democrats, he may be trying alone, but he's trying. that does it for us tonight. we will see you again tomorrow. now it's time for the last word with lawrence o'donnell. donald trump puts the spotlight on his pick for secretary of defense, introducing general james mattis as a man who plays no games, this while house republicans look to fast track a waver for him to serve. plus, following the shooting death of former nfl mayor joe mcknight, a louisiana mayor defends his department's delayed arrest in a news conference with foul language. and a state of emergency following the deadly warehouse fire that killed at least 36 people. investigators are still trying to determine the cause of the blaze.

good morning to you, i'm ali velshi alongside louis burgdorf and kasie hunt. president-elect donald trump went to fayetteville, north carolina, last night. he talked about the anniversary of pearl harbor and he laid out his vision for the military's mission under his administration. >> in every generation, a new threat to freedom arises. and just as we defeated these threats, we faced generations in the past, and you understand that, so, too, will we defeat the forces of terrorism. it's unseen in many cases, but we're going to defeat that force, and we're going to defeat it strongly and quickly. from now on it's going to be america first, america first. we will stop racing to topple

foreign -- and you understand this. foreign regimes that we know nothing about. that we shouldn't be invol with. instead, our focus must be on defeating terrorism and destroying isis. we're going to have such a strong, powerful military. it's not going to be depleted any longer. i mentioned equipment previously, and i said equipment. we're going to have the finest equipment in the world. it's going to be new. it's going tbe modern. it's going to be clean. it's going to be the best. that's what we're going to have. we have to be so strong militarily, like we've never, ever been before. remember that. like we've never been before. >> well, defense companies are going to like that, though some conservative republicans are not. the president-elect promised that he would end the defense sequester. the automatic cuts to the pentagon's budget that began taking effect in 2013.

louis? >> and during last night's rally, donald trump also introduced his pick to lead the department of defense, marine general james mattis. >> jim is a marine corps four star general, the former commander of u.s. central command and nato supreme ally command. he led and assault italian in operation desert storm. you saw what happened. that was the way you were supposed to lead it. there were no games. mad dog plays no games, right? it is now my honor and privilege to welcome to the stage your next secretary of defense, general "mad dog" mattis. >> thank you for the opportunity. i'm grateful for the opportunity to return to our troops, their families, the civilians of the department of defense, because i know how committed they are and

devoted they are to the defense of our country, the defense of our constitution, and with our allies strengthened, with our country strengthened, i look forward to being the civilian leader, so long as the congress gives me the waver and the senate votes to consent. thank you very much. >> we'll get that waver, right? going to get that. oh. if heidn't g that waver, there would be a lot of angry people. such a popular choice. >> as mentioned there, general mattis will need a waver from congress in order to get the job. by law a service member must be retired at least seven years before serving as defense secretary. general mattis has been out of the military for only three years. last night congress released a short-term spending bill, this included in the bill legislation and a provision that would grant mattis the waver to serve in trump's cabinet.

president obama defended his counterterrorism legacy during a major national security speech yesterday. his last one as commander in chief. addressing troops in tampa, the president says he's built a network of partners to help fight extremists and the u.s. is, quote, breaking the back of isis. he also renewed calls to close gitmo, a campaign promise he's still been unable to fulfill. and while the president didn't mention donald trump by name, many points were in direct contrast to some of the statements and proposals from his sucor. >> we are a nation that stands for the rule of law and strengthen the laws of war. when the nazis were defeated, we put them on trial. we are a nation that won world wars without grabbing the resources of those defeated. we helped them rebuild. we didn't hold on to tritory other than the cemeteries where

we buried our dead. so rather than offer false promises that we can eliminate terrorism by dropping more bombs or deploying more and more troops or fencing ourselves off from the rest of the world, we have to take a long view of the terrorist threat. and we have to pursue a smart strategy that can be sustained. today's terrorists can kill innocent people, but they don't pose an kexistential threat to our nation, and we must not make the mistake of elevating them as if they do. that does their job for them of the it makes them more important and helps them with recruitment. >> the president also mentioned that on the day he leaves office, he'll become the first president to serve two full terms at war, a sobering reality. ali? >> all right, after described as a courtesy call, president-elect

