happy belated festivus, everyone. the tree becomes a festivus pole for everybody who works in this building and curses all the crowds that come to rockefeller center. that's all for tonight. that's my grievance. ♪ president trump makes an unannounced trip to iraq while speaking to troops. he defended his decision to withdraw u.s. forces from syria and criticized democrats for not funding his border wall with mexico. plus, the secretary of homeland security reacts after a second migrant child dies in u.s. custody. what the government is saying about that today. and the stock market makes a major comeback. ♪ good morning, everyone.

i'm ayman mohyeldin alongside louis burgdorf. we begin with president trump visiting american troops serving in an active war zone for the very first time as commander in chief. it all happened yesterday. trump arrived in iraq late on christmas night just outside of baghdad. press secretary sarah huckabee sanders also said that trump met with senior military leadership to devise a powerful plan to continue on the path to total victory and that people will see results over the next few weeks. back in october trump told the a.p. that he didn't think it was, quote, overly necessary to visit troops in a combat zone, adding that he's very busy with other issues. yesterday the president had this message for those serving on the front lines, saying that america has been losing the war slowly and their sacrifice has not been, quote, for meaningful things. >> america shouldn't be doing the fighting for every nation on

earth, not being reimbursed in many cases at all. if they want us to do the fighting, they also have to pay a price. and sometimes that's also a monetary price. so we're not the suckers of the world. we're no longer the suckers, folks. and people aren't looking at us as suckers. under my administration we're winning now. we're not playing to lose slowly like they've been doing for 19 years. we're fighting in areas where we shouldn't be fighting and spending hundreds of billions of dollars doing it. we want a fight where it's meaningful. your general understands. i just met with them. your general understands it. we want to fight for the meaningful things. >> the addressed his division to withdraw all u.s. troops from syria and what that means for iraq. >> i told the generals about

year and a half ago, i said, let's get out of syria. they said, sir, could we have some more time? i said yep, you've got another six months. they said again recently, could we have more time. i said nope, you can't have any more time. we've knocked them out. we've knocked them silly. the united states cannot continue to be the policemen of the world. we don't want to do that. we want to protect our country. >> no plans at all, no. in fact, we can use this as a base if we wanted to do something in syria. i think that a lot of people are going to come around to my way of thinking. it's not fair when the burden is all on us, the united states. but it's time for us to start using our head. we don't want to be taken advantage any more by countries that use us and use our incredible military to protect them. they don't pay for it and

they're going to have to. the bottom line is we're going to use our heads and wealthy countries can not continue to use the united states to defend them. >> trump also spoke to the troops about a substantial pay raise that he says he has managed to get for them. the problem is, that is not true. >> you just got one of the biggest pay raises you've ever received, unless you don't want it. you haven't gotten one in more than ten years and we got you a big one. they had plenty of people that came up. they said, we could make it smaller. we could make it 3%, 2%, 4%. i said, no, make it 10%. make it more than 10%, because it's been a long time. it's been more than ten years. >> in fact, the military and its members have received a pay raise in each of the last ten years. you see that right there. that is actually per the defense department itself.

the 2019 pay increase which was passed by congress and signed by the president back in august is actually 2.6%, not the 10% the president says happened. and the last year without a military pay raise was back in 1983. one person president trump did not meet during his trip to iraq was the iraqi prime minister. the white house says that meeting was scheduled two hours in advance and was cancelled due to security concerns and because the prime minister wasn't able to get there in time. however, trump said the visit was set up three to four weeks ago. the prime minister's office says a formal reception and a meeting was planned but a die ver javer views led to only a telephone conversation especially after the president's decision to withdraw from syria. npr reported that trump wanted the prime minister to travel from the capital to the air

base, viewed as disrespectful to their sovereignty. trump did invite the prime minister to the white house and that was accepted. sarah huckabee sanders told reporters that secretary of state mike pompeo is scheduled to meet with the prime minister in baghdad on january 11th. >> president trump described some of the measures that he had to take to arrange the trip as well as some of the securities concerns. >> what about the timing of this trip during the government shutdown back in washington? >> about three or four weeks ago we set this up. we actually had a couple of them set up and we cancelled for security reasons because people were finding out. pretty sad when you spend $7 trillion in the middle east and going in has to be under this massive cover with planes all over and all of the greatest equipment in the world and you do everything you can to get in

