From the 2024 primary ballot under the 14th amendments insurrectionist ban. It is a decision that differs from the one that was reached by the Colorado Supreme Court last week. Trump responding in an interview he was not surprised by the ruling. It is very bad for colorado, very, very bad for colorado, but we just had the big win in michigan today and that was a good one. And we have 33 wins and this isnt a loss because well have to see what happens. This is not a final determination. So trump also demanded wednesday that the Secretary Of State in maine recuse herself from a similar Ballot Eligibility Case over her past statements about the january 6 riot. She is said to issue a decision in the coming days. This is all as doj prosecutors in the Subversion Case moved to block him from using the court as a forum to sow disinformation. Lets bring in eugene scott. Good morning to you. Hope youve had a wonderful holiday week. So lets talk about these dueling decisions about trumps eligibility. Of course the u. S. Supreme court is likely going to have to weigh in on this. Can you help us understand the michigan Supreme Courts reasoning for it, the rejection and why it is different from what we saw in colorado . Sure. In michigan there is no qualification that requires a candidate, you know, prove certain things to actually be on the ballot. Whereas in colorado, you do have to meet certain qualifications in terms of the constitution. And so these cases never were going to be the same. Trump is hoping that most of these cases rule the way michigan does and dont have a requirement regarding qualifications. And that would work in his favor just like this one did. But well see what the Supreme Court says. Ultimately that will influence all of these cases in terms of what can actually happen. And in maine, this is obviously a little bit different because the role of the Secretary Of State. What is your view of kind of the pressures on her right now . Well, the pressure on her coming from trump and the right is quite frankly understandable considering that she has been vocal in terms of whether and what she believes happened on january 6 and she believes that the former president played a role in the insurrection. And trumps concerns are understandable because she is the most powerful election official in the state and what she rules, what she says, can be based on more likely based on what she said in the past regarding his role in this incident. Lets talk about the special counsel, jack smith. He asked the court yesterday or said in a filing the court should not permit the defendant to turn the courtroom into a forum in which he propagates irrelevant disinformation and should reject his attempts to inject politics into this proceeding. Trump called it a pathetic attempt to take away his First Amendment rights. Okay. Rights to again, focusing on irrelevant disinformation. How do you see this playing out . I think the prosecution is sensitive and properly so. What jurors decide is based on what they hear. And if they hear misinformation, it could lead to a mistrial and disrupt the entire case that smith is bringing forward. And ultimately that is part of the goal of trumps defense team in part because hes been making the argument since all of these were put forward that he is the subject of partisan attacks. So if he can get that message through while in court, there is a chance his team hopes that someone in the jury will hear that, believe that and vote accordingly. Eugene, if you are jack smith here, what exactly i guess as i think about how this is going to play out, im thinking about the election, right . Because were going to be past iowa, past New Hampshire. We may get delayed past Super Tuesday or the trial may be starting right around then. There are no cameras in this courtroom. But you can see smiths point in saying that this is going to be a forum in the middle of an incredibly tense moment for the country for the president to be able to say these things or not. I mean, what do you think the ramifications are of the trump team potentially having this platform . Well, one of the main ramifications of course is that he could get more misinformation out as we head into the election, which is a real concern for people on both sides of the aisle, but certainly smith whose team has worked incredibly hard to bring this case forward and could have it ruined if there are no controls put on the former president. As you know, this has been a real issue and concern for him, him being trump, as in when he appeared in court saying when hes been on Campaign Rallies and not being able to stick to facts. And therefore disrupt what has been put forward as reasons and justification for why he shouldnt be in this situation in the first place. And this case as a result could become a whole mess if he hasnt pulled back and if reins arent put on him. Of course the challenge being that there are a a lot of people out there who we have seen are willing to believe donald trump regardless of what he says and what others say about the truth of the matter. And they are also willing to act on that information. Eugene scott, thank you very much for being with us this morning. All right. Still ahead here, President Biden under intense pressure as the Migrant Crisis grows at the southern border. Plus