Transcripts For MSNBCW First Look 20191111 : vimarsana.com

Good morning, everyone, it is monday, november 11th, veterans day. Im Ayman Mohyeldin alongside Yasmin Vossoughian. We begin with what is expected to be a very busy week in the impeachment probe as it now moves from behind closed doors to public proceedings in front of the country. The hearings are expected to open wednesday acting u. S. Ambassador to ukraine bill taylor who testified he was told everyone ukraine wanted military aid and a white house visit, autoof that were essentially contingent on announcing investigations in the 2016 election as well as the bidens. Senior state Department Official george kent is also set to testify publicly on we sdnesday. He told lawmakers a white house visit was contingent on a promise to ukraine to launch those investigations. On friday, Marie Yovanovitch is expected to testify. Shes already told impeachment investigators that she felt threatened when President Trump told ukraines president back in july on that infamous phone call that she would, quote, go through some things. Were also getting a look at more of what the testimony from behind closed doors, the latest from the president s top adviser on russia and Europe Fiona Hill who put acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney at the center of the ukraine scandal. She testified about that now infamous july 10th meeting telling lawmakers this ambassador sondland blurted out, well, we have an agreement with the chief of staff for a meeting if these investigations in the Energy Sector start. Hill said then National Security adviser john bolton quoted stiffened at the mention of an investigation into burisma meaning the bidens, and brought the meeting to a halt. She says bolton then sent her to another meeting that was happening inside of the white house. Hill told lawmakers, quote, ambassador sondland in front of the ukrainians as i came in was talking about how he had an agreement with chief of staff mulvaney for a meeting with the ukrainians if they were going to go forward with investigations. And house committees have released the deposition transcript of President Trumps top ukraine expert on the National Security council Army Lieutenant colonel alexander vindman. Vindman when was on trumps call with the ukrainian president testified that there was no doubt trump was seeking nfg investigations from ukraine involving the 2016 election as well as former Vice President joe biden and his son hunter. According to the transcript of his october closed door testimony released friday, vindman told impeachment investigators, kwoequote, it dot take a Rocket Scientist to see where the gain would be for the president in investigating the son of a political opponent. Vindman testified that Trump Administration officials delivered a clear quid pro quo message telling investigators that u. S. Ambassador to the European Union Gordon Sondland informed him that not only was a white house meeting with zelensky wanted contingent on the probes trump desired, but this condition had been coordinated with white house chief of staff Mick Mulvaney. Vindman said at another point in his testimony that sondland told the ukrainians they would need to deliver an investigation into the bidens for a white house meeting saying that there was absolutely no ambiguity in that request. Vindman said he became aware by about july 3rd that military aid to ukraine had, in fact, been frozen, which is two weeks earlier than the date other officials have cited in their testimonies and added that the holdup occurred following abnormal questions from the White House Office of management and budget. Republicans want hunter biden and the ukraine whistleblower to testify as part of the impeachmenter probe, but House Intelligence Committee chair adam schiff is pouring cold water on that idea. Congressman devin nunes listed hunter biden and the whistleblower as requested witnesses in a letter to schiff just on saturday. Schiff wrote back to nunes saying the committees investigation, quote, will not serve as vehicles for any member to carry out the same sham investigation into the bidens or debunked conspiracies about 2016 u. S. Election interference that President Trump pressed ukraine to conduct for his personal political benefit. President trump weighed in on twitter yesterday writing this, corrupt politician adam schiff wants people from the white house to testify in his and pelosis disgraceful witch hunt. Yet, he will not allow a white house lawyer nor will he allow any of our requested witnesses. This is a first in due process and congressional history. Now Senate Judiciary chairman Lindsey Graham insisted yesterday that the impeachment probe is invalid unless the whistleblower testifies. I consider any impeachment in the house that doesnt allow us to know who the whistleblower is to be invalid because without the whistleblower complaint we wouldnt be talking about any of this. And republican senator ron johnson shed more light on the legwork done by white house advisers and himself to, quote, convince President Trump to release military aid to ukraine. From my standpoint, i understand that most of President Trumps advisers wanted the military aid released, and they were trying to figure out in some way, shane or form to convince President Trump to approve that release. Similar to what i was trying to do in my phone call to him on august 31st. I dont have a problem with advisories to convince the boss to do this. When i raised the issue, he vehemently and angrily denied there was any kind of condition to release it. Joining us now from washington, d. C. Political reporter for the Washington Examiner emily larsen. Lets talk a little bit about ron johnson, senator