safely. pretty sad. you spend $7 trillion and you have to come in through military excou escorts and all of the other incredible things they did. incredible. >> did you have any concerns about coming here today? >> absolutely. when i heard what you had to go through. look, i had concerns for the institution of the presidency, not for myself personally. i had concerns for the first lady, i will tell you. but if you would have seen what we had to go through with the darkened plane with all windows closed, with no lights on whatsoever anywhere, pitch black. i've been in many airplanes, all types and shapes and sizes. i've never seen anything like that. >> president trump criticized democracy over their pushback to border wall funding. >> i don't know if you folks are aware of what's happening. we want to have strong borders in the united states.

the democrats don't want to let us have strong borders. he gave me an idea just looking at this warrior girl. i think i'll say i don't want the wall and then they're going to give it to me. i figured out the solution. first lady. tell nancy pelosi i don't want the wall. oh, we want the wall and we get the wall. when you think about it, you're fighting for borders in other countries and they don't want to fight, the democrats, for the border of our country. we want real offense and we want real defense and that's what we're doing. we have secured a record increase to our military budget and we are purchasing all of this great equipment, $700 billion last year, $716 billion, with a b, with a b.

we were fought very hard by the democrats and others, but i said we have to take care of our military. >> back here in the states we are now in day six of the partial government shutdown. lawmakers are set to return to capitol hill later today. but with president trump further digging in on his demands for his border wall, an end to the shutdown is looking more likely to drag on into the new year. garrett haake has more from capitol hill. >> reporter: good morning on day six of the partial government shutdown. prospects for lifting the shutdown don't look much better today. the two sides still dug in on the question of the president's border wall. yesterday in iraq the president said he'd be willing to wait as long as it takes to get his money. there's really not been any significant progress on negotiations, although it's possible with the senate coming back into town today we might start to see some movement.

we're starting to see some actual effect on chiactual huma beings. federal workers who went back to work yesterday, some of them were not getting paid. about 400,000 had to go back to work. they are not going to get their checks. the coast guard folks, for example, should get paid on december 31st, but won't if the shutdown isn't lifted. no good news for them just yet. sources on capitol hill are telling me they expect the shutdown to drag into january. earlier this month president trump told reuters that he was looking at ten or 12 candidates to replace john kelly as chief of staff. three days later he appointed his budget director mick mulvaney to full in the role in a, quote, acting capacity.

>> what's your timeline on a new defense secretary? >> we have a wonderful man in there now. he could be there for a long time. i'm in no rush. i've got everybody and his uncle wants that position. and also by the way everybody and her aunt, just so i won't be criticized for that last statement. everybody wants that position. everybody. everybody. so many people want to be -- who wouldn't want to be secretary of defense? >> all right. still ahead, within the last two weeks a second migrant child has died in u.s. custody. how the department of homemade land security is responding to that news. the stock market bounces back with its largest one day point gain in history. we're going to explain what caused the rally. president trump is expected back in the just following his trip to iraq where he visited american troops. we are awaiting his arrival at

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this is staying connected with xfinity to make moving... simple. easy. awesome. stay connected while you move with the best wifi experience and two-hour appointment windows. click, call or visit a store today. homeland security secretary sirs general kne kirstjen nielson will travel to the border following the second death of a migrant child in custody. in a statement released yesterday nielson called the death of the 8-year-old guatemalan boy deeply concerning and heartbreaking. she says her system has been pushed to a breaking point by those who seek open borders. she claims the crisis is worsened by more and more people who are sick before they enter the u.s. and are placed into

custody. the department says it now plans to increase medical screenings for every child who enters the detainment camps. >> you do not know how many human beings have died while in the custody of the department that you lead and you in preparation for today's hearing, you didn't ascertain that number? but you don't know it today? >> i don't have an exact figure for you? >> do you have a rough idea? >> sir, what i can tell you -- >> i'm talking about people kwhof diwho have died in your custody. you don't have the number? >> i will get back to you with the number. >> the two deaths this month -- nancy pelosi called the deaths

unconscionable. the stock market finally got some positive numbers amid the continued wave of steep losses. the dow surged yesterday to erase the historic christmas eve drop. the stocks posted their best in nearly a decade with the dow jumping more than 1,000 points or nearly 5%. the s&p 500 surged nearly 5% while the nasdaq was up close to 6 prch 6%. the bounce comes after monday's massive selloff among president trump's continued criticism of federal reserve chairman jerome powell. >> you made it very clear that secretary mnuchin's job is safe. is the fed chairman's job safe? >> that is correct, yes.

