morning. stay with msnbc all day for your political news, analysis and breaking news. we hope everyone has a wonderful holiday. ♪ good morning. i'm chris jansing. this morning, shutdown standoff. a new claim by the president that he is ready, willing and able to negatiotiate over this shutdown stalemate. but no phone calls to democrats and nothing but intransigence on the wall. >> i hear so much about the wall is old fashioned. no, the wall is not old fashioned. the wall is 100% foolproof. we have to have border security and the wall is a big part of it, the biggest part. >> new year, new faces. the trump administration starts the year with what historians call an unprecedented number of jobs vacant. that doesn't even get into the number of positions filled by

acting secretaries awaiting confirmation. and with his chief of staff set to leave tomorrow, the list is only growing. and to the starting line. much of 2019 is shaping up to be a look ahead to the 2020 race. who's in, who's out. and will any republicans step up to challenge the president. a lot to get to this morning but we begin with what's at the heart of the fight that's keeping 800,000 federal workers without a paycheck. a new claim by president trump, the biggest part of border security is the wall, he says. not an auspicious start to a new year where someone is going to have to give something. both sides say they're willing to talk, but that's not the same as saying they're willing to negotiate. i've got a great team to help me break it down this hour. first, a quick reminder of where things stand. things are about to get very interesting. the new class of elected

lawmakers is about to be sworn in. this isn't only about nancy pelosi resuming the speaker ship. there are 63 new democrats coming into the house. to quote one of them, they were not raised to ask permission. they're on a mission given to them by voters to shake up washington. which brings us back to nancy pelosi, who along with the senate's top democrat chuck schumer have introduced bills that would fund the parts of the government that have been closed but deny the president the funding for the border wall that he wants. last night the president told fox news that's a nonstarter. >> are you willing to continue the shutdown if that money does not come? >> well, we are. we have no choice. we have to have border security and a wall is part of border security. you know, i hear so much about the wall is old fashioned. no. the wall is not old fashioned. the wall is 100% foolproof. >> we've got both sides of this issue covered. hans nichols is at the white

house and garrett haake is living on capitol hill these days. what did we hear from the president, anything new? >> not really. what you heart from the president was really the sound of one hand clapping. there's a credible offer from house democrats and the president is basically ignoring it. the president isn't directly engaging. his response in that interview with fox news last night was basically, well, i'm here, but not much beyond it. have a listen. >> i'm in washington, i'm ready, willing and able. i'm in the white house. i'm ready to go. they can come over right now. i spent christmas in the white house. i spent new year's eve now in the white house. i'm here. i'm ready to go. it's very important. a lot of people are looking to get their paycheck. i'm ready to go any time they want. >> i think we should all be on

stakeout watch to see if leaders from the hill come down. it's clear that conversations need to happen in person. i think that's going to be the story for the next 24 or 48 hours before nancy pelosi actually takes that speaker's gavel. >> garrett, explain the democrat strategy going forward and how might that work with senate republicans? >> here's what the democrats will do. on thursday they're going to put forward two separate bills. one will fund six out of the seven closed departments of the federal government right now for the entire year of 2019. and on the department of homeland security, it will extend funding only through february and only at this $1.3 billion level, none of that money going to the wall. here's the strategy as democrats see it. they want to separate funding the government from funding the wall and have this as a separate fight. they're in one sense offering

the president the opportunity to continue this argument all the way until february. but also what they're doing is they are essentially daring senate republicans to keep the government closed. there is just not the same level of energy for the wall among senate republicans as there is in the house among republicans and certainly not at the other end of pennsylvania avenue. by passing something that had bipartisan support before we all left town at the start of the christmas break and leaving it in senate republicans' lap, senate republicans now face days of questions of is it really worth it to keep the entire government closed over just this. the hope is they might pressure mitch mcconnell to potentially break for the president. that is a big ask. but we'll see how this goes as the pain factor starts to add up with the shutdown continuing now past the holidays. people supposed to be going back to work and more and more things shutting down here in d.c. and

around the country. >> ryan costello is here this new year's morning. i am fascinated by this new dynamic. you've got the frustrated democrats who are finally going to take the reins in the house. all these first lawmakers demanding to be heard. do you think that argues more for getting this thing resolved quickly, getting it settled? or is it your sense that the president is where he is and this could go on for a while? >> the latter. i don't think the president is going to bend. i think house democrats are smart to separate this out and put the pressure on the senate. but i also think the majority leader in the senate, mitch mcconnell is smart not to put anything on the floor that would pass that the president would veto, because that essentially has happened once and he needs the confidence and has the support of the senate republican

