then. >> my office will seek a speedy trial. the evidence can be tested in court and judged by a group of citizens. >> why jack smith's supreme court action could be even smarter than it looks. plus, why cell phone data from inside the white house on january 6th could be a big deal. >> my reaction to it is that it's a terrible tweet. i thought it was wrong. >> as the president hosts vladimir zelenskyy in the white house, how the biden rift with the prime minister of israel spilled into public view, when all in starts, right now. >> good evening from new york. i'm chris hayes. nearly everyone watching tonight has either had the experience of being pregnant or being close to someone who has been pregnant. it's one of the most intense and overwhelming experiences in this life. i mean, i have felt, this three times when my wife's been pregnant, even as the person adjacent not having to do anything, i'll never know what it's like to have to physically go through it, and yet still, in the early stages, there's this real sense of precariousness. every one of those early checkups, your heart is in your throat. you wait to hear the baby's first heartbeat. and then you wait to tell your friends and family because you know that miscarriages happen. and then you get past that 12 -week mark, which you have got in your head, on the calendar, the first trimester, where the vast majority of those losses occur. and you think, you hope that you're in the clear, and you probably show the good news in the start making plans for the shower and the nursery and the birth, and it all seems real. kate cox has been through this before. she's got two children. when she learned she was pregnant with her third in august she was overjoyed. kate cox and her husband justin always wanted a big family. and october she had a blood test to screen for some fetal conditions and to learn the sex of the baby. she was excited to find out if she was carrying a boy or a girl. and then the cox's got the worst possible news. their unborn child had a genetic condition called twice a may 18 that causes severe heart defect and other heart abnormalities. it's almost always fatal, with most pregnancies ending in miscarriage or stillbirth. the vast majority of those who make it through delivery survive just a matter of days. kate and her husband justin cox learned through repeated ultrasounds that the fetus that she was carrying had multiple serious conditions including, quote, a twisted spine likely due to spina bifida, a neural tube defect, an irregular skull and heart development. her health was now at budgeted. the emergency room several times in severe cramping. two previous deliveries were difficult, we're c-section. the doctors if induced labor she would be at high-levels risk of uterus rupture, meaning she wouldn't be able to kill child has carried children again. another c-section would make subsequent pay disease more dangerous. kate cox and her family received this awful news in her home state of texas which of course and some of the strictest anti abortion laws in the country. it has been at the forefront at of the anti-abortion movement in the 18 month since roe v. wade was overturned, in fact leapfrogged ahead of that overturning with the very controversial law. now republicans dominate the state government at all levels. they have used the state as a laboratory for their vision of control over every texas woman 's body. every pregnant body in the state of texas is now fundamentally the state property. so kate cox and her doctors didn't get to choose what was best for her. the republican-controlled state did. cox and her doctors decided that unforeseen was the safety safest option to protect our health and future fertility. she could not have the procures she needed because in the state of texas any doctor who performs an abortion could be criminally prosecuted and face lash life in prison. amidst this devastating tortuous situation warning the much want wanted charlotte survive, and her own activity will not survive, kate cox was forced by the people were supposed to support her, to sue those people, her own state, for the medical care she needed. and think about that for a second, amidst this crisis, for the family. they had to find legal representation, they had to make their names and the most intimate vulnerable facts about themselves public, they had to go to court to ask a judge to rule that kate cox and her doctors could decide what was best for her. and last week, a court judge said yes. that judge issued a temporary restraining order against the state of texas, blocking the government from prosecuting kate cox's doctor in anyone who assisted in providing her with an abortion. but rather than that lead that ruling stand, republican attorney general ken paxton wrote a letter threatening the doctor and the three hospitals where she practices. paxton claimed the judge's ruling, quote, will not insulate you or anyone else from civil or criminal liability for violating texas abortion laws, including first degree felony prosecutions. not content with a threatening letter or prolonging the mental and spiritual torture of this woman, he petitioned the state supreme court, asking them to intervene and stop kate cox from being able to receive an abortion. and all the while kate cox in a family were waiting, in limbo. she's got two kids. she's passed 20 weeks pregnant. her house health was deteriorating. she had been to the emergency room four times in one month. so she was finally forced to flee the state of texas, to flee her own government that's supposed to represent her as a medical refugee. she had to leave her home and her doctors, who know her and have cared for her, and her hospital, and she believed everything familiar and safe to have a scary and emotionally fraught procedure in a strange city with a strange doctor in a strange hospital. because that's what ken paxton wanted. that's what state republicans wanted, that she be in a hospital in another state, terrified at this moment in her life. and the very same day that kate cox fled her home state of texas, that states state supreme court ruled against her. they said no, she could not receive the medical care that she needs in her own state. the panel of republicans even had the gall to question the doctors judgment saying, quote, she did not attest to the court amidst cox's condition poses a risk the abortion exception requires. that is that the pregnancy seriously threatened her health for life. nope. they don't like it. sorry. the state supreme court says you can't get the procedure. a republican government, at