Special Counsel Jack Smith’s Appeal to Expedite Trump Immunity Case Rejected by Supreme Court

Good evening and welcome to the Capitol Report on Entity Television. I'm Steve Lance. Here's a look at what's coming up. Christmas came early for President Trump. The Supreme Court today rejecting special counsel Jack Smith's request to immediately rule on Trump's immunity claim. How it could upend Trump's legal calendar. From house censures and expulsions to intraparty divisions on both sides of the aisle. We'll recap this historic year in Congress and tell you what more is coming in 2024. Illegal immigrants continuing to flood the southern border this week. December is reportedly on track to see the most illegal crossings ever in United States history. We have an update. A major victory for President Trump seeking to push his trial back to after the elections. The Supreme Court today rejecting a request to expedite its review of Trump's presidential immunity claim. Dealing a blow to special counsel Jack Smith. Joining us now live is Entity's White House correspondent Iris Tao who's in front of the Supreme Court. Good evening Iris. If you could tell us more about the order and how it could impact Trump's legal schedule. Good evening to you Steve. So the Friday order by the high court actually is very simple. It has one page, one sentence and it's a very simple and straight denial of special counsel Jack Smith's request. To basically ask the Supreme Court to directly weigh in and circumvent the lower appellate court. And also jump in to decide on the issue of whether former President Trump has presidential immunity. As he claims for his actions surrounding the 2020 election. Jack Smith in asking the Supreme Court to do that says that it's an urgent decision needed on an important constitutional question. Adding that is to prevent any delays to Trump's trial which is scheduled for March 4th 2024. Trump meanwhile has been criticizing the trial date which is a day before Super Tuesday. Declaring election interference. His team also this week accused Jack Smith of trying to rush to decide the issues with reckless abandon. And now with today's order it means that the case will now go through the normal appealing process. Which is through the DC Circuit Appellate Court here. And also it means that original trial date scheduled for March 4th could well be upended. And the oral arguments for the lower court here is scheduled for January 19th. But no matter who wins here in the lower court. We can't expect either side to appeal to the Supreme Court. Which will ultimately still have to weigh in on this question. Just not in Jack Smith manner. Not expedited but in a normal appealing process. Which is what Trump would like to see because the trial date will now be postponed. Steve. So Iris the chances of having a Trump trial right before Super Tuesday. Which seemed to have been the plan. Does seem to have been upended now. So tell us about the potential impact this may have on the 2024 election. So a New York Times poll shows that more than 80% of Trump supporters say that they agree that. A lot of these allegations and trials and indictments against Trump are politically motivated. But the same poll also shows that over a quarter of these Trump supporters. Also think that they might not support Trump anymore. As a Republican presidential candidate. If he's actually convicted of any of these alleged crimes. So that really highlights the importance of Trump's team strategy here. In trying to delay these trials beyond potentially the 2024 elections. And today's order definitely might help Trump when it comes to the presidential election here. Steve. NTD's Iris Tao reporting for us live in front of the Supreme Court. Thank you Iris. This year was a historic one for Congress. From the ouster of House Speaker Kevin McCarthy. To Vice President Kamala Harris breaking the record. For tie-breaking votes in the thinly divided Senate. And next year already setting up to be even bumpier. With many high priority items kicked down the road. Here's NTD's congressional correspondent Melina Wisecup. With hits and misses from this year. And what lawmakers still have to tackle in the year ahead. Back to January of 2023 and embattled Kevin McCarthy takes the gavel. He went through 15 rounds of voting on the House floor. Only to resign from Congress now. After he was ousted from his speakership post. I'll be departing the House at the end of this year. Speaker Mike Johnson now dealing with an even slimmer majority. After Republicans kicked out one of their own. This is bullying. That slim majority has proven crippling for Republicans. Who have yet to pass their annual spending bills. Democrats meanwhile sticking together on most issues. With one exception being how to handle the Israel-Hamas war. Y'all the United Nations General Assembly supports a ceasefire. 22 Democrats voting against one of their own. Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib. Censuring her over her criticism of Israel. And many find it hard to forget a few head turning acts. From individual lawmakers. Like Congressman Jamal Bowman sounding the fire alarm. And Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell's two episodes of freezing mid-sentence. Congress passed 27 bills that became law this year. Including ending the COVID-19 pandemic emergency. Declassifying information on the origin of COVID. And overturning a DC crime law that would ease consequences for violent criminals. All areas where Republicans and Democrats were unified in 2023. Plus a debt ceiling deal negotiated by former Speaker Kevin McCarthy and the White House. Which is now proving difficult for lawmakers to stick to. Most of the American people won't even miss if the government is shut down temporarily. The issue at the forefront of 2024's agenda. Plus finding a solution to mobilize Israel aid, Ukraine aid and solutions on the southern border. We'll