Because its all designed to deal with trump doing what hes done his whole life, trying to take the focus off him. In fairness, when i heard that i was disturbed. I heard what leader mcconnell had said. I happen to think that that has further confused the process. I think that Mitch Mcconnell eventually will be forced by these cracks in his implaquable wall, in lizza murkowskis comments and other colleagues who are saying it privately. Will they say it publicly . If it were today i dont believe he would win. Living out there i will tell you, his level of support has not gone down one inch. Stirring of conscience as the New York Times is putting it happening in the senate. This week the crack started to show when the Republican Party leaders plans for on impeachment trial. We have a team of reporters and analysts following this for us. Lets begin with the days headline, a stirring of conscience in the senate. Highlighting a breach in the impeachment wall after at least one republican said she wants the trial to be more than just a test of party loyalty. Will other fires, an geer rin, white house correspondent, good morning to you. Before we get into the potential of any defection here, whats the expectation, or there an expectation of when this impeachment trial could start . Your guess is as good as mine. The earliest to be a little more than a week from now. It seems more likely it would be considerably farther into january. Speaker pelosi is going to take this, you know, the republicans would say shes dragging it out. She would say shes taking her time, waiting to see what the republicans will do or tell her they will do in terms of rules and procedures for the senate trial before she appoints house managers and formally sends the case to the senate. I dont really realistically expect that to happen until the second to third week of january at the earliest. And from there, then the debate starts about whether its a te the betting the strong betting at this point being that its going to be much more on the shorter side. We do wait with baited breath to see how things play out when they come back on january 7th. Is there a point she could hold it too long and could hurt the Party Instead of helping or does she just gain leverage as time goes on . Thats exactly the calculation that she and democrats around her will have to make. At the moment the feeling is for sure that democrats are gaining leverage, because you see how annoyed and unnerved this delay and uncertainty appears to be making the president. It hasnt appeared to change the basic outline of what we expect to see here in terms of changing the level of support among republicans or in any way weakening democrats resolve to go forward. But it does at the moment gain her a little bit more leverage. The danger then is that it starts to seem like shes prolonging this for political gain, which could backfire. We did hear trump talking about how it could be a good thing for him if she holds it over its too weak. It almost sounds like him doing a little bit of reverse psychology hoping for them to put it through. Heres Msnbcs Steve Kornacki with possible gop defecktors. You see these four names a lot whether it comes to convicti conviction. What do all four have in common . All four are running for reelection in 2020. All four have to face the voters. Collins in a state that clinton won. Gardner in a state that clinton won. Mcsally in a state that trump only barely won and seems to have gotten bluer. And tiller in a blue state. All of them have to think about how this vote is going to resonate with general election voters. I think most of the time that weeb been covering impeachment here in the last several months has been this talk of, its in the senate snaut, its a slam dunk for not impeaching and not finding mr. Trump guilty. But do you think there could be enough republicans that could force Mitch Mcconnell to at least call witnesses . The leverage between moderate and vulnerable republicans is stronger than i think a lot of people are assuming. But mcconnell has been very firm in his public statements, that he wants this to be done and dusted, nothing to see here, folks, this is all a big, you know, ridiculous he cannercize that we have to go through, lets get it done in the most brisk manner possible to emphasis it at least in his public messaging that he thinks its insignificant. When you have the statements like we had on Christmas Eve from Lisa Murkowski, that does start to make things difficult for him. I have found it interesting that in the days since mcconnell has not really done anything to criticize her publicly, even though her criticism of the way that the process is coming together was directed absolutely straight at her leader, at mcconnell, saying that this should not the senate should not be a rubberstamp, she doesnt want to take part in a process that looks like it is being run fairly and giving the defend in this case, the president , a chance to make his case, but also to give the case itself a good hearing. And thats a reflection of her independent streak but also the fact that she has been willing in the past to buck her party, and mcconnell has to know that, and has to know that he has to give people