Democratic candidates to make their mark in iowa, Julian Castros going to join me to talk strategy and the state of the race. And new details a day after yet another attack on London Bridge. What were learning about the suspects motive and his previous arrest on terror charges. But we start with day 68 of the impeachment inquiry. This week the investigation into the president enters a new phase as the spotlight turns to the Judiciary Committee. That committee will hold its first public hearing wednesday. Behind the scenes, some democrats saying they already have enough evidence to impeach. If it comes to it, my vote would be for impeachment. He abused his power. I think that he tried to interfere with elections. I think there was bribery involved. Well, one former gop congressman claims some republicans are privately fuming about the president s behavior. I think my former colleagues are in a situation where they understand their base pressure, but theres no question, having spoken with many of them privately, they are absolutely disgusted and exhausted by the president s behavior. They resent being put in this position all the time. This as chairman jerry nadler in a new letter to the president has given him an opportunity to participate in the impeachment hearings, setting two deadlines. Nadler saying the president has until sunday to let the committee know whether he will send one of his attorneys to that wednesday hearing and then until friday to decide if he would like to call any of his own witnesses. Nbc White House CorrespondentKelly Odonnell is traveling and following the president in florida for us. Kelly, with a good saturday to you, and i hope that you had a good thanksgiving, my friend, id like to get to the white houses response to all these deadlines. Reporter well, were waiting to get a sense of what they will say officially, and they may be using whatever time is available under these deadlines to sort of leave everyone in a bit of suspense. As you described it, tomorrows deadline is for the wednesday hearing, which will be about the constitutional grounds of impeachment, so more of an academic exercise in the first public hearing within the House Judiciary Committee. Their thinking is that its been a generation or two since weve had previous impeachment hearings and to give people more of a context for what constitutes impeachment and what is permissible under that. And so, by tomorrow, the president would have the student if he wants to send white house lawyers or personal lawyers to attend that. The more sweeping deadline is friday, which would involve the president s mounting any kind of defense in the House Judiciary CommitteeGoing Forward throughout whatever the impeachment phase would look like under that committee. So, that is the much bigger deal and a much bigger deadline, and that would be on friday. And the real question for the white house is, on one hand, they have complained about not having due process, about not being included in the proceedings, not being able to call their own witnesses and feeling that theyve been cut out of this. And then by virtue of that, saying its unfair. So, thats one argument. But if they were to embrace participation in the hearings, then they, in effect, legitimize them. And theyve also been arguing that it is an illegitimate, sham process. So, that means the president has sort of a rock and a hard place decision. If he takes part, he can really be constrained in calling it illegitimate. If he doesnt, then he continues the ability to not mount his own defense within the confines of the impeachment hearings. So, thats the dilemma, and well have to see which way the white house goes. Part of what could come up with this, of course, is that come the next phase, if there is, in fact, an impeachment finding in the house and it goes to the senate where republicans are in charge, that may be an environment where the white house would feel more comfortable. So, thats sort of what were looking at in terms of the time pressure on President Trump and the white house. Alex . Okay, Kelly Odonnell, perfect setup for my next conversation. Thank you for that. Joining me now, anne gearan, White House Correspondent and john harwood, cnbc editor at large. Welcome, guys. Kelly did a great job setting it up, as the president seems to be between a rock and a hard place, because youve got chairman nadler, whos offering the president and his attorneys to appear, to call witnesses and the like. So that really refutes the argument that they have no say in house proceedings. How, john, do you think the white house reacts now . Reporter well, i think theres one additional element to the dilemma that kelly was describing, and that is that the defense of the president s conduct is bad to nonexistent. So, i think the general expectation is that the president and the white house will decide not to participate so they can keep calling it a sham process. If they show up, then theyre going to have to engage in describing a defense, and they dont really have one. We saw that in the House Intelligence Committee hearings. Republicans mainly yelled at the witnesses or complained about democratic procedures or invoked conspiracy theories. Process, right. They simply dont have a factual defense, and the facts have been pretty clearly shown. So, what happens next, anne . Do you think the white house issues some sort of a response . Are you hearing anything, how theyre going to proceed in this next phase . Well, alex, i am hearing a couple of things. I was speaking to a