day. what was interesting is not just what he said about the january 6th defendants in prison but what he said about drill, baby, drill. i think we're going to see a lot of executive actions on that first day that lift regulations around protecting the environment when it comes to fossil fuels and extraction of fossil fuels. it's clear that this is an administration that is going to go perhaps more than any -- more than anything else that it does is going to go full bore on business and the pushing what billionaires and business leaders in the american community want.and that is why you are seeing them all go down to mar-a-lago to make cozy with donald trump. >> yeah, exploring lifting potentially banking regulations, too. some really important ones. katty kay, thank you. stick around, we will talk to you on "morning joe" in a minute. thanks to all of you for getting up way too early with us on this friday morning and all week long. "morning joe" starts right now. have a good weekend, everybody. with the hegseth nomination,

gabbard, some of the others, i think the pressure has been irresistible, raw, political pressure is turning the tide with some of them, turning their minds. the threat of a primary, let's be very blunt, is going to sway some of them, particularly colleagues who have elections in the next cycle. democratic senator richard blumenthal of correct cull talking about the pressure campaign by donald trump and his allies to get some of his most controversial cabinet picks confirmed. more from capitol hill straight ahead. meanwhile, the president-elect is admitting now he may have some trouble delivering on what was a key campaign promise for many voters. we will tell you exactly what that is. also ahead, we will have the latest diplomatic efforts between the united states and allies in the middle east following the rebel takeover in syria. plus, some lawmakers in washington now pressing the biden administration for answers

on those mysterious drones that have been in the skies over the east coast. we will tell you what the white house is saying about that. and the very latest on the extreme winter weather hitting the midwest causing a dramatic crash in michigan, lake-effect snow up and down the east coast and into the midwest. good morning, welcome to "morning joe." it is friday, december 13th. i'm willie geist. joe and mika have the morning off. with us the host of "way too early," jonathan lemire, mike barnicle, u.s. special correspondent for bbc news, katty kay, and msnbc political analyst elise jordan, a former aide to the george w. bush white house and the state department. good morning. let's dive in. we begin this morning on capitol hill where some senate republicans are acknowledging the pressure campaign president-elect trump and his allies are waging about some of his controversial cabinet picks and getting them confirmed. during a discussion yesterday with the group no labels senator lisa murkowski of alaska got

candid about what's going on right now, and senator thom tillis of north carolina weighed in on the matter while speaking to reporters. >> the approach is going to be everybody tow the line. everybody line up, we've got you here and if you want to survive, you better be good, don't get on santa's naughty list here because we will primary you. i mean, we are seeing that play out in realtime right now with the nominees. my friend, joni ernst, who is probably one of the more conservative, principled republican leaders in the -- in the senate right now is being hung out to dry for not going good enough and you're going to get primaried. we're getting a little bit of a preview now of what it's going to mean to be allegiant to party and i don't think that that's going to help us as a republican party, believe it or not. >> do you feel like there is a pressure campaign against people

who even throw out concerns? >> i do, and i think that that's a two-edged sword. i think that you could run to a point when we have the majorities to where you could -- i think that that's -- it's more important to get behind closed doors, address concerns and have republicans come together as one, than to create controversy. i just think it's a short-term win but a long-term loss if you are not careful with that. >> thom tillis, republican of north carolina there. jason miller a senior advisor to donald trump downplayed the idea of a pressure campaign against those senate republicans. >> i think a lot of that's hyperbole. i think the fact of the matter is president trump has nominated people that he thinks are going to be the best for the job. now, when it comes to whether or not senators are going to be backing any of the nominees or what their decision making process s senators take it seriously. they want to have those individual meetings, they want to have the hearings. right now there are no hard nose from republicans for any of president trump's nominees because they're really good people.

they're very good, well-qualified people. >> let's bring in nbc news capitol hill correspondent ryan nobles who has been covering this closely. good morning. we did see a change in tone from joni ernst from one week to the next. she basically expressed skepticism to put it mildly about pete hegseth at defense and appearing this week to be much more open about it. what are you hearing behind the scenes from these members, from these senators, about the pressure that's being applied not just from trump and his people directly, but from outside groups as well? >> reporter: well, it's undeniable, willie, and there's obviously the pressure campaign that's happening behind closed doors that we are not privy to, where there is the president himself, who is making clear who he wants in these top jobs, his allies giving that message to those senators as well, but there's also, in some ways, a very vicious online campaign against many of these senators who at this point have not

publicly say they are a no vote on any of these particular nominees. it's almost a warning to those senators who are up for reelection in this next cycle, which includes both joni ernst and thom tillis, that if you are not going to tow the line, you are going to see a primary challenge and you could be in trouble. we are going to spare no expense or effort to make sure that happens. that really has to be in the back of the minds of many of these senators as they weigh this responsibility of advise and consent and the co-equal branch of government that the senate is. this is just kind of in many ways a foreshadowing of what we could potentially see as a showdown between senate republicans and the white house throughout the course of the next two years. this is basically setting the stage to determine whether or not these senate republicans have the backbone to back -- to stand up to donald trump when he makes a decision that they don't necessarily like. it is fair to say that pete

hegseth, robert f. kennedy jr., tulsi ga bart, matt gaetz who is no longer the attorney general nominee, under normal circumstances these are the kind of nominees that would have a difficult time being confirmed under any circumstance. it is not a surprise that there is some skepticism among these ranks and i think the question right now is just how far does donald trump himself, how far is he willing to go to exert that pressure, and does he pick and choose between which one of these nominees that he wants to use that political capital on, because there's no doubt that if he wants, he can make life very difficult for these republican senators, particularly the ones that are up for reelection, but he also knows that he has to work with them. there's going to be a lot of votes that he's going to need from them because the margins are so close over the next two years. if he wants his tax cuts, funding for this mass deportation program, go down the line of these massive policy proposals that he has. does he want to win then or does he want to win now and there

could be a calculus that's taking place here by donald trump where he's seeing just how far he can push them and that will tell us how the rest of this will play out at least over the first two years of this second run at his presidency. >> ryan, i know you hear what i hear, what jonathan hears, what everyone at this table hears from republicans privately, which is they don't think that matt gaetz was qualified, they don't think tulsi gabbert should be anywhere near the country's secrets, they don't think that pete hegseth though they may like him personally should run a bureaucracy the size of the department of defense and yet none of them will say that publicly, at least as strongly as i just said it there. what is the calculus for the senators? you talked about what donald trump is thinking. how do they weigh this? they have to live in donald trump's washington for the next four years, but they also don't believe principally that these people should be running the organizations to which he has -- he's going to nominate them. so what is that calculus for some of these senators?

>> reporter: yeah, and i think it's important to keep in mind, willie, that these republican senators want donald trump to succeed. these are not -- this isn't the republican party of 2017 where there was definitely a faction of never trump republicans, even if they were quiet, that were hoping behind the scenes that he did not succeed and did not make it through. these republicans want him to win. when they go through the advise and consent role here it's not because they want to trip him up or make his life difficult, it's because they want him to have the best people around him in these cabinet posts when he takes office on january 20th and beyond. so what they would like to see happen is behind the scenes there's a conversation, they talk to the administration, they talk to these sherpas that are working with these candidates and they say it's just not going to happen. if you go through this confirmation process it's going to be ugly, we're going to have a hearing where, remember, democrats get to ask questions. they're going to expose a lot of

these issues that have come up in media reports. your nominees are going to have to deal with all of this and it's ultimately going to look bad for you and then at the end of all of it after this brutal situation we may have to vote against you and make it look like we are in opposition to you. the other path is behind the scenes we quietly talk about how this isn't necessarily the right person for this job for a whole range of reasons, why don't you find someone else and let that person bow out on their own. that's how it worked with matt gaetz because it was clear that under any circumstance matt gaetz was not going to get the votes. trump got that message. the question now and what he's dealing with when it comes to pete hegseth and tulsi gabbert and we will see what happens with robert f. kennedy jr. when he begins his process next week, is trump getting that message yet? are these republican senators willing to say definitively there is no way i'm ever going to vote yes for in guy. it's time for you to move on now so you don't go through that whole process. with hegseth in particular it

seems that trump feels that he has the charisma and in a public setting he will be able to win over some of these senators and he's willing for him to go through that process and see what happens. may not be the case for all of them, but that's the dynamic we see playing out back and forth between the white house and the senators. >> yeah, a week ago pete hegseth's potential nomination was teetering, looked like it was on the brink of collapse and yet donald trump has dug in. let's talk about the fbi now with director christopher wray stepping down from his post next month. he announced that this week. republicans are falling in line behind kash patel, president-elect trump's pick to lead the bureau. patel was back on the hill yesterday meeting with republican lawmakers. here with what he had to say ahead of a meeting with senator ted cruz of texas. >> all i can say is we've had a wonderful first week on the hill meeting with so many great senators, almost 20 of them. it has been a humbling process to receive their advice during the consent and advice process. i'm looking forward to continuing that during the confirmation process as i learn

