some news so you can out-trump trump. and by the way, how's that going for you, ron? you're down 41 points in your own home state. but there's one thing in closing that we have in common is neither of us will be the nominee for our party in 2024. >> ouch. two strong moments from california governor gavin newsom last night in his debate with florida governor ron desantis. it comes, of course, as nikki haley is gaining significant momentum as the top alternative to donald trump in the republican presidential primary. plus, israel and hamas are blaming each other for the end to a temporary cease-fire deal. we'll have all the latest on negotiations to renew the truce. and also ahead a gag order against donald trump is reinstated in the new york civil fraud trial. we'll get expert analysis on that coming up straight ahead. good morning and welcome to "way too early" on this friday, december 1st. yes, it's december. i'm in for jonathan lemire. we begin this morning with israel and hamas resuming the fighting in gaza, ending a seven-day truce in the region. the israeli government says rockets were launched from gaza overnight in the final minutes of the truce. the prime minister's office also claims hamas did not meet its obligation to release all of the women hostages, thereby violating the agreed upon terms of the deal. the truce had been extended and was set to expire at the end of the day yesterday. diplomatic talks to continue the temporary pause in fighting came down to the wire last night, signaling that negotiations may have broken down. international mediators are, however, continuing discussions in qatar in the hopes of a breakthrough. before the fighting resumed, hamas released eight hostages yesterday. the group consisted of mostly women and included dual nationals from mexico, russia and uruguay. israel freed 240 prisoners. it's believed that about 137 people are still being held captive in gaza. that includes a few americans. the majority of the hostages are men now. it's unclear how many of them are israeli soldiers. among the hostages released yesterday was 21-year-old mia shem. shem was kidnapped from the site of the musical festival where at least 260 people were killed on october 7th. she was then shown in a hamas video a week after her abduction. this was the moment her mother received the phone call that mia was coming home. karen shem has been campaigning for her release. in an emotional reunion the two embraced each other yesterday for the first time in nearly two months. in a statement the family thanked everyone who helped secure mia nfs release, adding that she must receive medical treatment before she can go home. so joining us now national security and military reporter for politico paul mccleary. thank you for joining us on "way too early" this friday morning. so fighting has resumed after this seven-day pause. what do you think we're going to see over the course of the next two days in gaza? >> right, if there's resumption of the talks and prisoner exchanges, we'll see what we saw over the past several weeks -- massive israeli air strikes, the idf moving -- look like they're going to move from the north to south and start pressing the south where they think hamas leadership is. so it'll be a combination of air and ground maneuver trying to clear some of the tunnels hamas has dug under gaza while hitting command and control sites above ground and underground across the strip. over a million people have moved from the north to the south in gaza, so southern gaza is densely, densely packed at this point, which makes it more difficult not only for air strikes nor to hit targets precisely without killing civilians but harder for israeli troops to push south and try to engage some of these hamas factions and other groups that are fighting in the south there. so as the days go on and the campaign continues, it'll get more and more difficult to keep civilians safe, keep civilians out of harms way while still pressing hamas leadership. >> on that issue trying to protect civilians in gaza of course tony blinken has been back in the region pushing publicly the israelis to stick by international law. what are your indications on whether the netanyahu government is listening to the white house or not? >> there's been tension between the netp hew government and the white house on this issue. i mean every government makes different risk assessments. every government has done it with drone strikes in particular over the years. depending on what the target, you know, you have a certain number of civilian casualties which you consider acceptable to conduct the operations. and every country does it differently. israeli numbers tend to be a little higher just because they're fighting in these dense areas and hamas hides among the population, which makes it more difficult. these are kind of classic counter insurgency difficulties we're seeing here. the united states has seen this in iraq, afghanistan, syria, anywhere where there's an insurgency where fighters can hide among the people and fight from among the people. it makes it much more difficult for a state government to go in there and prosecute the war that they're looking to fight without putting civilians in harms way. >> okay, paul, stay with us because we want to turn now to the war in ukraine and the latest on the front lines from that war where ukrainian president volodymyr zelenskyy visited yesterday to meet with troops. as the war heads into the winter season, zelenskyy is telling the associated press the conflict has entered yet another phase as conditions will once again complicate fighting. and it's possible russia will resort to the same tactics it used last winter. it was targeting ukraine's