for outgoing republican governor pat mccrory. and crews here in new york city are prepping for new year's eve in times kwar. that's exciting. where are you going to be? what are you doing new year's eve? >> i'm going to be out of the country. secret. >> that does it for us. "morning joe" starts right now. >> we were called in august by the fbi that this vendor was hacked in june that we use. >> they said the russians did it? >> yes, the russians did it. >> why do you think the president-elect refuses to accept the russians were involved. it could have been the iranians or some guy in new jersey. >> well iranians are hacking into our system. if it's a 400-pound guy, it was a 400-pound russian guy. >> that's one way to put it.

it is thursday, december 15th. here we go. >> how are you? >> i'm great. you, sir? >> doing fine. >> you're going to buckingham palace for the holidays. >> i'll be with the royals. will, harry and i. guys weekend. it will be fun. when you get knighted, you get to do stuff like that. >> with us on set, mark halperin, former treasury official and "morning joe" economic analyst steve rattner. and on capitol hill, "the new york times" reporter jeremy peters. good to have you all. there are growing concerns this morning at trump tower that john bolton will face significant obstacles in his bid for a top spot at the state department. "the new york times" reports that several republican figures are privately voicing resistance including condoleezza rice, bob gates and former national security adviser steven hadley. as jeremy peters reports, rex

tillerson has himself expressed misgivings about having bolton as his deputy. according to a person that spoke with mr. trump in recent days but mr. bolton remains under consideration for the job. he enjoys a powerful ally in sheldon adelson, someone will have to explain this to me. money only goes so far, right? or maybe not. favors the hard nose posture that mr. bolton would bring. >> talk about your reporting. what are you finding out? >> so ever since the report over the weekend that there would be a rex tillerson, john bolton duo running the state department, alarm bells have started going out inside trump tower and this even predates that because john bolton has been a divisive figure in foreign policy

circles. trump is hearing from people like condoleezza rice, steven hadley, bob gates, people he respects and listens to who have worked with john bolton who are concerned that bringing him into the state department will lead to the same kind of strife that you saw during the bush administration. making matters even worse, rex tillerson has also said he does not really care for john bolton and it seems to me at this point hard to believe that trump would pick somebody who his secretary of state has said that he doesn't want to work with. >> willie, i mean, hard to believe, first of all, that you would pick anybody that still thinks invading iraq was a great idea and wanted to invade iran last year. is about as opposite of -- if rex tillerson is friends with jim baker and if bob gates appointed him, it's hard to believe that anybody, except for the most extreme segment of the

neocon community in the republican party would support this guy. he was a horrible administrator by all accounts when he was over at state. >> that's why the "times" is reporting that those very same people that helped convince donald trump to choose rex tillerson, which is to say bob gates, condoleezza rice, we've worked with him and that's not who you want sitting next to you and tillerson is not comfortable himself. >> especially if you have a guy like rex tillerson who has run a corporation. you're not going to want a crazed ideologue in there -- >> who you can't trust. >> you don't know. you can't trust. he doesn't share your view of the world and as all reports seemed to say yesterday his management style was abusive. he kissed up and kicked down and is donald trump going to want a guy like that that none of them trust or agree with running the

state department when rex tillerson is doing the president's job across the world. >> i would say two other things besides everything that's been listed about why this seems to be unlikely to happen. tillerson is going to have a confirmation complexity. >> a fight but he'll be confirmed. >> others will try to stop bolton and why pick the fight when you'll have a fight for the top. the other is tillerson like a lot of nominees have never run their department never worked their department. some of them have never been in the buildings they're going to run. he needs a deputy who can go in the building and be smooth and seamless. >> who knows the building. who knows the players. >> bolton knows the players but they need to have some smoothness to the process at the deputy level. bolton would not be smooth as a manager or someone to try to get the building to do the bidding of the administration which is hard. >> it really is. >> the last point to add to what mark is saying is often it's the

job of the deputy secretary to play a leading role to recruit people at the next level down and particularly given that tillerson won't really know who to recruit, having someone in that job who will recruit people who is sensitive and thoughtful is important. >> tillerson can say these are who i want in my state department. i'm bringing my people in. but these are the type of people that i want filling up the state department. >> as you know, it doesn't always work exactly that way. it's a negotiation between the secretary and the white house. and there's gives and takes and so on. it's rare for a secretary to have imposed on him someone this far out there that he doesn't want. >> especially because sheldon adelson, casino owner, is pushing this. it makes absolutely no sense. donald trump didn't need sheldon adelson's money to win. >> it's nice to have diversity around the table that's the hallmark of this program. >> interesting, mika, i went back and i've been talki ining t

eisenhower and how eisenhower selected people that ran his cabinet which eisenhower is considered one of the most successful administrators in eight years of peace and prosperity. i went back and i read the ambrose book again last night just to sort of refresh my recollection. as he builds his -- listen to this. this is what steven ambrose wrote about eisenhower's cabinet and who does it sound like. a major critical part of presidential leadership, eisenhower knew, was selecting the right men for the right jobs and working with them. he wanted competent proven administrators. men who thought big and acted big. always impressed by successful businessmen who made it on their own and knew how to run huge organizations. he sought out the high achievers. men he could turn to for advice and with whom he could share both responsibility and praise. personal friendship counted for nothing. in selecting his cabinet and white house staff, eisenhower did not pick a single old

friend. some of the most prominent selections were of men he had never met. the others were men he had met during the course of the campaign. talk about some remarkable parallels with what's going on right now. >> he's chosen as secretary of state someone he didn't know who he quickly bonded with. >> someone he didn't know three weeks ago. >> i was talking to someone yesterday. >> same thing with d.o.d. two of the most important picks were men he did not know a month and a half ago. >> there are about eight people in this cabinet who will be in this cabinet who were jeb bush supporters during the campaign. he's chosen people, personal hasn't mattered. some positions obviously. treasury he chose someone that he was friends with but a lot of positions picking people with great resumes. accomplishment. and who are strangers to him, at least they were. >> this is what his voters signed up for. this is what he promised during the campaign.

it was going to be different. washington bureaucrats were not going to run the government the way they had. business as usual will be different. we'll see what the outcome is but he's doing what he said he was going to do during the campaign. >> criticism is the same. new republic after eisenhower made his selections wrote this. ike picked a cabinet of eight millionaires and one plumber. what was even more remarkable about it was absence of any experienced administrators in government. >> oh boy. here we go. >> the parallels are pretty frightening there. >> this was exactly the point i was going to make. i'm all for bringing in new blood. i have no problem with plutocrats. there's a benefit of having people that have done the job. the record in modern world i don't know as much about eisenhower but record in the modern world of businessmen going into the government with no experience knowing how it

works is not great. tillerson is used to bossing around 350,000 people on command and control basis. it's not how the government works. >> it's very different. that's the key when you look, jeremy peters, at the selection for who is number two. instead of asking sheldon adelson for advice or guidance, you talk to your hunting buddy, jim baker. who should i have there running state? you were secretary of state. who should i have next to him when i'm across the world for two months straight? who will have my back? jim baker obviously has done it before. >> it's not going to be john bolton. >> is one of the most brilliant men washington has seen running things over the past four or five decades. >> the history here, joe, is not lost on the upper echelons of trump team. especially steven bannon who despite being a caricatured as racist and white supremacist and

these awful things is a student of history and understands. i guarantee steve has read that book and knows how things work and this is something they factor into these decisions. going back to what mark said, i think on the confirmation battle that he's exactly right. you can't afford to have two messy confirmation fights as to who is going to run your state department. the democrats are going to be pulling apart all of these other nominees. messy across the board. so why would you go and have a massive fight over your number two at state. it doesn't seem to make a lot of sense at this point. >> new details this morning surrounding an incident where donald trump's pick for national security adviser reportedly shared classified information without permission with foreign military officers in afghanistan. the investigation dates back to 2010 when complaints surfaced that general michael flynn reportedly revealed sensitive details about cia operations.

flynn, who was later pushed out of director of the defense intelligence agency, was not disciplined for the breach because the military found no actual threat to national security. sound familiar? still the episode puts new scrutiny on the retired general who was one of hillary clinton's fiercest critics when it came to her mishandling of classified material. >> and the conclusion was reached because i think he had shared information with england, right? >> australia. >> britain and australia. two allies. something you don't want to do. something improper. i guess that's why they didn't -- why this didn't go further. >> there was an investigation that said it was inappropriately shared but didn't find reason to prosecute him in any way. he believes he was talking to allies. great britain and australia. sharing information. it turned out he shouldn't have been doing that. talking to allies about our

intelligence agencies in way he was not authorized to do. >> this remains the biggest question mark. this is actually something that deviates from the eisenhower model. flynn is somebody that donald trump knew before the election. somebody that jumped onboard early. and of all of the people i speak with in washington, behind the scenes, this is the single pick that caused the gravest concern, and it is not just concern about whether he's going to have an uneven personality. it is grave concern for people who have run america's national security apparatus for the past half century. >> both flynn and his deputy, i hear the same thing. people are pleased with a lot of people he's picked and to nominate the cabinet have put in two extremely demanding jobs two people that people question

whether they're up to doing it. >> from the way things go or the way i've seen them, this will take care of itself maybe in time. the problem is that donald trump and people close to him say that flynn and he really connect and throughout the campaign it was flynn who was by his side and kept him where he needed to be at times that were tough. there's a personal connection there that's real. >> you brought up something again that i've expressed real concerns with general flynn in this position. i have real concerns. it's for me the weakest selection. i say that just to say, steve rattner, people on the inside that have actually come out, people that have briefed -- been briefed by general flynn and gone inside from the outside, some of the brightest 90s in foreign policy said the general flynn you see behind closed doors is completely opposite than the general flynn who has

been sweeti itweeting and is a influence on donald trump. >> what happens in these administrations as you know is that after a year or two, there's a reshuffling. sometimes you bring in people they're so close to you can't see flaws and sometimes you bring in people you don't know their flaws and after a year or two, there's a shuffling of chairs. >> there's negativity from those inside who are in the high level positions so far that it will take care of itself. he deleted his fake news tweet yesterday after all that. >> you think about bill clinton and tony lake and george bush and condy rice and barack obama and susan rice. they bring with them often into this job people they knew in the campaign when they were guided through the maze of foreign policy challenges as a

candidate. he's so comfortable with flynn. i've seen them together a little bit. there is, as you said, a rapport between them that there's no surprise to me that trump has done this. i agree with mika. it will sort itself out. >> it will sort itself out and also sorts itself out in different ways. barack obama selected susan rice. susan rice for the most part has been irrelevant to the foreign policy process as has almost everybody in washington, d.c. other than barack obama, ben rhodes and occasionally denis mcdonough. it shakes itself out that way. if general flynn is not giving him the information he needs, he'll go to rex tillerson or many believe general mattis. >> joe, i would say one more -- i would add one more point to that. i spent the last couple of weeks talking to members of the george w. bush administration, and they point out that world events have a way of intervening. i think that you could end up

with a situation here where in 18 months, donald trump's cabinet looks very different because global events will test these leaders. going back to what happened with bush in his first year in office and his first hundred days of office, you had a crisis with the chinese, a bombing in baghdad, all of these things that blew up their well laid plans. there's no reason to believe that kind of stuff isn't going to happen again under president trump. >> one of the things he may deal with is this russian hacking story. nbc news reports u.s. intelligence officials believe "with a high level of confidence" that russian president vladimir putin became personally involved in the effort to interfere in america's presidential election. two senior officials with direct access to the information say new intelligence shows putin personally directed how hacked material from democrats would be leaked. the cia has assessed the russian government wanted to elect donald trump. and while the fbi and other

agencies don't fully endorse that view, many officials acknowledge russian operations sought to undermine hillary clinton's candidacy. according to a new fox news poll, most americans think russ russia's effort had little effect on the outcome. >> mark halperin? >> i love when they poll people as if they are a nation that has an opinion on the impact on the election. i thought for a while based on talking to people that the government would eventually be more public about the conclusion that they thought putin directed it. obviously it was a kremlin directed thing it appears. and people should be outraged about it. outraged by the fact that russia tried to have an influence on the election. >> what's the sense on capitol hill? it seems to me that republicans are actually stepping forward and for the most part, certainly mitch mcconnell has spoken

strongly. we heard lindsey graham. others speaking strongly about the need to investigate this. do you get any sense that there is going to be reluctance from some republicans to aggressively investigate this? >> i mean, maybe on the fringes. i wouldn't say that that's a popular sentiment right now. i think that this is an instance in which your country takes precedent over your party for a lot of these senators and congressman and they want to get to the bottom of it. i think unfortunately for donald trump this is going to be a major distraction for the next one, two years, while you have this investigation going on on capitol hill. i think mitch mcconnell will probably do what he can as long as relations with the white house remain smooth to kind of minimize the political fallout. he's one of the most shrewd political tacticians out there but there's no way this doesn't get a little uncomfortable. >> it's going to get very uncomfortable.