let's switch gears and get a check on your weather. >> it's been so nice the first part of the week through christmas, but now we have a lot of travel trouble spots. heavy snow falling in northern minnesota. for south dakota this might be a historic snowstorm. we have a severe weather threat happening right now in texas. there is a tornado watch until 11:00 this morning. that includes southwest louisiana. so the parrishes there also under that advisory. if you're just about to head out the door in houston, wait until that line passes because there's a lot of frequent lightning with it as well as heavy downpours. six inches are possible in isolated areas all the way into mississippi, alabama and tennessee. this is the snowstorm i was speaking of. minneapolis right on that borderline, but on the backside of that system the air is cold enough and the winds are strong enough that we are likely to see

blizzard conditions for areas into the northern plains including the dakotas. it is a mess for those that are traveling. the areas in purple indicate the blizzard warnings. blowing and drifting snow that even when the snow stops tomorrow, we're likely to still see potential whiteout conditions because the winds are so strong with that snow on the ground. additional snow is expected in the southwest and more ahead straight through friday. by contrast, temperatures are feeling quite mild in advance of this system. we have really warm air in place. this is all going to change in the days to come. enjoy it while it lasts. mild temperatures in the 60s. into tennessee, some rain today as well. a lot of this moisture is going to be pushing east. in the northeast, we get mild and then we cool down again with numbers into the 40s toward monday a monday. colder weather ahead for us.

coming up i'm going to talk more about the specific travel delays we can expect for today and for tomorrow. coming up, for years u.s. presidents have been able to chris cross the globe in secret, but those days may be coming to an end. here's a live look at joint base andrews where president trump has landed following his trip to iraq. s landed following his trio iraq

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we start in brooklyn with the nets taking on the charlotte hornets. with the nets down three late in the fourth joe harris hit the corner three to tie it up. we head to the second over time on the night. he sinks a three and gets fouled. with just seconds to go in the game, tied at 132-132, monk loses the ball. the nets win 134-132. brooklyn has now won 9 of their last 10 after losing eight in a row. wow. the bowl had to be cancelled due to threat of severe weather the game was delayed almost an hour and a half before being called off. it's believed to be the first

bowl game in history cancelled due to mother nature. minnesota dominated georgia tech, 34-10. tcu needed over time to top california 10-7. it wasn't a pretty game for both teams. they combined for nine interceptions. >> i was going to say, you know, the bowl that was cancelled because of weather, i thought all bowls were supposed to play in nice weather cities. >> usually that's the case, but not in that one. still ahead, new polling is taking a look at who democrats want to see run for the white house in 2020. plus, ruth bader ginsburg has been released from the hospital. here's a live look at air

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♪ welcome back, everyone. i'm ayman mohyeldin alongside louis burgdorf. let's start with the morning's top stories. president trump touched down at joint base andrews just moments ago. see images there of him deplaning air force one. his first journey to an active combat zone since becoming commander in chief.

the president met with american troops and used the event to double down on his decision to withdraw troops from syria. hallie jackson has more. >> reporter: a standing ovation for a milestone two years in the making, president trump personally thanking troops fighting isis. >> two years ago, when i became president there were a very dominant group. they were very dominant. today they're not so dominant anymore. >> reporter: the president signing autographs and smiling for selfies, says he has no plans at all to pull the u.s. military out of iraq. but he defended his controversial decision to withdraw the military from syria. >> we're no longer the suckers, folks. we're respected again as a nation. if you take isis and if we see something happening with isis that we don't like, we can hit

