for us, that's our broadcast for this tuesday evening. thank you so much for being here with us and good night from nbc news headquarters here in new york. ♪ across the middle east, president trump expected to officially recognize jerusalem as israel's capital. plus 100,000 people across southern california forced to evacuate as wildfires rage there. crews are racing to contain those flames. and alabama senate race ramps up as steve bannon hits the campaign trail for roy moore and democrat doug jones ups his attack. good morning, everybody. it is wednesday, december 6th

i'm yasmin vossoughian along i'd louis burgdorf. we begin with the latest in israel. amid the promise of protests and threats of violence and retaliation and diplomatic consequences, later today president trump intends to announce the united states now recognizes jerusalem as the capital of israel. however, the president will delay moving the embassy for the time being. and flying a congressionally mandated six-month waiver keeping tel aviv. and u.s. officials tell nbc news that trump recently expressed, quote, serious frustration, that he would not be following through on his campaign to move the embassy. in his inner circle the president appeared to follow through in signing the waiver. it comes despite warnings from both america's allies and those abroad, that taking unilateral action will hobble if not end any peace effort in the region. in addition to provoking religious unrest and rege nap

instability. amid this latest turmoil, the state department has issued a warning from diplomats in the region to take extra precautions, nbc correspondent ron allen is joining us. good to talk to you. what sort of preparations are being done with regards to security in that area? >> reporter: the israeli security forces we understand are under alert. as we said there's a travel warning for americans to avoid the holy city where i am and west bank area, palestinian area. we knew for several days the u.s. outposts in this part of the world have been told to expect possible unrest because everyone sees this coming. president trump has been on the phone. he's heard warnings from numerous leaders in the region that dealing with this issue of jerusalem is a big flash point. and they've urged him to back off but clearly the president seems determined to do this because of his base, because of

supporters. because it was a campaign promise and because ho apparently believes deeply that jerusalem should be the capital of israel and so designated. all of the israeli building are of course here. of course we know on the other side, palestinians causing jerusalem as their capital. it's a heavily populated area with arab and muse lips. and that is another reality on the ground here. that people are emphasizing that the city isn't that divided. that's how it operates. so, there have been calls of daying of rage, days of protests. a very unpredictable and potentially volatile day ahead of us here. >> yeah. certainly a contentious decision in that. jerusalem being one of the major sticking points that is for sure. we'll have to see what happens in the next 24 to 48 hours. ron allen, thank you. a state of emergency in southern california as a fast moving wildfire rages across ventura county. right now, more than 1,000

firefighters working to contain the so-called thomas fire which has burned at least 50,000 acres. authorities continue to widen the evacuation zones forcing tens of thousands of people from their homes. hundredsch stretches including a hospital and several homes have been reduced to rubble and ash. >> it happened so quickly. the next thing we knew, it's just like this place is engulfed. >> our whole lives were wrapped up in that home. everything. it's all gone. everything. >> crews are also working to contain the so-called fire knowledge of los angeles. more than 100,000 people have been evacuated because of that wildfire. let's bring in nbc reporter headdy chang live from ventura, california. we mentioned 50,000 acres burned. we're looking at stunning images there, tell us what you see on

the ground. >> reporter: absolutely, louis, from ventura county. this thomas fire devastating, burned more than 50,000 acres so far. a lot of the neighborhoods look exactly like this, zero containment with no signs of slowing down. the town of ohi now an inferno. the people of this community left watching knowing there is nothing they can do. >> honestly i have no words. honestly, i have no words. it's kind of hard seeing your hometown be like this and just to be helpless. >> reporter: the thomas fire proves its unrelenting reach. started at 100 acres grew to 24,000 in 24 hours. >> we've been by the radio waiting. >> reporter: we found them evacuated waiting at a closed

strip maul with their belongings they could gather and the family's two cats. >> the flames came over the hillside and they do. feel like a sitting duck. >> reporter: they are not certain they will have a home to return to. >> this is what matters. we're all here. this is our family right here, you know, the relevast of it is stuff. >> reporter: we know that 30,000 people have been evacuated, 150 structures destroyed. we do expect both of those numbers to grow. louis, back to you. >> when you see the images, your heart breaks for all of the people that lost everything. nbc's hetty chang thank you so much. >> our hearts and prayers with the people there. alabama senate race heating up as roy moore and doug jones trade barbs. steve bannon joined moore at a

