moving into this official impeachment inquiry phase. >> it has now been formalized. a new election year headache, house republicans have officially opened an impeachment inquiry against joe biden as they look into the family finances. this morning continued questions, though, for proof, any proof of high crime or misdemeanor. a judge pushing pause on the federal election subversion case against the former president. what does it mean now for that march trial date. u.s. intel says nearly half israeli munitionop gaza. that means they're unguided and precise and they could be contributed to the staggering civilian death toll. "cnn this morning" starts right now. house republicans have officially launched their impeachment inquiry into president biden, even though they've struggled to say what he did wrong or show any evidence of high crimes and misdemeanors after 11 months of digging. republicans voted along party lines unanimously to formally approve the probe with zero support from democrats. they denounced the investigation as a political stunt ordered by donald trump for revenge. >> after 11 months of this, no one can tell us what president biden's crime was. >> they know their whole impeachment inquiry is a sham, and it will evaporate into thin air when people realize what a pathetic joke it is. >> the puppet master in chief, donald trump, has directed the sycophants to target joe biden as part of an effort to undermine president biden's re-election. >> house republicans are insisting they needed to take this step to give them full subpoena power to gather more evidence and fight any legal challenges from the white house. >> we have a simple question and i think a majority of americans have, what did the bidens do to receive the tens of millions of dollars from our enemies around the world. we're very pleased with the vote today. i think that will send a message loud and clear to the white house. we expect you to comply with our information request and our subpoenas. >> this is an impeachment inquiry. that's all. what are my democratic colleagues afraid of if there's nothing to see there? >> cnn's priscilla alvarez starts us off live from the north lawn of the white house. the president last night making clear his views aren't subtle either. >> he's calling it a baseless political stunt and the president taking time in his statement to also kick off by noting all the work that's still stalled in congress, particularly with his supplemental aid for ukraine, aid for israel, and also border security, and the president said the following, quote, instead of doing anything to help make american lives better, they are focused on attacking me with lies. instead of doing their jobs on the urgent work that needs to be done, they are choosing to waste time on this baseless political stunt that even republicans in congress admit is not support bid facts. republicans have telegraphed for some time they plan to open up an impeachment inquiry. what they're making clear now is that their focus is on governing and calling this inquiry a political stunt. phil. >> hunter biden was also on the hill yesterday. his role in this really can't be understated. republicans are now talking about moving to hold him in contempt. what more are we hearing from the white house specifically about hunter biden? >> well, and this is also a sensitive matter for the president. it was front and center yesterday. now the president's son hunter rebuked republicans yesterday and demanded to testify publicly and in his remarks, he conceded that he made mistakes, but what he also made clear is that this is not grounds for impeachment and that his father was not involved in any of his dealings. >> my father was not financially involved in my business, not as a practicing lawyer, not as a board member of breezurisma, no my partnership with a chinese businessman, not in my investments at home nor abroad, and certainly not as an artist. >> reporter: the white house has indicated they got a heads-up before that statement saying the president was familiar with what his son was going to say, but they wouldn't elaborate beyond that saying what they have said the entire time, that the president loves and supports his son and they'll leave it at that. >>illa, as all of this is happening in the house, you walk across the capitol there are real negotiations about that emergency aid package. you've got new reporting on concessions the biden administration has been willing to make on the border in order to secure aid to ukraine and israel. is everyone on board with what's been put on the table here? >> reporter: the short answer is no and allies to the president tell me they're frustrated with what he's willing to give up on the border. these are concessions that taken together would amount to a significant shift in immigration law, and also in some cases are very similar to what the trump administration has tried to do, and so democrats here, according to one source, are really in a box. they're in a position where they're having to embrace or support policys that not long ago they were criticizing and tieing directly to the former president, for example, expelling migrants without allowing them the time to make their asylum case. those are the concessions the white house is floating and ones that are concerning to his allies. >> trying to reach that deal, priscilla's been doing great reporting on this from the white house, thank you. right now president biden's national security chief is back in the middle east for what the white house is calling serious conversations with israeli officials. biden warned israel is losing international support for the war because of its indiscriminate bombing. >> israeli foreign minister eli cohen says the war will continue with or without international support. alex marquardt is live in tel aviv where biden's national security adviser jake sullivan will be today traveling to the middle east over the course of the last several days. what do we expect from these meetings, alex? >> of course jake sullivan is the most senior adviser to president biden when it comes to the war in gaza, so this is an extremely pivotal moment. you have countries around the world, including some of america's closest allies calling for an immediate cease fire. that is something that the u.s. continues to resist. jake sullivan as part of these extremely serious conversations as they're calling it, he's expected to press the most senior