also likely see an official vote on impeaching DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. And an impeachment vote of President Biden. These are topics that become even more difficult to navigate during the election year of 2024. Reporting from Washington, D.C., Melina Weiskopf, NTD News. We're reportedly seeing more people enter the United States illegally this month than ever before. Mexico's president now saying he'll assist the U.S. in tackling the immigration crisis. NTD's Arian Pasdar has an update on the border. More people are entering the United States illegally this week. Fox News on Friday published this video of African men arriving at the southern border. Saying only two border agents were on the scene to process all of the people you see here. CBP tells the outlet that there have been 45,000 encounters at the border since Monday. Able to fill Yankee Stadium in just four days. Monday was the highest day of encounters ever recorded with 12,600. December is on pace to become the highest month ever. Many say they're heading for sanctuary cities. New York. Chicago. Mexico's president on Friday acknowledged the situation is getting worse. We will boost as much as we can to help maintain an orderly flow of migrants. Recently, there was an abnormal surge of migrants. He now says he'll step up efforts on Mexico's southern border with Guatemala and seek agreements to manage higher numbers of immigrants attempting to enter the U.S. Meanwhile, Texas is now reportedly adding anti-climbing technology to its fences in Brownsville. That's by erecting 12-foot tall fences laced with three feet of concertina wire. This comes just days after a court temporarily prohibited the federal government from removing the state's razor wires. And lastly, in New York City, the United Federation of Teachers is suing Mayor Eric Adams. Back in November, Adams warned of budget cuts for city services. It's going to be extremely painful for New Yorkers, and that is why we continue to say we need. The mayor now wants to cut half a billion dollars from education in order to deal with the influx of illegal immigrants. Ariane Pastar, NTD News. And to the Middle East, humanitarian conditions in Gaza continue to deteriorate as the fighting between Hamas and Israel persists. But the region expects it will soon get some relief after the United Nations voted to expedite humanitarian aid to Palestinians in Gaza, the U.S. and Russia both abstaining from the vote. A group of Arab nations originally wanted the resolution to demand an end to the hostilities, but in effort to prevent the U.S. from vetoing it, the text was changed at the last minute. Instead of a ceasefire, it calls for humanitarian pauses to allow food, water, and fuel into Gaza. The resolution also demands 130 hostages held by Hamas, including Americans, to be released without conditions. Even though the U.S. abstained from voting for it, the Biden administration still allowed the resolution to pass. Some critics argue it was a wrong choice on the part of the U.S. because the resolution does not condemn Hamas' attack on Israel, nor does it condemn terrorists for using sexual violence as a weapon of war and draws moral comparisons between Israel and Hamas. Also moments ago, President Biden signed the National Defense Authorization Act, otherwise known as the NDAA, totaling $886 billion. It includes the biggest military pay raise in over two decades, but also extends the controversial federal spying powers, otherwise known as FISA. Meanwhile, a separate $105 billion in national security package is up for debate, focusing on foreign aid and border security policy changes. As holiday travel shifts into high gear, airports in the United States now bracing for a record-breaking Christmas rush. But questions remain over how smoothly things will go this year. We'll bring you the latest details. And what does it mean for an athlete to take a stand for what he believes in, in professional sports? We spoke with NBA star Jonathan Isaac to discuss just that. That and more when we return. This right here is confidence in a bottle. It makes me feel so much more confident than I've ever felt. They are some of the hottest videos on social media, those videos claiming to instantly get rid of bags under your eyes. Annette Figueroa is here to tell us why she says this one is for real. This one is for real, and I'm so excited. And all he uses is a small amount on a clean, dry face. And what it does is it tightens and lifts the appearance of bags underneath your eyes. And I did this to my father. We were at home. So we applied it to his under-eye bags, and let me tell you, we were so excited. In under 10 minutes, they visibly disappeared from view. And now it is literally part of both of our daily routines. And not only does it work on the bags, it works on the appearance of froze feet, fine lines, and wrinkles. At our $14.95 price, it's the best way to try Plexiderm and see it work after your first application. Your solution is at PlexidermTrial.com, or call the number on your screen. What most people know from Christopher Columbus is that in 1492, Columbus sailed to ocean blue. There's so much more to the story of Columbus that today very few people know the actual story of Columbus. For example, Columbus had more than one voyage to America, which is shocking for most people to discover, but the reality is he had four voyages. And today, in modern culture, there's a lot of people very critical of Christopher Columbus. In fact, over the last couple of years, when there was a movement to tear down statues, Christopher Columbus had over 600 statues erected to him around the world, and the vast majority of those statues were torn down, were vandalized, but they're really tearing down these monuments of Columbus without even knowing what Columbus even did. Right, and so let's go through this, because some of the accusations we hear today is, right, Columbus