read "march," including the approximately 14 gazillion of you to whom i sent the book and demanded you must read. john lewis, national book award recipient. best new thing in the world. now it's time for "the last word with lawrence o'donnell." see y again tomorrow. "first look" is up next. i can't believe is being considered, mitt romney, who is meeting with donald trump this weekend, reportedly to talk about becoming secretary of state. mitt romney didn't even vote for donald trump. remember how they said trump is keeping a list of his enemies? turns out he was keeping it so he could offer them jobs afterwards. maybe trump is screwing with them and wants them to come to the office. you're fired. fired from what? doesn't matter, get lost. >> president-elect donald trump is looking to fill another top spot in his administration. lieutenant general michael flynn is expected to be the next national security adviser. he brings with him experience and controversy. plus, bernie sanders argues

the democratic party is in need of a new direction. also, a new report reveals more than 20 million americans are struggling with substance addiction and some of the hardest hit by the epidemic are children. hey there, good morning, everyone, it is friday, november 18th. i'm alex witt alongside ali velshi. a senior transition official confirms president-elect trump has asked lieutenant general michael flynn to serve as his national security adviser. flynn had trump's ear on security matters during the campaign. he's helped drive the president-elect's policy on russia and against islamic terror. the previous comments have given many pause about his hire, and flynn has a collegial

relationship with vladimir putin, shown here seated next to putin. and the new york times reports a strong divide, some in estonia, for instance, are assuaged by trump's peaceful overtures to putin, "widespread in russian speaking communities in the balkans and beyond and contrast starkly with the alarm, even panic, where vladimir putin is viewed as a threat that must be resisted, not appeased." meanwhile, nbc confirms mitt romney, who famously warned about the rise of vladimir putin, is set to meet with trump this weekend. a source close to trump told nbc news the 2012 gop presidential nominee is being considered for secretary of state, a stunning turn given romney's frequent criticism of trump. >> donald trump tells us that he

is very, very smart. i'm afraid, though, when it comes to foreign policy, he is very, very not smart. donald trump says he admires vladimir putin. at the same time, he's called george w. bush a liar. that is a twisted example of evil trumping good. his foreign policies would make america and the world less safe. he has neither the temperament nor the judgment to be president, and his personal qualities would mean that american would cease to be a shining city on a hill. >> other names are falling from favor, like newt gingrich, once rumored for secretary of state himself, he tells nbc news he won't be in the cabinet, saying, i want to focus on strategic planning of the emerging republican party. and there are growing pains for multiple federal agencies. multiple senior intelligence officials tell nbc news they are preparing for the most difficult transition since 2001, saying

agencies are being left in the dark, learning more from news media than the trump team itself, ali? house minority leader nancy pelosi is officially facing competition for the top spot in the democratic caucus. tim ryan announced he will challenge pelosi for her leadership position. during a briefing yesterday, pelosi announced confidence she would retain her post. >> house democrats must be unified, strategic, and unwavering. those same attributes served us well in 2006 when we won the house, and i'm hopeful that i believe they will do so again. without even asking anybody for a vote, i have over two-thirds of the caucus supporting me. it's a funny thing in a caucus or any place when somebody challenges you, your supporters turn out, both internally in the caucus and in the country. >> i personally don't believe that we can win the house back

with the current leadership. i just don't think so, and i hate to say it, i love nancy pelosi, but i don't think we can do it. >> you realize she has two-thirds of the caucus? >> no, i don't. no, i don't. >> yesterday bernie sanders talked about the future of the democratic party. >> the democratic party has got to recognize, and i'm not here to blame anybody, not to criticize anybody, but facts are facts. when you lose the white house to the least popular candidate in the history of america, when you lose the senate, when you lose the house, and when two-thirds of governors in this country are republicans, it is time for a new direction for the democratic party. >> japanese prime minister shinzo abe met with president-elect trump yesterday at trump tower. it was trump's first in-person meeting with a foreign leader

since the election. abe said the meeting was cordial and can dat and as a result of meeting trump he said he's a leader with whom i can have great confidence in. the two found common ground on golf. the prime minister also presented the president-elect with a japanese-made golf club. trump gave abe a golf shirt. >> okay. at this hour president obama is wrapping up the second leg of his final tour as president, departing germany a short time from now. moments ago the president held a highly anticipated meeting with german leaders. british tremendous theresa may, francois hollande, and the leaders of italy and spain. traveling with the president is chris jansing. donald trump has certainly loomed large over the trip,