republican official a couple of days ago who was saying that they a lot of, at least the house republicans, are not expecting the president to mount a formal defense or send witnesses. They probably will the white house probably will respond before the wednesday hearing, mostly to call the process illegitimate. But what this official was saying was very interesting, which is that the president is really having a bit of a difficult time with this because he likes a fight, and he feels very much, he, the president , feels very much that hes been treated unfairly, and he thinks he is his own best defense and he wants to get out there and make that defense but is being told really pretty universally not to do so and to keep doing what he is doing, which is going out and being president. Okay. Lets get to what we expect with wednesday, john, because as i mentioned earlier, it is the Judiciary Committees first public hearing. What do democrats hope to achieve . What are they expecting from that day . Well, as kelly said in the setup piece, its kind of an academic discussion. Its an attempt to lay out what are grounds for impeachment, explain what it means high crimes and misdemeanors, bribery, the things that are listed in the constitution. But i really think its the beginning of the moment for jerry nadler to try to drive home the case with voters who havent tuned in. I think at each stage of this process, alex, there is going to be escalating public attention. And even though the Intelligence Committee hearings didnt move the needle all that much in terms of Public Opinion, weve seen that opinion public has shifted over a number of months. And as we get to the house floor, when they vote on articles, and then the senate trial, i think thats when people who have not tuned in will have an opportunity to do so. And if democrats are going to succeed, theyre going to need to lay out clearly and in easy ways for the public to understand exactly what the stakes are and what they say the president did. Look, anne, job makes a good point about people not really tuning in and not having moved the needle much on the prospect of impeachment. Theyre pretty solidly two entrenched camps on this. But are there expectations that these upcoming hearings will move the needle . Will people watch more . Lets think about where we are in this here, right . Its december. Its a really busy time of year. Yeah, i think one of the things that democrats are intended to do on wednesday is to get this off to a slow start so that it does not look to those who are paying attention like democrats are ramming this thing through before christmas. So, wednesday you will see, you know, its going to be a slow walk through the constitution. What is impeachment . Why do we have it . What constitutes high crimes and misdemeanors . And is what the president did km kmi kmis rate with that standard . And i think a lot of people will click off the television because its not going to be exciting. But what democrats will point to afterward is, look, this is our duty, were trying to take this one step at a time and were sorry its the most more exciting. And it is december. People are not going to be paying the kind of attention that they would have earlier in the fall. Democrats knew that. They knew what the calendar was going to look like and felt that it was more important to do this in a stepbystep fashion and also to try to wrap it up before the real beginning of the, you know, bellringing for iowa and new hampshire, at the beginning of next year, than it was to either do it very quickly in the fall or to take a very, very long time and try to drag it into next year. Super interesting article in the Washington Post i want to get your reaction to, both of you, on the president s photo op play. Facing impeachment, the president strives to look hard at work. In less than two weeks, the president has toured a manufacturing plant in texas, a visit to Dover Air Force base to receive remains of fallen soldiers, surprised u. S. Troops in afghanistan on thanksgiving. And next week heads to london for a nato summit. So, anne, you first on the calculation here. Yeah, i mean, the president is often criticized for not having a very full public calendar, and i think the white house is making a very calculated decision here to show him in public a lot, going out and doing very president ial things. Certainly, the thanksgiving trip to afghanistan is the most dramatic of those, but hes been hes just been out a lot doing a lot more things, and you know, essentially being able to point to that as, hey, look, you know, im just here doing my job. Right. What about the efficacy of this strategy, john, assuming the president stays on course . Regardless of lack of legislative accomplishments, though there was the passage of animal cruelty act, which by the way, had 100 support, so that really was a very easy thing to sign does that just mere appearance of being busy impress voters . No. And with his voters, with the base that he is attempting to keep mobilized behind him, he doesnt need to impress them. But compared to the alternative, especially after the health scare hes had recently, it serves his interests to be out there. But it is not convincing at all. Its quite plain from the first three years of Donald Trumps presidency, hes not that much interested in the job itself, in the job of being president. His principal concern now thats why the key word in annes previous answer was calculated his key concern now is himself and trying to position himself for whats