welcome back, everyone. i'm alex witt along with louis burgdorf.

>> the shelter in place has been lifted after protests. a speech was eventually canceled with the speaker saying he was evacuated from the campus at berkeley college. >> the homeland security office of inspector general said it will review the president's controversial order on immigration. it will include the look at the department's adherence of orders and misconduct of dhs personnel. >> we continue to follow an ongoing hostage situation at a maximum security prison in a small delaware town of smyrna. inmates took four staff members and more than 100 inmates hostage yesterday morning. officials say two corrections workers have been released and two are still being held along

with 46 inmates, according to the associated press, the hostage takers have reached out to several newspapers by phone expressing concerns about president trump and how the state spends money on prisons. negotiations continue. >> louis, president trump yesterday said the senate should do what it takes to remove the fill i buster of supreme court nominees if it stands in the way of the confirmation of neil gorsuch. >> i would say if you can, mitch, go nuclear, because that would be an absolute shame if a man of this quality was caught up in the web, so i would say it's up to mitch, but i would say go for it. >> democratic minority leader chuck schumer repeated his demand that gorsuch clear the 60-vote threshold that previous nominees have met.

judge gorsuch met with both parties. republicans are refusing to hold a hearing on president obama's nominee, merrick garland. i look to the precedent set forth by democratic vice president joe biden declared that the supreme court nominations should not be considered until after the election. mike pence took a different view. >> you don't think senate majority leader will have to resort to the so-called nuclear option. >> i'm hopeful that he doesn't. when you look at the first term nominations of president clinton and president obama, none of those were filibustered. all received broad bipartisan support. all were resolved in the senate in a matter of 60 to 70 days.

>> president trump made an unannounced trip to dover yesterday to honor a fallen s.e.a.l., owens. their destination was unknown when they boarded. the president was expected to meet with owens's family who requested the dignified transfer of his body be private. >> i know when the president spoke to his wife, karen, and talked about, the three children that he left behind, she continued to be impressed with -- to impress upon the president rather while it was an unbelievably sad and emotional time for her and her family, that he loved doing this. >> meanwhile, we're learning more about that raid on an al qaeda outpost in yemen. it has concluded the civilian

noncombatants were likely killed in the raid and children may be among them. an estimated 14 militants were also killed. unnamed u.s. military officials tell reuters the mission was approved without sufficient intelligence, ground support, or adequate backup preparations. the s.e.a.l. team arrived at an al qaeda base with a largely armed contingent. the raid was the first mission approved by president trump which reportedly happened over dinner. >> louis, there is new reporting from reuters this morning that claims the trump administration is revamping a government program designed to counter violent extremism. the program would focus solely on islamic screexism -- screex -- extremism.

increasingly under scrutiny for his past statements on islam and other issues, stephen bannon whospower is writing within the new white house, andrea mitchell reports. >> reporter: he's at the president's side at nearly every photo op. chief white house strategist steve bannon aside from the family, first among equals in president trump's power circle. >> what bannon wants? nothing short of a revolution. a pop lift revolution in the united states. republican in name but trump in style. >> reporter: his influence stretching from politics to foreign policy. now on the national security council principles committee. >> he's got a tremendous understanding of the world and the geopolitical landscape. >> surprisingly a retired

general who served both president bush and obama. >> how unusual is it that steve bannon has a seat at the table? >> i think it's unprecedented. >> bannon described as brilliant but his power alarming critics. his warning to the media to keep its mouth shut. that extreme vetting order. listen to bannon on breitbart radio in twiv. >> we need a stop on refugees until we can vet. >> islam is not a religion of peace. >> prompting the press secretary to say the president does not agree. people close to the president say behind bannon's influence, he and the president share the same instincts. thanks to nbc's andrea mitchell for this report. let's turn to business. mexico general motors and china.