hasn't he? >> reporter: no doubt. the official agenda is trade, it's syria, it's climate change, it's all about the issues you would expect the united states shares with europe, but i think the tv station here, one of the major networks on their website put it best, they called it "the have no fear trip." the president has spent a lot of his time trying to reassure foreign leaders, at the same time understanding their concerns. a little earlier you played -- putin with the concern he wants to have a closer relationship with him, even as there are reports they are talking about extending sanctions against russia over its intervention in ukraine, so the president addressing that concern yesterday with this warning to trump. >> there's some significant differences in how russia views the world and how we view the

world. my hope is the president-elect coming in takes a similarly constructive approach, finding areas where we can cooperate with russia, where our values and interests align. but that the president-elect also is willing to stand up to russia where they are deviating from our values and international norms. >> reporter: yeah, and the president also suggested to the president-elect you have to take the job seriously or you won't be around very long. he's got a lot more aggressive in his comments as the trip has gone on. after that meeting he's going to be getting on a plane and heading to peru where he's going to face asia pacific nation leaders. a lot of the talk there is going to be about trade. in the meantime we'll be hearing individually from these european leaders, including a press conference with the uk's theresa

may. alex? >> all right, chris jansing, we appreciate that. thank you. ali? >> well, the surgeon general is out with an eye-opening report on substance abuse. 78 people die each day from opioid overdoses and more people now use prescription opioids than tobacco. one in five americans binge drink, and the number of people with a substance abuse disorder is one and a half times greater than those suffering from any form of cancer, yet only 10% receive treatment for it. in 2014, drug and alcohol overdoses killed more people than car accidents did and all this comes with a hefty price tag, costing americans more than $420 billion a year. and some of the hardest hit by the growing epidemic, children of people living with addiction. nbc's kate snow reports. >> because my dad still -- >> i'm sitting on my bed petting

his dog and it's nighttime and my parents are yelling in the hallway. >> reporter: these are some of the youngest victims of heroin abuse. 13-year-old gracie and her 10-year-old brother are showing how they felt and what happened when their dad was using drugs. what is addiction? >> it's a disease, like with drugs and alcohol. >> reporter: what about heroin, what's that do to your body? >> it makes you happy, but not really happy. >> what do you want to tell addiction? >> reporter: they've been to a special program near denver for children of recovering addicts. >> i call these boys and girls silent and invisible. children are first hurt and last helped. >> reporter: for years, 8-year-old caden's parents were both addicted to heroin. >> my mom and dad used to make these on metal. >> like on tinfoil? like burnt kind of? >> uh-huh. >> reporter: took me a second, i think he was talking about foils for heroin.

>> we were smoking heroin, we would do it in the car, while we were driving. >> reporter: his mom nicole said they'd sometimes forget to feed him. he missed 40 days of kindergarten. gracie and wessen noticed their dad was sleeping all the time, not understanding jerry, a paramedic and firefighter, was addicted to pills and then heroin. once he got helped, he realized his kids needed it, too. >> i realized i wasn't the only one who had these problems, but i still kind of felt alone at the time. >> reporter: what happened when you came here? >> i felt protected. i felt safe. >> reporter: jerry is back at work, 15 months clean. people might say, you know, how could you do that to your kids? >> a lot of guilt and a lot of remor remorse, and, you know, seeing their pictures, stuff they draw. >> there's a lot of guilt and shame. he's still very, very sad a lot of the times, too. this program was able to help him in children's terms.

>> reporter: nicole has been sober 18 months and can finally embrace being a mom. >> because for so long i -- i didn't have feelings. i would numb them out, and i didn't know how rewarding being a mom could be. >> reporter: jerry's wife ann says the kids see his strength. >> this is not something you need to be ashamed of. it's become a family struggle, but it's something to take pride in now. >> reporter: kids and parents finding recovery for the whole family. >> and our thanks to kate snow for that report. still ahead, major league baseball announces its most valuable players. and donald trump's biggest campaign promise was job creation. those stories and a check on weather when we come right back. he gets a lot of compliments.

he wears his army hat, walks around with his army shirt looking all nice. and then people just say, "thank you for serving our country" and i'm like, that's my dad. male vo: no one deserves a warmer welcome home. that's why we're hiring 10,000 members of the military community by the end of 2017. i'm very proud of him. male vo: comcast.

