we are all celebrating the birthday of you, symone. i'm going to light it up for your birthday. happy birthday, symone. >> thank, you reverend, i love you so much. >> i love you. and to all of you watching, good evening and welcome to politicsnation, tonight's lead, the clock is taking. lawmakers will return to capitol hill this week with less than two weeks to go. if they hope to pass a military aid bill before christmas. republicans have pushed to add border security to the bill, alongside the politically thorny issues of funding for israel and ukraine. they have so far been unable to find much common ground with the white house. in the middle of it all, how speaker mike johnson is poised to move forward on an impeachment inquiry against president biden. adding to the partisan gridlock. delaware representative lisa blunt rochester joins us shortly as the clock ticks down on 2023. we've got a real treat for you later, elder statesman of saturday night live, comedian and actor keenan thompson is everywhere right now. we have got him tonight to talk about his new book, his face and voice on the silver screen, and of course, his knack for impersonating yours truly. that is in just a little bit, don't go anywhere. joining me now is congresswoman lisa blunt rochester, a democrat of delaware. congresswoman, thank you for joining us. we are starting tonight with the abortion issue. your response to the news out of texas this weekend. the state supreme court has paused a lower court ruling granting an abortion to a woman who is unborn child has a fatal condition and is unlikely to survive once born. the state attorney general has legally threatened doctors who might perform emergency abortions, which is already about 20 weeks present pregnant. congresswoman, would abortion be a definitive election issue in 20 4:24? >> first of, all reverend al, thank you for having me on your show again. most definitely, abortion would be an issue in 2024. remember, in 2020, it was a clear cut issue, but now we are starting to see the real world consequences of abortion bans across this country. they are really made possible because of trump appointed supreme court justices, overturning roe, the case in texas really points to this notion that the politicians should not be making health care decisions. and substituting them. you might have heard me to say before, and i'll say it again, there is no room in our rooms for politicians. there is frankly one reason that i'm running for senate, and it's also to me, something that cuts across every political stripe. in this upcoming campaign, you can rest assured that we are going to remind people who took away the right, donald trump, and who is fighting to make sure that we have the right for our own reproductive rights and abortion care. >> nationwide as well as your run for u.s. senator in delaware, this will be a central issue, you feel. >> yes. >> yesterday, university of pennsylvania president but liz mcgill signed the criticism that -- the ivy league college presidents over their congressional testimony last week about antisemitism on their campuses. in the weeks since the israel hamas war began, they've had demonstrations and all kinds of languages there. do you think that it was the right decision for her to resign? >> you know, i think that is a decision between her and the board. i do think that we need to start with a simple premise that calls for genocide of jews is vial and unacceptable. a call for violence. it really has no place in our society or on college campuses. it is not protected speech. i heard you yesterday on your show say the same thing i was thinking. i'm glad these presidents are recognizing the very serious nature -- you know, not being clear in their hearing last week. the bottom line is that all of us have got to come together to confront and combat hate. wherever we see it, and whoever it is being aimed at. if that's her decision, the school's decision, i am glad that they recognize the seriousness of this. >> i think, and i hear from your comments, you and i agree that it is one thing to have different opinions. i'm against antisemitism and islamophobia. when you say killed jews, killed blacks, that is where we have to say -- that's too far. if they were there ready to march, i can't be silent when they say killing or erasing jews or muslims. it has been reported the congressional leaders have started discussions around federal spending in 2024, hoping to avoid another shutdown. another showdown around the shutdown, really. we came dangerously close to shutting down the government twice in 2023. do you expect another fight when congress comes back from the holidays? >> you know, reverend, the republican conference that we currently have, the republican colleagues, it is certainly a possibility. you already have a very slim majority with representative sanders gone. now mccarthy talking about resigning at the end of the month. they are going to have it even smaller majority to get through these funding deadlines. the maga part of their conference is threatening the new speaker that doesn't stand up and do the new extreme demands that they have. it will vote him out as well. the bottom line is that we really feel that there is one path forward. hakeem jeffries, our leader and democratic leadership, as well as all of us. they've articulated that from the very beginning, we have got to have a bipartisan path forward. speaker johnson has got a choice now. a clear choice. he's either got to go with the maga extreme of his party, or he's got to govern and work with us. that's the bottom line to avoid the shutdown. >> i am out of time, but before you go, as we said, your campaign becoming the first black person -- or person of color, and woman senator representing delaware. having already