thank you for watching. president trump spends the christmas holiday railing against impeachment as a key republican senator speaks out against mitch mcconnell's strategy. >> the warning of a christmas surprise, the question now, whether the threat still stands as u.s. spy planes squarm the region. >> israel launches back launching attacks in gaza after a rocket attack forced the prime minister benjamin netanyahu from a campaign event into a bomb shelter. good morning, everyone. it is thursday, december 26th,

i'm ayman mohyeldin, we begin though with president trump lashing out on christmas night, questioning whether the house even has the authority to impeach him. the president tweeted last night, why should crazy nancy pelosi, just because she has a slight majority in the house be allowed to impeach the president of the united states? here he is on camera on christmas eve after a video conference with u.s. troops. >> she hates the republican party. she hates all of the people that voted for me. and the republican party. she doing a tremendous disservice to the country. and she's not doing a good job. and some people think that she's, she doesn't know what she is doing. >> we're in a very good position. ultimately, that decision is going to be made by mitch mcconnell, and he will make it, he has the right to do whatever he want, he is the head of the senate. >> meanwhile, one key republican senator lisa murkowski of alaska says she is quote disturbed over

mitch mcconnell's promise to be in quote total coordination with the white house. on the impeachment trial. >> in fairness, when i heard, that i was disturbed. if we are tasked as the full senate to do impartial justice under the constitution and the law, that's the oath that we will swear to uphold, at the commencement of this proceeding, then to me, it means that we have to take that step back from being hand and glove with the defense. and so i heard what leader mcconnell had said. i happen to think that that has further confused the process. >> murkowski's remarks are significant because a 51-vote simple majority is all that is really needed to set impeachment

rules and republicans only have 53 votes meaning democrats would need four republicans to break ranks and call for witnesses. none have said they would do so-so far, but senator murkowski's remarks are the first sign of some dissent within the gop. there's also new reporting from the "washington post" detailing the backlash faced by some of the witnesses who testified in the house impeachment inquiry. that is based on interviews with more than 20 current and former officials. sources tell the post that fiona hill, the former top russia adviser at the white house, has endured obscene phone calls to her home, and vicious assaults from the far right media. that includes conspiracy theorist alex jones, who operates the info wars web site, and devoted much of his november 22nd broadcast to smears against hill. according to the post, for hill, the attacks were a continuation of an astonishing level of hostility that she has witnessed during the two years that she served in the white house. trump loyalists drafted internal

quote enemies list, co-workers were purged, and nsc security teams logged hundreds of external threats against hill and other officials all fueled by a steady stream of far-right smears. meanwhile, the post also reports the new russia adviser at the white house, the third in just six months, has no meaningful background on the subject. the only expert on ukraine has never spoken with president trump, but has been mocked by him publicly. the "washington post" also reporting the acting u.s. ambassador to ukraine, william taylor, returned to kyiv after his november 14th testimony only to watch trump's lawyer rudy giuliani arrive weeks later to resume his quest for dirt on the bidens. giuliani's, a sojourn, while filming a documentary made clear to officials that taylor and the u.s. embassy had no standing with the u.s. president. taylor has since announced that he will step down by january

2nd. and south korea's news agency is reporting that the u.s. flew four surveillance planes over the korean peninsula between tuesday and early wednesday, amid growing concerns that north korea could test long-range, a long-range missile. the report added that the number of surveillance planes operating around the korean peninsula at the same time was quote unusual. the north korean leader kim jong-un has hinted at a quote christmas gift for the u.s. which could be, by some analysis, a missile test. on tuesday, president trump was asked about that threat. here is how he responded. >> can we ask you about north korea? kim jong-un is threatening a christmas surprise. >> that's okay. we'll find out what the surprise. is and we'll deal with it very successfully. and see what happens. everybody's got surprises for me. but let's see what happens. i handle them as they come along. you saw that. these are great people. our military is now replenished. we were totally depleted when i came into office.

and it is great stuff. it's great stuff. what is happening. you see these incredible people. we have the best in the world. so it is totally replenished. new equipment is coming in on a daily basis. it is being made, all made in the usa, and our economy is the strongest it has ever been. >> what options are you considering, mr. president, if there does end up being a long range missile test. >> we will see what happens. we will see what happens. let's see, maybe it is a nice present. maybe it is a present where he sends me a beautiful vase as opposed to a missile test. i may get a nice vase. i may get a nice present from him. you don't know. you never know. >> the remains of 33-year-old sergeant michael gobel were returned to the u.s. yesterday after the american soldier was killed in combat in afghanistan earlier this week. pentagon officials say his unit was engaged in combat operations when he suffered fatal injuries. the associated press reporting that the taliban has since taken responsibility for the attack.

