♪ good morning to viewers here in the united states and around the world. it is tuesday, december 7th. i'm brianna dealer wkeeler with berman. president biden has a 10:00 a.m. video call with russian president vladimir putin. the u.s. intelligence community is sending clear warnings that russia is preparing to invade ukraine as soon as next month. satellite imagery is showing a massive buildup of russian forces, armored units, tanks, and more along the ukrainian border. 1,000 troops are already there. a u.s. intelligence assessment finds russia could be preparing to invade ukraine with 175,000 troops. mark short is cooperating with the house select committee investigating the capitol insurrection. the former chief of staff to vice president mike pence with was pence for most of january 6th and has firsthand knowledge of the events that happened. in the days before the insurrection, short was with pence when john eastwood tried to pressure the vice president to delay the counting of the electoral college votes. on the coronavirus front, we have the highest count of cases since september. last week, 133,000 cases among children were reported. nearly 60,000 people in the u.s. are currently hospitalized with covid, and nearly 1,600 people are dying every 24 hours. that is 1,600 deaths every single day. scientists are continuing to monitor this fast-spreading omicron variant. early indications from overseas suggests that while it may be highly contagious, it may also cause milder symptoms. let's start with jeff sevezealn the white house. this call with president biden and vladimir putin comes at a critical time. >> reporter: a kcritical time ad a low point in the relations between the countries. less than six months from the meeting in switzerland, they'll meet at 10:00 a.m. here in washington over video call. president biden's aim, officials say, is to de-escalate the situation through dliplomacy wih president putin. there are 100,000 troops amassed at the u.s.-russia border. 175,000 troops overall are expected to come, according to u.s. intelligence estimates. one thing vladimir putin wants out of this, of course, is to get a guarantee from the u.s. and other european leaders to not allow ukraine into the nato military alliance. that is a red line the u.s. simply will not accept. the kremlin this morning already lowering expectations. they say they do not expect a breakthrough from this meeting. it is a critical conversation. in terms of that red line, president biden is also going to discuss economic sanctions. he had a call yesterday with european leaders. tough sanctions for president putin. unclear anything concrete will come from this call, but, certainly, their first conversation since july. the most important call president biden has made in his long relationship with president p putin. >> jeff, thank you for that report. we are going to have more on this with alexander vinman, a key witness, in a moment. the details on then president donald trump's bout with covid. according to a book by mark meadows, he described walking into president trump's private resident to see him in a t-shirt, sitting up in bed. it was the first time i'd seen him in anything other than a golf shirt or suit jacket, mr. meadows wrote. trump had red streaks in his eyes, and his hair was a mess from the hours he spent getting regeneron in bed. on the walk out to his helicopter, he lost so much strength that he devropped a briefcase while reporters were lined up to observe him, mr. meadows recalled. maggie haberman who wrote the details of meadows' book joins me now. "washington post" correspondent. mark meadows. >> donald trump has enforced this book. he endorsed it several weeks ago. he's since tried to say some of it was fake news, the fact that be meadows acknowledged donald trump had had a positive coronavirus test long before they told us he was sick. meadows then said, well, there was also a negative test. meadows says all kinds of other things in this book. he called his own book fake news at one point a couple days ago, i should note. i've seen it, and this is not fake news. a bunch of us knew this at the time and were told it was not true. tried to report what we could. his blood oxygen level was 86. that's really, really low. he was, you know, talking about how he'd lost all his muscle strength, according to meadows. the doctors were worried that it might be a weeks' long hospital stay. this is all really new information, at least new information officially. there's some we've reported at various points. it is unbelievable to me that mark meadows is putting this in a book, for which i presume he got paid, after he did not tell the truth to the public over and over about this last year. >> if you'll permit me, this seems to really tick you off. i'm not sure i've seen you -- this seems to tick you off. >> it does. look, because there's a -- there's a couple of things here. we know that donald trump has a problem with the truth. this has been a established over and over again. mark meadows also has a problem with the truth. and that has been established over and over again. when you have a president who has this particular issue, having a chief of staff with this particular issue, is a problem as well. whatever the complaints were about president trump's previous chiefs of staff, this wasn't one of them in the same way. this was information about how sick the leader of the free world was. he was in very, very bad shape. i understand not wanting to create a panic. that is always something the white house officials have to deal with when they're dealing with an ill president. but in this case, there is such an indignance with which the white house insisted we were wrong, about the coronavirus test and how sick he was. meadows wraps the