as the weather system unleashes fury on the northeast. this is after spawning deadly tornadoes in the south. tennessee was hit especially too hard. thousands are assessing the devastating damage just weeks before christmas. >> we have been on the ground and we have seen firsthand neighbors helping neighbors. we've heard stories of combat medics getting out with bags to help people in the middle of the night in the tornado. i've never been so proud to be mayor as i am right now. >> a hard time there. all of that plus a vote expected this week in the house to move forward on a baseless impeachment inquiry of the president. >> i think it's easy to sort of sit and laugh and chuckle at this bungling exercised by house republicans trying to impeach the president based on nothing. there is something more sinister at play here. >> this impeachment is political retribution. it is political revenge on behalf of president trump. >> coming up, i'm going to speak to judiciary committee member mary gay scanlon about the impeachment efforts. we are putting a spotlight on vice president kamala harris from an increased role in the israel-hamas war two plans to her expand her 2024 reelection role. the pictures that are going viral -- of the school board member sworn in on a stack of banned books rather than the bible. i'm going to speak to karen smith who used a moment to make a point. that is later on this hour. we begin this hour once again in tennessee where thousands are reeling after a deadly tornado left a trail of damage to the middle of the state. the governor has declared a state of emergency. there are at least 42,000 without power statewide. priscilla thompson is back with me for madison, tennessee. it's good to talk to you. how are people they are dealing with the aftermath of what has taken place over the last 24 hours? >> yeah, yasmin. people are out assessing the damage, trying to clean up and recover what they can. i want to step aside here and give you a look at what is happening. these are folks from the fire department who have cleared this area. i will tell you what we are looking at. there were three people here who died. they died because there was one trailer which slid on top of another trailer. those three people were 37 year old joseph dalton, 31-year-old florida perez, and her two year old son anthony mendes. the father and husband of that child and that woman came back here to their home trying to find his life savings. the fire department said it wasn't safe for him to go in there and look. what they are trying to do is take the trailer off the top so they can try to find the 20 $500 which is all he had saved here. the reason he needs that money is because he hopes to send the remains of his wife and son back to guatemala. that is where they are from. they have only been here a couple of months. he was in their trailer along with them and another child when this happened. he said they heard a very loud noises. everyone began to scream. there was a moment when he no longer heard the screams of his wife. that was when he knew that something was not right. this is some of the devastation that people are dealing with across the state. they were also three people who died in clarksville, tennessee. there was a church that was destroyed. some 13 people were injured, more than 60 people sent to the hospital as a result of these tornadoes which swept across the state. today, we have seen people out trying to clean up, trying to recover what they can and really trying to figure out what happens in terms of putting the pieces of their life back together. there are tens of thousands of people in this state without power. the governor has declared a state of emergency. officials are saying it will not be hours but likely days before that power is restored. that is a bit of what folks are dealing with. there's certainly a lot of devastation here. you see the fire department trying to make sure that this structure is safe, trying to help that father, that husband find that money that he is looking for so he can get the remains of his family members back to their homeland. yasmin? >> is there an area where they have safe haven for those whose homes are uninhabitable right now or completely destroyed, water, food access? they try to pick up the pieces. >> yes, yasmin. there are two red cross shelters that have been opened here. folks in this community and in that clarksville community are able to go to those shelters where they can receive food as a try to figure out a short term plan here. that is what we see. there are houses which are completely destroyed. their houses where the roof is ripped off. there are bedrooms that are wide open. people cannot stay in those places, those structures may not be safe to stand. i think i'm getting some of the debris there. >> it's okay, priscilla. get some water. take it easy. i know there's a lot of debris around you. thank you for that report. our thoughts are with the community right now. let's head over to the northeast right now. millions are getting pounding with heavy rain and winds. parts of upstate new york are expected to get up to a foot of snow as well. new york