penalties. at least in my former office we would not bring a criminal case under those circumstances. so when someone's already paid back the taxes, it doesn't seem that the prosecution really brings back that much in the door. this idea he wouldn't be charged if his name wasn't hunter biden has ring to it. >> that was barbara mcquade pointing out a possible political motivation behind the new tax charges against hunter biden. we'll break down those allegations against the president's son. we'll also recap donald trump's day in court for his civil tax fraud trial as the former president is expected today be the last person to take the stand. plus an update on the bipartisan negotiations in the senate on border security. the issue that's holding up critical aid for ukraine. good morning and welcome to "way too early" on this friday, december 8th. i'm jonathan lemire. thanks for being with us. we begin today with news from the west coast. hunter biden is facing a major new legal challenge this morning after he was indicted on nine tax-related charges. the new 56-page indictment was filed late yesterday in california by special counsel david weiss in a federal court. it alleges the president's son failed to pay taxes, failed to file, aevaded an assessment and filed a fraudulent form. stating this, rather than pay his taxes the defendant spent millionsf dollars on an extravagant lifestyle. hunter biden's attorneys responded with this statement. coat, based on the facts and the law if hunter's last name was anything other than biden the charges in delaware and now california would not have been brought. the attorney added that hunter biden paid his taxes in full more than two years ago. if convicted, the president's son could face a maximum of 17 years in prison. the new charges come after hunter biden pleaded not guilty to federal tax charges back in july, which followed the collapse of a plea deal. a federal judge dismissed the misdemeanor charges in august, but then in september hunter biden was indicted on federal gun charges in delaware for owning a gun while being a drug user and for lying on a form when he allegedly purchased that gun back in 2018. an official with the biden administration said the white house learned about the new charges from public media reports and had no advance notice. meanwhile, former president donald trump was in the courtroom yesterday as his defense team presented in new york the $250 million civil fraud trial. his lawyers interview an accounting expert who said the case against the trump organization was baseless. the new york attorney general accuses trump's namesake company of filing false financial statements in order to receive favorable bank deals. judge arcter engoron who is presiding over the case, has already ruled the trump organization committed fraud and dissolved some of trump's businesses as a result. yesterday a panel of state appellate division judges paused that decision. that means the stay that the a.g.'s office previously agreed upon would remain in place until the full court hears and rules on trump's appeal. that likely won't come until next year after the fraud trial itself is over. now, trump spoke with reporters outside of the courthouse. he slammed the attorney general and call his attendance at trial election interference because he wasn't campaigning instead. >> this is weaponization of justice. this is something that nobody's ever seen to this extent. it's called election interference. it's a sad day for our country that a thing like this can take place. i'm sitting in a courthouse instead of being in iowa where i should be. >> trump who of course let's remind you is going to be on a ballot next year while hunter biden is not, trump is scheduled to testify for his defense on monday. joining us now state attorney for palm beach county dave aronberg. good to see you. let's start with hunter biden. there was some chatter last night these are fairly serious charges, so let's go to you. what do you make of them? do they seem fair they were brought, and what is the level of seriousness? >> good morning, jonathan. these are more serious than the gun charges. here you've got nine counts, three of them felonies punishable by 17 years in prison. he does have those other charges pending, but because of that he's not going to get anywhere near the 17 years if he's convicted, but still this is no slam dunk for prosecutors. they've got to prove that hunter's actions were willful, and that's a problem when the defendant is someone like hunter biden with a documented drug history. prosecutors are trying to counter that that he had an extravagant lifestyle and filing false forms, taking improper business deductions, but there's other challenges for the prosecutors by the fact that hunter biden as you mentioned paid back the taxes and it still helps the defendant because it makes him more sympathetic to juries and judges. that's why i'm a bit prized this case was brought in the first place. >> dave, let's move now to some of the legal peril facing donald trump starting with his new york civil fraud trial. he made an appearance yesterday. he's going to testify next week this time in his defense. he's already been on it stand as part of the prosecution's case. we know trump is shall we say an erratic witness. do you think his testimony will help or hurt his cause? >> erratic, that's a good euphemism, jonathan. this case is largely over. this is window dressing because judge engoron as you said has issued summary judgment. he's ruled for the state when it comes to fraud and now it's a question of how much pain it will hit donald trump in the pocketbook. but right now trump gets to go back on the stand and he's called by his own lawyer. this is different than the first time around when he was called by the state. he'll get a chance to free wheel and say all the narrative stuff he wants to about how he's being wrongfully attacked here by the judge and can't say anything about the clerk, though, because the gag order is in effect. he'll get a chance to spew his stuff on the stand and then it'll get cross