information in a bubble that -- if you read the book, and i don't know how many people will -- but he writes in there, oh, you know, we had to do these things, basically, because the liberal media might say worse things about him, say he is in worse shape. it is a hard to process argument. >> you said trump blblurbed. he was in a t-shirt, hair messed up, and red eyes. he endorsed this book. >> he was not happy about the positive test, when it was taken. he told the aides he felt meadows was quote, unquote, dumb. i'm not sure if he had broader thoughts than that. the reaction among former trump aides on reading the physical description that meadows went ahead with was stunned. there is no way trump is going to be happy with this. there is no way trump knew it was in the book. >> stand by for one moment. i think brianna is going to dive more into the medical news that came out of this. >> let's get the clinical perfspective on what this means with dr. jonathan reiner, a doctor and professor at george washington university. 86% oxygen level. what does that mean? >> it means the president should be hospitalized. he was sick. it means that pneumonia. and we know his doctors were essentially panicked about him they threw at him essentially the kitchen sink of experimental therapies. so he received remdesivir. he also received steroids, which the white house initially declined to tell the press. then they also treated him with a monoclonal antibodies, not yet approved by the fda. they were so worried about the president that they sought approval and delivery for this x pe experimental therapy because they feared for the president's life. >> regeneron is when he was in bed, before he went to the hospital. what does that tell you? >> regeneron, the -- the minn monoclonal antibodies from regeneron are a very effective therapy for people who are sick early in their illness, who have not yet developed their own effective antibody response. so, you know, it tells me that they worried about the survival of the president. but there is another revelation in that book which describes the white house doctors, at some point, considering putting him on oxygen in the white house and hoping for the best, which is shockingly reckless. you know, the president of the united states was 74 years old. obviously, clearly obese. obesity is a risk factor for morality, as is age over 70. so he had multiple risk factors for dying of this virus. then they demonstrated that his ox oxygenation level of 86%, which is dangerously low, those should have triggered an immediate admission to walter reed, without hesitation. the president was in danger of dying. >> all of the lies here, how infuriating is that, knowing that you had white house officials, skpand even the doct involved in all of this, pushing back on the real picture that reporters were inquiring about? >> well, that is infuriating. you know, if you look at the press conferences that happened on saturday, the day after the president was admitted to the hospital, they all downplayed his illness. they made it sound like he was busy, you know, managing the levers of government when, indeed, he was on oxygen in the hospital fighting for his life. what's much more infuriating to me, and what really angers me, is that the white house physician and the white house chief of staff, five days earlier, knew that the president had tested positive for covid. he had tested positive for covid with a sensitive pcr test. now, whether a subsequent, less accurate, rapid antigen test showed that he was negative, that would not have been sufficient to prove that the president was negative. so the president, who was already symptomatic, tested positive for covid with a pcr test. the white house medical unit knew the president was positive for covid. the chief of staff knew that he was positive for covid. yet, they hid that from the public. the "washington post" estimates that the president exposed at least 500 people to the virus. we know that at least seven people tested positive from the amy comey koeconey barrett, the president tested positive on the 26th. we know chris christie, who prepped the president the next day, not only tested positive but required almost a ten-day hospitalization in new jersey because of the severity of his illness. and then the trump team went ahead and depbated former vice president biden two days later, three days later, exposing mr. biden and his whole team to covid. despite assurances that everyone associated with that team would test negative. then one more thing. the entire trump team came in sort of defiantly unmasked, then declined masks offered to them by the cleveland clinic staff which was hosting the event. >> incredibly reckless, all of this. dr. reiner, appreciate your perspective. thank you so much. berman? other big news. congressman devin nunes is leaving congress in the coming weeks and going to work for donald trump. nunes, one of trump's most loyal allies, will be ceo of the former president's new media and technology company. by taking this role, he's giving up a potentially new post, should republicans regain the house. maggie haberman is back with us. he is to be chair of the house ways and means committee if republicans take over. i'm an old house guy. chair house ways and means, it is one of the most powerful positions in the world, or it was. >> it was. >> so what's going on here? why -- what does this tell us that nunes is picking being ceo of a trump company that barely exists? >> couple of things. a, barely exists is the point. remember yesterday, we learned the packing of this company is under s.e.c. investigation because they might have skirted rules around it. that's one bucket. it seems obvious being the ceo of a company, even if it is this company that