welcome back. president-elect trump said during the campaign that he would be the greatest jobs president god ever created, but with his skimpy policy proposals, it was hard to see exactly where all the new jobs he's promising will come from. jobs, after all, are created by business in respond to demand, not by presidents. that said, here are some potential job growth based on what the president-elect has suggested. he's talked about more defense spending, so expect more jobs working in the military and building planes and other military vehicles, submarines, boats, things like that. he's also talked about rebuilding this country's deficient infrastructure, so you can expect to see new construction jobs and both defense and infrastructure mean more demand for engineers, several types. you can see those areas being created. finally, because of his promise to lower corporate taxes, people

may decide to become independent contractors, able to pay the corporate tax rate trump says could be as low as 15%, rather than the 39.6% individuals pay on their high earnings. being a contractor means being able to deduct expenses and with the tax money they save, some of these new contractors could deci decide. >> that's going to be great. thanks. mcdonald's has announced changes to its services that could

reshape the dining experience at the fast food chain. the restaurant will expand digital self serve stations, including table service to all locations. the idea is that customers will be more willing to wait if they are sitting at a table instead of waiting at a counter. so far the company tested the new system in new york, florida, and southern california. let's get a check on the weather now with nbc meteorologist -- >> as long as the fries are hot. that's the key. you have to get the hot fries. they deliver cold fries to the table, we'll have issues. >> i agree, you're right. >> very important. the blizzard's the talk of the town throughout the day today. over the weekend, snow for our friends near the great lakes and northern new england. blizzard warnings starting to break out here and south dakota and minnesota. winter storm warnings from nebraska towards duluth. current radar, our winter radar, blue shows you where it's snowing, green is the rain. you can see where the borderline

is. it's pretty much either rain or snow and the snow is really picking up and spread across minnesota during the day today. two things going on with this storm. we have the snow, obviously, blizzard conditions, but the cold air is flowing in behind this. yesterday we went from warm in the morning in denver to cold with snow. today's a chilly day at 41 degrees. maybe showers in dallas and san antonio. not a lot of heavy rain, just a little bit. that will be the beginning of the cooler air for you. east of the mississippi, enjoy one, maybe two more days of warmth. throughout your friday, 70s, d.c., 60s up through new england. through the weekend, the cold air moves to atlanta. it will still be a pretty warm saturday for a big city in d.c. up through new england. the cold air arrives for you saturday night, but the lake effect snow machine throughout the day saturday. by the time we get to sunday, that's when we're going to watch the cold air arriving. 42 in new york, wind chill in the low 30s. big changes for new england.

with the cold air over the very warm lakes, we're having our first lake effect snow event. saturday, saturday night, into sunday, some areas even into monday. syracuse, typical spots, rochester, watertown, as higher elevations there in the appalachians and also this area here south of buffalo could pick up about six to 12 inches of snow. if you're in the lake effect areas, be prepared on saturday and sunday. so finally, how long did it take to start talking about november and the almost winter map? it's been so ridiculously warm. this will be a shock to the system for some. >> we'll be talking skiing. >> a lot of people want it for the thanksgiving holiday. >> all right, bill, thanks so much. still ahead, a scary moment during thursday night football. carolina panthers linebacker luke kuechly gets carted off the field after a really hard hit. we'll have the details next in sports. s are. yes, ideas are scary,

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oh, he tap danced. that's a touchdown. newton only ended up with 192 yards through the care in the game as the panthers jump out to a 23-3 lead. brees and the saints didn't quit. they scored the final 17 points of the game but still came up just short. final score 23-20. both teams are tied. both teams with a disappointing season. tied for third place in their division. what may have called that collapse in the third quarter, with e want to show you the scary moment. that's hightower and that's luke kuechly. you can see it right there. appears a helmet to helmet hit. you can see it right there, hit the face mask. it was very painful. kuechly was carted off the field, he was in tears. he's their defensive leader of the team, fan favorite of all the panthers. he's now entered the league's concussion protocol. another upset to go along with last season's shocker. the unranked cougars dashing out

