a lot to get to this morning, including another state removing donald trump from the 2024 republican presidential primary ballot. we will have expert legal and political analysis all not big decision from maine secretary of state. plus we will show you nikki haley attempt at cleaning up her highly criticized answer on the cause of the civil war. , also ahead, the latest from gaza. israeli forces continue to strike refugee camps where it believes hamas terrorists are hiding. this comes as the biden administration is putting more pressure on israel to protect civilians inside gaza. plus we ll take a look at the stories that dominated 2023, from two wars overseas to chaos on capitol hill, as well as the former presidents many legal battles as he enters a presidential election. a lot to go through. witness for all of it, nbc news national affairs analyst john heilemann, president of the national action network and host of msnbc s politicsnation the reverend al sharpton, washingto
trial alex murdaugh visited the scene of the crime. murdaugh s defense will make closing arguments. ma maggie sees what happenedd she comes running over there to her baby. wealthy buckhead neighborhood to break away from the city. murder up 44% in buckhead. time for a change. everybody wants to vote on this. so let us volt. it s the american way. four astronauts into space. 3, 2, 1. full power. and liftoff. go dragon, go falcon. brian: hi, everyone we wake up well it s not good news. straight to a fox news alert. new jersey state trooper is shot during duty. the shooting happened in the town of patterson about 20 miles northwest of new york city. the trooper was hit in the leg and taken to the hospital. two others were also taken to the hospital to be checked out. it s unclear what injuries they sustained right now. law enforcement officers from around the area are searching for the two suspects. one already in custody. we will bring you more on the breaking n
u.s. believes that china may give the go-ahead on lethal aid to vladimir putin. taking a question from our own peter doocy about how biden is viewed by xi and putin. specific to these two leaders, you think putin and xi fear president biden? you d have to ask them whether they fear or not. it is not about fear. it s about president biden advancing our foreign policy goals around the world. it s about president biden revi revitalizing partnerships. that s what we re focused on. martha: with that, we bring in republican senator marsha blackburn from tennessee. she s traveled to taiwan in the past. she was there in the past. always a bold move for a u.s. lawmaker to travel to taiwan. your thoughts on what we watched in this briefing and john kirby s explanation as these two meet. perception is reality. when they look at joe biden, they see someone who is weak, who i think they believe is compromised. he is not going after them. he doesn t go after them on great power com
top of the hour here in the cnn newsroom. thanks for joining us. i m erica hill. i m jim sciutto. happening now, attorney general merrick garland on capitol hill to testify before the jen at judiciary committee for the first time here. you see senators cruz and holly. he is expected to be hit with a wide range of questions including allegations from republicans as they said that the justice department is being weaponized against conservatives as well as updates into investigations into trump and biden and we ll take you there live as it happens. the annual cpac conference happens today as we get new cnn reporting about what trump s allies are doing to get house republicans in his corner. for 2024, not all of them are there. sdwloo also ahead, closing arguments are expected to begin today in the double murder trial of disgraced former lawyer alex murdaugh. jurors in that case at the crime scene at this hour. we will take you live to south carolina. let s begin this hour with
one donald j. trump. the new york times is reporting that prosecutors in the manhattan district attorney s office are signaling that criminal charges for the former president are likely to come for his role in the hush money payments to porn star stormy daniels. the times reports the prosecutors offered mr. trump the chance to testify next week before the grand jury that has been hearing evidence in the potential case according to four people with knowledge of the matter. such offers almost always indicate an indictment is close. it would be unusual for the district attorney, alvin bragg, to notify a potential defendant without ultimately seeking charges against him. the manhattan district attorney s office has declined to comment. now, if those charges are made, it would be the first indictment of a former united states president and the first time that trump, who has faced numerous criminal investigations, would be charged with a crime. as you may remember, that $130,000