still no movement in the stand offin the impeachment trial. >> the submit within the evangelical community after a popular christian magazine calls for the president's removal. the magazine is doubling down as the president's christian supporters hit back. >> and former national security adviser john bolton calls out the trump administration over its north korea policy as we learn more about the quote christmas gift the north has threatened. good monday morning, everyone. it is december 23rd.

i'm ayman mohyeldin, we begin this morning with democrats who are using newly-released emails about the holding of military aid to ukraine in pressuring of witnesses in the trial. and 90 minutes after the president's controversial phone call with the president of the ukraine, the white house fired off an email to the pentagon to hold off on releasing the aid. the white house also wanted to keep it quiet, with budget official mike duffy writing quote, given the sensitive nature of the request i appreciate you keeping that information closely held for those who need to know to execute the direction. duffy is one of the white house officials who refused to comply with house subpoenas to testify. during the impeachment inquiry. now, democrats are hoping that the emails will help bolster their case in the standoff with mitch mcconnell. >> this email is explosive. a top administration official, one that we requested, as saying

stop the aid, 91 minutes after trump called zelensky, and said keep it hush-hush. what more do you need to request a witness? >> does it make sense then to have mick mulvaney an his deputies testify though and give some clarity to this. >> i think it is kind of ironic to say that we have an air-tight case, nancy pelosi says we have an air-tight case and now says we demand more witnesses. how do you reconcile those two statements? and so the reality is, our administration is anxious to get back to work for the american people. we want to see a trial in the senate. because we want to see the president gets exonerated. >> is there anything you can do to move this trial along or do you have to wait for pelosi to do what she is going to have to do. >> i'm confident her position is untenable and she will move it along and mitch mcconnell will proceed in the senate. >> do you think she will eventually give in. >> she will eventually yield.

there is no way she can hold the position. >> i frankly don't think the speaker has the right to do this or the power to do. >> this the speaker has a lot of power. but once the house has spoken, the speaker doesn't get the decision as to whether or not she transmits that decision to the senate in my view. >> now, after the email about the ukraine aid, the white house budget office released a statement claiming quote, it's reckless to tie the hold of funds to the phone call, as has been established and publicly reported, the hold was announced in an inter-agency meeting on july 18. to pull a line out of one email and fail to address the context is misleading an inaccurate. >> when pressed yesterday, vice president mike pence's chief of staff mike short would not give a direct answer in whether president trump believes ukraine meddled in the 2016 election. >> does president trump still believe that it was ukraine, not russia, that interfered in the 2016 election? >> chris, it doesn't have to be an either or.

it can be both. but that reporting was again miserable reporting by the "washington post." we've requested $250 million in aid to ukraine. if congress did its job and completed their spending bill on september 30th, we would have had it then. >> you said it doesn't have to be either/or. forget the question of russia, does the president believe that ukraine interfered in the 2016 election. >> he thinks we should at least investigate it, chris. >> you say well, we should still investigate. every major u.s. intelligence agency says it was russia that interfered in the election. during the house in tem committee hearing a member of the senate -- let me finish, a member of the trump national security council fiona hill says this idea that ukraine interfered in the election is kremlin disinformation. so why does the president think it is still worth investigating whether ukraine did something? >> why don't we try to find the bottom line and the answers, we're not questioning russia's interference, we're accepting

that and because russia interfered doesn't mean others didn't as well. >> they're saying, and fiona hill, that the whole question of ukraine is russian disinformation and in fact, according to reporting, you may say was inaccurate, putin supposedly in a meeting this he had in germany, told the president that it was ukraine, and he apparently said to some people in the administration, putin told me it's ukraine. >> i read that again, reporting of the "washington post," i never heard that, i believe that there can be, just because you're saying, you know, my house was robbed last night means your house couldn't have been robbed last night. it is quite possible that both were interfering in the elections and why not investigate that. >> well, just before heading to florida for the holidays, the president retweeted a link to an article on friday, where russian president vladimir putin defended him against impeachment. trump tweeted, a total witch hunt. as he shared the associated press report entitled breaking russian president vladimir putin says, u.s. president donald trump's impeachment is far-fetched and predicts the u.s. senate will reject it.

