reid replied. "it appears we're going to have an old folks home. elizabeth warren will be 71, biden will be 78, bernie sanders will be 79" yes, in case you missed it, septuagenarian, harry reid, referred to much of the democratic field as an old folks home. that's all for tonight. ayman mohyeldin is picking up our coverage right now. >> hello, everyone. i'm ayman mohyeldin, and it's 6:00 p.m. on the east coast. an historic visit. the first japanese prime minister to set foot on pearl harbor in decades. the president versus the president-elect. are cracks appearing in the warm relationship on display since the election? response to russia. a new report that the white house is about to unveil messages punishing vladimir putin for meddling with the u.s. elections. and the death of actress carrie fisher, famed for her role as princess leia in the "star wars" series. we begin tonight with breaking news on that historic

visit in honolulu. >> i author my sincere and everlasting condolences to the souls of those who lost their lives here, as to the spirits of all the brave men and women whose lives were taken by a war that commenced in this very place. we must never repeat the horrors of war again. >> president obama and japanese prime minister shinzo abe at pearl harbor, where 75 years ago, the japanese attack on the u.s. naval base led to america's entry into world war ii. earlier, the two leaders visited the wreck of the "uss arizona." it was the first time a sitting prime minister of japan traveled to that site. it comes seven months after president obama's trip to the site of hiroshima's peace memorial, and that marked the first visit from a sitting u.s. president. one issue on president obama's mind, nuclear weapons. just days after donald trump tweeted the u.s. should expand its nuclear capability, president obama had this to say.

>> across the globe, the united states and japan work shoulder to shoulder to strengthen the security of the asian pacific and the world. turning back piracy, combatting disease, slowing the spread of nuclear weapons. keeping the peace in war-torn lands. >> later in the hour, we're going to go live to honolulu for reaction to the event, but first, let's go to nbc's hallie jackson, my good friend in florida, covering president-elect trump's, i guess, vacation, work invitation, transition, if you will, near his mar-a-lago retreat. hallie, good to have you with us. let's talk a little bit about how you think trump's team is going to view these comments from the president, especially given the fact that, with, you know, you have trump on one hand saying, we need to expand our nuclear capabilities and obama today saying, president obama today saying that he wants to slow and work tirelessly to slow the spread of nuclear weapons. >> reporter: and throw in the mix, tie, ayman, the fact that a donald trump spokesperson said last week when the president-elect tweeted about nuclear weapons that, in fact,

he was talking about nuclear nonproliferation, which seemed to be kind of the opposite of what donald trump was tweeting about. so, yes, it is sort of a complicated picture as far as how president-elect trump's reacts. there's plenty to respond to, as far as not just nuclear weapons, but tribalism, as well. i wouldn't be surprised to see donald trump come out, look at what he put out earlier, look at that podcast, that if president obama had won again and if he had articulated his message for a tolerant diverse america that he would have won the support of americans. donald trump cannot resist getting in the mix on this one. and if i had to guess, it might be the same moving forward when it comes to these remarks. i've been told by a transition official that there's not been a change, obviously, to the president-elect's policy on japan, since his election. but that is a relationship that a lot of folks are watching

moving forward. remember, prime minister shinzo abe and donald trump had a meeting after the election, a meeting that was informal, but one in which ivanka trump sat in on and that raised a lot of eyebrows. >> i know you know the trump team very well. you've obviously covered the campaign in its entirety and you certainly saw the meeting that took place between president-elect trump and obama at the white house. you know, they've been very friendly since the election. there's been this kind of cordial respect from both sides, with both to have the comments that have come out from both men. but are we starting to see some cracks in the relationship betwee these tw some slight digs from one another? >> you know, i think this is interesting. it's an interesting question, ayman. their relationship, it's fair to say, is fairly complicated. remember, that prior to this first meeting in the oval office, just two days after donald trump was elected, the two had never actually met personally, and that was despite donald trump spending, frankly, five years pushing the birther movement leading it, essentially, in the eyes of critics trying to delegitimatize