trump's communication with taiwan might have been the result of a months long lobbying effort. new filings under the foreign agents registration act reveal that the law firm of former u.s. senate majority leader bob dole received 140,000 dollars between may and october from the taiwan ease government. dole had proceeded in getting pro taiwanese language at july's national convention for the first time enshrining six assurances to taiwan made by president ronald reagan in 1982, including that the united states would not set a date for ending arms sales to taiwan. now, asked about the president-elect's phone call, dole told "the new york times," "it's fair to say we had some influence. when you represent a client and they make a request, you're supposed to respond." the gunman in the shooting of a former nfl player has been

charged. this after the -- the jefferson parish sheriff's office announced manslaughter charged against 54-year-old robert gasser yesterday. officials said gasser admitted to shooting joe mcknight thursday afternoon, following a road rage incident in a new orleans suburb. during a press conference yesterday, the sheriff took a combative stance towards the people questioning why gasser was initially released friday despite his admission. he said race had nothing to do with the decision and then read expletive laden attacks from the public. >> i'm sure you see the emotion in me, because it's not fair. it's not fair for him to be called you punk [ bleep ]. we saw you sell out to them you [ bleep ] punk.

that's the tone of what we're calling our elected leaders for standing up and simply saying, let justice prevail and let the process take its course. to go on to say -- you [ bleep ] that has done little to our community, all we know is that you are a [ bleep ] puppet. you [ bleep ] looking on tv. i bet they made you say that, puppet boy. i know what i see. i know that norman is a [ bleep ] and you stood behind that white boy with that [ bleep ]. you won't even stand with your people, you self serving [ bleep ]. >> anger there. officials have revealed gasser had been arrested for road rage at the same intersection ten years ago. those charges were dropped. kasie? officials in oakland have identified nine more of the victims of last week's deadly warehouse fire, as new video

surfaces of police inside the facility just two months before it went up in flames. authorities have released names of the 26 of the 36 people that died on friday. they've added they've identified 35 of the victims and nearly all of the building has been searched. one of those victims, 35-year-old alex gosan, posted this video before the fire broke out. we're learning new details about the final moments for those lost in the inferno. officials say some of the victims were able to text loved ones with messages of good-bye and i love you. they say the remains of some were found apparently shielding one another from the flames. meanwhile, nbc news obtained video from october showing police inside the facility. the embattled manager oe warehouse told nbc earlier in the week police had come to the building while responding to a neighbor's party. the footage brings up new questions.

the oakland police department declined to comment about the video, citing the ongoing investigation. meanwhile, officials say they've declared a state of emergency for the city to receive federal and state funds to cover the cost of the response and help local businesses affected by the deadly blaze. officials are looking at whether a refrigerator or another appliance could have sparked the fire. well, president-elect donald trump's transition team is working to distance ielf from the son of his nional security chief in the wake over him spreading fake news regarding former secretary of state hillary clinton. in a conference call yesterday, communications director jason miller confirmed that michael flynn jr., the son of the man on the screen here, is no longer involved with transition efforts. miller said the younger flynn had been helping his fathe michael flynn with some administrative and scheduling duties, but "the new york times" is reporting flynn jr. was actually fired for pushing a

number of fake news stories, including pizzagate, the conspiracy theory that suggested a washington, d.c., restaurant was the base of a child sex abuse ring run by hillary clinton and her presidential campaign chair john podesta. a north carolina man, you know, was arrested sunday after walking into this pizza restaurant with an assault rifle and firing the gun into the floor. he told police he was there to investigate if children were there. vice president-elect mike pence is changing his tone on flynn jr.'s involvement after being asked several times in an interview why h had security clearance. this after pence denied flynn jr. had any role on "morning joe" yesterday. >> what's the level of concern within your national security apparatus about general flynn's son? >> well, general flynn's son has no involvement in the transition whatsoever.