broken those exact barriers in congress, and according to the polling site about political magazine, you've got an early lead in this thing in just a few weeks before primary season. before it opens up across the country. what are you hearing from voters in delaware as you attempt to make history? >> reverend al, i am excited about the race. things are very positive on the ground. the energy is good. i always tell people, we have to fight and work for every single vote. we're not taking one vote for granted. we're seeing delaware in the blue state, you know this personally. even when i go to the lower part of our state, that's along the mason-dixon line. people know who reverend al is if you have been there. for us, we are blue, purple, and a red state. we are taking every vote seriously. we want to win this. we want to win so that we can represent in washington, d.c.. >> all right, thank, you congresswoman lisa blunt rochester for being with us again. joining me now is my political panel. danielle moodie, host of the new abnormal podcast. and republican strategist, jennifer horn, cofounder of the lincoln project. let me start with you, daniel, later this afternoon, president trump announced on strew social that he will not testify in his own defense tomorrow in the 200 million-dollar fraud trial. he said quote, he's already testified to everything, of got nothing more to say other than the this is a complete and total -- complete and total election interference. the biden campaign in parentheses, witch hunt. what could this mean for the case, and for the political implications? >> to be honest, i think that donald trump does more damage to himself and then every time he testifies. he threatens the judge, manages to threaten the new york a.g.. he's got nothing else to offer. you can testify on your own behalf if you actually have a defense. he does not. right now, i think that for his positioning in this upcoming election, i think that it makes sense for this team to have him be quiet. donald trump cannot manage to do, because he made this announcement on truth social. >> danielle, let's stay with you. congress has less than a week left in session before the end of the year. they have still not reached their agreement on the israel and ukraine package. nbc news has learned that the white house intendtoamp up its outreach to capitol hill this week to help move the deal forward. meantime, yesterday the biden administration passed coress -- by passed congress and approved an emergency cell of 14,000 rounds of tank ammunition to israel. more than 100 and $6 million. just hours ago, we learned the speaker johnson will meet with ukrainian president's ellen ski on tuesday. that comes after president biden invited zelenskyy to the white house to meet. what can we expect between speaker johnson and president zelenskyy? >> i think that republicans have said from the beginning that they side with putin. if it were up to them, they would've been providing any aid whatsoever to the ukrainian people. i think it is important that johnson meet with zelenskyy. i'm not sure if he is going to help at all however, because the maga portion of the republican house, which is all of them, don't want any more funding to go to ukraine. they've stood with putin because that is where donald trump stands. they have wanted to parse out these packages because they do not want to have the funding for ukraine wrapped up in the funding to israel. it allows them, the republicans to continue having this stand the dave wanted. the president, the reason why he bypassed, this he knows that it's a tough road in congress. >> jennifer, the fate of biden's aid package has become linked to immigration. republicans want stricter border policies, including in the bill. esent biden has said this week that he is willing to make significant compromises to get an aid package passed. a number of his latino members of congress are worried that biden would make an immigration deal with republicans that they find unacceptable. is there any other deal on border policies that folks on both sides can agree to? >> as long as they maga caucus in the house is leading the charge with republican stance on these issues, i don't think there is. to call them an extreme, an extreme influence is really being gentle with them. when you look at what they are asking for, the border policy, that extremity is really being highlighted. whether or not the president decides -- i guess the question is how far is the president willing to go to satisfy them and get them on board with the aid package. you also obviously have to -- it has to get past the senate. i think that president biden is particularly difficult situation right now. he's got to get that aid package passed, but he's also got to be thinking about where democratic voters are going to be standing next year. when reelection time comes around. it is a very sensitive subject on both sides. i don't think that the majority of americans want to see the republicans win in this particular battle. danielle, this week, house republicans are expected to vote on a resolution to authorize the impeachment inquiry into president biden. they're accusing biden and his family of obscuring payments from foreign adversaries during his time as vice president. the biden administration has repeatedly dismissed the inquiry, and its efforts as being politically motivated. speaker mike johnson has said he believes republicans have the vote to approve the resolution. how significant is this vote? and what could it mean for president biden into next year's election? >> i mean, i think the reality is that we have a lot of crises unfolding around the world. and this is what the republicans want to waste their time on. and the american people see this. i mean we have issues in