment day. that was a no. i'll save that, dan. >> before a gathering of young conservatives, the president heralding gop unity on impeachment. >> no republican went. we had like 195 to nothing. >> and attacking nancy pelosi for not transmitting the articles of impeachment to the senate >> crazy nancy she's crazy. so now she says -- you know she has no case, so let's not submit that's good, right >> while thanking one house democrat and a 2020 contender for abstaining from voting against him. >> tulsi gabbard, i give her respect, she didn't vote the other day. i give her a lot of respect. >> and

if he was out at the golf course, he may have gotten a little wet. >> hans nichols, thank you so much for that update. >>> we got new details in the case involving eddie gallagher, the retired navy seal acquitted of shooting civilians and killing a captive isis fighter over the summer and acquittal that was pushed and celebrated by president trump point. people are talking suggesting that gallagher's misconduct is evil and toxic. president trump ordering the nye vi to allow gallagher to keep his rank. the fallout resulting in the ousted commander, richard spencer who opposed of gallagher's misconduct. kate snow is joining me. tell us what is being said. >> this is a case the president has been personally involved in. this is the case where gallagher was acquitted but now we have today from the weekly tv series from "the new york times" are new exclusively obtained navy interviews with the seal team members who first accused gallagher of misconduct. now you are hearing them in your own words, we want to warn you what you are about to see and hear, it is disturbing. >> i saw eddie takin

nbc's hans nichols is traveling with the president. good morning. >> reporter: as the president lingers, an impeachment limbo, he continue to lash out at nancy pelosi who's responding with silence. >> after an outing to his golf club. president trump is teeing off on nancy pelosi. >> crazy nancy pelosi should spend more time on her decaying city. one of the holiday attacks on pelosi who have not yet to respond holding her articles of impeachment passed by the house. the president taking aim at the alleged whistleblower that revealed his identity. meanwhile the speck tor of the senate trial spilling on the campaign train with joe biden asking conditions when he'll honor a senate subpoena. >> i will honor when the congress legitimately ask me to do. >> reporter: biden took to clarify that he'll not answer a sentence impeachment subpoena. >> i was always cooperated with legitimate congressional oversight. this impeachment is about tru trump's conduct and not mine. >> mayor pete buttigieg putting his faith on pelosi on impeachment. >> i tr

hans nichols with the holiday assignment following the president in florida. hans, good morning. what's the latest there? >> cory, i like the term assignment. look, the president spending these holidays quietly with, nothing on the public schedule. he's making an exception for twitter and taking him at nancy pelosi who stayed largely silent on whether or not she will send those articles of impeachment to the senate. president donald trump on holiday holiday r&r. pelosi not responding to trump's torrent of year-end tweets. former vice president joe biden told the des moines register that trump's accusations against him are thin. >> not one single person in that -- come patriots have said i did anything other than my job. >> he would not appear before the senate to testify in any impeachment trial. >> the reason i wouldn't is because it's all designed to deal with trump doing what he's done his whole life, trying to take the focus off him. >> as a democratic senator suggests that the number of republicans willing to challenge may be growing. >> i've talked to anywhere from five to

>> nbc's hans nichols joining us from the white house. thank you, hans. >> you bet. >>> the military says it is investigating a controversial hand signal flashed by students on the sidelines of yesterday's army/navy game. west point cadets and one annapolis midshipman captured on camera flashing what appears to be a white supremacist hand sign. this here is social media video of one of those signs captured during the pre-game crowd shots. the signal resembles the "okay" sign with the thumb and forefinger with the remaining three fingers someplaced out behind in the shape of a "w" and a "p" presumably for white power. it's viewed as a white power sign. although the gesture is also used in the so-called circle game. remember that kids game where someone holds a sign below their waist and they're able to punch the person who noticed it right in the shoulder. president trump, who attended the game has not commented on this incident. military officials say the intent of the students' actions at the time remains unclear. >>> a stunning breach a

nbc's hans nichols has that for us. hans is following the president in florida where he is spending the holiday. welcome to you, my friend. what all is the white house saying about this? >> when you listen to what the white house is saying on the sunday shows, they're trying to point out that nancy pelosi can't have it both ways. she can't claim impeachment is urgent, which is one of the reasons she claimed she needed to do it in september. and then delay transmitting the articles. so, have a listen to how white house officials talked about it on the sunday shows this morning. >> i think she overplayed her hand. i think they don't have a case and it's so very clear and she knows when it gets over to the senate, there will be actual evidence introduced and actual witnesses that will show even more that this president did nothing wrong. >> i'm confident this position is untenable and she'll move it along and mick cconnell and sch reach a deal. >> reporter: on the idea there's a deal out there to be head, when you listen t