johnsons assessment of the behind the scenes work by President Trumps advisers to, quote, convince him to release the aid to ukraine. Does this add to the quid pro quo argument . Well, i think that depends on your perspective. Its certainly not a smoking gun. I think democrats could point to this and say, look, this could be some kind of convincing that the president needed in order to release the aid while republicans say, look, the president said that there was no quid pro quo. Ron johnson said in the past, and he reiterated again in that interview, that trump had told him there was no quid pro quo, so while it certainly could be interpreted either way depending on your bias towards it, i guess, its not a smoking gun, but it is something that i think both sides will point to to say, hey, look, this supports my side. Its really not a huge basis in fact or testimony that i think is going to bolster either side. Lets turn to whats on deck, emily, this week as democrats preparing for the first public hearing of the impeachment inquiry beginning on wednesday. What are you going to be looking for from these testimonies . Is there any new information expected to be learned from them . Well, i think we might learn some new information. One of these main points of these public testimonies is to introduce these better to the American People. The transcripts from the closed door hearings have been released, but thats hard to get a grasp on in these thousands and thousands of pages of testimony in order to really digest it. Theres so much communication as you know, im sure, that is communicated through tone of voice through lines of questioning, through expressions that people can interpret and help bolster each side. Thats basically the goal from this testimony democrats lpt to of course highlight all of the arguments from their sides and show that there was perhaps a quid pro quo, certainly a Pressure Campaign on some of these for some of these witnesses and shows sort of the chaos inside of the administration, while im sure republicans will point to a lot of things that they say, well, theres no proof of quid pro quo. And i also expect them to point to a lot of other issues that they are hoping to highlight such as issues from the 2016 election and corruption issues in ukraine. Lets switch gears for a moment if we can and talk about the republicans strategy in all of this to try and defend the president. On one hand youve got people like Lindsey Graham saying he hasnt even read some of the testimonies that came out last week. You had devin nunes trying to call for the whistleblower as well as others including hunter biden to come and testify in front of the committees in these public hearings. What is the republican strategy to defend the president , to what extent are republicans willing to go to defend him . Well, i think, i mean, certainly republicans have been calling to name the whistleblower, to hear from the whistleblower publicly. Thats a major thing and direct attention back to the bidens and this burisma issue. This is something that i think they hope will back up the president in the sense of explain why he was interested in burisma and these issues in ukraine, but its also to direct attention away from the internal problems in the Trump Administration, the Pressure Campaigns i wouldnt say Pressure Campaigns but pressure put on these foreign ambassadors to investigate certain things that they didnt quite really want to and the role of especially of Rudy Giuliani in all of this who is not an official white house employee. All right, emily larsen live for us in washington, d. C. Thank you very much. Thank you. And the New York Times is reporting president ial hopeful Pete Buttigieg may have struck a nerve with his democratic rivals. According to the times, despite his steady rise in the polls more than a dozen participants in the Democratic Campaign including components and Campaign Aides say they are annoyed with how buttigieg a analyzes pronouncements of the primary. He holds a commanding position in iowa, one of the biggest Bank Accounts in the primary and has several field offices in early voting offices. But as his popularity grows with the public, many of his political rivals argue buttigieg is too inexperienced to be electable and his accomplishments do not merit the vast appeal he has with leet voters and donors. Bernie sanders over the weekend acknowledging that his Climate Change plan is quote expensive. At an event dubbed the Climate Crisis summit. Sandered argued the high cost of his plan is the only option given the imminent threat of the planet. Going on the green new deal, we have brought forth a rather detailed proposal, and i have been criticized by some who say it is expensive. Well, theyre right. It is. Its 16 trillion over a tenyear period. Thats a lot of money, but i want you to tell me what the alternative is in terms of saving the planet. All right, still ahead, President Trumps acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney seeks to join a lawsuit concerning impeachment testimony. He is asking the court to decide whether he listens to his boss or complies with a subpoena. Despite the president s claim hes bringing troops home from syria, the chairman of the joint chief of staffs says hundreds of troops will stay in the wartorn country, those stories and of course a check on your weather when we come back. Welcome back, President Trumps acting white house chief of staff Mick Mulvaney is asking a court to allow him to join a lawsuit that could determine whether Administration Officials testify in the impeachment probe. The lawsuit filed by john boltons former Deputy Charles kupperman asks a court to determine whether he can testify. As the New York