and officials in france are raising new concerns about the stability of notre dame as the country marks the first christmas without a service at the cathedral in more than 200 years. nbc news's erin mclaughlin has the latest. >> reporter: around the world, the faithful gathered. and millions celebrate. at the vatican, pope francis calling for peace. saying change the heart, but in the heart of paris, there is sadness, for the christmas in over 200 years, the bee lofbled notre dame cathedral is dark and instead they celebrate across the river in another gothic church next to the louvrer. there is a 50% chance that the notre dame cathedral will be saved. the akonic gothic spire gone. now officials warn the cathedral is still vulnerable.

prior to the fire, hundreds of tons of scaffolding were put in place, part of a renovation effort. now, there's concern it could come crashing down. on the already fragile structure. the government's goal, to reopen by 2024, in time for the paris olympics. but the recollecter says until the scaffolding is removed, they won't know that the cathedral can be saved. >> they are going to try to rebuild notre dame because it is a symbol simply. >> in paris, determination and prayer. knowing it could be years before they find out if this christmas wish can come true. erin mclaughlin, nbc news. queen elizabeth's 68th annual christmas speech aired in the united kingdom yesterday. the queen delivered a message of unity. after fierce debates over brexit, acknowledging how bumpy the year has been for britain and her own family. >> in time, through his teaching and by his example, jesus christ

would show the world how small steps taken in faith and in hope can overcome long-held differences, and deep-seated divisions, to bring harmony and understanding. many of us have already tried to follow in his footsteps. the path of course is not always smooth. and may at times this year have felt quite bumpy. but small steps can make a world of difference. >> the queen also said that she was struck by how new generations have taken on climate change, and applauded the work of environmental activists including greta thunberg. queen elizabeth also highlighted the birth of her eighth great grandchild, prince harry and meghan markle's son archie. a warning from prime minister benjamin netanyahu after being evacuated from a campaign event after a rocket attack near the gaza strip. that story and a check on weather when we come back. ack. you sure about this?

yes. [ suspensful music playing ] no! we need to keep moving. the whole things coming down. come on! i can't see. i can't see! you need to trust me. jump!

welcome back, everyone. israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu was taken to a bomb squad amid a rocket attack near the gaza strip, the second time since september he has been evacuated under such circumstances, he was on tastag at a campaign event about eight miles from the gaza strip when warning signs suddenly went off and escorted to a nearby shelter. the rocket fired from gaza was quickly shut down by an israeli iron dome air defense interceptor and benjamin netanyahu issued the warning after returning to the event saying the person who did it this time should start packing their things. let's switch gears and a quick check of the weather and nbc meteorologist michelle grossman. >> many of us are not complaining about the weather. in the southwest, rain and some snow. but otherwise, we're looking very dry, very mild across the

u.s. and heading back from the holiday travels and returning gifts you didn't exactly love, we have good weather. speaking of good weather, bufl weather in florida. look at this. can you imagine, on christmas day, this is where i would want to be in that tie dye shirt maybe in the water. certainly perk. and warm air in place for a couple of days to come. a quick look at the map here, especially in the upper midwest, into the great lakes, off the ohio valley, in the east, we are well above normal for this time of the year, and some spots, 25 degrees above what is typical for this time of the year. and now, one of those spots, not feeling so great today, we're looking at lots of wet weather, once again in california, and we're seeing those trains of rainstorms come in and out of california. and we're going to continue that today. and also, again, by the middle of the week, and this will track all the way to the east. so this is current radar. and at least the last six hours, looking at heavy rain and we had a tornado warning, early, early this morning, parts of santa barbara county, and the color, the yellows, the oranges, where

we're seeing the heavy, heavy rain and we're looking at upper mountain snow, and good news for the skiers but the places where we're seeing some rain, we have the burn areas and we could see some flooding. speaking of rainfall, we're not talking about a ton of rain, but still talking about a half of an inch and we will see localized flooding especially oni, on rams traveling around. and that will impact the air and interstates. so for air travel, phoenix, rainstorms. very likely, we are going to see some delays there. back to the west, los angeles, san diego, and possibly seeing those air delays, and if we're traveling on the roads, not looking so great, on interstate 5, las vegas to san diego, and los angeles, to phoenix, also slow there and then back to the west on interstate 5, we will see some slowdowns as well. and southwest rain and snow, we're talking about that, this will track to the east and then eventually going to see some rain, impacting parts of the east but that is not until sunday but otherwise looking really great until then in the east. so no complaints. any plans today? >> a lot of work. i'm here all day.

