president xi of china he controls 1.4 billion people ruthlessly, ruthlessly, no games, right? they said is president xi of china a brilliant man? i said, yes, he is. he s a brilliant man. the next day, trump says president xi is brilliant. yeah, i did. they want me to say, no, he s not a very smart guy, he just runs 1.4 billion people with an iron fist. that s crazy. that s donald trump s latest praise of a dictator. trump spent the weekend in iowa giving a series of outrageous speeches where he made fun of an american war hero, downplayed the january 6th insurrection, and demanded the release of his supporters who attacked the capitol. meanwhile in washington, senate and house leaders have a deal on a spending bill, but it essentially has the same terms of an agreement that led to the removal of former speaker kevin mccarthy, fueling speculation on whether congress, now that the top line s in place, will be able to avert a partial government shutdown in less than two wee
friends. it is wednesday, december 27th, i m willie geist. joe and mika have the morning off. a lot to get to including israeli forces shifting military efforts to southern and central gaza with officials warning the war could take many more months. and hours from now, antony blinken and alejandro mayor kas are set to meet with mexican president obrador. plus donald trump continues to claim he should be immune from any prosecution surrounding his efforts to overturn the 2020 election. we ll have the latest there. also ahead, bus drivers across the country increasingly under attack on the job. we ll dig into an alarming trend and what officials are doing about it. with us this morning, jonathan lemire, susan paige, and retired four star navy admiral james stavridis. good morning to you all. let s begin together with israel expanding the ground invasion in gaza. this as the united states continues to urge israel to protect civilian lives and shift to a more low intensity oper
battle ahead could take many more months. plus, just hours from now secretary of state antony blinken and homeland security secretary alejandro mayorkas are set to meet with mexican president just as thousands of central american migrants make their way to the united states southern border. we ll break down what this means and the key issues up for discussion. and also ahead the detroit pistons made nba history but for all the wrong reasons. the record they just broke that has everyone talking. good morning and welcome to way too early on this wednesday, december 27th. i m jonathan lemire. thanks for starting your day with us. we get right to the news and the israeli military has expanded its ground offensive into urban refugee camps in central gaza. the idf is also focusing on southern gaza s largest city as part of its stated mission to destroy hamas. officials say progress has been made in the north and that troops will continue to, quote, preserve and intensify t
you still believe them to be true? yeah, of course they ll sue me again when i say that, but yeah i do. they want me to lie. basically they re suing me in order to lie to them. i m sorry, i can t do it. and the most important thing it doesn t have to be absolutely true. it has to be supportable. they have to prove i was deliberately lying, which i wasn t. rudy giuliani continue said to standby his lies about two former election workers from the state of georgia just days after a federal jury decided he must pay the women $148 million. but those women aren t done yet with the former new york city mayor. plus an update on the biden administration s push for a scaled back israeli offensive in gaza. it comes as israeli officials say they are considering what the next phase of the war will look like. and also ahead, we ll explain how trump administration immigration policies are playing a large role in ongoing negotiations over foreign aid. good morning and welcome to w
ruling against rudy giuliani, a sum that will bankrupt the former mayor of new york city. his attorney said it is basically a death penalty for him, an economic death penalty. plus an update from capitol hill on foreign aid negotiations, the package which would provide critical funding for ukraine. it s been held up by republican demands for stricter immigration policies. but it looks like there s progress there. might be some. we ll get analysis on the biden administration s push to get israel to scale back its war in gaza, what s going on there. with us, we have the host of way too early, white house bureau chief at politico, jonathan lemire. former state department official, elise jordan. politics nation reverend al sharpton. and presidential chair at vanderbilt university, historian jon meacham is with us. so let s get to it. at a rally on saturday, donald trump again used the language of 20th century authoritarians while separately praising this country s