headline of "the new york times," russians hack democrats fine for for house seats. more expensive than just hacking hillary clinton. this is what i don't understand, steve. they say hacking may have happened in march. in march, the upshot was still saying that marco rubio and others had great shot of being president of the united states. it's not like the russians were saying we know better than the betting markets. donald trump is going to be president of the united states. we're going to aid and abet him. my question is, did they hack the dnc just because they loathed hillary clinton or did they try to get in the rnc and couldn't get in there? i'm confused as to timing. was it widespread phishing and it was the democratic committee whose computer systems were the weakest? >> i don't think we really know the answer to that question. >> why is why i don't think we can direct it.

>> i think trump is doing himself a disservice to attack this whole idea of an investigation and looking into it. he's making it look like maybe this did have something to do with the election. if he said it had nothing to do with the election but it was a terrible thing and therefore i'm in favor of an investigation and we should get on with it, he would be in a much better position than letting himself be on the other side of this. >> it's what we said about hillary clinton back when she had the u.n. announcement. she should have said, yeah, investigate. come on over to my house. dig in. i encourage it. >> i just don't think he's doing himself a service. >> so we have to go to break. we do need to get to this tech meeting with donald trump and backlash having kids there. we'll get to that. >> the tech meeting from all accounts went extremely well. >> i don't know if we'll get to the backlash of having his kids there. >> we are. that's why i mentioned it. >> we can do that. that should be discussed. it's significant. of course i would expect the

dito actually look at that. they should. but expect them to write 87 editorials about that and not look at the fact that one of the most important economic sectors came to trump tower and actually liked a man and are ready to work with a man. that will mean jobs for america. it won't be as exciting to write about on editorial pages of "the washington post" and "the new york times." >> people loved writing about hillary clinton when she was first lady and how involved she was and what a role she had. it was very controversial. it was a real issue. i hear what you're saying too. we have reporting from what happened inside that meeting. still ahead on "morning joe," top adviser to the trump transition kellyanne conway is here on set. plus, senator joe manchin and state department spokesman john kirby on the bloodshed in syria. first, bill karins with a check on the forecast. >> we started yesterday with the

cold arctic air going through the great lakes producing an epic snow band and went through buffalo at the evening rush hour. here's a time lapse video. clear all day and then just, boom, visibility went down to a quarter mile or less. picked up quick four to six inches and lake-effect bands continue this morning. let's talk cold. it's on the move. you feel it this morning in pittsburgh down to negative 5 windchill. now that it's starting to head into new england, it's going to be warmer out there this morning from d.c. to new york, philadelphia and boston than it will be later on this afternoon. this is tomorrow morning at this time. the peak of the cold is going to be from burlington to caribou to bangor. negative 19, negative 30, negative 38 windchills. negative 17 in boston won't be fun. epic lake-effect snow bands. one over the top of cleveland. school has been canceled in downtown cleveland. under a lake-effect snow warning and that band continues right now. then after this is done, we're going to watch the snowstorm that's now in california move across the country. this is a pretty significant snow band. three to six inches of snow

south dakota, minnesota, wisconsin and areas of the great lakes and then new york state as we go throughout your saturday. a lot of active winter weather and also i'll mention cold blast behind this one could be record setting. one of the coldest football games we've ever seen will be played in chicago on sunday. taking a look at new york city and rock center, the winds are going to pick up. could go up to 60 miles an hour. high wind warning for new york city and all of southern new england later on tonight. you're watching "morning joe." we'll be right back. ♪ ♪ style lets you stand out from the herd. what's inside sets you apart. the cadillac escalade. enjoy our best offers of the year. when you're close to the people you love,

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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. >> perhaps even more importantly we want you to keep going with the incredible innovation. there's nobody like you in the world. nobody like the people in this room. and anything we can do to help this go along, we'll be there for you, and you'll my people. you call me. it doesn't make any difference. we have no formal chain of command around here. >> that is the president-elect

welcoming to trump tower top executives from leading tech companies including apple, facebook, amazon, tesla and google. he's facing backlash for having three adult children attend the meeting amid renewed questions about a possible conflict of interest. earlier this week president-elect trump announced on twitter that his two adult sons, eric and donald jr. would take over his business interests once he takes office next month. but he postponed a scheduled news conference where he was set to announce plans for separating himself from his business interests which present an unprecedented potential for conflicts of interest when he takes office. this comes atop earlier reports that donald trump jr. was involved in the interview process to select the next secretary of the interior and last month ivanka trump and son-in-law jared kushner attended a meeting with the

japanese foreign minister. the trump transition team defended the family's role in the transition process. yesterday rnc spokesman sean spicer praised the transparency throughout the process. >> this is a totally tran ll llt process. he put their names on the transition committee. every decision is ultimately made by donald trump but there are a lot of people -- look at the folks today. you could argue these tech titans are coming in giving him advice and opinions. ultimately he'll make every decision. >> they're not family members. >> but they have an interest in what happens in the government. the fact of the matter is that -- >> they're not family members of his. >> i get they're not family members. he's been unbelievably transparent in the role his family will play in this. >> let's talk about the actual meeting. how did that go? >> it only affects the american economy. i much rather talk about the shiny object.

>> what happened in the meeting from what you heard and then we'll talk about conflicts of interest. >> what i've heard from various people that were there, it went very well and i think everybody was surprised at just how smooth everything ran, and it was -- you know what's interesting is for people that know these tech giants and, steve, you've dealt with them before, they're cowboys. cowgirls. they are used to running their businesses the way they run their business. they are entrepreneurs, and they are a different breed. in donald trump they actually found somebody who much like them could be accused of being entrepreneurs but not taking no for an answer from people. >> they are a different breed. he did select a group that's mainly the very sophisticated and senior leaders of the tech

community who are used to being brought to washington to meet with presidents and know how to behave themselves. and donald trump obviously knows how to behave himself when he wants to and is very cordial and walked back. remember during the campaign he said a lot of things that were antagonistic saying amazon should be broken up and apple should make phones here and you have people in the room like tim cook that had a fund-raiser for hillary. >> cheryl sand beburg was suppo to be hillary's treasury secretary. >> possible. it did go as well as any meeting like this goes. this is an introductory meeting. >> it's great they came. there's policy overlap between the agenda of the tech community and what donald trump plans to do as president and would like to do as president and they have an interest in also a growing

economy and growing faster. it's in their interest. and then he wants them to focus on creating jobs in america. and that is, again, i'm glad they came in the spirit of getting together. i think people are also coming because they don't want to be carriered and called out and he sent a message to the business community whether you support hillary clinton or not, let's talk about a common agenda. >> he had a private meeting afterwards with "the washington post" reporters with tim cook of apple. tim cook obviously, i'm sure he heard about apple making their iphones over in china. i have absolutely no knowledge about this whatsoever but that is the sort of thing that, you know, again talking about the art of the deal, donald trump, okay, you want more high tech

visas, i'll push the republican congress to give you a lot more high tech visas. more than you can imagine. you're making your iphones in america. i'm sure that's a message that each one of those ceos will get. >> that's tough. that's a little bit -- sorry, willie. >> go ahead. >> that's a removable force. it's almost impossible to make iphones here. a, we can't. b, you never do it on a cost effective basis. >> so you do realize you've just now made this -- iphones are going to be made here now. donald trump heard you say that. that's like saying you can't win without cnn. that's probably -- or barack obama mocking him at the white house correspondents dinner. it's the thing he thrives on. >> that meeting is a long way from let's boycott apple. you heard democrats and others in silicon valley say they are

disgusted that these people would go into a man like donald trump. donald trump is the president of the united states. he has power to do things that affect these companies directly. it's in the interest of their companies but also in the interest of the country that they have some kind of relationship so they have a say in what happens to them. >> by the way, i salute al gore. i salute mitt romney for what mitt romney did and god bless mitt romney for caring enough for the country to stick his neck out on the line. i salutal goe aae aal -- salute going in there. let me talk to rex. >> obama made countless trips to the business roundtable which is hardly his fan club. >> let's talk about the part with the family and not completely avoid the lead here. i think what people are going to

find for better or for worse whether they are horrified or not is that a few of the kids at least, i know, will have a key role. jared will have a key role. ivanka is going to have a serious role. i think when you look at first ladies of past administrations, they have a chief of staff. they have an office. they have an area of interest that they want to branch out on. some have been more important than others. some have been more effective than others. >> let's separate this out. first there's a nepotism law. let's put that aside and assume they'll comply. the difference between examples you just gave, i think, and where we are today is you have kids with massive -- who are going to control massive business interest all over the world that affect all of these companies. >> i'm not defending it. i'm just telling you. i'm reporting. >> i agree with you. they need -- this is the most critical thing. they have to build a chinese wall. i can't even do it with a

straight face. every bit as large and wide as the clintons did. business is business. politics is politics and never, ever -- you know what -- >> this is a problem. >> that's a great warning to them. you want to happen to you four years from now what happened to hillary clinton and bill clinton? don't build that wall. >> they can't make a dollar off his being president. >> they cannot. >> they should also learn from yesterday is this will follow them every day as long as it exists. if they continue to have them stay in meetings -- >> i can assure you they are going to take steps -- >> find out if they made a dollar. >> like the clintons. >> hold on a second. mika, you can't assure that. i will tell you why. if i were in there position and i'm just judging based on when i was a little bitty congressman -- what? what's wrong? >> i'm not going look at twitter today. keep going. i'm listening. >> based on when i was a little

bitty congressman and if david stafford were my chief of staff and i owned a hotel in washington, d.c., the first thing he would say is you either have to sell your hotel or you have to make sure that nobody that ever has any business before you stays in that hotel. and if they do, you're in trouble. if not ethically -- so, yes, they'll have to go much, much further than they're going right now and guess what? anybody coming to washington doing business with donald trump does not need to stay in that hotel. it's not worth it. >> coming up -- >> anybody disagree with that? >> i just gave information. did not have an opinion on this. just for the record. coming up, donald trump's team floats a future shake-up. they're going to try to separate and have roles in how the press corps covers the white house. that's next on "morning joe."

