that is our broadcast for tonight but our coverage of this story does not stop here. i don't think that would be a good idea for iran. it wouldn't last very long. do i want to? no. i want to have peace. i like peace. and iran should want peace more than anybody. so i don't see that happening, no. i don't think iran would want that to happen. it would go very quickly. >> just days after insisting he doesn't want war with iran american officials say president trump authorized a drone strike that killed iran's top general, and it is a significant escalation of already heightened tensions there. >> plus new reporting about unredacted emails between the white house and the pentagon that appear to reveal that ukraine aid freeze was in fact, coming at the clear collection

of president trump. now democrats are seizing on the information ahead of the senate impeachment trial. >> another democrat ends his presidential run. julian castro has announced his exit from the white house race. good morning, everybody. and what a morning it is. it is friday, january 3rd, i'm yasmin vossoughian. >> lingside ayman mohyeldin. a lot to get to this morning. we begin with the major escalation in the conflict with iran. the u.s. now on a war footing with tehran, after president trump ordered the strike that took out iran's top military commander at baghdad international airport just last night. a deputy was also killed. the government of iraq releasing these photos of the aftermath. suleimani led iran's military forces throughout the middle east. the pentagon saying quote, general suleimani was actively

developing plans to attack american diplomats and service members in iraq and throughout the region adding in quote this, this strike was aimed at deterring future iranian attack plans. the united states will continue to take all necessary action to protect our people and our interests wherever they are around the world. now the pentagon says that suleimani and his force were responsible for the deaths of hundreds of american and coalition service members, he is accused of orchestrating the attack last friday that killed an american contractor, and the pentagon also says he approved the attacks on the u.s. embassy in baghdad this week. iran's supreme leader vowed harsh retaliation and severe revenge of the iranian president says iran and other free nations of the region will take revenge. the foreign minister says the u.s. bears responsibility for all consequences. he called suleimani the most effective force fighting isis, al nusrah and al qaeda and says the killing is extremely

dangerous as a -- and iraqis dancing in the street force freedom, thankful that general suleimani is no more. nbc news has not been able to independently verify the video. and we don't know when and where it was shot. now president trump had no words, only tweeting this image, of the american flag. >> so for many iranians, the major general suleimani represented a figure of national resilience, for the united states, he bore the responsibility for hundreds of american deaths, suleimani took control of the revolutionary guard's elite force in the late 1990s. for decade, the goal has been to subvert iran's enemies and extend the country's influence around the middle east. under his command, the force has given aid to a number of groups opposed to america's allies in the region. back in 2013, suleimani was described as someone seeking to

reshape the middle east in iran's favor. working as a power broker and as a military force, assassinating rivals, arming ally, and for most of a decade, directing a network of militant groups that killed hundreds of americans in iraq. the u.s. department of the treasury has previously sanctioned suleimani for his role in supporting the assad regime and abetting terrorism. joining us from london to talk more about this, nbc news correspondent cal perry. some unbelievable developments overnight with regard to the killing of suleimani. talk us through what you know so far. >> reporter: listen, i think we're all surprised to say the very least that this man was targeted by the u.s. military for so many years, decades, he was seen as untouchable for the very reason that it would initiate a response from the iranians. this man was an icon to people in iran and also iraq and syria and lebanon, you sort of laid out there, for all of the reasons that he was so.

he was really the viceroy to the region. he really drew the map when it came to iranian influence in syria and oerk and lebanon. for the u.s. military, he was a mass murderer, responsible for taking the i.e.d. shape charges that killed so many troops. so we have this classic difference between how the u.s. views itself and how the world views the u.s., when it comes to the united states, right now, in the eyes of iran, they are the initiators, they are the rogue nation. what this will do undoubtedly, before we get to the military aspect of it is, strengthen the hardliners in iran. this will give more rise to those who say iran needs to take its nuclear program underground, to those in the government who says the u.s. is choking iranian civilians with its sanctions. that's going to be the immediate effect. iran is going into a three-day period of mourning, national mourning, the ayatollah khomeini for the first time in decades is overseeing a security meeting, the israeli harm, army and