levels, senior ministers in the israeli government, the prime minister, the defense minister, the war cabinet on their efforts around civilian casualties. he wants to emphasize that the u.s. really want ts to see theme more surgical, more precise when it comes to targeting gaza. guys, of course, this is something that the u.s. has pushed for for a very long time. we continue to see those civilian casualties mounting in a very significant way. at the same time, sullivan is also expected to pressure the israeli government on getting more aid into gaza. sullivan himself has been very vocal, specifically about the kerem shalom crossing, they want to see that crossing used for aid to go directly into gaza. right now it's going in through the rafah crossing in egypt. these meetings, very, very important meetings as israel continues with this high intensity phase of the wars comes after commented by biden in which he says netanyahu needs to change tack in this war. he criticized the government for fully reject ing a two-state solution and the president saying that israel is carrying out indiscriminate bombing in the gaza strip. >> there's also -- we want to ask you about this exclusive cnn reporting that nearly half of the munitions israel is using in gaza are known as dumb bombs, unguided missiles. we're hearing this just happens in a war, it depends on how they're used. what more have you learned? >> reporter: well, this really does speak to what the president was talking about in terms of the bombing. this assessment is a new u.s. intelligence assessment that my coll colleagues were told about. around half of the 29,000 air to surface bombs, so bombs that have been dropped by planes, according to this assessment, are so-called dumb bombs or unpr unprecise. they are not precision guided munitions. that is 12 to 13,000 bombs that have been dropped on gaza are not precision guided. now, our colleague mj lee at the white house asked the white house's john kirby yesterday how they can square their belief that israel is trying to protect civilians as much as they can with those comments by biden about indiscriminate bombing. take a listen. >> sometimes in war and again, i'm not speaking for the israelis, sometimes in war your best plans, your best execution of those plans doesn't always go the way you want it to go. doesn't always go the way you expect it to go. >> reporter: and erica and phil, i reached out to the idf about this assessment. they told me they do not comment on the munitions they are using in this war. >> alex, appreciate the reporting, thank you. and an important note, just a little bit later here on "cnn this morning" our chief international correspondent clarissa ward will take you inside gaza to see the humanitarian crisis. this is the first time a western media outlet has obtained access into southern gaza to report independently since the start of the war. the supreme court taking up critical cases that quite literally could reshape the 2024 election, abortion access, january 6th prosecutions all on the docket. and vivek ramaswamy using cnn's town hall to push his favovorite conspspiracy theoeor. nenext. reaching and inspiring the next generation of americans, i think i'm the best person in this race to do those things, and that's why i'm in it. >> this is far more than a campaign. this is the greatest political movement in the history of our country. >> dueling campaign events, dueling messages, the same populist appeal. donald trump and vivek ramaswamy campaigning in iowa one month before the iowa caucuses. >> both pushing conspiracy theories that have been critical to their campaigns on the trail. trump speaking in coralville, iowa, and ra swa my in. des moines. jess, your takeaway from watching these two candidates last night about the state of the race? >> well, yes, it is my new home here in iowa, they're very friendly and welcoming. it was interesting to see these two particular candidates hosting or taking part in events last night because you have the front runner, former president donald trump, who's running in the latest polling from the des moines register and nbc news at 51% here, and vivek ramaswamy this upstart young candidate at our cnn town hall last night who is polling in single-digits, but really trying to duogo after trump's base. >> we're just 33 days away from iowa, first in the nation. i wonder how you got that. you dot that because of me. >> reporter: former president donald trump, sharpening his closing message to voters in iowa mocking his gop rivals. >> so we're leading with 51%, while ron desanctimonious is at less than 19, and haley is at 16. what happened to the haley surge? there's a surge going on. >> reporter: and launching attacks on president biden over his fitness. >> just incredible that he can, frankly, be even running anything. he can't put two sentences together. >> reporter: and his handling of the economy. >> families all across america are struggling under the brutal weight of bidenomics. means a lot of bad things. >> reporter: trump's rally coming on the heels of what his campaign called a big win in the federal election case against him. u.s. district judge tanya chutkan deciding to pause the proceedings while appeals unfold. the pause potentially delaying the start of the march 2024 trial, with the supreme court also agreeing to expedite consideration of the special counsel's request to rule on the immunity issue. >> they're fighting like hell because they want to try and get a guilty plea from the supreme court of the united states, which i can't imagine because you have presidential immunity but strange things happen. >> reporter: meanwhile at a cnn town hall in des moines last night, vivek ramaswamy repeatedly trying to appeal to trump's base, even defending his embrace of a january 6th conspiracy theory. >> if you had told me january 6th was in any way an inside job, the subject of government entrapment, i would have told you that was crazy talk, fringe conspiracy theory nonsense. i can tell you now having gone somewhat dmeepeep in this, it's. the reality is we know there were federal law enforcement agents in that field, we don't know how many. let me finish this answer -- >> i'm going to go ahead and interrupt you here because saying that there were -- you're saying there were federal agents. >> this is important to talk about. >> you are saying there were federal agents on january 6th. >> yep. >> there's no evidence that