synagogue leader found stabbed multiple times outside her home. what we're now learning about the suspect. our nbc news reporters are following all of the latest developments. we start with rudy giuliani's trial nearing the finish line in d.c. ryan reilly has been following it for us. the jury deliberations got underway in the last hour. what's the update? >> reporter: yeah, so the jury now has this case. they had lunch delivered to them. they will be able to begin starting deliberations right away and have about three hours before the end of the day here. these eight jurors are going to decide just how much in damages to award to these two individuals who were defamed by rudy giuliani and as you mentioned, rudy giuliani said previously that he was going to testify and whose lawyers said he was going to testify did not end up taking the stand, and the way that the lawyers sort of framed that to the jurors here was they didn't want to put the two plaintiffs through any more of a tough time here given the experience they went through. yesterday when ruby freeman was on the stand, the defense attorney for rudy giuliani chose not to question her because it was pretty devastating testimony, and i don't think wanted to look like he was piling on to an individual who really, you know, went through hell in the after math of these attacks on her, the false claims against her, as well as we heard from earlier this week, from her daughter shaye moss. we could hear at any moment now, any time today, what exactly jurors decide is the right finding in this case here, chris. >> ryan, thank you for that. a group of republicans accused of being fake electors for donald trump in michigan are back in court today. nbc's shaquille brewster has the latest on this for us. shaq, what have we heard today? >> well, so far in these hearings, we've heard from a state trooper, former board of elections director and the former chair of the michigan republican party, all in this hearing to determine whether or not there's enough evidence for this case to go on to trial. the state is alleging here that the state of republican electors back in 2020, essentially conspired to commit forgery, they signed on to a document saying that they were the dually elected and qualified electors for the state, and that the state's electoral votes should go to former president trump instead of joe biden who won the state by more than 150,000 votes. we know about this scheme. if you watched any congressional hearings, if you listen to media reports, we have been familiar with what was attempted here. this is the first time you're seeing fake electors confronted in open court. we're learning not just about what happened but what almost happened. listen to some testimony earlier today. >> there was a plan that had the electors spend the night in the capitol on december 13th to cast their votes per the laws of the state of michigan on december 14th. >> this may seem like a silly question, but why did you not like that plan? >> in my gut, i didn't think it was a very good idea. >> that was a little bit hard to hear, but that was the former chair of the party saying that at one point there was a plan to have the electors spend the night in the capitol so that they could file this false slate of electors here. the defense you have been hearing is this essentially was a contingency plan, these electors were following the advice of different counsel. you're going to see this continuing to play out throughout the day and more hearings to come as the judge determines whether or not there's enough evidence for this to go on to trial, chris. >> shaquille brewster. thank you, shaq. >> there's new optimism surrounding border negotiations that are critical to getting the foreign aid package for ukraine and israel over the finish line. nbc's julie tsirkin is on capitol hill for us. what are lawmakers saying today? >> reporter: chris, i spoke in a rare interview with senator sinema who's the independent. senator chris murphy on the democratic side, and senator james langford who have been in the room at it for weeks, trying to solve an issue that congress has not been able to address in three decades. she told me as much today this is something that's complicated. it's going to take time to get right. the proposals are ones that spanish lawmakers, immigration advocates are unimaginunimagina cruel, putting a back up provision like title 42, the covid era policy that allowed migrants to be turned away, discussions lawmakers don't want to have. here's what sinema said today. what do you say to hispanic lawmakers who yesterday called the proposals on the table, quote, unimaginably cruel. >> what's unimaginably cruel are the folks and the images that we see of folks and families sitting in the desert, you know, down at lukeville, there were individuals sitting out in the desert, without access to restrooms, without food, and without water, simply waiting to be processed by customs and border patrol because we don't have enough person power to manage that inflow. that is a humanitarian crisis. so the solution is to actually create an orderly process where those who do qualify for asylum have the opportunity to seek it in our country. >> reporter: chris, remember, today was the last day that the senate and house were supposed to be in session. i'm hearing from sources that during the democratic lunch a couple of moments ago, leader schumer informed colleagues that they will leave today or tomorrow at the latest and come back on monday. he believes they could get to a deal, one in which immigration aid proposals to reform policies at the border are included and the crucial foreign aid which sinema floated to me today, is something they have to stay and get done before the end of the year. >> big news there, julie tsirkin, thank you. let's go to detroit now, and a major update on the case of a synagogue leader who was stabbed to death outside her home. nbc investigative correspondent, tom winter is following that story for us. police have charged a man with murder, what can you tell us about him? >> this whole case rose to such national prominence because samantha wall was found dead outside of her