nbc news white house correspondents, hans nichols. appreciate it. >>> let's bring in our panel, white house reporter for politico, and political reporter for bloomberg news, and professor at the alabama school of law, also a former u.s. attorney and an msnbc contributor. joyce, let's start with you on this. is senator kennedy right, basically there are no rules is what he is saying, that anything can possibly happen here? >> he's a little bit free form, but i think he has the essence of it down. this is not a criminal process. it's important to remember nobody is at risk of going to prison at the end of it. it's about whether or not the president keeps his job. and senator kennedy is also correct when he notes that the senators don't just play the traditional role that jurors play deciding what facts the evidence has proven. they also play an important role in determining what the procedure is and what the local standards are. but where i think he goes a little bit astray is in thinking that those rules are lindsay graham. but really

>> nbc's hans nichols in florida, west palm beach. thanks. >>> another story we're following this morning, the search for a missing southeast texas mom and her infant daughter. well it has come to a heartbreaking end with one person dead, one alive and a friend arrested. >> 33-year-old heidi broussard's body found in the trunk of a car. her 3 week old daughter found safe. her friend has been charged. we have more on this tragic story from texas. sam, you've been tracking this all week. how did investigators find baby margo? >> it is obviously very disturbing, good morning and it blind-sided heidi's friends and family, they discovered heidi in the trunk of a car on this property and just yesterday the cause of death determined to be strangulation. the big push from investigators trying to figure out how the woman who lived in this house, hei heidi's former friend, was involved. a massive search and rescue operation ending on this houston doorstep after a week hunt for heidi and her baby margo. authorities found the three week old infan

carlos curbelo, hans nichols, as always down there with the president. chuck you're going to be sticking around. we're also following breaking news, the ongoing search for a tour helicopter missing in hawaii with seven people on board. the hell cop disappeared late last night. a search began when the owner of the aircraft reported that it never returned from its tour. no signal has been received so far from that helicopter. a coast guard official said there was limited visibility and strong winds at the time. two of the passengers are believed to be minors. >>> coming up, the new year could bring new problems for cia director gina haspel. a new report shedding light on how the ongoing review of the origins of the russia investigation led by bill barr's handpicked prosecutor is putting her at the center of a politically toxic tug of war. >>> wage increases, strong records, new signs of a stronger economy heading into 2020, good news for president trump and potentially warning signs for democrats. how will they counter what could be trump's biggest asset i

. >> hans nichols is at the white house. >> reporter: last night the president repeating his charge. he did not have a direct response. it is all part of a white house strategy to question the process of impeachment even as the house moves closer to a vote actually impeach him. >> reporter: president trump appearing before a >> late saturday, president trump appearing before a friendly audience at the israeli-american council. >> what's the good news? tell me. i need some good news. i've got people trying to impeach me. >> the report concluding that no president is entitled to persist in office after committing high crimes and misdemeanors. the judiciary committee reports the latest salvo from house democrats as they prepare to vote on articles of impeachment as early as this week. but trump still open to a theory that his aides have debunked, that it was ukraine who meddled in the election. waiting for a debrief from rudy giuliani on what he discovered in his trip to ukraine, previewing two potential venues for giuliani to unveil his findings. >> i think he wants to go before congre

i'm joined now by nbc's hans nichols. he is in florida be the president. also with me, carlos curbelo. he's a former republican congressman from florida. he's also an msnbc political analyst. also with me is danielle dressner, professor of international politics at tufts university, and jonathan allen, national political reporter for nbc news. good to have all four of you. just moments ago, we got this letter from senator chuck schumer. it laid out documents for what he wants in a senate impeachment trial. what does this strategy mean for democrats as we head into this new year? >> well, it means they're using new evidence that's been put into the public domain to say they want more evidence. it means that this process, it looks like, is going to slow down for the moment. and i think, craig, in asking for specific documents from the white house, they're trying to get under president trump's skin. they're trying to produce these documents and they're trying to give themselves a window into potentially further court action, whether it's by the house or the s

