that, for now, is our broadcast on a wednesday night. thank you so much for being here with us, and good night from nbc headquarters here in new york. the words the media should be using to describe mr. trump are general yoougenerous, compa principled, empathetic, kind, humble, honest and genuine. he's more to us than just a boss. he's a mentor. he's a sage. he's like family. i'm obviously very loyal and very dedicated to mr. trump. he once called donald trump principled, genuine and honest. now michael cohen is headed to prison for covering up what he calls the president's dirty deeds. cohen may not done talking yet. another former ally, the

publisher of the national enquirer tells prosecutors the company also took part in an illegal scheme to protect trump's election bid. and it looks more and more likely that nancy pelosi will reclaim her position as the most powerful woman in washington. we're going to explain the deal that could make her madam speaker again. ♪ good morning, everyone. it's thursday december 13th. i'm ayman mohyeldin alongside yasmin vossoughian and louis burgdorf. first, another ally of president trump came forward in court documents yesterday to acknowledge it concealed an illegal payment to benefit his 2016 campaign as part of an agreement with the us attorney's office in new york, ami, the publisher of the national enquirer admitted it paid hush money to a woman who alleged to have had an affair with trump, which the white house denies.

prosecutors said ami admitted it made the $150,000 payment in concert with the president's presidential campaign and to ensure the woman did not publish damaging allegations about the candidate. ami admitted its principal purpose in making the payment was to influence the election. the u.s. attorney has agreed not to prosecute ami for its role in that payment. the company and its ceo david pecker declined to comment. pecker and donald trump have been close friends for years. pecker has been a member of mar-a-lago since 2003 and was a guest at trump's 2005 wedding. trump wrote in 2013, time magazine should pick david pecker to run things over there. he'd make it exciting and win awards. >> why didn't the national enquirer get the pulitzer prize

for edwards and o.j. simpson and all of these things? it's prize time for michael cohen. a federal judge sentenced him to three years and he's been ordered to pay almost $2 million in fines, forfeitures and restitution. he has until march 6th to surrender after pleading guilty to a series of crimes including two campaign finance violations that cohen claims were made at the direction of donald trump. the judge accused him of committing a veritable smorgasbord of fraudulent conduct and said that each of the crimes involved deception and greed and ambition. while cohen said he accepts responsibility for his actions, he also implicated the president again, telling the court, quote, the president tweeted a statement calling me weak and he was correct, but for a much different reason than he was implying. it was because time and time

again i felt it was my duty to cover up his dirty deeds rather than to listen to my own moral compass. my weakness can be characterized as a blind loyalty to donald trump. i was weak for not having the strength to question and refuse his demands. attorney lanny davis released a statement saying this. at the appropriate time after mr. mueller completes his investigation, i look forward to assisting michael to state publicly all he knows about mr. trump and that includes any appropriate congressional committee interested in the search for truth and the difference between facts and lies. mr. trump's repeated lies can not contradict sub botubborn fa. earlier this week the president tweeted that his payments to cover up allegations of affairs in the weeks before the election were not campaign

finance violations but, quote, a simple private transaction. when asked if that was a plausible argument, the president's attorney rudy giuliani said the president is not a lawyer. the simple fact is that it's not a criminal violation of the campaign finance law. >> let's get into this. danny, i know you were covering this all day yesterday. i want to know the president's legal exposure here with cohen's guilty plea now and then ami cooperating with the southern district. >> interesting timing. >> yeah. >> for the first time ever, the federal government is taking the position that the president or individual one directed or coordinated conduct by michael cohen that he pleaded guilty to that constitutes a crime. it may be a defensible crime. it may be a crime with a checkered history of successful prosecution. but it is unquestionably a crime. no matter whether rudy giuliani or the president characterized it as a private transaction or something that doesn't expose

