president trump sits down for impromptu interview in the dining room of mara la go resort. claiming he is the quote, absolute right to do whatever he wants with the justice department. dig through that. plus, officially have a winner. democratic doug jones has been certified senator elect of alabama. seems roy moore just won't let it go. deep freeze settles into the country. what you need to know going into this holiday weekend. mar-a-lago. good morning, it's friday, december 29.

i'm ayman mohyeldin. alongside louis burgdorf. we begin with that impromptu interview with the "new york times." president trump spoke yesterday about his view of special counsel robert mueller's probe and sent a different message that vocal congressional republicans who called the former fbi director's investigation bias. shared thoughts in an interview in the dining room of trump's florida club at mar-a-lagmar-a- said it would be done by thanksgiving, then christmas. telling them there was tremendous collusion. there was no collusion with respect to my campaign. adding, i think i'll be treated fairly. timing wise, i can't tell you. i just don't know. i think we'll be treated fairly. schmit asked you're not worked up about the timing. trump said i think it's bad for the country. the only thing that bothers me about timing i think it's a bad thing for the country.

makes the country look bad. the sooner it's worked out, the better for the country. in the "new york times" interview, trump made multiple accusations of illegal activity allegedly perpetrated equity the democrats in 2016. again mentioned the 33,000 deleted e-mails. times asked trump if the justice department should reopen that investigation. trump responded i have absolute right to do what i want with the justice department. i've stay uninvolved with this particular matter. after mentioning attorney jeff sessions decision to recuse from the russia investigation. the times asked trump if he felt former attorney general eric holder was more loyal to president obama. trump declined to talk about sessions, but said holder protected president obama. totally protected him when you look at the irs scandal. when you look at the guns for whatever. when you look at all of the tremendous real problems they had, not made up problems like

russian collusion. when you look at the things that they did, holder protected tpr i'll be honest, i have great respect for that. joining us from washington, news reporter shannon. great to have you with us this morning. what's been the reaction to "new york times" interview with the president? very unannounced. easy to say there's definitely head line making news that has come out of there. >> definitely one of the first things i noticed about the interview is trump decided to talk about the press and relationship with the press. noted coming up on 2020, he believes the press needs him. the press believes -- he thinks that media and the press is going to need him and that's wh unquote, let him win. and to be quite frank, that's not necessarily the press has with the executive branch or anyone they interact with at all.

continuously said it was the democrats that colluded with russia. that's something republicans have been echoes. what kind of appetite is there to push ahead with an investigation into hillary clinton's 2016 campaign in the year ahead? >> there is an internal probe looking into how comey handled the inquiry into clinton's e-mails initially in 2016. at least on the hill, looks like congressional republicans are waiting to hear back on that internal report before making any moves. house judiciary chairman said he supported the internal inquiry and looks like they're going to hold off for a while. the appetite from trump supporters is certainly high. it would give them fader for

questioning the bias nature of the way the fbi handled clinton and allow them to question mueller's probe now. we heard the president saying he could do whatever he wants with the department of justice. i'm pretty confident that's going to have people nervous in washington to what that means. that also echoes his attorneys months ago that the president cannot be found guilty of obstruction of justice. could that the haunt the president. saying i can do what i want. >> time and time again the question of whether a president can claim having an investigation into his campaign and whether it colluded with russia or not is going to interfere with his duties as president. that's come up with other presidents before with sexual misconduct allegations. that's something you're going to see again from president trump. and, certainly, something in his

power. he is the president of the united states. arguably one of the most powerful people in the world. that's probably a line you're going to hear again. >> if they open any type of investigation into uranium one deal. a lot of people saying that's politically motivated. democrat doug jones has been declared the winner of u.s. senate race. certified joan's victory yesterday after despite last minute lawsuit filed by roy moore. claiming systematic election fraud. denied demand for new election. jones beat more by 29924 votes. however moore refuses to concede saying in a statement, quote, election fraud experts across the country have agreed this is a fraudulent election. adding i have stood for the truth about god and the people of alabama. i have no regrets. jones will become alabama's first democratic senator in 25 years when he is sworn into office on january 3.