the presidency of barack obama himself. the two met, obviously, earlier this year, earlier this fall, back on, i think, november 10th, it was. and to a lot of folk's surprise, donald trump said very positive, a lot of things, but not just president obama, but michelle obama, as well, and has continued to do so. now, on the other side of the relationship, from president obama. you've talked about maybe warm feelings. i don't know if that's actually capturing that part of the relationship. i think what you've seen is president obama continue to, in the run-up to the election, he hit donald trump at every turn, when he was out campaigning for hillary clinton. since then, he has tried to calm concerns among democrats who are worried about future of the country by saying, he is going to be -- donald trump is going to be the president, and his staff, meaning president obama's staff, needs to help the next staff prepare for that, and take that transition, that peaceful transition of power very seriously. so, regarding some of these comments now, i think this is a natural progression of whe thgs have been going. i don't think that jus because

donald trump has said posit things about president obama in the past means he will stop saying negative things about president obama when he feels that he should. >> especially on twitter, as well. hallie jackson, thanks for being with us. >> thanks, ayman. >> joining me now is rick tyler, msnbc political contributor and former communications director for ted cruz's presidential campaign. and former vermont governor, howard dean, the former democratic national committee chair. thanks to you both for being here with us. howard, i want to begin with you, and ask you a little bit about the comments we heard there from president obama, during this visit to pearl harbor. do you think that when he was making those comments about nuclear weapons, he had donald trump specifically in mind? >> it's hard to say. obviously, if you're going to have a meeting like this with a japanese prime minister, and he at the meeting that he had before, when he went to hiroshima, which is pretty extraordinary, you're going to say something about nuclear weapons. it's very hard to make too much of this, in terms of the trump

feud. i think the president is still the president, whether trump recognizes it or not. and i don't -- i think he knows who he is. and for the next 30 to 20 days, i guess, you know, he's still going to be the president. i don't think everything he says is aimed at donald trump, i really don't. >> rick, your take on this. are we reading too much into this, this issue of the nuclear weapon, given the back and forth that we've been hearing over the last couple of days. >> we need to hear what donald trump's vision for fleers weapons is. because it seems pretty contradictly. we're existing under the treaty that barack obama had negotiated that won't run out until 2021. he >> he followed that up specifically with expand. >> and let there be an arms race, what he told mika bre zinzi the following day. >> the fact that he's in pearl

harb, wherbarack obama had visited hiroshima, it would be important. what i also don't understand is why he would bring up nuclear -- it's, in a sense, it's the only place that russia, and so, i understand that he wants to start his own relationship with putin and they sort of speak each other's language. i get all of that. but nuclear weapons is actually one of the areas that the russians are on par with us. they actually have them. they're not economically on par with us. they have no capability of rebuilding syria after it's been destroyed or the middle east, after their wars, to clean up the way we did with japan, with italy and with germany. >> is you know the party. donald trump was saying, we need to expand their nuclear capability and then followed that up, let there be an arms race. do you think we'll see an opposition to the republican party to that kind of rhetoric

or policy ifs he really tries to push them through? who's going to pay for that kind of nuclear arsenal expansion? >> at this point, i think a lot of this is rhetorical banter. even if we're talking about nuclear weapons, the republicans have a full plate. there's going to be a lot going on in the first congress, they're going to be looking at appointing a new supreme court justice. they're going to be looking at repealing obamacare through reconciliation. they're going to be looking at all kinds of tax and economic measures and they'll want to do that while they feel like the democrats are still disorganized >> howard, let me play you this sound bite. this is from president obama today, but also talking about the risk of demonizing people. >> it is here that we remember that even when hatred burns hottest, even when the tug of tribalism is at its most primal, we must resist the urge to turn inward. we must resist the urge to demonize those who are different. >> so, what's your take on that? is that another message to

trump? >> that is a message to trump. it's not -- again, i don't think it's personal. i think, you know, obama's taken the high road for eight years. and his hope was to bring the country together. i actually had a meeting with him and told him how tough the republicans were going to be and how he had no interest in that and he didn't believe me. that's what he got elected for. by those zillions of young people who went out to vote for him, so enthusiastically. this is what he wants to say on the way out, and try to remind us, this is how we have to get along. if the politicians don't want to get along and use this kind of rhetoric that trump uses, that's fine, if you can't do anything about it, but those of us in the trenches can get along with each other and should make an effort to do so. our visions are different but there are compromises that can be made. >> let me ask both of you, since you're both political veterans of the game, on a different note, president obama telling david axelrod that he would have