>> he has a transition e-mail. >> he has no involvement in the transition whatsoever. >> the last question, i'm sorry, you're not answering the question, were you aware that the transition team had put in for a security clearance? this is a young man that had a social media profile with crazy conspiracy theories, all sorts of links and retweets with white supremacists. were you aware the transition put in for security clearance for him? >> what i can tell you is in talking to general flynn today, he made me aware his son was assisting him in scheduling. >> you put in for a security clearance? >> whatever the appropriate paperwork was to assist him in that regard, jake, i'm sure was taken place, but that's no longer the case and your viewers and the american people can be confident we're going to continue to drive forward. turning from politics now and breaking overnight, the associated press is reporting at least 97 pple with dead after a 6.5-magnitude earthquake struck indonesia early this morning and officials say that

number could rise. the quake hit just off the shore. officials are saying there's no tsunami threat following this event. dozens of homes and buildings, including multiple mosques, have been destroyed. hundreds of people are also reportedly injured. back in 2004, a devastating earthquake and tsunami hit the region, killing more than 200,000 people. kelly cobiella will join us shortly with a live report on that. kasie? angela merkel laid out her case for a fourth term yesterday in a speech to germany's main conservative party, merkel called for restricting the use of full face muslim veils wherever it's legally possible. germany saw almost 900,000 asylum seekers arrive last year. merkel insists germany will continue to take in people in genuine need of protection. still ahead, what do the boston red sox and golden state warriors have in common?

plus, vice president joe biden sits down with stephen colbert for a late night pep talk. those stories and a check on weather when we come right back. ♪ ♪

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he wears his army hat, he gets awalks aroundliments. 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. you know, don't think i haven't noticed you've been cutting some corners when you've been mowing the lawn lately. any job worth doing is worth doing well. >> okay, you have to always do your best to mow the lawn. doesn't matter that somebody else is about to get the job of mowing the lawn after you, even though as far as you can tell that person has never touched a lawn mower in his life. >> look, doesn't matter who's mowing it. no matter the differences, we're all responsible for its upkeep. i have to believe in their heart

the next mower is going to do the best they can to make sure that lawn, that everyone feels safe to have a picnic on it. >> that's a beautiful metaphor. >> metaphor? metaphor, okay, look, i'm talking about mowing the lawn. >> mr. trump on notice from joe biden about keeping up the white house lawn it seems. that was biden with stephen colbert having a heart to heart pep talk with viewers last night. he also discussed his comments about a potential white house run in 2020. we have that coming up later in the show. one of my favorite stories in the morning, a police officer doing his part to raise money this holiday season, the officer was caught onamera dancing outside of a walmart while collecting red ketitle donation. cleveland police and the local sheriff's office were competing to see who could raise the most money. this video has been viewed on facebook more than 700,000

times. officials say the officer's dancing moves helped the police department raise more than $1,000 in a few hours. he has some moves. junchts outside here, rockefeller center, the salvation army people on three sides and they are always doing some fantastic dance. i've been doing snap stories on that, bill. >> literally, like the all-star team, the best of the best. >> are they going to get disturbed in their dancing today? >> no, they dance in umbrellas and everything else, too. the cold will be the biggest thing. we've been out ringing the bells before, the cold days are the worst. snow this morning, little bit, some in colorado in the denver area and also through new england. this blue is light snow moving through higher elevations, outside boston. boston itself is plain old rain and drizzle left over around new york city and southern new england, but the big weather story, the cold is on the move. right now wind chills negative

19 in casper, wyoming. negative 17 rapid city, so that's all-out bundle up cold as possible. this cold isn the move, already down to 1 in sioux city, chicago is at 13. eventually it's going to head through the great lakes today. tomorrow it will reach the ohio valley and friday the east coast. today, frigid across the midwest. chicago 31. bismarck, only 7, that's it. even with a bit of sunshine. this is some of the coldest weather of the season and looking to be sticking around. so now we're getting into our winter pattern of cold following cold and late this week, new york city coldest day is friday and saturday. raleigh looks like friday is your coldest. atlanta around 42 friday is your coldest. look at chicago staying in the 20s as we go through thursday and friday. today's travel forecast, southern half of the country don't look too bad. new england early today and

plain old cold through the rest of the country. >> talking about minus 17, how cold it is in bismarck. i'm canadian, minus 17 is when you put a t-shirt over your tank top. don't think too hard about that. let's move on. as the producer wisely says, move on. still ahead, vancouver canucks player gets carted off the ice after a vicious hit. louis's got it next in sports. it's ver... sfx: (balloon squeals) ok can we... sfx: (balloon squeals) i'm being so serious right now... i really want to know how your coffee is. it's... sfx: (balloon squeals) hahahaha, i had a 2nd balloon goodbye! oof, that milk in your coffee was messing with you, wasn't it? yeah. happens to more people than you think. try lactaid, it's real milk, without that annoying lactose. mmm. good right? yeah. lactaid. it's the milk that doesn't mess with you.

