since donald trump s efforts to overthrow the 2020 election culminated in a violent mob storming the u.s. capitol. for a few weeks, trump was an outcast. a political comeback seemed farfetched, almost impossible to imagine. and yet, thanks to his allies in congress and the maga movement on hold, donald trump has emerged here at the end of 2023 not nearly rehabilitated politician but as the undisputed leader of his party. now, trump began this year as the prohibitive favorite for the republican presidential nomination. even in january, he had a monster 20 point national lead over his closest rival, florida governor ron desantis. and in the months since, trump s lead has only widened. at this point, a rematch against joe biden appears almost inevitable. and yet, while trump s march towards the republican nomination this year was mostly interrupted, there has been for the last 12 months an x-factor that he has had to contend with, a series of criminal investigations. as the year
since donald trump s efforts to overthrow the 2020 election culminated in a violent mob storming the u.s. capitol. for a few weeks trump was an outcast. a political comeback seemed far-fetched, almost impossible to imagine. and yet thanks to his allies in congress and the maga movement, donald trump has emerged here at the end of 2023 not merely a rehabilitated politician but as the undisputed leader of his party. now, trump began this year as the prohibitive favorite for the republican presidential nomination. even in january he had a monster 20-point national lead over his closest rival, florida s governor ron desantis. and in the months since, trump s lead has only widened. at this point a rematch against joe biden appears almost inevitable. and yet while trump s march towards the republican nomination this year was mostly interrupted, there has been for the last 12 months an x factor he has had to contend it, a series of criminal investigations. as the year began trump
former supreme court justice sandra day o connor honored today in d.c. as an american pioneer, on and off the bench. are there lessons the country can still learn from her remarkable life? speaking of high ranking women, vice president kamala harris with an extraordinary political challenge to be a game changer in next year s election. the biden campaign s bold plan to make abortion the pivotal issue for 2024 and putting harris in charge of making it happen. and what s it going to take to get rudy giuliani to stop lying about georgia election workers ruby freeman and shaye moss? after a $148 million judgment failed to stop him, freeman and moss are suing giuliani again, seeking a court order to stop his, quote, campaign of targeted defamation and harassment. so, what happens now? but we start in washington, where tears mixed with laughter and applause remembering a life well lived, a stirring and emotional tribute to sandra day o connor, known to history, of course, as
do? and more lies from republican congressman george santos. the latest has to do with now a broadway show. even the great white way can t escape this. we ll break down the new reporting and what it all means for the gop. but let s start with the story we re all talking about this evening, the chinese spy balloon flying over the country tonight. cnn s alex marquardt has the latest. reporter: tonight u.s. officials tell cnn the u.s. has not ruled out shooting down the chinese spy balloon once there s no risk to civilians below. but secretary of state antony blinken telling reporters that china s flagrant violation of u.s. sovereignty forced him to postpone his trip to beijing. i made clear that the presence of this surveillance balloon in u.s. airspace is a clear violation of u.s. sovereignty and international law, that it s an irresponsible act and that the prc s decision to take this action on the eve of my planned visit is detrimental to the substantive discussions
bar i would like to get out over that bar. just a sign of the time, my friend. thank you as always. thanks to you at home for joining me this hour. we begin tonight with breaking news. the new york times has just published a major new report about israeli intelligence failures in the lead-up to the october 7th hamas attack. according to the reporting not yet verified by nbc news officials obtained the detailed battle plan for hamas attack more than a year before the attack took place. quoting from the new york times israeli officials obtained the battle plans for the october 7th terrorist attack more than a year before it happened, documents and e-mails and interviews show. but israeli military and intelligence officials dismissed the plan as aspirational, considering it too difficult for hamas to carry out. the approximately 40-page document which the israeli authorities code named jericho wall outlined point by point the devastation that led to the deaths of abou