anybody think this is going to stop? anybody? that does it for us tonight. we'll see you again tomorrow. now it's time for the last word. "first look" is up next. this morning berlin's on high alert with police looking for whomever is responsible for this week's attack at a german christmas market. isis now claiming involvement. plus a deadly chain reaction explosion ripped through a fireworks market near mexico city. the blast killed 29, and dozens of others are injured while sending a huge plume of smoke into the sky. and new questions now over potential conflicts of interest with donald trump's sons, and their involvement in a charity that seemed to be suggesting access to the president-elect.

♪ hi, everybody, good morning, it's wednesday, december 21st. i'm hallie jackson in washington. along with louis burgdorf there in new york. we start with the latest, though, from overseas in berlin where police are still looking right now for the person behind monday night's deadly truck attack. yesterday officials released the original suspect, a pakistani migrant because they say they didn't have enough evidence he was behind the wheel at the time. now the media arm of isis is claiming a, quote, soldier of the islamic state carried out the attack. nbc news correspondent hans nickels has been following this story. hans, give us the latest here on the investigation. >> well, hallie the manhunt is continuing as you said. this is a city under heavy police presence. you do see machine gun toting policemen around. some just drove right through here a couple of police cars. i have to say, though, having been in paris after charlie

hebdo, after having been in paris after the bataclan, this doesn't have the same feeling. they're still going about their daily business in an act of defiance, trying to say that life continues. yesterday the christmas markets were closed. today they're supposed to be open. we'll see how busy they are, how teeming they are. normally this time of year they're a big deal. everyone is out and about. the city is somewhere between a manhunt and under heavy security but also life goes on. now, we'll see today what we hear from authorities, we'll be speaking to some police officers, later some folks from the police department on just how safe and secure this city is. >> hans, talk a little bit about the mood on the ground there. i saw your piece for nbcnews.com talking about your takeaway from your last 24 hours on the ground. fill us in. >> well, you know, "a," angela merkel is under real political pressure. i think this conversation as the manhunt continues will shift to a political one. and to that extent, can the center hold here in germany? there is a right wing movement here, they've been saying some

pretty ugly things. they're saying that merkel has blood on their hands. we have elections here in nine months. yet again another test for angela merkel. >> nbc's hans nichols there in berlin. thanks. coming up again on "morning joe" in just a little bit. >> in cities across the united states, they're stepping up security at holiday related events following the attack in germany. right now, multiple law enforcement officials say they know of no specific threat but police in new york are deploying extra security in crowded areas like times square and near the christmas tree here at rockefeller center. other cities like chicago, philadelphia, and washington, d.c. are also increasing security. authorities in germany say the truck used in monday's attack was stolen. now in the u.s., thefts of big rigs are rare. but police in new york have been urging car and truck rental agencies to report unusual behavior. in mexico, at least 29 people are dead, more than 70 others hurt, after a huge explosion at a really popular fireworks market. this all happened just north of

the capital of mexico city. so mexico's attorney general says six pyrotechnic explosions, look at this, contributed to the blast, which is captured on camera. almost unbelievably. officials say that some homes nearby were also damaged. no surprise there. an investigation's been opened into possible violations of any fire or explosive laws. right now there's no indication this was terror related. authorities are still trying to figure out just how bad the damage is, and the scene is still dangerous while officials let any unexploded fireworks burn off. this is not the first time this particular outdoor market has had issues. back in 2005, a fire set off a chain of explosions that destroyed hundreds of stalls right before mexico's independence day. after bipartisan calls for a select committee to investigate allegations of russian interference in the 2016 election, senate majority leader mitch mcconnell says there is no need to form a high profile panel with members from across different committees believing the senate is already equipped to handle it.

>> it's a serious issue but it doesn't require a select committee. i mean, we have a senate intelligence committee and a house intelligence committee run by knowledgeable, responsible people. there's no question the russians were messing around our election. it's a matter of genuine concern. and it needs to be investigated, and in the senate we'll investigate that in what we call the regular order. >> mcconnell also said that if the wrugss were trying to help trump they made a quote, bad investment. as for whether the president-elect trump will ask the intelligence community for their reported findings on russia helping him, last night senior adviser kellyanne conway rejected the premise. >> we're not going to interfere with anything the legislature wants to do, certainly. but secondly, let's be clear as to what this really is. it's pure politics. and you even have the president of the united states, president obama, in his final press conference last friday, judy, not going as far as saying he believes that the russians hacked in and tried to interfere