conference. so as a result of that, i think the political dynamics in the house will thrust upon the senate a clean bill and the moyle d political dynamics in the senate won't take up that clean until unless and until the president says i'll sign it and i don't see the president signing it without the wall. i think this is a quagmire for a few more weeks. >> the president says he wants to talk but he doesn't want to talk about the wall. where does this leave the 800,000 workers? >> it leaves them in limbo. i agree with the congressman that it's a smart strategy for nancy pelosi to do this. asth she is not to be trifled with. this is a very smart policy. >> chuck todd makes an interesting point which is that maybe in another world nancy pelosi might not be the right person, but she is someone who came up through baltimore city politics, she is someone who her

whole life has known what it's like to be a woman in a man's world. and if somebody's going to go up against donald trump and we know how that has gone for him when he goes up against strong women, she might just be the person. >> i absolutely agree with it. it's very smart to say i don't want the democrats owning the shutdown because that essentially would happen once it starts to bleed well into january of 2019 which is where we are. yes, donald trump owned it going into it, but the democrats then become in control of the house and start to get some ownership of it. she's smart to say let's take this off of our maplate and put the wall squarely within the purview of donald trump and republicans in the senate. i don't think there's as much energy for the wall in the senate as there is among republicans in the house. but the truth is donald trump's going to claim credit for anything that comes out, whether it's 5 billion or the 1.3 that

has been thrown around. i do think that number will get reduced. i do think there will be some funding for it, which will anger the democratic base. >> there will be an argument about what you call it. is it funding for the wall, is it border security. but i think the base pressure on the president has been pretty unrelenting, whether it's ja nancy pelosi's newest funding propos proposal. what are you hearing from fellow republicans? do they feel they're going to have to make some movement? is there any behind the scenes effort to figure out how to end this shutdown sooner rather than later? >> well, the thing that i found so perplexing is that the president had the opportunity to negotiate a funding bill with the house republicans. in two days he won't have to deal with the house republicans anymore because he's going to

have to get democrats to vote for this. the base of the republican party is all in on a border wall. and their definition of a border wall is going to be whatever the president says that it is. unless and until the president comes out and says this is what i need -- he's going to define the wall how he wants and he's going to say whatever dollar amount he needs. unless and until he does that, the base of the republican party is going to be very restless. as a consequence of that, it leaves a lot of republicans -- and that's why you're not hearing a lot right now. a lot of republicans keeping their mouth shut and sitting on their hand was waiting for some direction from the president as to what he he will accept.

>> so i'm trying to figure out what a resolution to this might look like. if trump said to the democrats, give me the 5 billion, i'll give you anything you want, daca, whatever you want in terms of immigration policy. would that work? what in your mind would realistically compromise look like where both sides could walk away and legitimately say i won. >> i think that number, the 1.3, the 1.6 that has been tossed around. whatever donald trump says, don't trust it. you don't want to look like you're capitulating and be standing at the end with nothing left. you mentioned daca. that's so important. when have we really been talking about daca in this whole conversation about shutdown and immigration reform? that seems to be off the table. maybe daca or something like infrastructure is the sort of policy that both democrats and republicans could come together on and show some victory.

the truth of the matter is, just to do to a policy point for a second, the united states has experienced the slowest population growth in the last 80 years according to a report. it's perhaps smart to consider that immigrants are going to be a significant part of this country's future prosperity. if we do not engage this immigration issue head on and maybe tie it to this conversation about the wall, then we're in real peril here that goes well beyond the shutdown. whether it's the 5 billion or it's something lower, democrats are going to have to come to the table. >> congressman, i want to get your reaction to something. the president has tweet ed. happy new year to everyone including the haters and the fake news media. 2019 will be a fantastic year for those not suffering from trump derangement syndrome.

just calm down and enjoy the ride. great things are happening for our country. that is his message to america to start out the new year. any thoughts about that? >> lovely. i would prefer just a happy new year everyone. let's all try and get on the same page and work together because we're one country. >> okay. i like that tweet. happy new year. >> thank you. up next, the revolving door at the white house. we'll look at the help wanted signs still hanging and all of the new faces coming into the administration. before we go our own lester holt was part of a group of journalists who joined new york city mayor bill de blasio on a very rainy night in times square pushing the button and officially dropping the ball to ring in the new year. ♪ ♪ i never count the wrinkles. and i don't add up the years.