them so fast and so hard they really won't know what the hell happened. the president spent three hours on the ground. his movements blanketed in secrecy for security reasons. >> i had concerns for the institution of the presidency. not for myself personally. i had concerns for the first lady, i will tell you. but if you would have seen what we had to go through with the darkened plane with all windows closed, with no lights on whatsoever anywhere. >> president trump had come under fire for waiting this long to visit troops in an active war zone. >> i've had an unbelievable busy schedule and i will be doing it. >> reporter: at this point in his presidency, barack obama had visited combat troops in the middle east and george w. bush traveled to iraq just eight months after the 2003 war began. >> i don't think there's any substitute for listening to the people who are carrying out these orders. >> reporter: president trump

says he has no rush to name a permanent replacement for jim mattis. he praised mattis's number two at the pentagon, patrick shanahan who will take over starting next week. donald trump's visit to iraq also signals that the age of presidents traveling in secret may be coming to an end. while it was not the first time aviation buffs caught onto president's international trips, this one was especially tracked. first there was the president's twitter silence after tweeting more than three dozen times over the previous four days, then radio silence. then an airplane aficionado spotted the jet and posted pictures of it wednesday morning. when the president is on board the plane, it uses the call sign air force one. the plane spotted over england

was using the call sign rch 358. online detectives figured out that the planes disguised call numbers and tracked its movements which were shared on twitter. today marks the second full business day since president trump shut down the federal government for funding on his border wall, telling reporters yesterday in iraq that the wall keeps the u.s. safe. >> how long do you think the shutdown will last? >> whatever it takes. i mean, we're going to have a wall. we're going to have safety. we need safety for our country. we have terrorists coming in through the southern border. we have the terrorists also coming in from the southern border. >> today members of the house and senate returned to capitol hill to resume negotiations to reopen the government. however, house members have been

told there are no expected votes. ivanka trump and jared kushner are reportedly spending the holidays at trump's mar-a-lago property during the shutdown. the daily mail posted photos of them out walking on christmas day. a new poll shows which democrats voters are most excited about in 2020. someone entirely new. 59% of democrats and independents chose the unknown novelty option in the new poll. joe biden was next with 53%, followed by bernie sanders and beto o'rourke. the democrat most of those surveyed who do not want to see run is hillary clinton. 70% said the two-time presidential contender should not run again. joining me, a reporter for the "washington post" eugene scott. let's talk about that latest polling this. the three potential democratic 2020 candidates have two things in common not to the

satisfaction of some observers. they're all white and they're all male. is that a pro or a con for democrats in 2020? >> it's being seen as a con from some members of the base. people of color, women and even millennials were key voting blocs that helped the democrats do really well in the midterms. so how well these individual white men do, i think, is based on who their running mates are. for many in the democratic base, they want to see their running mates reflect some of these demographics that have been key to making sure democrats won. >> what can we expect on capitol hill today as lawmakers return amid the shutdown? are we any closer to ending this shutdown right now? >> both sides are really focusing on their bases. the reality is conservatives who are going congress thinking

about how republicans who backed trump in 2016 and 2018 really view immigration as one of the key issues for their support for the gop, actually are having to support the fact that these voters want a wall even though the majority of americans do not want a wall. democrats, of course, even back in 2016 campaigned against a wall and especially against american taxpayers paying for it. so we're not going to see them compromise because the people who send them to washington don't want them to. >> i want to pick your brain about the president's trip overseas. he just landed back at joint base andrews. a lot of interesting statements he made overseas. a lot of it not factually correct. how was his secret christmas travel to visiting those troops overseas going over in a place like washington amid the shutdown? >> i spoke with some veterans here in washington who expressed

some frustration that trump's visit, while long desired, only probably happened because the president was forced and because the president doesn't doing anything else because of the shutdown. so there's certainly frustration and still questions about his commitment to the military and whether or not he will make future trips to troops overseas. >> then finally this statement that he made, i think had a lot of people scratching their head, factually not true. the president claiming he's given troops a 10% increase. not true. what kind of effect might disinformation like that or lies like that have on the military? >> i think it definitely affects morale because it reinforces the idea that the president perhaps is not as in touch with the military and veterans as he suggests he is. he certainly said something along the lines of the military getting their first pay raise in ten years when the fact is they've gotten a pay raise every single year since 1983. it reinforces concerns that this

is an administration being operated without people at the top levels who are deeply aware and invested and concerned about the well-being of the military. >> something tells me the president is not going to correct that statement. there are new claims about president trump's mysterious 1968 diagnosis of bone spurs which got him out of military service during the vietnam war. the family of a now deceased foot doctor who rented his office in queens from the president's father fred trump is telling the "new york times" that he often told the story of coming to donald trump's aid. the podiatrist died in 2007 but his daughters say their father often told the story of coming to the aid of young mr. trump during the vietnam war as a favor to his father.

