voting for. plus, after starting the year as the newly elected house speaker, kevin mccarthy will end it as a private citizen. the former republican leader announcing he's leaving congress after one of the most tumultuous reigns in american history, so what's next? and four russian soldiers indicted in america for atrocious acts of violence in ukraine. how the doj is employing a never before used war crime legislation to try to get justice for an american who was beaten and tortured by russian troops. a lot to get to. we start with donald trump, hand add prime time opportunity to beat back growing criticism that his second term would put the u.s. on a path to a dictator ship, instead he said this. >> you are promising america tonight you would never abuse power as retribution against anybody. >> except for day one. except for day one. >> meaning? >> i want to close the border, and i want to drink -- >> that's not -- that's not -- >> drill, drill. >> that's not retribution. >> i'm going to be. i love this guy, he says you're not going to be a dictator, are you? i said no, no, no, other than day one. >> trump's refusal to deny plans to abuse his office or his power is exactly what president biden said prompted him to run for re-election and why he's made defending democracy a center piece of his campaign. on tuesday he told supporters in boston, quote, if trump wasn't running, i'm not sure i'd be running, although later in the day he adjusted making it clear he is all in. >> would you be running for president if trump wasn't running? >> i expect so, but look, he is running, and i have to run. >> would you drop out if trump dropped out? >> no, not now. >> well, that sets the stage for tonight's final republican debate with the field down to just four candidates, so each will now get what is likely their last best chance to convince a national audience that they have what it takes to take on trump and ultimately win the white house. nbc's priscilla thompson has been talking to voters in iowa. ashley parker is senior national political correspondent for "the washington post" and an msnbc political analyst. tara setmayer is a former gop communications director on capitol hill, currently senior adviser for the lincoln project. good to have you all here. so tara, the former president, when i thought of what he said, i also thought of maya angelou who says when someone tells you who they are, believe them, right? is that what you saw here happening with him last night? >> absolutely. he's been telegraphing what he plans to do for quite some time. this really isn't new. he's just become more and more brazen in the authoritarian aspirations that he has. i mean, he said he wants to tear up the constitution. he has said that, you know, that he's -- you know, that he plans retribution against people who have been against him, and i mean, he has said some really extraordinary things that should alarm every american who values their freedom in our democracy. this year -- and i'm glad to see that the media is covering this with the urgency that they should and the intensity that they should because the idea that an american former president and current candidate for president would even entertain the idea of being a dictator on day one or not because we all know, you and i both know you don't become a dictator for a day and all of a sudden decide you don't want to be one anymore. it would never stop. the idea that someone like this would be the front runner for the republican party and even have a chance at winning again should really stop every american in their tracks. we do not have time for voter apathy. there is no time for voters to complain about joe biden's age or anything else when the alternative is someone like donald trump who is backed by the majority of a major party in this country making these types of statements repeatedly many and more brazenly from the nazi rhetoric to the dictator rhetoric and not treat this with the seriousness it deserves. this is dangerous stuff here. not a laughing matter. >> sean hannity gave trump two chances to answer essentially the same question. here's the other one. >> i want to be very, very clear on this. to be clear, do you in any way have any plans whatsoever if reelected president to abuse power, to break the law, to use the government to go after people? >> you mean like they're using right now. so in the history of our country. [ applause ] what's happened to us again has never happened before over nonsense, over nothing, made up charges. i often say al capone, he was one of the greatest of all time, if you like criminals. he was a mob boss the likes of which scar face they call him, and he got indicted once. i got indicted four times. >> nonresponsive to say the least, but i mean, this is someone who said he could shoot someone on 5th avenue and, you know, still win, and some people have suggested, yeah, maybe that's true. do you think he says this stuff because he believes that's what voters want to hear, because he thinks they don't care or simply because that's really what he thinks? >> well, he -- first of all, it's worth noting that that wasn't just a softball from hannity. it was sort of the softest of soft nerf balls lobbed up quite slowly, and it should not be that difficult to disavow the idea that you would like to be a dictator on day one if you took office again. what's happening here, frankly s a fascinating dynamic, which is that former president trump is saying this because it's how he feels. it's what he believes. it's what he thinks his voters want to hear, but the people around him, a number of people in his campaign advisers, they understand that maybe not for the maga base, but for some of those voters he will need to win over to beat joe biden, that they don't like to hear this. they don't like to hear a strong man, authoritarian rhetoric. when he said he will root out his opponents like berman, that's problematic. it turns off suburban women, independents. you have this whole campaign going around saying he he doesn really mean this, that's not who he is, and then you have the candidate himself saying, actually, yes, that is who i am, and that is what i mean. >> the biden campaign, they really believe and you hear it in what we hear from the president that they think this really matters to voters. i guess maybe the outstanding question is ultimately when it comes to next november, will this campaign, as unconventional as it is, turn more on conventional things like issues, abortion, the economy? >> well, it depends. if the biden campaign has its way, they absolutely want