military under high alert. calling for all u.s. civilians to leave the country as soon as they can. so this is a region that is now up in the air again. it seems to be closer to war than it has been in many years. and what we're going to be talking about more and more, of course, are the iranian proxies. iran is not likely to face off against the u.s. in a military confrontation, the iranian navy is no match for the u.s. navy, the air force is no match for the american air force, but iran takes its power through these proxies. one of which is hezbollah in lebanon and it is worth noting that the number two commander, the deputy secretary general, for hezbollah, in lebanon, was killed in this targeted assassination. so the world is keeping its eyes of course on the region to see what the response will be. make no mistake, there will be some response, guys. >> cal, let me get your thoughts quickly on the fact that the air strikes actually took place inside iraq and talk to us about the significance of that and how that puts the iraqi government a little bit under pressure, given

the fact that it was trying to walk this fine line between being a close u.s. ally but at the same time having very strong relations with iran and specifically with somebody like suleimani who is in the past reportedly been involved in helping iraq maintain some of its security domestically. >> reporter: so iraq is caught geographiccally in the middle, politically in the middle and this is a government that is a shadow government at this point, that has seen mass resignations because it has been under nationwide protests for weeks and months. we heard immediate reaction from the shadow government, from the iraqi president, who has said this was a quote flagrant violation of iraqi sovereignty. iraqi national assembly will go into an emergency session to quote discuss the presence of u.s. troops in iraq. certainly, the u.s. military will go on a high state of alert but it is worth saying, and it is worth saying, any number of times that we can say, that all across the region, civilian,

millions of people are waking up, and are very likely going to be scared. and more often than not, as we've seen across the region, it is the civilians in iraq and in syria and in lebanon who pay the price for the politics and the military activity that takes place across the region. and that is what people are waking up to this morning, as they turn on their tvs and they see again the smolders wreckage of a targeted snasation by a western nation. it again gives rise to all of the hardliners who talk about the u.s. as the aggravator, in these situations. guys? >> it is interesting, you bring up the iraqi prime minister, a part of the statement that he released last night said we condemn with the utmost condemnation the american administration's assassination. suleimani, cal, as you well know, was incredibly close to supreme leader ayatollah khomeini and he has vowed revenge because of these

actions. many people on twitter, many experts talking about the fact that this is basically a declaration of war, it seems, something is definitely going to be happening in the middle east, in retaliation for all of this. and the war, as we heard, the word that we heard from twitter is not necessarily going to take place over what happened in iraq the last 17 years. it is a much different looking war. in fact, this is what happens and this is something going to take place in syria and lebanon, and in iraq as well. but i would go so far, and yemen as well, i would two so far, cal, as to argue that iran believes they are already at war. >> and how could they not? i mean let's flip the script for a minute. and it's hard to come up with who suleimani is within the u.s. government structure because he is not a defense secretary, he's not even a top general, he was so much more than that, he drove not only the ideology of this country, but he represented this country's ability to spread its

wings. >> let me just add to that, cal, let me just add to that for one moment, because i think when you bring up that power structure, it is so incredibly important for people to understand that whoever the irdc believed in, whoever was supported were the people in power. when you have this faction between the supreme leader, back in 2008, and then in 2005, i believe it was, it was the irgc, the entity basically that said, we are going to support the stream leader and that's how you knew what the power structure was in iran. they are that important. suleimani, his appointment, his position in iran, was that important. >> yes, and look, sfwan, for americans, for the u.s. military, for those who serve in iraq, he was a terrorist. he was a murderer. but for many people in iran, he was the man who kept the islamic state out of iran. he was the man who was fighting

