For us to go 17 minutes without discussing the guy who has all those gaudy numbers you talked about is ridiculous.

I'm in this race because the truth needs to be spoken. He is unfit.

This is a guy who just said this past week that he wants to use the Department of Justice to go after his enemies when he gets in there. I mean, the fact

the matter is he is unfit to be president, and there is no bigger issue in this race, Megan,

than Donald Trump and those numbers proven. That's Republican presidential candidate, Chris Christie,

addressing the lack of direct criticism for Donald Trump at last night's GOP debate.

We'll have much more from that he did, yet perhaps not relevant, event straight ahead.

Meanwhile, on Capitol Hill, Senate Republicans are stalling a critical aid package,

which includes billions of dollars in funding for Ukraine.

We'll explain why and what could happen next.

And also ahead, we'll bring you the latest from Gaza.

Israel says its forces are closing in on the Hamas leader,

who is believed to be the mastermind behind the October 7th terror attacks.

Good morning and welcome to way too early on this Thursday, December 7th.

I'm Jonathan Lemire, and thanks for starting your day

with us. We have a busy morning, and we'll begin with the fourth Republican presidential debate,

the final one scheduled before the Iowa caucuses. Frontrunner, Donald Trump, was once again

a no-show, leaving just four candidates on stage last night in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.

Ron DeSantis, Nikki Haley, Vivek Ramaswamy, and Chris Christie are all trailing Trump by wide margins

in the national polls. The debate kicked off with a question about Trump's major lead,

but instead of going after the presumptive primary frontrunner,

DeSantis and Ramoswami instead focused their attacks on Nikki Haley.

...