is still in formation, is likely to have financial backing. there are a lot of people who want to give money to donald trump. i think nunes is poised to get it. i am struck that he is leaving based on everything you just said, about how important that post was and how coveted that post was for decades, as long as i've been covering house politics. i do think there is an aspect of the house is kind of toxic right now for its members, even people who seem to sort of be impervious to it, like nunes, who just want to get out. so i can't discount that that's a possibility. >> also may be that in republican circles, being in trump world is a higher position of power than actually having a job that traditionally gave you control of trillions of dollars. >> important point. because of what we have seen over the last couple of months -- actually, i don't mean in terms of the in-fighting on the left, which has been about policy -- i mean about the trolling from a handful of members on the right, i think it's stopped being what it wasn't was. maybe it will return to its luster at some point, but right now, it is very much people sort of throwing food at each other. >> also overnight, reports that sidney powell, this conspiracy theorist, took in, her organization, $13 million. that's a lot of money to promote lies about the election. what does that tell you, and where is this money? >> it tells me a couple things. number one, it tells me, you know, depend on what the bylaws are about that group, she has money to pay her legal fees. she has a lot of legal fees. but there are a lot of people willing to give money, in small and large increments, to this false idea that -- i mean, she is taking it to a different place, right? you have people around donald trump who argued rules changed for covid and he suffered for that. they certainly had their chances to try to operate within those new rules. they didn't. okay. there's those people claiming widespread fraud that, you know, isn't possible on the level they're talk about. then sydidney powell was talkin about voting machines being flipped and a conspiracy involving the late hugo chavez. there are people to whom those statements appeal. >> people with money apparently. >> right. >> maggie haberman, thank you for being with us. nice to see you. president biden about to hold a critical phone call with vlad imir putin as thousands of russian troops descend on the border with ukraine. what needs to be done to prevent invasion? the justice department verse the state of texas. why the doj says the new congressional maps there are racist. medina spirit dies suddenly on the track. details on what may have caused it. as a professioional bull-rider i'm used to taking chahances. but when it comes to my insurance i don't. i use liberty mutual, they customize your car insurance, so you only pay for what you need. wooo, yeaa, woooooo and, by switching you could even save 665 dollars. hey tex, can someone else get a turn? yeah, hang on, i'm about to break my own record. yeah. only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty, liberty, liberty, liberty. ♪ before discovering nexium 24hr to treat her frequent heartburn... claire could only imagine enjoying chocolate cake. now, she can have her cake and eat it too. nexium 24hr stops acid before it starts for all-day, all-night protection. can you imagine 24 hours without heartburn? every business is on a journey. and along the ride, you'll find many challenges. ♪ your dell technologies advisor can help you find the right tech solutions. so you can stop at nothing for your customers. ♪ say it's all right ♪ ♪ say it's all right, it's all right ♪ ♪ have a good time 'cause it's all right ♪ ♪ now listen to the beat ♪ ♪ kinda pat your feet ♪ ♪ it's all right ♪ ♪ have a good time 'cause it's all right ♪ ♪ oh, it's all right ♪ serena: it's my 3:10 no-exit-in-sight migraine medicine. it's ubrelvy. for anytime, anywhere migraine strikes, without worrying if it's too late, or where i am. one dose can quickly stop my migraine in its tracks within two hours. unlike older medicines, ubrelvy is a pill that directly blocks cgrp protein, believed to be a cause of migraine. do not take with strong cyp3a4 inhibitors. most common side effects were nausea and tiredness. serena: ask about ubrelvy. the anytime, anywhere migraine medicine. this is your home. this is your family room slash gym. the guest bedroom slash music studio. the daybed slash dog bed. the living room slash yoga shanti slash regional office slash classroom. and this is the basement slash panic room. maybe what your family needs is a vacation home slash vacation home. find yours on the vrbo app. ♪ what's strong with me? i know when i'm ready for a rest day. so i can be ready for anything... tomorrow. find out what's strong with you with fitbit sense and daily readiness. happening this morning, president joe biden is set to participate in a high stakes video call with russian president vladimir putin, during which he is expected to warn putin about the severe consequences of launching a military operation into ukraine. joining us is retired lieutenant colonel vinman, expert in his role at the national council as european affairs director there. he reported trump's phone call with the ukrainian president which ultimately led to donald trump's first impeachment. alex, thank you so much for being with us here. i just want to ask you, first off, as you are looking at this situation with the russian troops along the border, and maybe more to come here with ukraine, what are president biden's options when it comes to dealing with russia? >> well, this may be the most important foreign policy day he's had thus far in his administration. this week in particular is a pretty heady week. he has a democracy