stepping aside, senator al franken has announced plans to resign amid sexual misconduct allegations and he is calling out president trump and roy moore. plus thousands of homes in jeopardy as multiple wildfires rage in southern california. the concern today continues to be those brutal santa ana winds and the fallout continuing after president trump's announcement to move the u.s. embassy to jerusalem. more across the entire middle east today. ♪ ♪ >> good morning, everybody. it is friday december 8th.

i'm yasmin alongside a minute who is in jerusalem for us and louis berg dorf in the studio. we start with three years still in his term, democrat al franken says he's going to resign from the senate amid allegations of sexual misconduct. the announcement from the senate floor came just a day after a chorus of democrats led by kristin gillibrand and other democratic women called on him to step down as yet another accuser stepped forward. franken spoke 20 minutes yesterday. he did not admit wrongdoing, but he did call out republicans discussing the irony of his resignation. let's take a listen. >> over the last few weeks a number of women have come forward to talk about how they felt my actions had affected them. i was shocked. i was upset. but in responding to their claims, i also wanted to be respectful of that broader

conversation because all women deserve to be heard and their experiences taken seriously. i think that was the right thing to do. i also think it gave some people the false impression that i was admitting to doing things that, in fact, i haven't done. some of the allegations against me are simply not true. others i remember very differently. i know in my heart that nothing i have done as a senator, nothing, has brought dishonor on this institution. and i am confident that the ethics committee would agree. nevertheless, today i am announcing that in the coming weeks i will be resigning as a member of the united states senate.

i of all people am aware that there is some irony in the fact that i am leaving while a man who has bragged on tape about his history of sexual assault sits in the oval office, and a man who has repeatedly preyed on young girls campaigns for the senate with the full support of his party. >> franken barely won his election to the senate in 2008 after a six-month recount process. he was finally declared the winner with a narrow 312-vote victory over a republican incumbent. then in 2014 franken was reelected handily, trouncing a primary challenger and winning the general election with 53%. all right. some republicans and conservatives have come to al franken's defense. ari fleischer, former white house press secretary to george w. bush tweeted, quote, franken

should not have resigned. his fate should have been left to the people of minnesota. moore, who had sexual contact with a 14-year-old should drop out. conyers, who hit on his employees, should have resigned. franken is a creep who acted inappropriately, but his facts are different. here's more reaction from republican senator bill cassidy and other conservatives as well. >> sad the way it's all played out. there is certainly no due process for him, but a little nervous when people are brought down by in some case anonymous, on the other hand obviously there was credibility on their side. and they pressured him out. not much more to say on that. >> all of these nice people, none of whom have given back the money that they raised from harvey -- >> weinstein. >> weinstein. none of whom who have repudiated

hillary and bill clinton. suddenly moral outrage create a lynch mob. what you saw today was a lynch mob. let's not have due process, let's not ask anybody any questions. let's not have any chance to have a hearing. let's just lynch him because when we get done lynching him, we'll be so pure. >> he's unwilling to fight for his reputation. i happen to think this is a bad decision, and i pretty much don't a kbrgree with him on anything. this was a crass political ploy. democrats dumping franken over board now they can declare the high moral ground for 2018 and pursue donald trump and roy moore. >> well, laura ingram. all right. now to roy moore, everybody. we're just days away from election day in alabama and some republicans are standing by their calls for him to exit the race including the chairman of the national republican senator gubernatorial committee. roy moore will never have the

support of the senatorial committee. we will never endorse him, we won't support him. gardiner notably has led the call for the senate to expel moore if he wins on tuesday. house speaker paul ryan told reporters he also hasn't changed his mind on roy moore. >> my position hasn't changed. i have not changed. i think he should have dropped out. just because the polling has changed doesn't change my opinion on the matter. >> meanwhile president trump will hold a campaign-style rally in pensacola florida later today. pensacola is 20 miles outside of alabama and shares a media market with mobile. allowing trump to reach alabama voters without having to cross state lines. we'll go to pensacola. vaughn hilliard joining us from there. vaughn, good to see you this morning. today is the day besides the election day just a couple days away. president trump as i just mentioned heading to pensacola today amidst that rainy weather scenes behind you. do we expect him to mention roy