campaign rally last night where he spent most of his time attacking a list of establishment. >> let's talk about the republican establishment because they're the ones that first came after judge moore. let's talk about jeff flake. did he sign a check today $100 to jones, right? what did he say, put country ahead of party. come on, brother, if you're going to write a check, write a check. let's talk about another beauty. willard mitt romney. what did he say yesterday? honor and integrity. honor and integrity, that judge moore lacked honor and integrity. and that's why he couldn't vote for him. while we're on the subject of vietnam and honor and integrity. you avoided service, brother? he wants to be called leader mcconnell. are you kidding me. >> the democrat in the race doug jones hit moore during the campaign stop as well telling supporters that men who hurt

little girls belong in jail, not in the senate. >> i believe women are every bit as capable as men, that they deserve to be elected to public office. i believe they deserve equal pay for equal work. and i damn sure believe that i have done my part to ensure that men who hurt little girls should go to jail. and not the united states senate. >> let's go to alabama to msnbc's vaughn hillyard joining us this morning. good to see you, trump, rnc, bannon now stumping for moore. how is it changing things? >> reporter: exactly, yasmin. you know, last night went in many different directions with steve bannon and roy moore taking the stage here in fair hope. i should point out there is more direction in actual messaging. this is a campaign of roy moore over the last four weeks since

the initial allegations came out november 9th have been very scattered. been focused on being defiant and the allegations and calling into the question the women and undermining their credibility. last night with the help of steve bannon, the two of them on that stage really began to focus in on the democrat doug jones. suggesting this is a hillary clinton agenda that doug jones is pushing forward. they need to nail down republicans at this point. not just base, longtime supporters. but they need to bring in republicans that are on the fence. we talked with several of these individuals yesterday who are suggesting they may write in a candidate who may be voting for doug jones. of course, across the state, it's different from suburbs of montgomery and fairham and rural communities but up in the air, it's hard to tell where this race is six days out, yasmin. >> i'm sure like you said,

december 12th, just a few days away. washington scrambling if they do see roy moore in the senate. still ahead what the white house has to say about white house special counsel bob mueller looking into accounts of donald trump. and the stories and check of your weather when we come back.

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recertifier of iran as well. what does that say about the president's decision today with the understanding of sort of mattis and tillerson being where they're at? >> good morning, yasmin, yeah, i'm not surprised to hear that and i'm not surprised to hear that because of a simple reason. this is a trump first foreign policy. this is president trump putting a narrow element of his domestic political base, a narrow element to which he made a campaign promise, on the campaign trail last year, butting that narrow element of the political base above the interests of america's personnel and america's interests in the region. so, it doesn't come as a surprise at all to hear that secretaries mattis and tillerson did not support this. this is a difficult policy to support on the substantive merits when it comes to u.s. foreign interests. >> talk about how contentious this decision is in the

conflict. because jerusalem is the major sticking point historically when it comes to both israel and the palestinian territories? >> well, that's right. jerusalem is really the crux of it. it's the site of the birth place of the three major religions. and presidents since 1967 have left the question of jerusalem undecided. that is to say, recognizing that the final status will be decided by the appears. the israelis and the palestinians. look, this is at the crux of it all. the key here is that by unilaterally declaring the united states recognition of jerusalem as the capital of israel, we are set ago side decades of precedent. and we are forever impugning our role as a mediator in the middle east peace process. this is going to make it infan knitly more difficult for jared kushner and others in the trump administration to play the role of fair broker. and it will make it all that more difficult, if not

impossible, for the palestinians to even come back to the table to seek a fine settlement to some of these outstanding issues including the status of jerusalem. >> do we even know this is what's going on right now because this puts their safety in jeopardy? >> well, it certainly does. and you've heard a divide within israeli society. the former israeli prime minister baruch wrote an op-ed be safe from themselves. this is a very extreme government that we've had under the leader of prime minister benjamin netanyahu. it's a government that has certainly found ideological infinity and ideological -- shares quite a bit in common with the trump administration. but it's far from clear that this is a decision that will make the israeli safe. it's far from clear that this will do anything to move forward the cause of a two-state