energy infrastructure. yesterday national security spokesperson john kirby spoke about this and what the united states expects to see in ukraine this winter. >> last winter russia sought to destroy ukraine's critical infrastructure, the energy infrastructure and deprive the ukrainian people to access to heat and electricity at the coldest time of the year. russia tried to break the will of the ukrainian people but of course it failed. as we head into yet another winter, we expect that russia will return to this cruel tactic and again try to pursue a campaign to destroy ukraine's critical energy infrastructure. in just the last couple of days we've seen some air strikes taken by the russians that seem to be going after the kind of defensive systems that the ukrainians have in place to protect their energy infrastructure. >> so the battlefield fighting may be grinding to a halt because the winter is settic in. of course that doesn't mean the war stops. other tactics can be used as john kirby was pointing out there. what impact do you expect this winter to have in terms of fighting on both sides? >> this winter is going to be different than last winter in ukraine. last year we were looking at a springtime counter offensive that most in the west thought would really push the russians in the south and east and probably not retake crimea but pressure crimea more than ukraine has been able to do. so this year is different. the ukrainians launched a counter offensive, but they just ran into a brick wall in the south. the russians were well-entrenched and fought back pretty hard. so this winter it does look like the russians will increase their missile strikes and drone strikes against civilian infrastructure. but the ukrainians have done that as well. they launched just last week a multiple drone attack against power generation sites in the south, the russian occupied south and cut power for a new days. it looks to be an air power centric winter. not necessarily foikter jets and things like that but drones and ballistic missiles, and ukraine has poured millions and millions of dollars into developing these ballistic missiles and drones in order to hit these russian sites well behind the front lines. >> we have been so focused on the middle east, but do not forget what's happening in ukraine. that war still going very bloodily for everybody especially ukrainians at the moment. national security reporter for politico, paul mccleary, thank you very much for joining us. the drama could be winding to an end. back here at home today could be the final day of congressman george santos' congressional career, illustrious congressional career. hours from now the house is expected to vote on expelling the lawmaker who has repeatedly refused to resign despite a damning ethics report that found substantial evidence. here's what some of his colleagues from his own party in favor of expelling him had to say. >> george santos is a liar. >> he fabricated his qualifications, his background, lied to the fec and unemployment fraud. >> he has manufactured his entire life. >> he blatantly stole from his campaign. >> he can defend himself in a court of law, but for the purposes of this body he's got to go. >> you know what they say? with friends like that, who needs enemies. but many who support santos argued that expelling the congressman would set a dangerous precedent. >> i'll oppose the george santos expulsion. >> what? because santos was buying botox and onlyfans we got to throw him out? >> the swamp water is very murky. it's deep. but for george santos there doesn't appear to be a safe lily pad. >> the congressional equivalent of a public crucifixion. >> at the end of the debate santos acknowledged he could be removed from office and insisted he would be at peace with the decision. santos, we barely knew you. still ahead republican senator tommy tuberville seems to be back off his blockade of some military promotionings following more backlash from members of his own party. meanwhile, far-right republicans in the house are reconsidering their hard line demands on spending cuts ahead of the next budget battle. we'll have those stories, sports, and a check on the weather when we come right back. e weather when we come right back. [city ambience sounds] [car screech] [car door slam] [camera shutter sfx] introducing ned's plaque psoriasis. [camera shutter sfx] he thinks his flaky, red patches are all people see. otezla is the #1 prescribed pill to treat plaque psoriasis. [ned?] it can help you get clearer skin and reduce itching and flaking. with no routine blood tests required. doctors have been prescribing it for nearly a decade. otezla is also approved to treat psoriatic arthritis. don't use otezla if you're allergic to it. serious allergic reactions can happen. otezla may cause severe diarrhea, nausea, or vomiting. some people taking otezla had depression, suicidal thoughts, or weight loss. upper respiratory tract infection and headache may occur. [crowd gasp] ♪♪ with clearer skin, movie night is a groovy night. [ting] ♪♪ live in the moment. ask your doctor about otezla. there's challenges, and i love overcoming challenges. ♪ when better money habits® content first started coming out, it expanded what i could do for special olympics athletes with developmental needs. thousands of bank of america employees like scott spend countless hours volunteering to teach people how to reach their financial goals. it felt good. it felt like i could take on the whole world. republican senator tommy tuberville of alabama is signaling he'll likely be drop his hold on military promotions next week. the senator has blocked over 350 promotions over an unrelated department of defense policy that will