war against hamas as fears of a potential escalation in the region intensifies. plus, russia pounds ukraine s two biggest cities in a new wave of attacks. the assaults are likely to strain nuclear s defenses as the country continues to plead for more military assistance from the u.s. and donald trump is appealing the landmark ruling from maine that disqualified him from the state s primary ballot. later in the program, we ll be joined by maine s secretary of state to talk about her decision there and charlie sykes with his new piece that asks, is disqualifying trump anti-democratic? we ll get the answer along with willie and me, we have the host of way too early jonathan lemire, u.s. special correspondent to bbc news, katty kay, and founder of the conservative website, the bulwark, charlie sykes is with us. willie, we are going to start with some political snapshots of where the race stands, and then we ll get to all the big major news breaking overnight. we have a lot to
his death now raising fears of a potential escalation in the region which could expand into a wider war israel has eso far avoided. plus, three years after rioters stormed the capitol, donald trump further cements his dominance over republicans. what brand new polling is revealing about the gop s increasing loyalty to trump and their thoughts about the legitimacy of president joe biden s election win. and also ahead hours from now house speaker mike johnson and 60 republicans will head to the southern border as senate negotiations resume. we llbri you the latest on where those talks now stand. good morning, and welcome to way too early on this wednesday, january 3rd. i m jonathan lemire. thanks for starting your day with us. we ve got a lot of news to get to this morning. we ll begin overseas where hamas is now blaming israel for the death of one of its leaders, who was killed in an explosion in lebanon yesterday. what appeared to be a drone strike happened in a densely p
to try to knock trump out of the race are counter productive. they backfire. as you know he feeds on grievance just like a fire feeds on oxygen. and this is going to end up as a grievance that helps him. did colorado just hand donald trump a political gift by barring him from the ballot? why some say the effort to rue the former president could actually help his campaign. plus how president biden is responding. this as nbc news has learned the colorado supreme court justices who ruled in the case are now facing a flood of threats after their historic decision. also ahead, we ll bring you the latest out of the israel-hamas war as israel defense forces uncover hamas extensive tunnel network in gaza city. and the blunt warning from chinese president xi jinping to president biden about beijing s intentions with taiwan. all right, good morning. welcome to way too early on this thursday, december 21st. i am not jonathan lemire. i m sam stein in for jonathan lemire. now, th
good morning, everyone. we re so glad you re with us this thursday. let s get started with the five things to know. tucker carlson is talking. message to viewers released minutes after the text message that s may have led to the firing from fox news. plus, inside the home of the air national guardsman now accused of leaking sensitive secrets online. prosecutors releasing new pictures and details overnight as they make their case that he poses, quote, a serious flight risk. also, house republicans in washington passing a plan to raise the debt ceiling by the slimmest of margins. president biden said he is ready to meet with speaker kevin mccarthy and talk about cuts in the house plan but says raising the debt ceiling not up for debate. ron desantis blasting disney s lawsuit against him and the oversight board saying the suit has no merit. he claims it s political. disney says desantis is punishing free speech. also, feeling the heat. miami pulled off a massive upset ov
we ll ask how the plan might work. also ahead. downing street says talks with the eu over a brexit deal covering northern ireland have been positive , raising hopes of a new agreement. also in northern ireland. a fifth person s been arrested in connection with the attempted murder of the off duty police officerjohn caldwell in omagh. officially, there are just 30 minutes left to vote in nigeria s most competitive elections since the end of military rule. but there are still long queues, with reports that some polling stations didn t open on time. a record number of people, nearly 90 million, have been eligible to vote. there s tight security across the country. 18 candidates are running to replace president buhari. the election is being seen as one of the most unpredictable in recent years. joining me now from lagos is our west africa correspondent, mayenijones. thank you forjoining us. just give us a little bit of context surrounding these elections, they are taking place i