underway once again. and the other major question, if he does take the stand, can he stay within the parameters set by the judge and what are the consequences if he doesn t? we re live at the courthouse. plus, nikki haley sending a message to trump that sounds a lot like you don t scare me. her new fund-raising hall that has him threatening her donors and has given her new energy. the political elites in this state and around the country have said that we just need to let donald trump have this. we are not going to sit there and just give up. . and the severe weather that just won t stop. among the dramatic new images, this woman, how she got stranded on top of her car for 14 long hours before she was rescued. we begin with donald trump off the campaign trail and back in a federal courthouse today. e. jean carroll s lawyers have rested their case and trump s team just started the defense in a trial to determine if he has toay the writer millions of dollars for defam
good morning, everyone. it is christmas. i m phil mattingly with poppy harlow. thank you for joining us on this special edition of cnn this morning. we hope you are having a wonderful christmas morning. merry, merry christmas. best day of the year i think for our kids. definitely for the kids. little stressful for the parents. this is the point where you start to relax a little bit hopefully. it was a busy night for santa and the kids. we ll go through his naughty and nice list. it was also a big year for women, the year for barbie, taylor swift, beyonce, any way you spin it, powerful women left a remarkable impression on 2023. we ll take a look at that impact. robert kraft has been spearheading an effort to counter hate. we ll speak to kraft and why he says despite a rise in anti-semetic attacks, americans want to do the right thing. the top stories of the day. good morning. merry christmas. i m danny freeman. this morning israeli prime minister benjamin ne
shocking attack. ukraine repelling intense russian attacks on the capital. plus, the new cia video urging russians to share war secrets the future of ai the ceo behind chatgpt describing his worst fears, calling for regulation of the tech he helped create plus, our exclusive with the ceo of microsoft. and the play at the plate. when a dust devil starts suddenly, a teenaged umpire has the save of the day. announcer: this is nbc nightly news with lester holt good evening, and welcome, everyone. with the clock ticking down to america defaulting on its debt, some potentially positive signs tonight following a white house sit-down between president biden and congressional leaders. republicans and democrats are at loggerheads over raising the debt ceiling and allowing the country to continue paying its bills. underscoring the urgency of the moment, the white house says president biden is cutting short his planned trip to the asia-pacific region in order to deal with the
ceiling from 7,000 miles away, despite almost no tangible signs of significant progress and the president heading to japan, no one in washington or on wall street seems to be panicking, at least not yet. and significant concerns that the man in charge of protecting the country was apparently left without protection of his own. what we just learned about the late night intrusion at the home of national security adviser jake sullivan, one that his own secret service detail didn t know about until after the sullivan himself found the man wandering around inside. we start with abortion access for millions of women being decided in realtime today. the fate of the so-called abortion pill heads back to court just one hour from now. in north carolina the republicans voted unanimously to override the governor s veto and shrink the window for abortions from 20 weeks to 12. same story in nebraska where the new ban was folded into a bill on transgender care for minors. it s expected
line in n the sand, , demandnding a work requirement for people on government assistance, saying a deal could be possible by week s end. what the two sides are saying tonight. the deadly mass shooting in new mexico. police saying the 18-year-old suspect was set to graduate high school with at least three guns and firing at random, three elderly women killed before he was stopped. just in, the secret service investigating an intrusion at the national security adviser s home. what happened. the sheriff s suspect in a baseball bat rampage in a congressman s office arraigned as he speaks out about the shocking attack. ukraine repelling intense russian attacks on the capital. plus, the new cia video urging russians to share war secrets. the future of ai. the secret behind chatgpt describing his worst fears, calling for regulation of the tech he helped create. plus, our exclusive with the ceo of microsoft. and the play at the plate. when a dust devil starts suddenly, a