them to criminal liability, it does expose the president to criminal flyabililiability if h directed this. more important is the clear end dha indication that the prosecutors believe it itmplicates the president in conduct that was a crime. >> what about the trump organization? what about the president's children? is there any legal exposure to them given the revelations we heard yesterday? we have michael cohen who is an integral part of the trump organization, ami making payments in favor of the president. how does that impact the president's organizations and family? >> consider that michael cohen has pleaded guilty for example to lying to congress. went in, spoke in an unsworn testimony and lied about things that happened between him, russia, transactions in russia, business opportunities. meanwhile, the trump children including donald trump jr. has

given no less than three congressional testimonies. any of those can be compared against what michael cohen says to see or determine whether or not trump junior or any of the other trump children, if they've been giving testimony or speaking to congress, have been not telling the truth. that is something they should be very concerned about. >> there was a question as to why michael cohen didn't fully cooperate with the southern district of new york. in court yesterday he basically said it was because he wanted to sort of take the limelight off of his family, he wanted to get through this as quickly as possible. a, do you buy it? b, who is he trying to protect here and is there a possibility he could now make the decision to cooperate further with the southern district and get that sentenced reduced? >> first, there is a mechanism that allows defendanted who have already been sentenced to cooperate and get another sentence reduction. it's not something that's very commonly used. as to what michael cohen is

looking at going forward, he's going to be out until march. he's got a chance to reduce his sentence if he decides to cooperate. the red line, i think, for michael cohen was talking about certain people that he drew a line in the sand and said, i will not talk about these folks, but i will cooperate to a certain degree. that certain degree isn't enough for prosecutors. cooperation is all or nothing. and the southern district of new york made that very clear when they said in sentencing memoranda, look, he helped, he was cooperative, but he was not a cooperator as that term is understand in the southern district of new york. >> let's talk about the defense strategy from president trump here. there seems to be a little bit of daylight between the president and his attorney rudy giuliani weereven with the lang about the payments, whether it's criminal, whether it's civil. do you see it that way? are they on the same page when they're trying to explain what was the genesis behind this payment and whether or not they

see it as the same defense strategy going into this mess? >> again, the charge of campaign finance law is a defensible crime. it's not a particularly easy crime to prove, because so much goes to the intent and whether the violation was willful and knowing. >> but the timing of this lines up. >> yes. >> rudy giuliani and president trump are wrong when they say this is just a civil transaction. no. the conduct alleged -- >> but that's legal jargon. >> it's very jargonious. rudy giuliani and president trump saying it's not a crime, it is a crime. however, if they made that payment and it was for the intent of influencing the election, which arguably it was maybe the most influential payment to influence a campaign in recent history. then that could constitute a

crime. but i keep going back to the point that it may be defensible, but it's not correct to characterize it as a purely civil transaction. so president trump's lawyer rudy giuliani went on a tear against the mueller probe yesterday, speaking to yahoo news he suggested a crime would only have taken place if trump was directly involved in russian efforts to hack into democrats' e-mails and computer networks during the 2016 race. quote, collusion isn't even a crime. collusion is like the biggest bunch of bull. the crime is conspiracy to hack. do you believe that donald trump engaged in a conspiracy with the russians to hack hillary clinton? of course not. giuliani also said he thinks that paul manafort isn't waiting for a pardon and is simply refusing to lie to appease prosecutors. the president's lawyer said in manafort's case they really should give up at this point. i mean, how much do you want to do to the guy? do you want to water board him?

house minority leader nancy pelosi has struck a deal with rebels cloin her own party that moves her one step closer to the speaker's gavel next month. she agreed that members in top spots in the house democratic leadership would only be allowed to serve in their roles for three terms before needing a two-thirds majority vote in the caucus to be elected to a fourth. currently those leadership positions are not subjected to term limits and only require a simple majority to be elected. the deal will provide pelosi with the krits number critical votes she needs to become speaker of the house. house republicans have come up short on their plan to pass a funding bill that includes president trump's demand for the $5 billion for the border wall. gop leaders still have not agreed on how they will fund the wall and are facing extreme pressure to face trump's point

that he could easily push the measure through the house before the deadline. it's unclear if there are enough votes. democrats have rejected trump's demands for 5 blg$5 billion in r wall funding but have agreed to back 1.6 billion for border security. chuck schumer seized upon president trump's threat to shut down the government over wall funding. >> the president is so used to obsequious advisor who fail to dispel his false and made-up facts, that he lives in a cocoon of his other mistruth. leader pelosi and i had to tell him, no, mr. president that's not true. we had to puncture the cocoon and he threw a temper tantrum because of it. one of the people on the list for chief of staff is out of the running.