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on the first day of this new year, the trump administration has a lot of new faces and that means a number of high profile and likely contentious confirmation hearing are coming down the pike really soon. at the justice department matthew whittaker is the acting attorney general but the president says he intends to nominate bill barr to that post. patrick shanahan is the acting

secretary of defense as of today. could he be a permanent replacement? that's an open question. add to that list likely confirmation hearings for a new epa administrator, a new interior secretary and a new u.n. ambassador. that's all going to be quite a challenge for the new acting white house chief of staff mick mulvaney. joining me chris whipple, author of the gate keepers. republican congressman ryan costello. also i looked at this list and said wow. as if mick mulvaney didn't have enough to do. >> exactly. it's the endless revolving door. >> we've never seen anything like this at this opponent in a path presidency. >> we never have. let us count the things donald trump has not learned in his first two years. one is that you cannot govern

effectively without empowering a white house chief. it's clear he's trading one ineffeskffective unempowered ch for another one. donald trump has not learned the fundamentalle lesson of his fir two years. that is that there's a difference between campaigning and governing. john kelly has said what every reasonable person knows, which is that you cannot build a wall from sea to shining sea. it's a crack pot idea. everybody knows it. and yet the government is being held hostage to that notion. it's the kind of thing that a white house chief of staff should go in, close the door and tell the president, cut it out. you've got to govern here. >> i'm not sure that hasn't happened. but i think to your point, if you look at him on the foreign stage for example, where he cannot wait to get out of there and gets home, versus when he

goes out and does what is a campaign style rally, it's like two different human beings. let's talk about some of these appointments. like whittaker, it got a lot of attention. but the expected nomination of bill barr has flown under the bar radar a little bit. barr once said that a physical board wall would be overkill. >> with so many trump presidency policy battles that ultimately the personality of the president or the president, the tweeter, basically overrides any policy disruptions or disputes. but over the next month or two months i think this is going to be the single most important inflection point on trump presidency policies, because you're going to have senators

querying environmental, justice including the mueller investigation to a certain extent and the southern district of new york investigation. i mentioned environmental, justice. and then foreign policy. the syria withdrawal, which i think he's backtracked a little bit, as well as the role of nato and how we're going to respond to russia and china and middle east unrest is all going to be on display in terms of what is the policy and allowing a lot of senators who are running for president to be able to proclaim where and why they dispute and to see which republican senators also disagree with some of the president's policies. i think the next two months is going to be extremely news worthy on the policy side. no matter what the president tweets or no matter what personality type stuff he throws up, he's not in those hearings. that's going to be an extremely interesting time.

>> he also does it in the context of this swirl of investigations around the white house. >> i think it's incredibly important to focus on the ag right now pau. he doesn't know the difference between politics, campaigning and gochbvernance. >> and he doesn't understand who works for him and who is supposed to be independent of him. >> that's exact hi rigly right. >> see fed chairman. >> that's exactly right. the problem now is, number one, with all of these departures, who is actually left to do the job. who wants to take the job and put their reputations on the line. you're going to have a number of sycophants who all they want to do is please the president. that is not good for the country. for the attorney general generals and appointees, you're going to see a white house that's increasingly sort of

going into the bunker. >> we've all heard john kelly and others who are leaving sort of making their little comments, their opinions known about the president. in some cases it's other people close to them making opinions known. the after the fact criticism of president trump seems self-serving, a way for trump enablers to rebuild their reputations and find new jobs. does it have any real world impact whether it is in the way that members of congress approach him, in people who will or more like hi will not accept any kind of overture to be nominated for a position. what's the real world impact? >> i think we have a tendency to overlook a really significant development. that was james mattis's

resignation. in all the chaos we almost have forgotten about it. it's triemendously significant. it wasn't about syria. this is the first time in history that a defense secretary has repudiated a president's entire world view. >> it's worth noting that in his new year's message, the acting defense secretary shanahan says he looks forward to working with president trump to carry out his vision. >> i think the mattis resignation, we will look back and say maybe this was the first shot below the water line of the trump presidency and that other cracks will develop. i agree with representative costello that we may be reaching an inflection point. i think everybody republican has to now look in the mirror and ask him or herself which side of history he or she is on. when you have mattis making a declaration like that, it's no

