taxpayer dollars on an illegitimate impeachment inquiry because donald trump, the puppet master, has directed extreme maga republicans to launch a political hit job against president joe biden. >> that's house minority leader hakeem jeffries calling out republicans in the lower chamber before the vote to authorize an impeachment inquiry into president joe biden. that came after hunter biden defied a subpoena from house republicans challenging them to hold public hearings for his testimony. we'll have much, much more from a bitter and partisan day on capitol hill. plus, the supreme court will hear the first case tied to abortion rights since it overturned roe v. wade. we'll get expert legal analysis on that just ahead. good morning and welcome to "way too early" on this thursday, december 14th. i'm jonathan lemire. thanks for starting your day with us. we have a busy morning ahead, and we'll start here. the republican controlled house has voted to formally authorize its impeachment inquiry into president joe biden despite failing to provide any evidence of wrongdoing by the commander in chief. the vote was strictly along party lines yesterday with all 221 republicans voting yes and, and all 221 democrats voting no. republicans say the move will grant them the ability to better enforce their subpoenas in courts. gop house oversight chair james comer has accused hunter biden and other biden family members of engaging in, quote, shady business practices and has yet to reveal any evidence of wrongdoing or influence pedaling by the president himself. now, with the presidential election less than a year away several republicans seem to say the quiet part out loud. >> what are you hoping to gain from an impeachment inquiry? >> all i can say is donald j. trump 2024. >> this has been i think the most transparent political -- congressional investigation since i've been in congress. >> just so blatant. several house democrats responded by blasting the gop ahead of the vote. >> the biden impeachment investigation isn't a whodunit. it's a what is it. it's like a novel where the mystery is what's the crime. >> i think if we give him enough time, he's going to prove that hunter biden is joe biden's son. >> we're here todayot because of any wrongdoing by president bin but because donald trump wants revenge. >> president biden also responded to house republicans with this statement. instead of doinhingo help make americans' lives better, they're focused on attacking me with lies. st. ed of doing their job on the urgent work that needs to be done they're choosing to waste their time on this baseless political stunt that even republicans in congress admit is not supported by facts. and just hours before that vote was held, two top house republicans said they'll begin the process of holding hunter biden in contempt of congress for defying their subpoena to testify behind closed doors. it comes after the president's son spoke in a surprise news conference outside the capitol where he explained his decision not to testify in private after offering to appear publicly before the committee. hunter biden said public testimony would ensure the illegitimate investigation of my family does not proceed on distortions, manipulated evidence, and lies. >> there is no decency in what these republicans are doing. they have lied over and over about every aspect of my personal and professional life. so much so that their lies have become the false fagts believed by too many people. they have taken the light of my dad's love, the light of my dad's love for me and presented it as darkness. they have no shame. >> house republicans said they're open to a public hearing eventually but want to hear from hunter biden in private first. they also called the younger behind closed doors, quote, obstruction. and certainly those close to president biden, yes, they worry about the political impact of these -- of this investigation and the potential hunter biden trial heading into an election year, but as i report this morning they're far more worried about the personal toll on the president himself and checks on his son daily and asked friends to check on hunter biden as well who has worry about hunter biden's continuing battle with addiction as the spotlight on him growing ever brighter. meanwhile, the white house and democratic lawmakers are considering whether to provide new powers to the biden administration at the southern border in order to gain republican support for passing foreign aid. that's according to two sources who spoke to nbc news who say the changes may involve migrant expulsion powers and expansion of the migrant detention and deportation system. those sources add that the former framework of the potential deal has yet to be complete. ic senator tom tillis of north caronaaid yesterday negotiatears are still working on specifics, and he called on e senate to stay washington until an agreement is reached. the reported changes havwn comparison to previous policies and have attracted some criticism with one pro-immigration group dubbing the possible framework, quote, title 42 on steroids. joining us now national security reporter for politico our friend alex ward. so, alex, this deal on the border if the president said he's open to it but many democrats are concerned it goes too far it's linked. litz linked this might be the path to get foreign aid to israel and ukraine. it comes after, of course, president zelenskyy was here in washington this week pitching for more aid. and today in belgium eu leaders are expected to vote on those membership talks that may allow ukraine to join their alliance. so this is striking to the economy here where it seems like at least for the moment european allies are extending a hand to ukraine while here in washington. >> and there's a weird moment for zelenskyy because he comes to washington seeking more aid and more help. and in the eu he thinks he's got momentum