Times reports out, kuppermans lawsuit names the honorable donald j. Trump as a defendant. Mulvaneys lawyers tried to finesse that saying the defendants they really wanted to sue were the congressional leaders but their own motions listed trump at the top as a defendant because that is the suit they sought to join. The times puts it like this, in effect mr. Mulvaney hopes the court will tell him whether to listen to his own boss who wants him to remain silent or comply with a subpoena from the house. The move puts mulvaney at odds with out white house Administration Officials who have defied the democrats requests to testify. Ivanka trump is weighing in on the impeachment inquiry despite her fathers call for the whistleblowers identity to be revealed. In an interview with the associated press, the daughter and Senior Adviser to the president said the motive is actually more important. It shouldnt be a substantive part of the conversation because this is a third party who was not privy to the call and did not have firsthand information, so that is what was the catalyst for all of this discussion, but to me its not particularly relevant aside from what the motivation behind all of this was. Now, she said that she agrees with President Trumps view that the impeachment investigation is about overturning the results of the 2016 elections, whereas House Democrats say the inquiry is about whether President Trump abused his office by putting his political interests first. Lets get a check on your weather now with nbc meteorologist bill karins whos rejoining us. Back in action fresh as a daisy. You ran the marathon a week ago. Did you just finish . Is that why you took a week off . The kids were off of school for four straight days. It was the kids. 400 hours and 30 minutes. Bill karins has finally crossed the finish line, ladies and gentlemen. Are you feeling good though . Yeah, yeah, im ready to make a big commitment. Welcome back, we missed you. Im going to sign up for a full iron man. Really . Whens that happening . That will be july. Bill karins making it happen. Seven morcnths. Impressive. Putting us to shame. Shes done like eight marathons. Lets get into this forecast. The arctic blast, the polar vortex, all of this, its moving now through the midwest. Its going to be arriving on the east coast by the time we get to wednesday. Lets just show you the windchill values. Its almost like a its good for some. Its great for the retailers. This gets everyone towards the christmas spirit, gets some shopping, gets all the jackets and winter gear out the door. These windchills, youll feel it. Its going to feel like the middle of winter. New york city at 15, chicago will be down to three, and thats some frigid stuff were going to be dealing with. This morning we have 41 Million People that are currently dealing with either winter storm warnings, Winter Weather advisories. Its not just like its cold. We also have areas dealing with plenty of snow. We have winter storm warnings in areas like buffalo and syracuse and rochester and areas to the north, too. The other thing that we have to worry about, some areas, especially in the deep south havent had their first freeze of the season, so were going to be dealing with things like that this week, too. Its not like were going to be having significant, you know, heavy amounts of snow in areas that arent used to it. Its more or less an early season reminder that winter is here. Well continue to, you know, its the first cold blast. Its kind of like the first snowstorm of the season, its just a wakeup call. Still ahead, President Trump says he may have plans including a trip to russia last year after receiving a special invitation from vladimir putin. That story and more coming up. As many as 600 u. S. Troops will remain in northeastern syria to continue Counter Terrorism operations against the islamic state. That is according to the cha chairman of the joint chiefs of staff. General mark milley did not give a definitive number but said the threat of isis still remains. If i do my math and i look at the new troops going in and those going out, it could be more than 700 who remain . Well, there will be less than a thousand for sure, and probably in the 500ish frame, maybe 6. But its in that area. But were not going to go into specific numbers because were still going through the analysis right now. There are still isis fighters in the region, and unless pressure is maintained, unless attention is maintained on that group, then theres a very real possibility that conditions could be set for a reemergence of isis. Were committed to do that. The footprint will be small, but the objective will remain the same. Incredible. So a former fbi agent who has been missing for more than a decade might now be accounted for after a new filing was made to the u. N. A case involving Robert Levenson was ongoing. Levenson vanished in 2007 on irans kish island and has not been heard from since 2011. In a statement to nbc news, the family commented on the new developments saying this, we welcome irans taking the first step to finally end this nightmare, now it is time to send him home to us. If there are charges something we have never heard, bonn levinson has served more than 12 1 2 years and paid whatever penalty. On sunday, however, iran down played the acknowledgment saying the case was, quote, just a file about a missing person. President trump weighed in on twitter if iran is able to turn over to the u. S. Kidnapped former fbi agent it would be a positive step. Last week the u. S. Increased the reward for information to 25 million. President trump said friday he is considering accepting Vladimir Putins invitation to attend russias victory Day Festivities next year, but the 2020 