like murkowski, like romney, a little bit of elbow room. Senator blumenthal suggested some republicans might not support the way its going. Do you think thats plausible . It seems like a little on the high end. There certainly are five, six, maybe, the six that steve car naky had up there are the usual subjects, who, you know, have some private to moderately public misgivings. But even in, you know, the stropgts of those so far is murkowski. In the same breath she said she does not want to be a rubberstamp, shes also saying that the democrats case is weak. She is not suggesting here publicly that shes going to be a strong voice, siding with the democrats here. What shes saying it she doesnt want this to be rushed through and given its due. Those are two very different things. They are. Not only do voters need to remember that, but democrats do too. Anne, thank you so much. President trump spending his holiday venting on twitter with postchristmas tweet storm over the impeachment. Joining me now this morning, kevin zblerilly chief washington correspondent at bloomberg. President trumps tweet storm against nancy pelosi, the intended effect versus actual. Its a belated merry christmas. I was opening christmas as these were coming in. First and foremost, President Trump continuing to dig in on the battle lines that have been drawn here as it relates to impeachment. When you look at states like michigan, ohio, wisconsin, you see these staiz states where President Trump is polling well, he feels like the impeachment is going to be able to rally his base and allow him to draw a contrast with democrats for what hes been able to say is running on a successful economy. The best defense is a good offense or vice versa. Is the white house bracing for a worstcase scenario . You saw this earlier this week where Lisa Murkowski suggested she wanted to see a fair trial in the senate. Thats very different than suggesting that he should be convict t convicted on impeachment. I dont think that the white house right now sees as a possibility the Republicancontrolled Senate would vote to convict him. In contrast to that, they are continuously talking about the economy at the same time that many of the democratic president ial candidates and downballot races are saying that the economy didnt working well for everyone. That is a fight that President Trump candidly is willing to have every single day of the week. The impeachment issue doesnt feel as a real threat of a removal from office for him. With this tweet storm that hes continuing during the holidays, does he have a chance of alienating the republicans who are supporting him and strong with this . When the house voted to impeach, we heard some of themself saying it would be best if he didnt talk about it at all . I think its more of the family members of political junkies that have to deal with their family members. Put your phone away during dinner. Exactly. I dont. This has been something that the president has done for time and time again. I think the stock market has gopt used to it. They dont blink on these tweets anymore as it relates to impeachment. I think it just shows the type of volatile, to put it mildly, month that were going to have in january. So give us a serrilly exclusive. What are you hearing, do you think wiptnes will be called . . I think i was talking with sources yesterday, and i think youre going to hear from senator susan collins, perhaps echoes of wanting a fair trail. But again i dont see, based upon my reporting, any republicans out there going to be breaking in terms of voting to convict. Mitt romney could emerge as a voice in terms of wanting there to be a fair trial. But its all about that careful verbiage of wanting a fair trial but not wanting to convict. Im interested to see what doug jones does, that democrat that defeated roy moore, hes got a tough race potentially against jeff sessions. Would jones back sessions . We snow trump and session haves some beef. I havent trump come out and say, i for give you. Exactly. We have seen him flip in the past in terms of other allies. If youre loyal to him, he is loyal to you. Yeah. Before i let you go, the president this week reacting to his cameo being cut out from the home alone two. Do you believe this . It was tragic. He tweeted, i guess justin t. Doesnt like my making him pay up on nato or trade, he jokingly of course said the movie will never be the same. What do you think . Im a huge, huge, huge home alone fan, i think you cant touch a classic. The sequel is just as good as the o. G. Home alone. But everything is political now. Right. I dont think they knew up in canada what they were getting themselves into when they took him out of that movie. They did not. I agree with you. Hut him in the movie. They claim they cut it a long time ago, it wasnt political, but everything is these days. Well kevin mccalster. Right. Youre going to follow that one for us. Keep us updated. Thanks, kevin. Thank you. Lets get to breaking news out of somalia where the death toll from a truck bomb has soared to 73. Authorities expect the toll to continue to rise. Matt bradley, what are you learning here . Cory that death toll that you mentioned, its been rising all morning, and fishlgz at