with the election. in fact he said when he told putin to, quote, cut it out, that putin did. >> president-elect donald trump's transition team is pushing back hard on some new questions about possible conflict of interest. after the brochure of a newly created charity involving trump's adult sons offered access to the new president during inauguration week in exchange for basically big donations. here's the brochure. specifically talking about donation levels for opening day. this is a charity to benefit conservation causes. the honorary rco-chairs of the event, eric and donald trump jr., an opportunity to play a significant role. here's the bald eagle level of donation. if you chip in a million bucks you get a private reception with the president-elect according to this version of the brochure, guitars autographed by inauguration performers and a multiday hunting trip with the trump sons. but a spokesperson for the event

organizer is telling nbc news that that document you just saw was only a work in progress. the offering for the hunting trip are the photo-op, has been stripped from what i'm told is the final version. the transition team and the charity both say that eric and donald jr. will be removed from the charity's legal filings. all of it comes as kuwait's u.s. ambassador is denying a report that he was pressured to move a february event from the four seasons to trump's hotel in washington. telling nbc the move was to give the guests a new venue they would enjoy and even after talking with the four seasons they had held events elsewhere in recent years. but experts in conflicts of interest are sounding the alarm. a special assistant to president obama on government ethics tweeted i have never in my life seen anything like the past week. if this keeps up, people will be in real trouble in the trump administration and soon. >> hallie, allies of former democratic nominee hillary clinton are accusing the fbi of

having raising the possibility of undiscovered classified e-mails less than two weeks before the election. yesterday a federal judge unsealed the fbi's october 30th search warrant for e-mails of clinton aide huma abedin on the laptop of her estranged husband anthony weiner whose device was seized in an investigation for allegedly exchanging sexually explicit messages. the apparent references to abedin's e-mail accounts the redacted warrant states because it has been determined by relevant original classification authorities that many e-mails were exchanged between redacted using redacted or redacted accounts and clinton that contain classified information. there was also probable cause to believe that the correspond between them located on the subject laptop contains classified information which was produced by and is owned by the u.s. government. no classified information was found, neither clinton or abedin has been charged, and former clinton staffers are outraged that the late announcement was based solely on e-mails alone.

former spokesman brian fallon tweeted the unsealed filings regarding huma's e-mails reveals comey's intrusion on the election was as utterly unjustified as we suspected at the time. longtime clinton attorney david kendall said the warrant highlights the extraordinary impropriety of director comey's october 28th letter publicized two days before the affidavit which produced devastating but predictable damage politically and which was both legally unauthorized and factually unnecessary. >> louis, meantime bill clinton seems to kind of make peace you could say with president-elect donald trump as their feud carried on late into 2016. after the former president questioned trump's intelligence in front of a smalltown newspaper reporter. but trump took the most offense to the insinuation that he called clinton and not the other way around. tweeting, quote, wrong. he called me. yesterday, bill clinton may have defused the situation, or at least tried to, he responded to trump, here's one thing donald

trump and i can agree on. i called him after the election. the president-elect has not yet responded. and president obama is implementing new environmental protections before he leaves office. the obama administration has announced it will place an indefinite ban on offshore oil. and gas drilling across large swaths of the atlantic and arctic waters. according to the white house the action hinged on a 63-year-old law designed to protect coral reefs and marine sanctuaries the new order will slow donald trump expanding oil and gas production. according to a new report the obama administration intends to transfer detainees at guantanamo bay before the president leaves office. right now there are 59 people behind bars. the "times" is reporting the prisoners will go to italy, amman, saudi arabia and the united arab emirates. if those transfers take place 41 or 42 prisoners will still be at

guantanamo when donald trump takes office. >> the man accused of setting off bombs in new york city earlier this year has pleaded not guilty. rahimmy appeared in a new jersey courtroom yesterday marking the first time he's appeared in person for a proceeding since being injured in a shoot-out with police officers back in september. a prosecutor said that no plea deal would be offered to him over the charges of trying to kill those officers. his capture came just days after rahimi allegedly set off a pipe bomb in new jersey and a pressure cooker bomb in new york city. 31 people were hurt in that new york bombing. >> former state and local officials have been charged in connection with the water crisis in flint, michigan. michigan's attorney general bill chutety announced the chip nall charges against two former state emergency managers making them the highest ranking officials now to be charged in this investigation. two former flint officials who oversaw the city's water treatment plant were also charged.