>> oh, merry christmas then. >> appreciate it. thank you very much. some sad news to report, a rising college football reporter at espn shockingly died on his 34th birthday. just weeks after being diagnosed wi with pneumonia. >> 34 years old, edward was a star in the making. >> coach -- >> in the recent years he made the transition from writing for espn's web site to oncamera work as he covered the ohio state michigan game, his cough became worse. a colleague says after going to the hospital, doctors determined he had pneumonia. posting online, had a virus for two weeks. and it morphed into this monster. pneumonia causes fluid to collect in the lungs. it's triggered by a virus, bacteria, or even a fungus. while we don't know his cause of death, doctors say it's typically treatable. but -- >> in certain cases, the

infection just overwhelms someone's immune system. >> tributes pouring in on social media. espn producer and friend melinda adams tells nbc news, ed was a bright light, dimmed way too soon. while his reporting was superior, it's his kindness and joy for life we will miss. ed died tuesday on his 34th birthday. he was engaged to be married next year. writing about his fiance in his final instagram post, love you, babe. thanks for putting up with my ak a.m. coughing fits. >> i'm edward ashoff, espn. >> kerry sanders, nbc news. >> what a heart breaking story. >> still ahead in 2019, demonstrators took to the streets around the world to demand change. we will take a look back at the year in protests and how they might spill into the new decade. back in a moment. decade. back in a moment

♪ work so hard ♪ give it everything you got ♪ strength of a lioness ♪ tough as a knot ♪ rocking the stage ♪ and we never gonna stop ♪ all strength, no sweat. ♪ just in case you forgot ♪ all strength.

♪ no sweat secret. all strength. no sweat. [fa♪mers bell] (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 ♪ welcome back, everyone. in 2019, demonstrations around the world peaceful and violent were set off over unrest, economic instability and inequality. we have a look back at the year in protests. >> this year, we saw the world erupt in protests. and one of the major ones was the hong kong protest of 2019, which really started 2014, when i went there, to cover the umbrella revolution. we saw that same movement take the streets of hong kong again

this year. for over six months, hong kong has been consumed by pro-democracy protests. a movement that is primarily been led by students. on june 16, organizers say nearly two million people took to the streets in defiance of the chinese government, and the controversial extradition bill. since then, the protests have become increasingly more violent. in november, city-wide demonstrations erupted after police began raiding college campuses to make arrests. pro-democracy candidates did win big in november's local elections. still, the protests are set to continue into the new year. >> in iran, it was an increase in gasoline prices that triggered several days of civil unrest in november. it was like nothing the country had seen since the iranian

revolution 40 years ago. in total, at least 300 people are believed to have been killed, according to amnesty international, with thousands more wounded or detained. in iraq, it was a movement primarily led by young and lower income people calling for an end to corruption, poor infrastructure, unemployment, among other issues. at least 354 people have been killed since protests began at the start of october, according to the united nations high commission for human rights. the prime minister resigned from his post amid pressure from the protests. not far, in lebanon, their prime minister was also forced to resign after a proposed fee on internet voice calls that triggered country-wide protests, calling for the end of

government corruption. several hundred thousand people took to the streets in what had mostly been peaceful protests. meanwhile, the symbolic protests which involves the banging of pots and pans in south america, where i'm from, could be heard in the streets of several countries. the most surprising being chile. a country where the reputation as one of the most stable democracies in the region. it was actually a four cent subway hike back in october that unleashed protesters' fury over wealth inequality and failings within the public service sector. these protests have been extremely violent. at least 20 deaths and thousands injured, according to chile's national institute of human rights. the chilean government was forced to cancel two major international summit, including aipac, in november.