won a third term. do you groo wiagree with that? >> i think he would have that, but i wouldn't have said that. you always get in trouble answering hypothetical questions. >> did you see that as a dig on hillary clinton? as a swipe against her? >> i think that was just obama being obama. none of us are perfect and we all have a sense of ourselves and he has a sense of himself. and it was david axelrod asking the question, so it was his friend. that's when he should have been on guard for and just passed on that. that would have been the smarter thing to do. >> your take, rick? >> that's right, when you're talking to friends, you tend to let your guard down. but barack obama might have won if he had focused on those three states, michigan, wisconsin, and pennsylvania. hillary clinton playing barack obama wasn't going to win. >> very quickly, i want to talk about this poll. there's a new poll out from pew research that shows that president obama will end his presidency really on a high note. 45% of people surveyed say he will be remembered as an outstanding or above-average

president. you think those numbers, howard, are going to help the democratic party going forward at all? >> yeah, i think they will. i think the biggest help to the democrats going forward is trump is going to be unbelievably erratic and scare the hell out of a lot of people who voted for him. and they already are. if a lot of those folks in kentucky and west virginia lose their health insurance, which is absolutely going to happen, because those are the two states that are most dependent on obamacare, there's going to be hell to pay for the republican party. if they go and try to privatize medicare, there's going to be hell to pay for the republican party. and there are going to be some smart republicans who aren't going to want to take that risk. but there's going to be a lot of talk about that. trump's going to be on twitter every night with some outrageous thing. that's what they have to worry about. >> howard dean, rick tyler, good to have both of you with us. coming up, response to russia. a new report that president obama is close to announcing measures punishing vladimir putin for interfering with the u.s. elections. and later, details on the death of screen legend, carrie

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welcome back, everyone. now to a potentially significant development in the russia hacking story. late today, "the washington post" reporting that the obama administration is finalizing a package of sanctions against russia for meddling in the u.s. elections. now, according to "thepost," the white house could announce some of the measures later this week, including new economic sanctions. the response reportedly may also include covert cyberoperations, as we understand it. joining me now is ellen nakashima, a cyber security reporter for "the washington post," who broke this story. great to have you with us, great reporting on your part. let me begin by asking you, what kind of sanctions can we expect in this package, from what you've learned? >> these are likely to be economic sanctions to be imposed on individuals or entities in russia that have been linked to

the events of this past election season year, where e-mails were hacked from the democratic national committee and other democratic organizations and then posted on wikileaks in an effort to interfere with, and even to help donald trump get elected. it was a brazen attempt to interfere in the 2016 presidential election. >> ellen, did you get a sense from your reporting at all how robust this debate was within the administration? are there any concerns that the measures they take may have some repercussions in terms of what russia may do in response? >> well, this has been a debate that's been going on for months, actually even predating the election. there was robust debate about whether even just point the finger publicly and blame russia as being behind the dnc hacks

and the dumps on wikileaks. and then whether to send -- take a response to that, and punish russia. as you know, the administration came out shortly before the election, in october, t publicly point the finger at moscow. and say they were behind the compromises of the democratic party and then to say they were interfering in the election. but it was -- it's been a lot of weeks of discussion about what sort of response to take and whether these responses would result in retaliation from russia, whether they would have the impact desired. >> and let me pick up on that point and ask you in terms of how it play out here domestically in terms of the new incoming administration, one concern is that donald trump could roll back any action that the obama administration takes. and one senior official quoted as saying, part of the goal here is to make sure that we have as much of the record public or communicated to congress in a form that would be difficult to

simply walk back. how can the obama administration, do you think, make it difficult for president trump, in the future, to do that? >> well, that's partly why the administration is undertaking a review of the events of this election season, which will be in a report to president obama, some of which will hopefully be public. and there's great pressure on the president and the administration from members of congress in both parties to make -- to conduct an investigation and to make the review public. in fact, members of congress also want to conduct their own investigation to really air the allegations and to show the public what they believe has been just unconscionable actions by russia in this election. >> ellen nakashima, great to have you with us. thank you very much for that reporting. i'm sure it's going to get a lot

more attention in the coming days. thank you very much. >> thank you for having me. next, remember that dramatic house sit-in over gun control which democrats pretty much streamed over cell phone video? well, get this, republicans now want to fine lawmakers for shooting video inside the chamber. i'm going to talk to a democrat who says, point-blank, bring it on. your insurance company won't replace the full value of your totaled new car. the guy says, "you picked the wrong insurance plan." no, i picked the wrong insurance company. with new car replacement™, we'll replace the full value of your car

