Congressman, who is expected to move to the republican side when the house votes. We are live at the white house plus chuck todd and Kristen Welker join us as history unfolds in washington. Then in our sunday spot light, we are inside the operating room with a look at new black box technology, known for its use on airplanes, that could revolutionize medicine well explain. And later, a sunday sitdown with oscar, grammy and golden globe winner Jennifer Hudson on her big role in the new cats movie, and the shock of winning an Academy Award in her very first movie. The only thing i really remember was when the category came up and me giving myself a little pep talk, jennifer, you did good making it this far. If you dont win, its all right. And they said Jennifer Hudson, and i said dont get up, and then i looked over and everybody was looking at me. And i was like, oh, thats me, let me get up. A sunday sitdown with Jennifer Hudson and a closer on americas big bow company. Making giant ribbons for the car commercials. All of that, plus another life well lived a bit later in the show lets begin this morning with the week ahead in washington as the house of representatives is all but certain to impeach the 45th president of the United StatesPresident Trump defiant on saturday, attacking democrats and taking time out to attend the armynavy Football Game in philadelphia Nbcs Kelly Odonnell is at the white house for us good morning. Good morning, willie. President trump took part in the long military tradition on the football field, and tweeted that hell invite the winning navy team here to the white house it comes geps the backdrop of the hard knocks of impeachment and President Trump is running his own defensive play book. Announcer the president looking more like candidate trump than commander in chief, as Navy Beat Army in philadelphia one place where its good politics for him to play both sides. Cheering each team and taking home the game ball but back in washington, team colors are divided over impeachment. While democrats by sheer numbers are expected to pass two articles of impeachment by midweek, the white house is courting a potential democratic defector im a different kind of democratic and i always have been first new jersey democrat Jeff Van Drew is from a district where President Trump is popular. Sources tell nbc news he is expected to switch to the gop after the Impeachment Vote there is nothing that has turned up that truly is impeachable. Not enough to alter the outcome, but a singleparty switch seems the trump argument that impeachment is partisan. It will die quickly and i will do everything i can to make it die quickly. Saturday, trump ally senator Lindsay Graham, who served as a house prosecutor during the clinton impeachment, argued that a trump trial needs no witnesses called i dont need to hear from hunter biden, i dont need to hear from joe biden. We can deal with that outside of impeachment. Perhaps the biggest strategic difference between the clinton and trump approaches to impeachment, clintons contrition. I want the congress to know that i am profoundly sorry for all i have done wrong in words and deeds. Versus the trump defiance. Nothing was done wrong. Zero was done wrong. Reporter and well after midnight the president tweeted about the new jersey congressman who is expected to switch parties, saying hes always heard jeff is very smart and this morning theres also some questions coming from the two military academies, west point and the navel academy, say they are looking into concerns raised when some students were seen on television with a hand gesture, just a few cadets involved and the concern is that some consider this hand gesture, including groups like the Antidefamation League to be a white supremacist symbol west point says it does not know the cadets intentions. Starting us off at the white house, kelly, thanks so much chuck todd is the political director and moderator of meet the press and Kristen Welker is the white house correspondent. Good to see you both chuck, let me start with you this morning here we are pretty much where we thought we would be months ago, but at least weeks ago, where weve moved out of the Judiciary Committee and theyve voted. Weve got a full house vote on impeachment in the next few days and then things move to the senate, where Mitch Mcconnell has already said im working with the white house on a strategy, there is no way the president will be removed from office so where does that leave us in this process i think you have two i think right now you have two leaders in congress who are basically done with this and you saw them act that way this week in different ways. Nancy pelosi and Mitch Mcconnell, you know, in a weird way they both have the same priority, theyre worried about their marjjorities so what did nancy pelosi do . They made a deal on usmca, she cut a deal on the budget my gosh, congress has never been so functional. Who knew an impeachment could make them do that . Mitch mcconnell, what did he do . Hes protecting his vulnerable republican members they dont want a draggedout process on impeachment, so what is he promising . An extraordinarily short trial, but not so short theres criticism of that. But again, both pelosi and mcconnell here, suddenly this week basically grabbed control of their institutions and focused solely on what it would take to protect their majority. Kristen, jeff andrew of new jersey is expected to switch parties and vote in support of the president on these articles of impeachment the president court congressman van drew and had him to the white house. From the perspective of the white house, that is their focus right now, willie, trying to peel off defectors there are 31 democrats in trump districts. President