any hopes of the college playoff appearance for number five louisville after a 36-10 blowout last night. houston pulled all the tricks out in this one. converting on fourth down with a punt in the second quarter. then this 50-yard score after a lateral pass in the backfield makes it a 31-0 half-time shocker. houston went on to win 36-10. major league baseball announced its most valuable players. nearly a unanimous decision, what a year for the cubs. chris bryant takes on the honors for the national league, honored 29 of the 30 possible votes. 39 homers and 102 rbis in his second year in the majors. first player ever to win the collegiate baseball player of the year, minor league player of the year, rookie of the year, and mvp in successive seasons. >> wow. >> great story to your hall of fame career. mike trout wrapped up his second mvp award after the season when he led the league in runs

scored, walks, and on base percentage. finally, in minnesota, the timberwolves come soaring in from three-point range and throws it back. are we going to see that one again? nope. they beat the sixers 110-86. it was nice when we saw it the first time. >> good job, sports guy. still ahead, janet yellen saying a federate hike could be coming soon. plus, the latest on a number of wildfires scorching across the southeast. we'll be right back.

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welcome back, everyone. i'm alex witt alongside ali velshi. it's the bottom of the hour, let's get you started with the morning's top stories. new details on the trump transition this morning. a senior official confirms president-elect trump has asked lieutenant general michael flynn to serve as his national security adviser. meanwhile, nbc news confirms mitt romney is set to meet with trump about the secretary of state position. president obama is meeting with top european leaders right now, reassuring allies that the u.s. will remain committed to nato under the trump administration. during a news conference with germany's angela merkel yesterday the president said he is, quote, cautiously optimistic about the president-elect and urged him to stand up to russia. the president is now headed to peru, the last leg of his final foreign visit as commander in chief. >> one of the top intel officials in the nation is stepping down. james clapper ends a 53-year career in intelligence.

it's not without controversy, like when he testified in 2013 before congress. the nsa does not collect intelligence on american citizens, then weeks later documents leaked by edward snowden showed the nsa was harvesting records about millions of americans' phone conversations. >> that's what they ca call #awkward. trump's talent search yesterday banned state and federal lobbyists from joining the administration and now requires staffers to pledge not to lobby for five years after leaving the government. meanwhile, speculation is running rampant about who will get which plum jobs. senator jeff sessions has helmed the transition and is set to be up for a job himself. here he is yesterday. >> would you like to serve in the administration? >> well, i'd be honored to be considered and mr. trump will make those decisions. >> do you want to be secretary of state? >> i haven't -- if he asked me, i'll share with him, but i'm not

talking about my agenda at this point. i'd be pleased to continue serving in the senate. i think it's good that the president-elect is meeting with people like mr. romney. he's meeting with a lot of talented people that are going to be -- that he needs good relationships with, and i think mr. romney will be quite capable of doing a number of things, but he'll be one of those i'm sure that's reviewed. >> rising star south carolina governor nikki haley was at trump tower yesterday, said to be under consideration for secretary of state and other cabinet positions. former governor of south carolina mark sanford said she'd be a good secretary of state before adding this -- >> i don't think that the cabinet needs to look like a commercial, but i think that having folks of different ethnic backgrounds matter, particularly in that role, given we're 5% of the world's population and most of the world doesn't look like

us. >> interesting, the first thing he mentioned was her indian-american heritage. do you think that's the only reason she's being considered by the trump team? >> no, she's been a very capable governor. >> florida governor and trump super pac chair rick scott also stopped by. alex? meanwhile, an event held yesterday, senator bernie sanders continued to outline areas he said he could work with president-elect donald trump. >> large corporations are making huge profits, they are stashing their profits in the cayman islands. mr. trump has the guts to stand up to those corporations, demand they start paying their fair share of taxes, demand they create jobs in america and protect jobs in america, he will have an ally with me. >> reporter: where can you work with donald trump? >> well, i think if mr. trump is serious about developing policies for working families, if he's serious about raising

the minimum wage, which he said during the campaign he was, if he's serious about taking on the drug companies who are ripping off the american people and charging us the highest prices in the world for prescription drugs, i will work with him on that. if he's serious about taking on wall street and re-establishing a new glass/steagall legislation, i'll work with him on that, as well. mike pence met with top lawmakers on both sides of the aisle, including chuck schumer and house minority leader nancy pelosi. pelosi reportedly expressed democrats' concern over the decision to appoint steve bannon, however, the topic did not come up during a joint press conference. >> we've had a straight forward conversation about how we can work together, our infrastructure issues that relate to childcare and the rest, followed up with a conversation i had with president-elect last week. >> we're beginning to discuss

areas that we might move forward on together, and that's what the american people want us to do, is find ways to revive our economy, improve american lives, enhance the security of this nation. >> i'm just very confident that -- have confident that as we move toward inauguration, bring together a great team, work in concert with leaders in the house and the senate, we're going to move an agenda to rebuild our military, revive our economy, and in a word, make america great again. new jersey governor chris christie said he has every intention of serving out his term, a week after he was removed from donald trump's transition team. speaking at a conference in atlantic city yesterday, christie was also coy about the possibility of joining trump's administration in some capacity. >> i have every intention of serving out my full term as governor. i've said that from the beginning.