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time now for sports. we begin with major league baseball and a major acquisition for the red sox. chris sale has yankees gm brian cashman likening star power to that of the golden state warriors. the red sox making the biggest move of the winter meetings yesterday, acquiring one of the best arms in exchange for four minor league players, two of which are considered top prospects. we'll see how he does in boston. turning now to action on the nba court last night. sorcery in the nation's capital. wizards guard john wall conjured a career high 52 points against the magic last night, the most by a wizards player since gilbert arenas scored 54. overcome wall's big game and win it 124-116. finally this morning, very scary moment in the nhl last night. this isn't for the faint of

heart. canucks defenseman philip larson is knocked out cold after a vicious hit he never saw coming from the devils' taylor hall. teams briefly scuffle over larson's motionless body. his helmet is actually getting kicked off in the scrum before the players are separated. the team says larson was awake and responsive before being taken to the hospital for further evaluation. >> all right, louis. still ahead, president-elect donald trump announces a new deal he says could create 50,000 new jobs, plus an inside look at a daring rescue mission to save women and children held captive by isis. those stories and more coming up next. where we explore. protecting biodiversity. everywhere we work. defeating malaria. improving energy efficiency. developing more clean burning natural gas. my job? my job at exxonmobil? turning algae into biofuels. reducing energy poverty

in the developing world. making cars go further with less. fueling the global economy. and you thought we just made the gas. ♪ energy lives here.

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good morning, welcome back. it's the bottom of the hour, let's start with the morning's top stories. the war of words between china and donald trump is heating up. chinese state media slammed the president-elect as a, quote, diplomatic rookie for his recent call to taiwan. the state run people's daily wrote, "provoking friction and messing up china-u.s. elections won't make america great again." the global times hit the president-elect for his, quote, inability to keep his mouth shut. louis? a federal judge denied a request to delay the trial against the man accused of

gunning down nine worshipers in a historically black south carolina church last year. they wanted a delay citing a mistrial. roof's attorney argued the mistrial in the slager case would put pressure in jurors in this case to convict. a judge rejected that argument. nine more victims identified, officials now identified 35 of the 36 victims and say nearly all of the building has been searched. investigators are working to determine the cause of the fire. officials have indicated a refrigerator or other appliance could be to blame. kasie? meanwhile, a new video has surfaced of police inside the warehouse just two months before it went up in flames, raising more questions about what city officials actually knew about the dangers of the facility. nbc's stephanie gosk has more from oakland.

>> reporter: exclusive video obtained by nbc news shows oakland police officers in the warehouse known as the ghost ship in october of this year. part of an incident, residents sa tied to a neibor's party. derek almina helped police get up tthe rooftop. the police department would not comment on any visits to the property, citing the investigation, including the night of this incident, nbc news learned from interviews and records that city and county officials had multiple opportunities in the last two years to address possible safety concerns, starting with fire inspections. the city of oakland requires them for commercial and residential properties. every year. the head of the firefighters union, zach unger, told us he worries the inspections never took place. do they have the kind of resources they need? >> no, not nearly. >> is there talk among firefighters there are buildings unsafe in the city? >> absolutely, there are many unsafe buildings in the city. >> reporter: a third possible

missed opportunity, child protective services visited the property. they were inspecting after the state had taken custody of his three children. a former cps investigator tells nbc news that fire safety is supposed to be an important part of their assessment. the city also received multiple complaints in the last two years about the property. housing officials say an investigation was ongoing. but residents say no contact was ever made with them. the mayor's office says it will soon release the full record of the housing department investigation. the worst fire in oakland's history, many wondering tonight if officials missed possible warnings. >> nbc's stephanie gosk reporting. oakland officials declared a state of emergency to help the city receive federal and state money to cover the response and help local businesses affected by the blaze. >> kasie, president-elect donald trump put forward his vision for the armed forces at a rally in north carolina last night. invoking the service at nearby ft. bragg and the sacrifices 75

