teleprompter, you don't know what he will say. it is a different donald trump than '15 and '16. >> florida's ron desantis not holding back hitting donald trump at every turn in a live cnn town hall. good morning to our viewers in the united states and around the world. i'm kasie hunt. it is wednesday, december 13. in just hours the house investigation into the biden family reaches a full house vote to formalize the impeachment inquiry is planned after a resolution passed yesterday. >> nine yeas, four nays. >> ayes have it and resolution ordered. >> the gop alleges that joe biden benefited from his family's foreign business dealings. the problem of course is that their investigation has struggled to uncover any wrongdoing by the president which is why it hasn't garnered the unified support of the full republican conference. >> we're the rule of law team. tomorrow wil be voting on the inquiry. why? because it is the next necessary step. >> donald trump says jump. maga extremists say how high. donald trump asked them to impeach joe biden and here we are. there is nothing there, there is no smoke. so this is a colossal waste of time. >> on another front, it remains to be seen whether hunter will appear before lawmakers today for a closed door deposition. hunter biden was in washington yesterday ahead of that scheduled deposition on the hill. but his lawyers want him to testify in public, not behind closed doors. if hunter doesn't show up, republicans have promised to hold him in contempt. let's bring in our congressional reporter for the associated press. always good to see you. former speaker kevin mccarthy had announced back in september that the house would be launching this impeachment inquiry into biden, but he did not hold a formal vote. what has changed to get us to today? >> not a lot has changed, but what has made the difference is the campaign that house republicans led thousand by speaker mike johnson have employed in order to get the vulnerable districts to get on the side of the inquiry. i think the case they have made is you will not be voting today to impeach joe biden, you will be voting to simply continue the investigation that they have effectively been investigating since january. so that is the case that they have been able to make and they have been able to unify the party very specifically and narrowly on continuing with the inquiry. but there is no unanimous support for impeaching joe biden at this point. >> so obviously this has all brought up -- we've been combing through the archives to see what republicans said about the donald trump impeachment, specifically the first one that kicked off back in 2019. and our investigative unit, the k file, they found this clip of speaker mike johnson, he was rank and file congressman at the time, and he was warning that an impeachment into trump would set a dangerous precedent. take a listen. >> the founding fathers warned us, i mean, they feared a single party impeachment. and the reason they said that is because they knew that it would bitterly divide the country. and they openly said and wrote about, spoke about how it might be irreparable damage to the country. >> now, of course it does seem as though republicans are going to go ahead with a single party impeachment inquiry in this case. how are they explaining that at this point? >> as you played, as speak are mike johnson on fox news yesterday saying this is just them going through the procedure. the argument that going new the impeachment inquiry without unanimous support of the house of representatives with democratic support is an argument that the white house made, which is why we're on this road. they sent a letter to republican committee chairs a few weeks ago saying we don't take your impeachment inquiry seriously, it has not received a full vote by the house of representatives. also additionally they quoted mike johnson back when he was a rank and file member of congress saying that any impeachment inquiry that is opened without a house vote is a sham. so there has been a level of public pressure both from the white house and from their own moderate members saying that if we want to legitimize this and more importantly fight the subpoenas that they are refusing to cooperate with in court, we need to have a formal authorization of this inquiry in order to move forward. >> and that is the critical peace, that the formal vote affords them legal tools and does in the eyes of the court legitimize what is going on. if hunter biden doesn't show up for the behind doors deposition, what happens? >> the republican committee chairs, james comer and jim jordan, have already sent a letter to abbe lowell hunter's attorney saying we'll hold him in contempt. and once they authorize the impeachment inquiry, they will have the legal standing to be able to push back on any sort of -- in cooperation with their subpoena. so he would be held in contempt of court. but it is unlikely that they will jump to that conclusion. usually they like to go through the negotiations with the lawyers to see if they can have a more positive outcome. >> so a bit of a trumpian strategy here we're seeing from hunter biden in terms of how they are handling both his legal troubles as well as now his interactions with congress. thank you for kicking us off this morning. and last night ron desantis ramping up his attacks on donald trump. seeming to attack the former president and frontrunner at almost every turn at the presidential town hall in iowa. >> donald trump, so he is -- when he gets off the teleprompter, you don't know what he's going to say. donald trump has refused to debate throughout this campaign. when donald trump ran in '16 that he was going to repeal and replace obamacare, i'm the only one running that can beat trump one-on-one. >> so we counted a total of eight attacks on the former president over the course of the hour. and tonight republican presidential hopeful vivek ramaswamy will join abby phillip for another cnn presidential town hall also live from iowa, it will air at 9:00 p.m. eastern. still ahead here, biden and net netanyahu's rift spilling in to the public eye. and recordings of threats from rudy giuliani. and nikki haley gets an endorsement before the pivotal primary in new hampshire. welcome back. israel turning to a new weapon this morning in their effort to defeat hamas. a u.s. official says israel informed the united states they have begun flooding some of the tunnels with sea water. elliott gotkine has more for us. tell us more about this strategy, how risky is it, how does it work? >> reporter: kasie, it is one