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the time for patience is long gone. we're calling on the leadership of the house to bring common sense gun control llation to the house oor. give us a vote! let us vote! we came here to do our job! we came here to work! >> it was one of the year's most striking political scenes. you may recall there, congressman john lewis, a civil rights icon, leading a sit-in on the house floor over gun control. now that showdown, believe it or not, is sparking a new battle. this one more about social media.

now, when the sit-in occurred, the house wasn't technically in session, so the protest wasn't even publicly broadcast, leading republicans to respond by live streaming it using their phones. this week, house republicans pushed back. they're now proposing a policy that would fine lawmakers who should video or even take photos on the house floor. that fine, it could cost up to $2,500 deducted from the lawmakers' salaries. now, already, some democrats are responding, including congressman eric swoewell, who helped lead the sit-in, along with john lewis. he tweeted out, house gop wants to fine me for filming gun violent sit-in. i'll always stand with the victim, bring it on. joining mow now is eric swalwell, democrat from california. good to talk to you again. >> thanks for having me back, ayman. >> it's a pleasure. let's talk a little bit about these fines and if you think they can actually energize democrats and perhaps even trigger more sit-ins. >> ayman, right now, as we

speak, 30,000 families are spending the first holiday season, including 49 in orlando, without a loved one, who they lost the gun violence. and what they deserve is a dialogue, a continued dialogue in congress on this issue, not efforts to silence action. and that's what this is. this is an effort to silence action. so, we're as energized as ever to keep speaking on this issue. and i also, ayman, would say, the american people are not interested in seeing john lewis arrested for standing up for what's right. they're interested in seeing american -- it's congress, stand up for them. >> fair enough. i think republicans may push back on that a little bit. congressman, and say, this is not about the issue. this is about decorum on the floors of the house chamber. so they're talking about making sure there's some kind of order and decorum without what they may consider gimmicks of social media and live streaming. what would be your response to those who are saying, this is just disruption to decorum and house rules? >> ayman, if you remember, this

is right after the pulse nightclub shooting in orlando. when we were having this dialogue, speaker ryan cut the feed from the house floor. so the american people were shut out from this dialogue. i and others thought it was too important of a debate to be in the dark. so we let others in, by facebook live and twitter and snapchat, and we're going to continue to do that. but it's also missing what millions of americans just went to the polls and told all of us, republicans and democrats, which their number one concern right now is the future of our economy. so for this to be the first thing that we vote on when we get back is missing what most americans care about. >> and they also voted in a president who is -- president-elect, who is using social media to kind of bypass the rules. do you think there's any irony in that the gop is trying to prevent folks like you and others to bypass traditional media in getting your message out to american people to see what's happening on the house floor? >> again, it's the people's house. and the people deserve, whether it's the issue of gun violence, the efforts we're going to undertake to protect medicare,

because speaker ryan has made it clear he wants to get rid of that, or anything going forward. if they are going to turn out the lights and cut the american people out, you're darned right, we're going to use social media and any effort we need to make sure that the american people are brought in. >> let me ask you to switch gears for a little bit and talk to you about something. i know you sit on the house select committee on intelligence. i would like to get your reaction to something that senator john mccain said while he was in estonia, talking about russian hacking. take a listen to this. >> there's no doubt that the russians were hacking. but there is doubt, whether it had any effect on the outcome of the election. >> there is no evidence right now that that, indeed, that russian cyberattacks had a leaking of information, had any tangible effect on the outcome of the american election. >> congressman, what's your response to that? you agree with that assessment? >> what i believe is that w ne to have an independent

investigation. ani and elijah cummings are calling fon investigation outside of congress. so once and for all, we can declare who's responsible. it looks like it was russia. but also make recommendations as to why we should never let this happen again. and so, it's too early to determine that, but i think republicans should be just as interested in democrats are in making sure that no outside actor ever interferes with our democracy. and that's something that should be bipartisan. and i think it should be taken outside of congress and it's something where we should put our country above politics. >> congressman, we're going to have to leave it at that, congressman eric swalwell, always a pleasure to talk to you. thanks very much for joining us here. >> you too. ahead, "drain the swamp," one of donald trump's campaign trail slogans. you probably heard that one before. is he following through, though? some answers on that, next. if a denture were to be