years ago at pearl harbor. trump identified the threat and explained how and when he would employ united states military. >> today our brave men and women are the first in line defense. defense. against radical islamic terrorism. words that some people don't like to say. an ideology of death that slaughters innocent men, women, and children. we're going to protect our people. we're going to protect our country. believe me. finally, a commitment to only engage the use of military forces when it's in the vital national security interests of the united states. we don't want to have a depleted military because we're all over the place fighting in areas that just we shouldn't be fighting in. this destructive cycle of intervention and chaos must

finally, folks, come to an end. for our military not as an act of aggression, but as an act of prevention. we pursue and build up arms not in order to seek conflict, but in order to avoid conflict. we want to be strong. ensured we seek peace through strength. >> trump's speech also introduced his choice for secretary of defense, retired general james mattis, and promised to stop automatic cuts to the pentagon's budget by ending the defense sequester. ali? president obama was also talking counterterrorism yesterday, addressing troops in florida. the president defended his national security legacy, warned against reversing course, and countered much of donald trump's rhetoric without mentioning his na. >> a sustainable counterterrorism strategy depends on keeping the threat in

perspective. the terrorist threat is real and it is dangerous. but these terrorists want to cast themselves as the vanguard of a new world order, they are not. they are thugs and they are murderers, and they should be treated that way. we need the wisdom to see that upholding our values and adhe adhering to the rule of law is not a weakness in the long term, it is our greatest strength. the whole objective of these terrorists is to scare us into changing the nature of who we are and our democracy. the fact is, people in nations do not make good decisions when they are driven by fear. these terrorists can never directly destroy our way of life. but we can do it for them if we lose track of who we are and the values that this nation was founded upon. >> now, the president also renewed his call to close gitmo, saying the nation is wasting

hundreds of millions of dollars to keep fewer than 60 people detained. kasie? vice president joe biden got the political world talking when he mentioned a potential 2020 presidential run on capitol hill yesterday. last night during an interview with the late show's stephen colbert, the vice president expanded on that thought. >> i'm a great respect towards fate. i don't plan on running again, but to say you know what's going to happen in four years, i just think is not rational. >> that's the sound of a door creaking open is what that is. >> well, look, i can't see the circumstance in which i'd run, but what i've learned a long, long time ago, stephen, is to never say never. you don't know what's going to happen. i mean, hell, donald trump's going to be 74, i'll be 77 in better shape. what the hell. >> right after that quip, biden repeated he has no plans on

running for president. i over/under, ali, on how many times we're going to hear that from him in the next four years. >> no question, kasie. president-elect donald trump called for the government to cancel a deal with aircraft manufacturer boeing yesterday, citing cost concerns about the next generation of air force one. yesterday morning, trump started this by tweeting out "boeing is building a brand new 747 air force one for future presidents, but costs are out of control. more than $4 billion. cancel order." boeing said in a statement that its current deal for air force one is a development deal worth $174 million, sort of an exploratory deal and also said it makes no money on the presidential planes, saying producing them is a matter of prestige. trump later addressed his tweet. >> thelane is totally out of control. it's going to be over $4 billion, it's for air force one

program, and i think it's ridiculous. i think boeing is doing a little bit of a number. we want boeing to make a lot of money, but not that much money. >> it's worth noting that trump's tweet came about an hour after boeing's ceo called on trump to back off his antitrade rhetoric, fearing a trade war could undermine boeing's business exporting planes overseas. boeing executives did reach out yesterday offering to work with the president-elect on lowering the cost of the new version of the plane. that wasn't the only business news that trump made yesterday. speaking from trump tower, the president-elect announced that japanese telecom and internet giant soft bank, which controls sprint, will create 50,000 jobs right here in the united states. >> we invest into the new start-up companies in the united states. i said i'll try to celebrate his presidential job and commit, you know, because he would do a lot

of deregulation. i said, this is great. united states, u.s., will become a great again. >> trump also took credit for the investment tweeting that masa said he'd never do this if we had not won the election. the money would come from an investment fund set up earlier this year with saudi arabia's sovereign wealth fund. they've pledged billions in other countries after meeting with their leaders. a spokesperson for softbank had no comment on trump's tweets taking credit for the deal. for more on business we bring in cnbc with this story, boeing, carrier, markets in general still reacting genuinely positively to trump's business dealings, particularly the way he deals with ceos and companies. what's it looking like from your side of the ocean? >> well, maybe not so much reacting positive to business