schuette says he is making sure the people of flint are not forgotten. >> there are some, i know, who simply wish that the problems of flint would just go quietly away. and there are voices out there that hope that the poison iing the water in flint could be swept under the rug. well that's not how i operate. that's not how we operate. flint deserves better. and the people of flint are not expendable. so to move on is unacceptable. people in positions of responsibility who broke the law must be held accountable. >> that announcement from yesterday brings the total number of officials who've been charged in connection with this water kroo i sis to 13. officials in texas say planned parenthood will no longer receive funding from the state medicaid program. according to a legal notice obtained by the texas tribune the organization's medicaid funds will be cut in 30 days.

the organization had previously received just over $3 million in medicaid funding. the move could reportedly affect thousands of lower income women who rely on planned parenthood for women's health services, and counseling. planned parenthood officials say they will seek an injunction in federal court to block those cuts. still ahead a memorial marked with laughter, tears and lots of color. fittingly for longtime nba announcer craig sager. plus a wisconsin police officer teaches a speeding college student an important lesson. but maybe not the lesson you think. we've got these stories and a check on weather when we come right back. to do the best

for your pet, you should know more about the food you choose. with beyond, you have a natural pet food that goes beyond telling ingredients to showing where they come from. beyond assuming the source is safe... to knowing it is. beyond asking for trust... to earning it. because, honestly, our pets deserve it. beyond. natural pet food.

says it won't let up for a while. the cadillac xt5... what should we do? ...tailored to you. wait it out. equipped with apple carplay compatibility. ♪ now during season's best, get this low mileage lease on this cadillac xt5 from around $429 per month, or purchase with 0% apr financing. testinhuh?sting! is this thing on? come on! your turn! where do pencils go on vacation? pennsylvania! (laughter) crunchy wheat frosted sweet! kellogg's frosted mini-wheats. feed your inner kid

welcome back. time now for a check of the weather. so for that let's bring in nbc

meteorologist bill karins. >> longest night of the winter. we're just about done with it. kicking into the winter solstice here in about 15, 20 minutes. temperatures have been on the rise as we went throughout the last couple days so it's not bad. as joe scarborough says it's his favorite day of the year. from here on out wield start to build the length of the daylight instead of subtract it. we're not horrible out there this morning. this is a lot more manageable than what we dealt with. the arctic air blasts are gone. this is very typical december air. yes it's cold even down to florida but it's not you know it's what you'd expect for this time of year. today's forecast, this is a very easy, nice travel day for everyone. miami could have some showers, maybe a thunderstorm but you're not going to complain at 80 degrees. in the northeast we get into the 40s for the first time in a couple days. chicago goes above freezing today for the first time in a couple days. and in the middle of the country, no issues whatsoever. today is great. obviously now we're wondering who is going to be dealing with a white christmas out there. the forecast still looks like mostly areas out to the west will have the best chance of that. it's going to be areas

especially on the rockies, and then into the northern plains. so here's our christmas eve forecast through evening. christmas evening, actually, including christmas day. snowfall amounts over the next three to four days. utah nailed into the mountains of western colorado, and then on christmas day, a pretty potent storm could hit rapid city up to bismarck. this could almost be like blizzard type conditions. a little bit in the great lakes and maybe a little bit in new england. not a lot. that's not even guaranteed. so we still have some snow on the ground in areas of the mid-atlantic or the ohio valley, louis. hope it doesn't melt in the next couple of days. >> all those people on the west coast are going to get some good ski conditions. >> going to be fantastic. >> i've got one story about one of your idols. one unruly passenger will have to hold onto the memory of his freedom because he was subdued with the help of '80s pop star richard marks. they tweeted out images of the altercation including one brandishing a rope. the airline helped mark in

restraining the passenger who was later arrested. the pop star doesn't appear to see the big deal tweeting out that it was no big hero move at all. but let this be a lesson to everyone if you plan on being a nuisance wherever you go, whatever you do, richard marx will be there waiting for you. >> i don't -- i had to look up those references. i'm sorry, i did. >> not a fan of richard marx, hallie? >> listen. your producer is purely a fan. whoever wrote that script. thank you very much. newly released dash cam footage shows a wisconsin police officer going above the call of duty after stopping a speeding college student. the student tells the officer he was late for a presentation and trying to find a friend to tie his neck tie. while i do this why don't you grab your proof of insurance and

driver's license. >> so the officer puts on the tie. he ties it for the kid, he then hands it back to the student, helps him adjust it, takes a couple of tries. it's adorable. by the end of the video the officer lets the student go with only a warning for speeding. that is policework right there. still ahead the new york giants get slapped with a fine for illegal communications on the field. and before we go to break, jimmy fallon, and several guest stars came together for an a cappella rendition of wonderful christmastime last night. take a look. ♪ ♪ the mood is right the tree is up ♪ ♪ we're here tonight ♪ simply having a wonderful christmastime ♪ ♪ simply having a wonderful christmastime ♪

when you're close to the people you love, does psoriasis ever get in the way of a touching moment? if you have moderate to severe psoriasis, you can embrace the chance of completely clear skin with taltz. taltz is proven to give you a chance at completely clear skin. with taltz, up to 90% of patients had a significant improvement of their psoriasis plaques. in fact, 4 out of 10 even achieved completely clear skin. do not use if you are allergic to taltz.