moore, especially considering the proximity that pensacola has to the alabama state line? >> reporter: yeah, good morning, yasmin. yeah, this media market to give you an idea, about 40% of it hits into alabama. so, we are watching the tv airwaves and seeing roy moore and doug jones commercials out here. as for donald trump coming here tonight, this is going to be an opportunity for him to really back up roy moore and try to hold onto a u.s. senate seat. as you've seen the last week he's been pretty emphatic in his support pour roy moore. his defense of roy moore and calling out doug jones. the concern over in the doug jones camp is the extent to which donald trump escalates his rhetoric. but the question is to what extent will that actually have an impact on that alabama race. you remember two months ago when he weighed into the alabama republican runoff, luther strange, despite him suggesting he did move the polls in strange's favor there is no evidence of such. roy moore ended up beating luther strange by 10%.

we're just four days out where it is a matter of turnout. next tuesday, in 56 of the 67 counties, only name that is appearing on it is doug jones and roy moore. so, people are going to have to decide is it worth me coming out to vote for doug jones or roy moore. yasmin? >> people are certainly going to have to make that decision, and likely a tough one. von hilliard for us. thank you. i want to get to the latest on the national fallout to recognize jerusalem as the israeli capital. protesters continue throughout the middle east including american flags and posters of trump being burned in the streets. more than 100 people reportedly injured yesterday as smoke and tear gas engulfed from the holy est sites for jews and christians. u.s. embassies are on alert around the world including the possibility of violence. according to a state document dated december 6, the same day as trump's speech as seen by

reuters. the agency said in part, we are still judging the impact it will have on personnel overseas. hundreds of protesters surrounded the embassy saying no to u.s. arrogance. overnight the pakistan national assembly passed a resolution condemning trump's decision. turkish president erdogan who prior to trump's decision said it would, quote, cross a red line for muslims. yesterday predicted the region would ignite in a, quote, ring of fire. saudi arabia which has been close to the trump administration said it followed the announcement, quote, with great sorrow while warning of, quote, dangerous consequence. hamas has called on its followers to start a third uprising and, quote, a day of rage for today while the palestinian authority has called for a general strike. and things are expected to only get worse there today. as crowds leave mosques, after weekly noon prayers. let's go to east jerusalem now where my colleague is standing by for us.

amin, as i mentioned the moscow political chief calling for a day of rage. how are authorities preparing for how this could feasibly unfold? >> reporter: yeah, yasmin, we are expecting prayers to get underway here momentarily. we've been seeing a steady stream of palestinian worshippers make their way into the old city behind us. for all intents and purposes it has been a very normal friday afternoon with the exception that the israeli police say they've beefed up security in and around the old city in anticipation of what could happen today. so far no indication that things are going to be any -- perhaps any more violent than what we've seen in the past 24 hours when we saw some of those clashes take place in ramallah and what have you, and other cities across the occupied west bank. for its purposes, though, there have been calls by the palestinian authority as well as you mentioned hamas and gaza calling for more protests and more demonstrations today. so we'll see how this is all going to play out in the coming hours. at least on the street level.

more interestingly enough, though, is what will the palestinian authority do going forward. there have been growing calls in some of these protests and demonstrations we saw yesterday by those in those crowds demanding that the palestinian authority rescind its recognition of israel, withdraw from the peace process. obviously the palestinian authority has not made any decision on that whatsoever. we'll be watching that situation closely as well. but in terms of what is happening here, the atmosphere a lot of anger still and frustration among palestinians about this decision. but not yet sure whether that is going to turn into any kind of massive or large-scale demonstrations across this city or elsewhere in the west bank today. but it is something that everybody here is on high alert for. yasmin? >> amongst israelis, we know this was part of netanyahu's directives in '90s. a lot of leaders not necessarily outwardly behind him -- outwardly they were behind him, but behind closed doors they weren't behind him. are we feeling sort of a sense of israeli still very much

