he would have? >> no. nobody did. i don't even think he did. >> that's come to define him in so many people's eyes. >> yes, but what we're seeing now in his death is that he was far more successful in what he got done as president than we thought at the time, that his reputation was not only at the time, but maybe throughout his life until now as we look back and see the list that is quite astonishing. because it is amazing that he had this sense of weakness, he had those hostages in iran for over a quarter of his presidency. and yet he got all these things done. >> and his relationship with rosalynn carter in 77 years, just remarkable. >> it was a really happy marriage. >> the thing i can't believe which i learned talking to somebody from his hometown, the day he died, that his mom actually delivered rosalynn.

news continues right here on cnn. it's tuesday, january 7th right now on "cnn this morning. " >> we are going to get this mission accomplished. >> another game plan with the election certified. donald trump tries to get republicans in line for his second-term agenda. >> i'm prepared to call out this for what it is. going global. leaders overseas push back against elon musk as he tries to exert his influence on the world stage, and on defense, donald trump aims to block the release of jack smith's final special report from the public. 5:00 a.m. here on the east coast. a live look at the u.s. capitol on this tuesday morning. good morning, everyone. i'm casey hunt. it's wonderful to have you with us. in just two weeks, donald trump will take the presidential

oath of office once again, and he has÷÷already started to strategize about how to implement his second- term agenda. part of that plan, getting the republican- held congress to pass a single bill. even with the gop majority in both chambers, it's likely to not be so simple. party leaders are already at odds over how exactly the ÷÷legislation should be pushed forward, one bill or two. the senate majority leader john thune privately planning for a two- bill strategy, first ÷÷focusing on immigration, and saving a tax policy for a later date. >> i would prefer one, but i will do whatever needs to be done to get it passed, and, you know, we have a lot of respect for senator thune. as you know, he may have a little bit of a different view of it. i heard other senators yesterday including lindsey talking about it. they prefer it the other way. so i'm open to either way as ÷÷long as we get something passed as quickly

as possible. >> trump set to meet with senate republican leadership tomorrow according to a person familiar with the plans. the source tells cnn the meeting will focus on whether or not to split up the bill. >> is it a risk to put it all in one bill? i think it's a risk in our country to delay social security. if you are holding the border bill hostage, i think that's a dangerous thing. >> the senate has a little different opinion and ÷÷perspective on reconciliation in the house and that's okay. i wouldn't get too wound up about what the exact strategy is. >> joining us now is one of the people you actually saw in that frame, political reporter, reese gorman who was there with manu raju yesterday. good morning. >> good morning. >> for people who feel like one bill, two bills, who cares? that's down in the weeds, but the point is about what donald trump wants to do, how best to do it. there does seem to be a divide here, and you heard

lindsey graham there kind of shining some light on what it is, which is that there are ÷÷conservatives -- there are people in donald trump's orbit like stephen miller who care most about immigration policy and don't want to see it bogged down with tax policy. how do you see this going forward? >> there's real concern that the house doesn't have the votes to pass two separate bills. they don't have the capitol. you see really a slim majority. the house really having trouble doing anything at all. >> at all, yes. >> let alone pass ing two major pieces of legislation. they can only afford to lose one or two votes. there's concern there, and there's also concern on the house side as well that there's not really been a game plan. i mean, if we were to have this conversation yesterday, it would be, like, oh, they're doing one bill. that's what trump tweeted. that's what johnson had hold his members that trump wanted one bill and that's a path they seem to be going on and then trump says, if you do it, he's okay with two bills.÷÷a little bit of confusion.

