Decision did not come down to a panel of state justices. Instead just Secretary Of StateShenna Bellows upheld two of the three challenges brought by maine voters. One of whom ill speak to in just a moment. What bellows says her reasoning was based on and what it all means for donald trump heading into Super Tuesday. Were also watching colorado where time is ticking on the decision to remove trump from the ballot there that the former president has yet to file his appeal with the Supreme Court. Still voters are urging justices to speed up their review of an appeal from colorados Republican Party. How and when they could act. Plus which other states could throw a wrench into trumps 2024 calendar. Weve got a whole lot to cover. Lets dive in. Joining Me Msnbc News Justice reporter ryan riley. Bring us up to speed on what happened in maine and how donald trump is now reacting. Yes. As you expect the Trump Campaign plans to file an appeal quickly and get this through the court system very quickly and something that goes before the Supreme Court just as we saw in the colorado situation, although those are, obviously, much different cases. This could end up being looped or joined together before the Supreme Court to deal with a number of these challenges. You have other states like california that chose to go a different way and allow donald trump to be on the ballot despite some of the political leanings of the stateik california and the figures who would make that decision there. It speaks to going into 2024, how many challenges donald trump is facing here, right. 91 criminal charges. Right now theres a trial on the books for m a trials scheduled down the road after that, four separate cri st a really tight legal calendar i think for donal trump going in to the new yea and expect to see these developments continue to cascade down as we roll closer to Super Tuesday here. Seems so difficult to juggle all of that. Thank you. And joining us now is one of those challengers who filed to disqualify donald trump from the maine ballot. Ethan is a former mayor of portland, maine. Ethan, thank you for joining us. As we mentioned youre one of the three former maine lawmakers who brought this up saying donald trump should be disqualified from the states ballot. Youre actually the only democrat. The other two former republican state senators. Walk us through. Why did you feel the need to challenge trumps eligibility . Well, let me just start saying yesterday was a really good day for democracy and upholding our constitution, and i think that was the impetus. Ive been writing a little bit about this, and, you know, honestly who knew anything about the section 3 of the 14th Amendment to the constitution before donald trump tried to commit an insurrection, tried to block the peaceful transfer of power in order to keep himself in power. Once that occurred, i think theres a lot of us in the country who felt like no man who tries to commit insurrection against our country should be allowed to run again or hold office certainly should not be allowed to hold the white house, and from there, i spoke to a Couple Attorneys and once colorado ruled the way it did, the first judge that ruled clearly that donald trump was an insurrectionist, i think that said to all of us, okay, we now have a third party who [ inaudible ] evidence, listened to both sides. Donald trump had his day in court. Those who disagreed had their day in court and the judge made a Finding Of Fact that he was indeed an insurrectionist and from there the colorado Supreme Court affirmed that Finding Of Fact and eend it to say that r 14th Amendment does, indeed, apply to him. Once those rulings came into effect, it gave all of us an opportunity to say we need to have this question asked, and maine was ripe for that question and very pleased with how the ruling came down. It has not worked out for other states. What was your reaction when you heard Secretary Of State bellows decision last night . Were you surprised . Did you expect this . I think when we went into this hearing, it was an open question, and by the before she ruled it was still an open question. I felt optimistic because, look, to all who are at all [ inaudible ] neutral in this observing from the outside, clearly donald trump is an insurrectionist, the constitution bans you from running for office, holding office, if you are an insurrectionist. On those fund mental easiest points it seems like a slam dunk. When you get into the processes, Secretary Bellows did a very good job in the hearing. She asked both sides very tough questions and clearly understood the law. She had received them very carefully before she even came into that hearing, and so i think from there we were saying how is she going to rule in this. She clearly has the jurisdiction to rule. Maine law awards that to our Secretary Of State. I was optimistic, but, you know, in all those all those times ive been optimistic before, sometimes it doesnt quite work out. Again, it was a good day for democracy. Thats mostly what i felt. Trumps team calling this atrocious decision and said an objection will be filed quickly. How do you expect this to actually play out when the Supreme Court weighs in, if it, in fact, does, which many people are expecting . Yeah. And i hope it does. I think we need the Supreme Court to step in and give us some clarity around for the