every day as i go and i'm thrilled to be president trump's nominee for the director of the fbi and i'm very excited to see senator ted cruz who is one of the most brilliant constitutional minds we have. thank you. >> jonathan lemire, kash patel is viewed by many people as perhaps the most controversial of all president-elect trump's choices here and yet he seems to be publicly anyway getting the most broad support from republicans. it seems at least from the republican side anyway that he would breeze through if he could get all of those votes there from the republicans who have come out and spoken and supported his choice. what do you make of this dynamic? this is a guy who has called for the jailing of members of the press, jailing of opponents of donald trump, jailing of people he perceives to be a part of the deep stake. he had an enemies list at the back of his book. so arguably the most controversial of the choices and yet drawing widespread support on the hill the last couple of days. >> i was talking to a senior

hill waed aide yesterday who sa this pick, more than pete hegseth, more than tulsi gabbard, that this pick is not only the most controversial but the one that could change americans' lives the most, if he's willing to use the tools of power in the fbi to go after the enemies list, one of which he put in the back of his book, others more he's going to take his cues from donald trump either directly or indirectly. someone who is going to use the power of the most important law enforcement body in the world potentially on american citizens, pressure campaigns for -- and even arrests as he has threatened lawmakers, journalists, others who he has deemed in opposition to the maga movement, and as so many people have said he really has no ideology of his own, per se, but rather simply channels whatever donald trump wants. it is striking, though, to willie's point, we have heard senators both publicly and privately express reservations about pete hegseth, we knew matt

gaetz that pick was in trouble right away. some have said with tulsi gabbert do we want her to have the nations seek red? kash patel has flown under the radar. my question is there are some republicans, a number of republicans, who do care about law and order, who do care about the norms of government and checking its investigative powers. are they going to stand up against kash patel who more than anyone, i think, symbolizes what trump 2.0 retribution is all about? >> i don't think you can underestimate just how strong the anger is against the fbi by even the rank and file republicans, what they see as the department's excesses over the past eight years or so, really starting with, you know, comey and his announcement about hillary clinton on the eve of the election was even an overstep some republicans feel. so i think that that's why kash patel they see as someone to come in and clean up and he

might -- you know, he might upset some apples in the barrel cart, but they are okay with it, as long as there's radical reform. you see that with so many of those nominees. they're willing to accept, like they are with trump, that things are going to get broken, there could be chaos, but, you know, they feel that they have to address the underlying problems that their constituents are so angry about. >> this reminds me that it could be like a 21st century version, an adaptation, an update of pat moynihan's 1993 essay on defining deviancy down. so kash patel is on the roster to be fbi director and he's on the roster, he's batting third. number one, pete hegseth, senators walking around saying he's totally unqualified, we can't have him, can't put him in charge of the department of defense. they go to tulsi gabbert. tulsi gabbert, no, if she's director of national intelligence out of the white house the french, the british, the israelis, the germans, no

one will tell us about their intelligence apparatus. they won't deal with us because they don't trust her. kash patel, oh, okay, all right, we'll define deviancy down and i will vote for him to be fbi director. it's incredible to watch it and just thinking of what's happened to the united states senate over the course of the past couple of decades, but especially over the past ten years. i mean, it used to be the greatest deliberative body in the world and now apparently for the republican senators it's check your conscience at the door. >> and remember those senators' principal objection they say to the fbi right now under christopher wray is that it has been, quote, weaponized against political opponents. that's their perception. now you have someone in kash patel who explicitly is saying his job is to weaponize the fbi, to go after the opponents of donald trump. so how are democrats in the senate handling all of this? pete hegseth met for the first

time yesterday with a democratic senator on capitol hill, donald trump's pick for defense secretary spent the last two weeks in washington talking to republicans. yesterday, though, he sat down with senator john fetterman of pennsylvania. before the meeting senator fetterman told cnn he is just doing his job, advise and consent and he had never heard of hegseth before trump picked the former fox news host and military veteran to lead the pentagon. here is what fetterman had to say after their conversation. >> i'm not really sure -- as i said, there's not really a new thing. we had a conversation and that's part of the process and that's the thing. i am going to listen to what my colleagues on the other side continue to say and how they evaluate. [ inaudible ]. >> are you considering voting

for him? >> so it's a conversation. >> tough to hear, though, there, katty kay, but senator fetterman basically saying this is not news. this is our job, we bring them in, we have a meeting, doesn't mean i'm voting for the guy but i'm going to give him a fair hearing like i would anyone else. what do you make, though, just more broadly, that's one democrat, there will be others, senator fetterman keeping an open mind broadly about the process that we're talking about here which is republicans though they were able to run off matt gaetz it appears they're having a little more trouble at least for the moment, there are still hearings to come and there will be much more in this process, finding their conscience about some of these picks? >> briefly on fetterman it shouldn't be news. if the system was working perfectly then senators from both sides would meet the candidate of any president, but it is news of course because he is the only democrat who has met with these proposed candidates from donald trump. so that in and of itself he knows this, it makes it news.

he also knows he is up for reelection in the election cycle in which donald trump will have just finished his first term in office and in a state in which donald trump has just won. so there may be a whole lot of motives going on there. you're right that it looks for the moment like this week at the end of this week very different from the end of last week donald trump's nomination picks seem to be in a stronger position than they were this time last week. we were surprised that pete hegseth made it through the weekend. i've been told there is -- you know, there are lots of different machinations going on, john thune, senator john thune, the incoming senate majority leader is having kind of discussions about how he can play kind of checkers with the senators, give some of them the opportunity to say no to one pick but not have any of them have to say no to more than one pick, but at the moment until this process senators -- i mean, i think we have to slightly ignore this process at the moment because some of the

signals we're getting as we're going around the corridor, being followed by reporters, is different from what will happen when he actually have the hearings. with trump you always kind of have to go with what is happening, not with what is being said. and once we sit down and these hearings start taking place, that could be the moment at which you start to see some of these senators say, okay, we are going to find ways that some of us on some of these picks are able to get enough cover to vote no occasionally, and occasionally may be only once. >> at the end of the day will they vote against donald trump? will they cross him? historically the answer has been no. ryan, i want to turn to a different story you've been covering that has fascinated so many people, these mysterious drone sightings over new jersey, other states on the east coast. what more are you hearing today? >> reporter: yeah, willie, this story is fascinating. it's funny how stories make their way to capitol hill. this story originated on the

internet last week, people posting about it on tiktok, seeing these mysterious crafts in the air looking for an explanation. then it got to local mayors wanting answers, asking the fbi and others, and now yesterday in a big way it finally made its way to capitol hill and while the white house is saying it's nothing to worry about, they're not telling anybody what they think it is, and that has many leaders on capitol hill demanding answers. >> this is over my house right now. >> reporter: as mysterious drones continue to pop up in the skies over the east coast -- >> now it's hovering over my other neighbor's house. >> reporter: -- lawmakers in washington are growing frustrated that the biden administration isn't explaining what they are. >> you see the internet is running wild with conspiracy theories, do you feel like the administration needs to fill that void? >> i think they should get out something as quickly as they can. >> reporter: theories are running wild about what the flying objects may be. one new jersey congressman said they were being launched by an

iranian mothership off the atlantic coast. the white house saying an investigation is under way, but there is no cause for alarm. >> right now there's just no indication that this is some sort of foreign malign activity or, in fact, even criminal. >> reporter: adding the objects being seen in the sky aren't even necessarily drones. >> it appears that many of the reported sightings are actually manned aircraft that are being operated lawfully. >> reporter: while the pentagon has said they aren't military drones and do not come from a foreign threat, senators like new york's kirsten gillibrand are demanding more information. >> we cannot simply say, well, they are not causing any harm. well, do we know that? what are they doing? and who is sending them? >> reporter: and you do get the impression that the white house feels that they can just tell everyone, you don't have to worry about this, it's not a foreign actor, it's not anything that is a real threat, but what you're increasingly seeing and what i think i saw yesterday talking to lawmakers, is that their constituents, the people that are actually seeing these

things flying above their house, they don't feel confident enough with the white house just telling them, don't worry about this. they want to know what these things are and they want to know as soon as possible and if there continues to be the lack of transparency you're going to see conspiracy theories continue to fill that void. i think the administration here, the pentagon, they have a lot to do to try and ease people's fears here and come up with some concrete answers. we know there is an fbi investigation, dhs is involved, the faa is involved, but at this point they haven't given us any indication as to what they have uncovered and what these things could possibly be. >> interesting to hear admiral kirby said yesterday these are just legally owned, licensed planes or helicopters that people are seeing. and the residents on the ground are saying, no, we know what those look like, we've seen them, we see them all the time, this feels like something different. the saga continues. nbc news capitol hill correspondent ryan nobles covering a lot of ground for us

this morning. we appreciate it. still ahead on "morning joe," we will take a look at what president-elect trump is saying about potentially ending some childhood vaccines and the, quote, big discussion he says he plans on having with his hhs nominee, robert f. kennedy jr. also ahead, a live report from damascus as the leader of the rebel group that overthrew the assad regime calls for syrians to celebrate in the streets today. "morning joe" is back in just 90 seconds. today. "morning joe" bisack in just 90 seconds. sofia vergara: in this family, we don't fight over the bill.