solution. and in fact, there is good reason to believe that this will actually set it back. so, i think you're on to something. and saying that this won't even make the israeli people safer. in fact, it has the potential to set back their interests as well. >> and i think one of the biggest points being made now which is what you talked about sort of in the first question which is this is really an effort on the president's part to shore up his base at the time when his approval ratings are remarkably low. ned price, i'll talk to you in a little bit. >> the white house and president trump's lawyers with reports that bob mueller's team has subpoenaed deutsche bank. both of the president's lawyers jay sekulow and john dodd writing vote no subpoena has been issued or received. here's the white house press secretary yesterday, take a listen. >> from the financial institutions themselves if they get a request, should they

provide that? >> look, i'm not going to get into hypothetical situations and try to determine everything that happened. we know that it hasn't happened up until this point. and that the reports out were totally false and the media got ahead of their skis a little bit. >> deutsche bank paid a $10 billion fine for russian schemes converting rubles into dollars for security trades that had no economic purpose. the scheme was carried out between 2011 and 2015. the obama jutsdz department had also been investigating the bank. you should know that the president has deep ties to deutsche bank. it's backed by the largest learned to trump real estate business. it was called, quote, donald trump go-to learned quoting the bank itself has been shunning him for years. as the two see over a $340

million loan. the case was settled out of court in 2009. fortune adds the private bank which is for the ultra rich took up the baton. and just after that, they final lied $285 million loan to refinance one of its troubled projects. and the president and his team dodging major questions regarding russia and miking flynn. >> when did the president that mike flynn lied to the fbi? >> as i said earlier, i referred you back to john dell's clarification. >> when did he find out? >> again, i'm not aware of the specific but i'd refer you to john dodd. >> he refused to engage writing. and when he plans to, for the

chairman said that former trump official and k.t. mcfarland's nomination to be the next ambassador to significangapore she told them. when e-mails obtained by "the new york times" showed that she was wear, miss mcfarland has not spoken publicly on the matter. >> let's go to bill karins. >> you talked about the fire at the beginning of the show. the thomas fire was the big one. that's the one that burned 150 structures in ventura county. so far, we haven't heard overnight of any rapid spread. still burning 55,000 acres, that's almost an acre a second. that's how fast the fire has been burning since it started 24 hours ago. today, another dangerous day.

we actually have two, today and tomorrow. we have what we call extreme fire outlook. if any fires form with gusty winds they will spread rapidly or any fires that currently exist will spread rapidly. this is the location here santa barbara and santa clarita. that's the thomas fire. there are 2,000 firefighters fighting that blaze. so a small army out there trying to protect the homes and structures. red flag warnings through the area as you'd expect. 20,000 people. wind gusts around 50 to 70 miles per hour, later tonight into tomorrow morning. as far as travel for the rest of the area, we are watching the east coast clearing with rains in the northeast. the rains will linger down here in the southeast of texas in areas of louisiana and mississippi is where we'll still see wet weather during the day today. but not too bad. just chilly and rainy. no snow, really no ice with the exception of higher elevations in west texas. still ahead -- unprecedented

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by the panel will be able to compete as neutral under the olympic flag but they must wear uniforms bearing the name olympic athlete from russia. >> president trump denying the allegation that this could be the attempt from interfering in the election. and the president expecting to announce recognizing jerusalem as the country's capital. plus, one outspoken senator says he's choosing country over party. those stories and more coming up next. [ click ] [ keyboard clacking ] [ clacking continues ] good questions lead to good answers. our advisors can help you find both.

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welcome back. i'm yasmin vossoughian alongside louis burgdorf. the bottom of the hour, let's start with the morning's top story. later today, president trump intends to announce that the united states now recognizes jerusalem as the capital of israel. however, the president will delay moving the embassy for the time being and will sign a congressionally mandated six-month waiver keeping the embassy in tel aviv. it comes as warning that american allies abroad taking unilateral action will hobble if not end any peace effort in the region in addition to provoking unrust and regional instability. and the state department has issued a warning to diplomats to take extra precaution for their safety. from jerusalem, nbc news correspondent ron allen. ron, good to see you once again. talk to us about the atmosphere