entire country. I hope theyre able to put their own partisanship aside. I certainly hope that Justice Clarence thomas recuses himself. Obviously, he has some very serious conflicts with his family and his wifes involvement in on january 6th. But i hope that they can put aside their partisanship, the fact that three of them were appointed by trump. It just its clear i think to anybody that if you look at the constitution, somebody who was president of the United States who tries to block the peaceful transfer of power through a violent insurrection, should not be allowed to hold that office again and not not only should they not be allowed to but the constitution requires they are not allowed to. Its a disqualification. I cant predict the Supreme Court. It will be an Uphill Battle but if they look at our constitution, theyll understand there is really only one way to go and hopefully theyll do the right thing. Super tuesday coming up in march. Do you have any concern this could fuel just more uncertainty in an already raw political process . No. Not more uncertainty. I think, you know, that both colorado and maine, they have stayed their decisions while these while courts are wrestling with this. If courts take too much time thats a problem. Because it will be a problem for Republican Voters. It wont be fair to Republican Voters to, you know, keep trump on the ballot and let them vote for him and disqualify him after that. That means they will have all wasted their vote. Half of Republican Voters, which is why two colleagues who joined me i think came into this, dont believe donald trump should be on the ballot, but want to make sure Republican Voters arent wasting their vote. Lets get this decision decided. There are other candidates in maine who are on the republican ballot that republicans will have an opportunity to vote for. If trump is not there because of this disqualification, then people will have a chance to decide between those who are remaining that actually have a chance to serve in this office. So much yet to be seen. Ethan, thanks so much for your time today. Thanks. Joining us now anthony coley, former doj director of public affairs. Anthony is an msnbc justice and Legal Affairs analyst. Also with me is nbc news legal analyst angela sindella. Thank you for joining us. Your reaction to what ethan had to say about the overall strength of the argument in maine . Yeah. I think he was absolutely right that this was a good day for democracy and i do want to point out what you started with, this was a bipartisan effort in maine. He is a democrat, but he was joined by two republicans, two former state senators. The other thing thats important to note here is that they talked about the actual insurrection. While we all saw with our eyes on january 6th, right, we remember vividly, donald trump on the ellipse of the capitol over an hour using the word fight or fighting multiple times and telling his supporters to go down to the capitol and fight like hell. Steven, thats exactly what they do. They take their guns, they take their bear spray, their zip ties and go down to the capitol and fight like hell. They assault Law Enforcement, they assault members of the news media, looking to kill or assault the Vice President of the United States and the speaker of the house. If thats not an insurrection, i dont know what is. The last thing i will say, too, is that we often think about january 6th as the culmination of the big lie, and yes, it is that, but its also a big conspiracy that took place across many months and multiple states like georgia and michigan, and so i was pleased to see the Secretary Of State acknowledge that history of how we got to january 6th and making that determination. And angela, to that point, Secretary Bellows, she said in this decision that trump was aware that he laid the tinder out to delegitimize the election and chose to light the match anyway. Is this ultimately enough, donald trump, he has not been convicted or indicted for insurrection or the specific role in january 6th being an insurrection. Does the Supreme Court have to step in and do the fact finding for this . It seems difficult to do. Yes. The Supreme Court, i do believe, will step in, and i think they will not think this is enough. When you look at big picture one woman was able to make this extraordinary, somewhat shocking, decision, i think ultimately that was just her job. She was doing her job. Within the laws of maine, she literally did what she was supposed to do, make a decision about whether or not donald trump is qualified to run for president. When you look at big picture, what the Supreme Court will look at, not just what is relevant from a State Law Perspective but federal law perspective. Who should be the people to determine whether or not he engaged in insurrection. Should it be a Secretary Of State or a trial court . Should it be congress . I have a suspicion theyre going to punt it back to congress, steven. All right. Certainly yet to be seen as well. Anthony, we cant ignore, there has been bipartisan backlash to this decision as well and concerns this will only bolster trump more. This is from our own reporting today, politically strategists in both parties expect the legal case against trump to ultimately collapse and say effo disqualify him will m likely serve only to energize his supporters a fuel claims that