city is under a travel advisory as residents are urged to stay home. i want to bring in george soliz who is in manhattan with more on this. last time i checked, we saw rain coming down. it was certainly about to get more heavy, more intense, winds picking up as well. what are you hearing from officials on the expectations of this thing? >> of course. kathy hochul urges to new yorkers to stay home and tried lightly. this has turned a lot more serious in the coming hours. there are 50 million in the bull's-eye between d.c. and maine as the storm moves over, bringing with it, as he mentioned, some of those ripping winds and wind gusts between 45 and 60 miles per hour. you mentioned that foot of snow. you're getting a little bit of a one-two punch from that system. it's going to be moving over. governor phil murphy urged new jersey to stay home right now. there's a little bit of respite from the rain. we are seeing the umbrellas right now. in manhattan, it's sort of the epicenter of the holiday season. we are going to head to higher ground. we are obviously going to stay indoors once things start to pick up. some of the heavy rain is supposed to be moving into the overnight hours into monday. what you are really looking at is the potential for nasty commutes and travel delays across much of the northeast as the system moves through. taking in the sights, some of them are not prepared for this weather. this is the kind of weather where you definitely want some rain gear like we have on. needless to say, some people are not letting this dampen the holiday spirit. listen. >> i mean, when it gets ugly, air it out. we got a couple umbrellas with us, packed with some rain jackets. we got the proper shoe wear on. living it up in the city, to, rain or shine. do you know what i mean? >> are you anticipating delays? >> we are hoping not, but it's not looking a good. we are hoping it is smooth sailing. it's probably going to be pretty delayed, i would say. >> of course, things are somewhat light hearted. when you have this much rain which falls in a short window, the potential for the localized flash flooding particularly in urban areas is a very serious threat. take precautions. if you see that rising water, turn around, don't drown. >> we have seen a lot of that here in the new york city metro area. subway systems and the highways as well, basement apartments, certainly urging folks here in the new york city area to take precautions. george soliz, thank you. we are back in 60 seconds. the president of the university of pennsylvania resigned in wake of anger after what she told congress about antisemitism and houses preparing to vote to move a baseless impeachment inquiry into president biden. i want to talk about all of this with mary gay scanlon coming up next. with mary gay scanlon coming up next coming up next e!!! oh, fudge!!! ♪♪ the holidays are joy, except for all the snow, slush, salt, and pine needle catastrophes... weathertech's cargoliners and floorliners are laser-measured to perfectly protect the front, back, and even up the sides. order the perfect holiday gift today at weathertech.com and don't forget weathertech gift cards. meet the traveling trio. the thrill seeker. the soul searcher. and - ahoy! it's the explorer! each helping to protect their money with chase. woah, a lost card isn't keeping this thrill seeker down. lost her card, not the vibe. the soul searcher, is finding his identity, and helping to protect it. hey! oh yeah, the explorer! she's looking to dive deeper... all while chase looks out for her. iend have chase. alerts that help check. tools that help protect. one bank that puts you in control. chase. make more of what's yours. >> mcgill was grilled by republican congresswoman elise stefanik on tuesday. >> does calling for the genocide of jews to violate pens rules or code of conduct? yes or no? >> if the speech turns into conduct, it can be harassment. >> i am asking specifically calling for the genocide of jews, does that constitute bullying or harassment? >> if it is directed and pervasive, it is harassment. >> congresswoman stefanik had called for mcgill's ousting on x, formerly known as twitter, one down, two to go, referring to the presidents of harvard and m.i.t. who also appeared at the hearing. i want to bring in mary scanlon, a pennsylvanian who serves on the judiciary committee, to talk more about this and much more. thank you for joining us on this. your colleague elise stefanik continuing in that tweet, harvard and m.i.t., do the right thing. do you think the other two university presidents should step down? give me your reaction to the president of upenn handing in her resignation yesterday evening. >> obviously, there was a firestorm as a result of the hearing. we should all be condemning antisemitic speech and actions on campus, islamophobic speech and actions on campus. there's a lot going on. we hear about the trauma that people are experiencing every day. i have 19 colleges in my district. this was not a hearing which was about trying to find solutions to this kind of conduct. this was a gotcha moment. representative stefanik got exactly what she wanted. she wanted to be able