the war against the islamic state. he was the man that was protecting iraq. and iran has seen protests on its streets the likes of which it hasn't seen in 40 years, in the past month, and what you're going to see today, is undoubtedly a rallying cry of nationalism. anybody who takes to the streets today in tehran is going to be seen as a trait fer they're protesting against the government. this is a country going into three days of homeruning. and when we talk about a potential coming conflict, let's be clear, the iranians unlike what we saw in iraq and yemen, the iranians will have a role in picking the time and the place of how that conflict unfolds. they have proxies all over the world. we're not just talking about in the middle east. we're talking about in asia. and in africa. they will not respond, i don't think, immediately, because the iranians, if nothing else, are patient. and they are very calculating. and anyone in the u.s. government who tells you

otherwise is trying to to sell you on something. it is also worth saying of course, that anyone who tells you they know what is going to happen next in the middle east is lying because this is an unprecedented attack, an unprecedented assassination. >> it is safe to say if there was any kind of strategy by the united states to weaken the government in iran, to maybe exploit the moderates versus the hardliners to try to foment some of the unrest taking place inside the country over economic distress, all of that now is gone, because no doubt that iranians -- >> unified. >> this will unify iranians. >> it unifies all iranians of all walks life. >> if that is the cal lation they were looking ford, it was a miscalculation. >> cal perry, thank you very much. we will have reaction from capitol hill including some who have been advocating forceful action against iran for some time now and go live to nbc's hans nichols covering the president during his holiday break away from washington. newly revealed emails showing concern from the

pentagon over the trump administration's ukraine aid breeze. >> and bernie sanders slams joe biden in a new interview claiming the former vice president brings a lot of baggage to the 2020 race. we will have that stories and a check of wlegter when we come back. ome back it's time for the lowest prices of the season on

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welcome back, everyone. there is a new report from the web site just security that details unredacted versions of documents related to president trump's efforts to pressure ukraine to investigate the bidens as his administration froze nearly $400 million in military aid. the documents seen by just security, national security web site, affiliated with the nyu law school, were originally released last month, under court order, and heavily redacted form, by the government, to the center for public integrity. now, according to the report, the documents reveal that on august 30, after meeting with trump, associate director of national security programs, at the office of management and budget, michael duffy, told the

acting pentagon controller, in an email, that there was clear direction from trump to hold the aid and he let her know that he would be sending new paperwork extending the hold soon. the emails also show the growing tensions between the white house and the department of defense, over the hold, on the ukraine fund, amid concerns that the aid would not be released before the end of the fiscal year. now, nbc news has not confirmed the emails independently. and just security declined to provide them. joining us now on the set msnbc legal analyst danny cevallos and more revelation of the new emails, talk to us how this could affect the senate impeachment trial. >> what you see in these emails is consistently the pentagon repeatedly sending emails over to the omb managers, the omb folks, and asking them, hey, where's this aid, we need this aid, remember me from yesterday, i was asking you about the aid, and if we don't get it, if it

doesn't go through, it gets z h zoshed back into the treasury and that makes a big problem and you can see omb sending an email back to the pentagon saying essentially you guys screwed this up, not us which is amazing because we have so much documentary evidence of the department of defense and the pentagon asking omb, mick mulvaney, those folks, what was going on. and so that is really compelling evidence of a hold, that the hold came from the top, and that even other folks within the system were trying to, were reacting with alarm at this hold going on for so long. >> let me get your thoughts about what senator chuck schumer has said about. they has called these devastating, totally undermine the ability of mitch mcconnell to hold a trial without witnesses, essentially he is making the case that these new revelations, as devastating as they are, now compound mitch mcconnell to have a trial in the