examined. the judge has already ruled for summary judgment. >> give us your assessment of perhaps the most important development yesterday which was the trump team appealing a ruling that he found he's not immune from criminal prosecution in the january 6th case and asking for a freeze in the deadline on that case until this appeal is heard that could go all the way to the supreme court. do you think it was built here to slow down a case built for speed? >> that's his m.o., delay, delay, delay. if it delays matters then that happens him. this is the strongest case right now for prosecutors although ultimately mar-a-lago documents case is the best case, that one is not going until after the election. so the prosecutors are going after him in a d.c. election interference case as the most likely case to be heard before the election, so trump wants to push this as far back as possible and he's doing something unusual here. he's asking for a stay of the entire matter while his appeal on this issue of immunity is pending. but you're not entitled to a stay of all the hearings, but, you know, trump is thinking outside the box. he'll do anything to push this out until he can become president again, and then in his mind he can put the kibosh on all of this stuff. so, look, this is his gambit. he doesn't have much of a defense outside of this, but it's worked for him in the past. >> yeah, on important development as you say, dave, this is the one case many people feel could go to trial and even lead to a verdict preelection. trump trying to change that. covering the waterfront for us this morning state attorney for palm beach county, dave aronberg. meanwhile the texas now. a judge has granted a rare emergency order to a woman requesting an abortion. katey cox, a mother of two found out last month her 20-week old fetus has a rare chromosomal disorder likely to cause stillbirth or death shortly after the child is born. her doctors told her carrying the pregnancy to term could risk serious long-term health issues and could even put her own life in jeopardy. she also could lose the ability to children in the future. yesterday a texas judge issued a temporary restraining order that lifts that state's strict ban on abortion. so it would allow cox to end her pregnancy. texas law prohibits abortion from the minute of fertilization and allows private citizens to sue others who help a woman get abortion care. doctors who perform the procedure can also face-up to 99 years in prison and fines of at least $100,000. now, there is an exception for the life and health of the mother, but that particular provision is unclear. cox, the woman involved, spoke with nbc news about the case. >> i was, you know, shocked i found out i would not be able to get the medical care that i need here in my home state. it's painful. you know, i didn't want to be here. i think it's important to have medical care in my home state, and i wanted to tell my story because i do think it's important. before we went through this, i never imagined i would be in this position. i said i never thought i would need or want an abortion. i've always wanted a big family. i have a wonderful husband. he wants, you know, more kids as well. and so this has been a hard -- a hard time. and i think i just want to share so people can see that forcing me to continue the pregnancy and the pain and suffering put me through the risks of continuing the pregnancy, the risk of childbirth again especially given how my last two went, i think it's cruel. >> the texas attorney general ken paxton is threatening to arrest doctors who move forward with the procedure despite the ruling. paxton sent a letter to three hospitals where cox's doctor practices, and he threatened criminalrocution if they performed the abortio quote, the temporary restraining order will not insulate you or anyone else from civil and criminal liability for violation oftexas' aboio laws inclin first degree felony prosecutions. the temporary restraining order will expire long before the statute of limitations for violating texas' abortion law expires. last week the texas supreme court heard arguments in a separate case looking to clarify what qualifies as a medical exemption under state law. still ahead, we'll have more of the morning's top headlines including an alarming incident outside a synagogue in up state new york. plus, president biden is putting more pressure on israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu to allow additional aid into gaza. those stories and a check on whether and sports when we come right back. whether and sports when we come right back my most important kitchen tool? my brain. so i choose new neuriva ultra. unlike some others, it supports 7 brain health indicators, including mental alertness from one serving. to help keep me sharp. try new neuriva ultra. think bigger. a few years ago, i came to saona, they told me there's 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. welcome back. as we look at some of the morning's other top headlines beginning here. the biden administration is criticizing israel's military operation in southern gaza. during a news conference yesterday secretary oftate antony blinken told reporters the idf is not doing enough to protect civilians and that israel should implement daily pauses in the fighting to a broad area and not just individual neighborhoods. >> as we stand here almost a week into this campaign after the humanitarian pause it is imperative and remains imperative israel puts emphasis on civilian protection. and there does remain a gap between intent to protect civilians and the actual results we're seeing on the ground. there are a number of things we think would be important to focus in on, not only having these safe areas but making sure the communications are such that people know where they can go, when they can go there safely. >> president biden reiterated the need to protect civilians in a phone call he had yesterday with israeli prime minister netanyahu. the white house says the president also called under more aid to be allowed into gaza. earlier this week