to hold up someone as a scapegoat and be able to sow more chaos and divisions. that's what we are seeing. that's what we are seeing from the maga majority in the house every single day. we have four voting days before the end of the year. we have not produced a budget. the government has almost shut down. there have been three different -- they're trying to cut vital services, whether it's fee made it to folks like those who are suffering in tennessee, whether it's home heating for seniors. all of those issues are on the table. the maga majority is trying to sow chaos and division everywhere it can, whether it is with that hearing or with the impeachment inquiry. >> we're going to get into the impeachment inquiry in a moment. do you think the president of upenn should not have resigned? >> you know, i think that's a decision for the board of penn. i think she probably made the right decision given the amount of chaos that was occurring on that campus. i think we can also see that, across the spectrum of colleges and universities, different institutions are handling things differently. they are managing to have thoughtful discussions and set out guidelines for productive discussions without getting into hate speech or other conduct which could be criminal. >> let's talk about this potential impeachment inquiry, this floor vote to formalize the impeachment inquiry into the president. it could happen. i want to listen to speaker mike johnson talking about that. >> next to the declaration of war, i think impeachment is the heaviest power that congress has. we have to be methodical and careful and follow the facts where they lead. the impeachment inquiry is the next necessary step. the white house now is stonewalling. >> usually, he would follow the facts where they lead if there was evidence to suggest there was wrongdoing. the fact is, there is no evidence to suggest there is wrongdoing. what is your reaction to what we are hearing from speaker mike johnson? >> i think there is so much to unpack there. up until a couple of weeks ago, he was in agreement with folks like fox news and jonathan turley who has been the republicans since favorite impeachment scholar for the last several impeachments, going back to bill clinton days. they know that. the problem is they don't have anything else to do. they are not passing legislation. they are not putting together a budget. this is one more shiny object that they are trying to use to this impeachment inquiry is not being led by constitutional scholars. it's being led by folks like marjorie taylor greene and jim jordan who want positions or pardons from the next trump administration. you open an impeachment inquiry when there is evidence of high crimes and misdemeanor. we have not seen that here. it is, if it were not so serious, it would be a joke. this is pure political theater. it is designed to distract from the fact that this republican majority has nothing to show for a whole year in office. we've had 20 bills passed into law this entire year through congress. three of them were to prevent government shutdowns. i mean, it is an absolute travesty. again, they are spending the very limited time we have left this year in d. just trying to sow more division. >> congresswoman, while i have you, i want to ask you about the israel-hamas war. you joined other members of congress in calling for a cease-fire. what is your reaction to the u.s. veto of the u.n. resolution for a cease-fire? >> look, we have to continue doing everything we can to move into a position where there could be durable peace and security in that region. that means engaging and i multilateral way. i was heartened that after we made that call there were limited cease-fires and hostage exchanges. there was humanitarian relief that was provided. we have to do everything we can. i think there is broad agreement that we need to move forward. we can't continue in the cycle of violence. we need to find a way that there can be durable peace and security. the cease-fire letter that i signed on and put forward, we are focused on the children of the region, the children in gaza, the children in israel. international law demands that there be relief for those children and we need to work for that. >> representative mary gay scanlon, thank you. still ahead, a look at the crucial role of vice president kamala harris and the administration's response to the israel hamas war. plus, how voters in iowa are feeling as republican presidential candidates flock to the state ahead of next month's caucus. breaking tradition to honor representatives in literature -- i'm going to speak to the new school board president pennsylvania who chose to be sworn in on a stack of frequently banned books coming up. ack of frequently banned books coming up up for generations. this life is in our blood. give the gift of family heritage with ancestry. the subway series is taking your favorite to the next level! like the #20. the elite chicken and bacon ranch. built with rotisserie-style chicken and double cheese. i love what i'm seeing here. that's some well-coached chicken. you done, peyton? 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