strategy among many that israel is either employing or looking at employing to try to destroy the tunnels that hamas has constructed. it uses the tunnels to store weapons, to store its leadership, to store goods and other things like that. and even hostages where many of the hostages, 135 still being held captive by hamas, believed to be held. israel has about seven pumps, it would work sea water from the mediterranean sea into those tunnels. it is just at the testing phase right now. what israel wants to see is if it works and if it will be a good addition to its arsenal of ways to potentially kill militants and put rocket launchers out of commission. will it work? there is precedent in that egypt in 2015 flooded some of the tunnels that ran from egypt into the southern part of the gaza strip. again, in order to clamp down on smuggling going from egypt, weapons and the like going from egypt into the gaza strip. that worked for a time. but as we can see with the massive arsenal of rockets, rocket propelled grenades and other equipment that hamas has amassed and using begins israel since it carried out the massacre in october 7, it was only a short term fix because hamas is quite able to still continue to smuggle weapons and other things into the gaza strip. what are the risks? there is a danger to the water supply, environment, farmers complained in 2015 and of course ultimately the big concern is that it could also kill some of the hostages. >> of course. all right. elliott gotkine, thanks for that report. tensions between president biden and israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu becoming increasingly public over the war in gaza. the president speaking to democratic donors in washington completed that international support for israel's war with hamas would diminish if they were not, quote, careful. >> the actions they are taking must be consistent with attempting to do everything possible to prevent innocent palestinian civilians from being hurt, murdered, killed. >> max foster is joining us now. max, good morning. this obviously increasingly out in public that the biden administration is pushing a little harder on netanyahu. and netanyahu meanwhile was asked of his vision of a post dr wash gaza. and what was his response on the two state solution and how are these two men negotiating this in public now? >> we're never quite clear on the two state solution a part from if you look at all of netanyahu's actions, he is against it. so talking about what happens to gaza after the war, we haven't had very much on that. but he has said that he wants security responsibility of gaza but not governance. that doesn't mean independence. so not an independent palestinian area. and we were also talking, weren't we, earlier in the week, how netanyahu's government was allowing qatar to send caseloads of cash into gaza for hamas. and thinking behind that was keeping -- or propping up hamas as a political group as opposed to a counter balance really to the palestinian authority. if you have that split in authority, it is very hard to negotiate the two state solution. so not entirely clear, but he is not for a two state solution. so that is why president biden also called for a change in government, saying it was too hard line. >> max, the biden administration has been very careful about what they have said in public about netanyahu and when you talk to administration officials about why that is, they say it is because it preserves their leverage with the israeli government. should we see the increasing willingness for the president to be public about this as a sign that they feel that leverage is waning? >> it is interesting. you're better positioned than me to talk about whether or not it is a reaction to domestic pressure he has received particularly within the democratic part it i about the number of civilians that are dying in gaza. so is he responding to that? if you look at the vote of the united nations last night, the u.s. voted against this motion for a ceasefire. and that is a very clear position right behind israel. and obviously that was welcomed in israel. but if you look at the broader vote, it was an overwhelming vote for a ceasefire in gaza. and that is most of the world calling for a ceasefire in gaza. so that was a very strong message. but also very strong message from the united states to vote against it as opposed to abstaining even. >> yeah, i think that it is -- i think that you are right to point out that there is this element of domestic political pressure obviously on democrats. but biden has personally been so staunchly supportive of israel for so many many years, i think if anything that has been a frustration for progressive democrats. and i do wonder if more of it is not actually about what is going on with their conversations with israel more than anything else. max foster, thank you for being here with us. always great to see you. still ahead here, arizona's supreme court reviewinge an abortion ban from the 1800s. and justice clarence thomas is in the hot seat again. first time i connected with kim, she told me that her husband had passed. and that he took care of all of the internet connected devices in the home. i told her, “i'm here to take care of you.” connecting with kim... made me reconnect with my mom. it's very important to keep loved ones close. we know that creating memories with loved ones brings so much joy to your life. a family trip to the team usa training facility. i don't know how to thank you. i'm here to thank you. quick hits across america. arizona supreme court hears arguments on the state's near total abortion ban which dates back to the civil war. at issue is whether arizona completely bans abortion or maintains a ban after 15 weeks of pregnancy. a decision expected early next year. and president biden meets with families whose loved ones are being held hostage by hamas at the white house today. at least eight american, seven men and one woman, have been missing since the start of the war. new york's highest court has ordered the state's 26 congressional districts to be redrawn. the long awaited decision could help democrats flip a number of republican held seats in the house next year and possibly regain control of the narrowly divided house. let's go now to weather. storms will bring heavy rain and snow to the southern rockies and plains and apparently another storm is developing in the gulf of mexico that could bring flooding to florida and the southeast. let's get straight to our weatherman derek van dam with the latest. good morning. >> great to see you. you know