he is being targeted by a vast conspiracy of powerful elite. What do you make of that argument . Yeah. I dont buy that argument. I think donald trump is a clear threat to american democracy as we know it, and its appropriate for all of those who Support American Democracy to pursue every viable option available to keep donald trump from the presidency. Now, i acknowledge what was said, its going to be an Uphill Battle in the Supreme Court. I suspect that this is going to be ultimately come down to the choice of the people and the people have to do in november 22 what the people did november 24 what the people did three years ago, beat donald trump again at the ballot box. Thats how we begin to break the fever that is trumpism in our country. Angela, i cant get over the timeline here. Some ballots are going to be printed in a couple days now. I want to talk about colorado in that as well. What do you make of the voters there . Theyre urging the Supreme Court to speed up this review of the Republican Party in colorado there, their appeal . They want that decision faster than those who even actually filed the appeal. How unusual is that . Well, i have to say i do think its relevant in both maine and colorado, these decisions have been stayed, meaning that donald trump will remain on the ballot until an Appeals Court or the u. S. Supreme court really steps in here, so i think that this is an indication of what the people believe will likely happen, which is they believe he will remain on the ballot. They believe the Supreme Court will stay. I think this is honestly shocking to all lawyers around the country that we have made so much progress in this movement, but i dont think it will last. Steven . The Supreme Court often goes by its own timeline but im certain theyre hearing all these calls for it to be expedited. Angela and anthony, thank you both so much. Coming up next, some brand new nbc news Investigative Reporting finds out how that infamous chinese spy balloon was able to communicate as it flew across the u. S. And what the white house has to say about these surprising revelations. Were back in 60 seconds. Were back in 60 seconds that first time you take a step back. I made that. With your very own online store. I sold that. And you can manage it all in one place. I built this. And it was easy, with a partner that puts you first. Godaddy. Welcome back. Remember that chinese spy balloon that drifted over alaska and across the continental United States before being shot down off the South Carolina coast earlier this year . We are learning more about it right now about how it worked. The exclusive nbc news reporting coming in shows the u. S. Intelligence officials have determined that balloon used an American Internet Service Provider to send and receive communications back to china. Thats according to two current and one former u. S. Official familiar with the intelligence assessment. Joining me is nbc news Aaron Gilchrist who is traveling with President Biden in the u. S. Virgin islands. Some surprising stuff here. Walk us through this exclusive nbc reporting. Reporter so steven, as we understand it, this assessment that was done by the u. S. Intelligence Community Says that this balloon connected to a u. S. Based Internet Service provider as it was moving across the continental United States and the purpose was to be able to send and receive information from china, Communications Information primarily navigational information as we understand it, from the assessment, in these short transmission bursts as it was moving from west to east here across the United States. The administration according to this reporting and sources tried to get a court order from the highly secret fisa court, the foreign Intelligence Surveillance court, and the point was to be able to collect he electronic information from the balloon, intelligence information, while it was over the United States. We dont know at this point whether the administration was actually able to get that court order. The company that was the Internet Service provider were not naming to protect some of our sources here, denied that balloon was able to connect to its network, and that was based on its own investigation. As you might imagine, the u. S. Government, Different Department in the government, are not commenting on this story at this point. We know in the past that the pentagon, for example, said that it protected sensitive sites. It was able to protect sensitive government sites as the balloon was moving across the United States, covering up vehicles or planes or other sorts of things that were on the ground as the balloon was moving across the u. S. The Biden Administration insisted at one point that it was able to collect more information about the balloon and from the balloon than the balloon itself was able to collect about things on the ground moving across the u. S. We understand the balloon was not able to transmit any sensitive information, intelligence back to china, while it was here in the u. S. Before it was shot down. We know steven, on the east coast. And aaron, what do these revelations mean for u. S. China relations . Well, you remember at the time that this was something that seemed to be further fraying relations between the two countries, the Chinese Ambassador here in the u. S. Denied that this was any sort of an Intel Gathering Balloon