the scene, theyre certain its going to keep increasing throughout the day. No exage ration to say that this is one of the deadliest attacks in years in in a country thats been no stranger to appalling violence. As it stands that death count is more than 60, more than 70 in just the last couple of hours. A member of so maul Laws Parliament has said its risen beyond 90 people. Among the dead, solders, civilians, university students. Its the latest in a strong of terror attacks, particularly in mowinga dish ew, the capital. This was in the morning, where a truck detonated at a security checkpoint. The bombing reminded many of a similar attack back in 2017. Thats when nearly 600 people were killed, also in a bombing like this. And no one claimed responsibility for that horrific attack. And so far today, no one has claimed any responsibility for this mornings bombing. But somalis and foreign observers are likely to focus their blame on al shab ab, thats the Islamic Militant groups that been in the country for many years. Its launched a lot of attacks. Al shab ab is only the latest to take to the lead in tearing somalia apart. Bombings like this mornings are part of a nearly 30year civil war thats torn this country apart since 1991. As you said, well continue to follow the latest situation out of moega disha, tragic to hear 90 dead. Thank you. Millions of people heading back from their Holiday Travels this week, the severe Winter Travel making things difficult from coast to coast. From coast to coast. Some things are too important to do yourself. Get customized security with 24 7 monitoring from xfinity home. Awarded the best professionally installed system by cnet. Simple. Easy. Awesome. Call, click or visit a store today. For any of you jet setting this weekend, you should factor in some extra travel time for delays. Blizzard conditions possible in the northern plains, thunderstorms in the mississippi valley, and vain in the pacific northwest. Kathy park is in Laguardia Airport with more. Is the weather already impacting travel is the question . Because theres kind of a mish mosh across the country with travel. Right. Good morning. We are here at laguardia. I have some good news. If youre flying into the airport or out, no major delays. In fact the security line is moving pretty quickly but later on today it could be a much different story in parts of the midwest in one of the busiest travel weekends of the year. Winter weather causing chaos across the country. In lubbock county, texas, a highway is back over after a multi car pileup. A news crew caught this after news crews ran from a crashing semi. The wreck sending two to the hospital with minor injuries. The low visibility and coming off that overpass made it hard for folks to see. In southern wisconsin, a train jumped the snowy tracks derailing cars. And it didnt help Holiday Travelers headed home in southern california, with some places getting nearly two feet of snow, authorities shut down interstates stranding drivers for hours. Big rigs were getting stuck out there. But not everyone out west is upset about this rare holiday snow. Its awesome. It kept piling up in strawberry, arizona, getting close to 10 inches. And in chicago, another unusual weather event, climbing temperatures in des. Residents enjoying the winter warmup jet skig in lake michigan. But cory, with this bad weather on the move, a couple of tips. If you plan on flying out, its probably a good idea to check your flight status regularly. If you plan on driving, in addition to the weather, this is a regard year for Holiday Travel opinion more than 100 million folks will be hitting the roads through january 1st. 4 million more than last year. Thank you so much for faring the airport to check in. A grim discovery after a sightseeing tour helicopter crashed in hawaii. Most of the remains were found of the passengers. The passenger manifest confirms seven individuals were onboard the aircraft and we have recovered six sets of remains. There are no indications of survivors. Joining me now from kauai is sarah harman. We know authorities are looking for one more person. Theyll begin the search at first light. What can you tell us about the operation . Yeah, cory, this is the news that no one wanted after that helicopter went missing late thursday. And these aerial tours, these are some of the most popular activities you can do here. This accident is shending shock waves through the community. This morning heartbreak in hawaii. There are no indications of survivors. The remains of six of the seven people onboard discovered in a remote Mountain Region on the island of kauai after a tour helicopter crashed. The chopper carrying two families including children was due back around 5 30, but never returned. Their last contact came as the pilot was leaving a canyon area along the coast, a region known for its stunning scenery. Its unclear what caused the crash. Like any place, there are some dangers. That area is known for having beautiful sunny days, and that can change within a matter of an hour or a half an hour. Crews battled wind and dofog searching into the night. The Kauai Fire Department says the green and white chopper was operated by sa fari helicopters, the islands