and russian state television joined putin's defense of the impeached president, praising trump's six-page letter to nancy pelosi calling him a highly educated multiple of best sellers who wrote the letter to for future generations. >> president trump has accepted nancy pelosi's invitation to deliver the state of the union on tuesday, february 4th. sent the letter to trump on friday, days after the house accused him of abuse of power and obstruction of congress. the timing means that trump could deliver the annual address as the senate presides over his impeachment trial. in january, 1999, when bill clinton gave his state of the union address while facing impeachment, he did not mention impeachment once in his address and the upcoming state of the union address is taking place a day after the iowa caucus which is the first time democratic voters begin to pick their nominee, to take on trump later in november. joining us now from washington, managing editor at the washington examiner, jay

caruso, an early good morning to you. let's get into this here. because you start with an op-ed on nancy pelosi's decision to keep control of the impeachment process and at least for now, here is what you write, quote. the hold the articles gambit is a terrific example of washington insider nonsense that is a nonstarter in the hinterlands or even the suburbs. the idea will fail and mcconnell will sit back smiling and think of napoleon who said never interrupt your enemy when he is making a mistake. elaborate on that. and also what you think would have to happen for some republican senators to rethink all of this and defy the norm for republicans, and remove the president. >> well, look, basically, i get the idea that democrats want what they consider to be a fair trial in the senate. but in this respect, just as republicans are complaining about the process going on in the house, well the house has

full control over how impeachment operates, the senate has full control over how the senate trial operates and whether or not you think mitch mcconnell will be a fair arbiter in that role really is irrelevant. he gets to do it. so i don't see how this works. also, it kind of contradicts the entire argument the democrats are making that we can't wait. this is something that is urgent. our democracy is at stake. well, now, all of a sudden, we can hold off and until you guys do what we want you to do. so i don't think it will work out. i think nancy pelosi is probably, it is probably a little tactical move, where she is hinting that it will happen, and i think at some point they will reach an agreement that they will be quiet and things will go on. as far as in the u.s., about the state of the union address, when you talk about that, it is going to be interesting to see if trump goes offscript. i think people who will write his address will probably be in campaign mode. you're going to hear a lot about what the economy is doing, the

unemployment rate, not just for overall, but the unemployment rate in the african-american community, hispanic community, the stock market. i think you're going to hear more about that than any kind of railing against impeachment. but as you know, trump has been known to go offscript before and he may do it. he may throw in a jab in there, at times, but we don't really know. >> let me piggyback quickly off of of the second part of the question, about republicans and what it might take, for any republican senator to possibly break away unduly unexpected here and put some pressure in the senate on mitch mcconnell, whether it is mitt romney or any of the senators facing re-election and say they want a fair trial, and perhaps even vote to remove the president from office? >> if there is anyone with may do it, it may be mitt romney, and because he is insulated and if trump doesn't get removed and gets re-elected and romney still votes to remove him, romney will be there still after stump is

gone so he is safe. after trump is gone so he is safe. and what will happen, they will get somebody who is much more extreme, that will lose to the democrat in the general election. i'm not sure that anything can happen. the email comes out there may be some tie-in withholding up the aid. i think everybody knows that. trump says read the transcript and everybody who has read the transcript pretty much can say, yeah, you wanted an investigation of joe biden and we learned you were holding up aid to do it. so i think everybody knows that. so i'm not sure how much more can come out. but you may see mitt romney break away. maybe lisa murkowski but i think that is probably about it. >> jay caruso, you're clear for now. see you again in a little bit. >> thanks. in an exclusive interview with axios, john bolton sounding the alarm on the administration's north korea policy. in fact, bolton criticized his former employer, telling axios news quote, the idea that we are