nbc news correspondent hans nichols has a preview of what we can expect from lawmakers this week. >> reporter: as the house prepares to impeach the 45th president, both parties accusing the other of perverting justice. democrats say senate republicans are violating their oath to be impartial jurors in an impeachment trial. >> and it's a complete subversion of the constitutional scheme. >> reporter: mitch mcconnell said he is working in total coordination with the white house. >> we wouldn't be doing our job if we weren't working hand in hand with the senate to clear the president of this charade, this sham. >> reporter: senators will take an oath to do impartial justice at the start of the impeachment trial. some gop senators argue impartiality doesn't include politics. >> i'm not trying to hide the fact that i have disdain for the accusations and the process. >> reporter: tuesday the house rules committee will determine the length of debate. wednesday the full house will take up the articles. democrats expected to pass both, formally impeaching the president before the christmas bre

let's go to nbc's hans nichols who is traveling with the president on this holiday weekend in west palm beach, florida. these are heavily redacted documents. what else can you tell us about what's in them? >> reporter: yeah, well, it gives us a sense a little bit of what the bureaucracy looks like behind the scenes, but only a sense, phillip. we don't have a complete and clear picture, this in large part because many of the officials writing these emails haven't testified before -- they didn't testify before the house and it's unclear if they have testify before the senate. take michael duffey, he is the omb official that's basically in charge of funding for national security, so that includes a lot of military aid. this is all being housed in the white house through different agencies, whether it's the state department or the defense department. after that july 25th phone call -- and omb says, with he should be clear, that this is basically a coincidence, but basically 90 minutes after that call that president trump has with president zelensky duffy writes an email to dod saying basica

nbc's hans nichols is in florida traveling with the president, and ali arouzy. ali, what's the latest? >> geoff, the ambassador apparently was on leave for holiday when this attack happened, it makes sense, it's the holiday season. but we're told he's now on the way back to the embassy. we're hearing the staff is on lockdown at the embassy. they are in a secure part of the embassy. there is no plans to evacuate them at this moment in time, even though there's still some several dozen hard core protesters still warming the area around the embassy. it's important to point out this is a huge, fortified, sprawling embassy, and the embassy staff that are in there are probably deep inside the compound and they are very well protected. we're also getting reports that the u.s. is planning to increase security around the embassy in baghdad. approximately 100 marines will be deployed and additional security is being provided by apache helicopters from an air weapons team. so this is a very, very serious situation. but as it stands, the staff in there don't seem to be in a

joining me from the white house north lawn, nbc news correspondent hans nichols. also with us tom nichols, "usa today" columnist. hans, put this into context for us and the exclusive reporting that we have. >> so my colleague courtney kube broke this story that the white house intends to announce as early as next week this drawdown of troops. now, this is significant for a whole bunch of reasons. remember, it was about two and a half months ago that you and i were talking about that time that president trump invited the taliban to camp david and then canceled it abruptly and said all talks with the taliban were off. but at that point the intention of the president was very clear, that he wanted to bring down troops. at the time we thought they were 14,000 and there are actually 12,000. bring that down to 8,000 which they'll do through natural course of events going there. this wouldn't be whole units being drawn out of afghanistan. it gets you down to about 8,000. now, what that does to peace talks with the taliban, it's not quite certain. you mentioned the peace

all right, hans nichols traveling with the president this morning. hans, thank you so much. >>> joining me now, dave levinthal, editor at large at the center for public integrity, and sonam scheff with business insider. dave, you fought for and asked for the release of the emails. it talks about the aid and the president asking for the aid in june and michael duffey reiterated the official holding of the aid in july. what more can you tell us about that? because the omb, as you heard, said that the funding hold was placed on july 18th. >> correct, and some of the emails that we had indicated really the dialogue that was going on back and forth between key officials within the office of management and budget, the department of defense as well. and president trump earlier this year declared himself the most trance parent president in the history of the united states, but what we found all along is that his administration, he's been very, very reluctant or unwilling to release information that would shed additional light on exactly what was going on, pa