longer enough to say, well, trump's crazy but it's our agenda. it's not their agenda. that's the message that mattis sends. >> the one thing that i do worry about is the rise of personal diplomacy and politics and how much that has a role in this white house. but there's also one thing to remember. most of the folks that work for government, we all care about the service. we all care about public service. you see with mattis and others that there are folks who really do care about where this country is going and about their reputations also. you don't get the sense with mulvaney and others that they actually care about that. it seems like it's for that personal enrichment. >> in his new year's message tweet the president goes after fake news. but 41 times since his inauguration he has given interviews to fox news. that tells you a little bit about who his audience is and

where he is getting a lot of his information. thanks to both of you. up next, we're barely eight hours into the new year and people are already looking ahead to 2020. why elizabeth warren's entry into the race has president trump already in attack mode. a look at how they celebrated new years across the pond. london, england, big ben chiming and fireworks that lasted a full ten minutes. himing and fireworks that lasted a full ten minutes. they should be playing outside ...not hurting inside. thanks to you, st. jude children's research hospital

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we want a government that works not just for the rich and a powerful. we want a government that works for everyone. and we can make that happen. we have to do it together. i think that's how we win. >> late yesterday that was the first time we heard from elizabeth warren following her official announcement ofatory c strategy for 2020. on the other side of the ticket, president trump, who signalled he's not worried about

potentially facing warren next year. >> well, i'm happy about it. i think she'll be wonderful. i hope she gets the nomination. that will be a wonderful thing for me. >> she says she's in the fight all the way. do you really believe she can win? >> that i don't know. you'd have to ask her psychiatrist. >> i'm pausing here for dramatic effect. joining me now julia manchester and matt welch. matt, there's so much i could say about what he just said there, but i'm going to not do the low hanging fruit. this is the first of what could be a dozen, 20, who knows announcements like this. the "new york times" wrote, the party has no single leader, no obvious front runner for 2020 and no broadly unifying ideology after it moves away from a quarter century of dominance by the clintons and barack obama.

is that an advantage? >> the advantage the democratic party has right now is donald trump, which is to say he's sort of mired in 40% approval ratings. if you look at the midterm results in november, they matched the approval ratings of donald trump pretty closely. as long as the democratic party -- and i say this as a non-democrat so i don't have the same sense of terror that democrats do. as long as the democratic party doesn't nominate someone who is a widely polarizing or widely loathed figure in the same way that hillary clinton was in 2016, they have a pretty decent shot at it. but there are some open questions that she represents. you could see it in the clip there too. is the democratic party going to be about economic populism? is it a response to trumpian populism? is that the beating heart of the democratic party? >> sometimes those two get lumped in together. they're very different on a whole range of issues, bernie

and elizabeth warren. i hadn't really thought about the use of the word terror, but i do think it's correct, anybody who's been out talking to democratic activists, there is a real concern that they've got all these candidates but they're not going to pick the one who can beat donald trump. i mean, warren would be the progressive candidate among many democrats considering running. how much is the idealogical split going to play into this and to its advantage or disadvantage on the democratic side? >> i think you're going to see a very big idealogical split on what could be a very potentially big field. you're already seeing it play out. you're hearing a lot of talk about beto o'rourke and a lot of sanders and warren supporters already slamming him for not being progressive enough. then a lot of talk around potential candidates such as vice president biden or senator sherrod brown.

two potential candidates who are very familiar with the rust belt of the u.s. and could potentially flip back voters who voted in president obama in 2012 and went for trump in 2016. it's interesting with warren's announcement and the president's reaction because the president is playing once again to those rust belt voters, those fiscally conservative but wanting more populism. he's trying to play to those voters and so are sanders and warren. but at the same time i think it's just going to be difficult to find a candidate that can play to those voters but at the same time try to get into a more diverse field. >> if you're looking at the primaries early polling suggests that democrats want a fresh face. that's troublesome for a lot of people. the biggest take away from that "wall street journal" survey of iowa democratic county leaders

is that they want generational change. chris henning, the 71-year-old democratic chairwoman in green county said they're all too old. it's not white bread america anymore. we've got to get with the program. as vanity fair puts it, even the olds don't want the olds to run. >> one thing that donald trump should have taught us is that the voting public out there wants to have a consumer experience. a lot of political pundits don't like to talk about this, but they want to feel a certain way by voting. barack obama made democrats feel a certain way by voting. the response to beto o'rourke and his campaign among people who don't live anywhere near texas, he made them feel a certain way. they got excited about it. does joe biden create that excitement? i'm not so sure.