in columbia, the sounds of pots and pans could also be hurd echoing through the nation, since mid november, hundreds of thousands of protesters have been taking to the streets. what originated as a planned labor union strike has since swarmed into widespread action against the government and their use of unconventional weapons to warn protesters. many calling for the resignation of the president. in bolivia, it took several weeks of upheaval before president morales fled to mexico. claims of election fraud surfaced after his october election win, in which he disregarded term limits. clashes among rival protesters were intensified by security forces, whose actions were deemed unnecessary and

disproportionate by the u.n. the widespread tensions have left more than 600 people detained, and at least 17 dead. and finally, my home country of venezuela. since mid january, the nation has been consumed by protests over the reign of nicolas maduro, it began after the second inauguration and led by the opposition leader juan guido, the conflict along with the humanitarian crisis has caught the attention of the international community, most notably the united states. both president trump and vice president pence have taken a hard stance against maduro. now, a breakthrough appeared to be within reach in february, when the opposition attempted to bring an end, by truck over international bridges but the tense standoff would subside, and maduro would remain in power, which he still does to

this day. but the year of the protests has not only been felt in hong kong, the middle east, and south america. when i was protesting in college, there was no social media, no smartphones, no streaming so we had this huge power but protests are not as powerful as they are today. i believe today, and you see it with the kids fighting for gun reform, you saw it in countries like bolivia, where the president resigned, over these protests. protests have the power to get the rest of the world's attention on an issue, on the country, on the plight of a people. and if they are massive enough, they can overthrow governments, as we saw. >> our thanks to, for that report. and still ahead how the u.s. is responding to north korea's warning of a christmas surprise

as president trump and his allies rail against democrats over the delay of an impeachment trial in the senate. >> plus, controversy over a new report revealing 2020 candidate mike bloomberg's use of prison labor. those stories and more when we come back. those stories and more when we come back. 1 in 5 people you meet wear dentures.

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welcome back, everyone. i'm ayman mohyeldin alongside joe ling kent in washington, d.c. the u.s. flew four surveillance planes over the korean peninsula. and u.s. officials are on high

alert after north korean leader kim jong-un's warning of a christmas surprise. halle jackson has more for us. >> reporter: u.s. officials bracing for new address, after north korea's ominous warning of a christmas gift. and deploying four american surveillance planes over the corner peninsula. according to south korean media reports of the pentagon has not responded to nbc news's request for comment. it comes as there is increasing concern over what pyongyang's plotting, like perhaps a long-range missile launch soon. that hasn't happened since 2017. when kim stopped testing those rockets during a window of diplomacy with president trump. >> he is a very talented man. >> the president now publicly playing down concerns over a potential test. but pledging to respond if and when it happens. >> we will find out what the surprise is and we will deal with it very successfully. and see what happens. >> the now impeached president bracing for a fight on another front. as negotiations remain at a standstill over the details of a senate trial considering whether to remove him from office.

house speaker nancy pelosi says she won't send the articles of impeachment to the senate until she is confident there will be a fair trial. top republican mitch mcconnell calling the delay absurd. and the president railing against democrats, and pelosi, all week. >> she is doing a tremendous disservice to the country. she is not doing a good job. >> there is no crime. there is no nothing. how do you impeach? you have no crime. >> i don't feel like i'm being impeached because it is a hoax, it's a set-up, it is a horrible thing they did. >> but on this christmas day, a more topical tone and message. >> on behalf of the entire trump family, we wish everyone a joyous and merry christmas. >> our thanks to nbc's halle jackson for that report. a lawyer for lev parnas an associate of president trump's personal lawyer rudy giuliani has requested to be withdrawn as counsel, with the inability to pay the legal team, according to a filing made on tuesday. the filing states that new

york-based defense attorney joseph bondy, parnas's other lawyer, will continue to represent him. parnas, along with list business partner, igor fruman is charged with illegally funneling money to a pro-trump election committee and other politicians. both men have pleaded not guilty. let's turn to the 2020 presidential race for a moment. democratic presidential candidate mike bloomberg reportedly used prison labor to make phone calls on behalf of his campaign, contracting a call center company that ran two call centers in oklahoma state prisons and in one of the two prisons incarcerated people were contracted to make calls on behalf of the bloomberg campaign. in a response the campaign released a statement, saying in part we only learned about this when a reporter called this but as soon as we discovered which vendor subcontractor had done this, we immediately ended our relationship with the company, and the people who hired them. let's bring in nbc news

political reporter, good to have you here on the set. first of all, we were talking about in offset a little bit. this is a bood look for any campaign to have an incident like this, to have something like this, this is particularly bad for michael bloomberg. how might this affect his campaign? >> that's interesting and the point i was going to make, for any candidate, this is not a story you want to deal with, in this primary in particular, this is a democratic primary base who wants to see criminal justice reform is, aggressive about that being a priority, among the candidates, and when you have michael bloonlberg, who already was under skepticism, under suspicion for his support of that stop and frisk policy, which was something that was in 2013, ruled as unconstitutional, because a federal judge said that it targeted black and hispanic men, particularly, that's not a good look for this sknd here. he didn't apologize for that policy until a couple of weeks before his presidential campaign. so that is the first thing that is important to note.