before starting you should be checked for tuberculosis. taltz may increase your risk of infections and lower your ability to fight them. tell your doctor if you are being treated for an infection or have symptoms. or if you have received a vaccine or plan to. inflammatory bowel disease can happen with taltz. including worsening of symptoms. serious allergic reactions can occur. now's your chance at completely clear skin. just ask your doctor about taltz.

ltry align probiotic.n your digestive system? now's your chance at completely clear skin. for a non-stop, sweet treat goodness, hold on to your tiara kind of day. get 24/7 digestive support, with align. the #1 doctor recommended probiotic brand. now in kids chewables. i thought i told all of you i want radio silence -- >> i'm very sorry, hans, i didn't get that message. >> maybe you should have put it on the bulletin board. >> die-hard a classic. it's time now for sports. >> plus allen riktman, he passed away. >> i know. >> i miss him. i don't this you. >> hang on a second. i'm here with a living legend, he's going to school me on how to actually do sports.

>> thank you, thank you louis. take notes now. okay, the new york giants are facing stiff penalties now from the national football league, that joke of a league, for using walkty caulkties during their week 14 win against the cowboys. the nfl has fined them a combined 200 grand and downgraded the team's 2017 fourth round draft pick. mcadoo used the walkie talkty after the coach communication system failed. league rules prohibit coaches from communicating with a walkie talkie. a device reserved for monitoring purposes only. this is a league where they have many, many, many felons on rosters, but they're going to -- for use of a walkie talkie. meanwhile the nfl has announced the 88 players selected for this year's pro bowl and the rosters are highlighted by a league high seven from the oakland raiders including quarterback derek carr. six members of the falcons were

selected. while the cowboys send five including dak prescott and ezekiel elliott. dak prescott, man. pro bowl set for january 29th in orlando make sure your tv is on because it will be the only tv on watching the pro bowl. after three years the annual game will return to the traditional afc versus nfc format. time for a nap on that one. and on the nba court last night milwaukee rookie malcolm with some impressive moves against the cavs first warming up with dunks over cleveland's kyrie irving and later blowing by the king himself lebron james with a reverse moving slam but the veteran james prevailed in overtime seeking a go-ahead three pointer with 24 seconds left in the extra period. matching a season-high with five triples in the game. the cavs hang on for the 114-1808 win. now, louis, this guy was such a great guy. a sober moment in sports yesterday, as loved ones gathered in marietta, georgia, at a memorial celebration for

truly legendary sports caster craig sager one of the nicest men in the business you'd ever want to meet. he died last week at age 65 off a long, courageous battle with cancer. among those in attendance was spurs coach greg popovich along with many of the athletes sager covered during his career. also members of the turner sports tv family including ernie johnson jr. who recited a touching poem about his late colleague. >> so amid the tears and all the memories we cherish now, we saw farewell to our friend sags, and make this humble bow. there's no way to gauge the days we have, no way to know how long, but know this, craig, we'll do our best, to live them sager strong. >> his strejt and courage, he was so inspiring. you knew him. >> yeah. really, really a nice, nice man. >> just no words to describe how

painful it was. >> yeah. >> legend. back to you. >> guys, thanks so much. we'll see you later on in the show. politics talk, rather than sports. up next, following the latest on the manhunt for the berlin christmas market attacker. we're going to get a live report from germany. next. plus new jersey governor chris christie is taking a page from donald trump tweeting up a storm attacking state lawmakers. we've got the details coming up next. ♪ music playing

(man) my dad and i have the same eyes. same nose. same toughness. and since he's had moderate alzheimer's disease, the same never quit attitude. that's why i asked his doctor about once-a-day namzaric. (avo) namzaric is approved for moderate to severe alzheimer's disease in patients who are taking donepezil. it may improve cognition and overall function, and may slow the worsening of symptoms for a while. namzaric does not change the underlying disease progression. don't take if allergic to memantine, donepezil, piperidine or any of the ingredients in namzaric. tell the doctor about any conditions including heart, lung, bladder, kidney or liver problems, seizures, stomach ulcers, or procedures with anesthesia. serious side effects may occur, including muscle problems if given anesthesia; slow heartbeat, fainting, more stomach acid which may lead to ulcers and bleeding; nausea, vomiting, difficulty urinating, seizures, and worsening of lung problems.

most common side effects are headache, diarrhea, dizziness loss of appetite, and bruising. (man) dad and i shared a lot of moments. now we're making the most of each one. (avo) ask about namzaric today.

