volume of questions that came her way. needless to say, a lot of students and their reaction has been pretty volatile on campus. many students say they don't feel safe here at upenn, given there has been a rise in antisemitic rhetoric and activity, even before the october 7th attacks. again, you have all these donors now threatening to pull some funding. so, that influence clearly adding some pressure here, and the board of trustees, again, set to meet tomorrow at five pm to have that discussion about whether or not liz magill will have a job here moving forward. yasmin? >> george soliz for us there. george, appreciate. i have a lot more coming up, folks. you're watching msnbc, our second hour starts now. ♪ ♪ ♪ hey, everybody. i'm yasmin vossoughian. if you just joining us, welcome. if you are sticking with us, we are thankful for that. we are just days away from an expected vote in the house to move forward in the impeachment of the president, despite lacking any evidence that he is guilty of an impeachable offense. this is happening as the speaker of the house actively works to alter footage of the january 6th capitol hill insurrection to protect those who participated. >> this is a situation where you have the republican party actively trying to ensure that people, actively trying to whitewash what happened on the sixth, and to collaborate with the former president. i think that's a really important point, because the threat that he poses wouldn't be so significant if people had done the right thing, had said no, that is not who we are. but instead, there is obviously this embrace of him, and this collaboration with the very damaging efforts he's undertaken. >> in a moment, i'm going to talk to congresswoman a former impeachment manager on january 6th committee member, so lofgren, about just that and much more. also this hour, republicans at it again when it comes to extreme abortion access. texas supreme general blocks a decision to allow him to get an abortion to protect your health. and donald trump brings his campaign to new york ahead of his testimony. his trial on monday, and right after a new order to keep him quiet. all of that, plus, the latest mega 2024 election interference conspiracy theory, and it's taylor swift. how they are connecting some strange thoughts when it comes to the superstar. that's ahead this hour as well. we want to begin this hour, though, on capitol hill, where house republicans are just days away from launching a formal impeachment inquiry into the president. the biden administration has repeatedly characterized the inquiry efforts as quote, illegitimate, house speaker mike johnson says he'll have the votes to approve and authorization. nbc's julie tsirkin is on capitol hill for us for more on that. julie, good to talk to you. when can we see movement on that resolution, and which direction it's going to hit? >> yasmin, that could happen as early as wednesday. also, on wednesday, is the day where the committees expect at least to hear from hunter biden behind closed doors for that long awaited deposition they subpoenaed him to appear for. they've threatened to hold him in contempt of congress if he does not appear. but you'll remember that he and with his lawyer, abbe lowell, had said before, they are willing to appear publicly and the committee wants to do this behind closed doors. so, if he does not appear, i think that will give republicans a lot more ammo to move forward on this vote to formalize the impeachment inquiry. remember, this is not launching on formal impeachment articles against the president. though speaker johnson said he is willing to go that far, perhaps, in the new year, but this is a step to formalize the process that was kicked off by ousted house speaker kevin mccarthy back in september. and you are right to ask, does it have the votes to pass? many moderates, many vulnerable republican members, have actually started to come around to this idea, and i've talked to a couple of them in this indictment, these latest charges that were brought on against hunter biden, might make them more comfortable, give them some more cover, if you will, in the words of new york republican mike lawler, to move forward on this. maybe think there is some evidence. i want you to take a listen, though, to hunter biden's attorney, abbe lowell, and what he had to say about all of these charges. watch. >> what happened between june 20th and yesterday? the facts didn't change. they are exactly the same us they were. the law didn't change. so, you have to ask, what changed? what changed was the enormous political pressure that was put on the u.s. attorney when he made a deal that was appropriated for what the facts and law showed to him deciding, i don't want that any longer. >> that reception to these charges have been interesting. for example, from james comer, who is leading this investigation, into hunter biden, he was leading some of these aspects of the impeachment inquiry into his father, the president, have been really interesting because comer himself, on one hand, credited the two irs whistleblowers who came before his panel with these charges. but, also blasted them saying they don't go far enough, they were given to protect president biden. again, though, it's important to