i m ana cabrera reporting from new york, and this morning our first glimpse into donald trump s new game plan after he pleaded not guilty to federal charges. i hadn t had a chance to go through all the boxes. it s a long, tedious job. i did everything right, and they indicted me. he projected confidence in front of a supportive new jersey audience. we have new nbc news reporting that trump knows he s in for a long legal showdown, potentially even more charges making this challenge unlike anything trump s faced in the past. and as trump prepares his legal defense, the republican party is preparing its own defense in the court of public opinion. nbc s steve kornacki will be here at the big board to break down the reaction from voters. and later, inflation heading down, yes. so will the federal reserve raise interest rates again, or is it time for a break? we re expecting a decision from the fed in just a few hours, what it all means for your wallet. we re going to begin
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
and with a little help from artificial intelligence, beatles fans can expect a new track from the fab four more than 50 years since they last recorded together. former president donald trump is celebrating his 77th birthday today as a source inside the trump camp tells nbc news he is bracing for the possibility of more indictments. trump was defiant and insisting he did nothing wrong as he rallied supporters at his new jersey golf club last night. just hours after he pleaded not guilty to charges he lied and schemed to hold on to sensitive national security material, he was supposed to turn over when he left the white house. earlier this morning, former vice president mike pence who was challenging trump for the republican presidential nomination spoke out about the indictment. the very prospect that what is alleged here took place creating an opportunity where highly sensitive classified material could have fall noon the wrong hands, even inadvertently, that jeopardizes
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