they don't know what trump really wants. he hasn't really called a game plan and they're getting a little ptsd from the first term wherever they thought trump wanted one thing. for example, the health care bill. so they pass this, and privately trump says, it's a mean bill. so then they're, like, we stuck our necks out voting for this bill. we're, like, we want him to have a game plan and they don't know what he wants now. >> trump talked a little bit about his first term in that interview as well. let's take a look at that. >> in my first term, people were fighting me all the way. they were just fighting me. in this term, it's so different. i think -- i don't want to say people have given up because that's not nice, but they recognize that we really do have÷÷that band-aid. >> so he is talking about what's different this time, which is that there are a lot more -- there's a lot more willingness to go along. even democrats looked around and said, okay. clearly the american people are sending a message. they want some of these things that donald trump's been talking about, but to

your point, all ÷÷the republicans are looking for trump himself to make a decision and be direct about it because i remember i covered the hill during the first trump administration. one tweet would blow up weeks, months, years, sometimes of work. >> they don't want to go through that again, and the big difference is there's a much slimmer majority in the house, and they -- i mean, he can't afford to lose a whole sect of people. he has to make almost everybody happy, and you see people like thomas bazzie. he's going to do his own thing, and there's a lot of those fiscal hawks. also in the senate, you're having -- i mean, yes, mitt romney's gone.÷÷yes, john mccain is no longer around, but you have people like÷÷john curtis who's replacing mitt romney who is extremely moderate just like mitt romney and you're having these new waves of ÷÷republicans. you have the same people from the first term and some new ÷÷people who could be kind of antagonistic to what he wants, and they're not afraid of him.

>> yeah, and reese, what is your sense of what democrats are going to do in this scenario, especially -- i mean, we were talking on the show yesterday about, okay. if there is this one big bill, maybe there will be some democrats who might feel pressure to vote for it. >> i definitely think you could see now -- i don't know for sure -- we would have the see the bill. no one is saying i'm 100% vote for this, but there have been democrats willing to work with republicans on border security like over in washington, and they have been willing and kind of open to be, you know, working with republicans on some of these issues. again, trump winning their districts, and they're kind of these outiers. there are more democrats that might be willing to work wurks if it goes too far, maybe they won't, and also on the taxes, ÷÷maybe they have some difficulties there. so there's really -- i mean, it's completely up in the air as to what democrats will

do, and i÷÷wouldn't fully if i was a republican in leadership, be trying to or hoping that democrats can save me, and you ÷÷might want to just try to get your house in order first. >> that's the kind of thing that could put speaker johnson's job ÷÷on the line. reese gorman, thank you so much for setting us up. still ahead here, elon musk takes on the world. what leaders in europe are saying as the world's richest man lashes out about new political causes abroad. plus, a peaceful transfer of÷÷power. vice president kamala harris certifies her own election defeat. and a deadly winter storm on its way out, but another blast ÷÷of snow and ice could be moving ÷÷in. oh, great. >> i need food and milk and, you know, staples. here i am. >> this is going to get me through. yep.÷÷i have 80 rolls of toilet paper at home too, so i'm good.

all right. welcome back to cnn this morning. foreign leaders hitting back at elon musk as the world's richest man continues his online campaign against the british government while promoting far- right parties that he says he agrees with abroad. in recent weeks elon musk has set aside keir starmer alleging he turned a bliepd eye to sexual abuse cases and he's called for ÷÷his removal. starmer has responded without naming musk. >> those that are spreading lies and misinformation as far and as wide oz possible, are not interested in victories. they're interested in

themselves. >> now the french president, emanuel macron is left wondering what this means for foreign affairs and diplomacy with the ÷÷u.s. in the years ahead. >> translator: ten years ago if eide been told that the owner of the largest social media networks would direct an international movement, who would have believed it in this is the world we live in in which÷÷we have to conduct diplomacy. >> musk responded to macron's comments there on his social media network by accusing britain's prime minister of acting against trump's bid for re-election. joining us now to discuss is cnn's max foster live for us in ÷÷london. max, good morning. always nderful to see you. so this has become, you know, widespread across europe. all these leaders dealing with elon musk. you were here talking about what was going between him and nigel fairage. what is this big picture here? >> reporter: i have to say, you know, all this interference in european politics may not be welcome,