home, and this was in the period right after hamas's terror attack on israel in early october. and folks had a lot of questions as to whether or not she was targeted because of her faith and off the fact that she is a president or was a president of several synagogues in the detroit area. so that was of significant concern and concern for authorities. they now say that michael jackson bolonos, age 28 is going to be charged with felony murder during the perpetration or attempted perpetration of a larceny. they believe home invasion was the ultimate goal. they say the two did not know each other as nbc news reported a large israeli flag was untouched when investigators combed through evidence. the wayne county prosecutor, the office that's going to be overseeing this case, quote, there are no facts to suggest that the homicide was a hate crime, end quote. so they're very clear about this, that they don't think that hate is any sort of a factor in this crime. obviously as more evidence comes out, we'll continue to report on this as the case goes through the court system. the big fear was whether or not there could be someone on the loose committing hate crimes against the jewish community in detroit. as it pertains to this specific case, it doesn't appear that's the case. >> tom winter, thank you. right now, the dow is in record territory for the second day in a row. can this surge help fuel a campaign comeback for joe biden? we're back in 60 seconds. hmmm... kind of needs to be more, squiggly? perfect! so now, do you have a driver's license? oh. what did you get us? [ chuckling ] with the click of a pen, you can a new volkswagen at the sign, then drive event. sign today and you're off in a new volkswagen during the sign, then drive event. despite encouraging economy news, the biden election campaign continues to fight a battle against voter discontent, a point donald trump continues to hammer relentlessly on the campaign trail. >> the biden administration is running on the fumes of the trump administration. without us, this thing would have crashed to levels never seen before. if we're not elected we'll have a depression the likes of which nobody has seen, likes of 1929, that's what's going to happen. >> trump delivered those words only a few hours after the dow hit an all time high yesterday. which "the washington post" says reflects optimism that the economy is slowing just enough to bring down inflation without triggering a depression. the "wall street journal" puts this way, it's beginning to look a lot like christmas for the markets. vaughn hillyard in iowa, carlos curbelo is here, and eugene daniels. carlos and eugene are msnbc political contributors, wooet is -- wall street is cheering the fact that -- americans haven't seemed to notice. what do you think about that disconnect in political terms? >> these are the types of headlines that the biden administration needs. the macroeconomic data has been good, sentiment isn't, why, because inflation is backed into the numbers and americans haven't adjusted to the higher prices that are frankly here to stay. what we want is for inflation to stop going up, and it certainly seems like that's happening, which is why the fed announced some cuts for next year, which will also be helpful. we have seen interest rates skyrocket. mortgage rates have skyrocketed. as those come down, sentiment will likely improve, and that's really what is keeping president biden's numbers down, that people don't feel good about the economy even if the numbers are pretty good. >> you know, vaughn, it is arguably a useful political strategy for the trump team to say what they're saying, right, because people are feeling like the economy isn't necessarily where the economy is. but beyond the base, is there any nervousness you're hearing that a stronger economy will indeed eventually be good news for joe biden? >> reporter: right. i think this is where donald trump lacks the nuance of the complexities of the things he talks about. the economy chief among them. over the last 24 hours, i've had conversations with dozens of iowans, and what we consistently hear is frustration with higher grocery prices, gas prices, mortgage rates, all which ultimately has a major impact on the day-to-day ability to make simple payments as well as having extra cash on hand, especially at times like the holiday season, and donald trump, what you heard last night was hitting home that very message. he was running with the theme of better off with trump. which we should note in 2019 and 2020, donald trump was making many of the similar predictions you heard last night when he was predicting that a great depression, if joe biden is reelected again. back in 2019 and 2020, he was predicting that the stock market would crash if joe biden were to win the presidency. of course from the last 24 hours, there is evidence that is not the case despite joe biden being in office for three years. but for donald trump here, he is playing very much to the grievances and the concerns of a great mass of the american electorate and for joe biden to hail a 3.7 unemployment rate, a strong stock market, there are other economic factors and variables that a great share of americans do not see the successes of, and donald trump is running for president of the united states. we should expect him to continue to lack so mump of that nuance as he seeks the white house again. >> so eugene, the latest npr, pbs maris poll has the president up a point, that is within the margin of error. among independents, trump leads biden by 5 points, and that is outside the margin of error. what is the biden campaign doing to try to help what we're seeing, some improving economic numbers start to match with the folks out there, voters on, you know, in the key battleground states. >> largely, they have a feeling of we have to tell the story. we have to as a campaign tell the story of what the administration has done, what trump would do if he was in office if he were to get the nomination, and i think, you know, what i will say as someone who has covered this campaign in 2020 and at the white house from the very beginning, they have been saying that for a very long time, that we have