♪ a fiery rhetoric heats up president trump quotes about a bigger nuclear budget as north korea reopens border communications with the south. also putting iran on notice. the president is warning iran that the u.s. is watching. and republican senator orrin hatch announces plans to retire. it clears the way for potential trump nominee and trump critic mitt romney. good morning, everyone. it's wednesday, january 3rd. i'm ayman mohyeldin alongside yasmin vossoughian. and president trump and kim jong-un's schoolyard war of words continues to plunge over

new depths with the two bickering, believe it or not, over the size of their nuclear buttons on their desks. despite kim jong-un has tweeted that the nuclear button is on his desk of all times. will someone from his depleted and food starved regime please inform him that i too have a nuclear button and it is much bigger and more powerful than one of his. >> sanctions other pressures are beginning to have a big impact on north korea. soldiers are dangerously fleeing to south korea. rocket man wants to talk to south korea for the first time. perhaps that is good news, perhaps not. we will see. and confirming to nbc news that north korea has reopened the

border and retains contact. that after high-level talks in panmunjom next tuesday to discuss the olympics. so far, pyongyang has not responded to that offer. however, nikki haley addressed the administration's view of possible discussions yesterday at the u.n. take a listen. >> we won't take any of the talk seriously if they don't do something to ban all nuclear weapons in north korea. we consider this to be a very reckless regime. we don't think we need a band aid. we don't think we need to smile and take a picture. we believe they need to stop nuclear weapons and they need to stop it right now. north korea can talk to anyone they want but the u.s. is not going to recognize it or acknowledge it until they agree to ban the nuclear weapons that they have. >> speaking with ambassador haley for the moment also addressing and saying this? >> it takes great bravery for the iranian people to use the power of their voice against their government, especially when their government has a long

history of murdering its own people, who dare to speak the strut truth. we must not be silent. the people of iran are crying out for freedom. all freedom loving people must stand with their cause. the international community made the mistake of failing to do that in 2009. we must not make that mistake again. >> now, her remarks came hours after president trump took to twitter to once again blame president obama for the situation in iran. trump also put iran on notice adding, quote, the u.s. is watching. trump's tweet followed one by iran's supreme leader ayatollah khamenei who blamed the enemies for the protests using weapons, politics and intelligence services. >> get go live to nbc news chief global correspondent bill neely for us. bill, thanks for talking to us. what's really the ending here? >> well, yasmin, to be

absolutely honest, nobody knows, it's not a revolution, not yet, anyway. but remember how the arab spring began with an economic protest by a single fruit cellar in chichen itza. we need what the others would like to end game to be and that is the regime change in iran. we've had another day on a night of protests. so it's a week now on anti-government demonstrations. the death toll and numbers are rising. there is clear evidence that first, they have shaken the regime and secondly that it has split it. iran's supreme leader ayatollah khamenei has put said that took spies and money to stoke these demonstrations. and cited united states and israel as those enemies, the special suspects if you like. on the other side, we have

president ruhahaouhani specific saying it's a work of protesters calling for some understanding. he says this san opportunity for iran's leaders to learn from the people. now, whether they will or not, we don't know. but clearly, there is a split. clearly the protests are continuing and they certainly have in 2018 taken the world by surprise, yasmin. >> bill neely, we'll talk to you again at the bottom of the hour. joining me now at the truman national security project here, great to have you with us. i know in a recent piece for reuters, you detailed what for the international community, what the u.s. could possibly do in response to these protests. give us the quick overview of what you think is the appropriate response? >> well, i think the first thing the trump administration has done is the right thing which is to call for the right for iranians to peacefully protest. president trump has very little

credibility with the iranian population given the travel ban and the decertification of that bill. the second thing they can do is put regime on notice, and put a regime notices that they're cracking down. >> like singling people out? >> singling people out. making sure that apps used to communicate in iran based in the u.s., not shutting them down. >> not shutting them down. >> what effect do you think that would have? >> as much as iranian leaders say they don't pay attention to what the u.s. administration says or western europe, they absolutely do, because the people do. the people look to it. they look to it for moral support. so, i think putting people on notice to say, listen, the world is watching you has a huge effect. >> is there a risk, that if the americans and this administration embrace these protests too much, that it kind of feeds the narrative that