on the ground. how is everyone reacting to this impending decision? >> reporter: well, at this moment, it's the middle of the day and it's a rainy day which may help in keeping crowds to a smaller size. we also heard there's an administration building in gaza, some classes in bethlehem, in the west bank, we don't know the extent of it here but things are developing here. in the arab muslim world for that matter, they're clear in outrage about the jerusalem area. about any aspect of it, about president trump saying that the jerusalem is the capital of its legal. or stating his intentions to move the embassy here which is almost a less important matter because jerusalem is everything. it's just -- for the palestinian side, they see no way they will ever sign a peace agreement unless they have part of jerusalem, at least as their capital. and the israelis say it's important, that it's going to be the undivided capital of the jewish state. that's the way they feel about

this. just such deep passions on this issue. we don't know how the day is going to unfold. there have been calls for three days of a popular uprising, will that happen? we're not sure. but we're certainly watching this closely. the security forces on the israeli side have stepped up. there's been that warning as you mentioned to u.s. citizens to avoid places. the old city like we are and the west bank. u.s. posts in the region have been on alert for several days because everybody has seen this come. there have been warnings after warning from president not to touch the jerusalem issue. obviously, he feels passion in its about it and he sees he's doing the right thing. we'll see what happens. >> ron allen for us, thank you. shifting gears now on the intercept citing several current intelligence officials and others familiar with reports that the trump administration is considering a new plan to provide cia director mike pompeo in the white house with a global and private spy network that

would go around official u.s. intel agencies. it's apparently being pitched as a way to counter apparent deep-state bias and enemies within the government. a new report from nbc news is shedding more light on donald trump jr.'s meetings in the 2016 election. obtained exclusively by nbc news, a russian attorney said that donald jump jr. asked her if she had evidence of a meeting back in trump tower. responding to questions from the committee, the lawyer natalia veselnitskaya said she did not have the evidence that trump junior was requesting and believes he misunderstood the nature of their meeting after receiving an e-mail from an intered intered me year who said it up. the question for donald trump

jr. is whether he'll face allegations that he solicited material from a foreign national which would be illegal. a lawyer for donald trump jr. want to hear the russians out. >> joining us live from washington former director and spokesperson for the national security council and now analysis ned price. ned, good to talk to you. let's talk about the latest, donald junior trying to seek out information. does this thing have legs? >> well, it certainly seems to and this thing has had legs since first reported several months ago. i'm sure you remember, yasmin, the back story of this meeting has evolved significantly since first reported in "the new york times." and according to a statement that per again "the new york times" donald trump himself dictated to his staff aboard air

force one. the trump administration wanted to us believe this was all about adoptions. that this had very little if anything to do about the 2016 election. well, we've seep learned that is not the case. we've since learned including the documentary evidence and e-mails that donald trump jr. ails if that's what you say this meeting is about, i love it. so it will be interesting to here how don trump's explanation evolves over the course of today when he's again on the road to testify before the house intelligence committee. >> let's talk about this proposed spy op-ed with the new report on domp trump jr. for trump and pompeo. what is this thing all about? has any administration ever proposed anything like this? and does this not undermine our intelligence agency which already exists especially when you think back about a tweet from president trump where he

said the fbi is in tatters. >> well, it certainly would undermine the entire intelligence community. look, i had the opportunity to speak yesterday to several in the intelligence community all of whom said look there may have been meetings about this. this is an aggressive marketing pitch on the part of the company seeking to launch this but this, in their words, wasn't going anywhere. but the fact that these individuals were able to get access an entree to the current administration speaks to something very concerning and that is the fact that people like erik prince, the former founder of blackwater, oliver north of iran contra fame have access to the trump administration. access they've had even before president trump was inaugurated in office. you may recall erik prince, one of the key means behind this

so-called intelligence network reportedly travelled to the seychelles where he met with a russian operative. and guidance sought on the question of america's president in afghanistan tan jared kushner and steve bannon apparently went to him earlier this year when president trump was ready to make that decision. again, we've seen the trump administration turn to the same cadre of people who would undermine the intelligence committee. >> i also note that she had no knowledge of any such proposal. net price, thank you. we have new polling data on a survey conductedgy the public research institute shows while president trump had the support of the majority of the gop, 3 in 10 republicans, 31% would prefer a different an indicacandidate e