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you got it! what do you think? if you're going to wish, wish big at the lexus december to remember sales event get up to $2500 customer cash on select 2016 and 2017 models for these terms. see your lexus dealer. welcome back, everyone. we have some breaking news that we want to report to you this hour. we're learning that secretary of state, john kerry, is going to make a major speech regarding the middle east tomorrow morning at 11:00 a.m. from the state department. we understand he's going to address the recent accusations that have been coming out from the israeli government that the united states played a hand or, in fact, initiated the resolution that took place at the united nations, condemning israeli's illegal settlements being built on palestinian territories. for more on this story, i want to bring in our chief foreign affairs correspondent, andrea mitchell, with more details on this. andrea, what you tell us about what we're expected to hear tomorrow? >> according to a senior

official, ayman, there's going to be a strong rebuttal of what you've been hearing from netanyahu and from israeli officials. secretary kerry is going to speak to what he calls a disturbing trends on the grounds, eroding the chance of a two-state solution. obviously, he means settlements, the expansion of settlements, which simultaneously are going to be announced by the interior officials and home officials in jerusalem tomorrow. he will candidly, and that is a diplomatic term for very frankly and bluntly, lay out what they claim are misleading claims emerging in recent days, from israel, that, first of all, the u.n. abstention was unprecedented, and historically, it was not unprecedented. there have been other abstentions by the united states at the u.n. in resolutions regarding israel. that, in fact, there was a hand by this administration in drafting the resolution that -- they will deny that.

that it represented anything other than a -- nationally with everyone, except israel, about what needs to be done in terms of the final status principles. he will also, you know, speak to what he thinks will be the outline for a peace agreement in the future. now, that is, of course, wishful thinking, given the fact that this will all lay over in a couple of weeks to donald trump, who has a completely different vision of both israel and the u.s. and the palestinian situation. i apologize, i am on a train. but wanted to get the information to you and all of our viewers and listeners right away, ayman. >> yeah, andrea, we certainly appreciate that. and i want to take my chances here, and if you need to go, just let us know, but i want to ask you one more question, if i may. that is, the accusations coming out from the israeli government, and we heard that reiterated again today by the israeli prime minister spokesperson, david keys, who told us this morning on "morning joe" that they have credible evidence, ironclad evidence, to quote him, that the u.s. was, in fact, behind this

resolution, initiating it and pushing for its passage at the united nations, despite them abstaining. have you, andrea, have you seen u.s./israeli relationships ever at this level? and what does this mean going forward for the relationship between the united states and israel? >> well, two points, quickly. i have seen really terrible relations between reagan and bacon and other past administrations. there are some tensions in bush xli and israel's prime minister then and jim baker, the secretary of state. so there have been pretty rough patches and generally, it's been like this, settlements. at least in the last couple of decades. this could end up becoming a diplomatic nuance, because was the u.s. behind it? probably not. did the u.s. tell those sponsoring it, these are our red lines. if you don't also mention palestinian violence, we can't

do anything other than veto it. that could be possible. so, what was said diplomatically remains to be seen, but i'm told that kerry is going to push back very, very hard against these accusations. it was originally sponsored by egypt on behalf of the palestinians. egypt was persuaded by cici, personally, the president, was persuaded to back down by calls from netanyahu and donald trump, which is unprecedented, having the president-elect making those kinds of calls. and it was expected to pass last thursday, instead, it was laid over. and in fact, it was sponsored, as you know, by the new zealand and other countries who stepped in, malaysia and others who -- right. >> who stepped in, into the breach there. so egypt did back down. and that was a pretty embarrassing diplomatic situation for egypt, as well. but kerry is going to push back very hard. he's been wanting to give --

actually, since his own peace proposals collapsed. and i think this has been burning to come out for quite some time. >> all right. our chief foreign affairs correspondent, andrea mitchell, with some breaking news there on u.s. secretary of state, john kerry's, anticipated speech tomorrow, where he is expected to, essentially, counter the accusations that are being leveled against the obama administration, that it was somehow behind the united nations resolution condemning israeli settlements. andrea, thank you very much. excuse me. now to some other political headlines, starting with new questions about just how serious donald trump is about his pledge to drain the swamp. it's a phrase he started using in the final weeks of his campaign, and repeated after the election. he was going to take aim at corruption in washington, fight off the big donors, he said, tune out the lobbyists. now new questions about whether he's following through. politico reports that more than a third of the people who have met with trump since his election gave large amounts of money to trump and other republicans this election cycle. now, those donors gave $1.7

