menendez. as we begin this hour, action in the face of distraction. the bluster and bombast of donald trump s new reporting shows jack smith is relying on the facts, not the fury. also this hour, departed to pardon trump or not. a new witness tests in the republican quest for the nomination. we ve pardoned a president before, but doing so again presents a further danger to democracy. we are going to ask historian, michael beschloss. and my sit down with actress eva longoria, making her flamin hot directorial debut. this is american voices. we begin this hour with donald trump and his allies, trying to deflect attention away from his decision to keep government secrets after his presidency. we ve heard these excuses before. trump is relying on the same old script, distract with baseless claims of a witch hunt, to stopped stop his political witch hunt. on his knockoff version of twitter, calling special counsel jack smith, quote deranged, saying the indictment is fake.
after a strange of deadly storms barreled through the region, leaving at least six people dead and dozens of others injured we re in a texas community still picking up the pieces. later highway collapse pennsylvania s governor vowing to reopen that busy stretch of interstate 95 through philly within weeks let s begin with the breaking news out of china this morning. u.s. secretary of state antony blinken just departing beijing after that high-stakes meeting with china s president xi jinping. that included the secretary s crucial two-day visit aimed at stabilizing the spiraling relationship between the two countries, upended recently by the downing of a spy balloon and this tense encounter by a chinese fighter plane and a u.s. jet. plus the encounter with military ships. let s discuss with janis mackey frayer in beijing as well as nbc senior white house correspondent kelly o donnell standing by in washington we know the meeting between blinken and xi lasted about 35 minutes,
right now on ana cabrera reports, breaking news from capitol hill, two house committees meeting this hour on whether to hold hunter biden in contempt of congress. what it means for the president s son. plus, countdown to the caucus, nikki haley and ron desantis preparing to go head to head this evening with just five days to go. this as donald trump aims to play spoiler tonight and siphon attention. and there s a new twist in his appearance in a new york courtroom tomorrow. also ahead, extreme weather, millions impacted by a winter storm system that brought everything from snow to floods to tornados. thanks so much for joining us on this busy wednesday. it is 10:00 eastern. i m ana cabrera reporting from new york. we begin with breaking news on capitol hill where two house committees are kicking off meetings right now to consider whether to hotel hunter biden in contempt of congress. the house judiciary and oversight panels both expected to vote on whether to proceed
or not. a new witness tests in the republican quest for the nomination. we ve pardoned a president before, but doing so again presents a further danger to democracy. we are going to ask historian, michael beschloss. and i sit down with actress eva longoria, making her flamin hot directorial debut. this is american voices. oices. to keep government secrets after his presidency. you ve heard these excuses before, trump is relying on the same old script, distract, with baseless claims of a witch hunt. to stop his political movement. he was at it again today on his knockoff version of twitter, calling special counsel, jack smith, quote, deranged. stating that the indictment is fake. make no mistake, trump s social media ramps, there is sideshow. on the other hand, smith is relying on the evidence. letting the 37 count federal indictments tell the story of how trump refused to head over classified information, and even went to great lengths to hide the documents from the governm
breaking news on this holiday weekend. special counsel jack smith delivers a newfound, an urgent an appeals court to dismiss former president trump s immunity claims. ahead, what that means for the case and when we could get ruling. plus, nikki haley s campaign playing cleanup after she botched a simple question about the civil war. what her answer says about the state of the gop and its base. also ahead, a look at how the polls have shifted over the course of 2023 and what that means for 2024. and why an extreme immigration law in texas is drawing the attention of the justice department. this is american voices. we begin this hour in iowa, where several gop presidential candidates are spending the weekend in hopes of dismantling donald trump s hold over the republican party. that includes former south carolina governor nikki haley. but as she works to capture momentum from a surge in the polls, her campaign is also cleaning up her recent comments about the civi