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>> many things have to change.

i think it's important that we look at all of those traditions that are great, but quite frankly as you know don't really make news and are just sort of mundane, boring episodes. there's a lot of different ways things can be done, and i can assure you that we're looking at that. >> incoming white house chief of staff reince priebus is hinting at big changes for the press corps including who gets to determine which reporters get front row seats in the briefing room. joining us from washington, white house correspondent for reuters and current president of the white house correspondents association jeff mason and at the table, veteran columnist and msnbc contributor, mike barnicle. >> legendary. jeff, talk to me about your concerns about the report you heard yesterday. >> one clip that didn't get played is assignments in the

briefing room and suggested that assigned seating only happened in the obama administration. it's important for us to make sure that he has all of the information about that, and that's just not true. there have been assigned seats in the briefing room since the reagan administration. in fact, since those seats were installed in that briefing room in 1981 and the white house correspondents association took over or assumed responsibility for assigning those seats in the last couple decades on the request of both republican and democratic administrations who were sensitive to the idea of assigning seats and giving favoritism in doing that. so there are reasons for some of these traditions. we want to be sure that the incoming administration has all of that information particularly when mr. priebus is commenting on that. >> so to underline it, the tradition has always been that the press corps selects the seating, not the white house. >> the press corps via an elected board. that's what the white house correspondents association is. we have a board of nine members

which i'm the president of right now. that board does a thorough review every year or two about press corps seating and then takes a vote and that's what's led to the current seating chart, if you will, in the press room. >> jeff, could you envision a time when the incoming trump administration does away with the daily presidential press briefing? >> you know, i don't know the answer to that. i know that -- mr. priebus referred to the fact that they are considering upending a few traditions. we see a lot of value in having a daily briefing, and i suspect that the incoming white house will see value in that as well because there's a reason journalists are there every day and it's to hear and to report the news, and i am quite certain that the new white house will have a lot of news to get out. >> jeff, it's willie geist. what are your concerns as you approach beyond just this daily white house press briefing but as you look at the incoming trump administration, what particular concerns do you see for it the press and its relationship with this

administration? >> you know, at this point, certainly there are some concerns that have come up based on how the press relationship was during trump campaign. but so far they have made assurances to us that they will respect many of the white house traditions of the press corps. i'm reluctant to identify a bunch of concerns until we see how it goes. we have been in talks with them. we would like to have more talks with them about how things will go. one of the concerns that we've talked about on your program before was the establishment of a pool and a pool of reporters covering the president-elect in new york and on his travels and we made progress on that. >> we talked about that before. i asked you to tell everybody why that was so important. talk about the progress. >> well, sure. i think shortly after -- >> do they understand the importance, historical importance of the pool now? >> i think so, yes. we haven't got as far as we want in terms of we don't have reporters on the plane, and

they've said that's not going to happen during the transition. but that should be fixed as soon as he enters office on january 20th because then we have air force one and the press has a cabin on air force one, and that issue will be resolved. he's been respectful of bringing a pool now when he guess out oe dinner in new york, for example, and made efforts that there be a pool traveling in a separate plane close to his plane on flights when he's been going to wisconsin this week, for example, i was on that trip and many other trips he's done. we're not all of the way there, but we've made a lot of progress and that reflects a lot of effort on their side as well. >> jeff mason, thank you very much. >> appreciate you being here again. you know, willie, mike barnicle, has his own pool when he goes to the park. it's undercover police. it's actually the press pool. >> stay back. sunglasses. rain jackets. >> still ahead, donald trump's

2016 campaign manager now transition adviser kellyanne conway joins the table and we'll check in with cnbc and how the markets are reacting to the new rate hike from the federal reserve. "morning joe" is back in a moment. says it won't let up for a while. the cadillac xt5...

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>> and the red line was crossed, admiral. how do you say assad must go and then do nothing about it, and then draw the red line, and then have the red line crossed and then back down? what message does that send the world? >> it sends a very bad one. you know, so often our greatest strength is also our greatest weakness. i think when president obama one of his strengths is he's deliberative and he's cautious but in this case he needed to move and i agree with david, he'll look back in deep sorrow

and some shame. >> i can tell you that under president obama's leadership the united states has been at the front of the effort to find a diplomatic solution to the situation in syria. president obama has been making smart, strategic decisions that protect carefully u.s. interests in the region and around the world. with regard to making the kind of progress we would like to see toward a diplomatic solution inside syria, we haven't seen as much progress as we would like. there are innocent syrian men, women and children that died as a result of it. >> the human rights office of the united nations says what is happening in syria almost certainly violates international law, and most likely constitutes war crimes. today a new cease-fire appears to be holding in aleppo following yesterday's spike in bloodsh bloodshed. the state department says secretary john kerry is spoke with russian and turkey counterparts yesterday stressing the continued need for a

cease-fire. as the front page of "the new york times" reports, this isn't the first time the events in aleppo have drawn worldwide outrage and little actual response. yesterday we were talking about samantha power and her blistering critique of the world community for doing nothing. >> which of course we said actually was very applicable to barack obama this morning the lead editorial in "the washington post," the meltdown in aleppo. above all, aleppo represents a meltdown of the west's moral and political will and in particular a collapse of u.s. leadership. >> well, i was just about to say that -- i've heard from several sources that nikki haley, who has been nominated to take samantha powers' place that there's concerns that she doesn't really have a grasp of the situation, and i would like -- i am very interested to

hear whether this position is going to be taken seriously as it has n clearly from the past administration because i think samantha power has been very vocal about the situation for years. >> samantha power has been tremendous on this. >> they don't take her seriously. >> there's only so much she can do. >> that is correct. >> same with john kerry. there's only so much you can do if you have a president who is dragging his feet. what do you think of "the washington post's" lead editorial saying that aleppo represents a meltdown in the west's moral and political will and in particular a collapse of u.s. leadership? >> let the pictures tell the story. we've been showing these pictures for five years. it's as if the world does not have a conscience. you see this each and every day. nearly each and every day. yesterday or the day before yesterday we had the intent of assad's response to the cease-fire is to bomb people as soon as they came out thinking

there was a cease-fire. that's murder. that's a war crime. >> it is a war crime. >> just because aleppo has fallen doesn't mean the syrian problem is over. it means assad is as emboldened as ever. trump needs a plan on how to confront him and his partnership with vladimir putin. this is not going away. >> congressman tim ryan wants a say on how democrats go forward after 2016. we'll get his take on the race to lead the dnc but first, senator joe manchin was in the running for a top spot in the trump administration. does he plan to cross party lines for some of the new president's priorities? he joins us next on "morning joe." afoot and light-hearted i take to the open road. healthy, free, the world before me, the long brown path before me leading wherever i choose. the east and the west are mine.

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r is for read my mind. and i... can't see a thing. s... see you in the morning. polaris, from united. >> there are so many great entries. >> candidates for the republican nomination for president. >> dr. ben carson. [ applause ] >> texas senator ted cruz. [ applause ] >> businessman donald trump. [ applause ] >> florida senator marco rubio.

[ applause ] >> former florida governor jeb bush. >> and ben carson is standing there as well and to the main stage donald trump. >> wow. >> that was clip of the year? >> choreography was a little off that night. >> i like how they say and dr. ben carson is also standing back there. come on out as though he just happened to be there. >> join the debate. why not. >> welcome back to "morning joe." joining the conversation, it's thursday, december 15th. still with us, veteran columnist and msnbc contributor mike barnicle. joining the conversation, former mccain senior campaign strategist and msnbc political analyst steve schmidt. >> schmidt! that's what we should say for him. boom. >> where did that come from? >> we're trying to come up with

things. we've got legendary. what do we have for him? >> what do we have for him? >> don't deflect. >> cutie pie. >> let's workshop that a little more. >> ageing teenage sensation. >> andy gibb. >> managing editor of bloomberg politics mark halperin is with us as well. >> he owns that camera. so many memories through the years. it's like when -- mark halperin i was there. very interesting. we're talking about books we read off the air. i was very surprised. a huge bruce springsteen fan, but i start reading the book with some trepidation and i'm

blown away when he talks about how "born to run" developed and they mixed it. it's a surprisingly good book. >> it's a great book. he's a great writer. he talks about being a father. he talks about the kids. this is some of the wisest advice on being a parent, being a dad in the relationship with his dad, relationship with his kids. how thoroughly completely totally norl the guy is. it's just a great book. i can't tell you how much i enjoyed it. it's a great book to go buy and give as a gift this christmas season. great book. >> it opens the window of a world famous artist and you read it and, wow, there's a normalcy to him that's really surprising. the relationship with his father is very interesting part of it. you can see where it forms large part of who he is today.

>> part of the story most remarkable to me is as they're in transition from struggling to where nobody knows him, whether you talk about the beatles in early 1962 to just bruce springsteen snknowing he has something special with "born to run" and being tortured and not wanting to put it out and magic of guys on the mixing board and take it to the records company and they say, no, the voice is too low. no. we'll never get that magic go with it. >> you see in books how close these people are that icons to not making it. they get a break. everybody gets some little break that makes them who they are. >> the sad thing is the way the industry is formed. bruce springsteen would never have survived today. would never have survived.

wouldn't have been big enough to get the next one. i don't think he ever would have made it to that third big album. you have a lot of artists now -- >> the more you get into the book, and it's not unusual, i think, for groups or individual singers to have started that way in that era and rocketed to fame when it couldn't happen today. it always reminded me, every page reminds me of what don henley said in the documentary about the eagles when he said he sat there many, many times and thought why us? why me? how did it happen to us and to me when your group is great and you're tending bar now. >> let's get to work now. >> that was work. i'm sweating. can somebody bring me a towel, please. i need a water like he does on stage. >> there are growing concerns at trump tower that john bolton will face significant obstacles

in his bid for a top spot in the state department. the first obstacle might be rex tillerson. "the new york times" reports that several republican figures are privately voicing resistance including condoleezza rice, robert gates and steven hadley. as jeremy peters reports, rex tillerson himself expressed misgivings about having bolton as his deputy according to a person that spoke with mr. trump in recent days. mr. bolton remains under consideration for the job. he enjoys a powerful ally in sheldon adelson, the casino magnate and republican megadonor who favors the hard nose posture that mr. bolton would bring. what would mr. bolton bring to the table if he was forced on rex tillerson? you would think you would need to have a very strong say in who was at his side? >> a guy like rex tillerson does not go in saying i'm going to

work as your secretary of state, and i'm going suffer all of the slings and arrows of a really ugly confirmation process with people questioning my patriotism. also, i can get in there and have the guy running my state department while i'm overseas, a guy that still thinks invading iraq was a good idea. i suspect rex tillerson probably struck a deal. i don't know. we know guys like that. they don't go in there saying, oh, yeah, you can let the state department be run as a favor to a megadonor. >> counting votes is an underappreciated virtue in the confirmation process. you look at john bolton as a prospective under secretary of state. i don't think he has the votes to be confirmed. thus far, donald trump has been very cautious about the people he's nominated having a path forward. for rex tillerson, this will be very simple. the one thing that donald trump is going to have to do over the

next couple of weeks with the cia director's confirmation is this issue of the russian hacking that so far the president-elect has simply said has not bought into the intelligence community's assessments. he's going to be asked, rex tillerson, by lindsey graham, by john mccain in meetings not on the committee that do you support sanctioning russia. do you believe the intelligence community assessments? if rex tillerson says no, he's on the opposite side of that issue potentially from the president by saying yes, but if he says no, he's not going to get confirmed. simply won't have the republican votes necessary. >> so much of this has to do with balance. temperamental balance. if george h.w. bush wanted to put bolton as number two at state, you had jim baker there, okay. fine. that's fine. because you've got the temperamental balance. it's the same problem i had with -- nothing against rudy

giuliani. i still call him america's mayor. in part just to irk liberals but i still call him america's mayor. john bolton has a place to serve this country. temperamentally it doesn't seem a good fit for either donald trump or rex tillerson. it just doesn't make sense right now. >> there are three elements here to consider. one, rex tillerson is chairman and ceo of a global empire. one of the largest companies in the world. i highly doubt he's going to sit there and accept the position of secretary of state or nomination to be secretary of state and have someone inserted under him who he does not know is his number two. i highly doubt that he would go for that. the second -- >> again, a guy who is still saying invading iraq was a great idea. >> yeah. >> he still loves that. still loves that idea. >> the second element is do you really want -- you're going to have a series of confirmation hearings. several of them are going to be rocky.