to make this about issues, abortion and abortion rights are tremendously galvanizing for democrat, as we've seen in a number of these special and off year elections. and you talk to the biden campaign and biden white house, and they want to make sure every day they are explaining this is what a trump presidency would look like on this issue, on reproductive right, on nato, on america's role in the world. now, what the trump campaign wants to do and what their candidate wants to do as already discussed are two slightly different things, and it may come down to how disciplined they could keep him, which it's worth noting historically, he can be disciplined for stretches, but at some point, what he believes and what he wants to say and who he is always comes through. >> so tara, we also had president biden saying and raised a few eyebrows, frankly that if trump wasn't running, i'm not sure i'd be running. he kind of knew answered that a little later as we played it. then minutes ago he was asked about it again, and here's what he said. >> mr. president, do you think there is any democrat who could defeat donald trump other than you? >> probably 50 of them. >> you do believe that -- >> i'm not the only one to defeat him, but i will defeat him. >> i will defeat him, that confidence, tara, but given his approval ratings, are there likely others, maybe younger candidates who could have a better chance against donald trump? >> no, i think we need to dispense with this idea that there will be anyone other than president biden running against donald trump. short of some natural disaster with biden, he will be the candidate, and he should be. all of those others, this is wish casting. this is fantasy. at this point in the election, joe biden is the best positioned. there is a power in incumbency. there is -- he's demonstrated already that he is the only democrat that has already beaten donald trump, and the democratic party needs to rally around him unequivocally. the choice here is a binary choice between a man who we are having a discussion about wanting to be a dictator on day one versus a man who's a little older. i think the american people need to understand what's the consequences here and that there really is no moral equivalency. donald trump is not a normal candidate, and is it ideal that joe biden's 81 years old? no, it's not. but the idea that he's been a successful president, he's wise and has experience and actually happens to love our country and respect our constitution and democracy should matter. because nothing else matters, no policy position, nothing matters if donald trump wins and decides he wants to be a dictator on day one and you never have the opportunity to have a free and fair election again in america. >> okay, priscilla, let's talk about those voters. you talked to those voters, 40 days until the iowa caucuses. what are you hearing? >> reporter: yeah, chris, we spoke with a number of voters who voted for donald trump in the previous two elections including one woman as she was walking into that town hall where trump made those remarks, and we asked them why they are supporting him again for a third time. here's what some of those voters had to say. >> we need somebody like trump. he already knows what to do. he has the relationship with all the leaders of the world. >> he has done more for our country than any other president in my lifetime. >> they say he's a liar, but i think of all the people that are, you know, offered, he's the most honest of them. i'd rather have an ass in my face than a friend stab me in the back. i think that's really how i felt after the democrats were last in charge. after the democrats were last in charge . >> there you have it, a lot of folks telling us they are not tuning into the debate tonight, we are going to be in the room with dozens of voters who are going to be watching and looking to make a decision in the iowa caucus, and what we're hearing from those undecided voters is that they want to hear about the economy. they want to hear about bringing inflation down, bringing the cost of housing down, they're also concerned about foreign policy, specifically the israel hamas war and there are also folks looking to hear about things like security, medicare, crime, all of those things, and so those four candidates that will be on the debate stage have an opportunity to make an impact at least for some voters here. of course polling shows all of those candidates still trailing donald trump by so much and so really looking a lot to do in these final days before the caucus. chris! priscilla thompson, and tara setmayer, thank you. ashley parker you're going o'stick around. we're following two big stories with potentially mass political implications. the former speaker of the house said he is leaving congress. former president trump's legal trouble in georgia might just have gotten more complicated. that new report saying his former vice president is on the witness list. we'll explain in 60 seconds. list we'll explain in 60 seconds. a few years ago, i came to saona, they told me the no electricity on the island. we always thought that whatever we did here would be an emblem of what small communities can achieve. trying to give a better life to people that don't have the means to do it. si mi papá estuviera vivo, sé que él tuviera orgulloso también de vivir de esta viviendo una vida como la que estamos viviendo ahora. es electricidad aquí es salud. former house speaker kevin mccarthy is leaving congress before his term is up and just two months after he was ousted as speaker. here's part of his announcement. >> but now it is time to pursue my passion in a new arena. while i'll be departing the house at the end of this year, i will never ever give up fighting for this country that i love so much. >> so when he leaves in just a couple of weeks, it shrinks an already slim republican majority, which just shrunk to three seats after the expulsion of george santos. nbc capitol hill correspondent ryan nobles is covering this for us. look, the margin for the republican majority in the house could get down eventually, who knows, one or two vote, and the party has a brand new speaker. talk about what the buzz is on the hill, mht change the power dynamics. >> reporter: well, there's no doubt, chris, that this makes the job of governing for the new house speaker mike johnson that much more difficult. there was already a sense that job was pretty difficult to begin with, the difference between a four seat majority or two seat majority or one seat majority if congressman bill johnson of ohio leaves in