senate, with witnesses, including michael duffy, whose name pops up in these emails. do you agree? >> there is a strong argument that the senate trial can and should have more witnesses, more evidence, than the house impeachment proceeding, because it is like a grand jury proceeding, the house only put on enough evidence to get the impeachment, and the senate trial could have more evidence. so there is a strong argument there. but on the other hand, look for republicans to say, if you take the clinton impeachment as precedent, there was no new evidence introduced at that trial, they limited the witnesses severely to previously-deposed witness testimony, by videotape, and so in this particular case, look for the republican argument to be okay, you can call these witnesses, but if you look at these emails, this was actually the white house seeking to evaluate where this money was coming from, whether or not other companies were involved, but you know, you see from the emalts, them writing back,

answering all of those questions and essentially saying congress appropriated this, we have to spend it. >> danny cevallos, as always, appreciate it. thank you, my friend. let's check in with the weather and nbc meteorologist bill karins. >> good morning. as we head toward the weekend, we have a big huge storm on the east coast. it is so amazing, it is so warm, no snow or ice, incredible for the middle of winter but a big vain rain event, baltimore, dc, a light rain in many area, the worst is down to the south, a lot of heavy rain overnight in mississippi, and continuing with thunderstorms at this hour, in areas of alabama. 90 million people watching it. and the early flash flood warning that we have here. as far as the rain forecast the next 48 hours, heaviest rains atlanta and montgomery. this area of light green, only a half inch to an inch. not a soaking downpour but kind of this cloudy and damp for a while. so the forecast for today, airport delays definitely a project. in atlanta. especially this morning. dc north.

light rain. we should be clearing out in chicago, oklahoma city, looks fine. dallas looks good. many areas of west, no problem. and as we head toward the weekend, this storm lingers on saturday. it is not going to pour but just like cloudy with light rain on and off in the mid atlantic region and snow out of this from buffalo, to rochester, syracuse, areas of northern new england, a little bit of snow but not a lot. and then by sunday, that system ends pretty quickly. sunday is by far the best day on the east coast. no problems throughout the southern half of the country, and snow for the northern great lakes and stormy in the northwest. so minor airport problems, especially today and tomorrow if you're traveling in the east. >> thanks, bill, for the update. ahead, could roe v. wade be overturned? members of congress are asking the supreme court to reconsider that landmark ruling, that story and much more straight ahead. when you're confident

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welcome back. more than 200 members of congress, nearly all republicans, asked the supreme court on thursday to consider overturning the roe v. wade decision and urged the justices to uphold a restricted louisiana law that limits access to the procedure. in an amicus brief, 207 lawmakers wrote in part this, 46 years after roe was decided it remains a radically unsettled precedent. two of the seven justices who originally joined the majority subsequently repudiated it in whole or or in part and verdictly every abortion decision since has been closely

divided. protests arguing that the fight over reproductive rights has quote entered a new and urnt phase. this year, the supreme court is expected to rule on 20914 louisiana law that requires doctors performing abortions to have admitting privileges at nearby hospitals. challengers of the law say only one doctor in louisiana has been able to meet the requirement and the law's soul purpose is to make access to abortions more difficult. trey gowdy will not join the white house, despite leaving fox news, helping the legal team amid the impeachment inquiry. he served as the chairman of the reform committee before ultimately leaving congress in 2019. and in an email to former south carolina congressman stated that the president has good lawyers and more importantly god facts, he does not need another lawyer added to his team. he needs the trial to begin and end. still ahead, we are continuing to follow the major

developments as iran vows revenge for the death of a top military commander, killed by the u.s. drone strike in baghdad last night. >> plus, the 020 democratic primary field thins out as former hud secretary julian castro drops out of the race. why he decided to end his bid ahead. compare their loans and credit cards for over 20 years. now with the new lending tree app you can go beyond loan shopping and see your full financial health, including your free credit score, ongoing credit monitoring, your current cash flow and financial future. then it automatically compares your current loans and credit card payments to their network of lenders and shows you where you can cut your monthly bills. download it now to check your financial health and see how much you can save. (janine) ghostbusters!... of course i'd love to take an informal poll. i used to be a little cranky. dealing with our finances really haunted me. thankfully, i got quickbooks, and a live bookkeeper's helping customize it for our business.