freedom caucus mark made dougea no longer being considered based on the fact that the president needs meadows to remain in congress to continue with the, quote, great work he's doing there. meadows says the president's pick will have his total support moving forward. meadows had been seen as a top contender for the position after nick ayers, the president's first choice to replace john kelly turned down the job. still ahead, a former obama administration official, a billionaire activist and a congresswoman all take steps toward a run for president in 2020. plus, british prime minister teresa may manages to beat back a revolt in her own party. and we're expecting what may be a white christmas. who doesn't love a deal?

i do. check out the united explorer card. savin' on this! savin' on this! savin' in here. rewarded! learn more at the explorer card dot com.

unstopand it's strengthenedting place, the by xfi pods,gateway. which plug in to extend the wifi even farther, past anything that stands in its way. ...well almost anything. leave no room behind with xfi pods. simple. easy. awesome. click or visit a retail store today.

welcome back. british prime minister teresa may has survived a no-confidence vote from her party which could have seen her reproved from power. 67% of conservative mps voted to back her. it came aft-- after it became c it really had no chance of passing. the main sticking point is whats to the border between northern irela ireland. roughly one-third of may's draft brexit deal is devoted to that border issue. may told members of her party she will step down prior to the next general election in 2022. the prime minister is now immune from a leadership challenge for a year, meaning she will be around through the rest of the

brexit proceedings. the u.k. is set to leave the european union on march 29th with or without an exit deal. still the u.k. could cancel brexit without asking the rest of the eu first, as long as a final agreement has not been implemented. let's switch gears and get a check of your weather with bill karins. it's the time of the year where we welcome the snow, but you say there's going to be more rain, unfortunately. >> it loobks like a wet christms instead of a white christmas. already pouring in houston this morning. by the morning commute, it will be crossing into louisiana. with this storm is a lot of wind. could even see a little bit of wind damage.

gusts up to 70 miles an hour in northern texas. maybe large hail in northeast texas just west to haof shrevep. friday a supercell could produce a tornado in areas of central florida to north florida. this is rain for so many of us. the heaviest rains targeting areas of arkansas, southern illinois and missouri. widespread 1-2 inch rainfall from tennessee, kentucky, alabama. atlanta airport delays are possible tomorrow with the heavy rain. eastern north carolina could get some of the heavier rainfall totals too. the forecast for today, pretty quiet in the east. new york city will see a little bit of snow and maybe rain mixing in, maybe an inch or so in the suburbs. it does look wet for the east right through sunday. >> you better get that white christmas going, bill karins.

>> i will get you a plane ticket somewhere where it will be snowing. >> really? okay. you said it. >> alaska. a soon to be tennessee congressman is walking back his controversial comments after blaming autism on vaccines. mark green expressed concern over the cdc's stance on child vaccinations. during a town hall meeting on tuesday, his remarks were in response to a parent of a young adult with autism asking about possible cuts to medicaid funding.

green went onto say the cdc has fraudulently managed data on vaccines. he has since released a statement saying his children are vaccinated and he encourages others to do the same. multiple studies by the cdc as well as the american academy of pediatrics have found no link between autism and vaccines. still ahead, the senate is ready to act when it comes to pulling u.s. support for saudi-led war in yemen. >> there seems to be a holdup in the the house. ♪ ♪ ♪ the united states postal service makes more holiday deliveries to homes

than anyone else in the country. ♪ with one notable exception. ♪ (man) don't ...go...down...oh, no! aaaaballooned your car. call meeeee! (burke) a fly-by ballooning. seen it, covered it. we know a thing or two because we've seen a thing or two. ♪ we are farmers. bum-pa-dum, bum-bum-bum-bum ♪ i couldn't catch my breath. it was the last song of the night. it felt like my heart was skipping beats. they said i had afib. what's afib? i knew that meant i was at a greater risk of stroke. i needed answers. my doctor and i chose xarelto® to help keep me protected from a stroke. once-daily xarelto®, a latest-generation blood thinner significantly lowers the risk of stroke in people with afib not caused by a heart valve problem. warfarin interferes with at least 6 of your body's natural blood-clotting factors. xarelto® is selective, targeting just one critical factor.