what, the storm across the rockies is just going to be the icing on the cake across parts of let's say north eastern new mexico into southern colorado, right where we need the snow, we have the winter weather advisories an winter storm warnings in place. the potential for over a couple feet of snow possible especially in the higher elevations. ski resorts will take it. on the warm side, this is all brain. interstate 40 from amarillo and oklahoma city, it will be a wet slow go for the next few hours. it is trying to draw in the cold air, so we'll eventually see a transition to snowfall late in the day on thursday. so here is the accumulation totals we're expecting, amarillo northward, a few inches of snow. higher elevations again measuring in feet. and so mountain snow, clear and cool, maybe a few lake-effect snow showers. and you mentioned the potential of wet weather across southern florida. what we're concerned about here is several days of wet weather as a stationery boundary sets up creating flood watches, flood concerns going through the rest of the workweek. check out the forecast rainfall for miami, could exceed 4 to 5 inches of rain. here is a quick check of your temperatures. 41 for the windy city, 75 degrees for miami. hate to be the grinch, but i got to show you this because it is trending on twitter, the blow torch that is christmas, before average temperatures expected for the entire country through christmas week. >> no white christmas for us i guess. derek van dam, thank you, my friend. i'll see you tomorrow. and up next here, house republicans subpoena hunter biden for a closed door deposition today, but his lawyers want a public e one. who will blink. and interesting choice of words about the u.s. commitment to ukraine. good morning. thanks for being up early with us. i'm kasie hunt. just before 5:30 here on the east coast. the house gop investigation into president joe biden reaches an inflection point just hours from now. house republicans set to debate and vote on a resolution to formalize the impeachment inquiry into the president. speaker johnson continues to defend the effort as the next necessary step. >> the impeachment sqinquiry no because we've come to this impasse where following the facts where they lead is hitting a stone wall because the white house is impeding that investigation now. they are not allowing witnesses to come forward and thousands of pages of documents. so we have no choice to actual fill our constitutional responsibility, we have to take the next step. we're not making a political decision. it is not. it is a legal decision. >> so democrats call the requesrequest inquiry a political stunt. and they point to the lack of evidence. and [']hunter is scheduled to appear for a closed door deposition as part of the inquiry into the family business dealings. hunter was bidener biden is in but unclear whether he will show up. let's bring in our reporter from punch bowl news. what is going on here? republicans haven't had the vote for this impeachment inquiry and now they seem to. v at the very least johnson is going to the floor with it. how much of it is about the white house stonewalling strategy? >> yeah, johnson and the rest of the house republican leadership has pretty much leaned on all their moderate members, all the members who are sitting in districts that republican members in districts that biden won in 2020, and saying look, this is an inquiry, we're not impeaching biden, we're not voting on impeachment. so they are trying to separate this. the inquiry from a potential impeachment vote. now, we all know that if they begin the inquiry, they are very likely to vote on impeachment at some point, but they are playing this game with their own members saying this is just an inquiry and that seems to have convinced enough moderates to say,l go al like this. somebody like don bacon in neb who has been very resident ewal has tried to allow on what the past precedent was including with former president trump, house his white house responded to impeachment inquiries including how former president clinton's white house responded to pooemts inquiry saying we'll give you these witnesses but not these. there is presidential privilege that we have to deal with here. they are relying on past precedent. so not trying to make new ground here, but saying look, this is what previous white supremacist whitesupremacist -- this is what previous white houses did, so if you want to take us to court, take us to court. so that is why the republicans say they need this resolution today to help themselves in court. >> because without the formalization, they are destined to lose in koicourt. so speaking of past precedent and how presidents handle these investigations, hunter biden was subpoenaed for a deposition today. there is a threat that he will be held in contempt of congress if he doesn't show. but it does seem like we expect him not to show up. what -- do you expect a contempt move, do you expect to see him? how do you see this playing out? >> yeah, i expect him to go to contempt. we couldn't get an answer out of hunter biden's lawyer abbe lo lowell. i think everybody reporter in d.c. probably called him. but he won't say -- they do have cameras set up inside the committees if he shows up today. not sure it will happen. as you noted, he is in town. he is just -- no one knows whether he will go to the hill. now, there are two types of contempt congress could pursue against -- the house could pursue against hunter biden. criminal contempt and civil contempt. criminal contempt, justice department would have to bring charges against hunter biden. he is already under indictment in delaware on a gun issue. he is in indictment in california on a federal tax issue. so very likely that the biden justice department will go after hunter biden criminally on contempt. now, they can sue hunter biden in civil court, federal court in a civil case that would take time. that is what the whole argument will be about, whether hunter biden can drag this out beyond the end of this congress. which is a possibility. he could drag it out for a while. so there are two types of contempt. we don't expect criminal charges against hunter biden on this, but we could see a lawsuit over this. >> so dragging out your subpoena for congressional testimony in the courts, who does that remind you of? >> yeah, reminds me of donald trump and every other president. this is the way presidents and white houses deal with this stuff. the congress has a deadline. this congress will end at some point. republicans could lose their majority. they know that