the second thing i think is that it highlights something that is unique for michael bloomberg's campaign. unlike other candidates where they have an army of volunteer, people who are in their offices, in these early states making calls. enthusiastically supporting, donating and volunteering their time. you don't have that with this candidate. who just entered the race. several weeks ago. he is spending a lot of money on television ads. and this highlights the fact that he can hire a third party to go and call up volunteer, or call up potential supporters, in california. and not do that ground work. that's something that other candidates, campaigns are frustrated by and this kind of highlights that point. >> i just want to follow, how are the other candidates reacting to this news? what are he had saying about this? >> well, it has it has been a couple of kwooipt days on the campaign trail for once, since the day before christmas eve, but i think what you're seeing is their surrogates and people who are active on twitter,

coming out and commenting on this report. calling it gross, saying it is similar in what you would expect out of bloomberg, because of that history. people who were already critical of him, i'm thinking of certain sanders surrogates who were very actively blasting around this story on social media both christmas eve when at the t-broke and then yesterday on christmas. like i said, this is something that just highlights a big concern that voters from, the fact that you have a billionaire who can enter the race, last-minute, spend millions, about a $100 million on tv air waves and find out he is using a call center like. >> this the campaign say, the bloomberg campaign says they did not know, were not aware of it, and when they were made aware, they did end that contract. but it is not a good look for this candidate, who already was under suspicion from those in the criminal justice reform community. >> let me switch gears one moment really quickly. you obviously cover the sanders campaign for us and medicare for all has become a signature issue for him, perhaps one of his most

defining policy proposals ever since he started i guess going into politics or presidential politics back am 2016. but it has become one of the biggest litmus tests for presidential candidates in the 2020 democratic primary field. why has medicare for all become such an important issue? >> it goes back to what we saw in 2016. and it's the heart, as you said, the heart of senator sanders campaign. he introduced the single payer medicare for all proposal that is a dramatic shift from even obama care. and it's a central divide in this primary, where he, and the key part of that plan is it gets rid of private insurance and that's the most controversial part of that plan, you have the point where other candidates in the field, they have adopted that phrase medicare for all, but their medicare for all plans look very different. one risk that it has for senator sanders and very evident and apparent, a couple of weeks ago in the state of nevada, certain

union members are uncomfortable with the idea of medicare for all because union member, they have negotiated for their plans, they have these really good high quality health insurance plans, and they would eventually need to get rid of those plan, and go into a medicare for all system, and that's something that makes a lot of union members uncomfortable, that makes people who are satisfied in some parts of with their existing insurance, that makes them uncomfortable, and i think you have candidates like amy klobuchar, like joe biden, like mayor pete buttigieg going on and using that divide to their advantage saying under their plans you won't have to get rid of your previous insurance. >> i hope you enjoyed a few days off the campaign trail. back at it tomorrow. >> yes, sir. going back to iowa. >> in for the long haul. thank you very much, my friend. be safe out there. >> thank you. and still ahead, an update on notre dame, the cathedral in paris, after that devastating fire this year. >> what the landmark's chances are of being saved. the first look at "morning joe," back in a moment.

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welcome back, everyone. in france, there are new concerns about saving the notre dame cathedral after a devastating fire earlier this year. the rector of notre dame told the associated press that the paris landmark as of today is quote not out of danger. he warned there is a 50% chance that the church may not be saved after the fire destroyed its roof and iconic spire. yesterday marked the first time in more than 200 years that a christmas service was not held at notre dame. french president emanuel macron has vowed to reopen the cathedral in 2024 in time when paris hosts the olympics, however restoration work is not likely to begin until 2021 due to efforts to rescue the cathedral structure. and we have some sad news, in the world of sports, reporting, rising college football reporter for espn, edward aschoff died on his 34th