for afib patients well managed on warfarin, there is limited information on how xarelto® compares in reducing the risk of stroke. don't stop taking xarelto® without talking to your doctor, as this may increase your risk of stroke. while taking, you may bruise more easily, or take longer for bleeding to stop. xarelto® can cause serious, and in rare cases, fatal bleeding. it may increase your risk of bleeding if you take certain medicines. get help right away for unexpected bleeding or unusual bruising. do not take xarelto® if you have an artificial heart valve or abnormal bleeding. before starting, tell your doctor about all planned medical or dental procedures and any kidney or liver problems. learn all you can to help protect yourself from a stroke. talk to your doctor about xarelto®.

welcome back. time now for sports. we begin in the nfl. carson wentz missed practice yesterday with a back injury that might keep him out of sunday night's matchup in los angeles against the rams, maybe even the rest of the season. nick foles readies to take over at qb, sparking flash backs to last season when he got the start for the final three games of the regular season and led philadelphia through the playoffs to its very first super bowl crown. in new orleans wide receiver brandon marshall seemed poised for his first playoff appearance in 13 nfl seasons after being picked up by the saints who have

already clernched the nfc south. before even playing a game for the team, marshall has been release and will become a free agent if he clears waivers. turning to the nba, the hornets back more than ten points in the fourth quarter. take a look at this. >> and nothing but the bottom of the net on that one. jamie lamb sinks the jumper with three tenths of a second to play. the hornets win. finally after kyrie irving roused attention over the past year with comments about his belief that the earth is flat, the warrior drove fans and

scientists crazy on sunday when he said he believed the moon landing is a hoax. nasa invited the star to see the evidence for himself. turns out the joke is on us. curry tells espn he was only kidding about the conspiracy theory but said he is 1,000% accepting nasa's invitatioinvit. >> who wouldn't want an invitation to nasa? >> 50 pound of moon rock that they have son display that he could actually see. >> 50,000 would be a lot. >> who doesn't want a tour from nasa. >> obviously you need a tour of nasa just to learn about how much moon rock. >> we've ruined our chances now. >> thanks, louis. still ahead, another trump ally admits to helping the president cover up alleged

misdeeds during the election. today is the day you're going to get motivated...

get stronger... get closer. start listening today to the world's largest selection of audiobooks on audible. and now, get more. for just $14.95 a month, you'll get a credit a month good for any audiobook, plus two audible originals exclusive titles you can't find anywhere else. if you don't like a book, you can exchange it any time, no questions asked. automatically roll your credits over to the next month if you don't use them. with the free audible app, you can listen anytime, and anywhere. plus for the first time ever, you'll get access to exclusive fitness programs

a $95 value free with membership. start a 30-day trial today and your first audiobook is free. cancel anytime and your books are yours to keep forever. audible. the most inspiring minds. the most compelling stories. text "listen5" to 500500 to start your free trial today. ♪ welcome back, everybody. i'm yasmin vossoughian alongside ayman mohyeldin and louis burgdorf. it is the bottom of the hour.