summit at the end of the week. he has this looming crisis in europe, which a lot of our allies that are participating in the democracy summit are very concerned about. then, of course, this high stakes call in which he is trying to avoid war in the short term, this looming crisis, but also in the long term. because trussia is just increasing. on the other side, putin is now considering his options. he has developed military capability to launch the largest offensive in europe since world war ii, and he's just weighing his options. this conversation is going to figure prominently in his calculus to wage war. it is occurring on the 80th anniversary of the start of world war ii for the u.s. there is no way the biden administration is not missing the symbolic nature of that, and what happens if you show weakness or if you show a lack of resolve and now you get drawn into large-scale war. >> so if you were advising president biden and you were preparing his briefing for this, what would you say to him about how he needs to approach putin and what pitfalls he needs to avoid? >> so i think one of the most important things to do is to signal the u.s. has a resolve to support nato article v. reassure allies in europe. i think one of the things i'd signal to putin is this concern about threats to russian security is being precipitated by his action. his action is creating the security dilemma that's forcing a return of u.s. forces to europe, larger investments in security in europe, that he supposedly seeks to avoid. but that's, frankly, probably not what putin is -- that's a bit of a red herring. he's been talking about security concerns emanating from nato, from the u.s. they think the big prize for him the ukraine. he needs ukraine in his orbit. in 2014, he launched a war. he thought he had bitten off large enough chunks of ukraine to destabilize it and make it a failed state, but he was wrong. this is a continuation of the enterprise. he's assembled up to 175,000 troops to crush ukrainian opposition. this is a ukraine that is very different from 2014. much more capable of defending itself. but the force he's assembled is overwhelming. now, he's just determining whether he's going to use it to achieve his objectives, make ukraine a failed state, leave the option open of pulling ukraine back into his orbit. >> he thought he'd wounded ukraine, right? now, he's watching ukraine actually stronger, slipping through his fingers. do you think he will invade? >> i think there is a real possibility. on the one end of the spectrum, the most benign scenario is coercive diplomacy. this massive deployment of forces to show that he's serious, to extract some concessions on the security front. this idea of, you know, a threat that nato or the u.s. poses to russian security, he could extract those and potentially bank those. but what he is really looking for is a hands-off policy with regards to ukraine. one that gives him the impunity to launch a host of different ways to destabilize ukraine. he is looking for that signal. he is looking for some weakness on that front. i think the possibility of war is high because he can't necessarily take the assurances from the west. he can't take the, you know, this idea that the u.s. will withdraw the support it's been offering to ukraine. it is going to have a hands-off policy. that is not an ironclad assurance. the only way he could achieve his objectives is through destabilizing it through military force. the question is, is the cost too high? this conversation that joe biden is having with him today, in part, is to signal that the cost will be extremely high. it'll be extremely high from a sanctions perspective, from a way to further ostracize russia and make it an international pariah, and to pose costs for russia's efforts to upend the international system. it'll also have a cost with regards to magnifying the security presence of the u.s., just to assure the nato alliance. one of the things, i guess, president biden has to consider is not just the short term, how to avoid this crisis that is developing, but long term, what kind of signals he sends to russia. does he send the proper signals to dissuade russia? >> it is a tall order, and we'll be watching this call today as i know you will. lieutenant vindman, thank you for being with us. >> thank you for having me on. jussie smollett taking the stand in his own defense and presenting surprising revelations, but did it help his case? new questions surrounding the infamous murder of emmett till. the findings of a justice department investigation. ♪ ththis holiday, let them shine like never before. ♪ this is how we shine ♪ find the perfect gift at zales. the diamond store. th is the ergo smart base from tempur-pedic. and it resnds to snoring—automatically. so no more nudging your partner. or opting for the couch. because the tempur-ergo smart base is our first system that detects snoring and automatically adjusts to help reduce it. your best sleep. all night. every night. save up to $500 on select adjustable mattress sets during the tempur-pedic black friday event. learn more at tempurpedic.com ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ your eyes. beautiful on the outside, but if you have diabetes, there can be some not-so-pretty stuff going on inside. it's true, with diabetic retinopathy, excess sugar can damage blood vessels, causing vision loss or even blindness. so remember this: now is the time to get your eyes checked. eye care is important to your long-term diabetes management. see a path forward with actions and treatments that may help your eyes— and protect against vision loss. visit noweyesee.com and take control of your sight. it's the most joyous time of the year. especially at t-mobile! let's go to dianne. i got the awesome