behind this decision by president trump? >> reporter: you know, i think that also falls a little bit along party lines and certainly your political lienings. there is no doubt overall israelis consider jerusalem to be their capital. so, across the political divide, people would look at this and say this was a good decision that the decision to recognize jerusalem is coming now from the united states. there are those who are more looking at what this ultimately does to the peace process and whether or not that undermines the stated objective of having a two-state solution. i think there are some within the israeli political establishment particularly those leaning on the left that say from a negotiating point of view the united states has given too much to israel without expecting anything in return and that could undermine a peace process to try to get these two sides to the negotiating table. there are others, though, that say that by recognizing jerusalem as the capital of israel, this is in some ways going to advance that because it is recognizing their reality on the ground. so, it really depends on where you sit in the israeli political scene that shapes how you are

viewing this decision from the white house. >> it speaks to how complicated this decision really is and how many tent consolidates it has. i'm going to check back with you in a little bit. >> turning ba being here at home, the fires in california continue to grow. they are burning for more than 140,000 acres. the so-called lilac fire broke out yesterday morning in san diego county. fire officials say that blaze has grown at a dangerous rate destroying dozens of structures and threatening thousands of others. right now there are more than 5,000 fire fighters on the groundworking to contain those six wildfires that are still burning. according to cal fire, just under 200,000 people have had to evacuate, more than 500 structures have been completely destroyed, and unfortunately those brutal santa ana winds are expected to continue and fanning those flames through tomorrow. joining us now from ventura, california is nbc's scott cohn. scott, the thomas fire there in

ventura county is by far the largest wildfire. what can you tell us about that, how much of it is contained and what are fire crews expecting? >> well, louis, it's still only about 5% contained and it's grown to 115,000 acres. but on day five of this crisis, there are a few small signs of encouragement. number one, as you may be able to tell, while the winds are still blowing, they have died down considerably. we are still seeing gusts of up to 45 miles an hour in some areas, but that is considerably less than the 70 and 80 mile an hour gusts we were talking about earlier this week. and those winds are expected to continue to diminish and at least taper off, even though they are still blowing. that allows fire fighters to get a little bit more of a jump on these fires and it's also allowing utility crews in areas like this that were torched by the thomas fire here in ventura to get in and start doing some work. the residents not being allowed back in yet. but then we have this newest threat which you mentioned, the lilac fire about 130 miles south

of here in san diego county. that blew up to more than 4,000 acres in less than a day and is continuing to threaten lots of structures. three people injured and more than a dozen thoroughbred race horses killed. this fire danger is not over yet. these winds are expected to continue blowing through the weekend. louis? >> all right, scott cohn, thanks so much for your reporting. >> still, the images from that area just completely startling there. looking like straight out of the movie. still ahead, everybody, chuck and nancy, they're going to meet with president trump and top republicans to hammer out a budget deal and congress a verts a government shutdown for now. later senator al franken is not the only lawmaker to announce his resignation yesterday. prubl cann congressman trent franks is out as well. those stories and, of course a check on your weekend weather when we come back.

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welcome back, everybody.

president trump finally sat down with chuck and nancy after backing out of a meeting with the president last week. democratic leaders nancy pelosi and chuck schumer joined the republican counterparts paul ryan and mitch mcconnell at the white house yesterday. to begin negotiating a year-end budget deal that would avoid a government shutdown. that shut down originally scheduled to take effect at 12:001:00 a.m. tomorrow was pushed by two weeks after the house and senate passed a short-term spending bill to keep the government open until december 22nd. the key issues at stake in the negotiations include demands for democrats that domestic spending be on par with the military. the re-authorization of funding for the children's health insurance program and the inclusion of a provision that grants legal status to undocumented immigrants brought to the u.s. as children. after the meeting the two sides indicated that they are still very fara part on all of those issues, but they are continuing those discussions. >> let's get a check on your weather now with nbc meteorologist bill karins.