let's start with the morning's top stories. another ally of the presidents h has dropped a bombshell. >> it came as michael cohen was sentenced for his part in those ma playo payoffs and other crimes. >> reporter: the same prosecutors who charged michael cohen with violating campaign laws by arranging to pay hush money to two women are now announcing a deal with another men involved in those payments. they both now say this was done to influence the election despite president trump's insistence that it was not. the man who once said he'd take a bullet for donald trump, is now preparing to the spend his mid 50s in prison. prosecutors said his help was grudging and they pushed for a tough sentence for his own tax

a and bank fraud. speaking about trump, cohen told the judge, it was my own weakness and a blind loyalty to this man that led me to choose a path of darkness over light. i felt it was my duty the cover up his dirty deeds rather than listen to my own inner voice and moral compass. the sentence, three years in federal prison. in a dramatic legal development, federal prosecutors announced they will not file charges against a third person along with trump and cohen who played a role in the hush money payments, david pecker, publisher of the national enquirer whose company wrote the check for mcdougal. he admitted the purpose was to suppress the woman's story so as to prevent it from influencing the election. >> the weight of the evidence against mr. trump is starting to build. it's not just mr. cohen. it's also this company and they agree that the president

directed these payments and did so to influence the election. >> reporter: the payment was illegal because federal law bars corporations from giving money directly to a candidate's campaign. cohen will ultimately serve at least 2 1/2 years behind bars, a huge fall for the man who was once so close to donald trump. >> i think there is also a lot of anger and upset and hurt for what this is going to do to his life and what this will mean for his future and the future of his family as well. >> reporter: the judge ordered cohen to report to prison march 6th. in the meantime, he might continue cooperating with robert mueller's investigators. joining us once again msnbc legal analyst danny se valceval. there is this consideration around t

around cohen. he's gotten 3 1/2 years in jail. a guy like roger stone, who we've been expecting something was going to come down with regard to him any day you, nothing has happened quite yet. do you think that the roger stones of the world who seem like they've been pretty involved are looking at this and saying, okay, it's time for me to cooperate. >> yes. but these observers are also learning an important fact about cooperators, that cooperators to do not get off scot-free. they have to face punishment. if the government is going to cooperate a witness and call them to the stand, it doesn't look so good for the government if this witness gets too sweet of a deal or even no prison time whatsoever. the principles of federal prosecution are that a cooperator must still face punishment. >> what about michael flynn? >> michael flynn is the picture of cooperation. part two is that his sentencing

guidelines to begin with are only 0-6 months, plus cooperation that's the kind of rare defendant in the federal system who can get a straight probation sentence because of the sentencing guidelines for a relatively lower level crime and his pure cooperation. >> when you see how a case is being built against the president for campaign finance violations, you look at michael cohen and what he has done, you look at the ami announcement yesterday, is there an argument to be made from a legal perspective that both of these are building up to a possible campaign finance charge against the president? >> yes. the first indicator was this summer when michael cohen stood up in court and said, i committed a campaign finance law violation. then last week the federal government for the first time in their papers said that, yes, this is our position, that he committed a campaign finance law violation and it was corrected by individual one, who is the president. now you have ami and the

foundation of the building that the prosecutors are building is growing, because now they're having corroborating sources establish that this is more than a he said/he said situation. because undoubtedly in many criminal cases, it would come down to someone like michael cohen saying he directed me and then the president would say, no, i didn't. >> now you have ami. >> the government is building that corroborating evidence so it's he said versus he said and he said and the company said and other folks said. >> of course now there's all these questions about the safe that ami has with all these damaging stories and any communication with the trump company. >> we've learned what full cooperation is. it's got to be everything. >> always a pleasure. stick around. >> see you shortly. the "new york times" reports that president trump's lawyer rudy giuliani was overseas on tuesday for a meeting in bahrain

with the king and other top officials. the times reports the trip was part of a concerted push that july yanni has undertaken in the last few weeks to win business from governments around the world including africa and south america for a firm he owns called giuliani security and safety. notably in his role representing president trump in the investigation by the special counsel, giuliani is not a government employee and is not subject to government ethics rules including prohibitions on outside work. reached by the times in bahrain on tuesday night, giuliani said that the efforts are completely unrelated and do not capitalize on his representation of the president. he also said his security consulting contracts have long included clauses stipulating he will not lobby on behalf of clients before the united states government. giuliani said, quote, i'm probably the most ethical person you've ever met. i follow all the rules. i have no desire to trade on anything. cia director gina haspel