going to be a very bad run of news in impeachment in the senate trial. I dont think anyone who is not already firmly in Donald Trumps camp is going to be persuaded that the guy who hangs out in the residence and tweets constantly rather than focus on the nuts and bolts of the presidency is suddenly doing that. Can i ask both of you and john, ill let you have a stab first at this answer what do you think is the most grievance situation the president faces via the Judiciary Committee . Oh, i think its the very clear evidence that he used his power as president over Foreign Policy to try to extract domestic political advantage with help from ukraine. And not just domestic political advantage in the abstract, false political advantage. He wanted an investigation that was into a noncrime that was fabricated by russian intelligence to absolve russia and absolve President Trump himself in 2016. The plain facts of that, which came out in countless witness testimonies, from diplomats, from trump appointees, from career people that is very clear, though they may add some obstruction of justice counts from the mueller investigation, but the bare facts of that i think is where his real exposure is. True, absolutely. But anne, cynics will say the hearings pointed these things out time and time again. And as we said earlier in this interview, its not moved the needle at this point. So, if impeachment is a political entity, how worried really is the white house about this . Ill tell you one thing they are concerned about, alex, which is that the cumulative effect of what the president is alleged to have done and the evidence showing that quite a lot of it is just incontrovertible, that is at some point, there is a Tipping Point for moderate republicans, and those are both elected moderate republicans and moderate republicans who voted for trump the last time. Some of them holding their nose, some of them not. And will the economy and other things that moderate republicans generally think are going well be enough to sustain that same choice this time out . You know, the effect of impeachment may have a longerterm effect there that lasts beyond whats likely to be a few weeks of the house and then the senate trial. Okay. Sage comments from you both, as always, anne and john. Thank you so much, guys. Next, hes in 12th place in the real clear politics average of national polls. So, how does Julian Castro plan on moving up . Im going to ask him. And later, how did it happen . How did Rudy Giuliani go from americas mayor to the center of the impeachment probe . And where might his journey end . . Im finding it hard to stay on top of things a faster laptop could help. Plus, tech support to stay worry free. Worry free. 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For the holidays you cant beat home sweet home. We go the extra mile to bring your holidays home. [ dramatic music ]ing ] ahhhh ahhhh elliott. You came back now to new details on the terror attack on London Bridge. Forensic teams are still on the scene where a convicted terrorist launched a knife attack yesterday, leaving two dead and three wounded. Heres a look at todays front pages of british newspapers. The headline in the telegraph terror returns to London Bridge. The daily mail highlights bravery on the bridge, celebrating civilians who subdued that attacker with a fire extinguisher. And the daily express sticking with that theme the heroes who stood up to terror. Nbcs Erin Mclaughlin is joining us from the scene. Erin, with a welcome to you, talk about the latest from there. This must have shaken up londoners. Reporter absolutely, alex. And missing from those headlines you were just reading there, the serious questions now being asked here in london about how this happened, especially considering who the suspect is. Police have identified him as 28yearold usman khan. He was a convicted terrorist, convicted in 2012 of plotting to bomb the u. S. Embassy as well as the london stock exchange. He was sent to prison but released early, something that the judge in 2012 warned authorities not to do. In his written statement, he said that he believed khan and others who were convicted alongside him posed a serious and ongoing threat to the public if he was ever released on license. But thats exactly what happened. He was electronically tagged. Its a system that even the Prime Minister today says isnt working. Take a listen. It is clear to me that this guy was out. He had served half of his sentence and he was out on automatic early release, and i have long said that this system simply isnt working. I have said for a long time now that i think that the practice of automatic early release, in other words, where you cut a sentence in half and let very serious, violent offenders out early, simply isnt working, and i think youve had some very good evidence of how that isnt working, im afraid, with this case. Reporter and this could have political implications for Prime MinisterBoris Johnson. Keep in mind, general elections some 13 days away, and theres also questions about the governments decision to lower the threat level here in the uk in the weeks prior to this attack. Very, very challenging times there in london. Erin mclaughlin, thank you very much for the update there from London Bridge. What could be called one final shot for democrats to impeach the president. What can the Judiciary Committee do that the Intel Committee did not . Committee did not . My parents never taught me anything about managing money. The amount of Student Loan Debt i have, im e