reiterate the committee has not yet found any evidence linking hunter biden and any of his business dealings to his father. they are going to continue to push forward on that. it is my guest that if they are putting us on the floor, thickening of the republican votes to move forward. >> julie tsirkin for us, thank, you julie. appreciate it. joining me now with more on this, california representative zoe lofgren, a member of the judiciary committee and former impeachment manager. she was also a member of the january six select committee. congresswoman, thank you for joining us. i appreciate it. if you will, i want you to pick up a little bit on where our correspondent left off. and that's the possibility that an impeachment probe is actually going to pass. what do you think about this? >> we'll find out, but there is no basis for this. you know, the administration has, and everybody who has been asked, has given all the information that has been asked for. the chairman himself indicated that every single subpoena that he has issued has been met with the documents he asked for. there is nothing there. the former business partners of hunter biden have said there is no connection between the president and his son, in terms of business dealings. they have come up with zero. so, this is a highly politicized event. and all just say that republican colleagues who think that this is a free before them are very much mistaken. this is going to be seen for what it is, which is an effort to use impeachment as a political force against a sitting president with no facts whatsoever. it's really shameful. >> i want you to draw on the idea in the freebie, if you, can for a moment. you set it and i can't stated enough, which is, these tax charges leveled against the president's son have no connection to the president whatsoever. with that being said, though, do you feel as if they possibly give cover to republicans that are hesitant to move forward with this impeachment inquiry, impeachment probe, and or ultimately an impeachment? >> they may think so, but i don't think so. you know, i've never met hunter biden, but from the reporting, apparently, he had a very serious substance abuse problem. he was an addict, and i think all of us in america know somebody, you, know somebody in our neighborhood or our church or even our family, who has been addicted to something. people do stupid things when they are addicted, and i think the president's son did that. and he will be tried and a jury will make a decision. but if you take a look at what's been charged, it has nothing whatsoever to do with president biden, who understandably, i'm sure, is heartbroken about what happened to his son and the addiction, and of course, now he has apparently recovered and that is not easy, but all of us to celebrate when an addict recovers. >> i want to talk about january six will have you, congresswoman. i specifically want to address what speaker johnson is now saying, and that he wants to release all the january 6th footage, and with that, he is going to blur the faces of folks that are featured in that footage. i want to play for you some of that sound, and then we'll talk on the other side. >> we have to blur some of the faces of persons who participated in the events of that day, because we don't have to be retaliated against. and to be charged by the doj, and to have other, you know, concerns and problems. so, that's a slow process to get it done. we are working steadily on it. we fired a digital personnel to do that, and all of those tapes, ultimately, at the end, will be out so everyone can see them and draw their own conclusion. >> so, you call this a bozo move. talk more about that. >> well, i mean, i served with mike on the judiciary committee for a number of years. and he is a very careful speaker. when i heard that, i was stunned that he is basically trying to protect from prosecution people who were criminals, who were in the capital rioting. i mean, that's pretty shocking. but the other shocking thing is apparently, he didn't realize that the video of the rioters has already been provided to the fbi. so, that's kind of a bose move into ways. >> what about the ending of what i just played for folks, which is him saying this footage, and we want to blur the faces of those featured in this footage, but, also in doing it because they want folks to draw their own conclusions as to what happened on that day on january six. what is your take away from that? the way in which he freezes that? >> well, i think once again, he is encouraging the far-right to try and pretend nothing happened. on january six. i have colleagues who were evacuated, along with, me who are now trying to say well, it was just like a tourist visit. that is absurd. you can take a picture of an empty hallway and say there wasn't a riot here. that's true. but all you need to do is take a look at those rioters. we had over 160 officers injured. people lost fingers. a guy got his eye gouged out. i mean, this was a terrible assault. and there's no way to spin it otherwise, despite the efforts, which i think mike's release is part of, really. >> representative zoe lofgren, as, always a pleasure thank. you. >> thank you. >> coming, up everybody. don trump campaigning in new york tonight and on the stand the gun in his civil trial on monday. in the wake of a new gag order imposed on the former president. and the israeli offensive in gaza as ground comfort patients continue. we'll have a live report in just 60 seconds. st 60 seconds. , “it's happening”! if you're worried about your protection, it's not the right protection. always discreet protects like no other. with double leak guards that help prevent gushes escaping from the sides. and a rapid dry core that locks in your heaviest gush quickly for up to zero leaks. and it contours, to everybody. now this, is protection! always discreet- the protection we deserve! 