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welcome back, everyone. i'm ayman mohyeldin alongside yasmin vossoughian. he we begin this hour with the strike that killed top iranian

military commander suleimani in baghdad last night. iran's supreme leader is vowing quote harsh retaliation and severe revenge. the iranian president rouhani says his country and other free nations of the region will take revenge. iran foreign minister says the u.s. quote bears responsibility for all kwons quences. now early this morning, the state department urged u.s. citizens to leave iraq immediately due to attacks at the u.s. embassy compound adding that all counselor operations are suspended and u.s. citizens should not approach the embassy. the air strike has seemingly deepened the divide in congress and reignited the debate over the extent of president trump's war powers. in a state, house speaker nancy pelosi stressed that the air strike quote risks provoking further dangerous escalation of violence, adding the attack was taken without the consultation of congress. the connecticut senator chris murphy tweeted this, did america just assassinate without any congressional authorization the second most powerful person in iran knowing off it is setting

off a potential massive regional war? meanwhile, ben sasse wrote, this is very simple, general suleimani is dead because he was an evil bastard who murdered americans. the president made the brave and right call. and tom cotton says the commander got what he deserved and all american soldiers who died by his hand got what they deserved, justice. cal perry on the phone from florida, where the president is vacationing. and hans nichols, we will start with you. i think the big question with regards to this news breaking overnight, is basically why. why now? >> it was an opportunity. it has been a long part of the administration's list for a long time, and an opportunity, plus this idea, and this is what is interesting about last night, was the legal nature. and they're clearly couching this as self-defense. and there's something else, and

that this was, suleimani was someone who had command and control, and was putting americans at risk. so you looked at the way the white house is couching this and the state house and the defense department as well, it is along legal lines. now what isn't along legal lines is how the world is going to respond. and that's what is starting to come in. an ambivalent statement also from the united kingdom, with both side, and one of america's closest ally, and you have the warnings from the state department, to americans, you guys had mentioned, and then the question that the president is waking up to this morning, is, a couple. number one, who did he talk to overseas to plan this. and does, and i say, it is an open question, does he see that nancy pelosi, the house speaker, the house speaker who has impeached him, how and when she will send the articles to the senate, and there are two forms of the rhetoric, what he says on twitter and rallies of

evangelicals and also, what messages will they be sending by any sort of announcement of additional forces to the region. and that is yet another sign, if the u.s. wants to escalate, one way to do that is trump it whatever they're sending, from ft. bragg, to fort stewart, aircraft carrier, marine expeditionary units, they have a lot of assets in the region and if they start celebrating and make a big scene of it, that is probably stronger rhetoric than whatever the president says at a rally tonight. >> hans, let's follow up quickly and get a sense from you how the past couple of hours the administration has, and if it has gone on a war footing as some in congress has called for. you have senator i believe corey gardner of colorado says he urges the president to go on a war footing and i guess recalibrate american posture in the middle east entirely given the chance that iran may likely respond directly against american service members in the region.

do you get a sense this morning, this administration is waking up with that in mind? >> yes, but it has been a slow roll on this. the administration has been steadily increasing forces for about three or four months. starting with that drone attack. maybe a little bit before. that but it got more serious when that drone attack took place against the oil refinery in saudi. and they sift patriot batteries there. and the question is, how secure the military installations across the middle east, there are some 50,000 u.s. troops scattered throughout the area, and they could in some ways be vulnerable. so i think that is a key question to look at, to what extent are there any additional anti-missile battery tests in the region, are dependents evacuated, whether or not they're dependents for the military or they're diplomatic depend echts and then still the question remain, is the president going to spike the