and i have no reason to believe as we stand here today that i will do anything other than serve out my full term as governor, no matter what happens. whether i join the trump administration in some capacity, whether i stay here and finish my term, and whether 2018 on january 18th it's just another day at work in a job in the federal government, or whether it's my final day as the servant of the people of this state. i've had a pretty good run. one thing you should know for sure is i'm going to leave this job in exactly the same way i came into it, loudly. >> and facing term limits, the former presidential candidate's term ends in january 2018. president-elect donald trump took credit for persuading the ford motor company into keeping one of the plants in kentucky. only there's a catch, the

company never intended to actually move the facility. trump tweeted last night he got a call saying they'll keep the plant in the bluegrass state. i worked hard to keep the plant in kentucky. but ford actually never intended to move the plant. last week ford said a plan to move a single production line of an suv of the plant elsewhere, but never indicated it intended to close the facility. furthermore, the move had not been expected to result in any job losses. last night ford issued a statement saying it told the president-elect it would be cancelling the plan to move the production line to mexico. ali? volkswagon will slash 30,000 jobs, 23,000 of the jobs will come from germany, but the company does have facilities in the united states. the company agreed to a $15 billion settlement with american authorities. vw has been barred from selling diesel vehicles in the united states since 2015 because they

installed software in vehicles allowing them to evade emissions rules in testing. meanwhile, top car industry ceos are watching donald trump's campaign promise to bring jobs back very carefully. the world's preeminent auto executive is the chairman of three car executives at the same time. nissan's tennessee plant produces 640,000 vehicles a year. i asked what would make factories locate in the united states. >> donald trump promised to bring manufacturing jobs back to america, got a lot of votes in the rust belt because of it. you're in the manufacturing business. how do you bring manufacturing jobs? what do you do? >> every single company, you know, want to be localized. if you want more cars built in the united states, you have to look at how can i make it more competitive to be in the united states versus other options, okay, that's it. it's about competitiveness. competitiveness is not on the cost, competitiveness is

infrastructure, training, competitiveness is incentives to the technologies. this is where competitiveness is. >> yesterday, fed chair janet gellen said the time to raise rates might be coming. the fed is a blunt instrument, like a car with a gas pedal and brakes, but no gears and steering. it can accelerate the economy by lowering the interest rate or put the brakes on the economy by increasing interest rates, discouraging people and companies from borrowing and spending money. we have been in a growing economy without a recession for about eight years. many think a recession might be on the horizon and if we got into one with interest rates as low as they are, and you can see those are interest rates down there, the fed wouldn't have enough gas in the tank to accelerate the economy. it needs to raise rates simply so that it can reduce them later if it needs to. janet yellen thinks with low unemployment and the economy

gaining some steam the fed can increase rates at a gradual pace without throwing the economy off. as thanksgiving approaches, chicago's o'hare international airport will have to manage without at least 500 employees that have voted to strike as they seek a $15 per hour wage. cnbc's nancy hungerford joins us live from london. tell us what this means, are travelers going to be hit by this? >> well, one aviation expert said expect a headache, but not a full blown crisis. still, it is certainly not what you want to hear as one of the nation's busiest airports just ahead of the thanksgiving travel day rush. the 500 workers you mentioned are expected to strike within the next few days, though a union spokesperson would not confirm which day this would begin. we're talking about baggage handlers, cabin cleaners, janitors, and wheelchair operators that were all part of the 500 members seeking that $15 per hour wage. elsewhere, keep an eye on

jpmorgan because the bank has agreed to pay u.s. officials a settlement of $264 million. this relates to an investigation into jpmorgan's practice of hiring the children of elite individuals, including a chinese congress minister. the allegations were such practices violated the foreign corrupt practices act because the hirings were made in exchange for lucrative bank deals. jpmorgan did not confirm or deny the allegations but hired the first bank to pay the settlement charges. ali? >> talking about banks, wells fargo in the wake of learning they were opening these fake accounts for people, wells fargo has seen a lot of people frustrated, angry, i'm one of them, cancelling their accounts. >> yes, that's right. in fact, we've had additional data coming from wells fargo yesterday. in fact, the account openings slumped 27% from the previous month, but overall those account openings were down 44% on the