but it might be working. something quite strong happened last night. the british secretary came out and said she would be changing the law in relation to child abuse coverups. now musk has been accusing the british government, the prime minister for example, of covering up child abuse scandals, in particular, sex grooming scandals here in the uk. he's obviously denied that, skpuf talked a bit about that there, but then you have a minister coming out and saying ÷÷they are going to change the law in relation to this. so the law will change to make it an offense for you to know about child abuse and not report it. in other words, to cover it up, ÷÷and the government says it's been working on this for some time, but the timing of it is pretty extraordinary, the announcement, you know, they would have known about the optics, the amount of pressure they've come under from musk, and it looks like a

reaction to that, and a lot of people saying it is a reaction to that, certainly the timing of the announcement. so it's pretty extraordinary that, you know, despite all this concern about his interference, he's actually having an effect here. >> it's really interesting. max, what's going on in france and germany? you heard macron there and of course, the germans talking with him talking about their far-right nationalist party. our steven collinson puts it this way. he puts these pictures up for us here for cnn.com. he writes this, quote, to many americans, musk is simply exercising his first amendment rights, but in europe, a continent haunted by the horror of far- right extremism, his support for radical populism is seen by many leaders as offensive and less an example of free speech than as an attempt to stifle freedom and democracy, and this is a little bit of how, you know, free speech is viewed

a little bit differently on the continent or at least discussed differently than sometimes it is here in the united states, but i mean, stephen pointing out, you know, the really difficult history here and macron seeming to underscore that. >> well, what we have had in france and germany is mainstream leaders ing massive votes, ÷÷you know, they are having, you know, they're having to have -- france has had, you know, to ÷÷snuff elections. germany is about to have a snap election because of the rise of the right and less popular mainstream parties. so, you know, i n'know if -- would interprewhat sphen's sayi, yes. the mainstream pties have an issue with this, but tually ÷÷lot of the blic are voting parties, -- f- right democracy÷÷working. this as so -- many of them do look obviously to elon musk as someoneho represents them. so he'speaking to people where he's getting an

dience, actually, and the mainstream politicians don't ke it because they're under threat. i don't think it's that simplistic to say there's a european view because i think the european view is changing. >> really interesting. max foster, always grateful to have you andour perspecte. thanks very muchor being here. > all right. coming up re, rudy giulian÷÷held in contempt for his 20 ÷÷election defamation case. plus, the first fatal case of bird flu reported in the u.s. details ahead in our morning roundup.

22 minutes past the hour. here's your morning round up. the late president jimmy carter heading to washington for the last time this morning.÷÷his remains are set to be flown from georgia. these pictures are live of him lying in repose. there will be a procession to the u.s. capitol this afternoon. the public will be able to pay its respects to the 39th ÷÷president as he lies in state. a powerful earthquake in tibet killed at least 95 people this morning according to state media in china. crews have been searching through what's left of buildings. this was a 7. 1 quake, and multiple aftershocks followed. the first person in the u.s. with a severe case of bird flu has died. they were over 65 and had underlying health conditions. louisiana's health department says they don't know of any other cases linked to the patient. time now for weather. the snow, sleet, ice,

that covered much of the country over the last 24 hours, it's mostly moving out. dangerously cold temperatures moving in, and while i think ÷÷many of us wanted to stay bundled up inside, some people and certainly these pandas, look at this. this makes me so happy. this was the perfect day in d.c. for them to be outside. >> the conditions are actually great. you should get your season on. >> it's a nice day for a walk, ÷÷you know, there's no traffic so it makes it easy to walk around everywhere. >> i don't really want to hear from people.÷÷i just want to look at the pandas. honestly incoming freezing temperatures are going to lock in the snow and ice on the ground. so i guess they're going to have a playground here for quite a few more days. let's get to our meteorologist, our weatherman, derek van dam. are you as happy as these pandas are? >> i would be throwing snowballs. i would participate in that thousand-person-plus snowball fight that happened yesterday. i don't know if you saw that yesterday. that was amazing, but what doesn't want to start