. >> nbc's hans nichols is traveling with the president in west palm beach florida, and hans, impeachment is at a stalemate for the holiday recess, as nancy pelosi holds on to the two articles. how is he responding? >> reporter: the president is responding by taking to twitter. we've seen him do this throughout his vacation where he attacks nancy pelosi for perceived unfairness, called her crazy the other day, really going after almost every day that he has been on vacation. there has been no official statement, but clearly, the president has been active on twitter. and meanwhile, there's some potential developments on a potential trial in the senate. and i hedge that, because we heard from senator richard blumenthal earlier and the senator from connecticut talked about how there might be five to ten republican senators who want to see a different process in the senate. potentially a process with witnesses. fairness is the watch word that he is using. and what blumenthal is doing is he is seizing upon those comments from senator murkowski, the republican from alaska where , she was critic

nbc's hans nichols joins us now from the white house. hans, it's an amazing letter. >> reporter: yeah. >> what's it for? what's the point of this? because there is a process under way at various times. in this process the president has been formally invited to participate or have his lawyers participate at various times. he's refused other people's participation and his own. >> reporter: yeah. >> what's this letter meant to do? >> reporter: it's unclear. if this were written in nor legalese and drafted by an attorney, not the president, the president's signature is at the bottom of it and i don't think anyone doubts that the president wrote or dictated this letter. but if this letter had more of a patina legal argument we could think of it as a motion to dismiss. it's not a closing argument because we haven't gone to the trial phase of this. what this does is bottles all of trump's grievances not only for the last two months but the last three years. he's enum rating them here and letting everyone know for the sake of historical record w

joining me now from london is nbc he's hans nichols. hans, we know that spending, defense spending, is likely to be huge talk at the summit. the president has taken credit for the idea that other member countries have increased defense spending to get up to the target. that is -- that is meant for nato members to reach. is that fair for him to have taken credit? and is that going to continue this week? is he going to continue that message? that you all need to -- to spend more on defense. >> he'll likely continue that message. the question is, will other messages drowned it out? the president's en route right now. he papparently has wi-fi on air force one and he's tweeting almost much more about the impeachment inquiry than about the nato summit he's coming here to attend. it's about 3-1 when you look at the tweet ratio. the question is, ali, will that ratio hold for this week. because as you mentioned, some of the president's top advisors want him to talk act nato. t t the successes they've had. one number they'd like to cite. you aske

gigi. >> hans nichols from west palm beach, florida. thanks. >>> president's remarks coming as speaker nancy pelosi continues to hold the articles of impeachment from the senate after a historic debate and vote in the house that showcased the severity of the political divide in washington. >> today, as speaker of the house, i solemnly and sadly open the debate on the impeachment of the president of the united states. >> this isn't about some solemn duty tonight. let's talk about what this is really about. this has been about a political vendetta. >> some say this impeachment is about eight lines in a call transcript. but there is so much more. this was about a scheme that lasted months and involved dozens of trump administration officials. >> the real abuse of power here is on the part of the house democrats. they have feverishly produced and pursued this impeachment 20 times faster than the impeachment investigation of bill clinton. >> summons the courage to vote for our constitution and our democracy. i understand we will all not see

we get more from hans nichols. >> reporter: tonight president trump dealing with a republican defection on impeachment alaskan senator lisa murkowski signaling she's unhappy with mitch mcconnell's pledge to work in total coordination with the white house. >> when i heard that, i was disturbed. >> reporter: she defied party leaders in the past responding to these comments from the senate majority leader last week >> i'll take my cues from the president's lawyers. >> reporter: murkowski demanding some distance from the white house. >> we have to take that step back from being hand in glove with the defense i need to be able to sit back and look at both sides of this. >> reporter: president trump has relished in republican unity on impeachment. >> we had 196 or so republicans voting 100%. we didn't lose one republican vote in the house. >> reporter: while putting his faith in mcconnell's senate moves. >> ultimately, that decision will be made by mitch mcconnell and he will make it. he has the right to do whatever he wants he's the head of the senate. >> reporter: trump admitting impeachmen

nbc's hans nichols rornts reports. >> the president tossing the coin at the army navy game as he prepares for his own impeachment battle preparing himself to brett kavanaugh ahead of the nomination. after watching the disgraceful way that a wonderful man brett kavanaugh was treated -- >> a possible democratic defection. >> there's nothing that turned up that truly is impeachable. >> the new jersey democrat reportedly feeling the heat from the president. a democratic official telling nbc news they expect van drew to leave the party. each with his anticipated no vote, impeachment on track for a trial in the senate. trump aide downplaying reports that white house counsel pat cipollone i will lead the defense. >> the president may have a number of attorneys helping him. >> as the president senate allies advocate for a short trial without calling the bidens to testify. >> i want to end it. i hate what they're doing. >> graham is open to hearing directly from rudy giuliani. who met with the president after returning from ukraine. but outside the impeachment process. >> rudy, if you want to tell

