actually put a former president on trial. several prosecutors are working on that very task even as donald trump s civil fud trial stretched through december of 2023. and in 2024 as you ve probably heard because you re watching the news former president trump faces different criminal trials while running again. special counsel jack smith, for the coup in washington, and separately the stolen intelligence documents case in florida. the head of d.a. pushing on those rico trials after winning conviction of trump aides through this 2023, and then the smaller criminal case in new york. take it together you ve got over 90 felonies charged. that is not normal even if it has been normalized. the first coup trial initially slated for march, while those schedules can of course change, america is facing more serious warnings from people who know about this, from actual legal experts discussing a major possibility that one of the political parties of america, will ultimately rally around
spokesperson from the israeli defense forces. new this morning, supreme court could soon tackle trump s eligibility to run for president in colorado. how it could affect the 2024 election across the country. plus, house republicans ramping up their impeachment probe of president biden. what they re now demanding from the white house about biden s son hunter. and new video of the horror of the maui wildfires, what nbc news has learned about what went wrong as the flames destroyed a beloved community. hey, everybody. and good to see you. welcome to our second hour here on msnbc. we re going to begin this hour with breaking news out of the israel-hamas war. a second american hostage in gaza has been declared dead. judy weinstein, a 70-year-old, was fatally injured in the october 7th attack. her husband was also killed. this is happening as israeli forces are expanding their new battle zone today as they push further into central gaza, where many civilians sought shelter
maine secretary of state shannon bellows deciding to remove former president donald trump from the primary ballot there. bellows, addressing the decision last night on msnbc. i was duty bound to follow maine law, to ensure that candidates, all the candidates who appear on the primary ballot are qualified for the office they seek. but across the country, california secretary of state deciding to keep trump on the official ballot and in oregon, a decision in a similar case is expected soon as well. want to bring in nbc news justice reporter ryan reilly and former assistant d.a. catherine christian, also an msnbc legal analyst. ryan, start things off for us, if you will, we got colorado, michigan, potential oregon, heard from california, maine as well. parse through california along with maine, what broke overnight. yes, i think that with maine the main difference is between the colorado case, the colorado case is something that was decided by justices, right, by the supre
political one, that it s compelled by the extraordinary unusual legal circumstances which come with donald trump s candidacy following an insurrection. former u.s. attorney joyce vance weighing in on the decision by maine s secretary of state to remove donald trump from the 2024 republican presidential primary ballot. we re going to go through that decision and what could come next. plus the latest from gaza as israeli forces strike refugee camps where it s believed hamas terrorists are hiding. it comes as the biden administration is putting more pressure on israel to protect civilians. also ahead republican presidential candidate nikki haley trying to clarify her response to the question about the cause of the civil war. we re going to show you what she said. hey, everybody. good morning to you and welcome to way too early on this friday, december 29th. i m yasmin vuceivian in for jonathan lemire. maine is now the second state to remove former president trump off the
retaliatory strikes against iranian-backed militant groups. the latest on the rising tensions in the region, plus, trump s christmas message lashing out at special counsel jack smith as the former president tries to get his election interference case thrown out. so, is the former commander in chief immune from criminal prosecution? we ll see. we ll talk about that coming up. and later on, the presents opened and the cookies devoured, millions of americans set to travel today in the post christmas rush. i m going to speak to a travel expert about some travel tips to help you survive the misery. hey, everybody. good morning to you. merry post christmas. we begin this hour with the breaking news out of the middle east. president biden ordering retaliatory strikes against iranian-backed militia groups in iraq after three u.s. service members were injured in a drone attack in northern iraq on monday. since october 17th, there have now been at least 103 separate attacks on u.s.