reimburse a service member who needs to cross state lines for abortion care. tuberville has not specified how many promotions he'd let through or which he would continue to block, but he said they wouldn't be contingent on rank. the alabama senator also said that a language change in the pentagon's abortion travel policy was stripped from the budget, which was one of the solutions that he was counting on. tuberville's move comes as members of his own party have criticized the military hold over concerns that they affect military readiness. here's what senator tuberville, though, said yesterday. >> i'm not going to be pushed and shoved and hurried on this because we've taken our time with it. we've done it the right way, and at the end of the day i know these people, you know, need to be promote. it's not that they have not done anything wrong, but it's the only way that we've been able to get the attention of the democrats. i mean and it's the only thing you have to get their attention when you have no pow. and so we've got their attention, and we've got them stirred up pretty good. but at the end of the day i understand the need for promotions. >> senator tuberville. the leaders of the house freedom caucus are softening their stance on spending over fears there will be locked out of talks because of their extreme demands. the group's chairman, pennsylvania congressman scott perry, now says he supports the top line spending level agreed by president biden and house speaker kevin mccarthy earlier this year. this after the far-right caucus spent months railing against the overall spending level and nearly forcing the government to shutdown this fall. the shift comes as now house speaker mike johnson cogs that congress may need to pass a yearlong continuing resolution to fund the government if both parties can't reach a deal. okay, i don't know if you missed this one but stay tight because it was extraordinary. elon musk, the world's richest person, is rolling out a new project even as he faces intense backlash for his toxic social media posts. nbc news correspondent emilie ikeda has more. >> reporter: it was back to business for tesla ceo elon musk with a highly delayed and anticipated initial delivery of the ev company's other worldly cyber truck. >> finally the future will look like the future. >> reporter: it comes less than 24 hours since musk's stunning sit down with cnbc's andrew ross sorkin. >> if someone is going to blackmail me with advertising, blackmail with money, go [ bleep ] yourself. is that clear? i hope it is. hey, bob. >> reporter: that was the bombshell message from the world's richest person to advertisers for pulling ad spending from his social media platform, an exodus after musk appeared to endorse an anti-semitic post on "x." >> i'm sorry for that post. it was foolish of me. >> reporter: musk says he meant to suggest jewish people shouldn't fund organizations that support their elimination. her boss making clear he's not concerned with people's comfort with him, boasting the success of his wide ranging businesses that traverse social media, space, cars, and tech. >> hate me, like me, or indifference do you want the best car or do you not want the best car? >> interesting way to try to win over advertisers. let's see if it works. nbc's emilie ikeda reporting there. still ahead, it was a no-win november for one nba team. we'll tell you who that is. plus we'll have the highlights from thursday night football as the sea hawks and caw boys kicked off week 13. "way too early" will be right back. week 13 "way too early" will be right back who's winning? we are, my friend. we are. new emergen-c crystals pop and fizz when you throw them back. and who doesn't love a good throwback? [sfx: video game] emergen-c crystals. from the left. look towards lamb, shoulder shake. throw, going to be caught by ferguson. touch down. >> okay, let's do this. cowboys quarterback dak prescott his third touch down of the game. the sea hawks qb gino smith also had three touch down passes of them thrown to -- including this opening catch in the third quarter. extending the cowboys winning streak at home to 14 consecutive games. well-done there. staying with the nfl, buffalo bills linebacker von miller turned himself into police in texas yesterday. he's accused of assaulting his girlfriend at their high rise apartment in the dallas area earlier this week. according to the arrest affidavit, the woman told police the assault happened during an argument over travel plans and that she is 6 weeks pregnant. miller was released from jail yesterday after posting bond. in a statement the nfl said it was aware of the matter and had been in contact with the team. turning now to the nba and the dubious record set by the detroit pistons at madison square garden. to new york city jalen brunsen scored a game high 42 points as the knicks cept the pistons to their franchise record 16th loss in a row. 118-112. the pistons have not won a game since october 28th. now to a rare feat on the nhl ice in tampa. pittsburgh penguins tristan jarry marking the first goal by a goalie in franathize history and cementing the penguins 4-2 victory over the lightening. wow, amazing. even i'm impressed. time now for the weather. let's go to meteorologist michelle grossman for the forecast. michelle, it's chillier here in washington. what's everyone else got? >> it is chilly first day of december. and we're feeling winter-like across the country. starting out west we have a series of fronts going to be moving onshore over the weekend. and we're going to see inches of rain, even up to 10 inches in some spots. feet of snow, up to 2 feet. in the four corners seeing some precipitation, and as we move east