dealings, but maybe reacting positively to the fact we think there's going to be less regulation and that continues to be a driver. remember we're around two points away from an all-time high, looking at the s&p 500 still, futures still a couple hours away, but the future indications are we'll see a slightly positive open for u.s. markets in today's session and a lot of people still also cautioning that we could be looking at changes from the central banks, still thought the federal reserve due to the strength seen in the u.s. economy, that they'll be hiking rates very soon, and the ecb, we have this big ecb meeting taking place on thursday, we could be looking at a tempering or maybe even an expansion and tempering taillight. so less of the asset buying, but extending the time frame beyond march of next year. but business leaders and economists don't like the uncertainty that trump is bringing with regards to what some people are saying flippant

comments that you need to speak your mind as a business leader and not be afraid you're going to be slaughtered on twitter the next day. >> good to see you for us at cnbc in new york this morning. still ahead, find out who's dominating this year's grammy nominations, plus the weather channel versus breitbart.com. we'll take you behind that unlikely feud. and we're following breaking news overseas, more than 100 people reportedly dead after an earthquake hits indonesia. a live report whene me back. boost

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including itching, rash, or difficulty breathing. serious side effects may happen, including pancreatitis. so, stop taking victoza® and call your doctor right away if you have severe pain in your stomach area. tell your doctor your medical history. taking victoza® with a sulfonylurea or insulin may cause low blood sugar. the most common side effects are headache, nausea, diarrhea, and vomiting. side effects can lead to dehydration, which may cause kidney problems. now's the time for a better moment of proof. ask your doctor about victoza®. hi, bill karins better be listening to this. the weather channel turned up the heat on breitbart news yesterday, calling out the site's skepticism on climate change. last week breitbart posted a report "global temperatures plunge. icy silence from climate

alarmists." an embedded weather channel video with the dwetweet. the station responded, earth to breitbart news, earth is not cooling. climate change is real and stop using our video to mislead americans. kate parker later addressed the issue to clear up the facts. >> last week breitbart published an article claiming global warming was nothing but a scare and global temperatures were actually falling. problem is, they used a completely unrelated video with my face in it to attempt to back their point. what's worse, the u.s. committee on space science and technology actually tweeted it out. here's the thing, cherry picking and twisting the facts will not change the future nor the fact, note fact, not opinion, that the earth is warming. >> they say retweets are an endorsement, but the house committee, as she said, on science space and technology tweeted out the article. with that we bring in bill karins, our meteorologist, with

a check on the weather. >> don't you wish some issues could not be political? i don't know. get to the point you don't even trust science, then you don't trust doctors, who knows? the facts are out there. if you want to search them out and find them for yourselves and find the sources and the papers and studies and read them, that's the way to go out and do it and make your own conclusions. so as far as all the other weather issues out there, we are talking about the coldest air of the season. it is getting the middle of december, we expect it. reful in areas of new england, we have moderate snow, a burst just north of the 495 loop on boston and southern new hampshire. just a quick coating, but that's enough to cause you problems. real cold is in the middle of the country. what's interesting in the next couple days, record warm november, so the lakes are very warm. when that cold air comes over the top, we're getting significant lake effect snow. the cold arctic air moves in. as that warm air interacts with cold air, we get the clouds to

form and the lake effectnow bands to form. we do expect heavy snow downwind of lake erie and ontario in the next couple days. already have lake effect watches and warnings. this is the tokyo plateau and areas south of buffalo, where we're going to see the possibilities at least of maybe about two to three feet of snow in the days ahead. again, that's expected when you get these cold outbreaks, that time of year, louis. the cold air reaches the east coast by about friday, saturday, so it's on schedule, but there's still no big huge snowstorms on the way either. >> i'm waiting for it. i'm ready for it. >> the kids are getting antsy. >> need a snow day, they want a couple days. the 2017 grammy nominations announced yesterday, beyonce leads the pack as the most nominated female artist in history with nine nominations this year, now with 62 total to her name. drake, rihanna, and kanye west follow. beyonce is also the first artist to earn nominations in the pop,

rock, rap categories. album of the year, plus song and record of the year for "formation." adele, who's 25, is the best selling album of 2016, will compete with beyonce in all three major categories. beyonce's history making nominations are not coming without controversy, however, with the academy receiving backlash for the singer receiving a best rock performance nomination for the song "don't hurt yourself "featuring jack white. fans took to twitter, one user adding, we live in a world where beyonce is considered rock and i want to live under one. i think that's a little extreme. the grammys air live on sunday. > >> is there nothing not controversial anymore and we won't resort to twitter to talk about? >> i don't think so. >> coming up next, a serious

turn to the middle east. richard engel takes us inside a dramatic mission to rescue women and children from isis. world u. they are the natural born enemy of the way things are. yes, ideas are scary, and messy and fragile. but under the proper care, they become something beautiful.