♪

hi, everybody. welcome back. i'm hallie jackson in washington along with louis burgdorf in new york. it is the bottom of the hour. we're headed live to berlin for the latest on that manhunt for the driver in monday night's terror attack. but first a look at the morning's other top stories. four more michigan officials are now charged in connection with the flint water crisis. two state emergency managers, along with former flint city executives who oversaw the water treatment plant, all face felony charges that could mean 20 years behind bars. michigan's attorney general says the four failed to protect people in flint from health problems because of drinking water contaminated by lead. in all 13 people have now been charged in that water crisis. at least 29 people are dead and more than 70 hurt after an explosion at a big fireworks market just north of mexico city. look at this. officials don't think it was terror related. but they're checking into whether this market broke any

laws related to fire or explosives. and this isn't the first time an explosion like this has happened there. something similar happened in 2005, and in 2006. the man accused of setting off bombs in new york and new jersey earlier this year has pleaded not guilty to charges of attempted murder. accused of firing at police to avoid getting captured. two new jersey officers, and the suspect, ahmed khan rahimi were hurt in that shoot-out. rahimi also faces federal charges for the explosion back in september. he's headed back to court in february. berlin, where the investigation into monday's deadly truck attack continues the manhunt has intensified after initial suspect was released due to lack of evidence. joining us live from berlin with the latest is nbc news foreign correspondent matt bradley. matt, good morning to you. >> good morning, louis. the latest right now is that the german police, and this is from german media der spiegel reporting, they're after a tunisian national whose i.d.

card or papers were incidentally found in the truck that perpetrated the attack two nights ago. now if you'll recall, that was as we mentioned two nights ago a truck plowed into this christmas market right behind me. right in front of this kaiser wilhelm memorial church, killing 12 people and wounding dozens of others. many of them are still in the hospital. this manhunt continues in a massive dragnet that's going on all over germany. but the really surprising and well perhaps not so surprising knock-on effect from this is that some of the right wing parties not just here in germany but throughout europe are really seizing on this. now if you'll recall, yesterday the german police arrested who they thought was a perpetrator, and then released him later in the evening. now, they -- since that happened islamic state has actually claimed responsibility for this attack. vindicating some of the right wing elements here in germany and throughout europe who are blaming angela merkel, the chancellor of germany, and saying that her open doosh door policy toward refugees and

migrants is what allows this sort of terror to happen. just later this afternoon we're going to be seeing here in berlin some right wing marches. at least two small right wing marches demanding that angela merkel change her policy on migrants. louis? >> we're going to be keeping a close eye on that investigation and the manhunt. nbc's matt bradley live from berlin. thank you so much. back here in the u.s., cities are stepping up security around holiday related events although law enforcement officials say they're unaware of any specific threat. of course there's extra police presence in new york city, especially around crowded areas like times square and here at rockefeller center. d.c., chicago, and philadelphia are also increasing security police officials in new york and d.c. say they're keeping an eye on car and truck rental agencies in case of any strange behavior hallie. louis we've got some new information on efforts to end the nearly six-year civil war in syria. officials from russia, iran, and turkey met in moscow yesterday. they agreed to the moscow

declaration. basically a road map for trying to end the conflict. it calls for an expanded cease-fire. now neither the united states, nor the united nations, were invited to this meeting. but the office of russian foreign policy sergey lavrov says he spokes to secretary of state john kerry on the phone after the meeting happened. the trump team is now pushing back after a new controversy involving the president-elect's sons. this all comes after questions about whether they were planning to swap big money charity donations to gain access to their father. pushback on a chance to party with the president-elect the day after he's inaugurated. at least for donors to give a million dollars to a newly formed charity. called opening day. if they do, this initial brochure obtained by tmz says they get a photo-op with donald trump and a hunting or fishing trip with donald trump jr. and/or eric trump, both avid outdoorsmen and both listed as leaders of the nonprofit.