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(vo) for a limited time, turn any iphone in any condition into a new iphone 15 pro with titanium and ipad and apple watch se - all on us. only on verizon. welcome back. on the heels of the -- united nations resolution calling for immediate cease-fire in regards to the -- pushing through emergency until nearly 40,000 tank shells israel, with an estimated price tag of 106 point $5 million. it bypasses the standard congressional approval process, citing national security interests of the u.s.. it's coming a secretary of state tony blinken held a meeting with multiple arab foreign ministers in washington, d.c., earlier. highlighting u.s. support for israel, but also addressing humanitarian needs in gaza. and protecting palestinian civilians from harm. i want to bring in nbc news correspondent, holly bronny, from tel aviv with more on this. if you, walk us what is happening over the last 24 hours or so on the ground, and in this continued assault on gaza? >> right, we'll, anthony blinken meeting with his arab counterpart is a significant move a day after, as he mentioned, the u.s. vetoed the u.n. security council resolution, tabled by the united arab emirates. calling for an immediate cease fire, because that decision has cost pretty widespread consternation across the arab world. even though it was largely expected and antony blinken, in that image you just showed their, was seated right next to him and suffer the, the jordanian foreign minister, who is one of the first arab leaders, very early on in this conflict, to call what israel was doing a quote, genocide. this is all happening against the backdrop of just a terrible humanitarian collapse. eight agencies working inside of the gaza strip are saying that as this situation has become untenable, in particular, we have heard from the world food programme that's has said that nine out of ten gazans are not eating every day, and that about half the strip is facing starvation. i want to share with you some footage that was shot by our team inside of gaza. now, this is happening at nasr hospital in rafah in th southern part of the gaza strip, where initially, the israeli military had told people to evacuate to. listen. this girl brought in, she was covered in dust, and she was calling for her parents. take a look. >> [crying] >> so, this young girl a saying, where is my father? where is my mother? and you can see just how much pressure this is putting on the hospital system in the gaza strip. you can just imagine five people killed today, and 22 people injured in the strip, just in the last few hours, yasmin. >> my god, just devastating. hala gorani for us, thank you. coming up in this hour, former israel consulate general alan pinkett joins me. excuse. me with his -- >> that's coming up. >> that's coming up. he doesn't even have a mustache. only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪ my skin has been so much smoother so much more hydrated. it's olay! with olay hyaluronic body wash 95% of women had visibly-better skin. and my skin is so much more moisturized. see the difference with olay. the power goes out, and we still have wifi to do our homework. and that's a good thing? great in my book. who are you? no power? no problem. introducing storm-ready wifi. now you can stay reliably connected through power outages with unlimited cellular data and up to 4 hours of battery back-up. plus, now through december 31st, eligible xfinity rewards members can get 25% off welcome back. a storm ready wifi device. former president trump is in the big apple today, ahead of the address of that new york young republican skilled later today. his appearances coming just days before an expected return to the witness stand in his new york civil fraud trial on monday. trump packed legal schedule continuing charging in a different campaign route from his fellow republican 2024 hopefuls, who are all campaigning in iowa today. days after they participated in a republican debate, where trump was notably absent. nbc's campaign and that jake trailer is joining us now with more on this. jake, if you will, talk about the juxtaposition of trump being in new york, while also dealing with his competitors who are in iowa. how disciplined work? >> yeah, yasmin, let me set the stage for you. 37 days out from the iowa caucus, where are donald trump's competitors? they're in iowa. at a family event. where is donald trump? he is a few blocks down the road, here in new york city. he has held less than a quarter of events that ron desantis and vivek ramaswamy have held in iowa, despite all of, that when i speak with