third oldest helicopter business operating in kauai for more than 30 years. The company has not commented. The deadly accident devastating this small, tight nigknit community. I think when Something Like this happens it makes everyone involved reflect on how fragile and precious life is. An island in morning after a tragedy in paradise. The ntsb is now taking the lead into investigating what may have caused this tragic accident, as local authorities here work to notify the next of kin. Cory. We hope they find that seventh body. Sarah harman in kauai, thank you. Senators concerned about the direction the impeachment trial may be heading. May be heading the zip code youre born into can determine your future. Your school. Your job. Your dreams. Your problems. indistinct shouting but at the y, we create opportunities for everyone, no matter who you are or where youre from. For a better us, donate to your local y today. For a better us, frustrated that clean clothes you want to wear always seem to need an iron . Next time try bounce wrinkle guard dryer sheets. Just toss it in the dryer to bounce out wrinkles. We dried these shorts with bounce wrinkle guard, and a pair without. The bounce wrinkle guard shorts have fewer wrinkles and static, and more softness. Its the worlds first mega sheet that does the job of three dryer sheets. It also comes in unscented. If you dont love bounce wrinkle guard, well give you your money back. Now back to impeachment and the president s apparent frustration with the trial, simmering with a but rage of tweets. Hans nichols with the holiday assignment following the president in florida. Hans, good morning. Whats the latest there . Cory, i like the term assignment. Look, the president spending these holidays quietly with, nothing on the public schedule. Hes 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 trumps torrent of yearend tweets. Former Vice President joe biden told the Des Moines Register that trumps 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 wouldnt is because its all designed to deal with trump doing what hes 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. Ive talked to anywhere from five to ten of my colleagues who have very severe misgivings about the direction Mitch Mcconnell is going. Those comments coming after Lisa Murkowski criticized mcconnell for promising to work in total coordination with the white house on impeachment. I was disturbed. Meanwhile as the president vacations at maralago as an official res dont, his daughter is considering calling washington, d. C. Home. My decisions will always be flexible enough to ensure that their needs are being considered. And the president also last night suggesting that Hillary Clinton should run again for president in 2020, but sarcasm there and suggesting that she should campaign in states like wisconsin, north carolina, pennsylvania, indication the president is having a little bit of fun on twitter. He does have something public on his schedule later in the week, next week, he has a rally with evangelicals down in miami. Add in his comments from home alone 2 and he is having quite a lot of fun down there in florida. Hans nichols, thank you, and good morning to you. With only 37 days left until the nations first primary caucus in iowa, candidates are back on the trail following the holidays. Joining me now nbc road warrior Shaquille Brewster in des moines following it all. Senator Amy Klobuchar in the most recent poll from iowa is in fiveth among all of the democrats, still 20 points behind the frond runner who is pete buttigieg. How is her campaign continuing to bring those numbers up as she chugs along . Just a lot of traveling, spending a lot of time here. Ill tell you it was a very kbieet few days as the dwits christmas candidates paused and got to spend time with their family. But things are back in full force with many of the candidates back here in iowa. The polls shows that mayor pete is in the lead here, but it is still an incredibly close race, especially when you consider that many iowans are still open to other candidates and supporting other candidates. So thats why you have canned lats like Amy Klobuchar spending a lot of time here. A bus tour. And last night wrapped up a tour through 99 counties. She came to des moines and had a celebration with supporters here. There she was asked about the momentum she was receiving and feeling since the last debate. She was asked if this impeachment proceedings, if theres a senate trial dealing with impeachment, how will she continue her momentum . Listen to what she told us. I have a lot of faith in the people in the four early states, including nevada, South Carolina and iowa, New Hampshire abwnd they get that were not going to be able to be roaming around if we have to be in the senate for that trial. Thats our constitutional duty. And part of the reason that our get those 27 counties done in three and a half days i realized i may not be able to come back like i planned. Ive got my family who are great campaigners, ive got my friends, the most endorsements of anyone in the state of iowa. And she is one of the five senators who may have to leave the campaign trail and spend a lot of time in iowa come january. Youre