and said it was a Weather Balloon that had just gone off course in the course of doing that Weather Information work, but the u. S. Government, obviously, has intelligence to the contrary. We know that the president , President Biden, as well as the chinese president xi have been working on normalizing relations. Theres been a reestablishment of militarytomilitary Communications Just since the Apec Summit Back in november, and this is something that the government sees as vital to maintaining at least some semblance of calm between these countries, having that militarytomilitary communication resume between the u. S. And china. Steven . Important aspects. I cant believe that happened this year. It feels so long ago. Still learning more about it. Thanks so much. Up next, tensions soar along israels volatile northern border with lebanon. A live report from tel aviv coming up next. Power e trades easytouse tools, like dynamic charting and riskreward analysis help make trading feel effortless. And its customizable scans with social sentiment help you find and unlock opportunities in the market. E trade from Morgan Stanley. With powerful, easytouse tools, Power E Trade makes complex trading easier. React to fastmoving markets with dynamic charting and a Futures Ladder that lets you place, flatten, or reverse orders so you wont miss an opportunity. E trade from Morgan Stanley hi, im kevin, and ive lost 152 pounds on golo. uplifting music my biggest concern when i started golo was food. Im a big guy and, shockingly, i like to eat. I was worried it was gonna be like other diets that were bland and restrictive. But with golo, my meals are great, and im no longer hungry like i was before. Im so pleased i gave golo a shot. Dont wait, go to golo. Com. Youre probably not easily persuaded to switch mobile providers for your business. But what if we told you its possible that comcast Business Mobile can save you up to 75 a year on your wireless bill versus the big three carriers . Did we peak your interest . You can get two unlimited lines for just 30 each a month. There are no Term Contracts or line activation fees. And you can bring your own device. Oh, and all on the most reliable 5g Mobile Network nationwide. Wireless that works for you. Its not just possible, its happening. Welcome back. Hezbollah said it carried out successful targets in israel. The idf responded in kind Launching Strikes in lebanon with the latest hit a near Daily Exchange of gunfire. An estimated 200,000 israelis have been forced to evacuate. Life like so many in gaza, totally upended by war. Jay gray met with some of those families who are living in a hospital in tel aviv. Jay, what did they have to tell you about that experience . Reporter yeah. Harrowing stories of constant explosions, rockets, coming in to their small villages and many of the parents we talked to very concerned about their children and making sure their children are safe. Most were escorted from their villages by idf soldiers. We did talk to some in tel aviv and have a listen to what they had to say. It was very scary. Like boom all the time. Boom, boom. Reporter she and her four children forced from their home in the village. Its been very hard. Very, very hard. Theres been times i just want to run and runaway from here. Reporter the dorm rooms are cramped. Everyone shares a bathroom. The hostile gives chance a chance to escape the war and play with friends. A sense of something they left behind. Sense of community. Reporter about 50 miles away Hundreds Of Thousands dont have. It was interesting because not only those who had come from areas that had been hit by hamas, but also those that run it, they think every day about those in gaza, the Hundreds Of Thousands of families that dont have a hosestill to run to or any safe place. The u. N. Says no place is safe in gaza right now. They feel for those families. Just a little sense so they can begin to understand what they are going through, and many of them say that the time has come for this war to end, that talking needs to replace the bombs and they need to come to some resolution so everyone can go back home. 200,000 people. All right. Jay gray, thanks so much for that reporting. By the way, you can watch more of jays reporting, thats tonight on Hallie Jackson now streaming for free on nbc news now. Lets begin this with a Political Correspondent for the times of israel. What does it mean for those 200,000 israeli to be not be able to go home . Give us a sense of the scale here . Right. Generally displaced people, evacuated from their homes, being able to relocate to other parts of the country. It means no school and no work for a long time. Its been going on were getting close to three months now. Specifically in the upper north part of israel, Heavy Bombardment goes all the time, and we hear. I mean the area is closed. We cant get into there, but from what we hearnd see, some villages, mostly agricultural communities, some villages have at least half of their houses destroyed by those rockets. There will have to be a lot of reconstruction when things are done. As your reporter said, many people talk about when this will end. Its putting, you know, huge pressure on Civil Society in israel and i suppose also on the other side, as you said, in gaza. People dont have places to run to. Its horrific. Horrific for sure. And neither hezbollah