football with a bunch of evangelicals tonight. he did with al baghdadi and that is a question that the president is waking up. he spoke last night with the team last night, according to administration officials, and it is pretty routine to get an intelligence update first thing in the morning and we have heard from someone who needs to be the kind of person who is in those intelligence update, ambassador john bolton, hawkish on iran and left the administration, whether he was fired or not, open question, but bowlton is trumpeting this morning and that gives you one sense of one faction of the white house was thinking and that is this a great idea. >> i want you to weigh in on john bolton. he was asked for regime change this iran and quite some time now and it is important to be clear before hearing this. congratulations to all involved in eliminates suleimani, longer than making this, was a decisive blow against iran's maligned force activities worldwide. hope this is the first step to

regime change in tehran. cal? >> what is long in the making in that statement, if we've understood from the defense department that this was a targeted opportunity, that it was recently, when suleimani was discovered, to be hatching plots against american, and americans in baghdad, john bolton's long in the making doesn't make much sense. the other thing about the end of that statement is hope this is the first step to regime change, in tehran. this is where you start to see merging of messages from the administration. john bolton obviously on the hawkish side when it comes to iran but how iran perceives this is going to be pretty clear. it is going to be hard to convince iran that this was a limited strike, that this was a one-time message, as you've laid out. iran has been on a war footing for some time from the u.s. and i think the response absolutely going to speak it that. >> i wanted to play out this scenario for a moment, obviously you know iran really well but i

wanted to get the thoughts about the concept of suleimani being taken out and then somehow weakening the structure of the quds force, talk us to about whether or not you think the force itself would be able to regenerate new leadership and whether the force itself would be weakened by the demise of this singular individual. >> i was wondering the tactical look at it and they thought by suleimani, it would weaken the revolutionary guard corps and the answer to that is now and cal mentioned earlier, this in fact would unite the forces. you see the power structure in iran. you have khomeini as a major power force and rouhani and some argue rouhani doesn't have much power, but because of the unity and the relationship that suleimani had with khomeini, this will only strengthen the

force. in fact, if this was part of the calculation with regards to the assassination of suleimani, i believe that the united states was making a miscalculation in that regard. >> cal, to pick up on that point, from the external aspect of it, when you look at who suleimani was in terms of the external arm of the iranian government or the iran regime ability to sway organizations develop groups in lebanon, syria, the list goes on, with his killing, does that ability of iran to shape and influence and control those proxy groups diminish as well? >> i don't think so. certainly not in the long run. the short term, pofbl. i mean suleimani would have been the one that would be organizing a response it an american attack. so maybe in the short term, there is a very small window there where there is an effect. look, we have precedence for this. the top commander for hezbollah was killed by the united states with an assist from the israelis and hezbollah grew stronger.

this is the story in the region, when u.s. doe claires someone a terrorist, it oftentimes emboldens them do. cally. there is no question that this will be a rallying cry. and for the politicians who again have been pointing to the u.s. as the rogue nation, as the nation that tore up the nuclear agreement, this only lends more weight to that argument as well. keep in mind, when you look at the iran nuclear agreement, one of the things about that, that was so important, and so special, was that it opened the line of communication between the u.s. and iran, that hadn't existed for a generation. and that line of communication would have taken things down a notch. it would have brought both parties down a step. it no longer exists. i don't know who the country is that now urges calms on both sides, when for so long that had been america. >> calg perry in london. hans nichols in florida, thank

you both. and bernie sanders going after joe biden in what is supposed to be the vice president's strong suit. the first look at "morning joe" is back in a moment. ent. now we're debt free and visiting places like this... thank you guys what's the time? device: a dime is ten cents. severe cold or flu? take control with theraflu. powerful, soothing relief to defeat your worst cold and flu symptoms fast.