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that is a beautiful live picture predawn, new york city, 6:25 on this friday, december 13th. a new round of heavy lake-effect snow causing hazardous conditions this morning in parts of the upper midwest and the northeast. nbc news correspondent erin mclauk listen has more. >> reporter: in the midwest and northeast another winter whiteout and dangerous moments like this. a box truck loses control on a michigan highway, slamming into a fire engine. authorities say the driver was taken to the hospital, suffering minor injuries no first responders were hurt. while in new york officials in one county say they responded to 50 traffic incidents in the last 24 hours. they're urging anyone out on the roads in this to slow down. it's the third lake-effect snow warning to strike the region since thanksgiving, this time it's so cold ice balls are filling up this michigan beach.

and in western new york more than 30 inches have dropped in the last 24 hours. so much so that in buffalo it's practice canceled for the bills. their stadium blanketed in white, after pulling off a snowy victory over the 49ers earlier this month. meanwhile, hard hit erie, pennsylvania, woke up this morning to delivered-blizzard l conditions. officials say at least eight commercials building have collapsed or partially collapsed under the weight of the snow. a state of emergency remains in place there for a second straight week. with no end in sight to this wintry mess. >> and more on that dangerous weather ahead today. nbc's erin mclaughlin reporting for us. turning back to politics and the economy, one of donald trump's often repeated campaign promises this year was to bring down the price of groceries very quickly. >> because people can't afford their groceries and they are going to be affording their

groceries very soon. >> and groceries, a very simple word, groceries, like almost -- you know, who uses the word -- i started using the word the groceries. >> a vote for trump means your groceries will be cheaper. >> it will also bring your grocery bill way down. i have more complaints on grocery, the word grocery, a simple word but sort of means everything you eat. the stomach is speaking, it always does, and i have more complaints about that, bacon and things going up double, triple, quadruple. >> i don't like the -- the tags very much. look at that, up 46%, eggs. wow. up 65%. wow. school lunches up 65%. how can a family afford that? i haven't seen cheerios in a long time, i'm going to take them back with me. bacon is through the roof, they are all through the roof, the milk. everything is bad, we're going to straighten it out, bring prices way down and get it done

fast. >> marveling at his own discovery of the word groceries but in his "time" magazine person of the year interview he announced lowering the price of groceries will not be to sisi saying, quote, it's hard to bring things down once they're up. you know, it's very hard, but i think that they will. jonathan lemire, there's so much to plow through and dig through in this "time" person of the year interview, all of these admissions of, well, i said a lot on the campaign trail but it's going to be a little tougher once i'm in the white house. he talked about inflation, talked about actually ukraine, i'm not sure i can solve that on day one as i promised. obviously no one, no president, no person can come in on day one and bring down the price of eggs, bacon and other groceries. you know, it's a word, john, a simple word that people are using though, groceries. >> groceries all the rage. always such a tell when trump is reading something for the first time and he reacts to it in

realtime like he was with those price tags. when he saw the cheerios on the table and realized that might be his lunch at bedminster that day. mike barnicle, you, among all of us at this table, have been for months if not years singularly focused on the price of groceries. you got there before trump did. those particularly at the market basket franchise -- >> because he goes early morning on his days off. >> saturday morning. >> near and dear to our hearts. >> saturday morning, 6:30 a.m. i'm at market basket in wall that many doing the grocery shopping. it was amazing to me during the course of this past campaign that the democrats didn't focus more on the actual cost of groceries. they kept talking about the national economy, the -- in terms of global economies, the strongest in the world. yes, but the lived economy, the way people actually live and pay for things, nowhere does it occur more in reality each and every day than in grocery stores and at gas stations.

i'm wondering what do you think, elise, what do you think the over/under is on the last time that donald trump was in a grocery store? 40 years? 50 years? >> wow. i mean, does 7-eleven count maybe on a campaign stop? maybe on the campaign trail he wandered in, but i doubt even as a teenager he ever went to the grocery store. probably not. also i would add fast food to your list of concerns, too, which merges with groceries. it is insane how expensive fast food has gotten and so much of the country relies on it. just the other day getting a diet lemonade at $4.75. >> mcdonald's has semihappy meals. >> he also appeared at mcdonald's, which is something that those in his team thought was effective. willie, this will be another moment where trump acknowledged, look, it's going to be hard to bring prices down.

do we think that he will face any backlash from supporters if he doesn't? we know that president biden despite a robust legislative agenda what dragged down his numbers more than anything, inflation, the cost to go to the store or mcdonald's. in the past supporters have stayed with trump but he made this a signature promise one wonders if six months, a year, 18 months from now things are still high, what that does to his approval. >> it's a good question because it's the issue that cuts across everything. cuts across all of the demographic groups that democrats were trying to target and republicans were trying to win over. we talked about abortion and immigration and democracy and you all of those things that are important but at the end of the day it was as mike has always said the cost of groceries that was decisive, katty kay, and there is nothing that donald trump can do. obviously the prices have come down since those peak days a couple of years ago when prices

were so astronomically high, but not low enough. joe biden would be the first to tell you that he suffered because of that, kamala harris suffered because of that. they thought they did what they could do to strengthen the economy and bring the prices down, but whatever those grand concerns were about other lofty issues during the campaign, at the end of the day life was too expensive and remained so for a lot of americans. >> yeah, ask all of those other governments and leaders around the world who also got swept out of office in a year in which there were so many elections and people post-covid, suffering from supply chain shocks, suffering from inflation shocks everywhere got thrown out of office. i think the democrats did suffer from the fact on top of that that they were out there trying to tell people that the economy was getting better and by many metrics the economy has been getting better, at a time when people didn't feel it was getting better and that disconnect didn't help them. saying to people, well, actually, you shouldn't be feeling bad about the price of eggs because if you look at it,

the inflation is slowing or employment is picking up again. you can't tell voters what they should be feeling. voters feel what they feel. and that means that in four years' time if the economy is still not doing well, if we have a tariff war in which not only the price of imports goes up, but the price of american exports goes up, making it harder for americans to sell things abroad because of retributative tariffs, is that a word? tariffs imposed because of retribution do you start then getting some added dissatisfaction? this cumulative feeling of unease, unhappiness, anger, i'm pissed off. if people are still feeling that in four years, sure, they will blame the party that's in government whether it's donald trump or not donald trump. >> katty, generally i would hop in to save you but i don't know how to save that word, either. let's dumb it down to punitive

tariffs. coming up, we will have the latest on the political upheaval in syria. nbc's matt bradley joins us live from damascus with a look at how rebel forces plan to govern the country now that bashar al assad is out of power. "morning joe" is coming right back. is out of power. "morning joe" is coming right back okay everyone, our mission is to provide complete, balanced nutrition for strength and energy. yay - woo hoo! ensure, with 27 vitamins and minerals, nutrients for immune health. and ensure complete with 30 grams of protein. (♪♪) some people just know they could save hundreds

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we're very focused on syria. very focused on the opportunity that now is before us and before the syrian people to move out

from under the shackles of bashar al assad to a different and better future for the syrian people, one that the syrian people decide for themselves. secretary of state antony blinken in turkey earlier this morning speaking about the future of syria as the united states and its allies work to secure a peaceful transition in the country and flesh out future terms of engagement there. meanwhile, celebrations continue in syria following the toppling of bashar al assad and his regime. the leader of the rebel group that overthrew assad's regime called on syrians to take to the streets today to mark what he described as a revolution. nbc news international correspondent matt bradley joins us now live from damascus. matt, what's the latest on the ground today? >> reporter: willie, amidst the euphoria and the fear, i can tell you there is both, there is quite a bit of fear amidst all of these celebrations we keep seeing. there is a real call for

justice, not just justice for those wrongfully imprisoned, wrongfully executed, who were tortured and we've been seeing so many stories coming out of that infamous prison for the last couple days but also those that were victims of chemicals weapons, something wielded by the assad regime over the more the 13 year civil war that just ended, as far as we can tell it is over, just in the past week. i went down to a town in central damascus where there had been a chemical strike by the assad regime in 2013. i spoke with some young men about what they endured, about how many people they lost. this was an attack that killed somewhere between nearly 300 or nearly 2,000 people. we don't know exactly how many people were killed, and maimed and injured many others, including the young man mohammed who i spoke to. here is what he told me.