>> for a charitable event such as this it just looks like you're basically selling your largesse, you know, on the auction block. >> the perception that charity donors might pay for access to the president-elect is exactly what trump himself accused hillary clinton of during the campaign. >> more pay for play. >> reporter: now, he's the one facing questions about access to him and his family. earlier this week, a charity auction to win coffee with ivanka trump was apparently canceled. the trump transition team released a statement saying the opening day event, quote, are merely initial concepts that have not been approved or pursued by the trump family. adding, the trump sons are not involved in any capacity. a new, final event brochure obtained by nbc news now shows no photo-ops or hunting trips with the trumps. the brothers are named as managers of the nonprofit, but a transition official tells nbc news don and eric weren't aware they were being listed as directors of this newly formed

entity. adding, their names will be removed from the filing. meanwhile a kuwaiti official is talking about moving its national day celebration in washington from the four seasons over to the trump hotel in d.c. the ambassador to the u.s. tells the ap he hopes his guests will enjoy the quote new hotel in town and says nobody pressured him to switch. he says, quote, i do not know president-elect trump. i do not know any of his people. none of his people have contacted me. now to calls for a bipartisan select committee to investigate those allegations of russian interference in our election. senate majority leader mitch mcconnell says an investigation should happen but he says there's no need to form a high profile panel with members from different committees. he thinks the senate is already equipped to handle it. >> it's a serious issue but it doesn't require a select committee. i mean we have the senate intelligence committee and a house intelligence committee run by knowledgeable, responsible

people. there's no question the russians were messing around our election. it's a matter of genuine concern. and it needs to be investigated, and in the senate we're going to investigate that in what we call the regular order. >> mcconalso said if the russians were trying to help trump they made a, quote, bad investment. scary story. two-time wimbledon single champion petra ka wittva was attacked by her knife in the czech republic sustaining severe injuries to her left hand. police characterize the assault as a random criminal attack and said the attacker who poseds a utilities man escaped from the scene and is still at large. the 26-year-old underwent nearly four hours of surgery yesterday after suffering damage to the tendons in her left hand. injuries to all five fingers, and two nerves, kvitova who plays left-handed will be unable to bear weight on that land for three months. there's no timetable for her return.

in a statement yesterday the former world number two said she is quote, fortunate to be alive. >> that is scary stuff, louis. thanks. still ahead, donald trump and bill clinton go back and forth over who called whom the day after the election. right now, it looks like the former president has the last word. but hey it's only 5:38. still early. plus the search warrant that allowed the fbi to re-examine the hillary clinton e-mails case just weeks before the election now public for allies say suspicion at the time are now confirmed. mike barnicle is back to join the conversation next.

they are the natural borns enemy of the way things are. yes, ideas are scary, and messy and fragile. but under the proper care, they become something beautiful.

it seems like trump's having a lot of trouble finding stars willing to perform at his inauguration. garth brooks turned him down. now they're saying andrea bocelli has dropped out. so fortunately for trump this group is still available. ♪ ♪ to make america great

>> get used to it, that's our now missional anthem you guys. >> really? >> welcome back. joining me now to talk some politics, msnbc contributor mike barnicle. mike, are you cool doing politics instead of sports this block? >> that's fine. >> let's start with the -- the -- the trump transition team response to the terror attack in berlin. obviously a big story of the morning. it has been the big story since it happened on monday night. his spokesperson says that the president-elect is closely monitoring this. that he's in regular contact with his national security team, with regard to the developing situation in europe. also in turkey. being briefed on these rapidly unfolding events. does he need to be doing or getting more in your opinion? >> we don't really know what he is doing on a daily basis. at least i don't. but the events overseas in germany, and turkey, i mean they were sort of a welcome to the world in terms of the president-elect. i mean, his whole world is changing, obviously. but in january 20th, there are

only decisions that only a president can make that come across that desk. mike pence can't make them. the national security team can't make them. so i think all of us, just in terms of our own personal security, mental security, are hoping that he is reading his daily intel briefs because it's an ongoing story that they tell. and we're living through it right now. >> you see mike flynn obviously in and out of trump tower all the time in washington often. we're told that he is in regular communication with donald trump. does that assuage some of your concerns? >> some of them. but i mean, the -- the larger concern, hallie, you know this, you've been around this for months now, for years now, the president of the united states has to maintain a constant level of scrutiny about the intel reports. because the nuggets in the daily intel report tell a larger story that connects day by day, hour by hour. >> let me -- you're right. let me ask you about -- let's talk about hillary clinton. talk about this unsealed fbi

search warrant here. her allies are coming out and saying essentially that this confirms the suspicions that they had before the election, and i'm paraphrasing, this is kind of a nothing burger in their view. do you buy that? >> you know what i buy? i buy that, well first of all, there are so many redactions in it you don't really -- you don't get a handle on what exactly they were looking for. the fbi clearly has some internal issues that are going to have to be resolved. i'm sure they're trying to resolve them now. the whole thing, the question is, did director comey issue the second letter or even the first announcement about the e-mails because of his fear that the story would be leaked by rogue fbi agents out of the new york office? this is a huge internal issue in the fbi that has to be dealt with. on -- on -- on this -- you know, i don't know what was in the search warrant. i don't know what they were looking for. and yet i don't think you can tell from looking at the portions of the search warrant that have been released.