somehow exerting maximum pressure on north korea is just unfortunately not true. and that the white house should take the unusual step of admitting that its policy failed. bolton's candid remarks come as north korea is threatening quote, a christmas gift which could be the country's first test of a long range nuclear missile according to the u.s. air force's top general in the asia-pacific region. president trump and north korean leader kim jong-un have met three times since 2018 but so far failed to reach a deal on the reclusive country's nuclear program. still ahead, a white house official is defending president trump, following backlash over comments suggesting late congressman john dingell is looking up from hell. we will show you how his widow, congressman debbie dingell is responding. >> plus, as hanukkah begin, jewish members of congress are calling for the resignation of the white house senior adviser steven miller over emails that surfaced last month displaying

his support for white nationalism. those stories and a check on weather when we come back. k on weather when we come back.

the department of health and human services is reportedly sharing data with i.c.e. to allow the immigration agency to target adults seeking to claim unaccompanied children back from the government shelters. according to the "washington post," hhs has allowed i.c.e. agents to collect minute fingerprints and/or bio metric information from these adults if they're eligible to take a migrant children, they may use the information to deport them. and it could strengthen the hhs office for refugee settlement for enforcement and deportation. the initiative has not been announced publicly but was introduced by steven miller, a key architect of trump's immigration policy. miller has long argued that the refugee resettlement office is being exploited by parents who bring their children into the u.s. illegally by hiring

smugglers. and 25 jewish members of congress are calling for steven miller's resignation after reports last month, detailed miller's support of white nationalism and other anti-immigration stances. the report by the southern poverty law center showed miller sent more than 900 emails to bryant leading up to the 2016 election, urging the publication to look into the alt right literature and more than 100 other democratic congressman and several civil rights groups have called for miller's resser nation. the democratic congressman writes, with america experiencing historic levels of anti-semitism, kpeeno phobia and white extremity ty, it should not be there. and this is an attack on the you shall member of the attack, and the jewish congressmen address the claim in the letter saying quote we are deeply troubled that your administration is

claiming that legitimate criticism of miller is anti-semitism because miller is jewish. whennenizing anti-semitism is dangerous, by muddying the waters, we are no longer able to fight against those in our midst. >> let's go to weather right now and a check of all of that, with nbc meteorologist janessa webb. >> we have a lot of key in the northeast trying to hit the roadways and get to their destination for the holiday, but we do have soaking rain, for the southeast, unfortunately, and it has been all weekend long, we have already seen about five to six inches across southern georgia. the great news is the storm system is starting to let up. but we're also going to continue to watch these bands really affecting myrtle beach and into the carolinas as well. so if you have flights out of atlanta, this morning, you are going to see some minor delays. but accumulation will start to

let up in that area. locally, we could still see another five to eight inches across charleston, so that is another hub, if you're trying to get out of there, even myrtle beach, you're going to see these delays. now, we're seeing this kind of thaw/freeze effect, if you're hitting the roadways, you need to take it slow this morning before temperatures start to warm up. i do want to talk about the travel concerns, as these two major storm systems really start to pick up, for the pacific northwest, and the one for the southeast, again, will start to push out. so we are watching jacksonville, florida, to charlotte as well, as this system pushes offshore. and also, the wind gusts, they're going to pick up to about 35, 40 miles an hour, so that could cause some delays as well. and now, this next system, for the pacific northwest, has hasn't even started yet. it will flow in, lax and san diego as well, the bay could see

a little bit of rain. but the higher elevations we're talking about a foot of accumulation. so flood advisories if they're in place across the carolinas, in georgia, as well. and we do have a big time warmup. if you're in the northeast, ohio valley, this is a prime time with your forecast. if you were looking for snow -- >> we're not going to get it. >> it is not happening. >> no white christmas, i guess. >> no. >> thank you very much. still ahead mayor pete buttigieg remains a target for fellow democratic candidates after clashes on last week's debate stage. we are back in a moment with that story and more. more.e bea♪ it looks like emily cooking dinner for ten. ♪the beat goes on it looks like jonathan on a date with his wife. ♪la-di-la-di-di entresto is a heart failure medicine that helps your heart, so you can keep on doing what you love. entresto helped people stay alive and out of the hospital. heart failure can change the structure of your heart, so it may not work as well.