election cycle might get in the way of it. I was invited. I am thinking about it. Its right in the middle of our campaign season, but i am thinking i would certainly think about it. President putin invited me to the newscast a very big its a very big deal, celebrating the end of the war, et cetera, et cetera, a very big deal, so i preerappreciate the invitation. It is right in the middle of political season, so ill see if can do it. Former u. N. Ambassador nikki haley claims two of the president s top dierdss tried to recruit her to save the country by undermining the president. An attorney for john bolton suggests that trumps former National Security adviser may have information that impeachment investigators would like to know about. Were back in a moment. N a momet this piece is talking to me. Yeah . So what do you see . I see an unbelievable opportunity. I see bestinclass platforms and education. I see awardwinning service, and a trade desk full of experts, available to answer your toughest questions. And i see it with zero commissions on online trades. I like what youre seeing. Its beautiful, isnt it . Yeah. Td ameritrade now offers zero commissions on online trades. Welcome back, everybody. Im Yasmin Vossoughian alongside Ayman Mohyeldin. Lets start with the mornings top stories. Former ambassador to the u. N. Nikki haley claims in her new book that she refused attempts by two of President Trumps top advisers, former secretary of state Rex Tillerson and former white house chief of staff john kelly to undermine the president. She writes in her new book, kelly and tillerson confided in me that when they resisted the president they werent being insub order naordinate they wer to save the country. It was their decisions, not the president s that were in the best interests of america. The president didnt know what he was doing. She also wrote that tillerson told her, quote that the reason he resisted the president s decisions was because if he didnt people would die. When asked about the quotes, haley stood by them in a recent interview. It absolutely happened, and instead of saying that to me they should have been saying that to the president , not asking me to join them on their side bar plan. It should have been go tell the president what your differences are and quit if you dont like what hes doing, but to undermine a president is really a very dangerous thing, and it goes against the constitution, and it goes against what the American People want, and it was offensive. So tillerson did not provide an immediate comment to nbc news and kelly told the Washington Post if giving trump the best and most open legal and ethical staffing advice from across the government so he could make an informed decision is working against trump, then guilty as charged. President trump praised haley in a tweet yesterday evening promoting her new book. President ial book club. An attorney general for former National Security adviser john bolton revealed on friday that bolton was personally involved in many of the events, meetings, and conversations at the center of the impeachment probe as well as many relevant meetings and conversations that have not yet been discussed publicly. Boltons attorney charles koopder made that disclosure in a letter written to the houses General Council in an effort to explain why his client needs a court order to testify before lawmakers. Boltons lawyer stated bolton and his Deputy Charles kupperman have information concerning National Security and Foreign Affairs adding that bolton has information that has yet to be touched on publicly. Bolton had been scheduled to testify as part of the impeachment probe last thursday, but he did not appear. Both he and kupperman have asked a court to determine whether they should obey House Democrats request to testify. People around the president say they are worried what kind of notes bolton might have kept and when he might divulge them. The sources which include current and former Administration Officials tell axios that bolton was the most prolific note taker at the top level of the white house and probably has more details than any impeachment inquiry witness so far about the president s dealings with ukraine. Weve also learned bolton has a new book deal with simon schuster. That deal is worth about 2 million as an advance. The New York Times reports indicted Rudy Giuliani associate lev parnas is claiming he told a representative of the incoming president of ukraine in may that the countrys government had to anouns an investigation into the bidens or else Vice President mike pence would not attend the swearing in of the new ukrainian leader and the u. S. Would freeze aid to their country. The claim which was communicated by the times by an attorney for p parnas challenges the narrative of events and directly links giuliani to threats of repercussions made to the ukrainians. Parnas stands alone in saying the intention was to present an ultimatum to the ukrainian leadership. His contention is being denied by his Business Partner who participated in the meeting where the message was allegedly delivered, while giuliani denied he directed parnas to do so. Republican lawmakers argued over the weekend that President Trumps actions involving ukraine fall short of impeachable offenses. The constitution is very specific, bribery, treason, high crimes, and misdemeanors, which basically means felonies, so thats what you have to prove as a threshold question. The second question is under the circumstances do you believe that its good for the country to proceed with impeachment. I would suggest a couple of circumstances are relevant here. Number one is theres not really anything that the president said in that phone call thats different than he