health and human services is going to be very rocky. democrats are really going to -- >> what about epa? a blood bath. >> why do you want to add another confrontational hearing with bolton. >> not for number two. >> the third element to consider is rex tillerson, you're coming from exxon. you've never really run a government department. and the career bureaucrats in the state department look upon the secretary of state and secretary of state's team as the christmas help. they're going to be gone. >> that's what they call them. >> we're going to be here. you want someone in there as your number two who can smooth the thing out who can run the department while you're gone. while you're overseas. >> someone who could care deeply about the epa pick would be senator joe manchin, democratic senator from west virginia. good to have you on the show this morning. we haven't seen you in a long time. >> hey. how's everybody? i miss y'all.

i haven't been with you in a while. >> you need to come up here and see us. you went in to see donald trump. any offers to work in the administration? >> it was a good conversation. we really had a good conversation. and i was honored to be asked to come up. we had good talks about what's going on in my state of west virginia. and also really with the country in energy policy. it's all energy policy i've spoke about many times. i was very pleased with our conversation. and you know what? i think i can still tremendously help my state and help my country from the senate. i think we need to bring bipartisanship. he knows i'm a centrist in bringing people together. i'm excited about chuck schumer coming in as our new leader on the democratic side. you'll see things happening. i really do. >> can you give us a quit gut reaction to a couple names here. rex tillerson at state? >> i know rex, okay.

i know rex from boy scouts because we put the big boy scout camp in west virginia. rex has been very much involved. he's a character builder. he loves leadership. he loves working with these young men and women and rex brings a lot to the table. rex is tough. everybody is worried about rex's relationship with putin. that's not what i'm worried about at all. i did a conference with the aspen institute in germany about the relationship between russia and the u.s. and i asked one of the russians after a week of dialogue, i asked him, i said tell me about the cold war. he said the cold war is colder today than it was when it was declared so that tells me we have no communication going back so if rex has a relationship and we can build off of that because they do have weapons that can affect the united states of america. we know that. with that being said, my concern about rex is this. can he separate, joe, his financial ties? is his basically financial ties

tied to the performance of exxonmobil after he leaves based on worked at secretary of state? if he has a rapport with this man and anybody else, i think that would help break the ice and move things along further. we've got to make sure when he makes that decision, that decision is made for one sole purpose. how do we keep america safe and protect america and america's interest only. >> i just want to ask you about going in there. why did you think it was important to go in there? there are some -- i'm sort of sensing that that's a controversial topic for some democrats. >> well, you know what? i don't know why people get so upset. you know, i voted for hillary clinton, and i got a lot of consternation in my state about that. hillary committed to me to help

west virginia. that's my purpose. we have our president-elect as president donald trump. i'm a proud american. i'm going to work with the president whoever he or she may be. that's my job as a senator representing my state. so i was honored to go in, talk to him, build a rapport. i went in there. i met ivanka. she was there. beautiful lady. jared was sitting there. we had reince there and steve bannon. i got along fine with everybody. these are people that i've got to work with. i've got to find a pathway forward that democrats and republicans can find a consensus building way to move this country forward. we've been in gridlock for far too long. >> senator manchin, it's willie geist. good to see you again. it's been a while. you know, you're the perfect democratic to talk to about a month and a half after the election to kind of look back a little bit about what happened and how the candidate you supported lost. we've heard a lot from democrats in washington.

we've heard a lot from progressive pundits about why it may have happened or why she didn't become president of the united states. how do you diagnose it and do you believe that democrats have shown that they learned the right lessons from hillary clinton's loss? >> well, you know, so many different ways to evaluate this, willie. i asked a bunch of my friends last night when we were together, give me one word. give me one word that you think describes what happened in this election. what made the difference? these are a lot of my democratic friends but moderate republican friends and everybody i work with. i said tell me one word. they said change. they accepted all of the toxic rhetoric. they accepted all of the showmanship, if you will, and they just wanted change. they thought one person would bring more change than the other. that's what it came down to in west virginia. hillary said things that were extremely toxic in my state and it hurt us tremendous. she wasn't going to win west virginia no matter what.

but the bottom line is i felt that she knew our state and could help us and so that's where we were. i've told the -- the west virginia democrats are different than washington democrats. i've said, you know, when you look at washington, they forget that there's a rural america. they forget there's people that still want to work. i've said we were always the party of the working man and woman. i grew up in a town where everybody worked. everybody had to do something. i think most everybody was democrats. i saw people giving and sharing and caring. they kick you in the butt if you didn't get off your butt and work. so now instead of being the party of the working man and woman, it seems like that we have become so politically correct that we have become the party of preventing the working man and woman from working because of the overreach trying to dictate and control people's lives. that's not what people want. so you've got to find that balance. that's what we keep trying to do.

you know, we're going into confirmation. it's going to be very decisive. we have 52 republicans. 48 democrats. you know, if you look at the affordable care act, it was passed with 60 democrats and no republicans. if we start looking now since harry reid pulled the what we call nuclear option which takes on 51 republicans to confirm anyone. they have enough votes to confirm anyone they want no matter what democrats say. >> because of what harry reid did with the nuclear option? >> yeah. harry basically -- he created what we've got. it's not good. and basically it should be a bipartisan. senate should be bipartisan. it should take 60 votes. there should be at least eight democrats voting for these confirmation to find the right person. >> lightning round. we got a lot of people who want to talk to you. mike barnicle. >> senator, you're talking about working people.

working men and women. do you have an idea how many working men and women in west virginia fall under obamacare? >> well, we have -- i think there's 170,000 or 190,000 last count that got health care that never had it. that's a tremendous plus for our people who never had adequate health care before. there's going to be some changes, and we're not opposing change. we're basically saying show us what the change will be so we can make an intelligent decision. you're not going to throw it out the baby with the bath water and i think that president-elect donald trump has said that basically prescription basically in things that we do and i just think that there's going to be some gut checking here. what can we keep? you can't keep all the good and throw out everything else. there has to be a way forward to pay for it. >> mika? >> pre-existing conditions are a big one. >> these are issues that you really need to confront each

other on. i'm just curious when you walked out of the meeting how you felt because i've talked to a number of leading democrats who really feel very concerned and scared even about this incoming administration. did you feel like this was not somebody you could work with? >> no. no. to the contrary. i feel that president-elect trump is somebody that i can sit and talk with and work with and try to find that middle ground. i think he's somebody i can explain to him why it's not going to fly in the senate at least. my job under chuck schumer's leadership is going to be trying to find the pathway forward working with paul ryan and working with mitch mcconnell and the group there and also working with the trump administration. we've got to find a pathway forward. so if they're going to go completely off to the right or our group completely off to the left, you have to find that middle to move forward.

that's what i am going to do. you can say mr. president, here's where we are. this is not going to fly for these reasons. and basically can you modify your position? they either can or they can't. i don't think he would be -- i think it would be easy to find a sweet spot. >> joe, before we go, obviously terrible anniversary the fourth year anniversary of the killings in newtown. we talked an awful lot during that time and afterwards online and offline about some of the proposals that 90% of americans support, increasing background checks to keep guns out of the hands of terrorists, out of the hands of domestic abusers, out of the hands of the mentally ill. is there any chance that what you and pat toomey championed four years ago after that horrible strategy will at least

get a hearing in the next congress? >> well, you know, i hope there can be. my thing is i don't believe that a terrorist should be able to go to a local gun show or go online and be able to buy any weapon they want. i just don't believe that at all, joe. i'm a bona fide gun owner, and i would respect and defend the second amendment to and we're not taking anyone's guns away. when you cannot even prevent someone on a no-fly list from going down and buying a gun and knowing that we have a target on our back, joe, and we can't even have common sense -- i'm going to try to find that middle. i'm going try to talk to the president-elect and new president donald trump and find out if there's a pathway just common sense. he could help this dialogue by saying come on, people.

that doesn't make sense. you're going to let a person go to the gun show and buy anything they want or go online and not check them? i would hope he would get involved. >> senator joe manchin, thank you so much for being on the show this morning. >> great seeing you. >> good to be with you y'all. >> looks like your childhood friend is on the way to winning another national championship. not counting our chickens before we hatch. >> he sure is. i'm going with him, joe. >> i'll see you there. >> have fun. >> coming up on "morning joe," kellyanne conway is standing by and joins the conversation next. . except when it comes to your retirent plan. but at fidelity, we're making retirement planning clearer. and it all starts with getting your fidelity retirement score. in 60 seconds, you'll know where you stand. and together, we'll help you make decisions for your plan... to keep you on track. ♪ time to think of your future it's your retirement. know where you stand.

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tadirectv now. stream all your entertainment! anywhere! anytime! can we lose the 'all'. there's no cbs and we don't have a ton of sports. anywhere, any... let's lose the 'anywhere, anytime' too. you can't download on-the-go, there's no dvr, yada yada yada. stream some stuff! somewhere! sometimes! you totally nailed that buddy. simple. don't let directv now limit your entertainment. only xfinity gives you more to stream to any screen. told you a minute ago about the nbc news report that vladimir putin played a role in the hack of democrats organizations and now the president is facing questions as to why he didn't raise bigger flags during the heat of the election. here's white house press secretary josh earnest. >> and the president had very

strong feelings about the race and about the candidates involved in the race and believed that political activity should be separate from the intelligence community's analysis of russian militia's cyberactivity. there's ample evidence known long before the election and in most cases long before october about the trump campaign and russia. everything from the republican nominee himself calling on russia to hack his opponent. it might be an indication that he was obviously aware and concluded based on whatever facts or sources he had available to him that russia was involved. >> earnest mentioned trump had chosen a campaign chair that had financial ties to the kremlin. >> what's the answer on how barack obama -- why didn't

barack obama make more of this during the campaign? >> good question. this is an enormously consequential issue. this isn't an issue between republicans and democrats. it's an american issue. you have a hostile foreign power that attacked sovereignty of the united states. the president did nothing. >> i hear you say this all the time. while you were saying this the white house said nothing. the president said nothing. why? >> i have no idea. i think it's extraordinary. you look at josh earnest first comments there, the president had strong feelings. the president of the united states, the country is under cyberattack. the election i being interfered with. and the strongest reaction they can muster is, well, he had strong feelings. >> coming up next, trump campaign manager kellyanne conway joins us live.