jones's first terms in office will end on january 2021. giving democrats an advantage heading into next year's midterms needing only two more seats to have outright majority. after allegations of groping and forcibly kissing women, democratic senator al franken is scheduled to resign on tuesday. poll of minnesota voters conducted this week found that half do not want him to step down. left leaning firm found 50% of voters think franken should not resign. 42% believe he should go through with his decision. 71% of democrats say franken should not resign. and 52% only 1-5 republicans think franken should stay. among all minnesota voters, 60% believe the senate ethics probe should have continued. 35% felt he should resign immediately. 53% of minnesota voters continue to approve of the job franken is doing, including 57% on the

state's female voters. farewell gathering with supporters and former staffers last night. franken fought back tears, but continued to have the audience laughing. >> here's my promise to you. i may be leaving the senate. i'm not giving up my voice. >> we still have a lot of work to do together. issues raising from net neutrality, climate change. >> broad band. >> more rural broad band. you can't go wrong with rural broad band. every perp son in this country should have access to the internet for learning and business and rural broad band: is what i'm saying. i'm ashamed i left it out of that part. we still have to be ready to speak out for economic justice.

and to defend the truth. >> meanwhile, new analysis shows congress spent the least amount of time in session in 30 years according to c span, both the house and senate hit three decade number low for number of hours spent in session in nonelection year. in session for 1045 hours and house in session for 787 hours this year. the year winding down to a close, taxpayers in high tax states scrambling to prepay property taxes before dedurks ds are capped next year. says he will introduce legislation to limit homeowners from prepaying property taxes if they weren't already billed. voted against the republican tax bill because it increased the national deficit, argues that expanding the ruling is only fair. new jersey governor chris christie ordered the state's

municipalities to prepay property taxes if they're postmarked by the end of the year. new york governor andrew cuomo says it unfairly targets states like new york. >> they called it a tax cut. it's not a tax cut for new yorkers. californians, people who live in blue states, democratic states. it's basically a tax increase. what they did was financiaed a x cut for the rich and corporations at the expense of the blue states. one of the ways they did that was by eliminating the ductabiliduc deductibility of state and local taxes. as soon as the president signed the tax bill, i signed an emergency order saying that new yorkers could prepay their property taxes so they get the deduction this year. >> cuomo also suggested the new tax code may be

unconstitutional. violating the right to due process and protection. exploring legal challenges to the tax bills deduction limits. the order will allow residents to prepay property taxes before planned caps on deductions take effect next year. still ahead, closer look at the president's first year. foreign trips he took and ones he did not. and brutally cold air is expected to come across the eastern half of the u.s. also keep this part of the country on ice. through the new year and beyond. one on the town in minute has h degrees below. believe it or not. said to be the coldest and most secure yet. take a look at preparations underway ahead of sunday when we come back. stay with was. is this a phone?

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13 trees out there, believe it or not. security is going to be very tight in and around time squares. cities around the world are gearing up to ring in 2018 and many celebrations will be met with increased security. especially here in the u.s. following a year marked by mass shootings and terror attacks. stephanie gross has a look at security precautions that revelers may see this year. taking new steps to protect the people expected on new year's eve. >> as a result of the events of december 11, we have prepared a tactical bulletin, response to suicide bombers. >> reporter: the attempted suicide bombing on september 11 took place steps away from time square in underground walk way. in response to failed attack, nypd saying training for officers on duty new year's eve will include identifying would