israel approved a minimal increase in fuel deliveries. this as the operation in southern gaza is worsening the humanitarian crisis there. according to the united nations it's largely prevented aid groups from distributing supplies beyond the gaza-egypt border. back here at home a 28-year-old man is facing federal charges for firing a gun outside a synagogue in up state new york hours before the start of hanukkah yesterday afternoon. the man allegedly fired two shots from a shotgun outside the temple in albany. roughly two dozen children were at a preschool inside the building at the time. thankfully, no one was hurt. police say the man was then caught in the temple's parking lot. as he was being taken into custody the man said, free palestine. that's according to police. the episode is being investigated as a hate crime. in response to the incident new york governor kathy hochul directed the state police and the new york national guard to be on high alert as the holiday gets under way. we are also beginning to learn more about the mass shooting at the university of nevada las vegas that left three people dead and another injured. nbc news correspondent steve patterson has the very latest. >> reporter: new details after shots rang out on another american college campus. >> everybody keep your hands up, you guys. keep your hands up, please. >> reporter: this time inside unlv's business school. >> the gunshots were so close i felt like he was coming in, and the only thing you can do is pray he doesn't pick this room. >> reporter: police say he opened fire on the building's forty floor shooting and killing three. 6 had-year-old professor jerry chang, 39-year-old patricia velez, the third victim also faculty hasn't been named until their family can be notified. one gunshot survivor is still in the hospital. >> the suspect had a list of people he was seeking on the university campus as well as faculty from the east carolina university. >> reporter: he previously worked at other universities across the southeast, touted a memship in menza, the high iq society, but investigators are stopping short of citing moatival. >> we know he applied numerous times for a job at the nevada institutions but was denied each time. >> reporter: this business law student was in class just two floors down when he heard the shots rang out. what did it sound like? >> sounded like balloons popping. we were kind of oblivious of it. we didn't know what was going on at first. >> reporter: he said incredibly this wasn't his first mass shooting. he was at the deadliest mass shooting at the las vegas music festival in 2017 that left 58 people dead. >> how many times are we going to go through this? some people crying but you're descentatized to it. >> reporter: a legacy of violence leaving las vegas now. up next here on "way too early" we'll turn to sports and give you a recap of the thursday night football matchup between the patriots and steelers. plus lebron puts on a show in las vegas. we'll have the highlight from the nba in season tournament finals when "way too early" comes right back. tournament finals when "way too early" comes right back serious allergic reactions may occur. tremfya® may increase your risk of infections and lower your ability to fight them. tell your doctor if you have an infection or symptoms or if you had a vaccine or plan to. emerge as you. emerge tremfyant®. ask you doctor about tremfya®. oh... stuffed up again? so congested! you need sinex saline from vicks. just sinex, breathe, ahhhh! what is — wow! sinex. breathe. ahhhhhh! most downs of any game this season. caught, henry. touch down. >> wait, the patriots won? quarterback bailee zappy's third touch down pass of the game put the pats up 17 points over the steelers midway through the second quarter. pats offense then did stall and pittsburgh would find the end zone twice before the game ended but could not overcome new england's early lead. the patriots end a five game losing streak dealing a real blow to the steelers already slimming playoff hopes, which the loss dropped pittsburgh out of the top spot in the afc's wild card race and also hurt the patriots draft pick position next year, but i guess someone had to win that game. we turn now to the nba in season tournament being held in las vegas. lebron scored a game high 30 adding eight assists and five rebounds as the lakers simply breezed by the new orlen pelicans 133 to 89. now l.a. will play the indiana pacers in a title game being played tomorrow night. the pacers were down three going into the fourth but -- was the man in this game and the pacers ripped off a dominating fourth quarter to win 128-119. time now for the weather and let's go to meteorologist angie lassman for the forecast. how's it look out there. >> it's looking great across the east coast now but that will change as we get into the weekend. we've got a busy couple days ahead of thanks to a system right now just bringing snowy conditions to it rockeries, but it will erupt some storms later this afternoon. as we get into the later parts of tonight there's the thunderstorms you'll see for parts of the plains. nothing quite like what we'll see as we get into saturday. we'll see the potential for stronger storms, hail, gusty winds, and tornados all on the table in this region including places like memphis, lufkin, jackson the best chance. by the time we get into sunday we've got the potential for really strong winds as well as heavy rain, this will be a difficult situation even driving for the interior areas of monday for places like new england. this is something we'll watch over the next couple of day. like i said impacts to travel this weekend. >> we'll keep an eye on it. have a good weekend. >> you, too. still ahead on "way too early" how the white house helped restart stalled negotiations for aered bodder deal that would also be tied to crucial funding for israel and ukraine. we'll get into that just ahead. d ukraine. we'll get into that just ahead vicks vapocool drops. vaporize sore throat pain. ah mornings! cough? 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