we have karen cho who joins us live. what does this mean for mexico and u.s. consumers? >> good morning. it's a great story for mexico at this point. you would have to say as one auto maker presses the accelerate on mexican investments, seizing the moment while significant uncertainties surround a border tax with the united states. china and a local auto maker will invest more than $200 million in an existing plant to build suvs. typically, they make cars for emerging markets. giant motors is backed by a mexican millionaire.

they are trying to end kourng other industries to take part too. the uberceo is at the white house tomorrow. a social media campaign to boycott uber. meantime, a blow-out number for facebook. you see its revenue is 53%. there's no denying the pace of growth for a gigantic company like this. 17% growth in subscribers year on year. >> thanks so much. louis, a florida golf resort owned by the president has been ordered to pay nearly $6 million for refusing to refund deposits for members who wanted out. the decision from a federal judge is the first after trump

took office. at issue members who wanted to resign. the president has not sold any of his assets but rather handed over to their sons. at trial we presented overwhelming residents that the plaintiffs memberships were never recalled and the plaintiffs had waived this argument during the course of the litigation. >> still ahead, the photo that nearly broke instagram. chances are, you may already know about it. and joe biden jumps back into the political fray and his vision is putting him at odds with a progressive power house. we'll have the latest. hey, need fast heartburn relief?

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biden just gets back on the political scene endorsing former obama labor secretary tom perez for dnc chair. biden saying we have a lot of good people vying for this important job but i do think for this moment and in this time tom perez is our best bet to help bring the party back. the former vice president who swore in the obama appointee four years ago, also called him a man of integrity and vision. he knows how to explain why our party's beliefs matter to the immigrant in arizona and the coal miner in west virginia. do we stay with a failed status quo approach or do we go forward with a fundamental restructuring of the democratic party? what was supposed to be a listening session in honor of black history of the month at the white house yesterday instead of president trump focusi on some of his favorite political targets. the president welcomed a number of african-american leaders including members of his

presidential campaign and transition team. once he began speaking, he quickly turned his attention to the media about a false report of a bust of martin luther king being removed from the oval office. >> you read about dr. martin luther king a week ago when somebody said i took the statue out of my office. it turned out that was fake news. they said the statue, the bust of dr. martin luther king was taken out of the office. and it was never even touched. so i think it was a disgrace, but that's the way the press is. >> i'm very proud now that we have a museum in the national mall where people can learn about reverend king, so many other things, fredric douglas as an example of somebody who has done an amazing job is being recognized more and more i

noticed. >> today he made the comment about fredric douglas being recognized more and more. do you have any idea what specifically he was referring to? >> i think there's contributions -- i think he wants to highlight the contributions that he has made. i think through a lot of actions and statements he's going to make, i think the contributions of fredric douglas will become more and more. >> let's turn to entertainment news now. the queen b has done it again. she set another record after she announced on instagram that she was pregnant. the singer made the announcement that she would be having twins with husband jay-z by posting this image of herself dressed in a veil. it is raked in over 7.4 million likes so far. selena gomez previously held the title for the most liked photo with this coca-cola ad she

posted over the summer. a north carolina teacher unique's way of building trust has been viewed on social media more than 21 million times. gabe gutierrez reports. >> at charlotte's ashley park elementary. attendance is a show. >> it's personalized hand shakes. >> one after another, after another. at least 40 hand shakes each unique to barry white jr's students. >> it's blown up. >> how do you remember every single one? >> at this point, it's muscle memory. we do it at lunch, recess. they do it every day when they come to my class. >> white may have a famous name but he's one of a kind. he grew up in queens, new york, yet he's a huge cleveland

cavaliers fan. he got the idea watching lebron james and his teammates pregame rituals. the students here are mostly lower income. he's just making sure they get a fair shake. >> they come from some situations that may not be ideal. >> i feel like that i'm welcomed in his class. >> you come and you get excited and you need to do your handshake, then you can come sit down, you'll be ready. >> in white's second year of teaching, he seems to have found his calling. >> i feel like this is the number one job in america. >> a few moments with him, and you notice a lesson for us all. >> never under rate the value of relationships with anyone. what yougot? >> a te educator with just the right knowledge. >> what a school story. our thanks to gabe gutierrez for that report. bill, you and i, we've got to get our handshake down. >> that's a lot of pressure.