briefed certain members of the house of representatives yesterday on jamal kashoggi's murder, similar to her briefing last week for select senators. following that briefing, representative elliot engel the incoming chair of the house foreign affairs committee told reporters that there will be hearings on kashoggi's killing during the next congress. meanwhile, the two chambers of congress are on opposite ends when it comes to america's war in the saudi-led war in yemen which has resulted in thousands of civilian deaths and caused a humanitarian crisis. a resolution would end all u.s. involvement in the war and a vote is likely to take place this morning. while it is expected to pass the senate, it still needs to pass the house. paul ryan blocked any votes for the rest of the year that attempted to use the war powers act as it relates to the

campaign in yemen. that caused the farm bill to barely pass 206-203 with scores of republicans breaking from leadership. the decision is being bhalastedn both sides of the aisle. turning to the very latest on the manhunt for the suspect in tuesday's terror attack in the french city of stausburg near the border with germany. two people were killed, 13 wounded. the suspect cherif which cheketa criminal record in france, germany and switzerland and his home was raided hours before the shooting in a burglary probe. multiple weapons were found in that search including a grenade.

the lights on the eiffel tower were turned off last night in honor of the victims. some of the democrat's 2020 hopefuls weigh in on whether they'll make the run for the white house. bill karins back with a check on your forecast. (music throughout)

with my bladder leakage, the products i've tried just didn't fit right. they were too loose. it's getting in the way of our camping trips. but with a range of sizes, depend fit-flex is made for me. with a range of sizes for all body types, depend fit-flex underwear is guaranteed to be your best fit. ( ♪ ) dealing with psoriatic arthritis pain was so frustrating. my skin... it was embarrassing. my joints... they hurt. the pain and swelling. the tenderness. the psoriasis. tina: i had to find something that worked on all of this. i found cosentyx. now, watch me.

real people with active psoriatic arthritis are getting real relief with cosentyx. it's a different kind of targeted biologic. cosentyx treats more than just the joint pain of psoriatic arthritis. it even helps stop further joint damage. don't use if you're allergic to cosentyx. before starting, get checked for tuberculosis. an increased risk of infections and lowered ability to fight them may occur. tell your doctor about an infection or symptoms. if your inflammatory bowel disease symptoms develop or worsen, or if you've had a vaccine or plan to. serious allergic reactions may occur. i got real relief. i got clearer skin and feel better. now, watch me. get real relief with cosentyx. get real relief a lot will happen in your life.

wrinkles just won't. neutrogena® rapid wrinkle repair's derm-proven retinol works so fast, it takes only one week to reveal younger looking skin. making wrinkles look so last week. rapid wrinkle repair® pair with new retinol oil for 2x the wrinkle fighting power. neutrogena® welcome back, everyone. the potential pool of democrats eyeing 2020 presidential bids continues to grow. former housing and urban development secretary julian castro says his mind is all but set. he will announce his official decision on january 12th. hawaii congresswoman, the ulsi gabbard is also eyeing a

potential bid. >> are you running? >> i'm seriously considering it. >> what would stop you? >> i'm concerned about the direction of our country. >> what would stop you from running? >> i don't know. >> meanwhile democratic billionaire tom steyer is another possible candidate. a spokesperson acknowledged to the "new york times" that he is behind the posts in a few key states including nevada, south carolina and new hampshire. >> thinking about 2020 makes me excited and tired all at the same time. let's get a check on your weather now with nbc meteorologist bill karins, who also gives us a whole bag of emotions. >> your weekend rainy plans, yes, i'm responsible. already pouring this morning in east texas. it's going to continue in arkansas. thankfully this storm's a lot

warmer than the last one. this is 5:00 p.m. this evening, steady rain oklahoma city to st. louis to memphis to little rock, jackson to new orleans. overnight we take the rain into mississippi, georgia. atlanta is going to have a rainy friday. rain through tennessee, south carolina especially. we just had that big snowstorm too. richmond had a foot. they're already down to four inches. minor flooding issues, but i don't think it's going to be too huge. 5:00 p.m. friday, raining pretty good in memphis to nashville. there's the rain from raleigh to charleston and the rain just heading into washington, d.c. for the evening drive home on friday. new york city, philadelphia it looks to be around 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. then boston to hard ford throtfe island to new york city.