new iphone 13 pro and airpods, and t-mobile is paying for them both! and this is for new and existing customers. upgrade to the iphone 13 pro and airpods both on us. only at t-mobile. new projects means new project managers. you need to hire. i need indeed. indeed you do. when you sponsor a job, you immediately get your shortlist of quality candidates, whose resumes on indeed match your job criteria. visit indeed.com/hire and get started today. want to save on your home internet? xfinity is proud to support the emergency broadband benefit program. for a limited time, you may be eligible to qualify for a credit of up to $50 a month toward your internet service through this program. that's right! you could qualify for a credit of up to $50 a month toward your internet service and equipment. for even more value, switch to xfinity mobile, and you could pay as little as $15 a month for wireless. click, call, or visit a store to learn more. court resuming this morning with former "empire" actor jussie smollett back on the stand in his own defense. smollett testified monday that he was a victim of lies, saying that he did not hire two men to carry out a fake racist and homophobic attack for pubpublic. he says he did have a sexual relationship with one of his male accusers. omar jimenez joining us live from chicago. this was quite a surprise in this case, omar. >> reporter: it really was, brianna. clearly, the defense felt there was no one better to tell jussie smollett's side of the story than jussie smollett himself. and piece by piece, over the course of his testimony, his attorneys tried to take him through some of the major points in the prosecution's case, to push back and emphasize to jurors, as they have all along, that jussie smollett was the victim of a real hate crime. almost three years after reporting a hate crime -- >> how you feeling today? >> reporter: -- actor jussie smollett took the stand in his criminal trial monday, as he fights charges that he staged the attack against himself in january 2019. >> do you want to take it off or anything? >> i do. i want to see. they poured poli ed bleach on m >> reporter: on the police video footage, smollett said the attackers put a noose around his neck, even policeured bleach oue his apartment. the attackers, osendaro. one said that smollett instructed them on how to attack him. mr. smollett asked you to fake attack him, mendenhall asked? yes, osundairo responded. pretending to be trump supporters? yes, he said. but under direct examination from his defense attorney, smollett denied orchestrating the attack. he told the court that he hired one of the brothers as his trainer. basically, i turned to him and said, "you should be my trainer." he agreed. the actor said he repeatedly asked him about becoming a personal security guard after a hate letter was sent to him. smollett again said there were never discussions about a hoax or payment for a staged attack. the gay actor also told the jurors that bola helped him get drugs, including cocaine, and that a sexual relationship developed between the two. bola denied a relationship or even sexual tension during his testimony last week. when asked by the defense attorney about the other brother, the actor told the court he didn't trust him. he kind of creeped me out, he said. every time we were around him, he didn't speak to me. every time we needed to leave, he made it seem like we needed to sneak off. during his cross-examination, the special prosecutor on the case questioned the actor's refusal to give a cheek swab dna sample to the police or to provide his medical as well as his cell phone records. smollett maintained his decision was due to privacy reasons. he is facing six counts of disorderly conduct for allegedly making false reports to police. smollett pleaded not guilty to all charges. >> now, in total, smollett testified for about five hours. cross-examination is where things left off, so that's where we'll pick things back up today when court gets back later this morning. this should be the last day of testimony we see until closing arguments and the jury gets the case. previously, the judge had told jurors he was 100% sure the jury would have the case by today. as we closed things out, he said it may spill into tomorrow. >> still a big day with jussie smollett on the stand. omar, thank you for that report. here with me, "early start" anchor and attorney-at-law laura jarrett. i'm trying to grasp what we're seeing right now with jussie smollett on the stand. what you have from the prosecution is you have witnesses, these brothers, and corroborating evidence. now, you have jussie smollett just saying, no, not true. >> saying, please believe me, essentially. this entire case going to come down to credibility. it is going to come down to which version of this story the jurors think is true. the problem here for jussie smollett, as you're laying out, is that it is really hoping and praying that they just believe his word, when the evidence is a little bit mixed and cuts both ways. look, juries believe stories they can get their heads around, right? they believe stories they can attach to, that align with their world view. one example here. jussie smollett says the check that he cut for $3,500 was to pay one of the brothers to get him ripped. he says that he texted the brother for help on the low because he wanted help getting an herbal steroid from nigeria that is illegal in the united states. what? the jury is supposed to believe that. it is being hoped he will be able to convince the jurors to attach to some of these far-fetched theories. now, on the other hand, the prosecution here is a special prosecutor, well-known in chicago, very seasoned. he has not been able to extract any admission that smollett actually lied. he'll