trump was tweeting about them essentially warning that their reelection prospects could be in jeopardy if they voted for impeachment, and so that is where the pressure is going to be. We heard from one congressman of new york who said hes getting phone calls on both sides. People who want him to vote yes, people who want him to vote no, and hes taking all of that into consideration. Even if they can peel off a few democrats, willie, the president is going to crow about that on the campaign trail hes going to say thats a victory for him. And by the way, they are expecting republicans to vote in lock step with him so obviously hes going to tout that as well. And hes got to be feeling confident. The white house has to be feeling confident when you hear Mitch Mcconnell say theres no by the president will be removed from office and Lindsay Graham saying im not going to pretend him impartial. Thats right. I also think the president is divided a little bit internally on the one hand. He doesnt want to be tainted with the historical stain of impeachment. That bothers him on the other hand, he does appreciate the politics of this. I was talking to some folks in his campaign who say on some days they have raised as much as 3 million off of impeachment, six times their normal and so he understands that if he is in fact acquitted in the senate, which is by all accounts what is expected to happen, that this is going to be a political win for him. And its worth noting that is where the white house is focusing largely right now, on that senate trial, coordinating closely with Mitch Mcconnell. Lets look at democrats on the campaign trail you might have a bunch of them sitting as we come up on iowa. Sitting in on the senate trial of the president of the United States how does this affect the 2020 race well, look, i think it will be interesting to see if these Senate Democrats try to do something at the trial itself in order to make an impression with those voters but ill tell you, it does come at an awkward time then again, if this thing is shut down by Martin Luther king weekend, which is apparently the timeline were on, two weeks may not have as much of an impact as we thought it would. Leader mcconnell said he wants a quick trial. Chuck, thank you very much kristen thank you as well. Well see you in a few minutes for the highs and lows of the week well be watching meet the press when chuck talks about the articles of impeachment with republican senator pomat toomeyo pennsylvania. This morning, nbc news has learned from the Trump Administration plans to announce the withdraw of about 4,000 troops from afghanistan as early as next week the u. S. Forces will leave the country in a matter of months, leaving behind between 8,000 and 9,000 troops in a country where t United States now has been since the attacks in september 11th. Police in atlanta say they are looking for a gunman who opened fire inside a busy mall packed with christmas shoppers the gunshots set off chaos at Cumberland Mall on saturday afternoon with shoppers running for safety, some hiding in bathrooms and dressing rooms Police Say Two people got into a fight and one of them pulled out a gun and started shooting one person was injured lsu quarterback joe burrow was the run away winner last flight of the heisman trophy, given to the best College Football in the country. He won by the widest margin in the awards history. Just a few years ago burrow was a backup at ohio state and barely saw the field until he transferred to lsu in an emotional acceptance speech, burrow thanked the head coach for taking a chance on him. You have no idea what you mean to my family. I didnt play for three years. You took a chance on me, not knowing if i could play or not he is a great player. Burrow will lead lsu against oklahoma in the College Football playoffs later this month. But that was not even the best football story of the night. Yesterday was the seventh anniversary of the terrible day in new town, kekt keconnecticut 26 children and teachers were killed last night new cls town played for the championship and clearly for something so much more an incredible finish with the score tied, just three seconds left in the game, and newtown quarterback throws a pass through the fog and rain to senior wide receiver riley ward, who watchcatches it and takes io the house for the walkoff gamewinning touchdown the players and newtown fans wearing green going wild among the players on the winning team, linebacker ben pint oh who lost his 6yearold brother jack that day seven years ago our congratulations to the night and weve got a clear start this morning over san francisco, but its getting cold out there. Look at the temperatures starting to dip into the 30s in santa rosa. 35 degrees, 35 in napa. 46 in san jose and a chilly 39 in santa cruz. Expect a chance for some morning lingering showers, mainly along the coastline. Today will be mostly dry with cooler temperatures, only topping out in the mid to upper 50s for san jose. 57 degrees, breezy along the coastline. Straight ahead the highs and lows of the week. Including the parody of the classic movie scene that was the british Prime Ministers Closing Argument in the countrys historic elections. The pigeons wearing mini cowboy hats. How did it get there . You heard of a black box on the airplane, why would there be one in an operator room . People assume medical errors are the fault of an individual. The system has cracks in it. It is all coming up on sunday today. A view from offshore as the volcano erupts on white island in new zealand. The death toll ring tois you try baking a pie. only tylenol® rapid release gels have laser drilled holes. They release medicine fast, for fast pain relief. Tylenol®. For fast pain relief. Buy 