or the Israeli Military seem to be backing down from this fight. How concerned are israeli officials that this will break out into another front, another fullblown war . Theyre very concerned. We have at least between 30 to 40 rockets every day coming up from lebanon, and people in that area, they say they will never go back to their homes. The problem, the main problem, is that we know that hezbollah is a Terror Organization financed by iran, has already built a massive, you know, system of tunnels. They can penetrate into israel, as weve seen in the southern part, you know, going inside the country, ruining the fences, going into houses and weve seen rapes, shooting people alive. We all know there is a Special Forces Unit that belongs to hezbollah, this was their plan. Hamas actually took their plan and copycat, copy it, so hamas took their, you know, their wheel, i suppose, and its a huge problem. You know, we have the 1701 United SecurityCouncil Resolution that says hezbollah has to be backed away from the fence, at least like ten miles or 15 miles or so. They they are not in compliance of that for many years now, and israel knew that, but, you know, what you needed to do right now in order to avoid war, because no one wants to see another fullblown front, what we need to see is we need to see countries like france and the United States and maybe uk getting together and making sure that the hezbollah is moved away from the fence. Were not talking about lebanese civilians. Were talking about the terrorists. They built those tunnels and they can enter israel at any point and, you know, we need like an International Community work, diplomat work, not military work, diplomatic work, to avoid more casualties. Growing concern, of course, for this spilling over into the region even more broadly. Also want to point out, one year ago today, Benjamin Netanyahu was sworn back in as prime minister, completing that dramatic political comeback. What has this last year meant for his legacy, his reputation moving forward . Many israelis are summing up this year, 2023, as the worst year in israels history. We had the most casualties in one day, october 7th. Never nothing like that ever happened before. The total deterioration in safety and personal safety. We have soldiers, you know, killed every day in gaza, and even before the war, we had nine or ten months of total chaos. Netanyahu took office, he said his main goal is to put back the economy into power. Instead of that, his Justice Minister put forward the judicial overhaul trying to change the democratic country which brought many people to the streets in a mass demonstration weve never seen before. Defense minister told him its dangerous but the security back in march, instead of listening to him, netanyahu sacked him in what became what we call the night where, you know, Hundreds Of Thousands of people took to the streets in the middle of the night to protect the defense minister. Netanyahu then did not fire him, but since then, things have rolled downhill in a very fast way, you know, huge fights inside israels society, reservists said they will not join the military. We think that this entire scheme brought hamas on us. You know, they cepsed sensed this weak society. This brought us to october 7th. The october 7th massacre, torture, rape, and events are nothing to compare with the judicial role. Oseere civil argu right now we are in this devastating war and, you know, this can go into original war like you said. No one wants to see an original war. If you sum up netanyahus year in power its a total disaster. Wow. A lot of looking back exactly how we got here. Thank you so much. And turning now to another battle front, the war in ukraine. Russia unleashed its largest ariel attack of the year overnight with rockets and drones targeting sites all across ukraine. Ukrainian Officials Say at least 30 people were killed and 160 were hurt in those strikes. This morning, President Biden warned that unless Congress Passes more aid for ukraine, it may not be able to defend itself against similar attacks. Nbc news Foreign Correspondent matt bradley is following the latest from ukraine. Matt, president zelenskyy said most of the incoming missiles and drones were shot down, but some people are still buried in all that rubble. Whats the latest . Reporter yeah. The Rescue Workers are still trying to dig people out. We saw footage of Rescue Workers drag an elderly man out of the rubble and president zelenskyy said at least eight people have been dragged out from underneath the rubble. Lets not stop thinking about the 30 or more people, the number about to go up, killed in these attacks which are already being called by The Ukrainians the biggest single strike against ukraine or at least in terms of time, ever since this war began in february 2022. There have been more lethal strikes but this has been the largest number of projectiles sent across the border striking targets throughout the country, all the way from schools in lviv, a city supposed to be a refuge for a lot of ukrainians, all the way to dnipro where with saw a Maternity Hospital that was struck. A rain of bombs all across the country. Incredible how widespread that is. Thank you. And up next, an nbc news tradition, as 2023 comes to a close, we remember those we lost this year. That is coming up next. Right now get a free footlong at subway. Like the new deli heroes. Buy one footlong in the app, get one free. Its a pretty big deal. Kinda like me. Order in the subway app today. 