and, bill, the northeast gearing up for the first dusting of the season, also some snow in texas. >> yeah, the snow in texas is really crazy. it sthoed already in san antonio, corpus christi, houston before it snowed in many areas of new england. i mean, new york city and boston and other areas will get it saturday. but they're getting it in texas now. here's some of the pictures from houston, texas. it's been two years since i saw any snow flakes and this is the second earliest snow fall in recorded history in the houston area. it was 80 degrees only four or five days ago. so, it's a big shock and i'm sure the kids are going to run outside this morning before it melts try to get out there and see a snow flake or two. let's show you on the radar where the snow is. in the blue is the snow. even corpus christi, texas, by the way, they had thundersnow a couple hours ago. it is snowing from texas to louisiana, mississippi snow is now breaking out in central alabama and north georgia, even the mountains of north carolina. and as far as the snow is going to go, again, it will intensify during the day today in areas of the southeast.

winter storm warnings for meridien, hat iz burg. atlanta is under winter advisory. here's the snow fall forecast. central alabama 1 to 2 inches and the same one to 2 inches in central mississippi. louisiana, too. so, the timing of all of this mess as we bring it up through the day today, there is noon today. snow from atlanta, north ga, western portions of south carolina and also upstate portions of north carolina. and then towards this evening, watch out right around richmond. again, this mess will move up to the northeast. we'll talk more about that coming up. i'd have those shovels ready, hartford, boston, providence, maybe even philly and d.c. details ahead. >> i'm ready. louis is going to get paid $5 an hour. >> awesome. >> still ahead -- >> a cup of hot coco, too. >> just 5 bucks, louis. all right. still ahead, last second heroics as the falcons and the nfl race continues to heat up. sports, of course, is next.

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university and with the u.s. olympic gymnastics team has been sentenced to 60 years in federal prison for possession of child pornography. a federal judge said the sentence won't begin until nassar completes two other sentences for sexual assault for which he faces 25 years in fridays on. he faces lawsuits by 100 women and girls along with michigan state and usa gymnastics. >> certainly a long time for him to think about the revolting stuff he did. >> definitely. >> coming up, any b everybody, the head of the fbi christopher ray comes to his agency's defense after the president claimed it was in tatters. the fall out continuing after president trump's decision to move the u.s. embassy to jerusalem. stay with us, everybody. here's n mountain coffee roasters sumatra reserve told in the time it takes to brew your cup. let's go to sumatra. where's sumatra? good question. this is win. and that's win's goat, adi. the coffee here is amazing. because the volcanic soil is amazing. making the coffee erupt with flavor. so we give farmers like win more plants. to grow more delicious coffee. that erupts with even more flavor.

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welcome back, everybody. i'm yasmin alongside amin in jerusalem for us and louis berg dorf in the studio. it is the bottom of the hour. let's start with the top story. powerful winds are fueling six massive wildfires burning across southern california this morning. the so-called lilac fire broke out just yesterday in san diego county. as you can see there, fire officials say the blaze has grown at a dangerous rate destroying dozens of structures and threatening thousands of others. right now there are more than 5,000 fire fighters on the groundworki ground, working to contain the six wildfires. 200,000 people have had to evacuate and 500 structures have been destroyed. the santa ana winds will

continue fanning the flames through tomorrow. joining me from ventura, california, scott cohn. good to talk to you this morning. talk to me, one, about the thomas fire which is by far the biggest wildfire burning out there. and when do authorities think this could stop, this could end? >> reporter: well, i can tell you that if you -- you can probably see this. there's almost no wind now, which is a good thing. we're about only about 600 feet in elevation, but in the higher elevations the winds of course gust higher. but the fact that the winds have died down somewhat considerably since 24 hours ago is a good thing. and is going to help fire fighters get a little bit more of a handle on this, but we're not out of this at all yet. the winds are expected to continue through the weekend. this thomas fire is really all of the eye popping numbers out of this five day crisis in southern california. most of them are here in ventura.