says in public all the time. So is there some sort of abuse of power that rises to that threshold that is different than the American People have been hearing for three years . I dont hear that. I think the American People want fairness, and i dont think theyre going to judge fairness when theyre accusing President Trump of the same thing joe biden did, threatening the aid if some kauind of corruption is not investigated. It seems like everybody, both parties have been threatening aid if some kind of investigation doesnt happen or is ended. I think really whats going to happen is people are going to say theyre impeaching President Trump for exactly the same thing joe biden did. I remain sympathetic with President Trumps concerns about corruption. When youre going to provide hundreds of millions of dollars of hard earned american taxpayer dollars into a system, you want to make sure its not corrupt. Congressman mark meadows of North Carolina told the New York Times that democrats have overstated the case against the president saying that evidence from impeachment witnesses wont stand the test of other evidence and cross examination. President trump on twitter yesterday maintained that his july phone call with the president of ukraine was quote, perfect. He warned republicans, dont be led into the fools trap of saying it was not perfect but it is not impeachable. No, it is much stronger than that. Nothing was done wrong. House Intelligence Committee member congressman jim himes stressed moving away from the term quid pro quo as the focus of the impeachment inquiry as democrats prepare for public hearings this week. There will be new information. I suspect most of the public has not read the released transcripts and what theyre going to hear is they are going to hear immensely patriotic, beautifully articulate people telling the story of a president who lets forget quid pro quo. Quid pro quo is one of these things to muddy the works who extorted a vulnerable country by holding up military aid. And when youre trying to persuade the American People of something that is really pretty simple, which is that the president acted criminally and extorted in the way a mob boss would extort somebody, a vulnerable foreign country, its probably best not to use latin words. Theyve attested to the fact that it occurred. What were dealing with is krupg corruption, abuse of power in a whey that damaged National Security. Joining us from washington political reporter for the Washington Examiner with us once again emily larsen. What do you make of jim himes wanting to move away from the term quid pro quo . What does that say about the mindset of how democrats want to message these public testimonies this week . I think thats certainly a sign that democrats are looking toward what the public is going to be getting from these public testimonies, especially as were entering this public phase, which is a sign that theyre moving faster towards perhaps crafting articles of impeachment and voting on them, and so this is in preparation for that and getting public support behind what they are doing is a key part of that. And quid pro quo is a strange term that a lot of people dont really use a lot, so is extortion, and extortion is a little bit easier to understand, but another thing that i think democrats are thinking about is republicans are already indicating that even if there was something for Something Else, theyre down playing the significance of that and saying that, well, joe biden wanted something for Something Else from ukraine when he was Vice President. This is sort of normalizing what happened in terms of Foreign Policy. Whereas democrats, i think, are going to want to focus on the strange aspects of this that are outside of the norm of normal Foreign Policy, and particularly the role of Rudy Giuliani in all of this and also the whole fact that they were trying that President Trump and giuliani were interested in burisma specifically and the implications of that of trying to investigate a political rival and how that is different than some other Foreign Policy in the past. I want to circle back, emily, to trumps former National Security adviser john bolton. Husband lawyer suggesting back on friday that he was involved in many of the meetings and some of the conversations at the heart of this impeachment inquiry, especially the fact that john bolton is a meticulous note taker. What is the importance of this new information, the probability that he could actually testify . Well, i think that the probability he could testify is certainly dependent on that court case hes wading through. What he is important for democrats case in the sense that he could put us into the white house, into the oval office in a way that other witnesses havent been able to before because he has more direct knowledge, knowledge of more conversations with the president , one on one conversations with the president , and could better testify to the president s exact thinking better than some of these other witnesses who didnt have that koiind of up close an personal interactions with the president. Some were reporting what they thought was going on or some secondhand information. John bolton is very important in that sense. But again, in this court case doesnt rule in favor of the legislative branch and pushes john bolton to testify, it looks like that democrats have not subpoenaed him, and so will move on with the impeachment inquiry without him, so it seems like that they dont think he is a crucial, critical must have him in order to move forward on this, but they would certainly love to have his testimony. Emily larsen, thanks emily. Still ahead, much more on that news concerning the longest held american hostage in u. S. History