you're hearing from senior leaders in iran that are starting to say this is western-driven? >> yes. >> foreign enemies are using this opportunity, and so in doing so, you kind of get the nation to coalesce around the leadership. country and against the protesters? >> well, the u.s. has to walk a fine line. there are decades of mistrust between the u.s. and iran, the leader. the more president trump conducts diplomacy by tweets is putting sort of fuel to the fire. and it plays into the narrative in iran that, you know, the u.s. is against us. they want to overthrow of this government, like they've been behind overthrowing other governments. >> right. >> so, i think you have to walk a fine line. have the more high ground. say we support the protests. we support the right for people to peacefully demonstrate. but we don't want to be seen as getting out in front of other governments to overthrow governments in the middle east. that hasn't worked. that's a formula for disaster. >> one of the things we talked about this over the last couple

of days, the fact that this is a work in progress. right? if it were to become more, you know, if you talk to people in the middle class or upper class, they're staying out of it? >> that's right. >> completely and totally? >> that's right. >> in fact, this would sort of rock their steady lives in iran right now? >> it's a different flavor. these are people who were not on the streets in 2009. that protest was branded by these people in rural areas as being a protest for urban elites who had voted for him in the election. this protest is by the base of the regime. by people, the regime draws from these rural areas, the poorer areas. >> it would be like the red states in the united states? >> that's right, that's right. >> thank you so much. we'll talk to you again at the bottom of the hour. >> yep. >> good. u.n. ambassador nikki haley doubled down on president trump's new year's tweet hitting

pakistan. take a listen. >> the administration is withholding 255 million in assistance to pakistan. there are clear reasons for this. pakistan has played a double game for years. they work with us at times. and they also harbor the terrorists that attack our troops in afghanistan. that game is not acceptable to this administration. the president is willing to go to great lengths to stop all funding from pakistan, as they continue to harbor and support terrorism. >> however, the trump administration had announced back in august that it would withhold 255 million in aid as part of strategy insisting that pakistan do more to combat extremists to threaten afghanistan. pakistan's military and chiefs dismissed the president's trump was incomprehensible and of no

importance. meanwhile, white house second sarah huckabee sanders told the press the white house plans to discuss within days. >> iran, pakistan, president trump also threatened to pull aid to palestinians in a series of tweets yesterday evening. trump tweeted out in part, quote, we pay the palestinians hundreds of millions of dollars a year and get no appreciation or respect. they don't even want to negotiate a long overdue peace treaty with israel. we have taken jerusalem, the toughest part of the gnegotiatin off the table but with palestinians not willing to talk peace why should we make massive future payments to them, it comes after trump announced his decision to recognize jerusalem as the capital of israel and to move the u.s. embassy there. president mahmoud abbas has criticized adding he would not accept any peace plan for the middle east. >> so much to talk about here.

>> so much of the president's twitter feed is what we're reporting over the past 24 hours. >> much like 2017. joining us now a reporter for the weekly standard. i want to get a temperature read on washington's reaction to the president's twitter storm about my button is bigger than yours. we're talk about kim jong-un. >> well, that's the thing, there hasn't really been much reaction from the hill. and i think part of that is, you know, they're on recess right now. but the usual suspects who would be typically calling trump out on that right now, corker, flake, sass, haven't really commented on it yet, but it seems like they're tuning him out. >> haley, let's talk about senator orrin hatch. he has announced his plans to retire. by most people's estimates it looks like mitt romney will run for his seat.