does i h >> i do think that the generational question is a fascinating one, because all you had to do was go to a bernie sanders rally. i covered him for five or six months. the demographics of that were very different than most of the other campaigns, certainly different than donald trump's. having said that, take a look at the ages that some of the democratic candidates would be when they took office if they won. biden 78, sanders 79, elizabeth warren, 71. michael bloomberg, 78. you're looking at an electorate that the democrats will tell you they have to hold onto those new, young voters. will they vote for somebody who's going to be 70 or well into their 70s, in their 80s wile th while they're president of the united states? >> i think a lot of the polling with joe biden and bern as front

runners is essentially about name recognition right now. i think it's a bit early for democrats to have to worry about that age gap. at the same time i think that's why you're seeing a lot of democrats look to beto o'rourke. the problem with him is he lost his senate bid. >> i also think it's an experience question. a lot of the folks i talked to including who voted for trump and backed off say they underestimated the value of experience. >> yeah. it's definitely an experience question. but i would also say that it's interesting that biden, o'rourke and sanders, the top three contenders in this race in polling right now are all three white men. you're seeing the democratic party really want to try to cater toward more of a diversity message. there's a moment of reckoning that democrats are going to have to go through. i think kamala harris is someone we've seen risen in the polls lately. there's chat that she's set to announce relatively soon.

she's proven to be a very effective potential candidate. coming up, in two days a new crop of congressmen and women will be sworn in. while many come in with the high hopes and dreams of shaking up the system, the outgoing members have a message for them. >> don't come here thinking you're going to change the world overnight. >> if you think you have all the answers, your egois t is the fi thing you'll lose. >> if you're not at the table, you're on the menu. >> if i told you i were running for congress, what would you tell me? >> don't. >> dubai's iconic building brought back their stunning fireworks and light show after having them suspended last year over security concerns. m suspen over security concerns as a fitness junkie, i customize everything -

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trump trade war with china, worried about the fed and interest rates, concerned that the president would fire fed chief jerome powell. here's what your the dow and s&p 500 lost around 6 president, n 6%, the nasdaq wefell 4% for 20. >> we all are hoping that. it may be. but the volatility is going to continue and we have to get used to that. the stock market -- >> we don't want to get used to that. >> i know that, but here's the thing. we only get to practice a bear market every five or ten years or so and they're normal. the problem is it's coming now with so much uncertainty caused by congress, the administration and so forth. it's just really a challenging time to figure out where earnings are going and where the

economy is going. >> let me stop you there. how much of the turmoil is caused by the president's tweets, by some of the flip-flops on policy, by the statements he makes, for example, about trade? how much of it is about that? >> part of it. a lot of it has to do with that, but it's the reaction to that that's the key. remember the market moves based on people's financial behavior whether they're buying or selling on any given business day. when they're really uncertain about who the fed chairman is going to be and where the market is going and tariffs and so forth and who's running the administration from a secretary standpoint, it's really creating a lot more uncertainty and i think people are showing that in their voting with the dollars. in december we broke a bunch of records. we broke records on volatility in the last ten years, the worst downturn in the last ten years, the worst christmas eve day

ever. we also broke records on outflows of stocks and stock funds in the last 15 years. people cash out closer to the bottom. it's the worst thing that you could do is cash out after the fact. >> when you look at the overall state of the economy -- look most indicators are pretty healthy. unemployment at 3.7%. gdp grew in the fourth quarter. inflation up 2%. what are you looking at in 2019? what should the average investor be watching for? >> what's remarkable is you've got to look at corporate earnings. not corporate earnings this month, this corner, but corporate earnings over the next two or three years. the stock market will be priced based on the perception of where earnings will be in the future. what i'm encouraging individual investors to do is they're about to get their december statements whether it be the fourth quarter statements for their 401(k)'s or

their december statements from their brokerage accounts. it's going to be the scariest dollar loss that a lot of people have experienced in ten years. don't concentrate on the dollar loss from the peak that maybe you had over the summer. i would concentrate on the time that you've lost. for most people, they've lost maybe what they gained in the last 15 or 16 months or so. we didn't lose ten years worth in december. so concentrate on that and then rebalance periodically. >> barry glassman happy new year. >> happy new year. >> thank you. up next, a new crop of congress members set to be sworn in at the end of the week. documentary film maker alexandra pelosi got outgoing members to sit down and offered a vice to incoming members. and believe me, they do not hold back. me, they do not hold back

to call what we're about to see in congress a shake-up may be an understatement. huge gains for the democrats.