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>> i think every american and every human being is deeply troubled by the violence and innocent loss of life that we see inside syria. it's heartbreaking. it's tragic.

when you see a government commit atrocities against its own people using the military might of the state. that is a failed government. that is a failed state. >> with us now, state department spokesman john kirby. very good to see you this morning. >> you too. >> obviously a lot of people very concerned about what's happening in aleppo right now. reports from "the new york times" just this morning that the cease-fire has been broken by some of assad's goons. i'll call them goons shooting at ambulances passing by. what can you tell us? >> we've seen those same reports, joe. they're very disconcerting. early this morning we had seen reports that the cease-fire seemed to be holding and seen reports that buses were moving into evacuation centers to move people out. all of that looked positive. we were encouraged by that. and then just a little bit ago we see now reports that they have been firing on same buses and convoys which is despicable

if it's true. we'll watch this real, real close. i think you heard i talked about this yesterday secretary kerry was on the phone urging to try to get this last ditch effort to get people out and done safely. >> do you know is the secretary on the phone with the russians right now to try to figure out what's happening with assad's goons shooting at ambulances passing by? >> he's not on the phone right now. i wouldn't rule out another discussion sometime today. he's been watching this very, very closely trying to stay in touch with all of the players. wouldn't rule out more conversations today. >> i think people watching this morning saying that secretary kerry is watching real, real close, they feel like we've been watching real, real close for five to six years and done nothing about it and see these pictures on our screen every morning. does secretary kerry have regrets that the united states didn't intervene more strongly

say five years ago? >> i would say nobody is more frustrated by the situation in aleppo than secretary kerry. you have covered his very energiette and diplomatic efforts on this. we're not happy where we are. this is not where we wanted the diplomatic process to take us. it's not like other options weren't considered. you know that the interagency looked at a broad range including military options. the assessment by our military leaders is that wouldn't do anything to really stop the bloodshed and violence and it might exacerbate the situation. so we have continued to try to pursue diplomacy. it hasn't gotten us at all where we want to be. no question about that. i think if the secretary was here, he would tell you the same thing. he's extraordinarily frustrated. what he's focused on now -- i meant watching in terms of what we're seeing this morning. i don't mean watching at large. what he's focused on now and will stay focused on for the entire time he's in office is getting the two sides back to the table. aleppo matters greatly. we need to keep trying to get

these people out safely. what we really need is a political discussion that leads to an end of the war so that the fighting can stop. >> thank you so much, admiral john kirby. always good to have you on even terrible mornings like today. thank you for being with us. let's bring in former campaign manager for donald trump's winning bid for the white house and now senior advise to the trump transition team kellyanne conway. you know, john kerry actually a lot of reports have suggested shares the same frustration as a lot of americans that barack obama has done so little with what's happened in syria over the past several years. what can you tell us about how donald trump's policy towards syria will be different than barack obama's? >> first, joe, let me say when i heard words like frustrating and disconcerting, it's just not enough. willie is right. people don't feel disconnected from that. they see it's a humanitarian

crisis and this country is always in a position to help people in need. we need a nonpolitician in the white house as commander in chief and president of the united states won't sit by. he was not studying something or feeling frustrated about it but who is accustomed to delivering results and producing action. women are choosing suicide over rape. it's tragic. >> what's the policy right now? he said a couple different things. one time he said he would send 10,000 troops in to clean the mess up. other times he suggested he was going to take a more hands off approach and let russia take care of it. is he going to listen closely to his advisers, general mattis, whoever secretary of state ends up being if it's rex tillerson, will he listen to them and then develop policy based on their input as well? >> the answer to that is yes, absolutely. this humanitarian crisis and situation in aleppo and syria has been discussed during the interview process for these cabinet positions.

he's made very clear that he will confer with those that he's chosen to surround himself with in the cabinet. each of these positions including secretary of defense and secretary of state had enormously qualified men and women vying for these positions. i do think situations like aleppo were being considered when the president-elect decided whom should surround him in the cabinet. he's somebody who we always know is in command and control of the nal decision but somebody who is a master listener and learner particularly when it comes to those who have experience in this space. >> let's talk about the concerns about conflict of interest with the family. what is happening within the transition to try and keep the ethics of the situation in check, work with washington, and yet perhaps utilize the talents of donald trump's children especially? >> the last part you say to me is the most important. we haven't had adult children, if you will, we call them the kids. we haven't had adult children in

the white house in quite a while. we've had minor age children in the past administrations so it's something new. you're talking about men and women who are incredibly talented and very smart and very involved in their father's business obviously. it's a family business. but i have been talking to them daily, and the preliminary advice that i've heard is that, first of all, nobody has made any final decisions. when they make a final decision about whether they will or will not serve inside the administration inside the west wing, everyone will know that. that's a personal decision only they will make and announce. secondly the anti-nepotism law has an exception if you want to work in the west wing because the president is able to appoint his own staff. so of course this came about to stop maybe family members serving on the cabinet. but the president does have discretion to choose a staff of his liking. and so if that is true and that legal advice holds, that will open up a realm of

responsibilities. >> jared and eivanka are the mot likely to participate? >> all of the trump children are amazing. they have assured everyone that they will be complete distinction and separation. no ambiguity about business holdings. they'll have to separate themselves completely from these vast business holdings. these men and women are at the top of their earning game and sacrifice they will make to go in and serve if that's what they choose is really unprecedented and extraordinary the idea they would completely separate themselves from their businesses, very sucssful businesses is remarkable. eve a ivanka is committed to women in the workplace and she's in a position where she can leverage that and make a difference for

women in the economy. >> it's going to take a team of lawyers, and i'm serious here, to figure out how to sort through all of jared's holdings, which are vast and figure out how he can work there without conflicts of interest. that women employ a law firm for a long time. >> you talk about separation of businesses from the white house but donald has said he'll turn over to donald jr. many of his businesses and there yesterday at that meeting of all of the tech ceos was donald jr. does the president-elect worry about a conflict of interest? he can say don jr. is going to take over but we know he's going to talk to don jr. it's his son for god's sake. isn't that still a conflict of interest? anything short of something like a blind trust will always be a conflict of interest. >> anything short of him never talking to his adult children again will not satisfy his caret critics. they'll continue to be his children. i find all of this hand wringing over who is in that meeting yesterday to be really over the

top. the meeting was so transparent. you've seen clip after clip. it's all been reported this morning. it was quite transparent and open. there was nothing secretive about it. and these are adults who have a great deal to offer to the conversation. i thought yesterday was fantastic. to have people who disagreed with you politically come around the table and the president-elect immediately credited them as the big innovators and doers and job creators in our country if not our world. and to bring them together and to discuss specifically, not for show, discuss specifically repatriating these funds and increasing vocational opportunities -- >> don jr. running the trump business empire, don't you think that's a conflict of interest more broadly? with his father in the white house? >> no, of course not. who would run it. don jr. and eric are executives in the corporation. they work with their father on a daily basis on these holdings. make no mistake the sacrifices

they will make is what strikes me every day the more i learn about these vast holdings and iconic properties and fact they have assets and deals across many continents. it's really an extraordinary unprecedented situation because normally we have politicians going from one job to another job and in this case the presidency. this is different. i think to charge them as having a conflict of interest because of their father's new job is really unfair. >> the transition had announced that president-elect was going to hold a news conference to talk about his devestment from his business interest. that was canceled. >> postponed. >> was it postponed because of how complicated the devestment issue is into january that it's a global business spanning multiple contents and there needs to be more time or a signal this isn't an issue that the transition president-elect puts particular emphasis on?

>> we put great emphasis on it. i can't imagine what the legal bills are because they're so committed to his presidency. it's the former. vast holdings, iconic properties and assets they have and getting it right before you announce it is what's important. to make sure that the structure that's put in place shows the complete separation so that donald trump himself as president of the united states can focus 100% on being the president of the united states. it's going to take a little bit longer. >> mark halperin? >> is assad staying in power in syria an acceptable outcome for donald trump? >> what's not acceptable is what we see in front of us every day is families being torn apart, young children being killed and nobody doing anything about it that could. so he will make those decisions. he has discussed some of that publicly in the debates and elsewise on programs like this. he'll confer with his new team. it's not up to me to make policy for him. he's respectful of the fact that

for the next 30 some days we have a commander in chief and president of the united states already and so there's no point in really talking about new policy as we're being respectful and differential to the current occupant. >> how big of a problem is russia as we talk about syria targeted bombing of women, children, hospitals, does he understand that? does he understand that as everybody talks about this relationship with vladimir putin and russia that has to be at the forefront of our concerns about what russia is doing? >> he does understand that, joe. he also is aware that what he has said is if you can work with russia and other folks around the globe with whom we don't agree on everything or most things, if you can work with them on some important and necessary projects, if you will, or undertakings like defeating radical islamic terrorism and stopping isis and if russia can join with the united states to do something like that, we'll listen. he's very aware of all of the hot spots around the globe. a lot of what he's inheriting and america's standing around the world which he's very committed to changing.

>> are you staying and joining the administration? >> i definitely support the president-elect and vice president-elect in whatever they do. i will make that decision soon. >> you did turn down white house press secretary. >> i did. >> other positions that interest you in the administration or that you've been offered? >> yes. there are. and i think after we form the cabinet there are two to go. 16 down. two to go in the cabinet. then we'll start to announce some of the senior staff positions which could happen as soon as this week. >> okay. >> do you think you'll be on that list or do you want to be on that list or working in the private sector? >> it's not as exciting as being on santa's list right now. look, i'm going to support him. i'm either going to go outside and build this surround sound super structure so every time someone tries to get in his way with legislation he wants to pass i'll be there to haunt them including the ten democrats that are up in 2018 in states he just won and additional five or six that are in democratic senators in states he came close to

winning. that's very important. i want this guy to have 60 or 61 senators after 2018. or i'll go inside. >> we're being yelled at. >> kellyanne conway, thank you. congressman tim ryan here in the studio next. we'll be right back. they are the natural borns enemy of the way things are.