year. so evidence there that the scandal when it comes to the sales practices is having an impact on customer loyalty and customer interest, but cnbc's jim cramer was saying yesterday he expects this impact to fade over time and for wells fargo to make a comeback. guys, back to you. >> nancy, we could list all sorts of companies with major, major scandals and they do get thrown out over time. thanks so much for joining us, nancy. alex? all right, congressman john louis was awarded the national book award this week, the honor of the third book in his series "march," which chronicles his role in the civil rights move in the '60s. he's spoke about how far he's come and how much the award means to him. >> this is unreal. this is unbelievable. some of you know i grew up in rural alabama, very, very poor. very few books in our home. and i remember in 1956 when i

was 16 years old, some of my brothers and sisters and cousins went down to the public library trying to get library cards, and we were told that the library was for whites only and not for colors. and to come here and receive this award, this honor, it's too much. thank you. >> well done. still ahead, new information on a story we first told you about yesterday morning, video showing a police officer punching the woman in the face. now she's speaking out. remember the outrage sparked after cincinnati zoo officials say they were forced to shoot a gorilla. federal officials have now released a report on the incident. we'll tell you where the blame is being laid.

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so we know how to cover almost almoanything.hing, even a rodent ride-along. [dad] alright, buddy, don't forget anything! [kid] i won't, dad... [captain rod] happy tuesday morning! captain rod here. it's pretty hairy out on the interstate.traffic is literally crawling, but there is some movement on the eastside overpass. getting word of another collision. [burke] it happened. december 14th, 2015. and we covered it. talk to farmers. we know a thing or two because we've seen a thing or two. ♪ we are farmers. bum-pa-dum, bum-bum-bum-bum ♪ welcome back. a federal inspection found a barrier at the cincinnati zoo failed to meet standards when a

little boy fell into the gorilla enclosure. the little boy was unharmed, but the gorilla was shot and killed, calling into question the integrity of the fence and the decision to take the animal's life. the barrier was inspected and found to be in compliance with the usda. the cincinnati zoo since redesigned the fence, covering it in nylon mesh and making it about six inches taller. wildfires across the southeastern united states rage on with no end in sight as weekend weather approaches. yesterday in texas an elementary school deemed too close to a wildfire closed early. the national guard was deployed in south carolina to tame a mountain fire. as of 4:00 p.m. yesterday the fire had burned nearly 4,000 acres. officials are concerned shifting winds forecast for the weekend could make matters worse. let's get more on that and your nation's weather right now. >> air quality, you know, the fires, we haven't heard many structures being burned, but just the air quality hasn't improved and it's not going to

rain at all. i have some video to show you. i know this is alex the first day of snow. not sure what ali is on the first day of snow. this is alex, she runs around, gets her skis out. >> that's amazing. >> ali, are you like this with the snow? >> i grew up in canada, i'm very excited about the first snow. not sure i'm that excited, but i get your point. >> that's only at a ski resort. if i'm home, yeah, whatever. >> that's alex. that's a different story. the heavy snow continues to fall this morning in areas of south dakota, now into minnesota. we're getting one inch an hour of snow. that's the criteria when the plows can't keep up with it anymore. that's happening now. everywhere east of the mississippi is going to be 70 today. one inch an hour, how is that possible, but that's what's going to happen over the weekend. we get rid of the snowstorm by the end of tonight, then the

cool air moves. by the time we get to saturday, cold in the ohio valley and great lakes, even down to atlanta and the east coast when you wake up sunday morning, that's when the cold air will arrive here. once again, there's no big snowstorms in sight, which is good news for next week. looks like a little bit of rain to deal with on the busy wednesday travel day. >> bill, thank you so much. let's go now to arizona, new information on the video we showed you yesterday. a police officer punching a woman in the face. the woman was subsequently arrested. she's now speaking out and miguel almaguer reports. >> reporter: cell phone video captured the confrontation in flagstaff, arizona, when the officer threw the punch. >> hey! hey, you can't hit a girl like that! >> reporter: police were responding to an eviction notice. it's unclear what led to the scuffle between the office and melissa morris, who was arrested and then today released. >> just let him. just let him arrest you. >> it's hurtful, it's embarrassing, it's the people