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senator bernie sanders is hitting mayor pete buttigieg on the campaign trail over the napa valley wine cave fundraiser. watch this. >> we don't have a super pac. we don't want a super-pac. we don't go to rich people's wine caves. this is a campaign of the working class of this country, by the working class and for the working class. >> now, since the photo surfaced before thursday's debate, top targets for sanders campaign have criticized buttigieg and wore t-shirts about the wine

cave in the spin room and this is the most direct attack by a democratic candidate in the race. >> amy klobuchar took on mayor pete buttigieg after their clash on the debate stage on thursday saying experience does matter. >> i pointed out to him that experience does matter. that is how we got the consumer financial protection bureau, because of elizabeth's work, or two people who weren't on that stage the last time, cory booker's work, on the first step back, which will help get a lot of people out of prison who shouldn't have been there or kamala harris's work helping consumers in california. i think the fact that someone has experience can be a really good thing right now. and would he have a president who went in there with no, and we have a president who went in there with no experience and has done nothing when it comes to helping regular people. >> mayor pete defended his comments from the campaign event in california. >> i will throw an elbow when i

have to. that's starting to happen in the debates a little bit. and i don't mind defending myself. and we will point out the very real differences between me and this president. between somebody who comes from the industrial midwest. and somebody who pretends to care about workers but continues to preside over a policy where corporations are now paying negative taxes and workers can't get a raise. >> and vice president mike pence's chief of staff defended president trump yesterday after he received backlash for his comments last week about the late michigan congressman john dingell. >> debbie dingell, that's a real beauty, so she calls me up, eight months ago, her husband was there a long time, i didn't give him the b treatment, i didn't give him the c, or the d, i could have, nobody would, have you know, i gave him the a plus treatment, take down the flags. why are you taking them down? ex congressman dingell. oh, okay. do this, do that, do that. rotunda, everything. i gave him everything.

that's okay. i don't want anything for it. i don't need anything for anything. she calls me up. it's the greatest thing that has ever happened. thank you so much. john would be so thrilled. he's looking down, thank you so much, sir. and i said that's okay, don't worry about it. maybe he's looking up, i don't know. >> i think the president sis saying john dingell is not exactly a wall flower and called im bess ill, the president, in the later months and he called debbie dingell and lowered flags to half mast and i think in the midst of an impeachment vote, that is something that came up in his rally speech. >> i spoke to the congressman debbie dingell last night about the president's comments about her late husband and this is what she had to say. >> we can use this as a learning

moment for our country, which i am really worried about, the division, the fear and hatred that is dividing us, and it can get people to think about trying to bring civility back, to take a deep breath, before you say something that is cutting or cruel, and maybe something good comes of something that was difficult. and that's what i'm sort of hoping comes out of this. >> positive thinking there but i think that ship has sailed when it comes to donald trump. i don't know. just me. a christian magazine is defending its call for president trump to be removed from office as evangelical supporters sound off against the publication. a majority of americans support the house's decision to impeach president trump while a key democratic senator says he is still on the fence ahead of the trial in the upper chamber. those stories and much more next. e next when we see you enter through our doors,