3 boxes of chex cereal, get a holiday movie on us drill . Cordless. Noted. Introducing the capital one walmart rewards card. I love it thats a good one. Earn unlimited 5 back on everything you buy at walmart online. Perfect for all their hints. Okay the capital one walmart rewards card. Unlimited 5 back at walmart online, and unlimited rewa everhere else. Whats in your wallet . Janie, come here. Check this out. Let me see. She looks. Kind of like me. Yeah. Thats because its your grandma when she was your age. Oh wow. Thats. Thats amazing. Oh and she was on the debate team. Yeah, thats probably why youre the debate queen. Mmhmm. Ill take that. Look at that smile. I have the same dimples as her. Yeah. The same placements and everything. Unbelievable. E the same placements and everything. Competition and we broke through. Youve tried retinol, but you have never tried one like this. Olays retinol24 complex hydrates better than the 1 retinol. Visibly smoother brighter skin in just 24 hours. A skin upgrade . Crushed it. New olay retinol24. Face anything. Olay. Now available with retinol serum and retinol eye cream. Quitting smoking is freaking hard. St, like quitting every monday hard. Quitting feels so big. So, try making it smaller. And youll be surprised at how easily starting small. Can lead to something big. Start stopping with nicorette hi momhey. Dad. Hows my Little Princess . I want to be a movie director. Oh thats great. Kristen welker is back for the highs and lows of the week. Great to have you here. Great to be here. Got a big crowd for you. Our first high goes to the best Holiday Party of the year. The 198 employees of st. John property in baltimore had no idea what they were in for when their boss found edward st. John stepped up to the mic as the employees knocked down drinks and now, you can open your red envelope. You heard that number correctly. 10 million worth of surprise bonuses to his employees. The bonus ranges from 100 to 270,000 based on years of service at the company. The average pay out about 50 grand per person. It is lifechanging. It is. It is really amazing. Thats so generous. Kristen, if you reach under your chair, i have an envelope for you. Some employees paid off their debt. I know. Student loans and a lot of it. If you get a gift like this in your life, it is your obligat n obligation. Our first logo to thebili thm parody may have helped determining the outcome of a critical election of the world stage. The british Prime Minister made his Closing Argument for the voting public with a tribute to the holiday classic. This is the famous seen from love actually with the reading cards written out. It is a popped culture touch stone on saturday night live. This week british Prime Minister did his own tussle hair version in a campaign ad trying to win the vote with a plea for brexit actually. Prime minister may ruined the holiday classic but not his electoral chances. His conservative party won a landslide in the parliamentary elections signaling brexit actually is on its way. So obviously not determined but you got to love the Closing Argument is a film parody. Putting politics aside, i love that movie so it just made me laugh and the voters laugh, too. Our next high goes to someone whos a familiar face this year. St. Louis blue, leila anderson, the 11 years old suffers from a rare threaten autoimmune disease. She was there every step of the way as the blues capture their stanley cup in june. Leila made it to the parade and received her own Championship Ring in october. All of that made possible by a life saving bone Marrow Transplant from anonymous donor last january. Anonymous until this week. Leila got a chance to meet her donor at the annual beat the match celebration in st. Louis. Leila, meet your donor. She means the world to me and i love you. I am so happy that you are okay. Thats all i can ever want. Kent is a sophomore at the university of kansas who was inspired to donate after his own father battling an immune system. Together, they got a standing ovation. We love leila all year, we feature her several times on the show. What a wonderful chapter in this story. What a hero this story and you cant watch that and not feel the emotions. Kent, too. Our final low goes to a mystery in nevada. Someone is putting cowboy hats on pigeons in las vegas. Lets get you out to sin city where a lot of pigeons squirming around in adorable cowboy hats. Nobody knows how the hats got on the birds. A las vegas bird rescue operation is concerned. They moved into begin safely removing the hat and investigate how they got there in the first place. As the cowboy pigeons became viral superstar, people went out to see if they can spot one of the rare bird themselves. There was a citing in reno. We been trying to find out how this happens. We have no answer. They said the birds were not hurt. And so it is a cautionary tale. Dont put hats on birds. Standby for an update. It is an important story. A sunday sitdown with Jennifer Hudson, her rise from American Idol to the oscars and now to singing good sunday morning. Its december 15th. Heres a live look outside in walnut creek at 6 26. Saw a little bit of showers overnight. Lets see whats on tap for the day today. Thanks so much for joining us. Im kira klapper. We thought yesterday, it was going to be a little bit of pockets here, a little bit there. Scattered. No Real Organization with that storm. But right now, the temperatures are in the 30s up to the north bay. And we do we could still see a little bit of instability along the coastline, which means a couple of light showers for the first half of the day. Not really anything to worry about. San francisco, 47 degrees. San jose, 46 degrees right now. And your microclimate highs for today, a f