million to trump and groups backing him and $57 million to other republicans. well, do the math. that averages out to about $800,000 per donor. here to talk about all of that and other political headlines, ben kemisar, reporter for the hill. let me begin with you, ben. so what essentially happened to the drain the swamp slogan that we heard? was that anything more than just a campaign slogan, do you think? >> we have to see that certainly headlines like this are not going to help donald trump as we tries to push this message. but frankly, trump did say himself that he could stand out on fifth avenue and shoot people and his supporters would stay with him. frankly, i would imagine his supporters are probably not paying too much attention to this and i think, y kno when you look at the message of drain the swp, i think their hope is that, you know, all of this aside, when he comes into office, he'll be more focused and will be able to deliver on some of the issues like

immigration reform and jobs and regulation cutting, things like that. that may end up being what those supporters really decide, whether or not he's followed through on those big campaign promises. >> josh, let me ask you about this particular slogan and if there's going to be a political price for donald trump to pay, if he does not follow up with really draining the swamp. there was this kind of couple of days ago with newt gingrich saying, donald trump, that was just a slogan, may not even really play out or it's become a low priority for him on the administration. donald trump fired back saying, that's not the case. >> if the job market continues to improve and if wages rise robustly and people file like their own economic fortunes are going well, then, no, he will not play a political price for this. if economic performance is poor and people don't see themselves getting ahead, absolutely, he's look at this and see that he filled his cabinet with the same kind of insider washington wall street people that you see in a lot of previous cabinets. rich people. and then you'll see cuts in corporate taxes, policies that make those people better off, even if broadly americans do not do better. but i think it's going to depend

on the results. i don't think a lot of voters are watching the cabinet picks themselves, saying, what i wanted was an outsider cabinet. what they want is a job, higher wages, those sorts of things. and i think there'll be a certain amount of giving him the benefit of the doubt, but that's not going to last forever. it will depend on performance. >> let's talk about the inaugural speech that president-elect donald trump is expected to give during inauguration. it's expected to be written by stephen miller, who wrote some of trump's most fiery speeches on the campaign, including, i believe, his rnc speech, if i'm not wrong. will we hear a kinder, gentler trump at the inauguration, do you think? are we going to hear more of a reconciliatory message? >> you have to imagine that there'll be some pivot a little bit towards that. think about the speech that he gave after he was declared the winner. sort of a little bit more of an open speech. but this is a pick that a lot of people were expecting from trump. stephen miller, former top aide to jeff sessions, who really, you know, promoted this sort of,

i guess, you know, to -- america-first border and immigration policies that trump had really, have really dug in on. i mean, jeff sessions was, obviously, a big opponent of the gang of eight bill back in, you know, a couple of years ago. that ultimately ended up not going through congress. so someone like stephen miller certainly has both feet on that side of trump and is in lockstep with trump. my guess is there'll be a lot of that type of rhetoric, a lot of stuff that can appeal to his supporters. but at the same time, it's a different audience than the rnc. >> let me ask you really quickly, josh, about donald trump announcing he's going to shut down his charitable foundation to try to address some of these conflict of interest questions that are circulating. is that enough? and, b, do we expect something similar when it comes to his business connections? >> well, i think this was a necessary step, but not a sufficient one. first of all, the foundation is already under investigation by the new york attorney general. there have been a lot of accusations about what the foundation did in the past, paying for a painting of donald trump, for example, that he then

displayed in one of his golf clubs. so there's going to be those past issues. going forward, there are all sorts of sources of conflicts of interest, including, as you know, as his businesses. he says he's going to sort of step away from the businesses. but he knows what properties he owns and what government actions can make those properties more comfortable and companies know what they can do to direct money to trump businesses. there will still be a lot of other avenues for conflict. josh and ben, thank you both for joining us. while we know that stephen miller is writing the speech -- yeah, as we were saying, we know he'll be writing that peach and interesting to see how that plays out on inauguration day. after the break, the death of carrie fisher, legendary for playing one of the most iconic female characters in all of science fiction, princess leia. we'll have details about that, straight aad. healthy, free, the worlbefore me, the long bwn path beforee leading wherever i choose. the east and the west are mine.