birthday on tuesday after contracting pneumonia last month. he is known for his compassionate reporting and sharp attire. he was considered a magnetic figure on and off the field. espn senior vice president rob king posted this tweet tuesday night writing in part quote, our friend lovingly remembered by so many on this heart breaking day. was a ray of life, smiled his entire being, loved his fiance and brought joy to the job. and he was set to marry his fiance in new orleans in april. president trump had something to say about california governor gavin newsom who last week blamed the trump administration for the rise of homelessness in california. here is a bit of that back and forth. >> housing and supportive services. you have a new director. on the council of homelessness in the united states appointed by donald trump. housing, they're not serious

about this issue. they're playing politics with it. expect nothing but division coming and emanating from the folks at hud and the trump administration. >> rumtrump retweeted a video, d afternooner newsom has done a bad job of taking care of the homeless population in california, if he can't fix the problem, the federal government will get involved. christmas, weather of extreme hitting the country and yesterday record highs in some areas and a winter system that could mean trouble for holiday travels and nbc's steve patterson is tracking it all. >> in a rare holiday twist, one of the few places across the country primed for a white christmas this year, was california. the snow fell steadily in the mountains. with up to two feet expected in some areas. making for a skier's paradise. in fact, much of the mess nationwide was in the usually

mild west. heavy snow in the grand canyon and a christmas day rain in phoenix for the first time in ten years. meanwhile, across the midwest -- >> good morning, we are going to be warming up today. >> it was freakishly warm. >> it is beautiful. i mean i'm a little warm wearing this. >> in chicago, it came close to the warmest christmas in 147 years, and it is one of the strangest things she's ever seen. >> i haven't seen a christmas like this and i'm 60. >> most of the region is blanketed with unseasonable heat with some of the highest christmas temperatures in years. from kansas city, to st. louis, to louisville, all at or near 70 degrees. a far cry from southern california, where many are bracing for the worst. flash flood watches are in place with powerful winds, heavy rain on the way, across the region. all just a few days after the area was pounded. and as the holiday weekend, the california storms clear out

barrelling east, bringing reality to the midwest, and potential headaches for travelers heading home. with that, let's switch gears and get a big picture of the weather with nbc meteorologist michelle grossman. so give us some of the specifics of what we're looking at and happening out there. >> hi there, amin. not too bad across the country. the thanksgiving travel that was pretty horrible for most of us. nice for us in terms of travel. dry weather and mild air. so we didn't get that white christmas. so we have the mild air. that's what we're looking at, at least in the upper midwest, the ohio valley, the southern plains, the southeast, and up to the northeast, temperatures well above normal for this time of the year. and even 25 degrees above what is typical for this time of the year. as, record breakers as well. and what we're looking at in southern california, we saw with steve, looking at wicked weather here, thunderstorms and a tornado warning earlier this morning, an heavy rain falling right now, this is the six-hour

loop, we will see this continuing, at least throughout the night into tomorrow morning and we are also seeing some higher elevation snow, which is probably good news for the skiers. let's talk about impact, if you're traveling though, in the southwest, we're looking at air travel, impacted throughout the day and you might want to call ahead as you head out for your flight, and phoenix certainly likely to see the delays, also los angeles, san diego, and not easy on the roadways either. we're not talking about a ton of rain, but still enough to cause some flooding, on the roadways, kind of flowing us down, so i-15, las vegas an san diego, seeing some of that. the weekend, never too early, looking at the heavy rain moving off to the east here and now we're seeing in the central plains through the southern plains, still mostly sunny, in the east. so a nice start to the weekend, and we're looking at still above temperatures, to the north and northern new england, and that's where we will see the tricky spot with some rain and also some sleet. looking great on saturday. but that's going to be the last of it in the east. sunny and mild. temperatures still well above normal. things start to change on sunday. we have that soaking rain and

here is the good news, though. we have that warm air in place, and that's going to keep it mainly rain, and could be heavy at times and we may see a little freezing rain, at least to the north in new england. otherwise looking pretty good. >> all right. thank you very much, michelle. appreciate it. still ahead from the personal to the political, up next, we will countdown the top ten legal stories of the year. we're back in just a moment. (vo) the flock blindly falls into formation. flying south for the winter. they never stray from their predetermined path. but this season, a more thrilling journey is calling. defy the laws of human nature. at the season of audi sales event.