[ speaking in a global language ] >> reporter: as you can see this is a hugely emotional moment for so many people. remember when we're hearing from these people, this is not just a time when they were calling something that has occurred to them, when they were recalling their victimization, this is the first time they're able to speak publicly about these events inside syria with comfort, knowing they are not going to be thrown in jail for speaking their mind and telling their truth. this is why this is so momentous for so many people here in this

country. >> matt, the stories from the people who are going around prisons trying to find their loved ones after sometimes decades are just heart-wrenching. are we getting any sense of what the new incoming government, i guess we would call it, is going to look like and whether it's going to be more open, more tolerant? whether it's going to be a government that syrians will be able to keep their voices alive and allowed and in opposition to the incoming government? is this a real sea change? >> reporter: it's a great question and the one that everybody here is asking. nobody really has an answer yet except this new regime led by hayat tahrir al sham, they are an organization that has past loyalties to al qaeda. they are listed, designated as terrorists by the united states and many european nations, and even by turkey, who has backed their allies in just the past week. so this is a really thorny situation. we've heard from the u.s. and

from other countries that they're considering delisting this group as terrorists so that they can actually deal with this new government here in syria, but they've been making all the right noises as far as the international community is concerned. we heard from abu mohammad al julani who goes by his real name, he's been saying that women will enjoy free rights, full equality in this new syria, any ethnic and religious have nothing to fear, they will be treated with respect and equal rights under the law. this is what the international community wants to hear, but the question is given the history of this group, will this group be able to talk the talk -- or walk the walk, as well as they are talking the talk when it comes to liberalism. guys? >> many reminded that the taliban said all the right things a few years ago in afghanistan about women. what are you seeing there, matt? >> reporter: well, i think we're hearing celebratory gunshots, i

hope that's celebratory gunshots right off my right shoulder. you hear this every once in awhile as well, by the way, as the sound of israeli bombardments, which are continuing around damascus. >> all right. we will let you get to safety there. nbc's matt bradley in damascus for us this morning. matt, thank you very much. on the subject of foreign policy, conservative columnist david french has a new piece for "the new york times" that caught our eye this morning, it's titled "biden has a pair of gifts for trump." david writes in part donald trump is a lucky man. he's inheriting a growing economy and weakened enemies in 2025. if trump wants to capitalize on our enemies' weaknesses he's going to have to shed at least some of his isolationism. trump is far more self-interested than he is ideological and an american retreat in syria or the sight of russian troops marching in kyiv or an iranian nuclear bomb would all be deeply humiliating to him. they would signal american weakness, which would signal trump's weakness. in other words, trump's vanity

may save us from trump's isolationism but vanity is a poor proxy for a coherent national security strategy. trump is a fortunate man. he's inheriting the conditions for profound foreign policy success. but he's also inheriting the possibility of failure and the troubling reality is that his instincts are wrong. his national security picks are flawed and he may well snatch a series of terrible defeats from the jaws of extraordinary military and diplomatic success. that's david french writing this morning in the "new york times." elise, what do you make of david's point there, which is that joe biden actually for all the criticism from donald trump has left trump in a pretty good position here? >> i like david, but i really don't agree with that argument very much. i think that the world as richard haass would say is in disarray right now. i think that i'm not going to lay all of that on president biden, but it's just coming into a very perilous point and i

don't -- i do think that the save face aspect of donald trump and he's so reactive to bad press will, you know, mean that we're not going to have some crazy retreat into isolationism the way that some have predicted. he's going to try to save face, no matter what. so i don't really think that that's exactly -- i just don't want to see bombing tehran, i don't want to see hard core action immediately, and we're not going to see any of that i don't think. >> i mean, that's possible, but we also, let's remember, he was this close to pulling out of nato back in 2018 on the eve of the putin helsinki summit. it is interesting, mike, that in the interview with "time" magazine released yesterday he acknowledged that there was going to be harder to deal with ukraine/russia conflict than he originally promised when he said he would get it done in 24 hours and even suggested he might want to leverage u.s. military aid to bring an end to this. also suggested that the

situation in the middle east was thorny and wasn't going to be as easy as he talked about on the campaign trail. there are some grown-ups in the room, marco rubio, secretary of state, as we prepare for a second trump term. how do you see a trump foreign policy doctrine 2.0? >> jonathan, i was sentenced to washington, d.c. for a coupof days this week. >> we saw. our hearts went out. >> company town. but you mentioned marco rubio. right now he is the most interesting nominee of donald trump's, secretary of state. it's going to be interesting to see which direction he wants to take the administration in terms of foreign policy. national security adviser who has already been named is a good pick, a solid pick that everybody likes. but you're looking at a situation where i'm told the question -- the immediate question is is syria going to be a failed state, like almost immediately? is it going to be balkanized? what's turkey's role going to be in the future of syria?

what are the russians going to do with regard to propping up their existing naval base and military bases in syria? are they going to play ball with any other countries? who is going to run syria? it's an enormous question because it spills over into the israeli wars with gaza, israel is still waiting every day as if they are at war and they are at war every day. the impact that the israeli attacks within lebanon and syria, what affect has that had on the whole situation? and then after you get -- finish worrying about that, ukraine. what's going to happen in ukraine? is that going to be resolved within the next 90 days? within the next six months? or is it never going to be resolved? i mean, something has to happen there. the ukrainians are running low on manpower. it's a very small nation compared to russia. putin doesn't care about life, he just feeds, feeds anyone into

the maw of battle and the casualties that russia have suffered are enormous. how are you going to handle this when you don't know who is going to be secretary of defense, when you don't know who is going to be the -- who is going to replace tulsi gabbard, director of national intelligence in the white house? how are you going to handle this from within the administration? that's almost as big a problem as america's role in the world because to play a role in the world you have to be ship shape here at home going forward. >> there's a lot on the chess board and donald trump conceding in that "time" person of the year interview that ukraine will be a little more complicated than he led on during the campaign. still ahead this morning the new york mets introduced their $765 million man. we will show you what juan soto had to say about that record-setting deal. plus, why bill belichick is calling his new college coaching job a dream come true. bill belichick. it really happened. he is at carolina coaching in

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sunrise over washington on friday, december 13th. just before 7:00 in the morning. the carolina tar heels officially introduced bill belichick as the university of north carolina's new head coach. belichick who spent his entire career in the nfl talked about his move to chapel hill. >> i always wanted to coach in football -- coach in college football, and it just never really worked out. i had some good years in the nfl so that was okay, but this is really kind of a dream come true. i grew up in college football with my dad, as a coach at navy for 50 years, so as a kid all i knew was college football and so it's great to come back home to carolina and, you know, back in an environment that i really grew up in. >> you don't remember everybody, obviously i was too young to remember a lot of things from carolina, but as i grew up, you

know, you hear the same story over and over and over again, and so one story i always heard was, billy's first words were "beat duke." >> mike barnicle, coach already saying all the right things at the press conference, as he said, his dad was an assistant coach at carolina in the 1950s. i said i would believe it when i see it. bill belichick as a college coach. well, now we've seen t he's coaching college football, kind of amazing. >> you know, willie, a couple of years ago i was doing an interview with bill belichick, it was a fundraiser, and he raised an enormous amount of money for the cause that he agreed to sit with me and talk, and it was the first time, despite knowing all about him or a lot about him, that i ever got the feeling, the real feeling he has for those annapolis days, growing up in annapolis, around annapolis, when his father was coaching at the naval academy

and the impact -- the lasting impact it had on him in terms of football, teaching football, like it's a college course. we just saw him talking about it in a sense a bit like that. he's a teacher of football and this reverts back to memories of his dad, annapolis, coaching in -- in an earlier innocent time and that's what he's going back to. i'm kind of happy for him. >> we should also note the classic belichick understatement there, quote, he had some good years in the nfl, so that was okay. he is the greatest coach of all time and won six super bowls. some good years in the nfl, so that was okay. i also -- i agree with everybody mike said about wanting to teach the game. i think there is a lot of real anger that he has towards the nfl, how his run there in new england ended and how he didn't get a job last year. espn has a terrific piece on that on their website. i should note, willie, it's a three-year contract. people parsing the language of it yesterday, it is a very, very

easy out for belichick after one year. so i think that if an nfl job -- if he has a good season in carolina, an nfl job were to open up, he wanted to chase the wins record he could do it easily, leave carolina to do so, but at the same time maybe this is where he wants to have his last act there in chapel hill. >> i love the big swing by carolina going after him, too, and it will be fun to see him back on the sidelines. it will be fun next year. we got the first look at juan soto in a new york mets uniform yesterday during his introductory news conference at citi field. the superstar slugger talked about that record 15-year, $765 million deal he chose to sign with the mets. >> the mets is a great organization and what they have done in the past couple years, showing all the ability to keep winning, to keep growing a team, to try to grow a dynasty is one of the most important things.

what you were seeing from the other side was unbelievable and the future that this team has has had a lot to do with my decision. >> they showed me a lot of love on the standpoint of what they have for me and how they're going to try to make it comfortable for me. that's one of the things that impressed me more in how are they going to treat everybody around me and my family and stuff like that. the money standpoint definitely is going to be there, it's going to come, it's always great, but definitely i was really impressed what they showed me that they can do with my family and stuff like that. >> as a yankee fan i keep trying to be upset about this that we let him go but even soto said the yankees put a great offer on the table, their best foot forward, i just decided i want to play for the new york mets. he is an incredible player, still young, wish him the best.