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now to the reaction of the passing of a movie legend. carrie fisher died today at the age of 60, after suffering a heart attack last friday on a

plane. she was, of course, best known for her role as princess leia in the "star wars" film. for more, let's go to nbc's steve patterson, he's in los angeles with the very latest on this. there was some hope, steve, that perhaps against the odds, that when she landed and rushed to the hospital, thathe would make it through. >> yes, there were. you know, as you mentioned, she was on that flight from london to l.a.x., 15 minutes before the flight lands, she starts having problems breathing. it is a massive heart attack. she's rushed into the hospital. over the weekend, over the christmas holiday, her mom actually comes out with this statement saying that she has been stabilized. and so the big hope was that she would pull through, that she would come out of the woods and be okay. but then we got the announcement from her daughter, this morning, at about 9:00 a.m., carrie fisher, iconic, legendary actress, has died and the cascade of well wishes has just flooded in. i want you to take a look at her legacy. >> i'm a member of the imperial senate on a diplomatic mission

to alderon. >> reporter: in this galaxy and perhaps others far, far away, carrie fisher is hollywood royalty. >> we have no weapons. >> reporter: best remembered as the iconic princess leia in "star wars." landing the role at just 19, fisher captivated audiences for decades, returning 40 years later in "the force awakens." >> i've always hated watching you leave. >> reporter: but even before battling the empire, fisher was born into the spotlight. daughter to famous parents eddie fisher and debbie reynolds. she made her own debut in the 1975 movie, "shampoo." >> you think that's funny, don't you? i remained sell bat for you. >> reporter: building up more than 9lm and t credits. >> let's go. >> reporter: fisher went on to write seven books, including the semi-autobiographical, "postcards from the edge," and most recently, her memoir, "the princess dirist" in which she admitted a long-ago fair with a

"star wars" co-star harrison ford. she spoke about it with savannah on "today". >> it seems like you were in love. >> well, i'm a -- i was 19, yeah. so i was not sort of a cavalier type person. >> one of the trademarks of carrie fisher from the very beginning of her career has been this brutally honest demeanor. >> reporter: never afraid to comment on mental illness, drug use, a strained relationship with her mother or her failed marriage to paul simon. >> she's become a successful author, a screenwriter. she is a commentator. she's done many, many different things beyond "star wars," as an actress. >> reporter: this morning, the phrase "may the force be with her," trending on social media, as a princess is remembered as a queen. >> may the force be with you. >> funeral plans have yet to be announced. important to say, this won't be the last time you see carrie fisher. she's filmed all her scenes for the upcoming "episode 8" set to

be released next year, but nor now, tributes and mourning. >> steve patterson, thank you. ahead, live coverage from honolulu about that historic visit today between president obama and shinzo abe of japan. stay with us. 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

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i author my sincere and everlasting condolences to the souls of those who lost their lives here. >> thank you for your presence

here today. an historic gesture, a reminder that even the deepest wounds of war can give way to friendship and lasting peace. >> from pearl harbor a short while ago, you're listening to there japanese prime minister, shinzo abe, and president obama paying tribute to american soldiers killed in the pacific. the ceremony follows president obama's visit to hiroshima in may, the first sitting president to do so. nbc's tammy leitner is follong this story for us in honolulu. tammy, good to have you with us. how did it all play out today? what's been the reaction and the mood between those, particularly the survivors, to see these one-time enemies together. >> reporter: hey, ayman, it was an emotional event to watch. it was historic and emotional. things wrapped up here just a short ile ago. prime minister abe and president obama walked out on to the stage, which is behind me, together.

prime minister abe spoke first. he offers condolences for the lives lost, but he did not apologize. he did make a vow, though, that his country says never to repeat the horrors of war. and ultimately, he ended up saying that the u.s. came to japan's rescue once it was over. he talked for about 16 minutes. president obama spoke for about the same time. he talked about what it probably was like that day, before the bombs started dropping. he talked about the young men who were full of hopes and dreams, whose lives were cut short. and he also talked about how america came of age in this war. you know, the one thing both men reiterated was how both countries were really tested in this war, but how both of them have found strength now in reconciliation. ayman? >> all right, tammy leitner there with that report. thank you very much, tammy, for it. joining me now, pulitzer prize winning reporter and author of "countdown to pearl harbor: the 12 days to the