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joining us now here in new york, democratic congressman tim ryan of ohio. good to so you. we were just talking, we had joe manchin on, talking about a lot of things you have been talking about since election day, which is where democrats missed, how they woke up and said how did this happen? you kind of plained it to people. what you have seen in the last month, i asked the same question i asked senator manture, have you seen your party understanding what they did better than deday after. >> we're mentioning blue collar

workers more and working class, we probably mentioned it more in the last couple weeks than in the last couple weeks. think we are moving in the right direction. people get it now. >> what does that mean practically. how are people getting it? >> it starts with your rhetoric, how you talk to people, where you go and where you are and being with people who are working class and understanding, we just had an issue with coal workers and their pension. you know, a lot of democrats were advocating for that. sherrod brown in ohio, myself, we wecouldn't get it into the c which was continuing funding for the government. but we were fighting for those coal workers. democrats were, and republicans left them on the outside. guys like sherrod brown took the lead on that. >> what do you think about democrats heading into trump tower to meet with the president-elect? do you have an issue with that? would you have an issue with that? >> no, i think you have to have those conversations. he won. we can't sit here and ask like we're just going to obstruct

from the very beginning. he won. we have an obligation. my personal example, a lot of people voted for me and voted for donald trump. votedmanchin, voted for donald trump. but having said that, we have an obligate to sit down. what are the sweet spots we can find that are going to help working-class people. we have an obligation to fiet out what that is. it doesn't mean you have to make a deal there, but start those conversations. >> a lot of people seem impressed with you. that's just the talk you might be hearing or maybe you are. >> you can keep going. >> just saying, in terms of getting it, why we lost, and also how we need to move forward. how do you want to move forward so you can make the biggest impact you can? >> i think after the election, we all had to re-evaluate where we were and where i was in the party and who i am and where i come from. for me, the race against speaker

pelosi, it was about speaking up. i know these people. this is where i come from. i know how they think. i know what's on their mind, what they worry about. guys like me and women like me need to step up and have more of a voice in the party. >> what's your advice to leader pelosi to sort of move into the future in a way that perhaps hasn't been effective in the past? >> continue to talk about these working-class issues. and again, not to slice the electoral up, as we have talked about before on the show, who's black, who's brown, whoosz rr white, who's a man, a woman, a ska catholic, protestant, and talk to them that way. have this robust economic message. it needs to be how do we rebuild the country? if you look at youngtown, automation, globalization, where are people going to work when there's driverless trucks. where are there going to work when there are fast food restaurants that don't need

employees in. >> how do you go back to youngstown and tell people who are under the assumption that their jobs have been lost because they have all gone to mexico or overseas, when in fact, if you go to pittsburgh or youngstown, a place like that, it's technology that has stripped more jobs out of this country than going to mexico. how do you tell them the truth about it? that their jobs that they had 10, 15 years ago are never coming back? >> i think you do. you tell them the truth, but their reality, mike, is that a factory left warren, ohio, delphi plant, and went down right over the border in mexico and started shipping the product back in the united states. in their mind, that really happened because it did really happen. is that percentage wise all of them? no, about two thirds is globalization and trade and about one third is globalization and trade, two thirds is automation and technology. so what are we going to do? what's the plan? i think we need to rebuild the country. we need broadband.

we need roads, bridges. we need to make sure that communities like mine, how do you drive defense spending in communities like youngstown, gary, indiana, spending $600 billion a year. a lot of manufacturing, tier one, tier two, tier three suppliers. we don't have the broadband capability to download the files that we need to do advanced manufacturing. so you need that investment in the communities like ours, then the private investment will fall fall falloyo. that's just the reality. >> sounds like some of the leaders of the democratic party should be from youngstown. just thinking. might help. >> and sommerville, massachusetts, yeah. >> still ahead, great to have you on. thank you. one of the nation's top journalism professors is warning of an all-out attack on the press. why he says it's not completely unreasonable to imagine "the washington post," david farenthold, on trial for

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we were called in august by the fbi that our account, this ventder was hacked in june that we used. >> they specifically said the russians did it? >> they pointed us to the fact that the russians did it. >> why do you think the

president-elect still refuses to accept that the russians were involved? he said it could have been the iranians, it could have been some guy in new jersey. >> well, the iranianerize hacking into our systems. if it's a 400-pound guy, it's a 4-pound russian guy. >> that's one way of putting it. good morning, everyone. it's thursday, december 15th. here we go. >> good morning. >> good morning. >> how are you, sir willie? >> i'm great. you, sir? >> doing fine. >> i feel great. >> going to buckingham palace for the holidays. >> i'll be with the royals. will, harry, i. guys weekend. when you get knighted, you get to do stuff like that. >> with us on set, mark halperin, former treasury official and "morning joe" economic analyst, steve rattner. >> and from the old -- >> he's just a financier. and on capitol hill, "new york times" reporter jerry peters. growing concerns at trump tower that john bolton will face

significant obstacles iphis bid for a top spot at the state department. "the new york times" reports that several republican figures are privately voicing resistance, including condoleezza rice, bob gates, and former national security adviser stephen hadley. as jeremy peters reports, rex tillerson has himself expressed misgivings as having bolton as his deputy. but mr. bolton remains under consideration for the job. he enjoys a powerful ally in sheldon adelson, someone is going to have to explain this to me. money only goes so far, right? maybe not. casino magnate and republican mega donor who favors the kind of hard-nosed posture that mr. bolton would bring. >> jeremy, bolton, talk about your reporting. what you finding out? >> so, ever since the report over the weekend that there would be a rex tillerson/john

bolton duo running the state department, alarm bells have started going off inside trump tower. and this even pre-dates that because john bolton has long been a very divisive figure in foreign policy circles. but trump is now hearing from people like condoleezza rice, stephen hadley, bob gates. people he respects and listens to, who have worked with john bolton, who are very concerned that bringing him into the state department would lead to the same kinds of strife that you saw during the bush administration. making matters even worse, rex tillerson has also said he does not really care for john bolton, and it seems to me at this point, hard to believe that trump would pick somebody who his secretary of state has said he doesn't want to work with. >> willie, i mean, hard to believe, first of all, you would pick somebody who still thinks invading iraq was a great idea. wanted to invade iran last year.

is about as opposite of -- if rex tillerson is friends with jik ba jim baker, and it bob gates appointed him, it's hard to believe that anybody, except for the most extreme segment of the neocon community of the republican party, would support this guy. he also was a horrible administrator by all accounts when he was over at state. >> that's why the times is reporting that those very same people who helped convince donald trump to choose rex tillerson, also said john bolton is not the guy. we worked with him. that's not somebody you want to have sitting next to you, and that reporting also is that tillerson is not comfortable himself with having john bolton at his deputy. >> that's the most important there. >> i don't think anybody would. especially if you have a guy like rex tillerson who has run a corporation. you're not going to want a crazed ideologue in there. >> who you can't trust to guide you well. >> you don't know, can't trust.

he doesn't share your worview o the world. as all the reports said yesterday, his management style was abusive. he kissed up, kicked down. is rex tillerson -- is donald trump really going to want a guy like that that none of them trust, none of them agree with, running the state department, when rex tillerson is doing the president's job across the world? >> well, i would say two other things besides everything listed about why this seems to be unlikely to happen. one is tillerson is going to have a confirmation complexity. in the end, he'll almost certainly be confirmed. rand paul here yesterday and other would really try to stop bolton. and why pick the fight when you're going to have a fight at the top? the other is, tillerson, like a lot of these nominees, has never run their department, never worked their department. my guess is some of them have never been in the buildings they're going to run. he needs a deputy who can go in the building and be smooth and seamless. >> by the way, who knows the building. who knows the players. >> and bolton knows some of the

players. but they need to have some smoothness to the process, as in the deputy's level, bolton would not be smooth as a manager or as someone to try to get the building to do the bidding of the administration, which is hard. >> really is. >> and the last point to add to what mark is saying is that it's an the job of the deputy secretary to play leading role in recruiting the people at the next level down. particularly given tillerson won't really know who to recruit, having someone who is sensible and thoughtful is particularly important. >> tillerson can say these are who i want in my state department. i'm bringing my people in, but these are the type of people that i want filling up the state department. >> as you know, it doesn't always work exactly that way. a negotiation between the secretary and the white house. there's gives and takes, but it's rare for a secretary to have imposed on him someone this far out there that he doesn't want. >> especially because sheldon adelson, boss ecause he no longs pushing it, it makes no sense.

donald trump didn't need sheldon adelson's money to win. >> it's nice to have diversity around the table. a hallmark of this program. >> it's interesting, mika. i went back, and i have been talking about eisenhower. and how eisenhower selected people that ran his cabinet, which eisenhower is considered one of the most successful administrators in eight years of peace and prosperity. i went back and i read the ambrose book again last night. just to sort of refresh my recollection. and as he builds this, listen to this. this is what stephen ambrose wrote about eisenhower's cabinet and who does it sound like? a major critical part of presidential leadership was selecting the right men for the right jobs and working with them. he wanted competent, proven administrators, men who thought big and acted big. always impressed by successful businessmen who had made it on their own and knew how to run huge organizations, he sought

out the high achievers, men he could turn to for advice and with whom he could share both responsibility and praise. personal friendship counted for nothing. in selecting his cabinet and white house staff, eisenhower did not pick a single old friend. some of the most prominent selections were of men he had never met. the others were men he had met during the course of the campaign. talk about -- >> that's amazing. >> some remarkable parallels, mark halperin, with what's going on right now. >> he's chosen as his secretary of state someone he didn't know, who he quickly bonded with. >> someone he didn't know three weeks ago. same thing with dod. he didn't -- he -- two of the most important picks were men he did not know a month and a half ago. >> there are, i think, about eight people who will be in his cabinet who were jeb bush supporters during the campaign. he's chosen people, again, personal hasn't mattered for some. some, treasury, he chose someone

who is friends wim, wilbur ross, commerce, but picking people with great resumes, accomplishment, and who are stngers to him. at least they were. >> this is what his voters signed up for. this is what he promised during the campaign. it was going to be different than washington bureaucrats, not going to run the gump the way they had. business as usual will be different. we'll see what the outcome of that is, but he's definitely doing what he said he would do. >> the criticism is also the same. the new republic aphorizen hower made his selections wrote this. he's made a cabinet of 8 millionairers and one plumber. what was even more remarkable was the absence of any experienced administrators in government. the parallels are pretty frightening. >> this was exactly the point i was going to make. i'm all for bringing in new blood, and i have no problem with pollute ocrats, but

there's -- there is a benefit in having people who have actually done the job. any more than it makes sense to pick me up and make me ceo of exxon, and the record in the modern world, of businessmen going straight into the government with no government expertise, experience, knowing kind of how it works, is not great. tillerson is used to bossing around 350,000 people on a command and control basis. that's not how the government works. >> very different. >> i think that's the key when you look, jeremy peters, a the selection for who is rex tillerson's number two. instead of asking sheldon adelson for advice or guidance, you talk to your hunting buddy jim baker. who should i have there running state? you were secretary of state. who should i have next to me when i'm across the world for, you know, two months straight? who will have my back? jim baker, obviously, has done it before. >> not going to be john bolton. >> and is one of the most brilliant men washington has seen running things over the past four, five decades.

>> the history here, joe, is not lost on the upper echelons of trump team. especially steve bannon, who despite being a caricature as a racist and a white supremacist and all thesether awful things, is very much a student history and understands -- i can guarantee you, steve has read that book. he's read stephen ambrose. he knows how these things work and this is something they factor into these decisions. going back to what mark said, i think on the confirmation battle, he's exactly right. you can't afford to have two messy confirmation fights as to whom is going to run your state department. democrats are going to be pulling apart all of these other nominees. it's going to be messy across the board. so why would you have a massive fight over your number two at state? it just doesn't seem to make a lot of sense at this poin. >> then new details this morning surrounding an incident where donald trump's pick for national security adviser reportedly

shared classified information without permission with foreign military officers in afghanistan. the investigation dates back to 2010, when complaints surfaced that general michael flynn reportedly revealed sensitive details about cia operations. now, flynn, who was later pushed out of director of the defense intelligence agency, was not disciplined for the breach because the military found no actual threat to national security. sound familiar? still, the episode puts new scrutiny on the retired general who was one of hillary clinton's fiercest critics when it came to her mishandling of classified material. >> and the conclusion was reached because i think he had shared information with england, right? >> and australia. >> two allies. still something you don't want to do. something improper, but i guess that's why they didn't -- why this didn't go further.