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welcome back, everyone. the christian magazine that called for the president's removal is defending its decision to speak out even as the president's evangelical supporters are pushing back. the op-ed was from the editor in chief of christianity today who called the president quote profoundly immoral, there he is yesterday, discussing that a bit further. >> i'm not really speaking politically, i'm making a political judgment about him, because that is not our expertise at christianity today, i am making a moral judgment that he is morally unfit, or even more precisely, it is his public morality that makes him

unfit because all of us, anybody in leadership has, none of us are perfect, we're not looking for saints, we do have private sins, ongoing patterns of behavior, that reveal themselves in our private life, that we're all trying to work on, but a president has certain responsibilities as a public figure, to display a certain level of public character, and public morality. >> on the heels of that, the magazine's president and ceo is speaking out, in the ed troerl published yesterday, and he writes this. let me protect against two misunderstandings. the problem is not that we as evangelicals are associated with the trump administration's judicial appointments or its advocacy of life, family and religious liberty. we are happy toe celebrate the positive things the administration has accomplished. the problem is, we as evangelicals are also associated with president trump's rampant immorality, greed, and corruption, and his divisiveness

and his race baiting, his cruelty and hostility to immigrants and refugees, and more. in other words, the problem is the wholeheartedness of the embrace. it is one thing to praise his accomplishments, it is another to excuse and deny his obvious misuses of power. more than 100 evangelicals who support the president signed on a letter saying quote, your editorial offensively questioned the spiritual integrity and christian witness of tens of millions of believers who take seriously their civic and moral obligations. it is up to us and those evangelicals like us to decide if we should subscribe to, advertise in, and read your publication onlin and in print, because historically we have been your readers. the president attacked the magazine in a series of tweets, one calling it a far left publication and vowing never to read it again and another tweet, i guess the magazine christianity today is looking for elizabeth warren, bernie sanders or those of the

socialist communist bent to guard their region. how about sleepy joe? a majority of americans say they approve of the house voting to impeach president trump last week. according to the latest poll. 52% of registered voters approve of the impeachment. 43% disapprove of the house's vote. support broken down by party includes 17% of republicans, 48% of independents, and 85% of democrats. and 51% of voters said that they would approve of the senate voting to remove president trump from office, 42% said that they would disapprove. those who approve of removing trump from office including 70% of republicans, 47% of independents, and 86% of democrats. joining us now from washington, d.c. once again managing editor at the washington examiner magazine, jay caruso. let's start with the impeachment numbers, a slight majority, 51%

said they would favor the senate voting to remove the president. how influential is public opinion over the senator's vote? >> i have been asked this question before, and i have said before, and i still agree, that if this goes on, and it starts getting to a point where you're getting up to 58, 59, 60%, then i think you're going to see a lot of movement, and people are going to start scurrying for cover, but i think if you continue to say, and they fluctuate, anywhere from 48 to 51, 52, if it stays within that range which is kind of in the direct middle, then i don't think you're going to see many senators move towards that. democrats will be happy, and i think a lot of people will be satisfied if we can get fur or five republicans to vote for remove and that way you won't be removed from office but you can say there is a majority of people in the senate who say he should be removed. it didn't happen with bill clinton so it will be interesting if it will happen with donald trump. but i don't think you get to that point until you get closer

to the 58 to 59%, and with that new news that comes out over the christmas break and the new years break, perhaps it could, i don't know but perhaps, it has gone up, and it has leveled off and moved a few points here and there, and i'm not sure at this point, no, probably not, it is not going to do anything in the senate. >> i want to get back to the editorial that was put out by clir christianity today. do you think that will resonate with evangelical voters. are evangelicals putting policy over morality and isn't morality the tent pole around which evangelicals and their lives, the way they choose to live their lives, isn't that what it is based on? >> yes. and i want it read something, very quickly here, just give me a couple of seconds. i want to read it to you. how foolish to believe that a person who lacks honesty and moral integrity is qualified to lead a nation and the world. nevertheless, our people continue to say that the president is doing a good job, even if they don't respect him personally, those two positions are fundamentally incompatible.