we're seeing lots of rain. you can see the bright colors here. that's showing us where that heavier rain is falling, even seeing some lightening and storms along the gulf coast. we could see winds gusting up to 16 miles per hour, some hail, a chance of a few tornados. as this moves up to the north and east, it'll eventually move up through d.c. not a whole lot of rain, but still we do need this rain, but it's friday. as we look towards the rest of the country portions of of midwest we're looking at a mixture. also in the higher elevations there, the great lakes looking at some precipitation as well. taking loo a look at saturday pacific rain onshore and mountain west higher elevation and drying out through the southern plains. that's good news. going to be a nice saturday with lots of sunshine. heavy rain in the southeast and that's where we're looking for a chance of heavy rain. and that rains continues in the southeast. >> rain, rain. michelle grossman, thank you. still ahead we're taking a look at the challenges the biden administration could face in the new year with both domestic and foreign policy issues. "way too early" coming right back. issues. "way too early" coming right back welcome back to "way too early." it's 5:30 on the east coast, 2:30 out west. i'm kathy kay. the white house is kicking off the holiday season as the first lady and president presided over the lighting of the national christmas tree on the white house lawn last night. this just days after high winds knocked over the 40-foot spruce. the national park service had it standing again after a few hours. this was the 101st tree lighting ceremony at the white house. during the event president biden delivered a holiday message about unity. >> we look to one another and we look out for one another. we leave no one behind. and for our best we are united at our best. we're the united states of america. we begin another holiday season. let's remember how blessed we are as americans with a gift that is our nation. so merry christmas, america. may god bless you all and may god protect our troops. merry, merry christmas. >> unity may be exactly what the president needs. joining us now white house correspondent for reuters, jeff mason. jeff, we're getting towards the end of the year, so it's worth taking stock. how is the biden administration looking to work with divided government next year? it didn't seem to go so well this year. and it looks like -- looks like jeff is frozen which is kind of apt for this time of year and the weather. if we can get him back, we will get him back. but still ahead we'll go live to cnbc for an early look what's driving markets this morning after the dow rallied to a new high for the year. 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(vo) for a limited time, turn any iphone in any condition into a new iphone 15 pro with titanium and ipad and apple watch se - all on us. that's up to $1700 in value. only on verizon. okay, take two. joining us now white house correspondent for reuters, jeff mason. jeff, i think we have you this time. we're getting to the end of the year -- >> take two. >> take two. it'll work. how is the biden administration hoping that it can work with divided government, get anything done at all next year ahead of the election? >> well, i think the last piece of what you said is what's probably framing their view and probably framing the view of capitol hill as well. they're heading into an election. it's a year when both sides will be focused very much on who's going to be in the white house after 2024. but in the president and his white house certainly still want to work with -- in this divided. they're i think trying to be optimistic about working with the new speaker of the house and also wanting to bolster president biden's record so that as he is making his case for being the oldest president to win a second term, that they can say he has not only achieved a lot but is able to go and do more. and i think that's probably the view that they're looking at. but they've got a lot of challenges, and one of those challenges is the fact that the government is divided and that republicans aren't eager to hand him anymore wins. >> jeff, you've been wanting about one of the things that affects the white house the most. that is the president's age and whether or not there is any kind of alternative scenario in which he doesn't run. but according to your reporting there really is no plan "b." >> the really is no plan "b" and it's not to type of thing the white house is eager to talk about. they want to focus on president biden's record and he is in robust health. but the bottom line he is 81, and so the democrats with that story you're referring to is ability the fact democrats don't really have some things lined up in case president biden were for any reason to not be able to continue with the campaign. but there are rules setout by the democratic party on what to do if, in fact, he were to step aside. and it would depend largely on when that might happen. if it happens during the primary process, then a primary race could still happen. other candidates could jump in. if it were to happen after he basically wrapped up the nomination next year, then there would be a race for delegates. and in the competition for delegates before the convention or at the convention to jump in rather, but to give their weight to another candidate. and if it happens after the convention, then the democratic national committee would meet and decide who their candidate would be. but it would be messy, and it would be sort of the opposite of the unified view or the unified position that they're trying to show now behind the incumbent president. >> yeah, certainly