voters, they saved resoundingly that come january. republicans will be caucusing for donald trump. that really seems to be the theme of this campaign cycle on the republican side, and, also this past weekend. on thursday, donald trump attended a civil fraud trial. he told the press multiple times he was forced to be their. he would rather be in iowa. now, we know he actually voluntarily chose to be there on thursday. tonight, he is speaking at the young republicans gala in new york. could alongside rudy giuliani, and steve bannon, and of, course on monday, you will be participating in testifying for the final time in his civil fraud trial. this is a busy weekend for the former president, yasmin, but an unconventional one for a candidate for president. about a month out from the iowa caucus. but we know donald trump, unconventional. those two words often seem to go together. >> i want to turn to something presidents have done on the trail, especially his dictator comments. wave ignited criticism and brought attention to the investigation that he's facing for attention to -- for an election. how is his line that biden is the destroyer of democracy being received? >> so i won't walk in and, iowa campaign event earlier this week, and lining the seats were new science that campaign had put out in big, bold letters to cite biden attacks democracy. that has been the seam of the speech, the seam of two's truth social post videos, interviews the president gave, former president gave, says biden attacked democracy. that can't help but be held in tandem with the fact that literally this week, earlier on tuesday, in a town hall with sean hannity, donald trump said on that one, i would be a dictator. that's also not forget that he actually is facing charges for subverting the 2020 election results. so, there is weird irony there, obviously. i did speak with a voter who said they're able to overlook these types of things because he gets the things done that they care about. just take a listen. >> i don't have a line. now. i really am blindly donald trump at this point, yeah. >> why? >> because i like him better than the other people. i'd rather have and [bleep] in my face than a front stab me in the back, and i think that's how i felt after the democrats were last in charge. i felt really stepped in the back by obama. >> now, gabrielle voted twice for obama, but she said donald trump is the one who made promises that he kept. now, right now, means is gabrielle representative of all maga republicans, but i hear consistently on the campaign trail, they are able to overlook things like saying he would be a dictator because he gets the things done that they care about. yasmin? >> jake trilla for us, thank you, jake. appreciated. coming up, a texas woman, once again, block from getting an abortion. a court ruled she needs to protect her health after texas supreme court steps in. and a live report on the extreme weather hitting multiple parts of the country right now. we'll be right back. ht back. nurtec odt may help. it's the only medication that can treat a migraine when it strikes and prevent migraine attacks. treat and prevent, all in one. don't take if allergic to nurtec. allergic reactions can occur, even days after using. most common side effects were nausea, indigestion, and stomach pain. relief is possible. talk to a doctor about nurtec odt. marlo thomas: my father founded saint jude children's research hospital because he believed no child should die in the dawn of life. in 1984, a patient named stacy arrived, and it began her family's touching story vicki: childhood cancer, it's just hard. stacey passed on christmas day of 1986. there is no pain like losing a child, but saint jude gave us more years to love on her each day. marlo thomas: you can join the battle to save lives. for just $19 a month, you'll help us continue the lifesaving research and treatment these kids need now and in the future. jessica: i remember as a child, walking the halls of saint jude, and watching my sister fight for her life. we never imagined that we would come back. and then my son charlie was diagnosed with ewing's sarcoma. vicki: i'm thinking, we already had a catastrophic disease in our family. not my grandson too. marlo thomas: st. jude has helped push the overall childhood cancer survival rate from 20% when it opened to 80% today. join with your credit or debit card for only $19 a month, and we'll send you this saint jude t-shirt that you can proudly wear to show your support. jessica: for anybody that would give, the money is going towards research, and you are the reason my child is here today. charlie: i was declared-- this will be two years cancer free. but there's thousands and thousands of kids who need help. saint jude, how many lives they do save is just so many. marlo thomas: charlie's progress warms my heart, but memories of little angels like stacy are why we need your help. please become a saint jude partner in hope right now. [music playing] we're travelling all across america, talking to people about their hearts. how's the heart? i feel like it's good. how do you know? let me show you something. it looks like a credit card, but it is the kardiamobile card. with kardiamobile card, you can take a medical-grade ekg in just 30 