>> yeah, there was an investigation that said it was inappropriately shared. didn't find reason to prosecute him in any way. but he believes he was talking to allies, great britain and australia, and sharing information. it turned out he shouldn't have been doing that. talking ubour intelligence agencies in a way he was not authorized to do. >> this really remains the biggest question mark. this is actually something that deviates from the eisenhower model. flynn is somebody that donald trump knew before the election. somebody that jumped onboard early. and of all the people i speak with in washington, behind the scenes, this is the single pick that causes the gravest concern. and it is not just concern about whether he's going to have an uneven personality. it is grave concern for people who have run america's national security apparatus for the past half century.

>> both flynn and his deputy, k.t. mcfarland, i hear the same thing. people are pleased with the people he has chosen to nominate have put in these two extremely demanding jobs two people who people question whether they're going to be up to doing it. >> from the way things go or i have seen them, these are -- this will take care of itself, but maybe in time. the problem is that donald trump -- people close to him say that flynn and he really connect, and throughout the campaign, it was flynn who really was by his side and kind of kept him where he needed to be. at times, that was tough. there's a personal connection there that is real. >> you brought up something, again, and i have expressed real concerns with general flynn in this position. i have real concerns. it's, for me, the weakest selection. i say that just to say steve rattner, people on the inside that have actually come out,

people who have briefed, been briefed by general flynn and have gone inside from the outside, some of the brightest minds in foreign policy have actually said that general flynn you see behind closed doors is completely opposite than the general flynn who has been tweeting and spouting off. >> and his record. >> saying reckless things that he actually is a ver impressive man and has a calming influence on donald trump. i have heard that from everybody. >> we're going to find out. what often happens in these administrations, as you know, is after a year ortwo, there's a reshuffli reshuffling. sometimes you bring in people so close you can't see their flaws. sometimes you bring in people you don't know and don't know their flaws. after a year or two, there's shuffling of chairs. >> such a collective sort of negativity from those inside who are in the high level positions so far, it will take care of itself. apparently, he deleted his fake news tweet yesterday after all that. >> you think about bill clinton and tony lake and george bush

and condi rice, and barack obama and susan rice. they bring with them often into this job people they knew in the campaign, when they were guided through the maze of foreign policy challenges as a candidate. he's so comfortable with flynn. i have seen them together a little bit, and there is, as you said, just a rapport between them that there's no surprise to me that trump has done this. but i agree with mika, it's going to sort itself out. >> it will sort itself out and also sorts itself out in different ways. barack obama selected susan rice. susan rice, for the most part, has been irrelevant to the foreign policy process. as has almost everybody in washington, d.c. other than barack obama, ben rhodes, and occasionally denis mcdonough. president find people they want to talk to. if general flynn is not giving him the information he needs, he'll go to rex tillerson or

many believe general mattis. >> joe, i would say one more -- i would add one more point to that. i have spent the last couple weeks talking to members of the george w. bush administration, and they point out that world events have a way of intervening. i think that you could end up with a situation here where in 18 months, donald trump's cabinet looks different because global events will test these leaders. and going back to what happened with bush in his first year in office in his first 100 days in office, you had a crisis with the chinese, a bombing in baghdad, the arrest of milose vch, all these things that blew up their well laid plans. there's no reason to believe that that kind of stuff isn't going to happen again under president trump. >> one of the things he might be dealing with is the russian hacking story. nbc news reports intelligence officials believe with a high level of confidence that russian president vladimir putin became personally involved in the

effort to interfere in america's presidential election. two senior officials with direct access to the information saying new intelligence shows putin personally directed how hacked material from democrats would be leaked. the cia has assessed the russian government wanted to elect donald trump. and while the fbi and other agencies don't fully endorse that view, many officials acknowledge russian operations sought to undermine hillary clinton's candidacy. according to a new fox news poll, most americans think russia's efforts had little effect on the outcome. nearly 60% believe it had no effect. but a third say donald trump saw a boost from it. >> wow. okay. >> mark halperin. >> i love when they poll people as if they're like, you know, a nation of norman ornsteins and they all have an opinion on the impact of the election. i mean, i have thought for a while based on talking to people that the government would eventually be more public about the conclusion that they thought putin directed it because it obviously was a kremlin-directed thing, it appears. and people should be outraged

about it. outraged by the fact that russia tried to have an influence on the election. >> what's the sense, jeremy, on capitol hill? it seems republicans are actually stepping forward and are, for the most part, certainly mitch mcconnell has spoken strongly. we heard lindsey graham, but others speaking strongly about the need to investigate this. do you get any sense there is going to be a reluctance from some republicans to aggressively investigate this? >> i mean, maybe on the fringes. i wouldn't say that that's a popular sentiment right now. i think that there is -- this is an instance in which your country takes precedent over your party for a lot of these senators and congressmen. they want to get to the bottom of it. i think unfortunately for donald trump, this is going to be a major distraction for the next one, two years while you have this investigation going on on capitol hill. i think mitch mcconnell will probably do what he can as long

as relations with the white house remain smooth, to kind of minimize the political fallout. he's one of the most shrewd political tack conditions out there, but there's no way this doesn't get a little uncomfortable. >> so, it's going to get very uncomfortable. i do wonder, though, the headline in "the new york times," russians hacked democrats vying for the house seats. this is what i don't understand, steve. they say the hacking may have a happened in march. in march, the upshot was still saying marco rubio and others had a great shot of being president of the united states. so it's not like the russians were saying, oh, we know better than the betting markets that donald trump is going to be president of the united states. we're going to aid and abet him. i guess my question is, did they hack the dnc just because they loathe hillary clinton? or did they try to get into rnc and couldn't? they couldn't get in there?

i'm confused as to timing. was it just widespread phishing and the democratic committee whose computer systems were the weakest? >> i don't think we really know the answer to that. >> which is why i don't think we can direct that. >> i think trump is doing himself a disservice to attack this whole idea of an investigation and looking into it. >> totally agree. >> he's making it look like maybe this did have something to do with the election. if he said, look, it had nothing to do with the election but it's a terrible thing and i'm in favor of an investigation and we should get oin with it, he would be in a much better position. >> exactly what was said about hillary clinton back in -- back when she had the u.n. announcement. she should have said, investigate. come on over to my house. dig in. >> and for him to say, oh, it's a guy in new jersey, he's not doing himself a service. >> still ahead on "morning joe," will there be a contentious four years ahead for the press? prominent journalism professor jay rosen says winter is coming

for the fourth estate. but first, donald trump meets with top tech luminaries, and some are questioning why his kids were in the room. >> as we go to break, bill karins with a check on the snowy forecast. >> not just the great lakes. not just the northeast. take a look at portland, oregon, yesterday. we picked up 2 1/2 inches of snow. this was captured outside a window. that's a bus going out of control down the hill. four kids on the bus, rear ending into the suv. no one was hurt. thankfully, they were going slow enough. but slippery conditions in oregon and throughout the great lakes. we have 53 million people under windchill advisories. half a million under windchill warnings in northern new england. current windchills starting to tumble from d.c. to roanoke through the east coast, but the heart of it is through the great lakes. lowest number right now is number 29 in international falls. negative 12 in indianapolis. that's a very low windchill for you. we have repeat arctic blasts. the first one we're dealing with now into the northeast.

tomorrow morning at this time, the coldest air will be centered over new england. boston will be negative 11. northern maine will be colder than that. a little covery through the great lakes so it will feel warmer, but next cold blast is behind it. we'll track that one on sunday and monday, and this one will be worse. windchill on saturday, negative 31 in bismarck. 31 in kansas city, doesn't sound bad, but then the cold air plunges to the south. we're thinking on sunday some of the coldest air will be over chicago. windchill will be about 5 on sunday morning. during the football game t will be worse than that. we also have todeal with a snow storm, too. we have snow around the great lakes. then the possibility of a snow storm going coast to coast. the srm that's now hitting california will move across the country and bring with it significant snow. here's a look at that forecast. again, the highest totals, wyoming, south dakota, minnesota, wisconsin, even the great lakes and western new york, a chance for 6 to 12

inches of fresh power. looking like a white chrism met for a lot of people. new york, snow early saturday morning, but then it will change over to rain. on monday morning, this tree will look like this. you're watching "morning joe." ♪ he has a sharp wit. a winning smile. and no chance of getting an athletic scholarship. and that is why you invest. the best returns aren't just measured in dollars. td ameritrade.

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perhaps even more importantly, we want you to keep going with the incredible innovation, there's nobody like you in the world, in the world. nobody like the people in this room. and anything we can do to help you, we're going to be there for you, and you'll call me people, call me. it doesn't make any difference. we have no formal chain of command around here. >> that is the president-elect welcoming to trump tower top executives from leading tech companies, including apple, facebook, amazon, tesla, and google. but trump is actually facing

backlash for having three of his adult children attend yesterday's meeting. with top tech executives. amid renewed questions about a possible conflict of interest. earlier this week, president-elect trump announced on twitter that his two adult sons eric and donald jr., would take over his business interests once he takes office next month, but he postponed a scheduled news conference where he was set to announce plans for separating himself from his business interests. which presented an unprecedented potential for conflicts of interest when he comes into office. this comes amid reports that donald trump jr. was involved in interview processes to select the secretary of the interior. and last month, ivanka trump and jared kushner attend eed a meetg with the japanese prime minister. the trump transition team has repeatedly defended their role in the process.

sean spicer praised the transparency throughout the process. >> this is a totally transparent process. the people that he has trusted, he's made it clear how much he valued the input of his family. every decision is ultimately made by donald trump, but there are lot of people. look at the folks today. you could argue these tech titans, they're coming in and giving him advice and opinions. ultimately, he'll make every position. >> they're not family members. >> but they have an interest in what happens to the government. >> they're not family members. >> i get they're not family members, but he has been unbelievably transparent in the role his family will play in this. >> so first, let's talk about the actual meeting. how did that go? you have heard a little bit. >> it only affects the american economy. i would much rather talk about the shiny object. >> the meeting, from what you heard, and then we'll talk about the conflicts of interest. >> from people inside the me

meeting, what i have heard from various people who were there, it went very well. and i think everybody was surprised at just how smooth everything ran. and it was -- what's interesting is for people that know these tech giants and steve, you have dealt with them before, they're cowboys. cowgirls. heir used to running their businesses the way they run their business. they're entrepreneurs. and they are a different breed. and in donald trump, they actually found somebody who much like them, could be accused of being entrepreneurs but being mercurial, and not taking no for an answer from people. >> they are a different breed. he did select a group that is mainly very sophisticated, very senior leaders of the tech community, who are used to being brought to washington to meet with presidents and things and know how to behave themselves. and donald trump obviously knows how to behave himself when he

wants to. apparently very cordial and walked back. remember aduring the campaign, he said a lot of things that were fairly antagonistic. amazon should be broken up, apple should make phones here. tim cook had a fund-raiser for hillary. sheryl sandberg had a fund-raiser for her. >> sheryl sandberg was supposed to be hillary's treasury secretary, right? >> possible. it goes as well as any meeting goes. >> we'll see what happens. >> coming up on "morning joe," hacks at the dnc, and now reports that one billion accounts, that's billion with a "b" at yahoo were compromised. we'll go live to the stock exchange to talk about how that could affect verizon's deal to acquire the troubled tech company. back after this.