115,000 acres out of the total of 140,000 acres in the region that have burned, more than 400 structures destroyed. and we may have the first death as a result of the fire. a body that was recovered near ojai yesterday, the cause of death and the identity not yet known. so we don't know yet whether it's fire related, but this is continuing. these santa ana winds expected to continue blowing through the weekend so everyone is staying on guard and trying to get a handle on these fires. yasmin? >> important to heed the warnings there if you are called to evacuate your home you definitely should. as you said these things are moving quite fast. by the way bill karins later is going to have an update on the weather patterns there to i have go us a sense of when this fire could feasibly die down in those areas. scott cohn for us. thank you, scott. >> hoping those winds continue to die down. all right, turning now, senator al franken is announcing he is stepping down following mounting pressure from democratic colleagues in a wave of sexual

misconduct allegations. franken made the announcement yesterday using his time on the senate floor to also take some pointed shots at president trump. nbc news capitol hill correspondent kasie hunt has more. >> reporter: former snl star al franken announcing he'll soon be a former senator. >> in the coming weeks i will be resigning as a member of the united states senate. >> reporter: flank enhad been fighting to keep his job after seven women came forward to accuse him of sexual misconduct. too many for 15 women senators who demanded he step down. >> enough is enough. >> reporter: flank eninsifrting he did nothing wrong. >> some of the allegations against me are simply not true. others i remember very differently. >> reporter: but this photo of franken on a uso tour in 2006 with a sleeping leeann tweeden, for which he apologized, unleashed a half dozen more accusations. >> he had put his arm around me and he ended up groping my right

breast. >> reporter: franken calling out his rival party. >> i am leaving while a man who has bragged on tape about his history of sexual assault sits in the oval office. and a man who has repeatedly preyed on young girls campaigns for the senate with the full support of his party. >> reporter: republicans in a tough spot if roy moore who denies multiple accusations of sexual misconduct with teenagers wins the alabama senate race next tuesday. >> all right, thanks to case i hunt for that report. and to the other side of the aisle, congressman trent franks of arizona has announced he is resigning from congress amid word the house ethics committee has launched an investigation into possible sexual misconduct. in a statement released yesterday the republican said that he had discussed his interest in finding a surrogate mother with two women in his office, adding that his wife has struggled with infertility. the ethics committee said it is looking at whether franks's

comments constitute sexual harassment. franks added in his statement, quote, i am deeply convinced i would be unable to complete a fair house ethics investigation before distorted and sensationalized versions of this story would put me, my family, my staff and my noble colleagues and the house of represents through high pesh lysed investigation. he authored numerous antiabortion bills said his resignation will take effect at the end of january. house speaker paul ryan's office said his office was made aware of the issue last week saying after investigating the matter the speaker confront the franks and said he was recommending the ethics committee open an investigation into him. >> and fbi director christopher ray is defending his agency's reputation after an attack by president trump. the president tweeted last week that the fbi's reputation was in, quote, tatters, calling it the worst in history. director ray disputed that while testifying in front of the house judiciary committee yesterday. >> there is no finer institution

than the fbi and no finer people than the men and women who work there and are its very beating heart. what i can tell you is that the fbi that i see is tens of thousands of agents and analysts and staff working their tails off to keep americans safe from the next terrorist attack, gang violence, child predators, spies from russia, china, north korea and iran. the fbi that i see is people, decent people committed to the highest principles of integrity and professionalism and respect. >> and wondering how the president was responding to that testimony yesterday. turning now to the latest on the international fallout from president trump's decision to recognize jerusalem as israel's capital and the protests and violent clashes between palestinians and israeli soldiers is expected to ramp up today after hamas called for a day of rage and as crowds leave mosques following the weekly noon prayers. threats' go back to jerusalem where my colleague is standing

