The 11th Hour with Ali Velshi

Special Counsel Jack Smith asked the Supreme Court to decide on whether Donald Trump is immune from prosecution for crimes committed while in office. The Court asked Trump’s legal team to respond by December 20th and said it would quickly consider whether to hear Smith’s case. Misinformation scholar claims Harvard University’s relationship with Meta led to her firing. Harvard denies the allegations. Hugo Lowell, Neal Katyal, Dave Aronberg, Symone Sanders-Townsend, Reed Galen, Joan Donovan, and Jake Ward.

In Donald Trump’s federal election interference case, a three-judge panel mostly upheld the original gag order but narrowed its terms. Trump is barred from attacking potential witnesses, court staff, and most prosecutors but is allowed to criticize the charges, the Justice Department, and Special Counsel Jack Smith. Meanwhile, the U.S. added 199,000 jobs in November and unemployment dropped to 3.7%. A closely watched consumer sentiment index is showing a more optimistic view of the U.S. economy. Eugene Daniels, Eugene Scott, Paul Butler, Jon Allen, Basil Smikle, Susan Del Percio, and Dr. Vin Gupta join.

The Justice Department filed 9 tax-related charges against Hunter Biden, including three felony counts. Meanwhile, Donald Trump takes his campaign to New York court as he calls his civil fraud case “political prosecution.” A Texas judge grants a mother’s request to have an abortion. Her fetus was diagnosed with a fatal condition that could also threaten her health as well. Texas’ attorney general is now threatening to prosecute any doctors involved in the abortion. Peter Baker, Barbara McQuade, Katie Benner, Robert Gibbs, Michael Steele, Michael McFaul, and Dr. Kavita Patel join.

Republican presidential hopefuls took the stage for the fourth and final debate before the Iowa caucuses. At the University of Alabama, Ron DeSantis, Nikki Haley, Vivek Ramaswamy and Chris Christie faced off, while Donald Trump was absent once again. Pop music goliath, Taylor Swift has been named Time Magazine’s person of the year. The first-ever Swiftie reporter joins the 11th Hour to talk about Swift’s achievements and influence. Ali Vitali, Matthew Dowd, Stuart Stevens, Luke Broadwater, Max Rose, Joyce Vance, and Bryan West join.

President Biden told supporters at a campaign event in Boston that if Trump wasn’t running, he’s “not sure” he’d be running. Meanwhile, Trump ally Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) ended his blockade on hundreds of military promotions but said he would continue to block senior positions. Congress has yet to settle funding for Israel and Ukraine. Also, Presidents of Harvard, MIT, and the University of Pennsylvania testified in front of a House committee, facing tough question over antisemitism on campus. Jon Allen, Amy McGrath, Tim Miller, Glenn Kirschner, Martin Fletcher, and Michael Roth join.

New warnings about Trump’s plans for his next administration. The New York Times says it will be more radical than the first as former January 6th Committee Vice Chair Liz Cheney warns Trump is a threat to democracy. Statistics show Donald Trump has won the affection of white evangelical protestant voters since his 2016 campaign. We tackle how and why the community is loyal to him. Hugo Lowell, Catherine Christian, Carol Leonnig, Mikhail Zygar, Reed Galen, Jason Johnson, and Tim Alberta join.

Our Friday Night roundtable tackles the biggest news in politics this week. The expulsion of Congressman George Santos (R-NY) to Trump’s latest legal troubles, Jelani Cobb, Evan McMorris-Santoro, Kalhan Rosenblatt, and Dan Nathan weigh in.

A New York appeals court reinstated the gag order in Trump’s $250 million civil fraud trial. We are still waiting for the court to rule on the gag order in the federal election case. New reporting on court documents reveals texts from Rep. Scott Perry (R-TX) about being in touch with others to keep the former President in power. Elon Musk’s profanity-laced outburst against advertiser has left X with the repercussions. The company’s CEO Linda Yaccarino has responded with a statement. Susan Glasser, Peter Baker, Barbara McQuade, Jake Ward, Mark Chiusano, Conor Lamb, and David Jolly join.

Former Deutsche Bank executive Rosemary Vrablic testified during Trump’s civil fraud hearing about the money behind the family’s businesses. Vrablic wrote in an email, “we are whale hunting” back in 2011 in reference to bringing in Trump’s business. Meanwhile, Secretary of State Antony Blinken returns to Tel Aviv to urge Israeli leaders to extend the temporary truce with Hamas. This is his third trip to the region, and he also urges leaders to boost aid to civilians in Gaza. Carol Leonnig, David Enrich, Lisa Rubin, David Gura, Jeremy Bash. Juanita Tolliver, and Matthew Dowd join.

New reporting reveals what former Vice President Mike Pence told special counsel Jack Smith about the days leading up to the Capital riot. This comes as Trump’s legal team challenges federal agencies’ findings that there was no widespread fraud in the 2020 election. Meanwhile, the anti-Trump political network backed by the Koch brothers endorsed Nikki Haley in the 2024 presidential race despite Haley averaging 30 points behind Donald Trump in primary polls in her home state. Katie Benner, Charles Coleman, Mary McCord, Ben Rhodes, Ben Hodges, David Plouffe, Tim Miller, and Mike Memoli join.