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welcome back, everyone. this year saw some major legal cases on the docket from jeffrey epstein to r. kelly and several tied to the president of the united states. >> some were personal while others involved policy. nbc news chief legal counter-ari melburg counts them down. >> number ten, r kelly arrested. >> the bombshell involving r. kelly, the music star who has been frald by allegations of sexual misconduct for years has been criminally charged of molesting several underage tickets. >> he's expected to thod trihea trial next year. number nine. >> the most powerful and notorious leader of sinaloa drug cartel. >> he was convicted on drug charges and a murder conspiracy. >> guilty on all ten counts. >> sentenced to flilife in

colorado's super max prison. >> number 8, the border crisis. >> overcrowding, four showers for 756 immigrants spark outrage across the country. >> none of us would have our children in that position. they are human beings. >> number 7, the fight over the president's tax returns intensifies. trump going to the stream court asking them to block a house subpoena for his tax returns. they are expected to rule in june. number 6, trump aides convict and jailed. >> former trump attorney and fixer michael cohen is now behind cars. >> roger stone was convicted on all seven counts brount brougght him. >> number five, president trump gets a new attorney general, bill barr, who emerges to defend the president on the russia and ukraine scandals far more aggressively than his

predecessor. number four, financier jeffrey epstein dies in jail. he was facing charges of sex trafficking of my nors. >> he minors. >> his death now under investigation. number three, the college admissions scandal. >> actress felicity huffman walked into court and pled guilty, but others have decided to fight. >> huffman spending 11 days in prison, loughlin expected to go to trial next year. number 2, special counsel mueller completes the russia investigation finding criminal interference by russia and charges leading to the conviction of five trump advisers, but no chargeable election conspiracy. >> the long-awaited mueller report has just been submitted. perhaps the most highly anticipated and potentially explosive document in recent american history. >> breaking his silence in a

pav pair of appearances and holding a special conference. >> if we had confident that the president clearly did not commit a crime we would have said so. >> and the tofrp legal story, congress impeaches the president. >> for just the third time in the history of our country, the house of representatives is going to vote on the impeachment of a president. >> the house voted to impeach trump on two articles, abuse of power and obstruction of congress. >> it is tragic that the president's reckless actions make impeachment necessary. >> the first president to face such a rebuke in his first term. after trump asked ukraine to investigate his rival, joe biden, soliciting foreign interference in 2020. senate leaders planning a trial of the president in january. it's been a year with justice in the headlines and many battles over the principle that no person is above the law. >> and that story still very much playing out. and still ahead, the british royal family. some members are stepping out of

the spotlight this holiday while others are stepping in. we'll explain that. and coming up on "morning joe," president trump rales against being impeached. "morning joe," everyone, just moments away. d. "morning joe," eveonrye, just moments away.

the british royal family marked christmas with a united front yesterday as prince george and princess charlotte mate their christmas day debut. >> a number of family members were notably absent. molly hunter has more. >> reporter: queen elizabeth leading the charge surrounded by most of her family, but it was little princess charlotte stealing the show with her big brother prince george, their first time at the traditional christmas service. alongside their parents waving and hugging well wishers. prince andrew, the queen's son, keeping a low profile in the wake of that sort scandal. he opted for an earlier private church service with his brother

prince charles. and the 98-year-old prince phillip staying out of public view. and megan and harry spent the week in canada. >> i think it's quite a smart move on harry and meghan's behalf. they can have their privacy i have that they clearly so yearn for. >> the queen's family huddled around the television to watch her annual christmas message and queen watchers of the crown may have noticed she started with the 50th anniversary of the moon walk. >> many of us sat transfixed to our television screens. >> just weeks after they featured the astronauts visiting buckingham palace. >> it's a reminder to us all that giant leaps often start with smart steps. >> she talked about helping others and acknowledged the bumpy year. on her desk, a nod to family

unity while outside line of royal succession also in full view. >> all right that. does it for us on this thursday morning. i'm jolene alongside ayman. "morning joe" starts right now. we have dirty cops, we have people spying on my campaign. they did terrible things. the likes of which have never been done in the history of our country. it's very sad. all right, have a good time, everybody. merry christmas. >> hey, merry christmas, y'all, that's a good happy christmas eve greeting from the president of the united states. that was president trump raling against dirty cops and fake news before wishing you and yours a merry christmas. welcome to "morning joe," it's december 26th. great to have you here. hope you had a great christmas. we have chief national correspondent mark leibovich and hi