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Welcome this morning a new front in the fight between texas and the federal government over immigration. The Justice Department is now threatening to sue texas if it implements a new state law allowing state Law Enforcement to arrest migrants who cross the border without authorization. Joining us now nbc news correspondent Margen Chesky reporting in dallas. Morgan, what is the Justice Departments argument here about this texas law violating the u. S. Constitution . Reporter steven, theyre essentially saying that the state is overstepping its responsibilities here and that enforcing the border is strictly a federal right and that the state does not have the right to do so. And its similar in argument to what weve seen with multiple other challenges that have recently pitted texas against the federal government. Steven, most recently the thousand footlong border buoy in the rio grande that a jung ruled had to be pulled out, that had been installed at the direction of Governor Greg Abbott. Then the barbed wire that had been state installed. As of right now the state has appealed a judges decision saying that Border Patrol agents could, in fact, cut through it. Right now theyve been ordered not to do so pending this appeal. But if you point to any one of these instances, steven, this is kind of an ongoing theme with the state of texas taking on the federal government when it comes to protecting the border. And Governor Greg Abbott has certainly had a lot to say a lot to criticize the federal government about its response at the border. How has he responded . As of right now, we have not received any official response from the governor. We have heard from him just recently as the last several days pointing to the Record Number of migrants that have come across. Of course it was just last week 12,000 Crossed Illegally in a single day against the whole u. S. Mexico border setting an alltime record. Well be keeping a close eye out to see what he says, but i think itll be a fair expectation to assume hell not be backing down from this threat, from the department of justice with that january 3, 2024 deadline that would ask texas to stand down from this law that would allow local Law Enforcement to arrest migrants illegally crossing because of this state crime. Steven . Yeah, you have to guess they see this backlash coming. Morgan chesky, thanks so much. And still to come an important update for those planning to travel during the new years holiday. You dont want to miss that. Stay with us. U dont want to mi. Stay with us shameful. Ugh, its just too much. Not with this. Tide. Tide can tackle any pile. That a tackle pun . Just clean the pile, ron. Okay. This too. That was easy. When stains and odors pile up, its got to be tide. 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Jude save lives. Welcome back. A whole lot of travelers hitting the countrys roads and airports today. Aaa expects there to be heavy traffic through new years day. And the tsa expects today to be one of the busiest days of 2023, screening about 2. 5 million passengers. Joining us now is Adrienne Broadus at chicagos ohare airport. What are travelers telling you out there . Reporter steven, here at ohare they say travel has been better than expected. Some of those travelers we spoke with say there was some apprehension because of what theyve seen in the news regarding delays and cancellations. Lets take a look at this through a microlens and focus on whats happening here in chicago starting with ohare. Over the last 24 hours there have been about 260 delayed flights. Thats inbound and outbound according to chicagos Department Of Aviation. Over at midway at least 70. Now, the Department Of Aviation told us it expected 3. 4 million passengers to pass through the two airports as we round out this end of the year holiday rush. And as you mention, the tsa is predicting today and monday to be the busiest travel days. Within these 2. 5 million passengers on each day. On those days that werent project today be the busiest, we already so more than 2. 5 million passengers. Despite what we know, the folks i spoke with today said even with their 30minute delay, it was still smooth. And that mother had four young children. Steven . Wow. And not a lot of time left but want to ask how are the airlines and tsa, how are they prepared for the next holiday rush getting to their destination on new years day . Lets start with the airline said. United, for example, upgraded its overhead Storage Space allowing for more luggage. And when it comes to the tsa they rely heavily on more technology. Youll notice they rotate shifts that way they can stay alert and focused. Steven . All right, Adrienne Broadus, thank you. Thanks so much for joining us. Have a happy new year. Simone townsend picks up for deadline white house right now. Greetings, everyone. Its 4 00 here in washington, d. C. Im Simone Sanderstownsend in for nicolle wallace. And then there were two two states where the disgraced twice impeached four times indicted expresident has been kicked off the ballot or at least kicked off the ballot pending appeal. More proof that donald j. Trump is having a hard time shaking the i