at this hour, the big story is a long awaited holiday morning. we ll take you to west palm beach where one family has turned their own christmas tradition into one that impacts an entire community. also this morning, the message on war in the middle east as the fighting continues inside gaza. hostages remain and terrorist captivity, and israel s prime minister vows to finish the job of ending hamas s reign. former president donald trump s top challengers are scrambling for so-called hail mary as we officially hit three weeks until the iowa caucuses. new polls leave little to the imagination. the verdict is it on the most popular, most widely watched viral videos of 2023. the stories that caught just about everyone s attention. but we begin with the forecast that is disappointing parts of the country this morning, and worrying many s. let s get right to meteorologist who has been tracking the weather ahead. michelle, tell us who has a white christmas and who has more snow than
hi there, everyone. it s 4:00 in new york. before the january 6th select committee ever got off the ground, before it existed, and well before the first signs ever emerged that the justice department was investigating the trump part of the trump coup plot, before even donald trump s second impeachment trial wrapped up. one local prosecutor in georgia decided she would take on donald trump and the unprecedented assault on our democracy in the wake of the 2020 election and she launched a criminal probe into the conduct of the ex-president and his allies in her state. today, about two years and one week to the day that that investigation was launched, we finally got our first real glimpse into her work. the work of fulton county district attorney fannie willis. portions of her report compiled by a special grand jury were released this morning. the report gives us a sense of the depth of her investigation. 75 witnesses, a mountain of documents and data. along with testimony from
we began this morning with an update on that traumatic incident with the chinese spy balloon 60,000 feet in the air. eight days after it was first spotted in u.s. airspace, and have 22 raptor shot down the balloon with a single missile yesterday off the carolina coast. the search for degree is now underway. it my touch off a war of words between the u.s. and china. heightening tensions in an already data diplomatic relationship. china expressed its, quote, strong dissatisfaction. they have insisted that the device was a civilian weather balloon. a u.s. senior administration official said in response that they were confident the balloon was, quote, seeking to monitor sensitive military spots. we shift the focus now tuesday state of the union. president biden s first before the new republican house majority. security is being ramped up with plans to install fencing around the u.s. capitol ahead of the primetime address. we don t know too many specifics about what the president
joins us live. and the race to 2024 officially heating up, the first challenger to donald trump for the republican nomination. his one-time ally turned opponent. what nikki haley is saying about pushing back on belize, as the 11th hour gets underway on this tuesday night. good valentines evening, i m stephanie ruhle. we may be on the verge of several major legal battles involving the justice department. donald trump, and his former vp mike pence. a source tells nbc news that the former vp plans to challenge a subpoena from special counsel, jack smith. smith wants pence to testify under oath in the investigation in trump s role in the january 6th riot. pence was the focus of a major pressure campaign by trump himself to block biden s victory. pence had to certify those electoral resorts before a joint session of congress, you know when, january 6th. the votes for president of the united states are as follows, joseph r. biden junior of the state of delaware has received 306 v
i m john king in washington. thanks for sharing a busy news day. alec baldwin staring down charges. he will be indicted for involuntary manslaughter after the onset death of the rust cinematographer. we ll bring you details plus, brand-new cnn reporting. sources say questions about classified material and a special counsel investigation will not alter joe biden s 2024 campaign launch. the view in the west wing, the documents scandal. team biden says it s a beltway obsession and hope not much more and go to hell. a homeless veteran accuses george santos of a new low. swindling money from a gofundme intended to pay for a dying dog s lifesaving surgery. i don t want him to do it again. he took a piece of my heart when he did this. prosecutors in new mexico just last hour are announcing alec baldwin along with the film s armorer will be charged with involuntary manslaughter in that fatal shooting on the shoot of the western movie rust. let s bring in elie honig and crimi