>> booked on jimmy kimmel donald trump gets the dr. seuss treatment but during a campaign stop out west, he read jeb bush the riot act. again. and disconnected. what the pentagon is saying about the defense secretary conducting official business on a personal e-mail account, even after the controversy surrounding hillary clinton. plus -- >> all night all day we will fight for freddie gray. >> baltimore on edge after the first of six cases connected to freddie gray's death results in a mistrial. it's 5:30 on the east coast, 2:30 out west, and this is "way too early." >> good morning, it's thursday december 17th, i'm jonathan capehart. baltimore prepared for the worst but so far the city has remained

relatively calm after a mistrial in the case of the first officer tried in the death of freddie gray. officer william porter pleaded not guilty to manslaughter, second degree assault, reckless endangerment, and misconduct in office. he's accused of failing to provide gray with medical help when he complained of breathing trouble while being transported in the back of a police van. the 25-year-old died a week later from a spinal injury. defense attorneys argued that the officer's response was by the book, and that he did what any reasonable officer would do. late into day two of deliberations the jury sent the judge a note saying they were deadlocked. however he told them to re-examine the case and sent them back to confer. then yesterday, still unable to agree on a single charge, the judge declared a mistrial. according to the clerk's office the judge is meeting with attorneys today to discuss a, quote, new trial date. news of the mistrial sparked protests into the night, as you see here, some demonstrators managed to block downtown traffic for a short time.

there were also scuffles with police outside the courthouse, and two people were arrested. but things remained mostly peaceful. >> all of us, if we believe in justice, must have respect for the outcome of the judicial process. if some choose to protest, they must peacefully demonstrate. that is their right. we will not, and cannot, be defined by the unrest of last spring. >> the pentagon acknowledged yesterday that the defense secretary ash carter used a personal e-mail account to conduct government business during his first months on the job. "the new york times" reported that it obtained 72 work-related e-mails that carter sent or received from his personal account against defense department rules. in a statement to the "times," a pentagon spokesman writes after reviewing his e-mail practices earlier this year the secretary believes that his previous occasional use of personal

e-mail for work-related business, even for routine administrative issues and backed up to his official account, was a mistake. as a result, he stopped such use of his personal e-mail, and further limited his use of e-mail altogether. but white house and defense department officials tell the "times" he continued to use it for at least two months after reports surfaced about hillary clinton's use of a personal account while she was secretary of state. and while the pentagon's statement acknowledged secretary carter's occasional use of personal e-mail, one former aide to carter tells the "times" that he used his personal account so often that members of his staff feared he'd be hacked. the paper also reports that the pentagon spoke -- the pentagon spokesman declined to answer a question about whether or not carter had violated defense department e-mail policies. now, on to politics, fresh off his debate performance tuesday night, donald trump flew in to mesa, arizona for a campaign rally with thousands at an airport hangar. with less than seven weeks until

iowa, trump talked about his campaign and said he could do without the support of jeb bush. >> everyone i go i have crowds like this. everywhere. everywhere. we have the biggest crowds by far. because there's a movement going on, folks. this isn't just like let's go and have a good time. somebody said oh, trump's a great entertainer. that's a lot of bull [ bleep ] i'll tell you. we have a message. we have a message. and the message is, we don't want to let other people take advantage of us. last night, so oh, i had jeb come at me. you know, low energy. no, i'm standing there and all of a sudden i hear this, you know, donald trump did -- you know, it's just like -- he -- he said it, just the way his pollster told him to say it. jeb bush to this point has spent over $40 million for ads.

he's at 2. 2. donald trump till this point has spent $211,000. i don't even know why i spent it. i have endorsements from incredible people. the people that i want. you know, i don't care if a guy like jeb bush never endorses me. it wouldn't bother me at all. i think it's a negative, if you want. i just hope you go out and vote. because, you know, we have a little structural problem, where the republicans have a disadvantage at an election. so unless it's going to be a movement type of event like i think is happening, where we can actually run the whole -- we can run the table on them, but unless it's going to be something like i see happening, i mean look at you in the middle of a day, you don't want to be -- you're sitting in a hangar with thousands and thousands of people. something is going on, and it's beautiful to see. >> questions over the authenticity of president obama's birth certificate were also raised at yesterday's rally by sheriff joe arpaio, who also