complicated. and it doesn't sound like any other democrats are particularly afraid of the vice president. let's quickly switch to israel where we've seen a resumption in the fighting after those days of cease-fire. what are you hearing from the white house on how confident they are if the israelis are going to carry on prosecuting the actual fighting in gaza, they're going to do it in a slightly different way? >> you know this is -- back to your original question, this is one of the big challenges for this white house. not just in foreign policy but in domestic policy, too. it is certainly hurting president biden right now with some members of the electorate that he has been so pro-israel as he has. it's a long way of saying i don't know how confident they are, but they're pushing. they're absolutely pushing for israel to try to reduce the number of palestinian deaths as it prosecutes this war. but they are not changing, and certainly president biden is not changing his full throated support for prime minister netanyahu and their right to go after hamas. we'll have to see how it goes in the coming days. i think the white house would like to have seen this humanitarian pause extended further to get even more hostages out, but they're also pleased they got as far and as many as they did. >> white house correspondent for reuters, jeff mason, thank you. still ahead former u.s. attorney barbara mcquade joins us to break down the latest ruling against donald trump in the new york civil fraud trial. "way too early" coming back in just a moment. too early" cominn just a moment. try new robitussin lozenges with real medicine and find your voice. you know? we really need to work on your people skills. ♪ my name is josh sanabria and i am the owner at isla veterinary boutique hospital. i was 5...6 years of age and i knew i was going to be a vet. once alexandra called me to let me know that bank of america had approved my loan... it was important to me. we not only just provide the financing piece, we do everything that we can to surround them with the right people. all you need is a perfect, amazing team that will guide you through the right steps to be successful. and that's what bank of america was for me. hey, you should try new robitussin honey medi-soothers for long-lasting cough and sore throat relief. try new robitussin lozenges with real medicine and find your voice. you know? we really need to work on your people skills. time now for business. for that let's bring in cnbc's julianna tatelbaum live from london. julianna, good morning. stocks finished a three month liesing streak. where do the major averages stand on this first trading day of december? >> good morning and wonderful to see you this morning. well, as of now u.s. futures are green suggesting the positive momentum we saw in the month of november is going to continue at the start of the month of december. anyway, the final trading month of the year. to take stock of where we landed after that strong month, the s&p landed nearly 9% higher for the month of november. the dow jones added about 9% as well. and the tech heavy nasdaq gained more than 10%. so leading the gains for wall street. the u.s. dollar is another one to watch this month, the final trading month of the year. it weakened significantly over the course of november. in terms of the day ahead things to watch, we've got the u.s. manufacturing index. we've also got a speech from jerome powell coming up. and of course the federal reserve and its path is central to where markets go from here. >> meanwhile, europeans who have suffered from high inflation for a couple of years now, does look like it's ticking downwards a bit in europe. what's the latest there on that? >> yes, some pretty good news on inflation front. like the u.s. eop has been facing inflation pressures over the last couple of years. yesterday brought welcome news, the fed's equivalent in the euro zone, annual inflation in the region eased to 2.4% in november to 2.9% in october. that was a bigger easing than markets had been expecting. the expectation was 2.7% for that reading. so now over the last 24 hours or so investors have begun asking the question could the european central bank begin cutting interest rates before the federal reserve? expect that debate to continue taking place over the coming weeks. >> a major manufacturer of diabetes and weight loss drugs have fired lawsuits against two pharmacies. this is intriguing but fill us in on that, julianna. >> novo nordisk is a maker of the blockbuster obesity and diabetes drugs ozempic and wegovy, which many are now familiar. and just this week novo nordisk has filed lawsuits. compounding pharmacies mix and alter ingredients to make medications that are specifically designed for a patient's needs. often they are -- they are approved for instances where there are serious shortages of drugs. compounding pharmacies do this often, but in this case novo nordisk is filing lawsuits. they don't like what they see. >> okay, cnbc's julianna tatelbaum live for us from london. thank you so much. let's turn now to some legal news. former president trump has lost his bid to permanently remove a gag order in his new york $250 million civil fraud trial. yesterday a four-judge appeals court panel ruled against trump's request and reinstated the gag order on the former president and his legal team. the judges' ruling does not give a reason for reinstatement but means the gag order will remain in pla as they consider trump's full appeal. nb news reports judge arthur engoron who issued the gag de informed both sides of the appeals decision at the ongoing trial. i intend to enforce the fwag orders rigorously and vig rlsly and i want to make sure counsel