secretary blinken heading back to the middle east next week as the war in gaza continues to rage. And later, nikki haley taking some heat for how she answered this question on the Campaign Trail what was the cause of the United States civil war . Israels Foreign Minister hezbollah that time for diplomacy is running out. Tensions on the northern border with lebanon continue to escalate. Hezbollah says it fired 30 rockets but it was in response to an earlier idf airstrike on a lebanese village. In gaza, nearly 200 more palestinians have been killed the past 24 hours. A warning, the images you are about to see are disturbing. Families mourning their dead at one of the few working hospitals in kahn yunis. Others praying ahead of a burial. And there is new video appearing to show palestinian men and at least two children detained and stripped by israeli forces. All of this as Secretary Of StateAntony Blinken is expected to head back to israel next week. Nada bashir is joining us. This trip is after they met with a cloe se confidant of the prim minister. And talks included a transition to a different phase of war. What do you take that to mean . The Military Chief Yesterday said that the war will continue for many months. What do we expect . Reporter we certainly are hearing very different messages from u. S. Officials and those from the Israeli Government. We have heard that repeated line now from the white house saying that they have been calling on the Israeli Government and military to move to another phase of the war, to move to a lower Intensity Phase as it has been described. And of course there is mounting concern not least from the Biden Administration with regards to the mounting civilian death toll in gaza and rapidly deteriorating situation. We know there have been ongoing conversations between u. S. Officials and the israeli counterparts of the course of the war. President biden speaking with benjamin netanyahu, again no call for a ceasefire there, but the focus continues to be on Phasing Downs intensity of this war. As you mentioned, ron derme Represe Representr has a lot of experience dealing with the u. S. He was formesr u. S. Ambassador. He met with Secretary Of StateAntony Blinken and also jake sullivan. And according to the white house the conversations lasted for hours focusing on five key points, transition to a different phase of the war, lower Intensity Phase, maximizing Focus On High Value hamas targets, and taking steps to increase aid and minimize harm to civilians. So moving toward a more targeted approach both with regards to the air campaign and on the dro ground. Securing release of the hostages of course a key priority. And planning for post conflict gaza. Of course there is mounting concern over the different messages that were also hearing from the white house. As you mentioned, the Israeli Government has been clear they dont see this war ending anytime soon. Benjamin netanyahu himself saying a few days ago that he anticipates that the war will continue and it is not nearing an end. And we heard from a chief saying that the war will continue for many more months and they will be pushing ahead with expanding into new areas, including a focus on southern gaza. And that has certainly raised alarm bells given the fact that weve heard the repeated calls for civilians to flee to the south for safety and of course as we know, there are hundreds of thousands of civilians now taking shelter in southern gaza. Indeed there are. Overshadowing this of course are questions about whether this war might expand. An israeli war cabinet member said time is running out to reach a diplomatic solution in terms of the fighting on the northern Israeli Border with lebanon. Take a look. Stop watch for Dip Lomatic Solution is running out. If they dont act to prevent the firing on the northern residents and distance hezbollah from the border, the idf will do it. What is your take on those comments and how critical dealing with this is to avoid opening a second front . Reporter the widening of the war is a huge concern. Of course weve seen escalation in hostilities along the israel lebanon border. And peace of the border has been tenuous to say the least underpinned by u. N. Resolution established following the 2006 lebanon war. But that is certainly in jeopardy. Just in the last few days, we have seen intensification of the hostilities. Hezbollah saying they have targeted Israeli Military positions across the border. And we did see the airstrikes as well carried out in southern lebanon. Israeli military saying they carried out strikes against hezbollah positions along the border. Lebanese National Media reporting that at least three people were killed and hezbollah later claiming that at least one was a hezbollah fighter. There is serious concern, israeli officials and Israeli Military officials rather have said that they are looking at options on the table. Warning time is running out. The Foreign Ministry as well saying they are looking at their options, first a political solution, but second being a Military Solution in which they say Israeli Military would seek to remove hezbollah from the region entirely along the border region more specifically. And of course there is concern around the overspilling of the war across the region. We have seen hostilities