>> you make a good point about the redaction because it's not clear necessarily in terms of what -- what key nuggets could be contained. you just simply can't see it. this is only sort of a portion of what we can show you here. >> with the redactions you don't know. was it just a fishing expect igs? or what specific things were they looking for? what specific things they may have been looking for, we won't know because of the redactions. >> you know, i'm looking at the head line that we have up allies assign blame to fbi in clinton's defeat and i've got to ask you mike is there any sense on your end that the folks who support hillary clinton who are now assigning blame, as we're saying, are kind of looking for a scapegoat? >> you think? i mean, they blamed everyone other than the mirror. i mean, listen, i have a lot of respect for hillary clinton. i think many, many people do. she was not the greatest candidate. and she didn't have a excecompeg story to tell that you might hate donald trump's story if you're out there and didn't vote for him.

but hillary -- at least his story was short and it was compelling. let's make america great again. hillary clinton really didn't have the kind of story that's going to pa peel to america. and in the end, the change element, people's quest, thirst for change, tipped her over. it wasn't one thing that they're blaming now. it wasn't the e-mails. it wasn't the fbi. it was the whole package. >> before i let you go, mike, i got to ask you about this bill clinton/donald trump phone call. feud. sort of twitter back and forth. i called him. he called me. et cetera. i mean, what do you think? is this -- >> hallie, you know what this is? it's a great gift to us, because it reminds us of what junior high used to be like. you know, this is like something out of junior high school. you know, i had a date with her first. no, no, i was going out with her before you were going out with her. that whole kind of junior high stuff. bill clinton versus donald trump. it's enjoyable. >> what was your junior high experience like? i want to see photos from that

time, mike. >> call me on the commercial break. >> all right. mike barnicle. appreciate it, thanks. louis over to you. >> i'm not sure mike barnicle's high school experience is pg enough for this show. all right the rock & roll hall of fame officially announced the 2017 list of inductees yesterday. joan baez, electric light orchestra, journey, pearl jam, tupac shacker made the list. it will air on hbo a lot of people upset that janet jackson got the snub on that one. all right let's get a check on your weather now with nbc meteorologist bill karins. >> are you one of those people black sco black cat you know? >> no. >> welcome to winter by the way. 5:44. we just clicked past it. so we're officially in winter and by the way that's when the sun is over the southern hemisphere with the tropic of capricorn and that just happened. longest night, shortest day today, of the year. it's a little misleading because i know like the sunrise and

sunsets in some areas are a little slightly different. in general that's the rule. today's forecast doesn't look too bad. let's take you into friday. busy travel period friday, saturday, sunday. storm coming into the west. this is going to be the storm we're going to track if we're going to have any travel issues. beneficial rain out of this on friday in california. san francisco and eventually in los angeles. then on saturday we'll take this storm into areas of the four corner region. the snow elevations will be pretty high so the ski resorts and mountain areas of utah and also colorado even northern arizona are going to get good snow out of this and the sierra of california. that's christmas eve. also there could be some showery type weather but very warm boston down to d.c. even atlanta could deal with early morning showers. that won't cancel anyone's plans on christmas eve. then on christmas day that storm is in the middle of the country with rain and thunderstorms possible, texas, rain showers up to chicago. and the backside we could have some snow. east coast looks as clear as could be for christmas day, louis. not too many issues. just a storm in the west. >> east coast is going to be very warm.

not like last winter where the east coast was like 70. >> not to ruin the holiday cheer. officials in florida are accusing a former toys for toths volunteer of stealing presents. >> this is really not the grinch. this is the grinch. >> not good. 38-year-old tammy strickland was arrested by undercover detectives monday after she showed up at a warehouse to collect toys that she applied for using fake information. she's accused of stealing more than 100 presents from the charity, and faces charges of grand theft among others. and it appears a grinch in rhode island has had a change of heart. several costumes for the nutcracker have been returned after they were stolen from a rhode island warehouse in november. the festival ballet providence performed the show this weekend after dance companies from across the country lent costumes and props. an attorney gave the cott umass back to police after he received them from a client. neither has been identified publicly. >> at least you're ending on a good note, louis. >> exactly.