let's talk about whether or not capitol hill is going to open him with welcome arms. he's obviously received reception from establishment of the gop. but i'm sure the trump white house is not going to look too favorably having a never trumper in the senate? >> i believe with the senate we've seen senators like bob corker and sass and others that trump has feuded with, other senate republicans haven't watched their side when trump has been sending tweets, attacking them throughout the past year. and the sense i've gotten is most republicans are excited at the possibility of romney running. and honestly, it's the best case scenario for the senate republicans. so, i don't think you'll see any senate republicans at least shying away from him. >> haley, let's quickly turn to the house side. we're actually see more republican incumbents now saying they're retiring. how hard is it going to be for

republicans to keep control of the house? >> i think that's a question that republicans are asking themselves. especially since trump ratings are so unpopular. when you look at recent elections with doug jones winning, just turnout among enthusiasm of democrats is skyrocketing and trump supporters aren't necessarily coming to the polls. >> thank you. what we're learning about the first combat death of 2018? plus, cold continues to ravage the east coast. and now bracing for cold weather. we'll have a check of the weather when we come back.

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welcome back. the u.s. war in afghanistan has claimed its first casualties of 2018. one army sergeant was killed and four others were wounded while fighting in the eastern afghan province on new year's day. it happened in achin district

where the u.s. dropped, quote, the mother of all bombs last year. the sergeant was from'l fort le new jersey. sergeant golin's dad told us that his son grew up in latvia before immigrating to the u.s. and he last spoke to him thursday and that the soldier told him that he loved him. two are being treated and in stable condition and others have returned to duty. let's switch gears for a moment. blizzard conditions of a multivehicle crash, videos show dozens of semi truck us and other vehicles on a standstill on the new york thruway. about 22 vehicles were directly involved in the crash. and at least 75 were backed up and unable to move for several

hours. multiple ambulances later rushed to the scene to assist drivers trapped in their cars. so, obviously very dangerous weather conditions suggesting perhaps that it's only going to get worse. let's bring in nbc meteorologist bill karins. he's been away for a few days and we welcome him back. >> nice to walk into a slow, easy forecast. like history, new england, power outages. >> it feels like you need another vacation already to make up for the past 24 hours. >> let's get into this. it's not always we start our weather forecast saying a huge ice storm in florida. much worse than forecast. the area in pink, all freezing rain. tallahassee, and gainesville and jacksonville, you're being spared. and now that freezing rain is spreading up into southern parts of georgia. this is what's the amazing part. this is where the computers are measuring the ice accumulation.

that will freeze on power lines. this area in pink is half an inch of ice to three quarters inch ice. even in areas like, say, the northeast and midwest, that would cause power outages and destruction. imagine what that will do to areas of georgia and north florida. listen, if you've ever driven through those huge pine trees they're not going to farewe wel out of this. it's going to be ice and snow. and some are going to get both. areas like savannah and charleston, a tenth to two tenths of ice. on top of that, this is florida, possibly six inches of snow. this will shut the area down for one or two days, at least in the carolinas. areas east of the carolinas, norfolk, virginia beach, four to six-inch range also. let's take the system northward. this is when the storm blows up

to be the ocean bomb of a storm. it's going to be one of the more powerful storms that we've ever seen. it's thankfully, off the coast. it's really only coastal areas. blizzard warnings, cape cod, mass, here's if the snow map for the area. norfolk area and virginia beach, you're in the 4 to 6-inch range. notice d.c. and philly, hardly anything for you. new york city, just barely hit around 2 inches. but really areas of boston to portland, all of this area, 6 to 12 with a lot of blowing snow. we'll see wind gusts, guys, in cape cod up to 60 miles per hour. the coldest say are mass of the season arrives in the next coming of days. you can imagine. we have people in shelters. >> it's good to have you back, bill. >> yeah. >> aine will pril will be fanta. >> hopefully, we'll be around.