to tell the story, that this is the white house that just needs to tell the people what we have done for them, and that hasn't worked or they haven't figured out how to do it, talking in terms of kind of bidenomics is working for you when people don't feel like that as the congressman said. that is a big issue that they have still yet to contend with, and frankly, it would be hard for most campaigns to contend with, and the nuance of what's happening right now. there's so much of the macroeconomics that's constantly in conflict, right, the inflation numbers, but then also people having more jobs. more jobs being added every month. you have people feeling like something, so the question, you know, the james carville idiom of it's the economy, stupid, no it's how people feel about the economy, stupid. it's not just enough to tell people, these are the numbers, look at these charts and figures. you have to figure out a way, and they're still trying to figure out a way to make people feel better about the economy. if what the fed chair said is true, they're going to move numbers down over the next year and that could be helpful and is likely to be helpful for the campaign and the administration. but they have to be able to sell that to the american people in a way that changes minds. >> you know, carlos in the meantime, joe biden does have a problem on the lef flank. progressives were a wit him about the ways handled israel. punch bowl report that is house and senate democrats warn the whusehat biden will suffer serious consequences if he caves to gop demands on immigration policy and border security. alienating the very voters who helped him win office in 2020. how big of a problem do you think this is? it's not like progressives are going to vote for donald trump, but would they actually sit out an election or vote for a third party candidate in numbers that are enough potentially to make a difference? >> this is the big squeeze that members of both parties face in this country these days. they're squeezed between base voters and swing voters that actually determine who wins the key states and the key districts and i think it's time for president biden to pivot and start looking to the general election. he does not have a serious primary challenger the way donald trump might. that remains to be seen, and he's got to start listening to those middle of the road voters who do want to see greater border security, who do want him to be the joe biden of old who would negotiate with republicans, who has said that he enjoys cutting deals with mitch mcconnell. i mean, that's what is going to help joe biden turn his poll numbers around, and win those independent voters that you discussed earlier, chris, who are now favoring donald trump. those are the voters that are ultimately going to decide this, and at some point, members of both parties have to take their base for granted because if they don't win those swing voters, they can't win the election. >> let me go back to independent voters. it is a small slice, eugene, of the electorate, obviously a critical one. let's take some of the suburban women who have flipped, republican and democrat. and i wonder who they're listening to. i was thinking about that when i heard paul ryan speaking very harshly about donald trump. let me play that. >> trump's not a conservative, he's a pop list authoritarian narcissist. all of his tendencies, basically where narcissism takes him, whatever makes him popular, feel good, at any given moment. >> liz cheney has been in that moment too, particularly as she's on our book tour. is there an audience where words like that, paul ryan, can have an impact or really is it going to be the candidates and not surrogates? >> yeah, i mean, it's possible but i think largely the people that liz cheney and paul ryan are talking to are probably watching msnbc. they're not the folks watching fox news, they're not engaging in the right wing media ecosystem in the same way. they don't have paul ryan and liz cheney, a lot of pull with those folks. that's something that's going to change the primary. the folks, especially, you know, you talk about white suburban women who have moved away from republicans, if it's donald trump again, it is likely they're going to do the exact same thing that they did in 2020, unless something huge were to change, and so this administration, this campaign has to make a gamble, right, and as the congressman was saying, figuring out, how much do you shore up your bonafide with more progress folks, who can make a big difference, or do you go with folks who have been consistent in their voting, who have always voted in some ways, and looked like they have run away from the republican party. that's the gamble they're trying to make, right. as folks tell them how they feel about israel and hamas, and how the administration has handled that issue, you know, the folks that are happy with that are also folks who are probably those white suburban women. we're largely seeing those numbers are staying there. it is a gamble that this administration and campaign have to make because young black and brown voters are frustrated not just on israel and hamas and palestine but a myriad of issues the administration has handled. >> eugene daniels, always good to have you on the show. carlos curbelo, vaughn hillyard, you're sticking around. the republican led impeachment inquiry and the political peril for the gop if they can't find any evidence on the president. we'll head to capitol hill next. e would be an emblem of what small communities can achieve. trying to give a better life to people that don't have the means to do it. si mi papá estuviera vivo, sé que él tuviera orgulloso también de vivir de esta viviendo una vida como la que estamos viviendo ahora. es electricidad aquí es salud. as someone living with type 2 diabetes, i want to keep it real and talk about some risks. with type 2 diabetes you have up to 4 times greater risk of stroke, heart attack, or death. even at your a1c goal, you're still at risk ...which if ignored could bring you here... ...may put you in one of those... ...or even worse. too much? 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