their tuesday morning with pandas playing in the snow, right? you said it perfectly, kasie because this snow is going nowhere.÷÷with these types of temperatures, it's frigid outside. this is what it feels like as you step outside in d.c. 13 degrees. the actual high temperature today. just a few degrees above freezing.÷÷i think that snow pack is here to stay. by the way, that snowstorm that just passed through, it crossed over an 1,100- mile stretch dumping over 6 inches or more of÷÷snow within that swath and of course, we have the ice component to this as well knocking out power. not great news for the nearly 200,000 customers without power, particularly into virginia, especially if you don't have heat. the cold air is going to stick around and that's thanks to that snow pack, but unfortunately ÷÷this is going to set the stage for the potential of yet another significant, impactful snow and ice event later this week from texas to the southeast, and potentially the east coast by the weekend. we're figuring out the details of that. we'll pass them onto you as we figure it out, but one thing

we ÷÷do know for sure, the culprit, ÷÷this cutoff low- pressure system is driving a significant wind event in southern california once again. strong, destructive winds, dry air, low, relative humidity. this is all a recipe for disaster. the national weather service in the los angeles weather service office actually calling this the most life-threatening and destructive wind event since 2011. that's really saying something. winds could gust. get this, kasie, as high as 100 miles per hour in some of those higher elevations and we know that is a terrible, terrible recipe for southern california considering how dry it is. >> yeah, for real. derek van dam for us this morning. derek, always grateful for you. thank you so much. ahead here on "cnn this morning," passing donald trump's÷÷agenda. how republicans face a time crunch before the president- elect is even sworn in. plus, vice president kamala harris certifies her own election defeat. >> it was about what should

be the norm, and what the american people should be able to take for granted which is that one of the most important pillars of our democracy is that there will be a peaceful transfer of power.

5:30 a.m. on the east coast. here's a look at the city of brotherly love, philadelphia,

blanketed in snow this morning. good morning, everyone. i'm kasie hunt. it's wonderful to have you with us. before donald trump is even sworn in, republicans find themselves up against the clock when koimts it comes to passing the ambitious agenda. no president since jimmy carter has maintained control of both houses of congress through the midterm election. if that trend continues, the window of opportunity for republicans shrinks to less than two years. that's something that president barack obama was keenly aware of back in 2010. >> that kind of environment, the easiest thing to do was to say, things aren't good enough now.÷÷throw the bums out. that's going to be their message particularly since we have control of the house and the senate as well as the white house. >> of course, you'll remember the tea party wave that overtook the country in 2010. our next guest, ron brownstein says the tough time

frame feeds the widening divide between the parties and he writes, quote, the short shelf life of modern ÷÷government goes without notice, ÷÷it has shaped behavior subtly discouraging compromise, and pushing the majority to stuff the top priorities of each incoming president into one massive legislative package as republicans are poised to attempt again this year, and ron brownstein joins us now. ron, good morning to you. fascinating piece as always. you're underscoring -- this was a reality for me covering congress in recent decades.÷÷it was these big packages where anything was actually going to happen at all basically, and it seems like the trump team knows that. >> yeah, you know, this is one of those trends, kasie, there are many in which our modern politics is really different from what has been the case for ÷÷most of american history, but it's so much a part of our experience we don't even really notice it or comment on it, but the fact is that every

president who has gone into a midterm with unified control of government since jimmy carter, has lost it. biden in '22, trump in '18, obama in '10, george w. bush in '06, bill clinton in 1994. that is the longest streak in american history of presidents ÷÷who had unified control going into a midterm and then saw voters who had streaks of four before, in the 19th century, but we're at five, and with republicans clinging to a ÷÷220- seat majority in the house, ÷÷it would not surprise anyone, i think, if we get to six in 2026, and what that means is as you noted, there is a very tight time frame for republicans to pass their legislative agenda which centers on extending the trump tax cut of a cost of at least $4 trillion, plus his new additions over the next decade, and when you have that kind of tight time frame and you're looking at using the

reconciliation tool as kind of an omnibus attempt as you can, you don't have a lot of incentive to work with the other party and the other party doesn't have as much incentive to work with you as they used to because they are fairly confident, rightly or not, that in two years the wheel is going to spin and they'll be back in control.÷÷it's a very different world even though it's kind of happened without us really taking notice of it. >> yeah. it is a -- it is remarkable because it's a little bit like a frog in boiling water, right?÷÷when you live it every day, you almost don't notice it's evolving.÷÷it's interesting you pointed out. you mentioned jimmy carter in the context of this.÷÷he is coming up to washington, ÷÷d.c. today to the state. i have been listening to some of what you have had to say about him on the air in recent days. how would you reflect on him, his presidency, his post- presidency, and what it says or doesn't say about how ÷÷our country has changed and where we are now?