to join the union, but a lot of these things are out of his hands. here you've got the border dispute and in europe he's got victor orban. he says even starting talks to get ukraine into the eu is bridge too far. so all of these things at this point -- >> tell viewers just if he says no there's no way he can get in? >> that's right. you have to have every member of the eu agree to concessions. you've had turkey block and sweden, and same deal happening with the eu. orban close to russian president vladimir putin but still in the eu, an odd position to be in, he is still supporting ukraine, still willing to provide a bit of assistance when it comes to kyiv but not willing to have it join the eu because that would certainly be a bridge too far for moscow. >> there's concern here you and have reported on from national security officials in washington if the aid dries up in the united states, other european allies will as well. tell us a bit about where things stand in the battle with russia. at what point does this become a crisis for ukraine if this aid stops flowing? >> we actually had vladimir putin today, this morning talking about how he thinks the western support is going to dry up, how he thinks that he can still achieve his goals. he's still pushing in that way and now you have here in the u.s. and in europe signs there isn't as much support for kyiv as there used to be. i think we should note still for viewers that there is a majority of votes oddly enough in congress to get that aid package biden wants through, but the deal is in the way. and the in eu so they're nearly there but not all the way, and of course that's enough of a wedge. >> and there's not a sense the senate will stay in town to get this deal ton. administration officials believe they will at some point but not sure when. you have brand new reporting about how donald trump were he to be elected again will handle north korea, and we know famously that trump and north korea's dictator, kim jong-un, have exchanged in trump's words love letters. tell us about the reporting and the response you got from the former president. sure, president trump and if he were to be again president trump is interested in basically freezing north korea's nuclear program in pchange for economic aid and sanctions relief. now, that's a thing we've tried before leading the united states and allies. the reason it's different, though, is trump at this point mulling not asking for denuclearization of north korea. in other words, the program stays in place, north korea stays in power and there won't be a push to dismantle the arsenal. trump could change his mind and there's time between now and the inauguration day and what could happen in north korea, but as of now it's a thing he's considering. what's interesting is trump denies the report in theory in a truth social post calling it disinformation. i would note he did not specifically deny the freeze for aid part, and he did confirm if anything he has a friendly relationship with kim jong-un. and if you're friendly for kim jong-un you might not ask him to get rid of his prized. >> national security reporter for politico one of the best on the beat, alex ward, thank you for joining us this morning. still ahead here on "way too early," we'll take a look at some of the morning's other top stories including a deadly day for israeli soldiers in the war with hamas. it comes as the country's prime minister continues to reject calls from global leaders for any sort of cease-fire. plus we'll hear from the family members of hostages who met yesterday with president biden at the white house. those stories and a check on weather and sports when we come right back. weather and sports when we come right back hey, you should try new robitussin honey medi-soothers for long-lasting cough and sore throat relief. try new robitussin lozenges with real medicine and find your voice. you know? 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(vo) it's your last chance to turn any iphone in any condition into a new iphone 15 pro with titanium and ipad and apple watch se - all on us. only on verizon. 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. first time i connected with kim, she told me that her husband had passed. and that he took care of all of the internet connected devices in the home. i told her, “i'm here to take care of you.” connecting with kim... made me reconnect with my mom. it's very important to keep loved ones close. we know that creating memories with loved ones brings so much joy to your life. a family trip to the team usa training facility. i don't know how to thank you. i'm here to thank you. welcome back. we turn to the middle east now, and the israeli military suffered one of its highest single-day death counts since it began its ground invasion of gaza in late october. ten soldiers were killed tuesday including a battalion commander and a lieutenant colonel commander. the idf says nine of them died in an ambush attack where soldiers were in an advanced stage of clearing an area. the tenth soldier died in a separate battle up in northern gaza. meanwhile, in southern gaza the israeli milary has ramped up s attacks. according to repor from "the washington post," 20% of the buildings in the area's largest city have been damaged in israeli air strikes. president biden you'll recall criticized israel's military campaign earlier this week in a fund-raiser saying the country is losing international support because of its, quote, indiscriminate bombings. the white house is now doubling down on that statement saying the president's comments refle the reality of global opinion, adding that while iael has made some efforts to reduce civilian casualties, the biden administration simply wants to see more results. meanwhile, israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu is vowing to keep fighting, rejecting calls for a cease-fire amid growing