this storm is going to linger even into sunday. sunday by noon, still dealing with some rain. new york city to d.c., the first half of sunday still looks a little bit ugly too. it's going to be a rainy weekend. >> after the mixed emotions of your report i've got something to cheer everybody up. emergencies are never a good thing but firefighters in germany had to deal with arguably the best emergency in history. a tank at a chocolate factory over flowed spelling about a ton of liquid chocolate into the street. the cool temperatures soon solidified the river of chocolate. the road was closed for about two hours as firefighters used shovels to clean up the sweet spill. there's the five-second rule there. >> can you imagine that conversation. guys, we're just going to have to eat it all up.

>> i was going to say i think the neighbors all ran down there and started skimming off the top. why not? the top is totally legit. still ahead, a new ripple in u.s./china trade tensions as washington blames beijing for a hack attack on marriott hotels. one city teams up with amazon to put a stop to thieves stealinging packages. a migraine hope to be there... for the good. and not so good. for the mundane. the awe-inspiring. the heart racing. the heart breaking. that's what life is all about... showing up. unless migraine steals your chance to say "i am here." that's why, we created aimovig.. a preventive treatment for migraine in adults. one dose, once a month.

aimovig is proven to reduce the number of monthly migraine days. for some, that number can be cut in half or more. the most common side effects are pain, redness, or swelling at the injection site and constipation. these are your days what will each one bring? doesn't matter, as long as you can say... "i am here." talk to your doctor about preventing migraine with aimovig. and be there more.

unstopand it's strengthenedting place, the by xfi pods,gateway. which plug in to extend the wifi even farther, past anything that stands in its way. ...well almost anything. leave no room behind with xfi pods. simple. easy. awesome. click or visit a retail store today.

welcome back. the cyber attack on the marriott hotel chain that collected the personal data of roughly 500 million guests has been linked to hackers in china. sources said the hack was part of >> we are in the had thick of the holiday season. one major city is taking steps to make sure its residents gift delivery don't get snatched.

nbc news has more on stealing holiday package eggs. >> just in time for the holidays, police are warning porch pirates are on the prowl. but in jersey city, this package planted with a decoy. >> it took three minutes. basically, we put it down and we probably didn't get a mile out of the area until we got a radar transmission from our detector saying the package is on the move. >> police in jersey city planted dummy packages and tracked them. the explosion could ring up $124 billion in november and december is fooling the nationwide problem. an estimated 1 in 12 americans has had a package stolen from their home.

to protect yourself, ask for a text alert when your package gets dropped off or you can buy a security camera like this one to keep an eye on your porch. but even that advice doesn't always work. in this season of giving, criminals keep taking. nbc news. >> last christmas, we had an entire slew of packages from our lobby in our building all stolen. >> so it's not just for porches and houses, it's even in lobbies. >> absolutely. coming up, axios has a look at this morning's one big thing. coming up on "morning joe," the president's former fixer's prison time. >> he lays part of the blame for his actions on his previous allies. plus, democratic senators debbie stabenow and claire mccaskill join the conversation moments away. e girl) ahoy!!!!! (excited squeal, giggling/panting) gotcha! (man) ah!

(girl) nooooooooooooo! (man) nooooo! (girl) nooooo... (vo) quick, the quicker picker upper! bounty picks up messes quicker, and is two times more absorbent than the leading ordinary brand. (man and pirate girl) ahoy! (laughing) (vo) bounty, the quicker picker upper. i couldn't catch my breath. it was the last song of the night. it felt like my heart was skipping beats. they said i had afib. what's afib? i knew that meant i was at a greater risk of stroke. i needed answers. my doctor and i chose xarelto® to help keep me protected from a stroke. once-daily xarelto®, a latest-generation blood thinner significantly lowers the risk of stroke in people with afib not caused by a heart valve problem. warfarin interferes with at least 6 of your body's natural blood-clotting factors. xarelto® is selective,