there were federal agents in the crowd on january 6th. >> reporter: the biden harris campaign blasting ramaswamy saying his town hall tonight was an exercise in bombastic rhetoric offering zero solutions to the real issues that americans demand action on. >> reporter: tomorrow we will be one month away from the iowa caucuses, which of course kick off the 2024 election in terms of who's in iowa today, erica and phil, just vivek ramaswamy, he has been all over the state. he holds some seven events today. he had some ten yesterday, so he's trying to really criss-cross the state, but the election is upon us. >> indeed it is, as is your new residency. we look forward to seeing you there over the next several weeks, jess, thank you. will these legal issues hitting the biden and trump campaigns, we're going to take a closer look at how this delay now, this pause in one of trump's cases could potentially impact the race for the white house. and right now russian president vladimir putin holding his annual year-end news conference, what he just revealed about his e end game i hihis war agaiainst ukrainine. ststay with us. 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. this morning it's looking more likely that the two candidates in the 2024 general election will be facing some perilous legal problems. the house moving forward with its impeachment inquiry of president biden, even though republicans have yet to provide any evidence of high crimes and misdemeanors. >> donald trump of course is facing 91 federal and state criminal charges. his campaign, though, is calling a new pause in his federal election subversion trial, which is set to begin in march, they're saying it's a win. let's bring in cnn legal analyst joey jackson, cnn political analyst and "new york times" white house and national security correspondent david sanger and former republican strategist and pollster lee cater. we're hearing from the trump campaign, this pause is a big win. is it? >> not yet, all right? so let's pause a characterization like that. and i'll tell you why. the reality is is that of course he wants to pause it to slow it down, to potentially become president, and then there's nothing to see here. we don't know that that will occur. in addition to, the judge wasn't vacating the dates meaning eliminating the dates, but simply pausing them and will revisit the issue whether those dates can move forward. there will probably be a delay, but we know that as the court reviews this, the d.c. circuit court on an expedited basis, said can you guys take a look at it too. if the supreme court gets involved, there's an ultimate determination as to no immunity, the case proceeds. the question is when. so i think the timing question in terms of when specifically it will move forward is an open question. and if it still happens but not in march, maybe in may, maybe in june, maybe in july, how big of a win really is that? the big win would be if the supreme court said you have immunity or let the appellate court move forward and then after, say the supreme court real quick, supreme court says no right now. we're not going to hear this to jack smith's request. it goes to the appellate court and then the supreme court revisits it, and there's another pause. ask me that question. i'll say that's a win because we'll probably get to that potentially after the election. >> so there's a lot of steps here. >> a lot of steps. >> there's a lot to keep track of. it turns out the legal system has layers, tiers to some degree. >> yes, it does. >> the impeachment inquiry, the formalization of the vote, every single republican voting yes including the 17 republicans who are in biden won districts, which i think was kind of always the target for democrats trying to oppose this. there was a clarifying moment with republican and democrat. >> the question i'm asking you. >> go ahead, ask. >> what is the specific constitutional crime that you're investigating? >> well, we're having an inquiry so we can do an investigation and the production of witnesses. >> and what is the crime you're investigating? >> and documents. >> high crimes, misdemeanors, and bribery. >> what high crime and misdemeanor are you investigating? >> once i get time, i will explain what we're looking at. >> the reason is the bar of what should launch an impeachment inquiry i think is in a very different place now than it ever has been in history. do people actually care? does this register -- base voters i assume care. this isn't in the top, even with republicans this isn't in the top five or six. >> it's not in the top. the whole issue, there's a whole lot of theater that goes around this. among the republican base there's a huge appetite to say there's this two-tiered system of justice. 78% of republicans agree there's a two-tier system of justice that seems unfair, and they want the same standards applied to the other side. it's not one of the driving forces, but they want to see their republican leadership fight back so to speak. now, does that mean that there is evidence? does it mean it's the right thing to do? no. this is absolutely something that is very popular among especially those trump suppsup supporters who feel like there's this unfair way of treating the different -- >> do you think that that's really the primary reason they're doing this? >> i do. >> we see the reaction from republicans after that vote yesterday, mike lawler of new york, right, biden-won district noting it's not political. he was saying this is about facts and evidence, it's not political. we have to follow the facts and the evidence. to both of your points, can republicans say, look, we have to do this? is that point selling? >> you could go off and do that without having a formal vote on an impeachment inquiry. obviously they've been doing that now for months, right? so what's interesting here is whether or not we have now routineized the idea of impeaching anybody for whom there is even the vaguest suspicion, with no real evidence out there. and that's not really what the founders had in mind about impeachment. i mean, this was supposed to be a truly rare event, you know, we went a long, long way, you know, from getting to impeach -- one impeachment in the 1800s, up until bill clinton, and now where are we? i think what's really driving this in the end is that donald trump was outraged that he was twice impeached and basically just demanded i want an impeachment of biden. he didn't real