international pressure. theresident is also reaffirming hommitment to securing the release of the remaining hostages being held i gaza. it's believed that at least americans are still in captive by hamas yesterday the president met with their families in person for the first time since the war began. those who attendeded the two-hour meeting at the white house say biden reassured them that he's doing all that he can to reunite them with their loved ones. >> i think we all came away feeling that as families of hostages of american israeli hostages, which are 8 out of a total of 138 hostages, we felt that -- and we felt before and only reinforce and seeing believing that we could have no better friend in washington or in the white house than presid biden himself and his ration. >> hamas took about 240 people captive on october 7th. since then more than 100 people have been freed including four americans. it's believed that more than 130 people are still being held hostage the majority of whom are men. their whereabouts not fully known. still ahead we'll turn to sports and we'll tell you which city the nfl has named as the host of super bowl 61. plus what made two time nba mvp janis so angry in milwaukee? we'll have that story swels other nba highlights and a look at the weather forecast when we come right back. he weather fore come right back. day or night. mucinex dm. it's comeback season. there's something going around the gordon home. good thing gertrude found delsym. now what's going around is 12-hour cough relief. and the giggles. the family that takes delsym together, feels better together. he took it away. giannis. history. >> there he is giannis broke the milwaukee bucks franchise record last night scoring a career high 65 points in a 140-126 win over the indiana pacers avenging their defeat in the in-season tournament. but the historic outing was marred by a bu bizarre post game altercation that occurred outside the indiana locker room over which which team was entitled to the game ball. giannis and pacers coach rick carlyle later discussed the strange incident. >> it doesn't feel like the game ball to me. it feels like a brand new ball. but it's just unfortunate. i've never seen this before. i'm not even going to comment on that. i don't think i have the game ball to be honest with you. >> what happened at the -- after the game was -- was unfortunate. there was -- there was a misunderstanding about the game ball. first official nba point so we always get the game ball. we were not thinking about giannis' franchise record, so we grab the ball and a couple minutes later several other players ended up in our hallway, and there was a big -- a big -- i don't know what to call it a fracus, a melee. my yenival manager got elbowed in the ribs by one of their players. >> let's all agree to move on. in san antonio victor wembanyama's efforts was not enough too much am spurs fall extending their franchise record losing streak to 18 games. ouch. and in detroit embiid notched a 41-point triple-double for philadelphia, and the sixers handed the pistons their franchise tying 21st consecutive loss. struggles for those two teams. that game final there 121-111. meanwhile golden state warriors draymond green has been suspended indefinitely by the nba for hitting the phoenix suns center in the face tuesday night. he received a fo foul and rejected for the third time already this season. the league said the indefinitely suspension, quote, takes into account green's repeated history of unsportsman-like acts and that he'll be required to meet certain league and team conditions before he returns to play. you can see it there just a wild punch. this is green's second suspension this year. on wunlders what's next for him. to the nfl now. the super bowl is already heading back to los angeles. nfl owners voted yesterday to award the city's super bowl 61 -- i won't try to do that in roman numerals that will be held in 2027 for second time in five years.e big game will be p sofi stadium. and week 15 of the regular season kicks off tonight in las vegas. the raiders will host the afore mentioned chargers on thursday night football. angie, how you doing and how is it looking? >> good morning. i'm doing well, jonathan. thanks for asking. and let's start with the good news plenty of sunshine across the southeast, mild conditions across the midwest and out west. looking at plenty of sunshine. it's this storm right here we're going to track the next cup of days and unsettled weather across the state of florida and eventually the southeast and mid-atlantic get in on in the weekend. the flood alerts from homestead, miami, fort lauderdale, west palm beach all included in those. and this is because we have a stationary front hanging around today. through sunday we're going to pick up ample aamounts of rain as we get through the next couple of days. we've got significant tape fall where we could see 6, 7 inches of rain on already saturated ground. over 100 inches of rain for this year to date already. that's more than 50 inches over average. now, there's that stationary front i mentioned but here's the system we're going to watch into the weekend. on saturday all that moisture pushes in for folks across florida and the southeast and mid-atlantic get get in on the action. as i mentioned it'll be soggy and windy for some across the region. >> angie lassman, thank you as always. still ahead here on "way too early," why the judge in donald trump's federal election interference case hit pause on the proceedings. former u.s. attorney barbara mcquade will join us to explain. plus, we've got new polling today on the impeachment inquiry into president biden. we'll dive into those numbers and more all coming up on "way too early". all coming up on "wy too early" from chest congestion and any type of cough, day or night. mucinex dm. it's comeback season. 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