attack," steve toomey. thank you very much for joining me today. there's so much history here, symbolism obviously not lot on either one of these gentleman. i'm curious to get your thought ifs you think there will be a time when these two countries move beyond that attack and how it really changed the course of enthusiasmty, not just the war. >> i think it's important to remember that in many ways, these two countries had reconciled decades ago. they have been close political, military, and economic partners for years. but i think this is a really important symbolic visit, and probably more for the japanese people than it is for us. >> and why so? >> i think a lot of young japanese don't really understand how the war began. and the circumstances under which this attack occurred. and i think they probably don't know what that great tragedy this attack was for japan. it was the opening of war they couldn't possibly win and they kn it. but they went ahead and attacked anyway. and the result was a terrible defeat. >> it's hard to talk about japan, and you and i were

talking a little bit in between this segment, without talking about donald trump. and the element of uncertainty that he's introduced, if you will, to that relationship. take a listen to what he told my colleague, chris matthews, back in march. okay, i think we may not have the right sound. but obviously, there was a mix-up there. but i'm curious to get your thoughts, in terms of the uncertainty that donald trump has introduced into this relationship with japan, he's talked about possibly expanding america's nuclear capabilities and triggering an arms race. he sometimes has criticized the defense relationship that we have with japan in asia. >> i don't quite understand why you would try to stir things up with the most reliable relationship we have in the pacific. the two militaries have long cooperated. japanese admirals and officers teach at the naval war college

in newport, rhode island. and i don't know why you would deliberately start stirring up what is a good and productive relationship. >> do you think he sees japan as an economic competitor to the united states? and so he wants to rattle that cage a little bit? >> he certainly has conveyed that, but the days of worrying about the japanese beati us at everything are long gone, it seems to me. those were concerns of the '80s, when it seemed that japan could out-produce us in cars and technology, cameras, you name it. and japan has suffered economic -- i want to say, instability -- not instability, but, they've sort of plateaued, economically. >> yeah. let me ask you really quickly about the u.s. military relationship. obviously, a lot of controversy surrounding u.s. bases in japan, particularly in okinawa. do you envision that with a trump administration, that is going to be a heightened point of contention, if there are greater calls to shut down some

of those american bases? >> yeah, that's already a pretty severe sticking point between the two countries. >> yeah. >> particularly the people of okinawa, who also look, i think, at the government in tokyo, as nothing being entirely on their side. so i think okinawa would remain a sticking point, no matter who had been elected president. >> okay, let me play you that sound bite now from chris matthews and donald trump. take a listen. >> -- doesn't want a nuclear weapon. >> of course, why should they. >> do you want them to have a nuclear weapon? >> wait a minute -- >> you said south korea and japan maybhang developed their own nuclear weapon capability? >> no, what i said is, i'll keep it the way it is, but they have to pay their fair share. >> as you said, it seems to create a little bit of animosity between the united states and a very close ally. a slight there that japan is not carrying its fair share in weight in terms of the defense arrangements in asia pacific.

>> that's certainly been an argument that he's made not only about japan, but about the europeans. they don't care their weight in -- >> is that true? >> in the sense that we pay for most of the -- we bear a greater share of the cost than either one of them, certainly. our defense budget dwarfs just about everyone else's defense budget. and japan has renounced the use of nuclear weapons, and also, the use of force, except for self-defense. so it sort of fell to us after the war to provide that defense to us. and in they live in a fairly unstable part of the world with south korea and china. both of whom have a more contentious relationship with japan than we do. >> what do you make really quickly of the fact that shinzo abe was the first world leader to visit donald trump after the election? should we read too much into that? >> that's an interesting point, as i think you were saying earlier, he may be the first person to meet with both of them. >> right. >> and i would like to be a fly on the wall to hear those conversations.

>> wouldn't we all wish to be a fly on the wall in so many of donald trump's meetings with world leaders. steve toomey, thank you so much for joining us. appreciate your insights, as always. >> thanks for watching everyone. i'm ayman mohyeldin. "hardball" starts right now with steve kornacki filling in for chris matthews. stay with us. the world according to donald trump. let's play "hardball." hey, good evening. i'm steve kornacki in for chris matthews. according to donald trump, the united nns is little more than a social club. the president-elect tweeting yesterday, quote, the united nations has such great potential, but right now, it is just a club for people to get together, talk, and have a good time. so sad. trump was highly critical of the u.n. security council vote last friday that condemned israel's stoplight building on land claimed by the