not too much, though, if we make it to a subway series. >> he's 26 years of age, he has a massive contract, a historic contract, and he has an option out of that contract in five years. he's been compared somewhat to ted williams in terms of being one of the greatest hitters ever. good luck catching up to ted williams. that's another story. five years from now it will be interesting to see what happens with juan soto. >> the mets have an ability to pay him more to make that opt out go away. i think there are questions how he will age. he is a great hitter, not much of a fielder already. he's signed to at least 41 years old. the mets showed a lot of money but also showed him a lot of cash. there was a sense he was probably always going to go to the highest bidder. what are the yankees going to do to rebound? max freed solid pitcher. do you see them landing another hitter? there's alex bregman talk, the

trade for kyle tucker. an interesting moment as a yankee franchise to -- it can't be overstated. this has never happened before. it's not just that they were outbid on a player that they wanted, it was a player who chose to leave the yankees. when they want to retain someone, they do, and in this case they didn't. he went simply across town. baseball in new york has been spun on its head. >> yeah, the good news is we still have our best player, aaron judge is still in pinstripes, so we like that. we still have our best pitcher, gerrit cole, added another arm with max freed, a lefty, so that's good. part of the feeling is we would have loved to have kept soto, i love the guy, a dynamic player, great with the fans, i thought he fit so well in the bronx, but it does free up sidly, mike barnicle, $760 million to go make your team better. >> not only that but with the signing of max freed, terrific pitcher, maybe the strongest starting staff in baseball, both

american and national league, yankees might have the strongest sense of starters. you have enough starters, you can trade pitchers now. they have pitchers on that roster that they can trade along with some minor leaguers, really good minor leaguers, for michael tucker. >> kyle tucker. >> tucker is the talk right now. >> he would hit 50 home runs in that ballpark. 50. >> a lefty, with a short porch we would like to see that. >> the cheating porch. >> one other note before we get back to the news a truly dreadly nfl game last night. a 12-6 final, the rams kicked four field goals to the 49ers' two field goals in a game that set the sport back by decades. so we've crossed the top of the hour, it's 7:03 on a friday morning. let's turn back to politics now. in his interview with "time" magazine conducted late last month for the person of the year which he was named yesterday donald trump did not give a clear answer on whether he would allow his pick for secretary of health and human services,

robert f. kennedy jr., to end childhood vaccine programs. trump also appeared to draw a false link between vaccines and autism, one that's been debunked many, many times over the years telling "time", quote, we're going to have a big discussion. the autism rate is at a level that nobody ever believed possible. if you look at things that are happening, there's something causing it. when asked directly if he believes vaccines are linked to autism, trump answered in part, i'm going to be listening to bobby, referring to kennedy, who has promoted those debunked theories connecting autism to vaccines. trump went on to say he would be willing to get rid of some vaccines if he thinks they are unsafe. when pressed again on whether he agreed with rfk jr.'s discredited belief that vaccines are linked to autism trump answered in part, i want to see the numbers. it's going to be the numbers. he claimed his administration will be conducting studies, adding, quote, we will know for sure what's good and what's not good. let's bring in former chairman

of the republican national committee now, co-host of "the weekend" on msnbc, michael steele and nbc news correspondent vaughn hillyard. good morning. vaughan, i want to start with you because you conduct add memorable interview with bobby kennedy jr. a couple weeks ago where you asked him many of these same questions about his plans for vaccines, his plans for fluoride in the water. just to remind our viewers where he stands on some of that stuff, and that it won't be like a waving of a wand if he does become secretary of hhs to just get rid of these convenience. >> right. there's going to be a lot of layers of bureaucracy that it will take for him to wade through in order to pull that off here. i think one interesting note about bobby kennedy is the fact that donald trump is usually not deferential to others. he usually is pretty convinced about knowing the answers himself and over the course of the last month we have consistently seen from donald trump him saying that he will lead us into the hands of bobby kennedy to essentially tell him

what to do, in which direction to go. since bobby kennedy was nominated to be hhs secretary we also have to pay attention to dave weldon, nominated by donald trump to take over the cdc. kennedy and weldon go back to the early 2000s in which they would reference each other's works, pointing out the idea that there is a preservative in vaccines that was the cause and the link to autism. of course, peer-reviewed scientific research has consistently shown an inability to find such a link. at the same time kennedy is being put atop -- being put within proximity of the next president of the united states. yesterday on the floor of the stock exchange i was covering donald trump as he rang in the bell and who was there with him? bobby kennedy. so there is an access to donald trump and an openness that is, i think, particularly unusual from the incoming president, an openness to somebody else's opinion and ultimate word on policy that should be enacted. and that's a lot of power that

bobby kennedy could be potentially yielding in the months ahead. >> i mean, some of the stuff that is being said now obviously is not quite what was being said out on the campaign trail and it's perfectly normal that people have no, michael, modify their language, but when republican senators who seem to be under a huge amount of pressure to confirm these nominees actually start going into the process, i've heard that bobby kennedy may be fine because he has some democratic support, but when some of these more controversial republican, more controversial candidates are being put forward, do you think when we get into the nomination process we're going to see republican senators push back a little harder against donald trump than we're seeing them push back now? >> no. no. we won't. i mean, look, there's going -- >> so you think he's going to get everybody through? >> he'll get -- he'll get --

there may be one sacrificial lamb out of the trifecta. >> who do you think it's going to be? >> i don't know. probably tulsi gabbard because that's something that strikes a little bit closer to -- to republicans on the national security, national defense side. dod and hegseth, you've heard some warming as you guys talked about in the last hour to him. certainly bobby kennedy, that's more about, you know, for trump, you know, his tie now to the kennedy legacy more than anything else. so that probably won't get touched, even though i wouldn't let him within a ten foot pole of a child with an illness, but, you know, here we are. the reality -- the realityreali republicans does kind of boil down to how much moxy are we going to show that we're willing to assert against a president that is putting up wholly

incompetent individuals to serve in the capacities for which they're being asked to serve. the advise and consent portion of this instead of advising the president, could you send us somebody better so that we could consent to that, there will be the typical haranguing and hemming and hawing, but ultimately bending the knee to his choice. they will pick one and everyone will pat themselves on the back and pretend that they did the right thing, and meanwhile you will have hegseth probably over at defense and, you know, someone like kennedy running the nation's health system and everyone will just turn a blind eye and wait until, you know, the chandelier crashes to the floor or a table gets knocked over and people start complaining about what the hell are these folks doing. so that's -- that's the reality that i think, you know, everybody wants to play, you know, the typical washington game in the lead up to the

inauguration that, you know, we're going to look closely at the president's choice. no, you're not. no, you're not, and you know you're not. and these are some wholly difficult and incompetent people that are being asked to serve in these positions. we all know that. we see the thing in front of us and yet we pretend that it's going to turn out to be something completely different, and yet we know that's not true, either. >> yeah, so many of these candidates have deeply questionable qualifications. we should note the lead story in the "new york times" app right now is about how robert f. kennedy jr.'s top aide, aaron siri has asked the fda to revoke approval of the polio vaccine. that is something that we could be looking forward to if rfk jr. was to be confirmed. vaughan, kennedy has stayed under the radar for a little bit, that will change next week when he heads to the hill. you've been covering all of

this, these efforts to get these cabinet members confirmed and the trump team out of mar-a-lago has changed tactics in the last ten days or so they've gone much more on offense, they're being aggressive and really badgering and mobilizing their minions to go after the republican senators they feel like are deemed insufficiently loyal. give us your read -- give us your reporting on how that's taking place but also whether or not you think it's effective. we've heard both. publicly some republican senators are saying we're acknowledging the pressure, lisa murkowski said so yesterday, but others behind the scenes feel like this may backfire. >> this is the difference in power for donald trump in 2025 kplard to 2017 and 2018. a lot of this is implicit power. donald trump doesn't have to say i'm going to primary you, joni ernst. he's built over the years a grassroots coalition that has audibly made these threats. there are individuals looking to primary challenges, bill owe sass dee in louisiana has a

challenge in 2026, bill cassidy voted convict donald trump after the 2026 attack. you could expect the challenger to get the endorsement of donald trump because donald trump has a history going back to 2022 on his revenge tour, effectively ousting most of those republican house members that voted to impeach him from office. so for donald trump he has part of the republican party that knows they would come to the defense against those that are not loyal to him and in the case of joni ernst i was talking with somebody familiar with the trump transition's view of her role in all of this, we don't have reporting that donald trump has directly sent a message to her saying we're going to primary you, but joni ernst is well a their that she's no longer going to be the natural replacement to pete hegseth if his nomination were to fail. effectively if you stand in the way of these efforts do not expect that you're going to have a willing partner at the white house when it comes time to press legislation or parts of the budget that you want to see in your term in office.