all levels, state level, telling a door in the pregnant woman she cannot receive the medical care she desperately needs. it is the nightmare scenario come true. there it is. right now. happening before our eyes. the nightmare scenario, the proponents of abortion rights have warned about for 15 years. it just happened to kate cox in texas and it is coming for everyone. make no mistake, this movement, the one you just saw pursue control over kate cox's body, to appeal to the state supreme, to issue threatening letters to hospitals, that movement is not going to relent. they will never give up on their aims of exerting that level of control over every single woman's body in this country. every voter in this country needs to understand that they could be cut koch's. everyone in this country needs to understand that they could be kate cox's loved one. kate cox could be in your family and you could be going through that. we all will be if republicans remain in power and expanded power. this is a central issue. the democrats must be talking about this election up and down the ticket. president joe biden did really statement tonight saying, in part, no one should be forced to go to court or flee her home state just to receive the health care she needs. but that is exactly what happened in texas thanks to republican elected officials, and it is simply outrageous. this should never happen in america, period. here's the thing. republicans know that this spectacle, this despicable spectacle that just went on in texas, is politically toxi for them. we can tell because theyre trying hard to pretend that this didn't just happen. get testerday fox news interview texas governor greg abnd d not ask him a single question about kate cox. and today both republican senators from the state of texas refused to say anything about it. >> do you support with the texas attorney general did in blocking kate cox from getting an abortion after she found out she -- >> that strictly a matter of straight law. not federal law. >> are you worried about women in your state whose health might be at risk? >> i'm a federal official -- >> but this is something -- that >> so i'm not gonna comment on what state officials are doing. i'm happy to comment on anything that i'm responsible for. >> i wanted to get your thoughts on the texas attorney general what he is doing against kate cox and blocking of her receiving an abortion? do you have any comment on that? >> just call our press office. >> do you agree with attorney general paxton's actions and what he did? >> just call our press office. >> i have. i actually haven't received an answer. so missouri valley you like to say right now on? this >> call our press office. >> a senior staff attorney at the senator for reproductive rights that represents kate cox in this. great to have you here. i don't want to violate any privacy from a woman and family that have already incredibly brely put themselves out there, but i do want to ask how kate cox is doing at this hour. >> she's doing as well as can be expected. but i do want to whine the wheels back and think about what she has been through over the last week and a half. a week and a half ago she received the worst news of her life, confirmation that her third child head -- and would likely be stillborn or most would survey survived four minutes, hours or, days. she was also told because of her to prior c-section's she was at increased risk for uterine rupture, hysterectomy, and, as you said so eloquently, she wants to have more children. she wants to grow her family. what did she do in the last week and a half? she found a lawyer, she decided to file a lawsuit. she received an order from a court saying yes, you are entitled to an abortion. then she had the attorney general threatening her family and her doctors. then she had the texas supreme court say no, we're going to put a hold on this. we need more time. and then she spent three agonizing days waiting for an answer before the texas supreme court -- >> yes, i forgot, they paused that earlier ruling that said yes you can get this medical care. they said no you can't, wait. we're going to think it over at the texas state supreme court, whether we think you should do this. and she just had to sit there and wait. >> a week is a short amount of time for a court, but for a person, a real person in a medical emergency with young children in a family, it was agonizing. she spent most of the weekend in bed and so i really want people to put themselves in her shoes and take about who they want in the medical room with their husband and their doctors. is it ken paxton or not? >> one of the aspects of this case that i think it has highlighted is this notion of exceptions. there is under state law in texas apparently exceptions for women that may need an abortion is a medical necessity. we have seen multiple women, including other clients of yours, amanda zurawski's are among others, who have been demise denied reproductive care that they felt they needed under the exception of. what does it say about the actual lived reality of exceptions in the state of texas or any state that has them, if this is what plays out when a so-called exception actually applies? >> this is what i really want people to understand about abortion bans. exceptions don't exist. because if cape cod get an abortion, i don't know who can. you often hear about, well, 15 weeks is a compromise, or don't worry there are exceptions. republicans want to pass a 15 -week abortion ban. i have heard politicians saying that. that would mean national 15 -week abortion ban that all of us are kate cox, because -- >> she's got nowhere to go. >> nowhere to go. >> i have to say, is a bit in the ruling, a little bit in the reads of the ruling, but kate, my wife, who you know, law professor, pointed this out to me, there's something so disingenuously bad faith about the court ruling, which basically says, well, if you can get, if it's a medical necessity, they say a woman who meets a medical necessity exception need not seek a court order to obtain an abortion. under the law is a doctor who must decide that a woman is suffering from a life-threatening condition during a pregnancy, basically saying what do you mean corridor order? go ahead. if it's medically necessary. you have the attorney general of the state writing to threaten this woman with felony conviction and the court has the gall to say we don't see a court issue here. the doctor can make the call. let the chips fall where they may. >> i'm laughing because it's not funny at all, but the courts are saying they don't want to