intensifying, u. S. Of course raising concern around the targeting of u. S. Military positions both in iraq and of course in syria by what they say to be are iran backed proxy groups in the region. All right. Nada bashir, thank you very much for your reporting. Still ahead here, what is happening to the idaho home where four University Students were murdered . And apple set to resume sales of its new watches in the United States. Welcome back. Quick hits across america now. Fells of the idaho Stabbing Victims are asking officials in the town to stop the demolition of the house where the four students were murdered. They say it could still provide evidence in the trial of suspect bryan kohberger. The University Plans to raze it at 10 00 this morning. Latest models of the apple watch are back on sale today in the u. S. Of a at the an Appeals Court paused the import ban amid a dispute with the Biden Administration. It can be bought online starting at 3 00 p. M. Eastern. And the person who won the record Mega Millions jackpot, 1. 6 billion in august, using a Shell Company called Saltines Holdings probablying him or her from the spotlight. An nonw anonymous winner got a lump sum. Now to weather. Heavy rain is triggers flood threats for more than 10 Million People across the northeast this morning. And rain and snow possible for parts of the Mississippi River valley and appalachians as well. Derrick vaek van dam is trackinf it. Hope you had a nice christmas. It will be a tough day on the east coast. And so many millions of travelers coming in and out via road, trail, airways as well. And a slow go for many because of the heavy rainfall. There is a superb view of new york city. Just about 15 minutes ago, this was socked in with cloud, raindrops on the screen. That has since cleared out. The heavy rain has moved away from new york city. That is the good news. But nonetheless there is still kind of the raised river levels, urban rivers, and across this particular region, there is the 10 million american that are under some sort of flood alert. Flood advisories for long island, connecticut and extending further west of new york. Here is a look at how much rain has fallen. Weve had widespread 1 to 2 inches, but there have been a few pockets of areas over 2 to 4 inches of rain locally. Look at monroe, allentown. So up the hudson valley, that is where we saw the heaviest precipitation. And that is where weve seen some of the highest river gauges that have been plotted. So you can see minor to moderate flood stages across philadelphia and just outside of new york city. The rain coming to an end in new york, there is the big apples back edge of the heaviest rain. Now we go cofocus on hartford, providence. You will have a slow go. The storm is meandering over the eastern third of the country. Back side of It Transitioning over to snowfall. Indianapolis still light rain for you. So we wont relieve the snow drought that we have ongoing across the city. As we advance it forward the next 36 hours, some Light Snow Showers anticipated across the appalachians, maybe a band of heavier Snowfall North and west of chicago. Here is a quick look at the temperatures. Above freezing, this is abnormal for this time of year. But it is just not in the future forecast, so well continue our snow drought here in new york city. Was not a white christmas. Thank you very much for that. Well see you tomorrow. Still ahead here, how nikki haley answered a question about slavery at a campaign stop. It is not what she said, it is what she didnt say. Loving this pay bump in our allowance. Wonder where mom and dad got the extra money . Maybe they won the lottery . Maybe they inherited a fortune . Maybe buried treasure . Maybe it fell off a truck . Maybe they heard that xfinity customers can save hundreds when they buy one unlimted line and get one free. Now i can buy that Electric Scooter im starting a Privateequity Fund that specializes in midcap. You do you. Visit xfinitymobile. Com today. Good morning. Thanks for being up early with us. Im kasie hunt. It is 5 30 on the east coast. Secretary of Homeland Security say the meeting they had with mexican counterparts on wednesday was very productive. This comes as the Record Number of migrants remains an overwhelming challenge for both countries. Rosa flores has more. Reporter as Border Authorities near a Breaking Point from the weeks long Migrant Surge, Secretary Of StateAntony Blinken and Secretary Mayorkas discussed ways to drive down the unprecedented number of illegal crossings. Seven day average earlier this month, 9600. And they are expected to ask mexico to move migrants south, control railways used by my grants to move north and provide incentives to stay in mexico like visas. In eagle pass, texas apprehensions dropped from 3,000 daily encounters last week to about 2,000 monday. One of two international bridges are still closed to Vehicle Traffic to redirect personnel to process migrants. The wait time to cross by car, 15 hours. Many americans who frequently drive back and forth are opting to cross on foot like nina. She says that when she ditched her car in mexico, she saw a group of about 100 migrants walking towards eagle pass, some with children. One eagle pass Business Owner says Migrant Surge is tearing the community apart. I can tell tempers are flari