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former housing and urban development secretary julian castro ended his presidential field after struggling in the crowded democratic field. he announced on twitter saying his campaign fundraising struggles contributed to him leaving the race. >> i ran a bold campaign. i didn't compromise on what i believed in. so i can hold my head high. we've got about a month until the iowa caucus and it just became clear that we didn't have the resources, didn't have the organization, because of the lack of resources. and i lost the mayor's race in 2005 when i was 30 years old, and it always, you know, it never feels good to lose, but one of the things i remember very clearly back then was understanding that it is about timing as much as anything else. and this wasn't my time. it wasn't our time. >> now, castro was the only latino running in the primary and had failed to meet the

democratic national committee's increased polling and fundraising thresholds for the two most recent debates, last month he called on other candidates, asking the dnc to lower the threshold allowing more candidates of color to be a part. and turning to joe biden, in a recent interview with the "washington post," bernie sanders attacked biden's record and elect ability says it is a lot of baggage that joe brings into a campaign which is not going to create energy and excitement. he brings that this campaign a record that is so weak that it cannot create the kind of excitement and energy that is going to be needed to defeat donald trump. and sanders talked about the political ties to wall street and adding this, people are tired of the traditional types of campaigns in which candidates like joe are running with wealthy people's homes and raising large sums of money. the campaign believes that a win in iowa would give them the

momentum to also win big in new hampshire as well as on super tuesday. we're also following those devastated wildfires in australia, which are expected to spread this weekend. australian defense force is working with state authorities on emergency response and new south wales has declared a state of emergency. while victoria has declared a state of disaster in six areas. so far the fires have destroyed more than 12 million acres and claimed at least 18 lives. the university of sidney predicts nearly half a billion animals may have been killed as a result. a quick check of the weather in the united states heading into the weekend. hey there, bill. >> in case you're wondering, 12 million acres is the size of massachusetts. that's pretty much how large the fires have been in australia. that's how much forest and ground and brush they have consumed. so a lot of land. so let's talk about our problems out there this morning, this is like a march forecast. i mean this is just a huge rainstorm that is strange to be talking in the middle, the heart of winter, rain all the way up

there through ohio and pennsylvania, and a little bit heading into new york city, and there is really no snow out there at all. but we have a lot of heavy rain, if you're traveling in areas around new orleans, and especially down to montgomery, alabama, thunderstorms knocking on the door, and light rain in the areas of the mid atlantic, and as far as the airport delays are going to, go delay, raleigh, washington, d.c., and baltimore, and philly and new york and with the light rain and the low cloud deck, and atlanta, maybe a few thunderstorms passing by, and i think boston is going to be decent today and chicago late day snow showers and not too many problems and let's time the mess out for you into the day and into the weekend, this is the radar as we go throughout the weekend, and the line of storms, charlotte, north carolina, and watch out, you could have some thunderstorms rolling through, about 6:00 p.m. or so, and i think through richmond about, 8:00 p.m. and then as we go through saturday, much of the storm system heads off the coast and we will get snow for you in northern new england. not a lot. a couple of inches out there. and kind of a cloudy kind of cool day in areas of the east.

not cold but on the cool side. by the time we get to sunday morning, the storm is gone, maybe a little bit early in the morning in boston, snow and rain showers, that everybody else clears out for a pretty nice afternoon. and here is that snow forecast. you know, it is the spine of the appalachians, a couple of inches and south of buffalo, four inches and clear sussyracuse, a northern new england could get a couple of inches after that, guys. and overall, not a huge storm, but it is amazing, we don't have any cold air really coming behind this and no big snowstorms on the way. so it is march in january. >> thanks, bill. the u.s. fallout of the air strike that killed a commander we will have that story next. ar we will have that story next

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welcome back, earn. we'll continue to follow the fallout that killed qasem soleimani. we go to london for the latest. a very much unraveling across the middle east. going to have some impact on the markets. what are you hearing? >> we're seeing huge moves in the markets. the initial reaction was a spark of about 4% in the privacy oil. at one point it got up to $68 a barrel and crude 63. both of them have pared some of the gains. you may remember back in the

summer after we saw the attacks on the opec facility in saudi arabia, back then it went up to $70 in subsequent months removed some of those gains. but this time may be different because the supply for oil is a little bit different than in the summer. the takeaway is we may be looking at hire oil prices for a little while longer. there's a risk of retaliation from iran and that could be embedded in the risk premium. and of course u.s. markets are not trading well. the dow is expected to open up 300 points lower. speaking about all of this doom and gloom, one of the biggest concerns for ceos this year is that of a risk of a recession. according to the conference board ceo challenge survey which came out yesterday, the number one risk for this year is indeed of that a retracting economy, also known as a recession and that is the number one risk for the second year in a row. others sites includes higher labor wages as well as tighter labor market as well.