be bombers. clearing crowds if they detect a threat. stopping the bomber with lethal force and treating the wounded if a bomb goes off. and detectives in the many hotels surrounding time square after the october shooting in las vegas. when a gunman fired from a hotel window into a concert crowd below. killing 58 people. the worst mass shooting in modern u.s. history. >> previous years we had spotters in elevated positions. this year, along with spotters, they'll be accompanied bid snipers. heavily armed counterterrorism units. and vapor sniffing dogs to smell explosives from a distance. measures that both protect and reassure. >> i think they got it under control. nypd, they know what they're doing. >> so thanks to stephanie for

that report. probably say the biggest concern most people are going to have is going to be about the weather. we mentioned celebrating the new year, having to deal with the arctic chill. bring in meteorologist. michelle, great to have you with us. the weather is going to be the disheartening factor. >> disheartening conditions and dangerous conditions. it's cold today. it's been cold the past few days. the coldest air is yet to come. that will come on new year's eve. bundle up as you head out. today dealing with lake effect snow. part of the weather story going to bring second surge of air. snow in the great lakes and parts of the northeast. today's highs. cold. 30 degrees below. typical for this time of year. 23 degrees today in new york. grand rapids. 17 degrees and only nine degrees in green bay. the reason is we're looking at this arctic express from canada. going to continue over the next several days and especially ramping up on sunday into

monday. there's that flow from canada. bringing in temperatures once again. bringing it pretty far down south. looking at temperatures right now. 14 degrees in oklahoma. nine degrees below zero. that's the air temperature in duluth. feels like 22 below zero. i can't imagine what that feels like. 14 degrees in cleveland. two degrees in boston. not going to warm up much. on saturday. looking at 25 degrees. this is where it's going to be. potentially very, very dangerous. you want to wear light loose layers. trap that heat as you go out and make sure every exposed inch of your skin is covered. one degree in chicago. 12 below is what it's going to feel like on your skin as you head out. temperatures right around 12 degrees in new york city. sunday a.m. new year's eve. four degrees below zero. and nighttime looking at one of the coldest nights in new york city. could be in the top five. we'll talk more about that. even though the president is in florida. getting in on cold weather

conversation. tweeted about the frigid temperatures from florida golf club. balmy 72 degrees. posting in the east, it could be the coldest new year's eve on record. perhaps use a bit of good old global warming our country, but not other countries buzz going to pay trillions to protect against. bundle up. appeared unaware of weather and climate. writing the tweet made the common mistake of looking at local weather and making broader assumptions about the climate at large. climate refers to how the whether acts over a long period of time. weather describes a much shorter time scale. >> i was going to say those exact words coming out of that segment. you said it for me from the "new york times." thanks. still ahead. head of rnc dismissing the idea. someone who could beat him in

deep red state. the twist. that person would have to run as a democrat. apple apologizes for slowing down old iphones. what about something customers can take to the bank. that's coming up in business. s. i'm here to fix the elevator. nothing's wrong with the elevator. right. but you want to fix it. right. so who sent you? new guy. what new guy? watson. my analysis of sensor and maintenance data indicates elevator 3 will malfunction in 2 days. there you go. you still need a pass.

regular season. the giants are eager to leave disastrous year behind. after firing general manager

earlier this month. the team has moved quickly to fill the roll. hiring david gettleman for the john. finding a new head coach and new starting quarterback. full week in college football continues and two years after record setting comeback on the same field, number 15, tcu gave us another double digit rally in the alamo dome last night. falling behind against number 13 stanford in the second quarter. horn frogs began 31 point comeback. fuelled by effort from quarterback kenny hill who counted for four touchdowns in the game. two passing, one retuushing ande receiving. 76 punt yard return. puts tcu in position for a go ahead. beat stanford. 39-37. turning now to nba and celtics

hosting the rocketins. fouled by driving to the hoop. end of the second quarter. layup bounces off the shot clock and into the basket. unfortunately, that one does not count. houston would lead by as many as 26 points in the game before the celtics began chipping away at the lead. holding the rockets to just nine field goals in the second half. come down to final seconds as jason's dunk with seven seconds to play against boston within one and offensive foul drown against harden gives them the ball. earns boston the first lead of the night. another offensive foul. helps the celtics hold off houston for a 99-98 victory. very unhappy about the outcome in this one. james harden criticizes the nba after the game for sending only a two man referee crew out on the court for last night's contest complaining about a number of no calls. and finally, orlando, the magic.