by. the middle east not agreeing with the president's decision. you're not agreeing with the president's decision. politicians here in the united states not agreeing with the decision as well. how are people there reconciling all this? >> reporter: yeah, yasmin, that is the question a lot of palestinians are certainly asking this morning. they are asking of their political leadership. let's talk really quickly about what is happening here. this was the third day of what palestinians were calling days of protests and the friday prayers which everyone was watching very closely have just let out. you can see a lot of the worshippers starting to make their way out of the old city here. some chants in the background. it all comes on the backdrop of some heightened security across jerusalem and we're for the nat to have with us the spokesperson for the israeli police, superintendent mickey rosenfeld. i want to bring him in to get a better understanding of the overall situation. i want to start off asking, mickey, in the past we've seen israeli officials restrict those who can go into the city, even restricting those who can make their way to jerusalem from the west bank. we didn't see any of that today.

what does that tell us about how israeli place assess the security session today? >> the israeli police have been assessing the security situation over the last 24 to 48 hours in order to major sure that if there will be ibs identifies we'll be fully prepared to deal with them both in and around the jerusalem area as well as the city. as of this morning the prayers on the temple have been respectfully on the temple mound. police units have been deployed in and around the different areas of jerusalem as well as here. we can see developing at the moment is a crowd that are chantding. we hope that it will be quiet and calm. but if necessary, we'll respond if there are any violent incidents whatsoever. >> what concerns you the most from a police perspective and security perspective when emotions are running high? >> we are familiar with the tensions. if things turn violent in any way whatsoever, of course like any police force in the world, they will respond accordingly, using only nonlethal weapons.

we'll maintain the situation and make sure that it doesn't develop into a full-scale riot. but as far as we are concerned, our units are located in and around the different areas and can respond if necessary. >> reporter: can you tell us a little bit about what has the preparation been like for you for the israeli police? i know from my time covering this in the past, i don't see the same presence that i've seen in the past on days where we were expecting protests and emotions running high. >> well, we saw disturbances in the bethlehem area and in and around other areas out of jerusalem. here in jerusalem things have been relatively quiet and calm. but our units are experienced in dealing with disturbances as well as riots that could develop in all scales and sizes. our units are well trained. let's think back to what happened a couple months ago in july when two police officers were murdered on the temple mound. three weeks of incidents where nobody else was killed, no rioters and no police officers. so, we know how to deal with large-scale incidents if it develops. >> reporter: all right, mickey rosenfeld, thank you for joining us today. yasmin, you heard the situation

from the israeli police and obviously as friday prayers have let out, the situation with the emotions and the crowds teenagers to be somewh continues to be high. nonetheless, following what we saw yesterday in various parts of the occupied west bank, the concerns are that could spill over here. israeli police are prepared for all eventualities. back to you. >> the city very much on edge, as you say, emotions and passions running high not only in jerusalem but across the globe. thanks. still ahead, everybody, president trump looks to stump for embattled candidate roy moore. how the president plans to campaign for the republican without stepping food in alabama. plus bill karins is going to have the very latest on the unrelenting wildfires in california. and if any relief is on the way. we'll be right back.

welcome back. civil rights icon congressman john lewis cancelling plans to attend the opening of the

mississippi civil rights museum this weekend due to president trump's attendance. lewis told the atlanta journal kons tulgs he'd have a difficult time sharing the stage with the president telling the paper yesterday, wednesday, excuse me, quote, i think his presence would make a mockery of everything that people tried to do to redeem the soul of america and to make this country better. white house press secretary sarah huckabee sanders released a statement yesterday addressing both congressman john lewis and benny thompson skipping the event writing, quote, we think it is unfortunate that these members of congress would not join the president in honoring the incredible sacrifice civil rights leaders made to right the injustices in our history. all right. it is the final weekend of campaigning in alabama and some republicans are standing by their calls. roy moore to exit the race. including the chairman of the national republican senatorial committee, senator cory gardiner who told the weekly standard, quote, roy moore will have the support of the senatorial committee -- will never have the support of the senatorial committee. he will never endorse him and we won't support him.