and the author of that is james dobson, one of the 200 evangelical leaders who signed the letter criticizing christianity tad for their case, he said that about bill clinton in 1998. >> oh, wow. >> so what you see here, and i'm going to be very blunt about this, these people who are signing this letter, they're a bunch of liars because i'm old enough to have remembered the 1990s, where everybody said, it's not about, it's not about the policy, we are not opposed to bill clinton's policies, it is about the morality. they kaept saying, kept says he is a fundamentally immoral person who couldn't be trusted to lead the nation and now we are seeing a shift that says we've gotten good judges and we have the embassy moved to jerusalem and all of these other things that we like, so therefore, we're going to kind of shrug off the bad stuff and continue to embrace him and i thought that letter was disgraceful. if the editors of christianity

today want to write a letter that will focus on the morality of president trump, let them say that. to sit there and criticize them, and play the victim, it is just, it angers me. >> how do you square what they're saying? i mean to your point, why is the evangelicals taking this position? can you get a grip on that? >> look, if they want to sit there, and say, you know what, we don't care about his morality, we like the policies, that would be more honest. but when i start saying people, especially on social media, they care him, god views david and saul as vessels for good, and you are now to the point of comparing donald trump to king david or paul? it is absurd. just sit there be and be honest. that might be a position i disagree with but i would have a little more respect for it. >> powerful. thank you. more on north korea, as it

once again ratchets up its rhetoric against the united states. nbc's moll hunter has the latest on the long range nuclear missiles on what the regime calls, quote, a christmas gift. >> the reclusive strongman kim jong-un meeting with top military officials as the u.s. braces for the christmas gift threat promised by north korea. u.s. officials tracking north korea's actions hour by hour waiting for a test of a long range missile capable of reach can u.s. >> today we have very high levels of readiness and the models for the u.s. forces increases tonight. >> saying that test is imminent. >> commercial satellite photos are showing sbrochimprovements past associated with ballistic missiles including a temporary structure that could accommodate a launcher arm. >> talks have faultered and kim jong-un mounted a white house,

climbing the tallest mountain in the country signaling an important decision. >> a war with north korea could cause hundreds of thousands of casualties and the option of sanctions on the north korean re gem has been all but exhausted. >> president trump has hailed this as the signature foreign policy achievement and experts say a test now could signal the final breakdown of diplomatic talks. molly hunter, nbc news, washington. still ahead, a new report from axios about former security john bolton saying that the trump administration is bluffing about stopping north korea's nuclear ambitions. still ahead only seven candidates made the cut for last week's democratic debate and there is a chance that even fewer will qualify for the next debate. the first look at "morning joe" back in a moment. if you have moderate to severe psoriasis, little things can be a big deal. that's why there's otezla. otezla is not a cream. it's a pill that treats plaque psoriasis differently. with otezla, 75% clearer skin is achievable.

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welcome back, everyone. democratic senator doug jones who won a special election victory in alabama in 2017 faces

an uphill battle for re-election next year and remains undecided whether president trump should remain in office. >> i didn't sit in front of the tv set the entire time the last two or three months and trying to read this and trying to see if the dots get connected. if that is the case, and i think it is a serious matter, i think it is an impeachable matter, and if those dots aren't connected and there arer explanations that i think are consistent with innocence, i will go that way, too. i want to make sure that what i really want to see is fill in the gaps. there are gaps. people can make up their mind with the gaps and testimony, but i would like to see a full and complete picture. >> the democratic national committee has once again raised the threshold candidates need in order to qualify for the january debate. in order to make next month's debate stage, there must be 225,000 unique donors and 4

support in four or more poles and a review of polling data by nbc news, joe biden, pete buttigieg, amy klobuchar, bernie sanders and elizabeth warren, they have appeared to have already qualified for the january 14th debate in iowa. however, former mayor michael bloomberg has met the new polling criteria, but because he is not asking for donations, bloomberg is unlikely to reach the donor threshold. the move comes as nine candidates led by senator corec booker have called on the dnc to ease the qualification threshold in order to keep the debate stage diverse. >> a very important question of the diversity of the candidates as they get whittled. >> quite remarkable. >> yes. let's switch in gears and check the weather a lot of holiday travel this week. impacted by the weather? >> it depends on location. northeast, midwest, to the ohio valley, a ton of sunshine.