seconds, from anywhere. kardiamobile card is proven to detect atrial fibrillation, one of the leading causes of stroke. kardiamobile card is just $79 during our holiday sale, a $20 savings. get it for yourself or a loved one at kardia.com or amazon. welcome back, everybody. i want her back to the weekend wild weather at this hour, tornado watches have been issued for parts of arkansas, kentucky, mississippi, tennessee, with potentially dangerous tornadoes over northwest tennessee. this happening as a cold front moving to the east coast expected to bring strong rain and wind. meanwhile, the pacific northwest, more fears of flash flooding, along the coast as rain and snow are continuing to fall after a barrage of atmospheric rivers crashed into washington and oregon early on the week. prompting dramatic rescues. priscilla jack -- is in jackson, mississippi. where storms are expected to be severe. priscilla, good to talk to you. what do we expect in the region from the system? any changes over the last hour or so since we last spoke? >> yeah, yasmin, right now we're watching two suspected tornadoes in tennessee. one of those in rutherford, tennessee, where we're already beginning to see images of damage to the firehouse their, completely destroyed nothing left. but to breeze there are reports from the national weather service that some of those degrees are being flung up to 10,000 feet in the air. giving you a sense of the strength of some of those suspected tornadoes. last report we got was that it was moving into kentucky, as you mentioned, all of those areas right now under or tornado watch. kentucky, tennessee, mississippi, arkansas, all sort of in that cone. this is the 13 million people are expecting severe storms, which could bring winds of up to 70 miles per hour. golf ball sized hail and more possibilities of tornadoes. that's what we're watching here in the south, it comes as folks out west are digging out from a lot of snowfall. blizzard-like conditions over the past several days. we saw some video from a state troopers dash cam that showed a venn veering over into his lane, nearly colliding the two cars. thankfully, they did not collide. there was also an 18 car pileup in colorado on friday, as a result of those wintry, snowy conditions that they were seen out west. this severe weather is going to continue. it is now headed north east. it is gonna be impacting new york, d.c., philly, some 48 million people who will be under a flood watch from d.c. to maine tomorrow. it is quite a weekend, very severe weather. he has been? >> priscilla thompson for us, thank, you priscilla, appreciate it. kate cox the mother at the center of the renewed fight for abortion in texas spoke to nbc nightly news last night. just hours -- before she put on a judges order to allow her to have an emergency abortion. >> it's a hard time. even with, you know, being hopeful with the decision that came from the hearing this morning, they're still going through the loss of a child. there's no outcome here that i take home my healthy baby girl. so, it's hard. just grief. >> so, texas attorney general, ken paxton appealed that ruling to the state supreme court. that would've allowed cox to have the abortion. now kate's fight to protect her own health, it continues. we spoke to her lawyer, molly dwayne, in our last hour. she had this to say. >> what we heard last night is that they were temporarily putting the ruling on hold. while they considered more. the reality is, when we're talking about life sensitive, time sensitive health care like an abortion, every minute, every hour counts. so, she's trying to remain hopeful, but it's been a very challenging few days for her. and for everybody on our team. she is a courageous person. she is trying to remain hopeful, as am i, as i stand by for the rest of the day, the rest of the weekend, however long it takes to try to get more clarity from the state supreme court. i want to emphasize again, this cannot be the way that health care is practiced in this country. >> tonight on simone, symone sanders-townsend is gonna be joined by mike -- attorney for k cox that's at four pm eastern right here on msnbc. there are just 37 days until the iowa caucuses, a gop candidates ron desantis, nikki haley, vivek ramaswamy, or in the hawkeye state today, trying to engage with voters and cut into donald trump's overwhelming lead. want to bring in nbc campaign -- sarah-jane, falling republican hopefuls in iowa. nbc's senior political reporter jonathan allen to talk more about this. sarah, i want to start with you on this one. have any of those candidates been able to gain any momentum, especially since the last republican debates early on in the week? >> well, you know, we're seeing just about five weeks, as you mentioned, yasmin. but today, i'm here at dort university in northwest iowa, ensue center, where three of those major candidates vivek ramaswamy, rhonda status, and nikki haley, all appeared on stage with congressman randy feenstra, who represents this district in congress. and the theme of today was faith and family, all of the candidates were joined by a family member onstage. but it really represented one of those dwindling opportunities as those debates that you mentioned do. for the candidates to make