house speaker paul ryan told reporters yesterday that he also has not changed his position on roy moore. >> my position has president changed. i have not changed. i think he should have dropped out. i think he should -- just because the polling has changed doesn't change my opinion on the matter. >> once again let's go to pensacola, florida where we find vaughn hilliard. good to talk to you again. it is a week before election day. what are both campaigns doing now to sway some of the remaining undecided republican voters? and this is become more of a grassroots effort. are they door knocking to get as many votes as they can? >> reporter: well, roy moore has nothing on the docket yet, yasmin, up until monday. this has been a very what they call an organic campaign but it's been very much of a campaign reliant on the roy moore name that the public has known here for 30 years. there is far from a robust door knocking phone banking operation. compare that to doug jones, we are told that john lewis, cory

booker, potentially patrick will be out here on saturday with doug jones because they're looking at this as not only meeting republican cross over voters but they're going to need democrats who traditionally haven't had much of a voice in this state, particularly they're looking to turnout the black vote here. they are hoping to get at least 25% out. and if you're looking at purely the mailers that are going out, they're not only trying to target as i said those cross over republicans, but at the same time there is a mailer that went out with a picture of an african-american man on there and as they put at the top of the text of that mailer, it said, think of a black man went after high cool girls, anyone who try to make him a senator. doug jones isn't necessarily the sexiest of individuals to that democratic base. but they are seeing this as not only needing those republicans, but they have to get those democrats to turnout or they don't stand much of a chance at this point. yasmin is it >> vaughn, you've been covering this a month or so. any idea where this is going to land, your hunch? >> reporter: you know, i'm not

ready to 345ikmake a prediction this. you talk to republicans that are saying they're going to vote for doug jones, but then there is a question whether the democrats will turnout. it could go ten points in favor of doug jones, ten points in favor of roy moore. polling is far less specific and gives us confidence at this point. >> vaughn hilliard, thank you. >> let's go to nbc meteorologist bill karins. you are paying close attention to the wildfires. you say there may be relief but not fairly as high. >> not as high as when the first fire formed and we lost of the houses in the thomas fire. the forecast of the winds in the next 24 hours will be more the strongest gusts in the 40, maybe 50, peaks maybe 60 mile per hour gusts. but they will be gradually weakening through the weekend. fire fighters have seen the worst of it. you remember the last couple days we had extreme fire outlook weathers. today we are at drit cal. it goes elevated, critical then extreme.

this is still dangerous and still very dry. there is no rain in site for the next seven days. any time it is breezy, there is so much fuel to burn right now. they could see rapid fire growth. again, dangerous still but not as bad as what we saw yesterday. the big story today has been the snow in texas. san antonio had 2 inches of snow. it is snowing in houston, throughout much of louisiana, snowing much of central mississippi. that snow is starting to inch its way to pontchartrain here, not far from new orleans. and again as we go throughout the day, it is not heavy snow. one to 2 inches on the grassy surfaces. the road should mostly be wet. in and around the atlanta area, an interesting drive home. here's what changed. it was supposed to go offshore. now it is looking closer to the shore. this pink color is 4 inches of snow. coastal maine all up southern, eastern and sen stral new england. new york city two to 4 inches. same for the coast. this will be the story saturday and by the time sunday comes around that will all be long gone. today's forecast it's the southeast, tomorrow up in the

northeast. >> i'm feeling for my friends in atlanta. i used to live there and i love you atlanta, but you don't deal well with snow. >> they haven't canceled school and still expecting 1 to 3 inches. >> my prediction it's going to happen. i'm putting it out there. still ahead, everybody, we are hours away from the release of the economic report. a preview of the jobs report along with other stories driving your business day. keyboard clacking ] [ mouse clicks, keyboard clacking ] [ mouse clicking ] [ keyboard clacking ] [ mouse clicking ] [ keyboard clacking ] ♪ good questions lead to good answers. our advisors can help you find both. talk to one today and see why we're bullish on the future. yours.