election. in a new quinnipiac university poll shows approval of president trump's performance at a near record low, 35%. with disapproval of voters at 58%. that compares to a november 21st poll that had his approval rating at 38% with 55% disapproving. and the tax plan, 29% of voters approving of the tax bill working its way through congress, with 53% disapproving of it. amid a growing list of sexual harassment allegations democr democratic congressman john conyers has revealed his plan in congress. >> i am retiring today. and i want everyone to know how much i appreciate the support that -- the incredible

undiminished support i've received across the years from my supporters. >> congressman, as you exit this interview do you still maintain that the allegations that have been leveled against you are false? >> whatever they are, they are not accurate, or they're not true, and i think that they're they're something that i can't explain where they came from. >> so conyers made the announcement yesterday during a call-in to a detroit radio show to an area hospital where he's being treated for stress. as eye heard in that interview, the 88-year-old the long equivalent serving member of the house and founder of the congressional black caucus continues to deny the allegations against him. in his radio interview he added that he wants his son john conyers iii to replace him in

congress. to the office, the vacancy does trigger a special election process. reuben keywynn said he will not step down over allegations he sexually harassed a staffer last year. speaking yesterday, he said party leaders knew about the accusations but stood by his campaign nonetheless. he's now questioning why they're calling for his resignation more than a year later. and president trump told supporters he stands by his endorsement of roy moore. >> i think he's going to do very well. we don't want to have a liberal democrat in alabama. we certainly don't want to have a liberal democrat that's controlled by nancy pelosi and chuck schumer. >> and white house press secretary sarah huckabee sanders defended trump's bagging of moore. sanders told reporters yesterday that while the president finds the allegations against moore

troubling he's okay just not going to back doug jones. >> is it the white house's position here formally here that it's worst to have a democrat in that senate seat than somebody who is accused of sexually abusing a teen girl? >> look, as i said, we find the allegations to be troubling. >> why did the president endorse? >> look. i think those are different things in terms we aren't going to be the ones to determine that process. that's for the people of alabama to determine what those things come down on. he does want people that support his agenda. he's not going to obviously support a democrat. >> trump's endorsement has divided republicans including outspoken republican senator jeff flake. who after sitting next to trump during a white house luncheon posted a photo of his $100 donation of the senate campaign. flake wrote in the tweet country over party. a knock at trump's reasoning for backing moore.

joining us from fair hope, alabama, vaughn hillyard. steve bannon at a campaign rally. what was the reaction from voters listening in? >> reporter: this is the first time we've seen a rally like this for roy moore. there was focus in the room. it was not about allegations leveled against him it was more us versus the world mentality. really, steve bannon and roy moore are setting up the republican party that is backed by donald trump. and now the rnc effectively. versus that of like mitt romney and jeff flake. you heard the sound bites where steve bannon went directly after mitt romney and roy moore. here in alabama, that's what resonated two months ago when he

ousted sitting republican luther strange. and he's hoping that message works now in his race against democrat doug jones. between bannon and moore, they focused in, calling doug jones an extension of a coltlinton agenda. it was a focused agenda which roy moore has had a tough time really tailoring here among the allegations and distractions. >> interestingly, though, by focusing on mitt romney, they're elevating him because he's been on the spotlight. still ahead, a state of in which in the state of california fast moving wildfire. bill karins will have the very latest if the weather will help fire crews there. we'll be right back.

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southern california this morning as a fast moving wildfire rages across ventura county. right now more than 1,000 firefighters are working to contain the so-called thomas fire which has learned at least 50,000 acres. the captain of the ventura county fire department says the size is expected to grow due to erratic winds. already tens of thousands of people have been forced from their homes. and authorities are widening evacuation zones. hundreds of structures including a hospital, and several homes are completely destroyed. views also working to contain the so-called creek fire north of los angeles. more than 100,000 people have been evacuated because of that wildfire as well. >> let's get the latest on the wildfires with nbc meteorologist bill karins. bill, you're looking specifically at the wind in that forecast? >> that's the whole key. that causes the fire to spread rapidly. here's the picture saturday. these are the smoke plumes

blowing well out in the pacific. the thomas fire and the creek fire and the other one in southern california. as we zoom in closer to pinpoint some of the three fires here. the thomas fire is by far the biggest one. that's the one that did the 150 structures that caused 22,000 people to be evacuated near ventura county. and creek five, outside of l.a. and the forecast for today does have red flag warnings. we have critical fire weather in these areas. 50 to 70-mile-per-hour wind gusts possible at the higher elevations. lower elevations, even 25 to 35. this makes it very difficult for the firefighters out there. don't be surprised if you hear more stories unfortunately about structures burning and more evacuation. the cold air invading the country. it's december. well advertised. it's supposed to be here. it's not record-breaking but that's it. 22 in minneapolis.