have another bite at the apple today. so far, he has not been able to get smollett to say, "you know what, that wasn't true," or to catch him in a lie. >> yeah, there hasn't been a "few good men moment" on the stand. >> he's tried hard. there was a story you broke yesterday which has important historical significance. the justice department closed a new investigation, newer investigation, into the murder of emmett till. explain exactly what happened here. it is complicated. >> it is one of the more haunted cases that has not faded from view, because there was always a question of whether somebody, somehow, some way, could held legally accountable here. the men who brutalized and murdered till died years ago. they admitted they did kill him, but they long since died. the feds is wondering, is there somebody we can hold accountable here? in 2017, this processor comes forward with an explosive claim, the woman at the center of this case, who accused till of making advances toward her, the pr professor said see lied. she admitted she lied. he was the only one with the interview. he did not get the key admission, the key confession on tape. now, he has explanations. he said everybody knew she lied. i didn't see it as a big deal at the time. the interview is in 2018. you'd think something that big, something that major, something the till family had staked their hopes on, would have come to light earlier. now, it is too late. the statute of limitations has run. as i said, all the people who you could hold accountable has passed away. >> the till family has been through this so long, so many times, to get their hopes up at the end only to have that dashed. terrific reporting. thank you for being with us. the far right candidate who could be france's next president physically attacked in his very first campaign rally. there is a lot going on to this story, whether this guy is. we're going to show you this alarming video ahead. and the k-pop megagroup bts about to do something they haven't done in years. they just might be on to something. ♪ ♪ it's dynamite ♪ confidence in r future... ...and in kevin's. voya. well planned. well invested. well protected. your mission: stand up to moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis. and take. it. on... ...with rinvoq. rinvoq a once-daily pill can dramatically improve symptoms... rinvoq helps tame pain, stiffness, swelling. and for some rinvoq can even significantly reduce ra fatigue. that's rinvoq relief. with ra, your overactive immune system attacks your joints. rinvoq regulates it to help stop the attack. rinvoq can lower your ability to fight infections, including tuberculosis. serious infections and blood clots, sometimes fatal, have occurred... ...as have certain cancers, including lymphoma, and tears in the stomach or intestines, and changes in lab results. your doctor should monitor your bloodwork. tell your doctor about any infections... and if you are or may become pregnant while taking rinvoq. take on ra. talk to your rheumatologist about rinvoq relief. rinvoq. make it your mission. learn how abbvie could help you save on rinvoq. i've lost count of how many asthma attacks i've had. but my nunormal with nucala? fewer asthma attacks. nucala is a once-monthly add-on injection for severe eosinophilic asthma. not for sudden breathing problems. allergic reactions can occur. get help right away for swelling of face, mouth, tongue, or trouble breathing. infections that can cause shingles have occurred. don't stop steroids unless told by your doctor. tell your doctor if you have a parasitic infection. may cause headache, injection-site reactions, back pain, and fatigue. ask your doctor about nucala. find your nunormal with nucala. (man) so when in doubt, just say, "let me talk to my manager." next, carvana's 100% online shopping experience. oh, man. carvana lets people buy a car-- get this-- from their couch. oh, how disruptive. no salesman there to help me pick out the car i need. how does anyone find a car on this site without someone like us checking in? she's a beauty, huh? oh, golly! (laughter) i can help you find the color you want. that sounds nice. let me talk to my manager. (vo) buy your next car 100% online. with carvana. i had no idea how much i wamy case was worth. c call the barnes firm to find out what your case could be worth. we will help get you the best result possible. ♪ call one eight hundred, eight million ♪ after my car accident, ♪ call owondnder whahatmy c cas. eight million ♪ so i called the barnes firm. i'm rich barnes. youour cidedentase e woh than insurance offered? call the barnes firm now to find out. yoyou ght t beurprpris violence broke out at a political rally in france. far right presidential candidate eric zemmour attacked by a protester who grabbed him around the neck as he walked to the stage at his first campaign rally. i want to go to cyril, who is live for us in paris, with the latest. look, we should be paying attention to this, not just because this politician was attacked, but also for what his candidacy signals here. >> reporter: absolutely, brianna. you hit the nail on the head. there is the violence, then there's the politics behind this and the wider context. the violence is that mr. zemmour was assaulted moments after he left the backstage area to walk to the stage for his first political rally. his team says he sustained a kris wrist injury, and he was wearing a wrist cast on his morning tv shows. more violence later on, as his anti-racist group silently stood in front of the cameras. they were impressive. they were mauled. they were assaulted by zemmour's supporters. 