their case, particularly to iowa voters, and particular to young iowa voters here at the university. as we've gotten closer and closer to january 15th, we've started to see some of these candidates start to set expectations about how bill due on january 15th. last week, we saw around desantis tell kristen welker on meet the press that he would win iowa, flat out. last night, nikki haley, who is invested more time and energy in new hampshire, took a little bit of a different approach. take a listen to what she had to say at a town hall in sioux city last night. >> i'm not giving up on iowa, and right now, we are in second place in iowa, second place in new hampshire, second place in south carolina. and we're gonna keep on pushing, the momentum is on our side, i want to earn every vote. the way i look at it, we just need to have a good showing in iowa. i don't think that means we have to win necessarily. but i think that means we have to have a good showing. >> so, you heard her there, she is not necessarily committing to a win in iowa. though she did talk about the momentum she's gained, particularly from some of those strong debate performances that a lot of voters saw her do. but i also want to ask vivek ramaswamy after the event today, about him how he wants to do in iowa. he has promised a surprise here in the hawkeye state. i asked him what that would look like. he told me success for him would be anywhere in the double digits. yasmin? >> sara dean for us, thank, you sarah, appreciated. jonathan, let's talk to some of this. i want to talk specifically about nikki haley, if we can write it, not committing to a win in iowa. saying we're gonna do well, but not necessarily sure if they're gonna pull through. obviously, quite different from ron desantis, who thinks he's gonna pull out in iowa, all the -- pointed to a different outcome there. what do you make of this with nikki haley? >> yeah, we're watching these candidates defined victory down, they're all looking for the nicest participation trophy in iowa. nikki haley saying she doesn't just have a good showing, of course, the expectation would be that whatever her showing is in iowa she'll say that that was a good showing, it'll move on to new hampshire, and i suspect she's in a better position in new hampshire, polls suggest, that if you go to new hampshire, go to nikki haley -- there's a lot of energy around the. i think the indication is that she's more popular in new hampshire than she is an iowa. she'll try to build some momentum from south carolina. the question is, for what? we watched her debate this past week we had all these candidates brawling with each other to the benefit of one person, donald trump. who remains the -- not only national polling, but in each of the -- i think there's a question for all of these candidates about what exactly they think they can actually accomplish, and there are reasons to stay in the race, and what we know about presidential candidates overtime, they tend to keep running until they don't have enough money to keep the plane in the air. >> you also wrote about four take away from the gop presidential debates. one of the takeaways was, essentially, that nikki haley has a target on her back. vivek ramaswamy, ron desantis, hurling insult after insult at her, especiallyte-- she got the endorsement for americans r osperity super pac. you write this, it's gonna be sometime before the effectiveness of those attacks can be measured. but they made it clear that desantis and ramaswamy both see halle as a major threat to their campaigns. talk more about this, jonathan. >> absolutely, he has been. what we've seen in the past several weeks, really, desantis in particular and ramaswamy to some extent, really focusing their energy on nikki haley. and there's one reason for that, that's that she's attracting more votes right now. there has been enough of a surge for her in both of those states that it harms the other candidates ability to win, or in the case of ramaswamy, to really register at all. so, what happens here, she's winning the inside game as well. she is the one who started to get more endorsements for major organizations, she's the one who started to attract donations from wealthy old pekin donors who are anti trump, we saw that with that afp endorsement, in the wall street executives they want to give her money part of the attack on her in the debate was that money was gonna corrupt her. vivek ramaswamy had that sort of gimmicky moment we held up a notepad that said nikki equals corrupt. trying to get that message across. she just said, hey, these guys are jealous that people want to support me. i think there is no question that they see her as the threat to the campaigns right now. >> i want to read you a little bit about how gop said candidates are softening their approach on abortion, especially when it comes to the overwhelming viewon abortion rights for women in this country right now. and how it's really winning electiondemocrats in general. saying this, republican candidates in the statesthat will determine control of the u.s. senate next year have quietly shifted their stance on abortion rights, in an attempt to combat democrats success. running on the issue. how do they reconcile that with some of these more extreme