>> michael, elise here. just to go back to some of these nominees, you mentioned that you think tulsi is the most likely to get shot down. she does, though, have a cult following of sorts and that's kind of what trump has pulled into by picking rfk jr. who also has his own following. do republican senators take that calculus into their decision when they decide whether or not to vote for her? >> i mean, i think some do. look, this cuts at the heart string of what this form of the republican party and its leadership look at that they still hold on to. this whole sense of our nation's national security, despite the fact that they, you know, sort of warm up to putin and they want to hand ukraine to him -- to putin. they kind of parse that out of the equation and they just look at these other aspects of the

national security conversation in which her name comes up in a very difficult way. there are -- you know, there are reports on her contacts, on her behavior, on the things that she says that makes a lot of these folks nervous and uncomfortable. so there's one thing to be sort of forward-facing, kind of patting putin on the back of the head and saying, yeah, okay -- so if they pick at that particular scab in the confirmation process, it will be interesting to hear how she addresses that.

there's already been a little bit of her sort of back stepping some of those, you know, sort of leanings towards assad or some of the things that she's said about russia, et cetera and that's somewhat to be expected. how much the senators buy that to get past their inherent knee jerk objection that's going to be the test of the confirmation process for them. the rest of it trump will, you know, i think -- and he started to do this, you know, sort of give -- oh, yeah, i'm with this person, pete hegseth, et cetera, pete is looking stronger, but i don't sense this overwhelming that's my guy, you better -- you better, you know, put him in. certainly not with tulsi. so we'll see how the senators react and whether or not they take that advise and consent part a little bit more seriously than i suspect they will.

>> on the other hand there is a lot of that's my guy with kash patel at fbi. >> yes. >> and we're seeing that reflected in some of the comments of senators who are overwhelmingly supportive among republicans yesterday on the hill. michael steele, thank you as always. we will be watching "the weekend" saturdays and sundays starting at 8:00 a.m. right here on nbc. and nbc news correspondent vaughn hillyard, thank you as always for your reporting as well. still ahead, new york city police are revealing new details about how the suspect in the unitedhealthcare ceo murder was able to evade authorities for days. we will have a live report next on "morning joe." ys we wl ilhave a live report next on "morning joe.

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that's a beautiful live picture of saranac lake, new york, an absolutely gorgeous part of the country near lake placid. 13 degrees there this morning we're told. the suspect accused of killing unitedhealthcare ceo brian thompson was not insured by the company. united health group made that announcement yesterday saying there is no record of luigi mangione among their insured customers. police believe mangione may have targeted the company because of its size. officials say the suspect had mentioned unitedhealthcare is the fifth largest corporation in america, making it the largest health care company in the country. it's not clear where he mentioned that, but police did recover a handwritten letter and spiral notebook when they

arrested the 26-year-old on monday. let's go live to nbc news correspondent stephanie gosk outside the blair county courthouse in hollidaysburg, pennsylvania. good morning. what's the latest you're hearing there? >> reporter: good morning, willie. one of the big questions people have is how did luigi mangione allegedly commit murder and escape new york city. this morning we're getting new details of that timeline that ended up in pennsylvania five days later, nearly 300 miles away with mangione sitting in a mcdonald's eating hash browns. this morning a detailed new look at how police say luigi mangione planned his escape from new york city after allegedly gunning down unitedhealthcare ceo brian thompson. the nypd says the trail went cold after he fled the crime scene on an e bike into central park and ended up at a bus station uptown. authorities telling nbc news it appears he hopped on a subway and doubled back in an effort to throw the police off his trail.

police say mangione also had thousands of dollars in his bag. >> he was betting money from an atm. everything he did he was paying for this cash. >> reporter: altoona police also recovered a gun that the nypd says its crime lab has now mashed to three shell casings left behind at the crime scene, but an ongoing mystery is how mangione got the weapon. >> the gun itself it is a ghost gun, it is a receiver that comes from a gun manufacturer are parts and then the gun was built up from a 3-d printer. >> reporter: police say they're searching for a possible motive. unitedhealthcare confirming mangione was not insured by their health plan, but investigators continue to look into whether years of severe back problems and eventual surgery may have played a role. >> he posted x-rays of screws being inserted into his spine. so the injury that he suffered was a life-changing, life-altering injury and that's what may have put him on this path. >> reporter: as the investigation ramps up in new york mangione sits in a maximum

custody prison cell in pennsylvania. his attorney filed a petition contesting his contention, arguing the state has not proven mangione was in new york the day of the murder or provided probable cause that he was responsible for the crime. the manhattan district attorney has not officially indicted mangione yet, but the governor of new york, kathy hochul says she expects that to happen, quote, in her words any day now and that would speed up the extradition process. >> stephanie gosk outside the courthouse in pennsylvania. thanks so much. coming up, there are new signs this morning israel and hamas could be close to a ceasefire and a hostage release deal in gaza. we will have the latest on those efforts. and we will be joined by the father of an american member of the idf killed in the october 7th attack. "morning joe" is coming right back. 7th attack "morning j" oeis coming right back

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[cheering] ensure max protein, 30 grams protein, 1 gram sugar and a protein blend to feed muscles up to 7 hours. ♪♪ great picture from the top of the building of new york city at our headquarters at rockefeller plaza as we hit the bottom of the hour here on this friday the 13th. we will look at some of the other stories making headlines this morning, beginning next month american travelers headed to the uk will have to fill out authorizations online. those headed to the eu will face new regulations as well. the changes come as more countries step up security. the united states also requires

foreign travelers to complete authorizations ahead of their trips. tonight's mega millions lottery has climbed to at least $670 million, the fifth largest jackpot of the year. if a winner is named and opts for a lump sum prize, the payout would be around $300 million after taxes. and an 18-year-old has just become the youngest person ever to be crowned world champion of chess. he broke the record set by a russian player in 1985. born and raised in india he was first recognized as a chess grand master at the age of 12. kasparov congratulating the new champ. our congratulations to him as well. after more than 50 years in

the anchor chair legendary broadcast journalist chuck scarborough stepped down yesterday from anchoring the news at nbc 4 new york our neighbor in the building at 30 rock. here is chuck's final signoff from last night's 6:00 p.m. newscast. >> as you may have heard this is my final broadcast as anchor of the evening news on nbc 4 new york. first and foremost, i am profoundly grateful for your trust. without that i would not have survived for more than half a century in in job and been allowed to occupy this front row seat of history to our fascinating met police and the world beyond for so long. four years after i arrived in 1974 president nixon resigned, the first presidential resignation in the nation's history. in 1975 new york city plunged into effective bankruptcy and the vietnam war came to a chaotic end. the pace of breaking news has been relentless ever since. we've been through blackouts together, riots, crime waves,

hurricanes, blizzards, economic crises, corruption, public and private, 9/11, wars, and a pandemic. just as important were the stories of human achievement in the arts and sciences, of forgiveness, kindness, recovery, and resilience. if there is one overarching lesson i've learned it is that. we are more resilient than we realize, individually and as a city and a nation. we get knocked down and we come back stronger. i will be eternally grateful for the privilege of working with so many dedicated, brilliant and talented broadcast journalists on both sides of the cam ration some risking their lives in dangerous places to bring you the news. in this case of algorithms and cable channels, of ai and social media fictions suffocating truth, it has never been more important to do what they do so well, hue to the basic principles of accuracy,

objectivity and fairness. i will leave you with a final thought i shared with my nbc colleagues earlier this year when they celebrated my 50th anniversary with the national broadcasting company, itself a quintessential american success story founded by a russian immigrant, david sarnov. i urged my colleagues to do something i still do to reestablish perspective, appreciation, a sense of mission. walk out on fifth avenue and look back through the channel gardens, across the skating rink, above the statue, at this towering building with awe and say "i work here." "i work here and this is important." "what i do is important." "i work for the national broadcasting company, the oldest

and largest television network in this country with a storied history." feel the weight of that history. the weight of the responsibility that we all bear to get it right, to do it well, to make it interesting. it's an honor to work with you. that message was aimed at our work here, the grinding challenges of daily news gathering, but it just as easily applies to our city and to our country and to all of us, all of you. we all need to lift our eyes occasionally from the political fevers and societal imperfections of the day and appreciate what we have, how far we've come, and the opportunity we've been given to continue our journey toward a more perfect union. thank you and goodnight. >> the great chuck scarborough, his final broadcast with nbc last night after more than 50

years and you see his beloved staff there walking in to congratulate him. you know, mike barnicle, first of all, he started in boston, as you know, in 1972. >> yeah. >> before he moved to new york a couple of years later. i grew up in the new york area, grew up in new jersey watching wnbc. my first memories of the news, of someone telling me what was going on in my state, in my area and in the country were chuck scarborough on channel 4 and then it was tom brokaw would come on after that and we would watch dan rather, but it was chuck scarborough and sue simmons and the team at wnbc. a guy who has -- you listen to him talk about what he's seen in this city, spanning from nixon's resignation to everything that's happening in the country today. a truly, truly extraordinary career and at a time when words like legend and icon are thrown around cheaply, chuck scarborough lived up to it. >> willie, you indicated correctly that chuck came to new york city in 1974 from -- he was

the principal anchor at 6:00 and 11:00 on channel 7, i forget what network it was affiliated with back then in boston, massachusetts. he wasn't on the air in boston more than two weeks when people would be talking about the new anchor, chuck scarborough, and, wow, you knew he was going places and wasn't just going to be around greater boston. then he ended up in new york city. where, as he just pointed out and you pointed out, for 50 years he has been the voice of news and his departure is another indication if you watch and pay attention to local news, which a lot of people do obviously, that the news business has changed. there are very few chuck scarboroughs and tom brokaws left on the television landscape. there are people who come and go, but the chuck scarboroughs and brokaws but chuck scarborough for 50 years bringing people the message of