at the center of this drama is this young freshman class promising to shake up washington. are they really ready for what's in store? documentary filmmaker and producer alexander pelosi, daughter of nancy pelosi, got an insiders point of view for a new special on vice news tonight on hbo called good-bye congress. take a look. >> would you recommend this job to a friend? >> ha. >> if you love this job so much, why are you quitting? >> 30 years is a long time. i'm ready to try something new. >> i got elected, i think i was 37. now i feel like i'm 77 years old. >> when did you come here? >> in '82. >> why did you stay so long? >> because i enjoy it. how can you not like this place? >> i can give you a lot of reasons. >> alexandra pelosi joins me.

this is her 13th documentary. it is fascinating other. so let's talk, you were saying off camera republicans were a little more forthcoming than the democrats. >> oh, for sure. i think it's just liberating to leave. i think a lot of these members felt like they finally just got to let it all out. they no longer have to play the political game. i feel like every incoming mother of congress needs to watch the show to learn the lessons the people who have spent decades serving there could do. i think every american should watch because i think washington is a very complicated system and people don't understand. it's easy to say i'll make all the change. there's a system in place. it's very darwinian. they have to learn the rules. as my mother says, first learn how to play the game, then learn how to win the game. there's a lot of new members. these outgoing members of copping a

congress with willing to share what they learned. >> don't underestimate the importance of building relationships. having said that, that's probably one of the common themes you hieard. if there were a couple of things you took away, even as somebody who livemillid in a household w you get what it's like what did you learn? >> i think a lot of people think they say i'm going to make all this change. you have to get a committee assignment. there are two teams. you're on one team or the other team. you need to decide if you're going to have a district agenda or washington agenda. are you going to just advocate to do the best you can for this district? you need to figure out how to maneuver through the washington system. what all these members need to learn is what committee you get on. and how it affects the change

you say you're going to make. well, first, you need to learn how can i affect this change. is it going to be insider or outsider? the district person or the washington person? there are a lot of decisions about how they're going to play the gaem. >> there are quite a few new members of congress. i mean, as an american, i was a journalist, just as an american, i'm enthusiastic about fresh ideas, really smart people, really committed to make things better for the people in their districts. the real check is about to set in. you spoke with paul ryan and others about advice for the freshman class which i love. let's listen. >> this is a meritocracy. do not be a generalist, be a specialist. >> put your big girl pants on and don't let the suckers get you down. >> i need you to be my yoda. what can you teach me about how

washington works? >> you can't get run over if you use the tunnel. >> what does that mean? >> that means there are no reporters in the tunnel. >> ouch. no reporters in the tunnel. in terms of advice for the freshman class, is there sort of a consensus among the people that you talked to that they really don't know what they're getting themselves into? >> absolutely. it's what you learned in kindergarten. you need to make friends. a lot come rolling in firebomb style, and it's important you need to make friends on both sides. that's important. if you want to make any change. you're not going to be able to do it just by sticking with your people. you have to make friends. >> i am going to sit down and watch this. i am really interested. on vice news tonight. the special, good-bye congress. tonight or tomorrow night? tomorrow night, 7:30 eastern time. good to see you. >> thank you for having me. >> coming up, the mueller

investigation approaching its second year but signs seem to indicate it will be wrapping up soon. what can we expect from the special counsel in the new year? but, before we go, last night, seattle shrugged off the grunge to celebrate the new year. the space needle lit up with a $30 million light show. is that right? or is it 30 minute light show? 30 minute light show. the dollar word in that script was extraneous. never theless, look how spectacular. we'll be right back. 'll be righ. (danny) let me get this straight.

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good morning. happy new year. i'm chris jansing in for stephanie ruhle. we've got a lot to cover. starting with this new claim by president trump that he's just waiting to negotiate an end to the partial government shutdown that's now stretched into the new year. in the president's version of this shutdown stalemate, it's democrats who aren't doing their jobs. >> i'm in washington. i'm ready, willing and able. i'm in the white house. i'm ready to go. they can come over right now. they could have come over any time. i spent christmas in the white house. i spent new year's eve now in the white house. you know, i'm here. >> plus, about face? just days after saying he'd withdraw u.s. troops from syria, president trump now says it's not going to happen