62 people were detained by police after that incident. zemmour's critics would say the violence and his rhetoric is partly what is causing this real-life violence. what does he stand for? zemmour is a former journalist turned far right ideologue who believes france is essentially a christian nation under threat from islam. listen to part of his campaign speech. >> translator: obviously, i'm not racist. no, you're not racist. all that we want is to defend our heritage, defending our country, our homeland, the heritage of our ancestors. >> reporter: his virulent, anti-immigration, anti-islam rhetoric has brought him to where he is. in a position to now run for president. he's still fairly low in the polls. only roughly 14%. but the political landscape is so fragmented, that could just be enough for him to get to the runoff round of the presidential election and be the main rival to the incumbent mr. macron. last thing, mr. zemmour has drawn, many times, comparisons with the former u.s. president donald trump. >> wow. i mean, the pictures we're seeing of the violence, it is stunning. cyril, thank you so much for that report. coming up, controversial kentucky derby champion medina spirit dies suddenly on the track. who is at fault here? and glory! i have never seen a football game quite like this. never. not in the nfl. the outcome here, perfect. we'll tell you just how strange this whole thing was. >> myles bryant able to knock the pass away. align contains a quality probiotic developed by gastroenterologists. it adds more good bacteria to your gut to naturally help soothe your occasional bloating, gas and abdominal discomfort. support your digestive health with align, the #1 doctor recommended probiotic. try align today. and try new align fast acting biotic gummies. helps soothe occasional digestive upsets in as little as 7 days. every business is on a journey. and along the ride, you'll find many challenges. ♪ your dell technogies advisor can help you find the rightech solutions. so you can stop at nothing for your customers. your dell technogies advisor can help you (vo) subaru and our retailers believe in giving back. that's why, in difficult times, we provided one hundred and fifty million meals to feeding america. and now through the subaru share the love event, we're helping even more. by the end of this year, subaru will have donated over two hundred and twenty five million dollars to charity. this is what it means to be more than a car company. this is what it means to be subaru. what's strong with me? i'm ready for anything. find out what's strong with you with fitbit charge 5 and daily readiness. as a professional bull-rider i'm used to taking chances. but when it comes to my insurance i don't. i use liberty mutual, they customize your car insurance, so you only pay for what you need. wooo, yeaa, woooooo and, by switching you could even save 665 dollars. hey tex, can someone else get a turn? yeah, hang on, i'm about to break my own record. yeah. only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty, liberty, liberty, liberty. ♪ where's mom? she said she would be home in time for the show. don't worry, sweetie. she promised she'd be here for it. ooh! nice shot! thanks! glad we have xfinity, with wifi speed faster than a gig! me too! woah, look! mom is on tv! she's amazing! (cheers) xfinity brought us together, after all! power your whole home this holiday with wifi speeds faster than a gig. click, call, or visit a store today. sing 2 are you a christian author with a book that you're ready to share with the world? get published now, call for your free publisher kit today! new details this morning about the sudden death of kentucky derby winning horse medina spirit. the house racing board tells cnn the horse collapsed during a routine workout at santa anita racetrack and died immediately. the horse's trainer, bob baffert, says he believes the horse died of a heart attack. baffert was suspended after mehd medina spirit failed a drug test following the kentucky derby win. joining me is the president of the american association of equine practitioners. doctor, i appreciate you being with us this morning. how unusual is this, for a horse to drop dead after a fairly routine workout? >> well, it's extremely rare occasion. they've kept statistics in california of specifically these types of occurrences. i think the statistics i've seen is about 1 in 160,000 race starts -- not race starts but training starts. about 1 in 9,000 race starts. it is an extremely rare occasion. >> what can cause something -- i know you haven't looked at the medical records. we're waiting for results. but, generally speaking, what could cause something like this? >> typically, sudden deaths are caused by either a cardiac issue, some sort of internal hemorrhage, more rare, a spinal issue of some sort. you know, the autopsies will determine what the exact cause is in about -- probably about 50% of the cases. the other 50%, there may still be some question once the autopsy is done. >> there's only a 50% chance anyone will ever know for sure? >> maybe a little better when you start getting into some presumptive diagnoses, but 50% is the rate we see an absolute diagnosis here. >> doctor, we know this horse tested positive for b betamethazone, a steroid, after the kentucky derby. could that contribute to this? >> i wouldn't see any correlation to that whatsoever. i just never have seen that on a postmortem examination, being a cause of death. >> and could any kind of training practices that wouldn't be normal or legal, could they contribute to something like this? i ask because of bob baffert's record. he is under suspension for this positive test. >> absolutely. that test hasn't been adjudicated yet, but i wouldn't see any correlation between any training practices. >> doctor, i appreciate you being with us this morning. as you said, we're waiting for these results from the autopsy. even then, we