hearing the campaigns talk about different strategies. That was her strategy. The Sanders Campaign openly considering being in d. C. By day and then flying out to these early states, iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina, by night. Cory . A lot of sleepless nights until february 3rd. Youll be following it all. Thank you so much. New accusations against a retired navy seal whos case was championed by donald trump. A retired navy admiral talks to us about the case. D navy admira us about the case. Sleep this amazing . Thats a zzzquil pure zzzs sleep. Our liquid has a unique botanical blend, while an optimal melatonin level means no nextday grogginess. Zzzquil pure zzzs. Naturally superior sleep. We are learning more today about the accusations against a retired navy seal pardoned by President Trump. Navy seal special operations chief Eddy Gallagher was republican a guest of maralago. But new messages obtained by the New York Times give shocking details about him. Kate snow takes a look at the video evidence. Some viewers may find this report disturbing. The guy got crazier and crazier. In 2018, one after another, navy seals expressed grave concerns about their platoon leader. He thought it was perfectly okay with killing anybody. They are going against this unwritten rule of not taking dirty laundry outside of the seals. In navy tapes obtained by the weekly, they accused gallagher of targeting civilians, women and children. I saw eddy take a shot a a 12yearold kid. It turned into the platoon being eddys escort to get him from place to place to get the sniper out. Team members say they would intentionally fire shots to warn civilians. Other snipers would shoot so they would run away and hide before eddy would engage them. They were trying to protect the civilians from eddy. Obtaining helmet video never seen before, a young isis fighter woirchded by a pom. Eddy came over the radio and said, dont touch him. I got him. Nobody touch him. Hes all mine. Seen with a medical bag and then the camera goes black. Start stabbing the dude. I see eddy laying over on the night sticking in his neck. In a tech message later the New York Times said he writes, got him with my hunting knife. Did he say anything or just literally pulled out a knife. Pulled out a knife and started stabbing him. But that seal changed his story in a bombshell moment at the trial last summer. After being granted immunity he said he was the one who killed the fighterer. Did you suffocate him . Yes. He was acquitted on charges of murder and attempted murder. He was found guilty of posing with a corpse. They told these fake stories. The Attorney Says the New York Times is trying to relitigate the story and says gallagher has asked him to sue reporter dave philips. Theres a couple of members who had a personal animosity towards Eddy Gallagher. They didnt perform well in combat. They were afraid of being called out for being cowards. They made up a story and went with it. This past weekend gallagher posed for photos with President Trump at maralago. He was a greater fighter, tough guy. In november, President Trump ordered the pentagon not to strip gallagher of his rank and trident pin. Were on cloud nine. I can tell you that my family is completely grateful for this decision. That was nbcs kate snow reporting. An attorney for cory scott is not commenting. Nbc news has not spoken with any of the individual seals but the New York Times says it reached out to every one of them and they all declined to comment. Lets bring in retired four star, and chief international and security diplomacy, hes also the author of sailing true north. Admiral, thank you for coming in today to talk with us about all of this and laying it out. We appreciate your time. Youve had a chance to check out the New York Times reporting. Whats your takeaway . Have you ever seen this sort of scenario before . Not in this bold and scriptive terms that these seals lay out. I find it personally very compelling. Let me start with one thing, cory, which is for everybody watching, this is not who the u. S. Military is. Regardless of how you adjudicate finally chief Eddy Gallagher, 90. 90 of our troops, u. S. Marines, are full of integrity. We dont have these kind of issues. Theyre unbelievably rare. So it is shocking for me to see according to New York Times reporting, seven out of the roughly 20 people in this platoon came forward, overcame that seal code of, dont ever talk outside the seals, and in very descriptive terms laid out a cases to me that appears to be very compelling. It was adjudicated in a court, and chief gallagher was exonerated on most of the charges. He was convicted, as kate snow told us, on posing with a corporatio corpse. Bottomline, i think we should let the Seal Community and the u. S. Military adjudicate these cases. Thats why i am concerned when we see the president jump in the middle of it. He was accused by seals. He was convicted of the charge of posing with a corpse by a jury that included special forces. Thats where the case should have roasted in my view. Versus getting the president involved, which is highly unusual. Another point to point out i guess in kate snows report, something very interesting with the helmet