enslaved the Native Americans. You can hear a lot of negative things today, so let's just back up. Welcome back to the Capitol Report on NTD Television. I'm Steve Lance. Tis the season for holiday travel, as millions of Americans now take to the skies. Airports across the country are bracing for what looks like the busiest holiday travel season in years. NTD's Sam Wong has the latest. Another year, another Christmas season, with travelers from around the country now embarking on their journeys, major airlines are gearing up for a blockbuster holiday rush, and on Friday alone, the Transportation Security Administration predicts that more than 2.5 million people are flying out. Hi, we're going to Bolivia for the holidays, yes. I'm heading back to West Palm Beach, Florida. That's where my family lives. I'm traveling with my husband, and my son and his fiance are meeting us here, and we have others coming in from three different airports, so hopefully we all get to Miami. For millions of Americans who are working away from their families, a smooth-flight home lays the foundation for a happy, loving Christmas. And that goal seems promising so far this year, as major airlines have hired more flight crews and other workers to deal with the crowds. They're seeking to avoid a major meltdown like the one last year, when Southwest Airlines canceled thousands of flights, leaving 2 million people stranded during Christmas. The Department of Transportation now warning that bad weather could be a major roadblock to your itinerary. Even though there's a lot of weather on the West Coast, a lot of rain right now, those flights seem to be okay so far. I'm not personally concerned. If I get stuck there on the way back, I'm able to work from home. Hopefully we're getting out. It's saying I'm on time at the moment. Plan B is hope that something gets out later, but so far we're looking good. So far in 2023, only 1.2 percent of U.S. flights have been canceled, marking the lowest in five years. To keep the screening line moving swiftly, the TSA is urging travelers to get to the airport early and be sure to protect those Christmas gifts. Reporting from Washington, D.C., Sam Wong, NTD News. Americans across the country say the high cost of health care will become a critical issue in the 2024 election. Joining us now to discuss is former New York Congresswoman Emery Burkle. On top of higher consumer prices of food, gas, auto insurance across the board, according to some studies, health insurance premiums have also soared over 7 percent in some areas. What are the specific drivers, in your opinion, of the increase in health insurance premiums across the United States? I think the Affordable Care Act, the big driver, we 12 years ago said that that would happen. And in fact, it's happened. You know, you can't. Insurance is about risk. And when you're covering preexisting conditions that that drives, that's a driver of the cost. But I think I think that's a good provision in the Affordable Care Act. And the Americans have gotten used to it. But there's other drivers as well. What we've seen over time has been this merging and combining of hospitals. When I trained as a nurse many years ago, the hospital that I trained at was about 400 beds. Now that hospital is part of a much larger system. There's like 88 hospitals in Trinity Health. So what does that mean? That means that there's much more occasion for waste, fraud and abuse. It means that these hospitals now have far more leverage with insurance companies. So if an insurance company wants to write a sonogram in this geographic area, the hospital now with all this leverage and other hospitals can say this is the price we want to have for this sonogram. So and then the third and I think one of the more really important pieces of this is this dishonest billing. So when you see these hospital merges, mergers and the physicians, the hospitals buy their their practices as well. What we see sometimes is hospitals bill a patient for doctor's services. But it's hospital rate. It's a big driver of insurance costs. And right now, actually, Congressman Kevin Hearn in the House from Oklahoma has legislation to address this. This dishonest billing practice is very important and a big driver in the country. So the affordability of health care and inflation are considered to be very important issues heading into 2024. Candidates are talking about these these issues with people. So according to a KFF health tracking poll, which was published on December 1st, which one of these presidential candidates do you think has the best ideas for making health care affordable? Governor DeSantis has mentioned he had a plan. President Trump had a plan, but we really haven't heard the concrete examples of what they would do. And, you know, for months now, I've been beating the drum. I wish that the Republican Party would understand that addressing this issue of health care really is the right thing to do. And it's politically smart and they do need a health care agenda that's comprehensive, that really looks to lower the cost of these premiums for the American people. We talked about a few things with the dishonest billing practices on the Senate side. Senator Mike Lee has introduced legislation to decrease the cost for generic bioidentical drugs. We have to go through the same process as a regular drug that's new to the market. He wants to reduce that red tape to allow that to go faster. The use of generic drugs could really help to lower the cost of drugs and drugs. And the cost of drugs are really the second after hospitals, the second driver of health care costs. Former chair of the Consumer Product Safety Commission and former New York Congresswoman Emery Burkle, thank you so much for joining. Delighted to be here and have a Merry Christmas. Thank you. Merry Christmas. Some choose to kneel while others take a stand. When unrest swept through America following the death of