approaches on abortion, especially the story that we've been covering, ken paxton, not allowing this woman to get an emergency abortion that could not only affect her future health but her future fertility as well. >> it's gonna be extremely difficult to do that, yasmin, because your politics are nationals. particular this issue for a long time roe v. wade was the law of the land. and the supreme court allowed some state laws that had some restrictions on abortion. but for the most part, you had roe in the supreme court, you had what was called the hyde amendment, basically an agreement between the parties in congress to allow for abortion bills, but not allow federal money to be spent -- that is found by the wayside. what we've got a reserve as a result of, that anyone of candidate any one state that is doing something extreme, particularly in a post-roe world where things are left to the states, anytime that happens, all of them are going to be, all the members of the party that support that are going to be held to account for it. you go back about a dozen years ago, there is a congressman todd aiken who made some really misinformed and objectional comments, widely seen as a objectionable comments about abortion. and every candidate in the country had answer for it. i think democrats will continue to force republicans to answer for their most extreme folks. and just a say, in most of the states, there is a pretty extreme people. >> jonathan allen for, thank, you jonathan, appreciate it. after the break, everybody, the u.s. under fire for a veto at the u.n., blocking a resolution going for an immediate cease-fire in gaza. i'm gonna get reaction from former israeli consul general in new york, a lawn pecos coming up next. coming up next whenever you're hungry, there's a deal on the subway app. buy one footlong, get one 50% off in the subway app today. now that's a deal worth celebrating. man, what are you doing?! get it before it's gone on the subway app. ♪♪ when you have chronic kidney disease... ...there are 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saying, while the u.s., quote, strongly supports a durable peace, this cease-fire was on sustainable and will only plant the seeds for the next war. what is your reaction to this? >> well, hi, yasmin. here's the thing, on the one hand, the u.s. has repeatedly and successful the said that it objects to a general cease-fire, that would bring back the so-called status quo. meaning, this six -- the day before the attack, reality, in which hamas controlled gaza. so, in that respect, the u.s. has vetoed is consistent with policy. on the other hand, there is an incompatibility and u.s. policy right now. where, on the one hand it supports israel at the u.n. security council, publicly supports israel's continued military -- on the other hand, is trying to warn israel, caution israel, and threaten israel implicitly not to pursue this course or that dynamics of the war as they are now. meaning, less firepower, less displacement, much less civilian casualties. so, i've got to tell you, it's one vote of the, don't let me put it this way, yasmin, if such a vote comes again in the security council in two or three weeks, which will probably will, i doubt that the u.s. will veto it under similar circumstances. >> i want to draw on that for a moment. it seems as if we're getting a more of an indication as to the stance that is being created between united states and israel from what secretary of state tony blinken said on friday. there does remain, he says, a gap between the intent to protect civilians and the actual results that we are seen on the ground. what does that indicate to you? >> well, it indicates, as you said, yasmin, that there's a growing showdown because of a widening gap in the positions. there are two layers here that we need to be attentive to. one is the conduct of the war, and this is what secretary blinken was referring to. meaning, he wasn't at all confident that israel was doing its best, and again, this is his position, i'm not endorsing it or repudiating it, but his position is that israel may not be doing enough. similar things were said by secretary of defense, lloyd austin, who said israel is on the verge of turning a tactical victory into a strategic failure. but most importantly, perhaps more importantly, the second layer. that pertains to the so-called day after. the after gaza, postwar gaza. and since vice president, i'm sorry, vice president kamala harris, last saturday, a week ago in dubai, articulated a framework of how the u.s. sees postwar gaza. it may be imperfect, but israel, rather than invading the u.s. -- dismissed it offhandedly. which creates two layers of tension. one on the management of the war, which you referred to, and the other in terms of the post war scenario. in those arrangements. >> ambassador, i have one more question for you, that is something that we heard from iran's foreign ministry, on the possibility of an expansion of this war. saying this, as long as the u.s. backs as inosines crimes, and the continuation of war, not only is the ongoing war likely to spread, but also the situation in the region could explode out of hand. >> yeah, well, that's the iranian version of -- you just read out of a piece of paper