leading a 4 on one break away here against the pistons. gets a little fancy with a between the legs pass that results in a turnover. would snap a nine game losing with 102-89 win over detroit in that one. >> coaches always tell players, just keep it simple. don't do the -- drive it to the hoop and finish. >> exactly and 4-1. dish it off. no need for that showman ship. going to come back to haunt you. thanks for that. another political story that caught our attention. new poll found billionaire mark cuban would beat trump in texas if he were to run as a democratic. according to public policy polling. cuban would beat trump in a race. has not won in texas since former president jimmy carter. teased a run in 2020. also hinted he would run as

republican candidate despite supporting hillary back in 2016. when asked about the results. cuban told business insider in an e-mail that the poll quote just proves people are bored. smile. nice to see billionaires using the emoji game. look ahead at the top stories. this week is mar-a-lago. next week is camp david. who is expected to join trump at the presidential retreat and what they hope to accomplish. back in a moment. get awesomely fast wifi

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with one-year-old after a massive fire tore through a building last night. four more people critically injured. people suffered injuries. blaze is the worst fire tragedy in the city in a quarter century. cause is under investigation. doug jones is officially the winner of senate race in alabama t. certified yesterday afternoon despite last minute lawsuit filed by roy moore claiming systematic election fraud. denied the request. still refuses to concede. saying in a statement election fraud experts across the country agreed this was a fraudulent election. president trump given sudden and wide ranging interview with the "new york times" in which he

discusses views of special counsel robert mueller's russia probe. told the times michael schmit there was tremendous collusion on behalf of the russians. saying there was no collusion with the campaign. adding it bad for the country. sooner the investigation is worked out, better it is for the country. president trump's legal team is reacting to "the washington post" story that trump lawyers are preparing an attack on former national security adviser michael flynn's credibility. if he accuses the president of inner circle of wrong doing. the president's outside counsel, john dowd, responded to nbc yesterday saying, quote, complete nonsense. more fake news. the article cited three unnamed sources familiar with the trump strategy aimed to paint flynn as a liar. should be noted after guilty plea on december 1, white house special counsel ty cobb released the statement calling flynn a former obama administration

official. republican congressional leaders will huddle with president trump next week at camp david to discuss their priorities for the year ahead. the washington examiner confirms mitch mcconnell and house speaker paul ryan are scheduled to join trump at the retreat on january 6 and 7. still unclear what is at the top of the agenda. president has expressed interest in pursuing a bipartisan infrastructure deal while speaker ryan is pushing a plan to reform welfare and other entitlement programs. senator mitch mcconnell has publically stated he does not expect to entitlement. highest turnover rate of any administration in 40 years. 21 of 61 senior officials have resigned, been fired or reassigned. that is a rate of 34% in the

first year. the next highest first year turnover rate was half that. 17% for ronald reagan back in 1981. the fellow who conducted the analysis, katherine, said not only is the percentage double. the seniority of the people leaving is extraordinarily high. >> pretty interesting statistic. back with us, shannon. great to have you with us. look to 2018. trying to get agenda in order. seems to be major discrepancy what they want to start out. some want to go with entitlement. what will get the democrats on board. do you think the democrats are going to be inclined to cooperate with republicans, try to get things done ahead of a midterm election in 2018. in particular, when it comes to infrastructure, a lot of critics of trump were saying that it would have been really

beneficial for him and legislative agenda to get going on that in the first year of presidency. when it is such a bipartisan issue. the problem now is that after tax reform, after this tax code overhaul has gone through, deficit is going to be a question that's front and center on the democratic's mind. first and foremost on the agenda is going to be government budget. the government budget. new funding deadline is coming up in mid january. that's going to be one of the big talks coming up that you'll see. >> and also daca and things they want to get done as well. let's switch gears for a moment and talk about your colleague. jonathan swan. has a new scoop about the operational reshuffle. something we cited in the report. tell us about what he learned about what we can expect.