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after a long awaited debut. it looked like he didn't miss a beat. scoring 17 points during the game. he looks to have a little chemistry with the team, the cavs would win it. and face kyrie irving in the boston celtics tonight. and playoff hopes for rivals in the final two weeks of the season the team will be sticking with long time head coach marvin lewis. announcing a two-year deal for the 59-year-old to remain at the helm. the bengals posted a 7-9 record this season. lewis is 15th with the team. the team is looking to have playoff victory with a playoff record of 0-7. meanwhile, 14 times under center is enough for quarterback carson palmer who announced his retirement following an injury season. palmer was drafted in 2003 and

spent his first eight seasons in the league with the bengals before being traded to oakland where they played two more years. and finishes his career with five seasons with the cardinals. with the winter olympics set for 2018, the hockey league posted butler. tells his father he made the cut and will represent the u.s. in the olympics. to see a father making the olympic team. butler played on nhl team including the ottawa senators and the predators. next month's games were like the first time since 1994 that active nhlers have not played in the olympic winter games. >> i like how the dad starts beating him up. right? >> yeah, don't get too emotional. toughen up there, son. still ahead, why the

founders from the research of the trump dossier are demanding that republicans set the record straight. plus, president of the united states trump slams democrats over daca. taking a hard line. as congressional leaders prepare to meet with top white house officials today. we'll have that story and more coming up next. i have type 2 diabetes. i'm trying to manage my a1c, then i learn type 2 diabetes puts me at greater risk for heart attack or stroke. can one medicine help treat both blood sugar and cardiovascular risk? i asked my doctor. she told me about non-insulin victoza®. victoza® is not only proven to lower a1c and blood sugar,

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that gives you coverage here, here and here. and it even let's you take a timeout. nooooooo! yes! amazing speed, coverage and control. all with an xfi gateway. ♪ welcome back, everybody. i'm yasmin vossoughian alongside ayman mohyeldin. it is the bottom of the hour. let's start with the more than's top stories. south korea's unification ministry has confirmed to nbc news that north korea has reopened a cross border communication channel.

and has made contact one day after self-proposed high-level talks between the two. meanwhile, president trump has ramped up his war of words with kim jong-un responding to the north korean statement on his nuclear button. with trump calling his button much bigger and more powerful. and the u.s. has suffered its first war death of 2018. the soldier identified as 34-year-old golin of new jersey. he was killed in afghanistan. four soldiers are in stable condition. and the leader of a baptist church has passed away, thomas munson served as leader of the church. his supervise include ed a controversial vote over gay marriage. he was 100 years old. and the founders of the

trump dossier are sharing what they told congress and demanding that republicans set the record straight. fusion gps co-founders glenn simpson and peter fritsch, saying they're being smeared. republicans have refused to release full transcripts of our firm's testimony, even as they leak details to it's right. >> christopher steele, the ex-british hired to do the research was not told of it, and they write that the sources in russia were not paid. and they write that they told congress that he were unaware of june 24th meeting until news reports. and that the russians who met with the campaign were not steele's sources. >> as to how it came to the fbi's attention, they write that steele's russian sources

reported back an extensive kremlin campaign to help elect donald trump. and steele seeing this as, quote, a crime in progress report it to the fbi. and sharing his intelligence with john mccain, quote, we don't believe the steele dossier was the trigger for the fbi's investigation in the russian meddling. it collaborates reports that the bureau had received from other sources including one inside the trump campaign. senator oaren hatch of out will britain his 42nd and final time in the chamber today. the senior member announced his decision yesterday. >> i've always been a fighter. i was an amateur boxer in my years, and i brought that fighting spirit with me to washington. but every good fighter knows when to hang up the gloves. and nfor me, that time is soon approaching. that's why after much prayer and discussion with family and friends, i've decided to retire

at the end of this term. >> so, hatch's decision paves the way for former massachusetts governor and 2012 president of the united statesial nominee mitt romney to run for the senate. according to the "the new york times," romney was unaware of hatch's decision and had been operating under the assumption that the senator would run again. not even bringing up the possibility of a campaign while skiing with monday with friends in utah. after hatch announced his decision, romney quickly changed his social media location from massachusetts to holiday, utah. a new poll from utahpolicy.com found that 62% of utah voters approve of romney, while 45% approve of president trump's performance. president trump had been urging hatch to seek an eighth term and block romney who most recently spurned the white house by speaking out against alabama elected u.s. nominee roy moore. congressional leaders are expected to meet with top foundations on the immigration