may only have a 50% chance of learning what happened here. still, it is troubling. appreciate it. >> thank you. so good news for your winter heating bill. the price of natural gas plummeting. a huge drop since october. also, there's some good news on gas price. what's behind it all? graphic testimony involving schoolgirl outfits, and why one witness said jeffrey epstein needed sex three times a day. d s paying for them both! and this is for new and existing customers. upgrade to the iphone 13 pro and airpods both on usus. only at t-mobile. ♪ this holiday, let them shine like never before. ♪ this is how we shine. ♪ find the perfect gift at zales. the diamond store. ♪ say it's all right ♪ ♪ say it's all right, it's all right ♪ ♪ have a good time 'cause it's all right ♪ ♪ now listen to the beat ♪ ♪ kinda pat your feet ♪ ♪ it's all right ♪ ♪ have a good time 'cause it's all right ♪ ♪ oh, it's all right ♪ c'mon caleb, you got this! and if you don't, there are other options! umpire: ball! good eye! good eye! eyes are good for lots of things. like reading! be the best, caleb! statistically impossible, caleb. umpire: strike three, you're out! you'll get 'em next time! or you won't, probably won't. and it won't impact your future whatsoever! talk to us about college planning today. feel comfortable about tomorrow. massmutual. before nexium 24hr, anna could only imagine a comfortable night's sleep without frequent heartburn waking her up. now, that dream... . ...is her reality. nexium 24hr stops acid before it starts, for all-day, all-night protection. can you imagine 24 hours without heartburn? ♪ things you start when you're 45. coaching. new workouts. and screening for colon cancer. yep. the american cancer society recommends screening starting at age 45, instead of 50, since colon cancer is increasing in younger adults. i'm cologuard®. i'm convenient and find 92% of colon cancers... ...even in early stages. i'm for people 45 plus at average risk for colon cancer, not high risk. false positive and negative results may occur. ask your provider if cologuard is right for you. ♪ ♪ ♪ "how bizarre" by omc ♪ no annual fee on any discover card. ♪ ♪ it's my woke-up-like-this migraine medicine. it's ubrelvy. one dose can quickly stop my migraine in its tracks within 2 hours. don't take with strong cyp3a4 inhibitors. most common side effects were nausea and tiredness. ask about ubrelvy, the anytime, anywhere migraine medicine. (music) at aetna we're kicking medicare into high gear with affordable benefits you want. like rewards for select healthy activities and a silversneakers fitness membership. medicare annual enrollment ends december 7th call today to learn more. an historic game in buffalo overnight. no, not just because the patriots won. that is epic but not necessarily historic. what was so unusual, i mean, almost unheard of, is how this game was played. andy scholes has this morning's "bleacher report." i still can't believe what i saw. >> berman, bill belichick looked at the weather and said, we're not going to attempt to throw the ball. we're not going to do it. wind gusts were out of control in buffalo last night. 50 miles per hour is how fast they were going. temperature felt like it was in the 20s. snow blowing sideways. kicking and throwing the ball, an adventure. mac jones, rookie quarterback, attempting only three passes all night, completed two. patriots ran, here by harris. bills had fourth and 14 in the red zone. pearl c dialing up the blitz. belichick showing emotion there, smiling, hands up, hugging his son. patriots win, 14-10. first time since 1974 a team won while attempting three passes on less. the patriots have won seven in a row and are now the one seed in the afc. >> we played kind of the way we felt like we needed to play to win. you know, in the end, we scored enough points. being tough, being disciplined, being resilient and dealing with a really good football team. you know, conditions that were somewhat challenging. >> yeah, somewhat challenging, berman, a little bit of an understatement there. we talked about it a week ago, that the dream super bowl, the patriots and the bucs. it was like a dream out there. man, patriots, seven in a row, 9-4. it is becoming more and more like it could become a reality. >> i didn't sleep very much so i'm cloudy this morning, but i kept on watching it. is mac jones going to throw the ball? is mac jones going to throw the ball? three passes in the modern nfl. it's just -- i can't even get my head around it. >> it is incredible. the bills even knew it. at one point in the game, the patriots aren't going to try to throw the ball. they should have geared up to the run, but they still couldn't stop it. hats off to belichick's defense. it once again came through with a great performance. >> i don't think any other coach in the nfl would do what he did. for better or worse. >> the bills threw the ball 30 times. as you can see, didn't work out for them. >> appreciate it. >> "new day" continues right now. welcome to our viewers in the united states and all around the world. it is tuesday, december 7th. the 80th anniversary of the japanese attack on pearl harbor. i'm john berman with brianna keilar. today is what one expert calls the most important day yet of the biden foreign policy. this morning, the president meets virtually with vladimir putin for this incredibly consequential phone call. u.s. intelligence community is sending warnings that russia is preparing to invade ukraine as soon as next month. >> if you look at satellite images we have here, they show this massive buildup of russian forces with armored units and tanks stationed along the ukrainian border. there are about 100,000 troops already there, and a u.s. intel assessment finds that russia could be preparing t