>> it was nice that all the other dance companies donated their stuff. that's the real story there. >> thank you, sir. still ahead we're taking a look at wall street futures pointing to a higher open today. as the dow keeps flirting with that 20,000 mark. a look at the stories driving the day in business next. says it won't let up for a while. the cadillac xt5... what should we do? ...tailored to you. wait it out. equipped with apple carplay compatibility. ♪ now during season's best, get this low mileage lease on this cadillac xt5 from around $429 per month, or purchase with 0% apr financing. when i was too busy with the kids to get a repair estimate. liberty did what? yeah, with liberty mutual all i needed to do to get an estimate was snap a photo of the damage and voila! voila! (sigh) i wish my insurance company had that...

wait! hold it... hold it boys... there's supposed to be three of you... where's your brother? where's your brother? hey, where's charlie? charlie?! you can leave worry behind when liberty stands with you. liberty stands with you™ liberty mutual insurance

welcome back. new jersey governor chris christie took a page out of

president-elect donald trump's playbook unleashing on, where else, twitter, after stay lawmakers shot down a bill targeting newspapers. that bill, nicknamed christie's revenge against papers that aggressively covered his bridgegate scandal, would have repealed the state law requiring legal notices to be printed in newspapers. so what does that mean? who cares, right? well that would have cleared the way for millions of dollars in ads to move online. so in a series of tweets yesterday the governor said the newspaper owners, quote, unmasked themselves as just another special interest feeding at the government trough. he went on newspaper owners demand government sib sidis from taxpayers but refuse to open their books to show how much tax money they already take. and after a few more tweets christie wrapped up by writing, how about reporters doing their homework and asking their billionaire bosses for proof of legal ad revenue. can't use open public records act? afraid of layoffs? christie, going off there. >> all right, hallie. let's turn to business where the

dow surged to another record yesterday stopping just 25 points short of hitting 20,000. cnbc's his today bojesen joins us live from london. louisa what are analysts attributing this rise to and how long is it going to last? >> the trump factor taking place. we've got people hoping for less regulations. we've got market momentum still coming out of the financial crisis where we haven't seen people properly getting back and invested in the way that they were although we have been at these highs for quite some time and in fact we've been hitting the highs since before the financial crisis as well. but not the 20,000 mark on the dow. and we're there. i mean we're almost there. it's almost a given that we're going to go through this level. and especially because a lot of computer algorithms will be set off as we approach that level closer and closer, so a lot of people are anticipating that it could happen. it's a proxy for the health of the u.s. economy although many are saying looks like the s&p 500, if you want more of a proxy as the dow only is comprised of some 30 stocks.

president obama well he's invoking a law to block drilling in the arctic and the atlantic oceans. forever. indefinitely. forever, ever, ever, except there is a rule that says after five years, they can look at it again and decide whether or not to hang onto it. president obama tweeted a couple of hours ago, a ban on drilling in the arctic waters helps to protect the planet we share proud to take this step with justin trudeau the prime minister in canada and the arctic communities. it's going to be very hard for trump to go back on this one. very complicated if he wants to do so. guys, back to you. >> louisa bojesen live from london. when we come back, a look at the stories happening in the day ahead.

before we toss it over to "morning joe" let's get a quick check on the stories you will be hearing about in the day ahead. real estate heir robert durst is set to appear in an l.a. courtroom. his legal team and prosecutors are arguing over whether a newly released interrogation interview can be used in his murder trial. in that interview, durst who you know from the hbo documentary "the jinx" allegedly told prosecutors he was using meth when that documentary was filmed. he's charged with the 2000 murder of his longtime friend. meanwhile lawmakers in north carolina are expected to vote to

overturn the state's controversial anti-transgender law which requires residents to use public rest rooms corresponding with the sex on their birth certificate. that does it for us on this sex on their birth certificate. "morning joe" with mike barnicle and joe scarborough starts right now. ♪ it's beginning to look a lot like christmas everywhere you go ♪ >> they know my last name, louis. okay. come on. this isn't third grade. >> mike barnicle. joe scarborough. another thing my agent wants to know, barnicle gets top billing? seriously? what's wrong? >> thank you, louis. >> now that's the sort of thing someone would worry about. i'm good. you can do me last. how is everybody doing? everybody happy? christmas coming. >> christmas