George Floyd, Jonathan Isaac became the first NBA player to stand during the national anthem. We had a chance to sit down with him to discuss what it means to take a stand for one's faith, despite popular opinion going in a different direction. Jonathan Isaac, thank you so much for taking a moment to sit down with us. Thank you for having me. Jonathan, I want you to talk to us about your book. You've faced a lot of challenges in your career and elsewhere. Tell us about this book. Yes. So the book is called Why I Stand. It details back in 2020, obviously, the, you know, the tragedy of George Floyd's death and everything that came about with the rise of Black Lives Matter movement and organization. And it shares my kind of first-person perspective of how I handled that moment. And it leads me into this story of being in the NBA bubble and making the decision not to kneel for the national anthem or to wear a Black Lives Matter T-shirt. For me, it was about offering a solution that I felt could really change or really be an answer. And to me, it wasn't kneeling for the national anthem. It wasn't wearing a T-shirt. It's the gospel of Jesus Christ. How challenging was it for you at that time? I mean, we're seeing right now there's more and more polling where people of color are shifting to the conservative movement, but at that time, not so much. Yeah, it was extremely challenging. Most people that look like me feel about, you know, certain things when it comes to, you know, when I decided to stand, I was, you know, I'm a sellout in one way or another when it comes to that demographic. And so it has been challenging, but I try my best to continue to lead with what it is that I believe, that I believe that faith is the answer. And the more people that I've been able to speak to, the more people that I've been able to influence. To your point, how did you explain yourself to your teammates? Yeah, so it was challenging as well, but I led with, one, I respected their decision to kneel, and I asked for that same respect in return for me to stand. I hear the situation. I hear the problem. I saw what happened. But racism is not the only thing that plagues our society. There are tons of things. And for me, that they're all heart issues. And at the end of the day, we all fall short of God's glory. And if I'm going to be throwing stones at a person or a particular race, I'm throwing stones from a glass house. You're a very, you know, mild-mannered, soft-spoken guy. So how important was your demeanor and delivery at the time where you were trying to, you know, stand up for what you believe in but also deliver that message? I just try my, well, one, I try my best to do it humbly because, one, I understand the emotional condition of the times. You know, I had teammates that were very involved in the movement. They went to rallies and protests and whatnot. And so I understood that this is an emotional time. And to come in there belligerent and say, oh, you know, I don't care about what you guys believe, I think that was wrong. And so I wanted to leave with, hey, I understand what you're saying. I hear what you're saying. I just don't agree with the solution. I don't think that true transformation between white and black people are going to come from a Black Lives Matter organization. I don't see it creating change. And over the course of, you know, a year or so, we've been able to see how Black Lives Matter organization handled the funds. And ultimately that I don't think it did what it set out to do. You're right. A lot of things have come to the surface. You have recently, I believe it was somebody who was part of the Black Lives Matter chapter in Rhode Island coming out and speaking out against it. We're talking a lot about the pushback that you received. But five minutes before we started, somebody just walked up to you and showed, you know, they're wearing your sneakers. So tell us what type of support you've seen as well. It's been tremendous. The support from everybody has been outstanding. And people who just understand where I'm coming from, who understand also the difficulty to do what I've done as an African-American, who understand, you know, the boldness that it takes to stand up or even just the boldness to be here today. I'm looking at the bigger picture and saying that, hey, there are so many people that believe in the same way that I do that aren't comfortable enough to come to something like this or to be introduced to some of the talking points of the speakers here today. But if they see me here and they hear me articulate myself, then there's room for them to be a part as well. And also to articulate to the people that are here, hey, let's make room. Let's open up the doors. Let's get more people involved that don't look like the majority of people here. I think that's the recipe for winning in the long run. So lastly, your book, Why I Stand, you know, if somebody were to read it, what do you hope that they take away from it? Well, first and foremost, I hope that they take away that the reality of a transformative relationship with Christ is real. One, because I'm a young man that has struggled with anxiety and self-insecurity for the majority of my life. And it's only been my relationship with Christ that's caused me to be bold enough or strong enough to be able to stand in the way that I am right now. That we do have to stand strong in what it is that we believe in, regardless of what anybody thinks, regardless of what your color is, regardless of what your background is, if you understand the necessity and value of faith in Christ and our founding principles and values, then I think you belong on this side. Jonathan Isaac, really appreciate you chatting with us. Thank you, man. Appreciate it. And that is all we have for you this evening on The Capitol Report. Thank you for watching. From Washington, D.C., I'm Steve Lance. Have a nice weekend. See you back here on Monday.