a lot of growth concerns out there and that's persisting into 2020. >> joumanna, let's talk about apple for a moment announcing they're bringing on a new leader to assist with the streaming service. what does this mean for the company? >> that's right. bit of a high-profile grab there. -- it's hbo's richard pepler. during that tenure, they won emmys for game of thrones, veep, big little lies. he's lost the company and since then has decided to reemerge and try his hand at producing. he signed this five-year deal with apple to bring to the floor things like new television serie series documentary trees documentaries and feature films. coming up, axios's one big

thing and on "morning joe," claiming just days after he wants peace in iran, he makes a move that could lead to war. what it means for the security of the u.s. and our allies. the admiral is one of the many voices weighing in. "morning joe" just moments away. "morning joe" just moments away. [farmers bell]

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welcome back. joining us from washington with a look at axios a.m., the cofounder of axe cos, mike allen. good morning to you. >> happy new year. >> happy new year. talk to us about axios' one big thing today. >> the axios one big thing say scoop trump's ear, people who are in touch with top white house national security officials tell jonathan swan that a big fear inside the white house is that iran will respond to the air strike with a cyberattack. that's a way that they could respond stateside. that's the sort of asymmetric response that a huge super power

like the united states worries about from iran. even before this air strike, the president had threatened december 31st iran would pay a big price. national security officials worried that infill traftion our computer systems is one of the waysing th ways that iran will try to strike back. >> can you talk to us about standout 2020 democratic primary contenders. who is actually breaking through at that point? >> the dominate democrat of the trump era is bernie sanders. he had been down for a while in polls. people had worried about whether or not he would come back after a heart attack. but look at his resilience. we saw yesterday the massive haul that he got, the boost money by far of any democrat. now number two in polls from

also resilient joe biden. and we see that the conversation in the primary going back toward the bernie sanders ideas, back toward a socialist from vermont driving a lot of the conversation when, for a while, it had been headed back more the centrist way as pete buttigieg rose. so if you look at who's raised a massive amount of money among democrats going back to 2015, just as bernie sanders was strong against hillary clinton, could have been the nominee, once again he could be the nominee. >> all right, mike, live for us in washington, d.c. we're going to be reading axios a.m. in just a bit. you can sign up for the newsletter at signup.axios.com. >> that does it for us. "morning joe" starts right now. welcome to "morning joe" on this friday, january 3rd. let's get right to the

significant escalation of already heightened tensions with iran. now, just days after insisting he doesn't want war with iran, american officials say president donald trump authorized a drone strike at baghdad international airport last night that, of course, killed iran's top general. a deputy was also killed. the strike puts the united states on a war footing with tehran. the government of iraq released these photos in the aftermath. general soleimani was the head of the quds force who led iran's forces throughout the middle east and was considered by many, including dexter filkins who said he was the single most significant military figure in the middle east over the past generation. the pentagon says, quote,

general soleimani was actively developing plans to attack american diplomats and service members in iraq and throughout the region adding, quote, this strike was aimed at deterring future iranian attack plans. the united states will continue to take all necessary action to protect our people and our interests wherever they are around the world. by most accounts, soleimani and his quds force were foresponsib for the deaths of hundreds of americans. he's accused of being part of the attack last week. he was part of the attacks in baghdad this week. iran supreme leader vowed, quote, harsh retaliation and severe revenge. iran president hassan rouhani said iran and, quote, other free nations of the region, will take revenge.