>> yeah, you know, look. as i said, i think in office, ÷÷carter was a symbol and a trigger really of cultural reconciliation, but of kind of further political provision. he was someone who bridged a lot of the social divides that it opened during the 1960s, you know, a military veteran, part of the vietnam draft resisters, evangelical christian who welcomed and celebrated rock 'n' rollers, and so that was all ÷÷kind of a unifying theme, but as president, he presided over and really accelerated the dissolution of the democratic coalition. he was kind of the last hope of democrats of holding white southerners, conservative, white southerners, blue collar northern ethnics along with their evolving constituency, and it all kind of -- he could not manage it in office, and, you know, the fissures in

the democratic coalition widened under him to the point he was routed in 1980. after he left office though, he really invented i think, the modern role of the post-presidency. dwight eisenhower and lynnson johnson, they weren't citizens ÷÷of the world. they went home to the ranch and i think carter created the mold that most presidents who followed him tried to meet of looking for ways to leverage the extraordinary convening power ÷÷that still adheres to an american president after he leaves office to do good at, you know, following their term, and ÷÷he is sort of the inventor. he was the creation in many ways of that kind of vision of what the post- presidency could be. >> really interesting way to ÷÷think about it. ron brownstein, so grateful to have your perspective on the show. thanks for being here today. >> thanks for having me. all right. let's turn now to this. special counsel jack smith's final report on the federal investigations into donald trump expected to be released in the coming days, but not unless the president -- but not if the

president- elect gets his way. trump's attorneys now threatening legal action if smith makes the report public. the latest court filings including a letter from his co-defendants asking judge eileen cannon -- remember, she's the one in the federal documents case, to block the release of the report because she previously ruled its misappointment was unlawful. joey jackson joins us now. joey, good morning. is there any hope for the trump team to actually have this be blocked? is that possible or do you think÷÷the public is going to get to see this? >> reporter: so verything's possible, kasie. good morning to you, but certainly a case that jack smith worked on, a prosecution he worked on for a period of time. there's a public imperative to release it at least to congress. i think you may see its release with significant redactions meaning things that are taken out of the report really pertaining to the codefendants in the case,

right? because trump is not going to face prosecution, and of course, the judge overseeing the case, right? said, hey. special counsel doesn't have authority. all the cases are dismissed, but÷÷we know as it relates to the other codefendants even though trump is not involved, right? there's an appeal to that, and ÷÷if you release this information, boy would they be prejudiced and÷÷how would they get a fair trial with all this information out there? like everything, it'll be subject to controversy and there's a major race against the clock because who controls the justice department now? biden and garland does. who will control it, you know, mere weeks from now? trump will. so it's a race against time, but it's likely that we'll see it with significant redactions, removed from it. >> joey, we've spent a lot of time talking about the various threats that donald trump has made against for example, the members of the january 6th committee. he has made no secret of his displeasure with jack smith at the special counsel. what are the chances do you think that he

may face legal ÷÷trouble himself from a trump justice department? >> reporter: it is concerning. i think it's concerning as it relates to garland, as it relates to jack smith, as it relates to anyone who might not be in line or in favor of the incoming president, and so i think there are ways, right? against that. you could look to have biden ÷÷pre- emptively pardoned. jack smith and others who may be subject to political prosecutions.÷÷there's been a lot of discussion, kasie about this whole weaponization of the justice department meaning that the prosecutions are not predicated upon law and facts. they're predicated upon who's your enemy, who's not? who do you like, and who don't? i think it really is troubling and problematic, the time we're in, and we might see before he leaves office, biden taking some steps to protect people who have worked for him like garland who we just saw, the attorney general, and of course, jack smith, the special prosecutor.÷÷it's real. >> yeah. for sure. all right, so joey, just