era program known as daca. ahead of that meeting, president trump is throwing fuel on the matter. the president tweeted out yesterday, democrats are doing nothing for da car just interested in politics. daca activists and hispanics will go hard against dems will start falling in love with republicans. nancy pelosi and chuck schumer are reportedly going to push the white house along with house leader mitch mcconnell for a deal to protect thousands of undocumented immigrants as part of a separate spending bill. but the president commented last week while he believes a bipartisan solution on daca is within reach, there can be no deal without his long-promised border wall, something top republicans are also echoing. >> i think there is an agreement that can be reached. it's got to start with border security, though. putting money in place to start building the wall as president trump said. he campaigned on this.

and he won the presidency with this being a front and center issue. >> while lawmakers appear divided on daca an increasing number of americans feel congress should keep the program in place. a recent nbc news/"wall street journal" poll reveals that 62 of those questioned want lawmakers to continue daca up from 53%. 19% want no action. it does end with 23% down from the previous poll. 83% of democrats want to keep daca going, 55% of independents say continue the program. 39% of republicans say the program should remain in place. >> back with us from washington reporter from the weekly standard, haley byrd. haley, good to talk to you again. as ayman was reading the numbers shows people want daca to remain. what's the deal for daca? >> the deal is whether democrats are going to push for it this

time around. in the past few months, democrats have tried to negotiate for daca in different bills, that have been short-term funding bills. and democrats thus far have prioripr prioritized keeping a deal ep for daca. coming up january 25th is when the current deal expires. so democrats are trying to decide if they're going to push this time around for a longer term appropriations bill that would address this issue. and the leverage that they have isn is that republicans this time around haven't been able to do short-term spending bills. so the sort of bill you might be able to see here is, democrats might be open to additional border security measures. they've signaled they aren't really ready to fund a border

wall which is what trump has been demanding. so that's where the contention is. >> let me ask you about the spending bill that you brought up because i know they want to tackle that today. and there's also the government shutdown that is sort of looming over everything in washington these days. what are the key points for each time getting the spending bill done? >> so, as i mentioned earlier, daca is an issue for democrats. but republicans are trying to increase defense spending in doing so they would be busting these budget control caps. and asking for control of increase in amount of discretionary spending. generally, you're going to see a demand for dollar for dollar increase but i don't think republicans are going to go for that. and that's what this meeting today is going to address. >> haley byrd, thank you for joining us, thank you. turning to iran and white house sarah huckabee sanders

addressing the administration's position on resolving the brewing crisis. >> the united states supports the iranian people and we call on the regime to respect its citizens basic right to peacefully express their desire for change. the ultimate end game would be that the citizens and people of iran are actually given basic human rights. and he'd certainly like to see them stop being a state-sponsored of terror. they want to do that through current leadership, if that's possible, okay. but those are our priorities, just making sure those principles are met. >> so, her remarks same hours after president trump took to twitter to once again blame president obama for the situation. and trump also put iran on notice adding quote, the u.s. is watching. and then a tweets from khamenei who blamed enmy emies of iran a

used the various means they possess including money and weapons. nikkei haley called that complete nonsense. in an effort to encourage protesters to continue to fight and open up for what's right in iran. >> and joining us from the truman national security project, good to have you back with us. let's talk about how this particular protest has become somewhat internationalized. you have the united states obviously at the u.n., with the global media trying to put the spotlight on iran. at the same time, you now have the iranian government starting to say we're seeing foreign enemies get involved in here. and more calls on the european union to come out with a standard. so, it's clearly now becoming a major international issue. how does that actually impact the protests themselves? >> well, it gives the protesters some hope, seeing that it's internationalized. seeing that people are watching with how the iranian government is going to treat them. but at the same time, it plays