spoke when trump held a massive gathering in phoenix this summer. >> if you recall five months ago, i introduced donald trump. at that time i said a few things. we have something in common. the birth certificate investigation, which is still going on. >> arpaio's office has been investigating the president's birthplace for years. on tuesday night trump would still not answer whether he believes barack obama was eligible to be president. >> is donald trump honest when he says that barack obama isn't a legitimate president? >> here's the thing, i don't answer because if i do answer that's all people want to talk about -- >> you're going to have to answer in a general election. >> are you going to take the oval office, when the president leaving the office isn't legitimate? >> but i don't answer that question because once i answer the question they don't want to talk about the economy, they don't want to talk about all the other -- >> no, it's over. we catholics believe in

confession. you say you were wrong and you move on. you really believe this guy's a nonlegitimate question? >> i don't want to answer the question. i don't want to answer the question. >> and last night trump appeared on jimmy kimmel live after having to cancel an appearance earlier this year. kimmel pressed trump on his immigration policy, especially as it relates to one of the show's regulars. >> you talked about sending everyone back who is not supposed to be -- not in this country legally. guillermo came here illegally. thank god he got -- he went through the process and got -- [ applause ] i mean, first of all, he's adorable and i feel like that should account for something. >> he's got major star, folks. >> aren't the people that -- don't we want people who want to be here so badly that they will risk everything to be in america and to be an american? aren't those the people that we want in this country? >> well, you know, it is true. and we love -- [ applause ] -- i have thousands of hispanics that have worked for me over the

years, worked for me now. we have thousands, mexico, all over the place. they're unbelievable people. what i'm saying is they have to come in through a legal process. and they're going to come in and we want to have that door. you know we talk about the wall. we're going to big a wall but we're going to have a big, beautiful door. we want people to come in. we want people to come in legally. >> i feel like in a way, though, we should let the mexicans in and kick a bunch of these did's lot of americans should be kicked out. >> one of the biggest exchanges of tuesday night's debate was among marco rubio and ted cruz on where texans stood on undocumented immigrants. >> does ted cruz rule out legalizing people in this country illegally now. do you rule it out? >> i have never supported legalization and i do not intend to support legalization. >> but cruz and rubio supported the same 2013 bill with a path to legalization. cruz introduced an amendment to the measure which would have eliminated a path to citizenship, but offered a route to legal work permits and green

cards for those already in the country illegally. cruz said he never supported the bill last night. >> the fact that i introduced an amendment to remove part of the gang of eight bill doesn't mean i support the rest of the gang of eight bill. the gang of eight bill was a mess. it was a terrible bill. >> wait a second, senator -- i mean that's not what you said at the time. that is not what you said at the time. and yahoo! dug up these quotes from back then. you said if this amendment were to pass the chances of this bill passing into law would increase dramatically. a few weeks later, during a debate on the senate floor, cruz repeated his belief that this amendment is the compromise that can pass. and you repeated later in princeton that if my amendment were adopted this bill would pass. it sounded like you wanted the bill to pass. >> of course i wanted the bill to pass. my amendment to pass. what my amendment did -- >> you said the bill. >> is take citizenship off the table. but it doesn't mean -- what it doesn't mean that i supported the other aspects of the bill.

>> democratic front-runner hillary clinton picked up the endorsement of billionaire investor warren buffett yesterday. during their joint appearance in buffett's hometown of omaha, nebraska, clinton expressed support for the buffett rule which calls on millionaires to pay an income tax rate of at least 30%. and in his introduction, buffett praised clinton as the best candidate in the field to tackle income and wealth inequality. >> the odds, you know, the game has been stacked in her direction. and that's a primary reason, there are a lot of other reasons, but it's a primary reason why i'm going to be so delighted when secretary clinton takes the oval office. >> buffett's endorsement comes as a new monmouth university poll shows clinton ahead of bernie sanders by more than 30 points nationwide. that lead is unchanged since october. let's turn now to business, where the federal reserve finally did it yesterday, ending months of speculation by

announcing that it would raise short-term interest rates for the first time in nearly a decade. while the increase of a quarter of a percentage point was widely expected, it signals a historic turning point. >> this action marks the end of an extraordinary seven-year period during which the federal funds rate was held near zero to support the recovery of the economy from the worst financial crisis and recession since the great depression. the first thing that americans should realize is that the fed's decision today reflects our confidence in the u.s. economy. >> fed officials also made clear they intend to raise rates gradually, and only if economic growth continues. cnbc's steve sedgwick joins us live from london for more. steve, finally. >> yeah, finally. jonathan, i'm going to correct you on one little point. you said months of speculation.