camera where it suddenly went dark. Did you notice that . If so, what does that tell you . It ought to give us the same reaction when Police Footage with a body cam of a Police Officer just suddenly goes blank at a very critical moment. Its going to arouse suspicion. Its going to concern us. And again, the bottom line here is, so many of our troops in those kind of close combat situations, it is stressful. Its unbelievably hard to accommodate all of that. But we have these standards that include unafraid to have that kind of recording, our troops do the right thing. In this case, it has to make you question when that snaps off at the critical moment in the entire proceeding. Now, the times reports that one of the seals, special operator first class craig miller broke into tears, saying this is the first time ive really broken up about this. You did mention that it is unusual for seals to break ranks and testify against one of their own. The number of witnesses has got to really strike you, seven coming together on this. Indeed. That is i think the most compelling peace of this. If it were one seal or possibly two of them, and you had a sense that they were colluding in some way. But if you look at the reporting to the New York Times, it is seven of them. There are Text Messages which the New York Times obtained, say things like hey, we have to be careful we dont slander the chief. Just tell the truth. We have an obligation here. I found it very compelling all the way around. And i think what we have to ask ourselves, cory, is what is the impact after all of this . When the president invites chief gallagher to maralago and there are celebratory photographs of him there . At a minimum, chief gallagher is convicted of posing with a corpse. At a minimum, hes accused of much worse than that, although acquitted. My reaction is President Trump, couldnt you invite real heroes, people that have not accused of war crimes, people that have not ended up posing with corpses and sending Text Messages like i got him with my hunting knife . There are so many great heroes in our u. S. Military. Thats who we ought to be talking about. If you want a counterveelg story, go watch loan survivor about lieutenant michael murphy, a navy seal, died in 2008, recipient of medal of honor for choices he made that were incredibly ethical and moral. Thats who this military is. Those clohoices are never ea. He said my first reaction to seeing this video was surprise and disgust that they would make up lies about me. I realized they were scared that the truth would come out of how cowardly they acted on deemployment. I felt sorry for them that they felt necessary to smear my name but they never realized what the cons kwerpss of their lives would be. The videos also gave me confidence because i knew their lies wouldnt hold up. Their lies and nciss refusal to ask hard questioned strengthened my its a complicated case. Chief gallagher is correct when he points out that he was charged and acquitted of the basket of most serious charges. I would say that again personally, as i listen to those seals and you hear in the tone in their voices and if you know anything about the seals, you know how hard it is for them to come forward, when its that many of them and the stories to me sound roughly consistent, it raises suspicion. Bottomline, he was acquitted on those charges, and he was pardoned by the president of the one charge upon which he was convicted. But having said all that, my reaction is, this is a case that ought to make us all pause and think about the stress and the tension in these battlefield operations, but also of the utterly high standards to which we have to hold all of our soldiers, airmen, sailors and marines. It brings up more questions. Admiral, its an honor to have you here. Thank you for your service. Thank you. Joe biden on whether he would legally have to comply with a subpoena to testify in the Senate Impeachment trial. Mel at chevy, were all family. Were a festive family. Were a fourlegged family. Were a getupandgo family. Were a ski family. Were all part of the chevy family. And as we kick off the new year, wed like you to be a part of ours. Because our chevy employee discount is Still Available to everyone. The chevy price you pay is what we pay. Not a cent more. So happy new year, and welcome to the family. The chevy family the chevy employee discount for everyone ends soon. That will makeout washington insiders very uncomfortable term limits. You and i both know we need term limits, that congress shouldnt be a lifetime appointment. But members of congress, and the corporations whove bought our democracy hate term limits. Too bad. Im tom steyer and i approve this message because the only way we get universal healthcare, address Climate Change and make our economy more fair is to change business as usual in washington. Im part of a community of problem solvers. We make ideas grow. From an everyday solution. To one that can take on a bigger challenge. From packaging tape. To tape that can bond materials to buildings. And planes. One idea can unlock a breadth of solutions. At 3m, we are solving problems that improve lives. Are you currently using a whitening toothpaste, a breadth of solutions. But