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together, we're building a better california. >> president-elect donald trump is tweeting, taking on the media. just a short time ago, trump tweeted, the media tries so hard to make my move to the white house as it pertains to my

business so complex when actually it isn't. shortly before that, he wrote, has anyone looked at the really poor numbers of "vanity fair meats magazine, way down. big trouble. dead. graydon carter, no talent, will be out. what? trump's tweet comes one day after the magazine's scathing review of trump grill here in new york city. the title of that article, trump grill could be the worst restaurant in america. what is going on? >> you know, it was graydon carter and spy magazine. kurt andersen, also, any time he gets a chance, even yesterday, doing the short-fingered vulgarian thing. this goes way back. >> joining us now, jay rosen. also with us, "new york times" media columnist, jim rutenberg. you made a big mistake. >> you shouldn't have done this. >> jay rosen went on a bit of a twitter tear himself, envisioning what it might be like for the press under donald

trump's administration. outlining the worst case scenario. >> so, jay, actually, the worst case scenario is when i hear people say he's going to throw journalists in jail and chain them to radiators. you didn't go that far. but you did say these are the things to look for if you want to see suddenly press freedoms getting -- getting chipped away at. talk about that scenario. reasonable, rational scenario. what are the signs people need to look for? >> it's not hard to imagine that trump will propose something or start doing something people in the government deeply oppose. and they'll do what people in that position have always done, which is leak a story to the press. most of those stories, i think, will not only not affect trump, but he'll convertthem into outrage at the press, which is something he's very good at. but there's going to come along a story that really bothers him. and he'll fly into a rage, and

he'll order a show of power, a leak investigation. and then a leak investigation, which is a very dangerous thing, espionage act, the worst act for civil liberties on the books, will come into play. and many of the protections that keep the government from going after journalists are doj guidelines which don't have the force of law or there are norms within the government where you don't go after journalists. that's where i see a possible crisis. >> we saw this happen over the past eight years with the obama administration actually far more aggressive than many people expected them to be. i'm sorry, who was the reporter's name? >> james rosen. >> from fox news. >> james rosen of fox news. everybody rushed to his defense, regardless of where they sat on the spectrum. this is what we look -- jay is right. this is what we look at, when this happens the next time, what happens, and what are the mitch mcconnells of the world saying?

>> am i allowed to quote a rival network figure? there's something called schaefer's law. bob schaefer. >> he's an entity unto himself. >> his rule is that every administration gets more secretive than the last. donald trump is eons beyond where the obama administration was in terms of press hostility. we're going to need a new name for that law, but it gets a little were, and it's important for the press to be vigilant. you mentioned mitch mcconnell. i hope political leaders value the role that the founders saw the press should have. >> trump is more hostile with his tweets, with this, with that, but then he goes and cites down with "the new york times." breaks -- a jewel. a royal jewel. >> very, very briefly a jewel. >> yeah. >> and so it's interesting. this is a guy that seems to pick fights and then likes to make up. >> the most accessible candidate

anybody when seen until now no press conferences for so many days. so accessible in terms of phone calls and being, will talk to us, but then no reporter on the plaep, which seems small to the public but is telling. >> not just trump's attitude towards the press. it's that he came to power behind the political style in which projecting hatred at the press was a key part. and he has a basis of supporters who have been conditioned by culture war over decades to mistrust everything mainstream journalism says. it's not just trump himself. he's a wily operator with the media, but his supporters are conditioned to mistrust, hate, everything the press does, and the scenes at his rallies over the course of the campaign show that. >> which allows him, you have anticipated my question, which is he set the press up not just as a foil or a strawman, but as the enemy. now we're in a position where anything we might report,

factual or otherwise, factual, is seen as a message coming from the enemy. and something that's not to be taken seriously or believed because they're out to get us. so how does the media handle itself in that climate. should it change the way it operates somehow? >> they have to keep doing their job. they have to keep the pressure on. they can't stop reporting uncomfortable facts. but at the same time, i think journalists have to reconnect with their public by listening better to what's bothering them than trump is. than the political system is. >> yeah. >> and re-engage, not at a superficial level like on facebook or twitter, but deeply understand what the troubles in the country are better than the political system does so that they can hold trump to account, not only for what he said but for improving the country and addressing the problems in people's lives. if journalists can do that, then maybe they can get back on the road to trust.

>> part of the problem is right now especially for the press, you look back at what's happenedover the past year. most of the press called everything wrong. predicted everything wrong. well, the things everybody loved back in 20008 and 2012, sort of the nate silver aspect, blew up in the press's face. and suddenly, people are saying, wait a second, you said this guy had a 1% chance of winning for most of the campaign. you said the race was over. why should we believe anything you say? >> i think that was a huge problem. and one thing about this -- >> should "the new york times" -- actually, i don't want you to give your editor advice, but wouldn't it make more sense for them to stop playing not just the times, everybody, stop playing vegas bookie. just report the facts. because you're setting yourself up for failure. >> i have been an advocate for that kind of approach to journalism for a long time, but that data journalism is very valuable in terms of keeping our reporting real. the two need to play off each other. when it becomes just about

oddsmaking, i love when people say the vegas oddsmakers know because they're putting money on the line, yeah, like the house always loses, gamblers always win. >> ask president rubio if vegas knew or bookies knew. >> it's not just bad predictions. that was terribly damaging, but the press has a model for political coverage in which it's trying to figure out what the political class is doing. it's very attached to the political class in a way. and when the political class is itself dropping in trust, then political journalism has a problem. >> you bring up bob schaefer. he's not only from texas. bob schieffer goes back to texas. the thing is in washington, especially, more so than new york, because new york is a little more dispersed. politicians and the press and the influencers. they all go to the same cocktail parties. they all go -- and not just once

or twice a month. that's what they do all the time. so if everybody is inside this bubble and their kids all go to the same private schools and they all go to the same colleges. that bubble, doesn't that just re-enforce all of the -- all of the blind spots? >> i once asked chuck todd in an interview for my blog if he considered himself part of the political class. he said, no. that's impossible. but if you understand the institution of "meet the press" and how it works within washington. >> the ecosystem. >> that's a kind of naive view he has of himself, even though he realizes the importance of getting out -- >> he has. he's taken a lot of effort, a lot of the shows, but especially chuck, to go across the country to take a look at this. jay rosen, jim rutenberg, thank you both so much. >> thank you, guys. rutenberg, you dodged a bullet, man. >> you're a jewel. sweet thing. >> you are a jewel.

>> joe, you be nice to him and stop tweeting. you stop. >> i'm not tweeting. >> you're just as bad. >> a striking metaphor, jewel. >> he's a jewel. >> you know, say what you will. we'll take it. >> up next, wall street is digesting the second interest rate hike since the great recession. we're going to go live to the new york stock exchange next. hi, we're the hulford quads. (laughter) we're in 8th grade. technology is the only thing that really entertains us.

i'm gonna use this picture on sketchbook, and i'm going to draw mustaches on you all. using the pen instead of fingers, it just feels more comfortable for me. be like, boop! it's gone. i like that only i can get into it and that it recognizes my fingerprint. our old tablet couldn't do that. it kind of makes you feel like you're your own person, which is a rare opportunity in my family. (laughter)

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let's go to cnbc's sara eisen. quiet. live at the new york stock exchange. sara, it seems interest rates are set to go up again. >> yes, they have gone up again. take it as a vote of confidence, the economy is healing. so for the first time all year, the federal reserve raised its main benchmark interest rates. second time since the financial

crisis. interest rates are still historically very low. what does it mean to you? you could see a tick-up slightly in everything, from mortgage rates to auto loans, credit card rates, small business loans. but nothing dramatic. don't expect, for instance, your deposit rate in your savings account to go up sharply. it spooked wall street because the fed indicated it's raising rates faster than wall street was predicting, predicting three hikes next year. we'll see if the economy can handle that and whether it actually haps. we did get the first triple-digit decline on the dow yesterday since the election. things look a lot calmer this morning. also want to mention the front page story, cover of the "usa today." another data breach at yahoo rr. this time, 1 billion users at riv. this is the second one we have learned about at yahoo! in months. we don't know who the hacker s are.

we know they took names, addresses, passwords. no financial information. if you're a yahoo user, check your accounts. it raises questions about the precautions companies are taking and for verizon who is in the process of taking over yahoo rr. >> thank you. thank god i still use netscape. >> i'm stunned yahoo has a billion users. >> a lot of those are dutch botts. >> it's not a prediction show, but one of the big stories is the vulnerable of all our systems, financial systems, electrical systems. >> everything is out there. >> it's going to grow. >> really ridiculous. >> unbelievable. and interest rates going up. all i can say is thank god we don't have a big national debt. >> up next, developing news on the ongoing -- >> you know what? that's the way it is. we pay as we go as americans. that's what made america what it was.

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ayman, these pictures are staggering. >> absolutely heartbreaking as well. we have just over the last couple minutes gotten some indication from the rebel groups in aleppo confirming that the first bus load of civilians leaving the eastern part of aleppo have made their way to another part of the country that is controlled by the rebels near idlib or the outskirts of the city of idlib. welcome news for families able to get out of that part of eastern aleppo. it's been a horrendous 72 hours. >> where are they going? what are they going to do? >> right now, they're getting to an area where they're not under c bombardment. for them, it's at least a little bit relief. some of them want to make their way to turkey. turkey is overwhelmed with the refugee crisis. they're concerned aboutt that. so a very dire situatn, but at least for some of those families getting out, welcome relief this morning. >> assad said he's going after terrorists in aleppo. sergey lavrov said we're only targeting bandits with our air

strikes. what's the truth about who is in east aleppo? >> they're both. there are fighters, no doubt that that area was held by the rebels which the syrian government and russians consider to be terrorists, but also 50,000 people. not sgoift,000 fighters. all the aid organizations that are working out there, say there are between 50,000 to 100,000 civilians there. estimates of fighters are between 5,000 and 8,000. so are there components of rebels fighting there? absolutely. are there civilians in that part of the country? absolutely. >> the handcuffs are off assad, have been for quite some time. in concert with the russians. what does he do now with the rest of his country? >> that remains to be seen if he's going to direct his fight toward isis. isis still controls large parts of the eastern part of the country. still parts of the country that are rebel strongholds. the has been mostly a stalemate.

the kurds still control their part. the question now is whether lee tries to rebring all of syria under his control again. he said he will. he will not stop fighting until all of syria is under the control of the government. it remains to be seen if he has the resources and the manpower to do it. this is a big boost for the government and the regime. they control the air space, so if they decide to start bombing idlib tomorrow, they can. if they want to bomb raqqah tomorrow, they can. >> briefly because we don't have much time. what's the impact been on america's reputation to sit back doing nothing while an entire region goes up in flames? >> not just america but the international order has proven to be very incompetent in addressing this situation. it shows we're paralyzed because of a lot of politics, real politics. a lot of arab diplomats i speak to very disappointed with the u.s. not being more aggressive leading the way like in other times in the middle east.

>> amyman mohyeldin, thank you very much. craig melvin picks up the coverage now. >> good morning. i'm craig melvin in for stephanie ruhle on this thursday. this morning, an nbc news exclusive. intelligence officials say vladimir putin himself directed the dnc hack. why did he do it? as part of a personal vendetta against hillary clinton. donald trump reacting just moments ago. >> all in the family, the president-elect kids stirring up more controversy, sitting in on a meeting with those tech titans. and why wasn't twitter invited? plus, closing aurments starting this hour in the trial of dylann roof. it was another gut-wrenching day in court. one survivor forced to listen to this newly released 911 call she made during the shooting. >> oh, god, please help me. please help us lord. >> plus, the biggest hack ever. 1 billion, yes, billion