what was going on in their world, in their city today, the word "today" always being used. a true professional, gentleman, and an iconic figure in terms of tv news nationally, jonathan. >> what a storied remarkable career. as he talked about it in that speech there, he had earned the viewers' trust and that is something that's in short supply right now for the media with the public even though it's a time -- it's never been more important. i worked for a decade in local news at the new york daily news. it is so important for people to know what's happening in their city, in their town, in their state n their neighborhood. we have seen such a decline of local news, particularly on the print side across the country, but, you know, tv viewership there's worries there as well. seeing chuck go, willie, is sort of like an end of an era in some way, but also emphasizes just how important these voices are and how important it is to earn the viewers' trust. >> yeah, he will be missed in

the hallways of 30 rock. there is a framed picture as we leave the studio every day of chuck sometime in the 1970s with a greater '70s suit and that great '70s hair and that will hang forever because he is a hall of famer. on a personal note an encouraging word from him to me over the years has meant the world as someone who grew up watching him and admiring him. congratulations, chuck, on an absolutely incredible run. still ahead this morning, one of our next guests writes president-elect donald trump does not take over for six more weeks, but magically he has already made america great again. columnist dana millbank joins us to explain what he means there and his new piece for the "washington post." as we go to break coming up this weekend over on nbc "sunday today" so long as we're speaking about new york icons, billy crystal will be my guest, a special extended two-part interview with billy talking about his life in comedy as we sit in the jack crystal theater down at nyu, named for his

father. we sit on the very stage where billy first got up in front of a crowd as a kid with his dad and was inspired to that legendary show business career. billy crystal coming up this weekend over on nbc "sunday today." we will be right back here on "morning joe." day. we will be right back here on "morning joe." my moderate to severe ulcerative colitis symptoms kept me... out of the picture. now i have skyrizi. ♪ keeping my plans, i'm feeling free. ♪ ♪ control of my uc means everything to me. ♪ ♪♪ ♪ control is everything to me. ♪ now, i'm back in the picture. skyrizi helps deliver relief, repair, and remission in uc. feel significant symptom relief at 4 weeks, including fewer bowel movements and less bleeding. skyrizi is proven to help visibly repair colon lining damage, and help people achieve remission at 12 weeks and 1 year. don't use if allergic. serious allergic reactions, increased infections or lower ability to fight them may occur. before treatment, get checked for infections and tb.

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i got the sense today from the prime minister he's ready to do a deal and michael will be in

a position to close this deal this month, not later. we've been close before and haven't got there so i can't make promises or predictions to you. but i wouldn't be here today if i thought this was waiting until after january 20th. i'm here because i believe every day matters and we're going to use every deal to close the deal as soon as we can. that is jake sullivan in jerusalem yesterday commenting after meeting with prime minister benjamin netanyahu ahead of trips to qatar and egypt as the biden administration continues to push hard for a ceasefire and a hostage release deal in gaza. joining us now is ruby hen, the father of a 19-year-old american member of the i have had serving on the border of gaza on october 7th, 2023. mr. hen, we so appreciate your time with us today. i'm curious what you think because you've heard in fits and

starts these talks about ceasefire deals and the potential return of hostages as a part of that deal. what do you make of these latest developments? >> first of all, thanks for having me, willie, and just connecting to the previous segment about chuck after 50 years, he will probably most likely remember you see here these are the number of days, you know, 1979 there was that small box that walter cronkite and others would put about the number of days of u.s. hostages being held in iran. so we the families have adopt that had to remind everybody it's been 343 days since the last time that i spoke to my son as well as 99 other families as well. to your question, please. >> go ahead. >> to your question, yes, we the u.s. families met mr. sullivan this week as well as also meeting mr. waltz in a public meeting that we had in congress with him as the incoming nsa

director and what we got after a long time is hope, and i would also add to that the social media statement of president-elect trump speaking very forcefully about the need and demand that hostages come out by january 20th and i think the only possible outcome that we expect and the expected outcome after the social media statement of president-elect trump is that the seven u.s. citizens must come out in the first phase of the deal by january 20th. and these are the seven u.s. citizens, willie. these are the faces of u.s. citizens that must come out in the first phase of the deal. it's been too long that we've been waiting. >> ruby, i'm so glad you're showing those photographs. it's important to continue to remind people the hostages are not numbers, they are not statistics, they are not

negotiating pawns. >> they are people. >> they are people. so if you could pause for a moment here with us and tell us about your son itay. >> so first let me just name the seven u.s. citizens. there's amir, there's edan, there's keith, there's judy, there's gadi, there's sagui and my son itay. we are new yorkers, family now watching in long island, the show, as they typically do every day, and we moved to israel a few years back and at the age of 18 my son itay could have gone to college in the states, but he decided to join the idf and protecting the values of the state of israel, but also values of the united states as well and the western countries and there was a ceasefire in place, they were ambushed, they fought, they protected civilians as much as they can and they were just outnumbered. he was taken 474 days ago. it's been a year, a year,

willie, since the last time that hostages came out in a deal and it's about time that we end this misery and this tragedy to the families and stating, again, the demand from the u.s. families from jake sullivan and from congressman waltz when he gets into office is to make sure teams work together, the incoming and outcoming administration to get a deal done and not wait to see what happens to the tweet that president-elect trump talked about that hell will be paid if those u.s. citizens do not come out. >> ruby, as a sign of the commitment all the families have made together the first thing you do when we did about itay is you hold up a picture of all of the american hostages who are being held and you want all of them to be remembered. when you are back in israel is that sense of solidarity between the hostage families, how is it

holding up and how much pressure are you able to have on the israeli government because you are all standing together? >> i think that's a valeant point, and point of the unity. when we come to the united states we meet jake sullivan and as we met the president multiple times and the vice president we speak on behalf of the 100 hostages. we do not ask who comes out first. we ask how does the last one come out. and anyone that has dealt with negotiations with terrorists know that you pay for the last one and the last five as much as you pay for the previous 95. so it is important that all the hostages have a mechanism to come out. this he do not need to come out on the same day, but there needs to be a mechanism for these hostages to come out. these american citizens come from different categories and they do not fit into one piece of the framework. as such, the assumption is if all the americans come out, that means the other 93 hostages will

come out as well. >> we share your deep sincere hope that this ceasefire deal and this hostage release deal is real, that it's coming and that the hostages will be returned to the family. ruby chen, father of itay chen. >> if i could just say one more small thing. hanukkah is coming up as well as christmas, we're asking the united states people, public opinion, to pray for us and our families. we have had too many holidays, too many anniversaries with an empty chair at our table. please pray with us in order to let us have our miracle and be whole again as a family, even before christmas and not need to wait until january 20th. >> you have the prayers of the country, ruby. thank you so much for being with us again. we appreciate it. jonathan lemire, let's talk about, again, there's always skepticism around these ceasefire hostage release deals because israel of course is negotiating with a terrorist

organization. what are the hopes here? hopeful tones struck yesterday by jake sullivan and others, but what does this look like not just for the end this have administration but rolling into a new trump administration? >> of course our thoughts are with mr. chen and the other families of those who are still missing. there is a little bit of optimism from the biden administration but you're right, willie, they've been down this road many times that they thought they were -- to use the tortured football analogy -- they thought they were at the five yard line and things would fall apart. they think now there's a potential for some momentum. hamas has been willing to give in on a few demands. they additionally wanted the israeli presence completely out of gaza, they've backed off of that now. there is some thought that maybe a deal could be struck but no one here is holding their breath, at least not yet, particularly with the countdown to january 20 being on. the trump team has largely been supportive of biden administration moves in the middle east but we also know that donald trump has, you know,

has said to benjamin netanyahu the israeli prime minister he could do whatever he wanted. we will have to see how that plays out. mike barnicle, there's going to be a lot of speculation on the incoming trump team's foreign policy, but of course on the domestic front as well. we were talking earlier in the show about some of his cabinet picks, more controversial ones. one of those who is going to take center stage next week in robert f. kennedy jr. who is going to begin his own lobbying of senators on capitol hill. we mentioned that new reporting from "the new york times" that perhaps kennedy's top aides, one of his top aides has in the past petitioned -- as you can see it here -- has asked the fda to revoke approval of a polio vaccine, a vaccine that has saved and protected countless lives. your thoughts? >> you know, we've been talking a lot this morning, obviously we just finished one segment talking about elements of national security that affect the american public. there's no doubt about that. but in terms of america's

interests at a sidewalk level, national security, i think most people in terms of the names of hegseth and tulsi gabbard and kash patel, it's basically, you know, sky writing, it just disappears in their minds because they're more concerned about family security. the idea that jonas sulk 75 years ago established and created the vaccine to help eradicate polio, i went to grammar school with kids who came to the same grammar school classroom i sat in who were wearing braces and sticks to carry them through the day, to walk, they had polio. the idea that we're going to eliminate that vaccine and take a look at vaccines that all infants and children get to prevent measles and other -- other really radical -- radical diseases that could cause harm

to them, the idea that we're talking about eliminating them based upon the quackery of robert f. kennedy jr. -- and it is quackery, and he is a very smart guy and he ought to know better but he clearly doesn't know better, but the idea that we're still seriously talking about eliminating vaccines for many children is almost beyond belief. >> well said. polio vaccine of course has saved millions of lives and an estimated 20 million people from paralysis since jonas sulk implemented -- invented it. doctors we have on the show all the time we talk to privately say it's a long way between his quackery and the actual elimination of those vaccines, but it is on the table this morning. still ahead, we will have the latest on the drones that have been flying over several states as some lawmakers are now demanding more information.

we will tell you what the biden administration is saying about it. and we will bring you an update from syria on the push to bring stability to the country after the end of bashar al assad's brutal regime. "morning joe" coming right back on this friday the 13th. "morning joe" coming right back on this friday the 13th.