not seeing results . Try crest 3d whitestrips. Its enamelsafe formula lifts and removes stains to provide 100 noticeably whiter teeth or your money back. Try crest 3d whitestrips. Apps except work. Rywhere. Why is that . Is it because people love filling out forms . Maybe they like checking with their supervisor to see how much Vacation Time they have. Or sending corporate their expense reports. Ill let you in on a little secret. They dont. By empowering employees to manage their own tasks, paycom frees you to focus on the business of business. To learn more, visit paycom. Com everything your trip needs for everyone you love. Expedia. Do you stand by your earlier statements that you wouldnt comply if you subpoenaed to testify in an impeachment trial before the senate . Correct. And the reason i wouldnt is because its all designed to deal with trump doing what hes done his whole life, trying to take the focus off him. This guy violated the constitution. He said it in the driveway of the white house. Former Vice President joe biden yesterday reiterating his decision not to comply with the subpoena if one was issued by the senate. Joining me now nbc legal analyst danny savalo. Is he legally obligated to comply . He is absolutely legally o obligated to comply. I suspect joe biden might walk back this statement a little bit. He actually gave a reason for why he wouldnt comply, to which his lawyers must be doing a face palm thinking youve just eliminated any of the legitimate reasons that we might not want to comply or argue we have some privilege, whether it be First Amendment or some other kind of privilege. Hes essentially saying i wouldnt comply because i dont agree with how this has been done or what trump has been doing or trump has done something equally bad. Those are not legitimate grounds to refuse to comply with a senate subpoena. Joe biden knows this because hes a former senator. He probably knows better than most that when it comes to private individuals, the Supreme Court has since 1821 affirmed that congress has the power to subpoena or get documents or testimony from private individuals and that is an unquestioned power. Joe biden risks congressional contempt if he doesnt comply. Its okay for him to bluster, maybe bluff a little bit, but ultimately when push comes to shove, its not a good idea for joe biden or anyone to refuse to comply with a senate subpoena. Lets play this out a little bit, if he does go ahead and testify, would he even be a relevant witness for the trial . If not, would the testimony even be admissible . The senate makes its own rules. The rules of admissibility in criminal courts are decided by the rules of evidence and rules of procedure which have been laid out for a long, long time but impeachment trials are a totally different creature. The senate recreates its own rules with each impeachment. Issues of admissibility are left to the chief justice who, quote, presides over the proceedings, but the senate can overrule the chief justice. So issues of admissibility of generally left up to the senate and they can decide anew with each trial. Danny, thank you. And david gura talks to the editor of usa today about this piece getting a lot of attention, beating donald trump in the 2020 election isnt everything; its the only thing. Thats next. Everything; its the only thing. Thats next. Upbeat music no coverup spray here. Cheaper aerosols can cover up odors in a flowery fog. But febreze air effects eliminates odors. With a 100 natural propellent. It leaves behind a pleasant scent youll love. [deep inhale] freshen up. Dont cover up. Febreze. Billions of problems. Sore gums . Bleeding gums . Painful flossing . Theres a therabreath for you. Therabreath healthy gums oral rinse fights gingivitis and plaque and prevents gum disease for 24 hours. So you can. Breathe easy, theres therabreath at walmart. You get more than yourFree Shipping. Ir, you get everything you need for your home at a great price, the way it works best for you, ill take that. Wait honey, no. When you want it. You get a delivery experience you can always count on. You get your perfect find at a price to match, on your own schedule. You get fast and Free Shipping on the things that make your home feel like you. Thats what you get when youve got wayfair. So shop now some things are too important to do yourself. Get customized security with 24 7 monitoring from xfinity home. Awarded the best professionally installed system by cnet. Simple. Easy. Awesome. Call, click or visit a store today. We are all out of time for this hour of msnbc live. Thanks for watching. Time now for up with david gura. This is identify up. Im david gura with just 37 days until the Iowa Caucuses and 45 days until New Hampshire, usa today with a warning for democrats, stop squabbling, the paper says, and focus on the big picture. Which of the candidates is best equipped to defeat donald trump . The president venting on his vacation. Hes in florida, irritated by impeachment as lawmakers are at loggerheads and that Christmas Gift kim jong un promised President Trump has not materialized. At least not yet. The latest on north korea as mike pompeo gets a new deputy, a sign, reportedly the secretary of state is planning to