today inside politics, the gop finds votes to come out on top. republicans pass a crucial bill that assures the u.s. is ready to fight wars, and they did it after putting a deliberate conservative stamp on it. jared kushner under oath, new report ing reveals that prosecutors ask the former president s son-in-law, did donald trump believe his own election lies. and iowa decides in six months. the countdown to the caucuses is on as donald trump decides to play hooky and skip a big summit. his bet, who needs iowa when you have mike tyson. i m dana bash. let s go behind the headlines and inside politics. up first, kevin mccarthy can keeps the republican family mostly together to win a culture war battle. last hour, the house did its job and cleared a must-pass defense bill. the final vote tally was 219-210. if that seems really tight for a bill that sets military policy, it is. the sennarrow margin is thanks a very heated back and forth over controversial add-ones to the
of messages and depositions from fox news hosts, senior executives and employees as part of a $1.6 billion defamation lawsuit. these documents show the depth of the contempt many at fox news had for the truth and frankly for their own viewers. prime time host laura ingraham blasted the fox news decision desk for something that every other normal reputable news organization in the country values, for being accurate. from the new york times, quote, ms. ingraham said the work of the decision desk was an inside job intended to sabotage conservative hosts like her, quote, we are all officially working for an organization that hates us she fumed. the messages show that host sean hannity responded to that, quote, why would anyone defend that call, referring to the decision desk s highly accurate and early election night projection that president joe biden would go on to win arizona. no, sean and laura were not alone. from the washington post reporting on these new filings, quote
i also sat down with the president of south korea to ask about the threat from his neighbor to the north, who just declared itself a nuclear state. also, hijabs burned, protests rage and chants of death to the dictator ring out in iran after a woman dies in police custody there. what will come of the demonstrations? i will ask an expert. but first, here s my take. let s not play down what has happened this week. the leader of the world s largest nuclear power publicly threatened to use nuclear weapons. in an address in moscow on wednesday, vladamir putin declared that russia would use all weapons systems available to us to defend the country. he emphasized it. this is not a bluff. it might be. putin s threat with add-ones of traditional soviet doctrine. now they contemplate scenarios which it could use nuclear weapons. but he knows the west has nuclear weapons of its own and that the doctrine of mutually assured destruction has prevented any power from deploying them sinc
we ll have much more on this latest action from the justice department. meanwhile, there s also progress this morning in the legal fight over the documents seized from mar-a-lago. the doj and donald trump s attorneys appear to be close to agreeing on a list of potential special masters for that case. and in ukraine, citizens and soldiers celebrating major gains against russian forces. but the latest intelligence from the pentagon says wart is far from over. the war is far from over. good morning. welcome to way too early on this tuesday, september 13th. thank you for starting your day with us. we ll begin with the widening criminal investigation into efforts to overturn the 2020 election. nbc news has confirmed that about 40 subpoenas were issued over the past week to people associated with former president donald trump. according to the new york times which first reported the news, former trump adviser is among those subpoenaed. his attorney has declined to comment.
warning congress that failing to pass more ukraine aid would be, quote, the greatest christmas gift for vladimir putin. but house speaker mike johnson saying no new money for ukraine unless democrats agree to tackle tougher border policies. is there any path forward? our team in washington and moscow tonight. also this evening, new divisions between the u.s. and israel. president biden warning israel is losing international support because of the, quote, indiscriminate bombings of gaza. and the new reporting on israel flooding hamas tunnels. after the backlash to her testimony about antisemitism, why harvard s board says it s supporting the school s embattled president. the nightmare flight. a delta plane diverted to remote canada. 270 passengers on board for more than 20 hours. how did it happen? as u.s. and china tensions rise, our rare look inside, and how america is fighting the growing space arms race. our nbc news on hidden junk fees at car dealerships. the