be involved, the medical board says they don't want to be involved, the attorney general's not going to do anything to help and it's going to run roughshod on the medical community in texas, and meanwhile real women's, real pregnant peoples bodies and lives of families hanging in the balance, and that should be deeply troubling to people across the country. >> what does it say to you, your lawyer, you're not a politician or a politician staffer, but what does it say to you that the two senators who represent kate cox, she's their constituents, have nothing to say about this? that greg abbott doesn't get a question about it when he appears on fox? what does that say to you? >> well, i have to talk a little bit about amanda zurawski for a moment. >> please. >> so i also represent amanda and 20 women in the state of texas who are challenging these restrictions, before i even met kate cox, because they and their doctors are saying as loudly as you can, we don't know how close to death we needed to be. our doctors didn't know, and their health suffered as a result. and when amanda zurawski testified before the janitors issue judiciary hearing, neither of our senators were in the. room they came in to make statements, opening statements about how much they opposed abortion and then they left before she testified. so the fact that ted cruz ran away from reporters asking about kate cox doesn't surprise me at all. >> i asked you it is the beginning, i just want to circle around again, i don't want to violate privacy, but is kate cox in her family, i know it's an awful situation, if you doing okay? >> she stayed off line, which i think was the best thing one could do in this situation. she's doing fine. i appreciate you asking. and i have to say, with the outpouring of support we have received from people across the country, wanting to know if she's okay, wanting to help, offering words of support, it has meant so much to us as her legal team, and that i have conveyed to her, and i also want to mention that all of those zurawski plaintiffs, each of the 20 women who are suing their state because they too were forced to become septic or travel out of state or put their uteruses and lives in children on the line, they have suffered this rollercoaster with her. the highs the lows the disappointments and their politicians in their state and the lack of guidance and real empathy and talk about being pro-life, where is the government for these families in these women? it's nowhere to be found. >> we should note that in your attorney to the court you did not want to move to the cape move the case despite the fact that the facts of change. we will see if that continues. me molly duane, doing great lowering, and thank you very much. >> coming up, the special counsel calls don't thompson blot bluff. why jack smith asked the supreme court to get involved and why this is an even bigger deal than it looks. after this. itâ– s beginning to look alot like savings! blendjets holiday sale is on now! give the gift of convenience the blendjet 2 portable blender is perfect for everyone on your list. even that picky relative who hates everything. and dont forget the accessories! theyre all on sale! dont wait! our most popular colors and patterns will sell out! go to blendjet.com and take advantage of our holiday sale now. >> special counsel jack smith is trying to force a supreme court ruling on whether presidents have immunity for the crimes they committed in office. so we're now waiting to hear from donald trump's legal team, which has been ordered by the suemcourt to file its reply brief to that question next week. yesterday smith shocked a lot of people by asking the supreme court to either definitively take up a question or say they are not going to as quickly as possible, so as to preserve the schedule of his federal trial, 's attempted coup, that is currently set for march. the procedural move this myth used is a rare one. usually the way this works out is a long drawn out process. here's where we are. trump filed a motion in october claiming that he could not even be tried for his crimes because the constitution granted him immunity for his actions as president. and federal judge tanya chutkan, overseeing the case, consider that argument and rejected the argument earlier this month. she issued a ruling saying no. then what would normally happen is that trump would file an appeal with the circuit court, when level up from judge chutkan, and then three judges would come together on that court initial judgment. trump couldn't file an en banc appeal heard by the full court, not just three judges. then you could appeal to the supreme court. and then what was on appeal to the supreme court he could say to the court, look, what you just put a pause on this trial while you guys sort of consider these weighty arguments? and of course would everyone understands as i just laid out that loan process is the entire game here for trump is to use that very process to delay as long as possible. and then, in the end, the supreme court basically aids his efforts to push this all past the election. he may be president he can pardon him self or drop the case. and in making this brash move, what smith did, called surgery before judgment, jack smith is saying we all know the score here. we know trump wants to delay. we know he wants to use the length of process, and we also know this eventually gets up to you guys in the supreme court one way or another, so how about we cut to the chase now. what he is doing is forcing the supreme court to show its cards. he's telling the court the donald trump has accused of the gravest crime against american democracy since the civil war, and he cannot escape accountability before the election through some santa invisible in silent procedural motions outside public attention. he saying to the court, if you guys are gonna help him out, you're gonna have to do it in front of everyone. harry litman served as deputy assistant attorney general and department of justice, he's now a senior legal columnist for the l. a. times. he joins me now. harry, first of all, you and i have talked about this a lot. it was always going to be the case that he was going to find some vehicle to get this before the supreme court, the constitutional claim of immunity, and then hope and pray that even if he doesn't get them to the merits they'll say oh, man, this is a tough one. we need to consider this. let's have oral arguments in a few months, and then we'll think about it. and while we're doing that, stay the trial. that was always the hope. what do you think of smith's