fbi agent Robert Levinson who vanished from an iranian island more than 12 years ago. Were going to go live to tehran in just a moment. Welcome become. There are new developments in a case involving former fbi agent Robert Levinson who has been missing for 12 1 2 years after being detained on irans kish island. In a few filing to the u. N. , iran for the first time acknowledged levinsons case as ongoing. We want to bring in Tehran Bureau chief for us, talk to us about this latest development on this. Hey, yasmin, well the iranians for the first time are acknowledging that Robert Levinson went missing in iran. Theyre saying there are no criminal charges against them. Theres no ongoing criminal case against them, but they are saying that they have filed a missing persons report to the u. N. I have to stress that the iranians are saying only that and nothing beyond that. Theyre not saying that they know what happened to Robert Levinson, nor are they saying they know about his whereabouts. As far as iranians are concerned, theyre saying well, we know exactly the same as everybody else, that we saw that video of him in that infamous orange jumpsuit in 2011. Beyond that, there isnt any salient information on Robert Levinson in iran. The narrative in iran over these last sort of decade has changed. Initially press tv, which is the english broadcaster of the state television here said that he had been taken by Security Forces here, but they very quickly backpedaled on that statement back in 2007, and then started saying that they dont know anything about the whereabouts of Robert Levinson. They said they didnt know what he was doing in this country or what happened to him after leaving kish island. I also have to stress, yasmin, that kish island is slightly different to the mainland in iran. Its a free trade zone, so its less controlled and people from a variety of Different Countries can come and go without a visa. It doesnt have that same sort of strict controls that you do have on mainland iran, but nonetheless, the iranians are saying we dont know anything about him, and because of humanitarian reasons, they have filed a missing persons report with the united nations. Ali good to talk to you, do you have a sense as to why this is now and why is it so significant that the iranians felt the need for whatever reason that they are saying theyre doing it for to do so now . Why is that so significant . Reporter its a little bit puzzling, ayman, i have to say. It sort of came out of the blue. For decades now iran has been saying they dont know anything about him. Now all of a sudden they are saying, well, because of humanitarian reasons we filed a missing persons report. There could be a variety of reasons for this, maybe the iranians do have some information on Robert Levinson and they want to use that as leverage with some sort of negotiations with the United States. After all, he is a valuable asset to the United States and iran knows that, but it would be a tricky one for iran for them to suddenly after ten years say, oh, well, actually we do know where he is. After saying they have no idea about his whereabouts, but they could fudge that in some sort of way and say, well, people we are in contact with in this region have given us information about him, and now theyre bringing it to the forefront. I have to stress, iran is not saying that at this point. Theyre not all of a sudden saying, well, there might be an indication or some sort of information about him. Thai theyre saying we dont know about his whereabouts. We dont know whats happened to him. Were just filing a missing persons report. That could change in the course of time, in the next month or two or something when iran feels like they need to step up negotiations with the United States, some sort of mysterious statement could come out and shed light on Robert Levinson. You cant help but wonder if theres something percolating in the backgrounds between the tensions between the u. S. And iran and somehow whether or not this is a part of that. You do bring up that keyword negotiations and as we have heard from iran over and over again that iran will not sit down with this administration at all to negotiate when it comes to any sort of new nuclear deal after the u. S. Pulling out of the jcpoa. Is there any indication now that there might be possibly an opening . Reporter not yet. Theres still certainly no indications that there would be an opening for talks. On the anniversary of the seizure of the u. S. Embassy four or five days ago, irans Supreme Leader came out and said absolutely no way, no discussions with american. Those people in iran who think america can solve the problems iran are having today are 100 wrong. Again, he put in the caveat that if they return to the jcpoa and drop all sanctions, then there could be multilateral talks, but under the current circumstances he has completely ruled out any talks with the United States. So its hard to see how Robert Levinson may fit in to the grander equation in all of these things. All right, thank you, my friend. Always appreciate it. Brooklthe bolivian presiden resigned amid calls for him to resign. In a televised the address the longest serving leader in latin america said he was stepping down for the good of the country since the october 20th election, protesters have been calling on him to be removed from his post. Three people have died in street protests. Hundreds have been injured. Over the weekend the pressure had grown leading up to the head of the Bolivian Armed forces asking morales to step down to restore stability and peace to the country. It remains unclear who will take power as several officials in the hien of succession for the office of president have also resigned. Lets