let's go to nbc's hans nichols traveling with the president this holiday in south florida. he is in west palm beach, on hazard pay duty out there. what's the white house's strategy during this impasse? >> reporter: well, if you look at just the white house, it appears to be to ignore what is happening and not really respond on a day-to-day basis. you saw the president last night at that signing ceremony staying on message. they're at joint base andrews not weighing in to impeachment. not engaging with his critics. now later on in the evening, he did respond on twitter, and there is always that distinction, you see this so much on capitol hill, between what the white house is doing, officially, and what the president's rhetoric is, and the official moments and then what his twitter feed and his campaign rallies are like it. is almost two separate tracts now. they like the advantages of that because at times the president can appear presidential. and other times, he can get down there and fight with democrats, and try to rally up his base. but so far, it seems that they have

hans nichols. i want to bring in msnbc's legal analyst danny a val is. danny, talk to me about whether there is and whether there needs to be a legal strategy in the -- in the senate trial. it is, in theory, a trial. it is, in practice, governed by the chief justice of the supreme court. but in the end, it's a political matter. it's a vote and it would take two-thirds of all the senators to vote to remove the president for him to be removed from office. >> it's interesting you mention that the chief justice, the constitution says that he presides over the senate trial. but what is exactly presiding in this case? because we know that the senate can overrule him, which goes back to the idea that ko cosmetically, the senate trial looks like a trial but it's nothing like a trial in practice. it's purely political. as evidence by the fact that we, lawyers, in court have volumes of leather-bound books on procedure we have to follow. even the last impeachment trial of president clinton isn't necessarily controlling on this senate. they create the rules as they

nbc's hans nichols is traveling with the president. he's in london. corey shocky from the international institute for senior studies, also a former official on the national security council. we heard there are roughly 200 protesters there who have been killed since the protesting over government fixed gas prices started. it was even by this president's standards, even by this administration's standards, it was at times quite odd. >> reporter: the president feels liberated to talk. the sun isn't down and the president is taking questions from the press from almost two hours today in his three events. let's tick off the fourth. the first is what he started off with which is clearly enunciating he stands with the protesters in iran. in an earlier one he didn't want to comment. you mentioned camp david. that's where the g7 summit will be held. when he talked about the china trade deal, he explicitly pushed back against this notion he's worried about what it will do to 401(k)s, to the stock market. we'll see if there's any reaction to that while the presid

biden is clearly preserving his ability define what's lawful or legitimate. >> hans nichols with the president in west palm beach florida. >>> you just heard the last piece. on the biden matter, he's been all over the place. first saying he would not respond to a congressional subpoena. now he's walked that back. does the back and forth hurt him at this point. >> actually, garrett, biden mentioned that he thought the episode was going to bring news and he had -- he knew that reversing his statements would call for attention and what his campaign has been focusing on was pushing the attention off of him and his son and back on to the president, staying out of the argument, out of the hearing, out of the inquiry. right now the decision to say that he would not and then he would oblige to a subpoena really puts the spotlight back on him and his campaign when they're trying to make sure voters are paying attention to the presidential candidacy that he's running for. >> dave, realistically, what are the chances that biden actually gets called to testify in the impeachment trial? aren't we

correspondent hans nichols traveling with the president. hans, it's been a day over there, and i'd love you to walk us through it, including the kind of viral moment. what happened there and how it has affected the rest of the day you've covered. >> reporter: well, the latest from the president is he's canceling his press conference. so, there's supposed to be a press conference that wrapped up and bottled up the trip. the president hinted earlier that he wasn't going to do it because he's given so much press access. now that's official and he says they'll be heading straight home to washington after this next round of meetings. so it's ending a little bit earlier, brian. look, what the president said during his engagement with angela merkel, everybody was looking for a back-and-forth like with macron, because the president is in a different space with either leaders on the role of nato and how much defense spending there should actually be. the target of his eyre was trudeau, who he met with yesterday. and let's listen to how trudeau descr