targeting just one critical factor. for afib patients well managed on warfarin, there is limited information on how xarelto® compares in reducing the risk of stroke. don't stop taking xarelto® without talking to your doctor, as this may increase your risk of stroke. while taking, you may bruise more easily, or take longer for bleeding to stop. xarelto® can cause serious, and in rare cases, fatal bleeding. it may increase your risk of bleeding if you take certain medicines. get help right away for unexpected bleeding or unusual bruising. do not take xarelto® if you have an artificial heart valve or abnormal bleeding. before starting, tell your doctor about all planned medical or dental procedures and any kidney or liver problems. learn all you can to help protect yourself from a stroke. talk to your doctor about xarelto®.

welcome back, everybody. joining us from axios a.m., alexi mckennen. good morning to you. good to see you. >> good morning. welcome back, and congrats to you. >> thank you so much. >> let's talk about axios's one big thing today. >> sure. so today's one big thing is about president trump's rude awakening. he passed a huge tax cuts package, he appointed two supreme court justices, but it's important to keep in mind that all that has happened under a political environment that any president would dream of because he's had full control of the government. now that that is changing as democrats are getting ready to take back the house in january, his job is going to become harder as mueller's investigation is intensifying, the deficit has climbed past $1 trillion annually because of those tax cuts i just mentioned and he's watching the markets tumble. so his job and his job of governing and leading the country is about to change.

>> so how could all the headwinds that president trump is facing impact him as he gears up for his reh-election campaig? >> we've already seen just this week he said he would shut the government down, he would be proud to do it and he would own that government shutdown. even mundane tasks like finding a new chief of staff are becoming increasingly more difficult for the president and he sees how the mueller investigation is getting closer and closer to him and he sort of feels stuck like he can't do anything. >> we did hear yesterday that mark meadows is not going to be the president's chief of staff. has axios learned who could be the top contend er for the spot? >> at this point, it seems like it's anyone's gig who wants it and wants it for a long time. that is the trouble that president trump is finding himself in. no one wants the job for a long time and he said in his meeting with chuck and nancy that even people they know supposedly want the job. so he's not throwing out exact names, but i think it comes down

to someone who wants the job and wants it for a long time. >> so let's switch gears and talk about another key figure in washington. axios has been looking at how nancy pelosi has had a big week. why is he comishe coming out on? >> she has been working behind the scenes, working with the so-called rebels of the party who did not want to see her as speaker of the house. when the next congress is going to be the most diverse congress we've ever seen, they want fresh faces to be in charge for the future and nancy pelosi knew if she wanted to guarantee her spot as speaker, she needed to give them a win by agreeing to limit her term to four years. >> and, of course, she had that moment in the white house where she stood up to president trump

pushing back against his assertions. >> so while we have you sitting down with axios at the u.n.'s climate conference, he talked about how he's on board with this progressive democrats green new deal. what else did he is to you guys? >> so in addition to saying he was on board with that, i thought it was surprising that he admitted that he didn't know what the details of that new green deal are, but he's still in support of it in the hopes that it will create tons of jobs for the future. one thing he also said is president trump has become the face of denial and he believes people are acting in the way he denies science and climate change and he used the midterm election results as an example of that saying it was the biggest repudiation against a president he's seen in his lifetime. >> so did you get a chance to pick his brains about 2020 and who he would like to say on the democratic ticket? >> i don't think that amy had a chance to talk to him about that yet. but as you guys were talking about earlier, there are a

number of folks coming out saying they are likely to run. so he will certainly have his pick of the litter when the 20 something democrats finally announce they're running. >> alexi, we're going to be reading axios a.m. in just a little bit. to all our viewers out there, you, too, the sign up for the next letter. >> "morning joe" starts right now. >> the words the media should be using to describe mr. trump are generous, compassionate, principled, empathetic, kind, humble, honest and genuine. >> he's more to us than just a boss. he's a mentor. he's a sage. he's like family. >> i'm obviously very loyal and very dedicated to mr. trump. >> well, good morning. it is thursday, dec