switch gears now bring in nbc meteorologist bill karins with a quick check on your morning. Good morning, happy veterans day day, and thanks to all the veterans. Dont want to go without mentioning your sacrifice for us. Weve had a lot of snow, a lot of cold in the midwest. Pictures out of iowa, cedar rapds, its still snowing. North of chicago weve had snow joe overnight. Its not like a big snow event, but just for these colder temperatures coming in, whenever it falls, its not going anywhere. Any snow that melts and gets kind of slippery is just going tok frozen for the next day or two. Anywhere from denver through Northern New England we have 66 Million People under either Winter Weather advisories or winter storm warnings. This means youre expecting at least enough Winter Weather precipitation, either snow, sleet or freezing rain on the surfaces to cause travel trouble all through the ohio valley today, and winter storm warnings from cleveland, to erie, buffalo, watertown, northern portions of new york and into the burlington area were going to see significant snow out of this as we go throughout the next two to three days. Heres the snow sfraforecast, i not a huge event. Its the first time a lot of ous are going to be driving in these conditions. If youre downwind in lake michigan, lake effect snow could be heavy six to nine inches. Anywhere near the lakes, buffalo in the six to nine range, if you like some of that early season skiing in areas like gore or white face it could be perfect as we head towards the middle of the week once we get done with the storm and northern portions, all the ski resorts, from killington north wards through northern maine. This is for today the winter storm developing in the ohio valley. Tuesday into wednesday it sweeps off the east coast. By the time we get to wednesday its a winter chill on the east coast. Snow showers left in the middle of the country. A quiet end to the week with no big storms out there. The worst of the weather is going to be today into the next two days. Its just its almost like a january forecast. Thanks, bill. Appreciate it. Still ahead, the latest in the 2020 president ial race, new polling from the battleground states and where Michael Bloomberg would stand if he were to jump into that race. Were back in a moment. Welcome back, everyone. Lets dig into the democrats race for president in six key battlegrounds and the latest numbers from the New York Times Sienna College poll. Former Vice President joe biden leads the democratic primary field in five of the six states. Biden has an eight to ninepoint advantage in states like arizona, florida, michigan, 24, 27, 30 respectively. Over North Carolina biden is ahead by 14 points at 29 and 12 points in pennsylvania with 28 of support in wisconsin biden and senator Elizabeth Warren are statistically tied for first place at 23 and 25 within the polls almost threepoint margin of error. Warren is the clear second place finisher in two of those states. She leads the rest of the field by six points in florida at 19 , four points in michigan at 21 . She is tied with senator Bernie Sanders in arizona, North Carolina, and pennsylvania where only one to two points separates the two. And sanders follows with 13 of support in florida, 7 excuse me, 17 in michigan and 20 in wisconsin. Amid the late entry announcement, the former new york city mayor Michael Bloomberg into the democratic primary race, sources telling axios that the decision was partly a trial balloon to gauge interest and preserve his options but bloombergs own extensive polling remains far from convincing reportedly showing big and perhaps insurmountable hurdles, particularly if former Vice President joe biden stays in the race. Meanwhile, a new morning political poll puts bloomberg in sixth place among democratic hopefuls while a hypothetical matchup shows the former new york city mayor six points ahead of President Trump. Heres what trump had to say about bloombergs addition to the 2020 primary race. I know michael. He became just a nothing. He was really a nothing. Hes not going to do well, but i think hes going to hurt biden actually, but he doesnt have the magic to do well. Little michael will fail. And senator Amy Klobuchar says the president ial battlefield favors men and that women in politics are held to much higher standards. Speaking on cnn yesterday, klobuchar was questioned about previous comments where she argued that a female candidate from south bend, indiana, with mayor Pete Buttigiegs experience probably would not make it as far as he has. Im the one from the midwest thats actually won in a statewide race over and over again. Thats not true of mayor pete. Thats just a fact. Of the women on the stage, im focusing here on my fellow women senators, senator harris, senator warren and myself. Do i think that we would be standing on that stage if we had the experience that he had . No, i dont. Maybe were held to a different standard. Klobuchar who has qualified for the next two debates is the latest candidate to go after buttigieg who has surprised many in fundraising and the polls. A historic week on capitol hill as public hearings get underway in the impeachment probe. Whats expected and how republicans plan to push back. Plus, were going to dig into the revelations from former u. N. Ambassador nikki haley who claims Rex Tillerson and john kelly tried to get her to undermine the president. Were back in a moment. It is a new week in the impeachment probe, and starting on wednesday, we are going to see public testimony for the first time, this as we learn new details about witnesses previously, what they had to say behind closed doors. Democrats are pushing back on gop efforts to have hunter biden and the ukraine