who are supposed to protect us, and they did not protect us, they ended up hurting me. >> reporter: the police department placed the officer on leave, the chief saying he is concerned by what is depicted. >> it is our intent to conduct a very detailed and thorough investigation into this matter. >> reporter: in his report, the officer said he was kicked and kneed in the groin. the video shot behind a rail is not the only evidence. >> stop! police. stop, right now. >> reporter: in flagstaff police wear body cameras like these. footage from this incident hasn't been released, but is under review. >> so often in cases like these there's a rush to judgment and a call for immediate action. >> reporter: from a freeway takedown in california, to a teen pool party confrontation in texas. officers in past high profile incidents like these never face criminal charges. >> i didn't do anything! >> reporter: in arizona, police are asking for time and patience to determine if the whole story

is on this shocking tape. >> disturbing for sure. our thanks to miguel almaguer for that report. still ahead, the latest in the battle to retake mosul from isis. plus new video as russia ramps up air strikes in syria. secretary of state john kerry confronted his russian counterpart about the attacks yesterday and we're going to have his reaction. when you find something worth waiting for, we'll help you invest to protect it for the future. financial guidance while you're mastering life. from chase, so you can. simulation initiated. ♪

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the bombs of aleppo were

silenced for nearly a month, but now they're back. secretary of state john kerry and sergey lavrov met on the sidelines in peru. the foreign minister stood by the claim that russia was not responsible for the latest attacks in the rebel-held city. >> we talked about every aspect of aleppo. the foreign minister says there isn't one, is that accurate? >> yeah, our air force and the syrian air force only work in the provinces of homs to prevent the isil from leaving mosul and getting to syria. >> dramatic new video shows the danger facing forces as they move to liberate the syrian city of raqqah from isis. the footage reportedly shows an isis suicide car being driven straight at u.s.-backed syrian democratic forces. you can hear people yelling shoot it in english and french in the background as gunfire

erupts. a missile is fired on the car but it misses. a second missile hits the target. meanwhile in iraq, the fight to liberate mosul continues. joining us from erbil, foreign correspondent lucy cavenov. what's the latest on the progress there? >> reporter: ali, really heavy fighting this morning in the city of mosul. iraqi forces continuing their advance in some of the districts that they haven't touched on yet, there's about 50 in eastern mosul. they only taken 22 and they are pushing ahead. commanders on the ground facing heavy resistance from fighters, mortars, sniper attacks, also car bombs, continuing those kind of attacks. one soldier reportedly killed in those clashes. this is a day after the coalition planes had to pause their advance. this is because it's getting colder over here, there's more cloud cover. that makes it really difficult for the drones and the war planes to see targets on the ground. of course, it is just a day after the -- a month after the

mosul offensive kicked off. it's been a slow and steady fight. this was urban warfare. they've seized the easy to take areas on the outskirts of mosul. they have to proceed really cautiously. we spent time at a refugee camp just 12 miles east of mosul yesterday and a lot of the folks we spoke to said there are still lots of civilians, up to a million, believed to be held as human hostages, human shields, by islamic state fighters and that makes it really hard to push through with full military force. ali? >> reporting from iraq, thanks, lucy. when we come back, a look at the stories making headlines today. . l is for layers of luxury. a is for alll the way back. r is for read my mind. and i... can't see a thing. s... see you in the morning.

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so, before we toss it over to "morning joe," we're going to get a check on the stories in the day ahead. the minnesota police officer charged with shooting a man during a traffic stop in july is due in court today. the officer is charged with second-degree manslaughter in the death of philando castile. he told the officer he was carrying a handgun and there's no evidence he tried to remove it from his pocket. bill de blasio and james o'neal will give their plans on

protecting trump tower. the president-elect ran his campaign from trump tower and now is planning the transition from there, as well. what new yorkers really want to know is how street closures may affect traffic. >> that does on this friday. "morning joe" starts right now. >> the democratic party has got to recognize -- i'm not here to blame anybody. not to criticize anybody. but facts are facts. when you lose the white house to the least popular candidate in the history of america, when you lose the senate, when you lose the house, and when two-thirds of governors in this country are republicans, it is time for a new direction for the democratic party. [ applause ] >> good morning. it is friday.