into the hard-liners who know this is all sparked by the u.s. and west. and that has a long history in iran of decades of having things like this sparked. >> does internationalizing help the protests or hurt it? >> i think it hurts it because the regime like to use a tag line of being foreign agents. saying the west has sparked this. it's saudi arabia, it's israel, it's president of the united states trump. and once you're a foreign agent other people on the sideline are not coming in. >> as you know, there are certainly splintered factions in iran, khamenei, rouhani and revolution who are are controlled by khamenei at the end of the gay. now, it seems like they're not necessarily in the streets they're holding the forces back. but now it seems they are coming out, they're being zee empldeplo the streets. >> game-changer, huh? >> exactly, a total game-changer

here. >> today, my sources tell me they've gone into the villages. they've gone into the rural areas, the regime. whether you're -- right now, it's sort of like a multiheaded hydra. it only goes in the same direction. looks in the same direction when it's being threatened from the outside. or even from within. right now, everyone is focused in iran from the regime, whether it's hard-liner or reformer, putting down these protests. so, you're really seeing a serious crackdown of putting people on the streets. >> do you actually buy this as the economics of iran? or do you think it's a lot more than that, more about the regime change? >> i think it starts off as economics. it started off as economics. different groups now have used this as an excuse to air their grievances. but mainly, it's coming from the rural areas. from the poor, who haven't seen any benefits for 38 years. i mean, not since the revolution happened. there's been no trickle-down effect. rouhani oversold the nuclear deal saying your lives are going

to get so much better. well, it's been two years now and their lives haven't gotten better. every year they get farther and farther behind. >> president has to make a decision whether or not he's going to impose sanctions. how do you see that playing out? can that back fire or fuel the protests, given that the golf wants the protests to continue? >> i think it would be a mistake to use the protests as a way to undermine the nuclear deal. the nuclear deal has nothing to do with the protests. it's an international agreement. if he does it as an zeexcuse to exit the deal, that's a hard line narrative. because the relief especially collapses. >> thank you so much. appreciate it. still ahead, everybody, president trump pats himself on the back for a safety milestone. while some are criticizing trump for taking credit for a record 2017 for aviation. >> wait, he didn't do that? plus, bill karins is tracking potentially a winter

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welcome back. president trump is facing backlash after taking credit for the commercial aviation industry posting its safest year ever in 2017. yes, the president tweeted yesterday once again, since taking office i have been very strict on commercial aviation. good news. it was just reported that there were zero deaths in 2017. the best and safest year on record. current and former aviation safety officials have come out saying that the president was, get this, not responsible for last year's safety records, citing years long improvements in safety. and the fact that no u.s. passenger airliner has had a fatal crash since 2009 during president obama's tenure. and pierre thomas questioned sarah huckabee sanders on whether or not the president deserves some credit.

>> the president has raised the bar for our nation's aviation security. he's certainly very grateful. last year, the president announced his initiative to modernize air traffic control. under this leadership, the department of homeland security released enhanced security measures to ensure safer air travel. look, the president's very happy that there were no commercial airline deaths in 2017, and we hope that that trend continues well into 2018 and beyond. >> so, meanwhile, mark kelly spoke out on the matter saying president trump should be willing to take responsibility for other less positive records. writing on twitter, if you're going to take credit for the zero deaths in 2017, then you should take responsible for the thousand of gun deaths, too. >> let's go to meteorologist bill karins who is going to give us good news, bill. >> if you live on the west coast, that's about it. this storm in the east coast is one of the most significant

storms. 13 million under winter storm watch, mostly because that includes new york city. the development overnight is the ice storm in florida. and those words don't usually mix well together. lake city is 31 degrees and freezing rain. luckily, jacksonville just above it. gainesville, too. now, the freezing rain is spreading across georgia. the forecast was for a little bit of ice. maybe minor power outages. and we've increased that greatly overnight. when you get ice that accumulates over half an inch to three quarters of an inch, tree branches can start coming down. this is georgia, those beautiful pines down there. areas from brunswick, all the way down to the south to i-10, savannah and charleston, you're going to get ice. it's going to be treacherous. stay home if you can. you get a glaze of ice, you can't really treat the roads down there, they don't have the salt. then you get snow on top of it.