but we are dealing with this moisture that is coming out of the gulf, we're seeing right now, fort myers, to miami, and flood warnings, they are in place, but this system will continue to push offshore. and so if you're hitting the roadways traveling, over seven million people flying on airways this season from atlanta, to charleston, to charlotte, as well. and you are going to be dealing with delays, this morning, unfortunately, and i think by the noon hour, the system will start to push offshore, and we are talking about rain accumulation, up to another five to six inches. so if you're looking for a white christmas, unfortunately, some areas are just not going to see this. and alex and amin, let's play our game, who has had more white christmases? we will start with st. louis, and boston. what do you think? >> i will go with boston. >> i will go with st. louis because i think it is a trick question. >> let's see. >> alex, you are winning that one. 21 white christmases.

boston, 19. one more. how about chicago, new york city. >> that's an easy one, chicago. got to be chicago. >> it's got to be. >> wrong. >> 23 for chicago. and 34 for new york city. so now you know the facts. and the reason for that is all of this bubble of warm air, so we're going to be basking in the sunshine, and we're seeing the temperatures about 10 to 15 degrees above normal. >> we like to be a fact-based program here on this show. >> thankfully we have you to help us. >> appreciate it. still ahead, facebook says a pro-trump media outlet used artificial intelligence to create fake people for conspiracies. what the social media giant did next. what the social media giant did next why are we doing what? using my old spice moisturize with shea butter body wash... all i wanted was to use your body wash and all i wanted was to have a body wash.

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welcome back, everyone. major league baseball is moving to eliminate human errors from calls from behind the plate telling the associated press that umpires agreed to cooperate in the ball strike. in the contract. and the major league baseball umpire's association also agreed to cooperate and assist with the commissioner rob manfred, deciding to use the system at the major league level. and according to the a. p., it is the first league, to let a computer call balls and strikes at the all-star game in july while the arizona fall league used it for a few dozen games

earlier this year. major league baseball has discussed installing the system at the class a florida state league for next year and if the test goes well, the computer co the league as bugs are dealt prior to a big league call-up. >> you like this? >> i think in time technology is used to enhance the integrity of the sport and reduce you'll man error. >> replays for sure. >> i follow soccer closely and there was always the thing about goal line technology because sometimes the ball would cross the line and nobody would be able to see it and referees will missing that call and now they have virtual assistant and there's a microchip in the ball that if the ball crosses the line you know it went in the goal. i think if technology ken haps the sport, i'm for it. >> i grew up watching tommy race out there and -- >> yell at the umpire kick dirt.

>> yeah. >> but anyway, we're going to get to business now and china has cut a deal regarding tariffs. let's go to london. what can you tell us about this? >> well, the var say very controversial topic near europe. of course football or soccer, as you call it, is a hugely popular sport here but it's by no means a one-side argument when it comes to using var. but i will put that conversation aside for a moment because i do want to highlight for you the latest when it comes to u.s./china trade. on the chinese side of things we heard over the weekend that china plans to lower import tariffs on over 850 different types of goods ranging from frozen pork to avocados and also to semiconductors starting on january 1st. initially this marks yet another deescalation. i think it's fair to say in

relations between the u.s. and china we know they came together on a phase one agreement. we're waiting for the signing of that agreement but this marks another step in reducing tensions between the u.s. and china. of course a number of open questions remain and we'll be keeping a close eye on that as the new year unfolds. i want to also bring to your attention a story around social media and in the lead-up to the 2020 presidential election. facebook and twitter have taken down a global network of fake accounts used in a coordinated campaign to push pro trump political messages. this is a very hot topic as we run into the november elections. this move essentially targeted a u.s.-based company that operates out of vietnam called bl, the beauty of life. and this company was allegedly using ai to generate profiles to infiltrate different groups on these social media platforms and spread these pro trump political messages. important to note that the accounts were caught not by the