he wears his army hat, he gets awalks aroundliments. 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. and to the breaking news out of indonesia, where the associated press is reporting that at least 97 people are dead and hundreds more injured after a 6.5-magnitude earthquake hit the northern province early this morning. nbc news correspondent kelly cobiella joins us live from london don.

kelly, what more can you tell us about what's happening there? >> desperate situation, louis, search and rescue operations are unde way at this hour, it's early evening and the death toll is still going up. when you look at the pictures, you can understand why. dozens of collapsed buildings in this area, thousands of rescuers are digging through what's left of the wooden brick structures. they have massive pieces of debris to move and don't have the equipment in many cases to move it. you have villagers, soldiers, police officers, all working to research the victims. so far as many as 97 dead, according to the chief of the army in aceh. villagers, soldiers, desperately trying to find the missing. this was the area hit by the earthquake and tsunami in 2004. no tsunami this time. all of the damage is on ground, but it is significant. louis? >> the fear of the tsunami is

probably so great for these people, because they were so ravaged by it back in 2004. kelly cobiella, thank you for your reporting. kasie? turning now to aleppo, where the syrian army continues to capture areas that were previously under rebel control. this video shows the utter devastation that one neighborhood has sustained. reports indicate that syrian rebels have lost roughly two-thirds of their territory in eastern aleppo in just the last two weeks. this as the syrian observatory for human rights says the syrian army advanced into the old city, one of the rebels' last urban strongholds. heading east into iraq and the battle formosul. we have an inside look at a daring and extremely deadly rescue mission to save women and children trapped by isis. here's nbc's richard engel. >> it's long after nightfall and halil is filming his secret, extraordinarily dangerous mission.

he's just rescued this woman and child from isis captivity, picking them up from a safe house. any passing car could be driven by an isis fighter. they were kidnapped by isis. we have been kidnapped them back. he told us later. but he still had to get layla and her 3-year-old son ahmed out of mosul. as u.s.-backed iraqi troops are now fighting isis in mosul, al daki is racing to get hostages out before isis kills them or the city is destroyed. the girls are bng attacked and raped. isis members kill children right in front of their mothers, he says. isis has targeted the nonmuslim minority for extermination and enslavement. iraq sent helicopters to save thousands, but activists say the group is still holding 4,000. the women openly sold as sex slaves. hours later, they make it to

safety. layla is welcomed by her she and her son had been held by isis for over two years. they separated me from my husband, she says, and sold me to an isis fighter to marry. the kidnapper raped her, she says, and his wife beat her son. unlike other communities in the middle east, they have refused to ostracize women who have been sexually abused. i thought i was going to kill myself when they held me. i didn't because of my child, she says. he's now rescued 173 people. he says he won't stop until he saved them all. >> what a story. that's nbc's richard engel. we're back in a moment with a look at the stories happening in the day ahead.

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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 ♪ all right. before we toss it over to "morning joe," let's get a check on the stories you'll be hearing about in the day ahead. >> time magazine is set to unveil person of the year. the six finalists include hillary clinton, donald trump, beyonce, the chris ter scientists, also vladimir putin

and turkish president erdogan. "morning joe" will have the winner later this morning. kasie? numerous events set in and around pearl harbor to mark the 75th anniversary of the attack by japan against the u.s. naval base there. 2,400 people were killed and more than 1,000 injured and the attack led to the united states joining world war 2. >> that does it for us on this wednesday. i'm ali velshi for louis burgdorf and kasie hunt. "morning joe" starts right now. >> good morning. it's wednesday, december 7th. a big day here. hello, mike. good morning, joe. are you doing well? >> pearl harbor day. >> 75 years. >> 75 years ago today. >> veteran columnist and msnbc contributor mike barnicle is here. and more coming. we've got a lot of news to cover.