the same clichés, okay, been, they're gonna. yes, there's always the possibility of a an escalation. yes, president biden, in his initial speech on the 10th of october, three days after the horrific attack by hamas, said don't. meaning, referring to iran in hezbollah, meaning do not escalate. i think that the u.s. is still worried that there could be an escalation. and i think that israel is not attentive enough and not heeding the u.s.'s concerns on this. which is another issue where the dimension of confrontation or friction. >> ambassador alon pinkas, as always, sir, we're thankful for you. appreciate it. switching gears, everybody, completely right now with some major breaking news out of major league baseball, it is what is being described as one of the biggest moves in sports history, superstar shohei ohtani is moving well across the street from the los angeles angels to los angeles dodgers, the dual threat player known for blazing pitching and power hitting agreed to a 700 million dollar ten-year contract in the biggest contract, i should say, in the sports history. the japanese phenom led the american league in home runs last season, and struck at 167 batters as a starting pitcher on route to a second mvp award. all right, still ahead, taylor swift's named times person of the year, the maga movement is not happy about it. my next guest explains, quote, the pitiful conspiracy theories that are circulating that may need to have them looking in the mirror and saying -- >> it's me, hi, i'm the problem, it's me. 4 hours. for one and done heartburn relief, prilosec otc. one pill a day, 24 hours, zero heartburn. rsv is out there. for those 60 years and older protect against rsv with arexvy. arexvy is a vaccine used to prevent lower respiratory disease from rsv in people 60 years and older. arexvy does not protect everyone and is not for those with severe allergic reactions to its ingredients. those with weakened immune systems may have a lower response to the vaccine. the most common side effects are injection site pain, fatigue, muscle pain, headache, and joint pain. i chose arexvy. rsv? make it arexvy. welcome back, everybody, this week time magazine named taylor swift's 2023 person of the year. and maga republicans are not happy about it. with some floating wild conspiracy theories that she was chosen for some sort of political campaign manipulation, joining me now -- a writer for -- john, if you will, walk us through some of the conspiracy theories that we've been hearing online. >> sure. basically, the can seat here is that taylor swift, because, in 2018, she backed a democratic senate candidate in tennessee, and because she's shown some liberal leanings as of that time, placed her as the time person of the year to kind of indoctrinate people with some liberal worldview. obviously, it is ill-advised to stoke a conspiratorial can political crusade against arguably one of the most popular mega stars on the planet. but the outs reverse we've seen from conservatives to speaks to their increasing discomfort with an america that is growing in diversity, not just racial diversity, but religious diversity and lgbtq q expression as well. in the outburst, i should say, aren't confined to taylor swift, when it comes to gop anger over the direction of pop culture, just over a week ago, house speaker mike johnson sent a fund raising email railing against depraved culture and telling his followers, you don't even want to see the filth that passes for popular culture these days. i should say, the mike johnson, that's a person, uses an app, and this is true along with his son, that allows them to monitor the potential perusal of pornography online, perhaps he was projecting with this fund raising email. again, it just speaks to an anger that we've seen on the right, when it comes to the direction of pop culture, and the inability to claim dominion over it. we've seen that anger directed at other stars as well. that's why i think, in the coming year, we're gonna see a lot more from a publicans, essentially clinging to any pop culture figure who will say their name favorably whether that is the way for smacking ufc president dana white, or hitler fanboy kanye west, for the rapper sexy red, or do's bigelow star, rob snyder. cheer up, republicans. you have your own slate of b and c list stars who you can tap for political influence. >> it interesting, you obviously brought up the senate race 2018 marshall blackburn, but also there is the moment during the era's tour with taylor swift got a heck of a lot of people to register to vote. and that is the youth vote in which so many people are going for it. do you think that's really the core of what's going on? here the influence the outspoken influence that she has? >> absolutely, that's a great point. after she did that voter drive at the arrows to her, we saw a lot of right-wing backlash to that as well. the mere fact that she's taken in a more proactive approach to politics, rather than her stance in the past which was kind of a verse to taking political stances, that's what's garnered a lot of right-wing anger. >> john jones for, us thank you, john. >> that wraps never, me everybody. i am yasmin vossoughian, and back in that chair tomorrow, two pm eastern. symone starts right now.