this has been going on for years people have been worried about when this hike is -- seriously. half my lifetime in this business. we finally got it. we haven't seen a rate hike since 2006, so thank goodness chairwoman yellen has got on with it as well. gradual pace. they called this one a dovish rate hike as well. a rate hike in itself is hawkish, aggressive tightening, but dovish because it's going to be a gradual pace of tightening as the economic data warrants further tightening. but even so, there is still an expectation by the end of next year, rates will be 1% higher around about 1.375. another percent on top of that by the end of 2017. what does it mean for our viewers? it doesn't necessarily mean much to your mortgage rate because your mortgage rate had already factored this in. the 30-year rate has been around 3.9% to 4% for quite awhile. most of this year, actually, as well. and your credit card bills, well they're not going to change much, 16% is the mean there, compare that with the fed funds rate of 0.25 to 0.5 of 1% you can see really there's a healthy margin for the credit card owners on that one, as well.

so it's all about this gradual path as well. and it's going to be about the data. what is very interesting is the market as i say has been worrying about this, jonathan, for so many years. the concern was that we see markets selling off on the back of tighter money. they didn't. they rallied and they've taken janet yellen at her word that it means that the economy is doing rather well, as well. back to you. >> that's terrific. steve sedgwick from london. thanks very much. a day after los angeles school officials canceled all classes over a threat that turned out to be a hoax, two more school districts said they received similar messages. school district officials in houston told parents in an automated voice message last night that the threat did not appear to be credible. but police were sweeping campuses as a precaution. meanwhile, in miami-dade county schools, they also received a threat last night though authorities deemed it less than credible. both districts are expected to open as usual this morning. president obama will travel to san bernardino tomorrow. he'll be meeting privately with the families of the victims killed in the terrorist attack

earlier this month. we've also learned that the two shooters responsible for the attack have been buried. representatives for the family of syed farook have confirmed that burial took place on tuesday. the inland regional center, the scene of the terrorist attack, will partially reopen next month. employees will return to two of its main buildings. a third building, where the actual shooting took place, will remain closed indefinitely. meanwhile, homeland security secretary jeh johnson announced a new security alert system yesterday. under the new system, bulletins will be issued updating the public about any potential terrorist threats. five marines and a sailor who were shot when a gunman attacked two military sites in chattanooga, tennessee, will be awarded purple hearts. the military made the announcement yesterday. five of the six victims died in the july shooting. after the incident, authorities debated the motivation behind the attack, but yesterday, for the first time, fbi director james comey linked the shooting to terrorism. >> to my mind there's no doubt

that the chattanooga killer was inspired, motivated, by foreign terrorist organization propaganda. we've investigated from the beginning as a terrorist case. >> the mother of marine lance corporal skip wells, one of the victims in the attack, spoke with the nbc affiliate in atlanta shortly after the fbi's announcement. >> i knew. i didn't need the fbi director to tell me. we all knew what it was. . the picture said it. you know, it's like lowering the flags. why does it take so long to lower the flags? >> still ahead on "way too early," a giant of women's soccer leaves the pitch for the final time. abby wambach on why she's leaving the game she's helped define. plus -- tom is a great guy and i guess there was something where he was -- everyone was saying what about donald trump, what about this, what about that? and they had to end the news conference. but i want to tell you something, tom brady is a winner. >> tom brady ends a news

conference over donald trump. we'll explain why when "way too early" comes right back. ♪