trump told the "new york times" in 2016 that a doctor provided a very strong letter about the bone spurs in his heels but he could not remember the doctor's name, nor could he recall which foot it was in. >> why did you not serve in the vietnam war? >> because i was going to college. i had student deferments. it's a long time ago. i had a medical deferment because of my feet. i had a bone spur. >> which foot did you have the bone spur in? >> it's in the records. >> two years before being diagnosed with bone spurs, selective service shows trump had undergone a physical exam and had been declared available for service. the person investigating donald trump's special counsel robert mueller who like trump was a wealthy ivy league student

in the 1960s had a different experience. in mid 1966 mueller you arenlel injured knee, but the military declared that it would need to heal before he be allowed to deploy. once it healed, mueller went back to the military doctors. in 1967 mueller started officer candidate school at quantico, virginia. >> one aspect of the conflict, by the way, that i will never ever continuntenance is that we drafted the lowest income level of america and the highest income level found a doctor that would say that they had a bone spur. that is wrong.

that is wrong. >> acting attorney general matt whittaker is facing a new controversy following a new report claiming he listed misleading information about his academic honors on a number of documents. according to the "wall street journal" whittaker incorrectly claimed on his resume and government documents to have been named an academic all american while playing football at the university of iowa. whittaker was a tight end for the university from 1990 to 1992. he claimed the honor on his biography for his former law firm's website. the paper adds that whittaker also made the claim in a 2010 application for a judgeship in iowa and it was included in a 2009 justice department press release about him. the journal says that whittaker's name doesn't appear in the list of academic all americans on the website of the organization and has no record

of whittaker as an all american. the justice department told the paper that the acting a.g. received a district distinction. meanwhile a spokesperson for the academic all american program said we know people over the time used the terms interchangeably and innocently. still ahead, an update on supreme court justice ruth bader ginsberg following her recent cancer surgery. plus mark sanford offers a stern warning about the repercussions of political discourse in the era of trump. ol discourse in the era of trump.

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book about factors in the roots of t of tyranny. a strong man comes along and offers easy promises. people desperate for a change accept his offer. they have to give up a few freedoms in the equation to get more security. it doesn't work out so well. sanford continues, i want to be clear and explicit that i am not likening trump to hitler, but the forces at play could lead to a future hitler-like character if we don't watch out. it must be remembered that another thing that benjamin franklin said was he who trades his freedom for security deserves neither. ruth bader ginsberg left new

york's memorial sloan kettering cancer center on thursday and is now recuperating at home after surgery to remove two malignant growths in her lung. doctors say there is no evidence of any remaining disease. the oldest sitting member of the u.s. supreme court, ginsberg had never missed oral arguments. she's expected to be present when the court next meets january 7th. let's get a quick check on your weather. >> we are tracking a very busy storm system with snow, wind and some heavy downpours. here's the snow just north of minneapolis as the snow changes over to rain. on the backside of this system, the air is brutal. it's going to be so cold we're going to talk about numbers below zero by the weekend. tornado watch for houston, southwest louisiana, including alexandria and lake charles.

we've already had some rotation in the clouds that we could see a tornado touch down at any time. when you look at the frequent lightning strikes with this system, it's not surprising that threat remains through the morning hours. 5 million people at risk for damaging wind and hail. here's another huge story. blizzard warnings in place. this could be a historical storm for south dakota, one of the worst they've seen, 14 inches plus of snow with strong wind, blustery conditions straight through today. friday we could still see whiteout conditions because the wind will be strong and we'll have all these snowdrifts. into minneapolis, st. louis, nashville and down through the south, those storms rolling through texas and louisiana will push eastward and we're likely to see them impact cities like atlanta as we go through the day today. tomorrow the largely populated cities on the east coast are likely to be impacted with heavy