new orleans, only 49 degrees. that's a big shock. here in the 80s just two days ago. then on thursday it begins to spread and seep to the east coast and with the upcoming weekend we'll see the cooler air for new york. not frigid cold. lows in the 20s. highs only in the 40s. that's for the entire east coast, yasmin. a typical zdecember weekend. still no snow in sight. >> keep in mind, we're heading towards the snowstorm eventually. ahead, record rallies break through another threshold. if you still have holiday shopping to do, some bad news from u.p.s. and other stories in business coming up.

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>> reporter: it depends on who you talk to. you've got a lot of people investing. i spoke to a professor of economic history. the problem with the currency's long-term future doesn't have an intrinsic value. we've seen it hit 12,000. it started at a 1,000 beginning of this year. increasingly faster in terms of

its value over the course of the year. it hit 11,000 just a couple of months ago. there are concerns about its future. we heard from a number of heavy weights. other concerns could be about your holiday shopping. if you are using amazon for instance, they then in turn using ups and ups is having to call some drivers in for overtime and so watch out for that. >> amazon breaking ups. one more for you here. pizza and beer go together like you guys would have bangers and mash. pizza hut is trying to cash in on that. what can you tell us about the company's new offering? >> reporter: you know you talk about cold weather in the northeast where you guys are and getting a pizza is always a pleasure. what you want say bit of beer. pizza hut are trialing that concept down in arizona. they're saying that if you try

and order a six pack of budweiser, bud light with your pizza. the beer would apparently arrive cold in a special cooler. and drivers will of course be checking i.d. >> thanks so much. coming up next on "morning joe," the u.s. will now recognize jerusalem as the capital of israel defying warnings and protests from allies around the world. former ambassador nicklaus burns will break it down. plus corey joining the conversation giving his insight as to whether there was any collusion during the campaign.

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welcome back. about before we toss it over to "morning joe." let's get a check on the stories that you'll be hearing on the days ahead. >> we go to halle jackson.

good morning. >> reporter: this morning the big news coming out of the white house, the president's announcement later on today that he will recognize jerusalem as the capital of israel. he is also set to announce that the state department should move the embassy from tel aviv to jerusalem. that is something that could take years. now why is this such a big deal? this flies in the face of arranges from the president from some of the u.s.'s closest allies in the middle east, in europe about what this could mean not just for the prospect of peace talks in which case it could certainly be damaging but also for potential chaos or violence on the ground in the region. that said, the president appears to be moving forward with this plan and that is what all eyes are on from here in washington. back to you. >> thanks. meanwhile the president's oldest son is set to appear before the house intel committee today. he'll testify before behind closed doors to congressional investigators probing russian

interference in the elections. he's expected to face questioning about the trump's family entanglements with russia as well as with a woman proporting to be a lawyer offering dirt on hillary clinton. "time" magazine is set to announce it's person of the year. "morning joe" will have all the details on the winner as soon as they are announced. >> that does it for us on this wednesday morning. "morning joe" starts right now. this post-war rules based, international order that all the high people in the "the wall street journal" and the financial times of london and on "morning joe," those geniuses, right, right? every day they're on that -- they failed to understand that's an network of commercial relationships, trade deals, capital markets and a security

guarantee by guess who? the sons and daughters of this audience. >> couldn't really follow -- >> the sons and daughters of what are running? >> i didn't realize we had that much power. >> we're geniuses but the rest of that made no sense. >> i think we're all members of the ilaluminum nati. >> jack is very powerful but he's in control. i don't know if you've seen -- there's a couple of things going down right now. >> what the heck was he talking about? you can't decipher. >> how old's george? >> he's eight. >> by the time they're ten they'll own half the banks in europe. jack, also, he's working very hard right now on coming -- you got to come over-the-top. you got to come over-the-top. you got to