the new year as well. does that fundamentally change the landscape of these big issues they're fighting over? the funding package for ukraine and israel, the long-term spending bill. it's likely that any of those potential pieces of legislation would require 100 democrats to get over the finish line anyway. where the real rub is going to be for speaker mike johnson are these kind of internal republican debates that they're having a hard time coalesing around, if they want to send a messaging bill to the senate about some of their current funding battles. they've had a hard time passing basic republican only appropriation bills. then of course is the growing effort to impeach president joe biden. they are talking about an impeachment inquiry vote next week. they can't afford to lose very many republican votes. only three republican votes to get an impeachment inquiry authorized. just in the last hour they've announced they will move to contempt of congress of hunter biden, the president's son if he doesn't show up for his deposition next week, which is scheduled. they can't get a contempt of congress vote unless they have virtually every single republican on board. so you know, kind of the bigger, larger fights, the ones that have substance tied to them, these margins may not matter that much. it's these incremental messaging issues that republicans are going to have a harder time with in the new year the more they lose members, which seems to be happening now on a regular basis. >> all of which means don't expect to get much sleep in the coming months, ryan noble, thank you so much for that. we've also got that big breaking news in the 2020 georgia election interference case against former president donald trump. his former vice president, mike pence, has reportedly been added to the witness list by prosecutors. this is according to cnn citing multiple sources familiar with court documents that remain under seal. with me now, former federal prosecutor msnbc legal analyst glenn kirschner. okay, glenn, how important of a witness could former vice president pence be in this georgia case. >> you know, chris, really important on both donald trump's criminal acts and perhaps even more importantly on donald trump's criminal intent. so first of all, mike pence has said at public gatherings and in media interviews the georgia election was not stolen, and i had no right to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election. that will be some really important testimony for a georgia grand jury to hear, but chris, probably even more importantly, mike pence has said things in media interviews and he has put in his book a statement that he attriings to donald trump. he talks about how when donald trump was waging this relentless pressure campaign trying to convince him, mike pence, to essentially corruptly throw donald trump the election, refuse to certify the electors for joe biden, he said that donald trump said to him once it became clear that mike pence would not go along with donald trump's corrupt scheme, donald trump said to him, you know what your problem is, mike? you're too honest. that is evidentiary gold on the corrupt intent front because it shows that donald trump knew what he was asking mike pence to do required dishonesty, and that is some important testimony for those georgia jurors once they are impanelled, once donald trump is in trial, some important testimony for them to hear. >> we know, glenn, that trump has gone after pence in other cases repeatedly slamming him on social media. he's called him delusional. he said he's not a very good person. i mean, there's currently no gag order in the georgia case, but could this be troubling for him if the attacks continue? is this something that could be considered witness intimidation? >> oh, it certainly could, the devil's in the details, and as of right now, there are some conditions of release that donald trump is laboring under in georgia. he's not permitted to threaten, harass, and intimidate witnesses, and he has been somewhat silent with respect to the witnesses against him in georgia. maybe suggesting that he can actually abide by conditions of release and gag orders, but it looks like mike pence when push came to shove, chris, he stood up and did the right thing pretty much each and every time. he certified joe biden's rightful election win. he appeared before the grand jury in washington, d.c., and we have to believe testified honestly about the crimes of donald trump, and he has said repeatedly we will comply with the rule of law and with subpoenas so assuming he is subpoenaed to appear as a witness in the georgia rico prosecution, i think we need to take him at his word because for all of his faults, he has stood up and done the right thing when push came to shove. >> i want to play for you sort of the result of that, what the january 6th committee learned about the trump/pence relationship in the final days of the trump presidency. here it is. >> so as i was dropping off the note, my memory, i remember hearing the word wimp. either he called him a wimp. i don't remember if he said you are a wimp. you'll be a wimp. wimp is the word i remember. >> it was a different tone than i'd heard him take with the vice president before. >> something to the effect this is the wording's wrong, i made the wrong decision four or five years ago. >> trump we know prizes loyalty. he considers mike pence to be disloyal. pardon his question from my vast studying of law and order television show, is this something you think that could influence what we hear from pence, is there such a thing as trump's lawyers saying he's a hostile witness? >> you know, i think there's an argument that mike pence is a hostile witness or will be viewed by the defense as a hostile witness. why? because donald trump on the front end relentlessly pressured mike pence to violate the law, to join donald trump's corrupt conspiracy to commit offenses against the united states and defraud the united states, which is one of the charges that trump now stands convicted of federally. and donald trump has continued to attack mike pence. so there's an argument to be made by the defense on cross examination of mike pence that you're just saying all these horrible things about our client donald trump because he said horrible things about you. the nice thing is mike pence will be able to fall back on the record, both the way he acted and conducted himself on january 6th. he wouldn't even leave the building, the capitol until the vote ultimately was certified, and everything he told jack smith in the grand jury. that tra