briefly, rudy giuliani being held in contempt because he hasn't turned over his various assets to the election workers ÷÷that he has been convicted of defaming. what's next there? >> reporter: yeah. so what's next is that there will be a trial to determine, you know, just backing up very briefly, kasie, what happens is ÷÷this is a distinction between winning a civil case, and we know that udy giuliani was found liable for defamation for the tune of $240 million. there's a distinction between monetary judgment and collecting the judgment, and so here in order to collect the judgment, right? the plaintiffs' attorneys, miss freeman and her daughter have looked to get this money. rudy giuliani is not being cooperative with respect to giving what he owes, with respect to sharing information. he's in contempt. he's trying to protect, briefly, his florida home. if he can establish that home is÷÷a home he lives in, it gets protected. if it's just another asset, it

doesn't, so there will be a trial as to that, and the judge will prohibit him from really making the argument that it's his home because he hasn't provided information to that fact, and so what's next is really interesting as to whether÷÷they can get these assets and get paid the judgment that they want. >> all right, joey jackson for us this morning. sir, always grateful to have you. thank you so much for being here. >> thanks, kasie. coming up here after the ÷÷break, this has got to sting a little. vice president kamala harris presiding over congress to certify the election that she ÷÷lost. plus, the new england patriots owner delivering a blow to its newest head coach.

let's say you're deep in a show or a game or the game. on a train, at home, at work. okay, maybe not at work. point is at xfinity. we're constantly engineering new ways to get the entertainment you love to you faster and easier than ever. that's what i do. is that love island?

the votes for president of the united states are as follows. donald j. trump of the state of florida has received 312 votes. kamala d. harris -- kamala d. harris of the state of california has received 226 votes. wow. quite a moment. kamala harris making it official presiding over congress as they certified the 2024 election results, and as you heard there, her own loss to donald trump. monday's events on the hill stood in stark contrast to what happened four years ago when a violent mob stormed the capitol to contest joe biden's 2020 electoral victory. harris telling reporters that what took place yesterday, well, it should be and really has been except for 2021, the norm.

>> and today i did what i have done my entire career, which is take seriously the oath that i have taken many times to support and defend the constitution of the united states which included today, performing my constitutional duties to ensure that the people of america, the voters of america will have their votes counted, that those votes matter, and that they will determine then the outcome of an÷÷election. >> and joining us now to discuss, kevin frye, washington correspondent. kevin, good morning. >> good morning. >> remarkable to see her read that, you know. >> yeah. >> but also worth noting that we saw al gore do it in 2000, right? this is supposed to be a normal -- it's supposed to be boring, right? most people -- >> like, mundane. >> most people would never want ÷÷to watch it on tv, but considering what happened in ÷÷2021, it simply wasn't, and one ÷÷of the things that we saw yesterday was a tweet from mike pence who of course, came under

incredible pressure in 2021, but did his duty and he wrote this. i also commend the members of ÷÷the house senate and the vice president who did their duty under the constitution of the united states. it being particularly admirable that vice president harris would preside over the case of a presidential election that she lost. it shouldn't have to be noteworthy to point that out, but it is. >> if anything, that kind of defines the trump rae in era in broad strokes, that we have to make so much news that basic norms are being followed, but that's ÷÷essentially what played out yesterday, and what is remarkable, there's reporting that mike pence apparently told ÷÷al gore or at least took some inspiration from al gore when he was a member of the congress watching him perform this sort of duty where he had to announce to the world that the man he ran against and contested in the supreme court was ultimately the winner of this contest. >> that election of course, being decided by