this country as it pertains to our economy, we have issues in terms of two wars that are waging across countries, and this is what republicans want to do? is to have an impeachment inquiry? they have nothing on this president. all they have is their ability to try and smear his character and smear his name. that is it. this will come up with nothing, but this is what they're which sting our tax dollars on. >> jennifer, hours after the republican house was revealed, -- under biden was indicted on nine tax related charges, including three felony counts. the filing alleges that the presidents son failed to pay taxes, evaded an assessment, and filed a fraudulent -- rather than pay his taxes, the defendant spent millions of dollars on an extravagant lifestyle. and of quote. how do you see these new charges impacting the impeachment inquiry into president biden? >> well, i think, unfortunately, these charges are gonna give republicans some energy, and some real motivation to kind of come at this more aggressively. we saw in polls earlier this year that the republicans strategy of trying to associate the president with this actually seemed to have some impact on voters. the idea that the repetitive use of the bride and crime family had impact on some voters. the more time that the presidents son spends in the spotlight for potentially illegitimate issues, the more damage it's going to have on joe biden when it comes to face voters next year. if i were the biden campaign, that would be probably my primary concern right now. we know the president is very loyal and dedicated to his family, to his children, as you would expect him to be, as any parent would be. but i think that his son's legal problems are going to become progressively more cumbersome to the campaign. >> daniel, how do you view this as becoming a potential problem, politically, for the president? >> i mean, to be honest, i will say that the president has a lot of other issues that he needs to be paying attention to that are going to be troubling voters, as regardless of what has happened with hunter biden, or what charges are being filed against him. because guess? what hunter biden is not an elected official. he's not running for president. he has no effect whatsoever on the day-to-day lives of the american people. so this president should be actually looking at the issues that voters care about. because the voters care about what affects their lives, not what affects hunter biden's life. >> all right, daniel moody and jennifer horn, thank you both for being with us. still to come, this week's rise up, a call to bring home all of the hostages being held by hamas. plus, saturday night lives kenan thompson takes his jokes from the stage to the page with a new book. more on that and what else he's getting into later on politicsnation. but first, my colleague jessica layton with today's other top news stories. jessica. >> hey, at their, reverent, thank you. stories we're watching this hour. tennessee governor bill lee has declared a state of emergency after multiple tornadoes hit the nashville area. six people have died, including at least one child, and multiple homes were destroyed. more than 40,000 people are still without power right now. israel has ramped up its offensive in southern gaza and warned people to evacuate the city of khan yunis. meanwhile, conditions in gaza are deteriorating as we speak. an estimated 30% of its population of 2.2 million have been displaced since the start of the fighting and october. that's according to the united nations. and texas state senator john whitmire defeated congresswoman schirra jackson-lee in the race to become houston's next mayor. he won by nearly 29 percentage points. the two democrats emerged from a crowded 18 person race from the first round of votes in last month's elections. i'm jessica layton. more politicsnation with reverend al sharpton coming up after this. after this. watch how easy it is to put on new hands free skechers slip-ins. i just step in and go. sitting? doesn't matter. i don't even have to touch them. ooo, gangsta. in a hurry? there's not a faster, easier way to put on shoes. >> although there have been at they know a 10 when they see it. least 110 hostages released by hamas, the israel defense force estimates around 140 people are still being held in gaza. as president of the national action network, i joined martin luther king the third and andrea waters king of the -- institute this week for a call with rachael goldberg and john -- whose 23-year-old son is still being held captive in gaza. i spoke with them about their son, but they were also concerned about all of the others. this is the same sentiment other families expressed when they met with prime minister netanyahu on tuesday. the israeli government says the remaining hostages come from 25 countries, including thailand, sri lanka, the philippines, argentina, china, and south africa. among this group are black muslims, arabs, a black african student from tanzania who just arrived in israel as part of an agricultural internship program, slated to last 11 months. regardless of who they are, or where they're from, we should rise up and get them all home as soon as we can. no innocent person should be held against their will. we will be right back. right back. right back. serious allergic reactions and an increased risk of infections or a lower ability to fight them may occur. tell your doctor if you have an infection or symptoms, had a vaccine or plan to. liver problems may occur in crohn's disease. control of crohn's means everything to me. ask your gastroenterologist about skyrizi. ♪ control is everything to me ♪ learn how abbvie could help you save. 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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