next year, you got to do 40 new ones. >> that's really cool. >> so today is groundhog day and we'll find out, 7:25 a.m., is when punctuatixsutawney phil wi out. your regional groundhog will give you the forecast. over the lakes, we've gotten a pretty good dusting of snow in binghamton area. just a few snowy spots off the lake with the cold air. we have the live pictures from the party going on in punxsutawney. they have been doing this all night long. they have a lot of fun there, and a lot of good hats.

7:25, we'll find out 4 more weeks or 6 more week of winter. forecast for today, winter has moved and returned into the great lakes. that's what we expected. the southern half of the country, you are finally done. another 70 degree yesterday in atlanta. it's been a ridiculously warm winter so far for you. tomorrow, the cold air seeps into areas of new england. we're back to normal out here and this was after a really, really warm january. here's the departure from average for january. everywhere is 6 to 10 degrees above average. >> i've got one more for you. today is groundhog today and our yearly reminder of the long running drama between mayors of w york city and staten island. look at this.

>> i think -- finally got him out there. two years later mayor bloomberg tried a different approach and picked up on a hot mike saying how he really felt. >> reach in and [ bleep ]. >> in 2014, it was mayor bill de blasio's return and the results were smashing. >> whew! >> the new york post reported that the groundhog was an government -- imposter named charlotte. it was unlikely that the

animal's death was linked to de blasio, but nevertheless this year's groundhog can rest easy. the mayor has other plans this morning. >> whew! >> big oven mitts. >> okay. still ahead, did president trump really hang up the phone on the prime minister of australia? that's next. ...in one week. with the... fastest retinol formula available. it's clinically proven to work on fine lines and... ...even deep wrinkles. "one week? that definitely works!" rapid wrinkle repair. and for dark spots, rapid tone repair. neutrogena®. "see what's possible." neutrogena®. "how to win at business." step one: point decisively with the arm of your glasses. abracadabra. the stage is yours. step two: choose la quinta. the only hotel where you can redeem loyalty points for a free night-instantly and win at business.

we're learning new details

about president trump's phone call with the australian prime minister. the president badger the prime minister over a refugee agreement and boasted about the magnitude of his electoral college victory. and 25 minutes into what was expected to be a hour long call, president trump abruptly ended it. this appears to be a tense exchange especially among allies. >> that's right. talk about an unexpected turn of events. donald trump reportedly complaining that he would be killed politically for standing by this refugee agreement, accusing australia as you point out, one of america's closest allies of trying to export the next boston bombers to the united states. the president tweeting overnight after this "washington post" story came out. do you believe it, the obama administration agreed to take thousands of illegal immigrants from australia. why? i will study this dumb deal. this is from the president of the united states. we need to clarify these are not illegal immigrants as he

tweeted, these are refugees. 1,200 refugees that the u.s. is going to look into accepting after vetting from an australian detention center. mr. turnbull down playing it. >> the report that the president hung up is not correct. the call ended occur teously, is as far as the nature of the discussion, it was very frank and forth right. i stand up australia's interests. i make australia'se as powerfully and persuasively as i can, wherever i am. >> again, the two countries have close ties. more australian soldiers helping in the fight against iraq than any other american ally. this could have some pretty devastating consequences for the relationship going forward. >> it was interesting to see the body language. when we come back, a look at

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>> before we toss over to morning joe, the stories ahead,

rex tillerson set to speak to the state department as its new leader. he was sworn in last night. secretary of defense james mattis is in south korea on his first overseas trip since being sworn in. while in "morning joe" starts right now. .. it's just iv what is that? >> appropriate. >> very excited this morning no two reasons.