downpours. potential delays at major airports from atlanta to washington, new york and boston. if you're driving on i-95 expect slow travel on the roads that you see here due to some really strong downpours. the heaviest rain in the forecast through friday is right along the gulf coast. we're expecting six inches in some isolated totals. this is really going to be a tough next couple of days for travel. still ahead, the cofounder of one tech company apologizes for allegedly helping to fuel a disinformation campaign during one election. plus, russia issues a warning to the u.s. over one course of action into saudi arabia in response to the murder of jamal kashoggi. arabia in response to the murder of jamal kashoggi. ever notice how hard it is to clean impossible bathroom messes with spray cleaners? try mr. clean magic eraser. just add water, squeeze, and erase. it's perfect for cleaning stubborn bathroom soap scum.

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welcome back, everyone. markets here in the u.s. will look to keep up the momentum going after the dow and other indices surged yesterday in a big way. with the dow jumping more than 1,000 poingts. kristin dahlgren has more on what's helping to fuel that rebound. >> a post christmas bonus on wall street. big gains completely erasing monday's steep dive. >> wow, a dramatic rally to finish off the day. >> all three indexes soaring thanks in part to positive news

from retailers. >> amazon reporting it sold a report number of items over the weekend. the markets appeared on track to track the worst december since the great depression amid concerns over the government shutdown over the future of federal reserve chair jerome powell. the administration tried to reassure investors. >> you made it very clear that secretary mnuchin's job is safe. is the fair chairman's job safer sflp yes, of course. >> 100%? >> absolutely, theater, yes. >> that was a signal that politics wasn't going to take over economic policy and investors liked hearing that. >> fears of an impending recession, eased for now. >> how significant is it? that remains to be seen. when you get this snap back rally, you want to find out if it's going to be confirmed by even morallies down the road.

>> thanks to kristin. the dow and s&p 500 are down more than 7% year-to-date. futures this morning are pointing to heavy losses at the open. linkedin's co-founder has apologized for unknowingly funding a disinformation campaign. reed holland acknowledged his ties to a group that adopted similar tactics to the russians during the last election cycle. he reportedly gave $1,000 to a group which used deceptive ads against then candidate roy moore. they also used thousands of twitter accounts to make it seem as though automated bot accounts were following and supporting

moore. reed hoffman added that he categorically disvows the use of misinformation to sway an election. so hoffman expressed support for a federal investigation to look into what happened in alabama which echos senator doug jones' position on the same reports. and after months of international uproar over u.s. intelligence beliefs with the plot to kill jamal khashoggi, russia is warning against the attempts to push the 33-year-old out of the line of recession.

bloomberg quotes russia saying of course we are against interference, the saudi people and leadership must be decide such questions themselves. the saudi government has repeatedly denied the prince's involvement in khashoggi's murder. can and vladimir putin says russia is ready to deploy sonic nuclear missiles next year over what putin claimed was a test of the nuclear system. putin said russia has obtained a new type of strategic weapon. the new system is highly maneuverable, allowing it to evade even the defense systems. putin doubted russia's arsenal of hyper sonic nuclear weapons as invincible. according to "the washington post," the united states is also working on hyper sonic missiles

of its own. in reengtd yea-- recent years, y have discussed that. coming up, more on president trump's visit to u.s. troops as he defends his decision to withdraw from syria and criticized democrats amid the border wall battle here at home. .

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for this one, you may want to grab a warm blanket. nearly 400 people dove into the waters of the czech republic yesterday. the river was a balmy 4 degrees when participant from across the region took a dip. they were able to take part in races ranging between 300 and 400 feet. that does it for us on this

thursday morning. "morning joe" starts right now. america shouldn't be doing the fighting for every nation on earth. not being reimbursed in many cases at all. if they want us to do the fighting, they also have to pay a price. sometimes that's also a monetary price. so we're not the suckers of the world. we're no longer the suckers, folks, and people aren't looking at us as suckers. under my administration, we're winning now. we're not playing to lose slowly, like they've been doing for 19 years. we're fighting in areas where we shouldn't be fighting and spending hundreds of billions of dollars doing it. the. >> your general understands. i just met with them. your general understands it.