>> as my colleague reported. there's a white house shuffle coming up. we're expecting that he's going to take on more of a central role in the political shop in the white house. this is coming after some reported backlash over bill's role in the white house in terms of coming after both the congressional sort of loss and the failure of republicans to get health care, repeal and replace for obamacare through and loss in alabama. there are questions circling about how effective the political agenda is moving forward on a national scale from the white house and this is potentially showing us that the white house is seeking to remedy that tension in the white house. >> and how concerned do you think the white house is about 2018 in general. especially if they lose control of the house possibly the senate. what they may mean for flirting with impeachment proceedings. >> that's a good question.

particularly this report shows us the white house is nervous about that. moving forward, especially after doug jones won the special election, the margin that republicans have for legislative wins got smaller. going to be 51-49 now. in the senate. on the house side, number of races coming up that could be influential in terms of how a far impeachment proceedings go. especially house judiciary committee. you'll see that as an important hurdle to get over. >> democrats are filling a lot of candidates in counties and districts they probably would not have done a couple of years ago. 2018 shaping up tow be a pivotal year. president trump yesterday blasted beijing after reports indicated that chinese ships have been caught by u.s. photos selling oil to north korean vessels at sea. see those pictures there on your screen. unclear if president trump was previously aware of the reported intelligence. via twitter, trump says caught

red handed. very disappointed that china is allowing oil to go into north korea. there will never be a friendly solution to the north korea problem if this continues to happen. trump followed up with short time later during interview with "new york times" saying that he has quote, been soft on china on trade as part of pressure strategy towards pyongyang. adding oil is going into north korea. that wasn't my deal. if they don't help us with north korea, then i do what i've always said i want to do. meanwhile, south korea says it has seized hong kong flagged vessel suspected of selling oil to one north korean ship at sea. chinese defense ministry yesterday denied it violated international sanctions and it is unclear if beijing was aware of the alleged illicit transaction taking place at sea. national security adviser speaking out about president trump's first year dictating foreign policy. in a new interview, in the "new york times," mcmaster defines.

mcmaster adds that trump's unorthodocked approach has move us out of comfort zone. adding the consensus view has been engagement overseas is unmitigated good regardless of circumstances. there are problems that maybe both intractable and of marginal interest to the american people that do not justify investments of blood and treasure. let's turn to business. apple issued apology and olive branch. after admitted to slowing down iphones. cnbc joints us live from london. what does apple plan to do to restore public trust in company. i know why my iphone 4 now is so slow. >> yes, louis, exactly. that's the big question. they've issued an apology on the website saying that was never their intention to shorten the life of any apple product or

degrate the user experience. address the concerns, they're going to reduce the price of out of warranty battery replacement by $50. that goes to you. upgrade your iphone 4. also looking to update software. so that people can actually check up on battery life in the future and can upgrade quicker. we'll see how that plays out. another quick story. i want to alert your attention to. authorities saying they're going to exempt some foreign companies from paying taxes in a bid to stop american companies from repatriating or moving cash back to the u.s. after the u.s. passed the tax reform bill last week. now, there is a bit of a catch there because the authorities have said they only applied for the exemption if they invest in certain sectors like mining and agricultural. >> today is a big day. last day of trading in 2017. who are some of this year's biggest winners and losers. >> it's been a big year for stocks. let me just go through some of