content that they generated but they were removed because of the way in which they operated. very interesting and something that will remain a key focal point as we head towards those elections. guys. >> okay, julianna, thank you. >> up next a look at axios' one big thing. and on "morning joe," the very latest on the standoff impeachment trial. >> one side predicts nancy pelosi will blink first. "morning joe" just moments away. . "morning joe" just moments away. (burke) a "rock and wreck." seen it. covered it. at farmers insurance, we know a thing or two because we've seen a thing or two. ♪ we are farmers. bum-pa-dum, bum-bum-bum-bum ♪ hi, it's real milk, just00% farmwithout the lactose, id. so you can enjoy it even if you're sensitive. delicious. now, i've heard people say lactaid isn't real milk. ok, well, if it isn't real then, i guess those things over there can't actually be cows.

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. it's a great part of the hour. joining us from washington a look at axios a.m., we have jonathan swan with a good morning to you, jonathan. what is axe os' one bios one bi this morning? >> president trump's former unusual security adviser has criticized the administration for bluffing on the north korea ambitions and stopping them and

say they should do something very unusual for this administration which would be to add nate its policy has failed and pursue a different cause. he was very, very direct, more direct than he's ever been since leaving the administration. i want to read you one quote he made in the is criticizing trump for saying earlier this year that kim jong-un's short range missile tests don't bother him. the quote bolton said to me is, when the president says, well, i'm not worried about short-range missiles, he's saying i'm not worried about the potential risk to american troops deployed in the region or our treaty allies south korea and japan. very, very direct and important because of the timing of these comments with north korea threatening some kind of advanced weapons test in the christmas period. they're calling it a christmas gift, and that's, you know, could happen in the coming days.

>> jonathan, as you know very well bolton's name has been bouncing around town in relation to the impeachment inquiry. but what's interesting about this is the timing of why he has decided to talk about north korea. how do you explain it when he is under the spotlight and obviously under a little bit of criticism for not testifying in the impeachment inquiry, why is he now coming out and being critical on north korea's policy. >> well, about a week ago when i was reading all of these stories about north korea, i started to badger bolton's people for an interview. and they finally agreed, sort of mid last week. and i was irritated because they did an interview with npr on thursday but then i did mine and he went even further. so, look, he doesn't want to talk about impeachment. if you listen to the npr interview, which is recorded for tape, i think it's steve, asks him repeatedly and he just

refuses to talk about it at all. but north korea, to be fair, he has been consistent in the sense that he's been very, very critical behind the scenes, which we've reported during his time in the administration, about president trump's diplomacy with kim jong-un. bolton never agreed with that. if you remember, i mean, this is not exactly an issue that he's been shy about. in the past he advocated for preemptive strikes against north korea, military action. it's something he feels pretty strongly about. you could speculate about why he's coming out now, and i'm sure some people will be cynical and that's fair enough. i just don't have first-hand knowledge of his motivations. >> all right, jonathan swan, has always good reporting. thank you, my friend. you can sign up for the newsletter at signup.axios.com. >> that's a wrap for us on this monday morning. "morning joe" starts right now. we'll have an economy based

on wind. i never understood wind. i know wind mills very much, i've studied it better than anybody, i know it's very expensive. they're made in china and germany, mostly. very few made here, almost none. but they're manufactured tremendous if you're into this, tremendous fumes, gases are spewing into the atmosphere. you know we have a world, right? so the world is tiny compared to the universe. so tremendous, tremendous amount of fumes and everything. you talk about the carbon footprint, fumes are spewing into the air, right some spewing. whether it's in china, germany, it's going into the air, our air, their air, everything. >> you know, i missed part of that. was he talking about himself? i'm completely confused, but that's the president over the weekend west palm beach, florida. good morning and welcome to "morning joe." it is monday, december 23rd. with us we h