hundreds of votes in one state. there has been this sort of rewriting or attempted rewriting of history. >> yeah. >> by president- elect donald trump. here was marjorie taylor greene, a trump ally, on monday. watch. >> it's absurd. january 6th was not an ÷÷insurrection. i'm completely sick and tired and fed up of the democrats' narrative, the media narrative, and it's a total lie.÷÷today is a great day. >> and that of course, something÷÷that, you know, clearly there are a lot of voters out there who didn't think that what happened on january 6th was disqualifying enough not to vote for donald trump. >> that's the extraordinary thing. you talk to democrats and ones i spoke to yesterday are really concerned about the idea of whitewashing this event into basically to oblivion that you look at it as marjorie tame ylor

greene there, and it was a beautiful day, according to who you talk to, but at the same time, voters know at they voted for. this is not out of the bloodstream and some surprise, and certainly trump has made part of his argument on the campaign trail, even if it ÷÷wasn't the dominating message. he did not make any sort of ÷÷efforts to hide the fact that he seems to want to pardon some number of these january 6th defendants. who they are is that the proud boys and those that literally attacked police officers. is it a different cohort, that he hasn't fully outlined and explained? we just simply do not know yet, but that's the kind of fine line that democrats kind of have to acquiesce to. >> indeed they did. thank you. appreciate it. time now for sports. patriots owner robert kraft says he takes full responsibility after firing his head coach after just a single season. coy wire has the cnn sports update. good

morning. >> good morning to you, kasie. the patriots didn't even wait until the so- called black monday. robert kraft decided to fire the head coach almost immediately after his team beat the bills in the season finale.÷÷mayo was hired as bill belichick's hand- picked successor last year, but the pats only managed to win four games.÷÷they ended p costing them the number one pick in the draft. kraft took ownership yesterday. >> this whole situation is on me. i feel terrible for jerod because i put him in an untenable situation.÷÷i know that he has all the tools as a head coach to be successful in this league. he just needed more time before taking the job. >> there are now five coaching vacancies in the nfl. patriots along with the jaguars, bears, saints, and jets. the college football playoffs

semifinals kick off on thursday and friday, but all eyes were on the fcs championship game last night featuring one of the most prominent programs in sports. north dakota state taking on montana state. the bison taking on a 21-3 halftime lead after a pair of running touchdowns, and a passing td by chamomiler am cam miller. montana state cut the lead to within three late in the fourth, but they could not convert on that on- side kick attempt. north dakota state wins 35-32, a record tenth national title in 14 seasons. to the nba, suns head coach mike moved beal. he did not pout. he showed a 105- 99 win.

afterwards the 39-year- old said ÷÷it was a little difficult making the switch. >> coach made me sit. i'm not going to sit there and argue with him. i don't want to be a distraction and be [ bleep ]. he made his decision. he's the coach. you know what i'm saying? i play my game and do what i'm doing. whatever happens from there, happens from there. >> victor wembanyama played a game of one on one last night in chess. the 7'4" frenchman taking on the mascot in the middle of the warmups. trying to put chicago in check with 14 points, and 8 blocks, but it was kobe white calling checkmate, going straight magnus carlson on wemby. 15 second to go right on wemby's head. white finished with 23 of his own in a 114- 110 win. chicago has won 4 of the last 5 games. finally a goalie submitting three save of the year candidates in one game.

the new jersey devils, markstrom, denying just like my wife denies my share of the comforter at night. that foot stretched out like panty hose on hippos. that save denying the kraken again. the focus is unreal. then this wrister. he denies that. he's flailing, falling to his back, but kasie, he comes through with the stick save as the puck is about to go in. incredible. devils win 3- 2, being 6'6," and a contortionist like that, kasie, is just unreal athleticism. >> unreal. i'm counting down the seconds, coy, until you get a text from your wife about the comforter. >> she knows. >> how nice. coy, thank you. i appreciate it. see you soon. coming up next on "cnn this morning," elon musk wading into european politics. how the presence of the world's richest man is playing in trump world. plus, dashing through the snow. while the winter storm has caused headaches for millions, the pandas here in

d.c. would not have been happier about it.

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it's tuesday, january 7th right now. >> we have a new star. a star is born, elon. >> musk is ing waves, dipping his toes into international politics. plus -- >> there's merit to a one-bill strategy, and there's merit to the two-bill.