the statistics for you. s&p up 20% on the year. 62 record highs seen in the full year of 2017. the best sectors were technology, up 38%. consumer discretionary, weakest was tell come down 5%. dow jones record year up 25%. dough jonw jones bitcoin is up on the year. many bitcoin investors very happy at the end of 2017. >> those numbers could fluctuate in two minutes. keep our eye on bitcoin. i wish you a very happy new year. live from london. >> happy new years to you guys. got good news for the world's 500 wealthiest people. 2017 marked the year they not only got richer, but by

trillion. massive gains to the boomi inin stock market. $5.3 trillion. up from $4.4 trillion back in 2016. amazon founder jeff bezos saw the biggest gain. now hovering around the $100 billion mark. beat out microsoft co-founder. bill gates lands at number two. veteran finance warren buffet currently third richest person. estimated wealth of $85 billion. places him ahead of business tyco tycoon, ortega has $75,000. and facebook founder mark zuckerberg rounds out top five with more than $72.5 billion. >> louis, sure you're bummed you didn't make the top ten.

maybe next year, you'll squeeze in there. >> keep working hard. every morning. grinding away. still ahead, more on the arctic blast. below zero temperatures. creating dangerous conditions. how much longer will the cold be sticking around. the answer in your full forecast when we return.

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welcome back. unless you live in the lower third of the united states. chances are you already know it's bitterly cold outside. for many it looks like sub zero temperatures to start off the new year. >> it's bad. i wish i could go on vacation already. >> might have dressed a little too light today. >> in minnesota, veterans of winter misery. water falls no longer falling. car accidents galore.

nearly 500 by midday. in erie pennsylvania, big digout continues. , pennsylvania, big digout continues. some getting a lift by the national guard. nashville listing in the winter blues. >> middle of body is really cold right now. >> in chicago, been at this for 20 years. layered for single digit windchi windchill. >> rain, sleet, snow, ice, you guys have to be out here. what's it like. >> it's rough. >> keep us prepared and watching the weather. so that keeps us going on out here. >> so far, one person has died in chicago during this cold snap. windchills added to the misery. 30 below in montana. 25 below in maine. international falls minnesota, 23 below. that kind of cold makes hypothermia a real threat. symptoms, intense slivering, slurred speech. sudden confusion.

frostbite on exposed skin in a matter of minutes depending on wind speed. in new hampshire, set a daily record. staggering windchill of 89 below. new york city, fountains in midtown manhattan. mountains of ice. a frigid party on tap. nbc news, chicago. >> let's get a big picture update now with meteorologist michele grossman. how it's look accident. >> it's looking cold. glad to be here. not glad to give you this news. cold day, dangerous day. see this continuing through the next nine days. behind me, radar. looking at snow falling. a system moving through the great lakes. reach the northeast tomorrow. help to reinforce the cold air that's already in place. waking up. walking out the door to windchill warnings. advisories. these are the pink on the map. looking at cold air pushing

down. that arctic air. arctic express. reaching as far as the south. bitter cold does continue today. continues tomorrow. and really ramps up on new year's eve to new year's day. right now looking at 14 degrees in oklahoma. waking up to nine below zero in duluth. feels like 22 below zero. hard to comprehend. towards the northeast. two degrees in boston. bundle up. feels like 14 below zero. now as we look towards the morning. we're going to wake up to another cold morning. 22. charleston, 31 degrees. expecting a little icy mix there. not out of the woods even in the south. you want to dress in layers head out the next several days. light loose layers. trapping the heat in between. >> 14 below in boston. we know mike is not going to be leaving his house this morning. >> teeth are chattering. >> that's true. 1 million plus people prepare to pack time square and ring in 2018. officials are set to carry out a critical test for those festivities today.

all important confetti drop dry run. footage from last year's test involves officials throwing hand fall of confetti to check the air worthiness of the paper sleds and make sure it can survive any conditions on the big night. on new year's eve. about 100 people stand at the tops of buildings all around time square throwing 3,000 pounds of confetti my land at midnight. as part of the tradition, confetti include pieces with wishes from individuals. still ahead, year one of the trump presidency, year of first on the world stage. live overseas for a look back at president's trip abroad and the impacts actions overseas have had on the u.s. standing with a number of long time allies. stay with us. hey julie, i know today's critical, but i really need...