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imagine loving your numbers. there's only one invokana®. ask your doctor about it by name. tom have you seen the cover of the daily news and how do you feel about people criticizing your relationship with donald trump? >> i don't think about it much. i got to like, you know, it's a tough week, i got a lot of football stuff to think about. >> you opened the door to some criticism, you regret opening the door when you do talk about it? >> like i said, i'm just here to play football. thanks, guys. >> tom brady ending his news conference after being asked about this controversial front page of yesterday's daily news, and his support for donald trump. sticking with the nfl, following a season of glaring officiating flubs, the league has announced adjustments for the playoffs. the league office will now play a larger role in communicating

with referees during games. including rulings in situations not currently covered by instant replay reviews. now to an historic evening in u.s. women's soccer. amy wambach played her final game with the u.s. women's national soccer team last night. the 35-year-old striker left the pitch in the 72nd minute to a cheering crowd. handed off her captain's arm band and kicked off her cleats for the last time. wambach ends her career with 184 international goals. a record number for both men and women. she's earned two olympic gold medals, and helped lead team usa to a world cup title last year. but it was a bittersweet departure. wambach was unable to add to her goal total, as china ended the americans' 104-game winning streak at home. which began more thandie decade ago. final score 1-0. let's get a check on your weather with nbc meteorologist bill karins.

bill? >> hey, jonathan. the warmth continues, but the rain, too, on the east coast. we did see a lot of heavy rain in iowa. waterloo, iowa had a little problem with too much rain too fast and this vehicle got a little stranded and a little stuck there. that has since that water's receded and we're watching that storm system now pushing to the east. we also have a huge storm in the northwest today. and that storm is going to cause a lot of problems in oregon and i-5. this storm is huge up there in a gulf of alaska. that moisture streaming all the way to the west. you're going to hear a lot of story there's. here's the radar out of that region with all the rain in green and the white is the snow. let's bring you now to the east coast. heavy rain in georgia. it's amazing to talk about the middle of december and we have just rain. there's no ice. there's no snow. this is just all rain all the way up into southern canada. that's how warm it is out there this morning. but it will be a solid shield of rain over the appalachians and then pushing over areas of the big cities this afternoon. here's kind of the timing of it. at 1:00 the rain is steady from d.c. to new york through philadelphia, through virginia, and then by the time we get to the evening rush hour, it starts

to taper off on i-95 south of new york but up there in southern new england your rainy period will be early this evening. by 11:00 p.m., up into northern new england. as far as the cold goes, jonathan. it's cold in denver, minneapolis and northern plains. the east coast gets a breathe chill, jonathan, and then we're going to be barbecuing over christmas. with temperatures in the 50s and 60s once again. >> wow. that might be for you. i'm going to north dakota so it will be a white christmas. >> you're going to north dakota? >> we'll talk about it tomorrow. still ahead, music royalty. find out who just made the rock 'n' roll hall of fame after being passed over three times already.

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so what do nwa, cheap trick, chicago, steve miller band and deep purple have in common? they're all set to john the pantheon that is the rock 'n' roll hall of fame at its 31st induction ceremony this spring. it was the first time on the ballot for cheap trick, chicago and steve miller while nwa and deep purple are three-time nominees. among those who did not make the cut, nine inch nails the smiths and chic which has now been turned down for a record tenth time. what's wrong with you people, chic is hot. american politics are known for being bare knuckled but spain may be even worse. spain's prime minister was punched in the face during a campaign stop yesterday. video of the attack shows a man in the crowd approaching the

prime minister before suddenly punching him in the face. the man reportedly asked for a picture with the politician before punching him. police say the attacker was 17 years old. he was arrested on the scene. he didn't suffer any serious injury though he appeared later with a red mark on his face. now one last story this morning, president obama's appearance on running wild with bear grylls airs tonight on nbc. the famed survivalist took the president on a tour through the alaskan wilderness to bring attention to climate change. there were also some personal moments like when bear asked the president for a favor. >> i got one favor to ask. >> go ahead. >> i promised my wife, i said, i'll get you to sign something. >> of course. >> the only thing i could find in the airport -- >> oh, this is the classic. >> it is. >> this is a classic. >> but it is amazing. >> bottle opener. >> the thing is you look ripped. >> i am pretty ripped, actually. i'm fairly cut, but, it's possible that that bottle opener

is a little dated. i notice, for example, there was no gray hair on the obama -- >> finish this -- >> that was incredible. that does it for me and "way too early." coming up on "morning joe," the republican debate ended tuesday night but donald trump and jeb bush are still swinging at each other. "the washington post's" robert costa and "the new york times'" jeremy peters are here with new reporting. plus presidential candidate mike huckabee joins the conversation. "morning joe" is just moments away. ♪ every insurance policy has a number. but not every insurance company understands the life behind it. for those who've served and the families who've supported them, we offer our best service in return. ♪ usaa. we know what it means to serve. get an insurance quote and see why

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