informs their clients of the fact the stay was vacated, he said. in a statement to nbc news, trump's lawyer blasted the decision, calling it a tragic day for the rule of law. the ord was paused earlier this month while the panel heard arguments. almost immediately trump resumed attacking judge engoron and his law clerk on social media. trump responded to this latest gag order decision by choosing a new target, judge engoron's wife. joining us now former u.s. attorney and an msnbc contributor, barbara mcquade. okay, barbara, let's just start by explaining the reasoning behind the appeal panel's ruling that the gag order should be reinstated. why did they decide to do that? >> well, as you say they don't say. it's a very short order. and this, of course, is to be not confused with a decision on the merits. donald trump appealed the gag order, and while the appeal is pending and the court considers it on the merits, it had entered that stay saying it's lifted until we have a full -- time to make a full decision on it. but then donald trump comes out and says, great, i'm going to take advantage of that and starts violating it left and right. i think yesterday was just an effort by the court to say, whoa, whoa, whoa, maybe we really do need this thing so they put it back in place. but they will still consider the merits and ultimately they will issue a decision, and that will contain the reasons for either upholding the gag order or lifting it. but i think the fact they reinstated the stay bodes well for the ultimate decision here because it is obvious that without a gag order, donald trump is a danger to everyone near that courthouse. >> so explain this to me because even as that order was being reinstated, the former president continued his attacks on the judge's wife. i mean he was literally putting out on truth social after the gag had been reinstated. isn't he already in violation of it? >> well, actually, not necessarily. and that's because the strict language of the gag order focuses solely on court staff. yesterday's tirade or most recently was about the judge's wife. and, in fact, it appears that it was not the judge's wife at all that he was focusing on but someone else, disinforming the public about things not posted by the judge's wife. of course, you know, his followers will read it and believe it. and it really shows the difficulty in fashioning a gag order on someone because you have to be narrowlytailored, yet you have to be broad enough to cover all of the dangers you want to cover. you know, it reminds mow of a story that's retold by laura engles wilder in some of her books about when the parents went away they told the children don't eat all the sugar while we're gone. and when they came back they had eaten everything in the jar of sugar except for a few little crystals at the bottom. they said, well, we didn't eat all the sugar. in the same way, don't say this, don't say that, but he'll find some way to get around it to still offend. >> very smart children in that case. just lay out for us what happens next. it looks like the final rulings have been pushed back a little bit. >> yeah, so ultimately the court will make a decision on the merits about this and make a full decision as to whether this gag order is appropriate, whether the language is both broad enough and narrow enough. and, you know, similarly, we see in d.c. the court of appeals also looking at a gag order imposed there by district judge tonyah chutkan. similarly there the court has really wrestled with what's the appropriate language here? i think on the one hand everyone wants to protect the court proceedings, but this is also someone running for president of the united states. donald trump is going to push those limits just as far as he can. so courts i think are really a bit beside themselves what to do. but i think it's clear at least in new york they understand the need to protect the parties here especially in light of that 275-page filing that was submitted documenting all of the phone calls, e-mails, text messages, social media trolling that is being received by the judge's clerk as a result of donald trump's tirade. >> okay, your friendly legal reminder this morning the letter of the law is not the spirit of the law. barbara, thank you very much. up next, a look at the first television ad being launched by republican presidential candidate nikki haley as she looks to build on her momentum in the polls and donors. coming up on "morning joe" as well the latest out of the middle east as the fighting has resumed in gaza marking the end of a seven-day truce between israel and hamas. and did israeli intelligence ignore signs that that the terrorist group was planning an attack more than a year ago? we'll be joined by one of the writers behind a stunning report in "the new york times" that said israeli officials dismissed warnings as aspirational. also ahead senator ben cardin will join us live in the studio. just moments away. s live in the studio just moments away. try new neuriva ultra. think bigger. 