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welcome back. two romanians have been arrested and charged with hacking into more than 100 under surveillance cameras in washington, d.c. approximately two-thirds of the ran some hack scheme set in place in january. it apparently left police unable to record for several days. although, everything was back to normal in time for the inauguration. they were arrested in buick a rest. three other romanians were recently arrested for their alleged involvement in the scheme. >> that's kind of a scary story. it has been quite a first year for president trump traveling

abroad. he made a lasting impression no matter where he went, to trips that didn't happen, including great britain that were hyped up early in the year, here to break it all down for us. my good friends, calipariy. i was looking at the list of some of these stories, a lot of hieshlths lot of incredible moment, some funnier than others. >> yeah, some good visuals, starting with the saudi, very subtly the saudis saying they want top rule the world, you look into the distance, that's where he started, may 20th through the 22nd. the saudis heavily engaged if yemen and their own politic, on to israel, may 22nd to may 23rd, he was the first to visit the western wall. he met with the prime minister and israeli president. this helps him fashion what is now being seen as a landmark

jerusalem decision. that decision about the u.s. embassy, of course, on may 24th, on his way to brussels, he met with the pope, the body language here was pretty excellent look, the pope and the president do not agree on climate change and immigration. that may explain the body language t. nato summit is our blooper real segment. you have all kind of weird hand shakes with emanuel macron, the french president i tell you, you have to buy the ranger tickets, that's how you shake my hands or this is how we shake the hands of our future daughters, donald trump, certainly with the hand shakes, seemingly making the top ten. >> that's not all of it. cal perry, great to have you. we don't have enough time for the highlights overseas. good to have you with us. coming up next, much more on president trump's surprise interview with the fork times and his new criticisms of robert

mueller's russia probe. plus, whether he says the justice department should reopen the investigation into hillary clinton's 33,000 deleted e-mails. >> that story is not over yet. we will talk with the reporter who sat down with the president. "morning joe" is just moments awa

away.. >> all right. before we toss it over to "morning joe," we want to take a look at the moments of 2017. let's look back at the highlights starting really with president trump's narcotic racing. that set the motion for the year we have been following, the rush probe, the jerusalem embassy. . >> you talk about a single tweet defining what the news of the day is. that's an amazing thing t. devastating hurricane season, i was in texas, in the florida keys after the hurricane and people in puerto rico still dealing with the impact of. that and the #metoo event. >> it has been a defining year in terms of the issue of sexual harassment. i know one that's personally close to you. the bitcoin roller coaster.

>> yes, it has been a tough year for me. low and it's going back high again. i think the biggest heil for me, though, has been working with you. >> mine too, as well. it was great to always have you with us. that's it for us, "morning joe," everyone, starts right now. >> good morning, it's friday, december 29th. welcome to a special edition of "morning joe" on the last week day of the year. joe and mika are off. we have columnist post david ignacious chair of the african-american studies at princeton university. commentator susan dell persio, white house reporter for the associated press jonathan la mere and columnist at the washington premier, christian solstice anderson. just when you think it's slow, a

"new york times" launches an unbelievable interview with the president in mar-a-lago. >> perhaps an end it would seem. we have three days left i guess with another moment where the president makes news and you are sort of like, really? what? i think in some ways and kudos to michael for getting this interview, it's extraordinary it happened at all t. image of a president of the united states for a half hour at a table without the staff, in some ways a perfect image of how this president handles himself and conducts his own image. >> let's get to michael schmidt, the new york reporter that saturday down in the dining room of president trump's florida club mar-a-lago. we want to get into the substance, of course, of what you talked about. boy, there was so much ground covered. let's talk about the sessions surrounding it. how did you come upon president trump in the grill room at