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. welcome back. let's turn to business. the monthly jobs report will be released later this morning. it will be the first since a massive swing caused by september's disastrous hurricane season and analysts are expecting strong numbers. cnbc's dylan joins us live. what are economists in wall street watching for in this report? >> well, louis, i think the context of the disaster is hurricane season is important. in september we saw just 18,000 new jobs. a lot of people kept away from their workplace. then in october a lot of people managed to get back to work. we saw a massive jump of 261 jobs added to the total. economists expecting this month 195,000 new jobs. that is a pretty significant number. it keeps the unemployment rate -- very significant numbers. a company that will be losing jobs, not adding jobs is general electric. they announced they're going to cut 12,000 positions from their power unit. that is around a 5th of the work force in that part of the company.

essentially ge has made a lot of bets that haven't worked out for them. they've been supplying services to oil and gas companies when we've seen energy prices remain pretty low. their margins have been squeeze. renewable entery is a -- they are losing ground to foreign competitors there. >> let's talk about bitcoin for a second. its share price rose 70% this week, soaring to $17,000. i think the real question for investors is when is this bubble going to burst? >> it's a question we've been asking a lot of people here at cnbc london this week. we've seen that 70% jump this week, louis. is it an asset, is it a currency, is it a bubble? a lot of did different views there. people should expect to buckle up. this will be a continued roller coaster. we've seen massive dips as well as jumps. watch out if you've got your money in there. sea all right, live from london. thanks so much. >> coming up next on morning joe, everybody, much more on the fallout over senator al franken's decision to resign over sexual misconduct

allegations. what his exit is going to mean for control in the senate as democrats and republicans scramble for candidates to fill franken's seat. and president trump set to stump for embattled senate candidate roy moore with days before alabama voters do he side if he's heading to washington or not. what the president means for this closely watched contest. morning joe just moments away.

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a busy day on tap for president trump. we go do hallie jackson. good morning. >> reporter: yasmin, good morning to you. this morning here in washington instead of looking down the barrel of a potential government shut down this morning, that crisis has been averted. at least for the next two weeks. that's crisis has been avertefor at least the next two weeks. the deadline now for the next big budget battle right before the holidays. to talk through next steps, including chuck schumer and nancy pelosi. they bailed on that invitation

here last week over frustration of one of the president's tweets this time there was plenty of talking, just not a lot of agreement. republicans cracking down here on military spending. they want to see that. democrats are looking for immigration concessions. both sides are committed to keeping the conversation going. a lot of work is to be done over the next couple of weeks as the president gets ready to head to pensacola. technically not alabama. it is the same media market. even though the president is not technically campaigning in the territory of roy moore, effectively that's what tonight looks to end up being. after that, the president will head to mississippi to attend a ceremony at a civil rights museum. john lewis is not attending. he has now said, and his office is confirming that he will not go. that's raising a lot of questions. yasmin, back to you zblie like how hallie put it, not

technically campaigning but pensacola nonetheless. united nations security council is said to meet this morning over president trump's decision to recognize jerusalem as israel's capital. u.s. ambassador to the u.n., nikki haley has praised the move as, quiet, the right and just thing to do. u.s. employment picture with the release of the november jobs report. economists expects around 190,000 jobs last month. "morning joe" will have those numbers as soon as they cross at 8:30 a.m. eastern. that does it for us on this friday morning. have a fantastic weekend. i'm yasmin vousoughian alongside good morning, everyone. it's friday, december 8th.

we've got our christmas music going. you should play it for the kids. susan delpersio is on the set with us. columnist and associate editor for "the washington post," david ignatius. joining us from washington, washington bureau chief for the associated press, julie pace. also in washington, nbc news capital hill correspondent and host of -- >> there it is. >> -- oh, yeah. kacie d.c. on msnbc. that would be sunday night's at -- what time, kacie? >> huh? >> what time is the show? >> she can't hear over the music. >> sunday 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. sunday nights. >> she's always on. kasie, i'm waiting for our moment. i really am. >> oh, wow! >> we're going to have the "morning joe" family here on friday to promote your