so this is what's going to happen today. this is another 3 or 4 inches of snow on top of ice. maine, boston, hartford, jersey shore, down to norfolk and virginia beach. snow map, again, this is not a huge snowstorm. yes, one-foot reports from areas of proff providence and coastal maine. what's going to make this a memorable storm is the wind and power outages. the storm itself will move in by 7:00 p.m., and then 12:00 p.m. up in maine. we could see gusts of 60 miles an hour in cape cod. people aren't going to have power. and friday morning, it's going to be temperature in the single digits. >> sometimes, we crack jokes about these things, obviously with the wind that bill is talking about, it means dangerous conditions especially it's winter. >> people in shelters in eastern

new england, if you don't have power, 10 degrees, plus the power workers out there trying to repair this. still ahead, one of the biggest of the biggest names in silicon valley is putting a big bet on bitcoin. >> how much she putting behind the currency and the stories driving your business day coming up next. hey, need fast heartburn relief? try cool mint zantac. it releases a cooling sensation in your mouth and throat. zantac works in as little as 30 minutes. nexium can take 24 hours. try cool mint zantac.

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while most investors have skipped away from the bitcoin bug, one reportedly did to the tune of a $15 million investment. good morning, jomana. bitcoin had its high. it dropped off a bit. now it's getting a major investment. how is it responding? >> there is no surprise there, of course the bitcoin is higher to the tune of 14%, going back to that 14,700 level. it's a key thing, peter theil was co-foirpd of paypal. he is worth hundreds of millions of dollars now. good for him. elsewhere, the united states has

blocked a takeover from chinese technology company and in a bid to buy a u.s. financial payment company money gram for $1.2 billion. the chief executive says the chief political environment has changed considerably since we ae townsed it a year ago. of course, president trump continues to be very concerned about chinese companies investing more and more in american tech companies. >> that's certain lay great development there. let's talk spotify, starting off on a sour note, being slapped with a $1.6 billion copywrite lawsuit. what do we know about them? >> they have been sued by music publishers. the suit alleges more than 6 million of spotify phones, the total catalogue library that spotify has are actually improperly licensed and so have

the right streaming. they are suing them for $1.2 billion. the suit has thousands of songs like beachboys, santana and some people will be disappointed. >> i was listening to tom petty on spotify so i can appreciate that. >> it must be a misdemeanor. >> no, that's your style. >> i love missey elliot. >> i don't. >> all right. coming up next on "morning joe," much more on the continued word of wars between president trump and kim jong-un as one of the biggest geopolitical threats, involves into a contest of who has the biggest button. >> ambassador nicholas burns and supreme allie commander james stavridis weighs in, "morning joe," everybody, moments away.

. welcome back, everybody. before we toss it over to "morning joe," the stories you

will be hearing about. when they return from holiday break, democrat doug jones will fill a seat vacated by jeff sessions to become attorney general and former joe bind as his escort for the occasion. tina smith lt. gov. will be sporn in, replacing former democratic senator al franken. the governor of minnesota chose smith to complete franken's term after he announced he would resign over sexual misconduct allegations. >> that does it for us for this wednesday morning, "morning joe," everybody, starts right now. >> look at those hands, are they small hands? and he referred to my hands, if they're small, something else must be small. i guarantee you there is no problem. i guarantee you. okay. >> nearly two years ago, donald trump was in a hand-measuring contest against marco rubio. these days he's on twitter comparing the size of his nuclear button with the dictator

of north korea. among his 16 other tweets yesterday describing the justice department as deep state, taking credit for airline safety, suggesting his political opponents be jailed and mocking american journalists at the same time thousands of iranians fight in the streets for the freedom of speech. good morning, it's wednesday, january 3rd, i'm catty kay in for joe and mika, battling the flu. we wish them our best. which have msnbc contributor mike barnical. national analyst joe heilemann, noah rothman and pulitzer prize winning he torrian john meacham down in nashville. we go inwith president trump's latest taunt of north korea's dictator n. his new year's eve address, kim jong-un said the whole territory is within the range of our nuclear strike and button. it is