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(crowd cheers) sore throat got your tongue? mucinex instasoothe sore throat medicated drops. uniquely formulated for rapid relief that lasts and lasts. that's my babyyy! -ow! get mucinex instasoothe. it's comeback season. house republicans have now been in the majority for a little under a year. they have nothing to show the american people that they have accomplished on behalf of the american people. zero. don't take my word for it. just ask chip roy, who made it explicitly clear at the house republican majority, nothing to meet the needs of the people. >> hakeem jeffries calling out his colleagues yesterday for what he says is their failure to address the needs of the american people. jeffries was referring to these comments made by texas republican chip roy earlier this month about his own party. >> i want my republican colleagues to give me one thing, one that i can go campaign on and say we did. one! anybody sitting in the complex, if you want to come down to the floor, come explain one meaningful, material thing the republican majority has done besides, "well, i guess it's not the democrats." on the presidential campaign trail, meanwhile, nikki haley is launching her first ad of the primary, calling for, quote, moral clarity, without mentioning former president trump by name. >> it's time for a new generation of conservative leadership. we have to leave behind the chaos and drama of the past and strengthen our country, our pride, and our purpose. >> the ad doesn't mention president biden by name either. "politico" reports the 30-second spot is part of a massive $10 million ad buy in iowa and new hampshire. joining us now is national politics reporter for "the hill," julia manchester. your piece is, "haley gains moment in bid to become the gop trump alternative." what are you talking about when you talk about momentum? is it money, polls, everything? how does the tv spot help her get even further? >> katty, i think it's everything. nikki haley has had a very good week. in fact, a very good couple weeks, maybe a reallymonths. her campaign employed the slow and steady strategy, building herself up in the polls, focusing on those very intimate, smaller campaign settings in iowa and new hampshire, while doing a good job on the debate stage and using those for national exposure. this week was good for haley for a number of reasons. first, we saw she was endorsed by the koch aligned americans for prosperity group. that is not only a big endorsement from a conservative organization, but it opens up access to the, you know, deep pockets of this group and the conservative grassroots organization of the koch network that she can use to compete with desantis' organization on the ground in iowa, as well as trump's. so this ad coming after that endorsement sort of shows that she's very much flexing her muscles. remember that is part of a $10 million ad buy on broadcast, digital, and cable platforms in iowa and new hampshire. i think in the ad, she was sort of sending out this message that she's running against trump. she's trying to send out a message that she is now in second place. >> right. so the person she has to kind of beat for second place, ron desantis, meanwhile, he was out with that debate last night, not with somebody who is actually in the campaign, butin newsom, the california governor. what is the game plan there? why take time out of the primary race to go and debate gavin newsom, who is not actually running for president? does he help that -- think that's going to help boost him in iowa or new hampshire? >> yeah, it certainly is interesting, the strategy. unlike past debates desantis has taken part in over the past few months, with newsom, he is able to contrast himself with someone who is seen as sort of his democratic counterpart across the country in california. he is able to tout his record as governor of florida, particularly during the coronavirus pandemic, and compare that to california. on top of that, he was in a friendly space, in a forum hosted by fox news hannity. i think desantis probably came out of it, in conservative eyes, in a very good light. that could give him a bit of a boost with primary voters. but next week, he'll be on stage once again with nikki haley. we expect the two of them to clash. we do know that nikki haley has been exceptionally strong on the debate stage. i think that's where we'll see the real fireworks. >> yeah, her moments against vivek ramaswamy have been the highlights of the debates so far. polling continues to show former president trump is clearly the leader in the republican primary. what are the other gop candidates, desantis or haley, saying in practical terms they're going to do differently to close that gap? >> you know, that's a very good question and a question we've been asking the campaigns. it's hard to get a straight, you know, perfectly straight answer. it seems like the logic is, look, once everyone else drops out, they're going to coalesce behind haley or desantis or whoever that alternative is. the problem is, you have haley and desantis claiming that, you know, there's trump supporters who would -- or their supporters would go to desantis or haley and split that second place vote in terms of who is second choice. that's going to be difficult, i think, for them going forward. this isn't a party that's aligned, trump versus a trump alternative. if the party is still very split, we do see that trump is many other voters' second choice in the polls. >> full disclosure, that debate last night was too late for people who just got up way too early. julia manchester, thank you for joining us. thank you for getting up "way too early" on this friday morning. "morning joe" starts right now. that was the moment karen shem found out her daughter, mia, was coming home. yesterday, the two were reunited for the first time in nearly two months. the 21-year-old was kidnapped from a music festival on october 7th. unfortunately, for dozens of other families, their loved ones remain captives of hamas terrorists and other groups in gaza. this morning, it is not clear when more hostages would be freed. a temporary pause in the fighting between israel and hamas ended yesterday. >> there is much to get to, mika. the front of "the washington post," the pope offers a warning to israel over gaza. "wall street journal" front page, right at the