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remember resistible, raw, political pressure is turning the tide with some of them, turning their minds. the threat of a primary, let's be very blunt, is going to sway some of them, particularly colleagues who have elections in the next cycle. democratic senator richard blumenthal of connecticut talking about the pressure campaign by donald trump and his allies to get some of his most controversial cabinet picks confirmed. we will have more from capitol hill straight ahead. meanwhile, the president-elect is admitting now he may have some trouble delivering on what was a key campaign promise for many voters. we will tell you exactly what that is. also ahead, we will have the latest diplomatic efforts between the united states and allies in the middle east following the rebel takeover in syria. plus, some lawmakers in washington now pressing the biden administration for answers on those mysterious drones that have been in the skies over the

east coast. we will tell you what the white house is saying about that. and the very latest on the extreme winter weather hitting the midwest, causing a dramatic crash in michigan, lake-effect snow up and down the east coast and into the midwest. good morning, welcome to "morning joe." it is friday, december 13th. i'm willie geist. joe and mika have the morning off. with the us, josh lipton -- jonathan lemire, mike barnicle, katty kay and msnbc political analyst elise jordan, a former aide to the george w. bush white house and the state department. good morning to you all. let's dive right in. we begin this morning on capitol hill where some senate republicans are acknowledging the pressure campaign president-elect trump and his allies are waging about some of his controversial cabinet picks and getting them confirmed. during a discussion yesterday with the group no labels senator lisa murkowski of alaska got candid about what's going on right now, and senator thom

tillis of north carolina also weighed in on the matter while speaking to reporters. >> the approach is going to be everybody tow the line. everybody line up, we got you here and if you want to survive, you better be good, don't get on santa's naughty list here because we will primary you. i mean, we are seeing that play out in realtime right now with the nominees. my friend, joni ernst, who is probably one of the more conservative, principled republican leaders in the senate right now is being hung out to dry for not being good enough. and you're going to get primaried. we're getting a little bit of a preview now of what it's going to mean to be allegiant to party and i don't think that that's going to help us as a republican party, believe it or not. >> do you feel like there is a pressure campaign against people who even throw out concerns? >> i do, and i think that that's a two-edged sword.

i think that you could run to a point when we have the majorities to where you could -- i think it's more important to get behind closed doors, address concerns and have republicans come together as one than to create controversy. i just think, you know, it's a short-term win but a long-term loss if you are not careful with that. >> thom tillis, republican of north carolina there. jason miller a senior advisor to donald trump downplayed the idea of a pressure campaign against those senate republicans. >> i think a lot of that's hyperbole. i think the fact of the matter is president trump has nominated people that he thinks are going to be the best for the job. now, when it comes to whether or not senators are going to be backing any of the nominees or what their decision making process, senators take it seriously. they want to have those individual meetings, they want to have the hearings. right now there are no hard nose from republicans for any of president trump's nominees because they're really good people. they are very good, well-qualified people. >> let's bring in nbc news

capitol hill correspondent ryan nobles who has been covering all this have closely. ryan, good morning. we did see a change in tone from joni ernst from one week to the next. she basically expressing some skepticism to put it mildly about pete hegseth at defense and then appearing this week to be much more open about it. what are you hearing behind the scenes from these members, from these senators, about the pressure that's being applied not just from trump and his people directly, but from outside groups as well? >> reporter: it's undeniable, willie, and there's obviously the pressure campaign that's happening behind closed doors that we are not privy to where there is the president himself who is making clear who he wants in these top jobs, his allies giving that message to those senators as well, but there's also in some ways a very vicious online campaign against many of these senators who at this point have not publicly said they are a no vote on any of these particular nominees.

it's almost a warning to those senators who are up for reelection in this next cycle, which includes both joni ernst and thom tillis, that if you are not going to tow the line you're going to see a primary challenge and you could be in trouble and we are going to spare no expense or effort to make sure that happens. that has to be in the back of the minds of many of these senators as they weigh this responsibility of advise and consent and the co-equal branch of government that the senate s this is just kind of in many ways a foreshadowing of what we could potentially see as a showdown between senate republicans in the white house throughout the course of the next two years. this is basically setting the stage to determine whether or not these senate republicans have the backbone to back -- to stand up to donald trump when he makes a decision that they don't necessarily like. it is fair to say that pete hegseth, robert f. kennedy jr., tulsi gabbard, matt gaetz who is

no longer the attorney general nominee, under normal circumstances these are the kind of nominees that would have a difficult time being confirmed under any circumstance. so it's not a surprise that there is some skepticism among these ranks. i think the question right now is just how far does donald trump himself, how far is he willing to go to exert that pressure and does he pick and choose between which one of these nominees that he wants to use that political capital on, because there's no doubt that if he wants he can make life very difficult for these republican senators, particularly the ones that are up for reelection, but he also knows that he has to work with them. there's going to be a lot of votes that he's going to need from them because the margins are so close over the next two years. if he wants his tax cuts, funding for this mass deportation program, you go down the line of these massive policy proposals that he has. does he want to win then or does he want to win now, and there could be a calculus that's

taking place here by donald trump where he's seeing just how far he can push them and that will tell us how the rest of this will play out at least over the first two years of this second run in his presidency. >> ryan, i know you hear what i hear, what jonathan hears, what everyone at this table hears from republicans privately is that they don't think matt gaetz was qualified, they don't think tulsi gabbard should be anywhere near the country's secrets, they don't think that pete hegseth though they may like him personally should run a bureaucracy the size of the department of defense and yet none will say that publicly at least as strongly as i said it there. what is the calculus for the senators? you talked about what donald trump is thinking. how do they weigh this? they have to live in donald trump's washington for the next four years, but they also don't believe principally that these people should be running the organizations to which he is going to nominate them. what is that calculus for some of these senators? >> reporter: and i think it's important to keep in mind, willie, that these republican

senators want donald trump to succeed. these are not -- this isn't the republican party of 2017 where there was definitely a faction of never trump republicans even if they were quiet that were hoping behind the scenes that he did not succeed and did not make it through. these republicans want him to win and when they go through the advise and consent role here it's not because they want to trip him up. not because they want to make his life difficult. it's because they want him to have the best people around him in these cabinet posts when he takes office on january 20th and beyond. and so what they would like to see happen is behind the scenes there is a conversation, they talk to the administration, they talk to these sherpas that are working with these candidates and they say, do you know what, it's just not going to happen. if you go through this confirmation process it's going to be ugly, we're going to have a hearing where, remember, democrats get to ask questions, they're going to expose a lot of these issues that have come up in media reports. your nominees are going to have to deal with all of this and it's ultimately going to look

bad for you and then at the end of all of it, after this brutal situation, we may have to vote against you and make it look like we are in opposition to you. the other path is behind the scenes we quietly talk about how this isn't necessarily the right person for this job for a whole range of reasons, why don't you find someone else and let that person bow out on their own. that's how it worked with matt gaetz because it was clear that under any circumstance matt gaetz was not going to get the votes. trump got that message. the question now and what he's dealing with when it comes to pete hegseth and tulsi gabbard and we will see what happens with robert f. kennedy jr. when he begins his process next week is is trump getting that message yet? are these republican senators willing to say definitively there is no way i'm ever going to vote yes for this guy. it's time for you to move on now so you don't go through that whole process. with hegseth in particular it seems that trump feels that he has the charisma and in a public setting he will be able to win

over some of these senators and he's willing for him to go through that process and see what happens. may not be the case for all of them, but that's the dynamic that we see playing out back and forth between the white house and the senators. >> yeah, and a week ago pete hegseth's potential nomination was teetering, looked like it was on the brink of collapse, and yet donald trump has dug in. let's talk about the fbi now with director christopher wray stepping down from his post next month. he announced that this week. republicans are falling in line behind kash patel, president-elect trump's pick to lead the bureau. patel was back on the hill yesterday meeting with republican lawmakers. here is what he had to say ahead of a meeting with senator ted cruz of texas. >> all i can say is we've had a wonderful first week on the hill meeting with so many great senators, almost 20 of them. it has been a humbling process to receive their advice during the consent and advice process. i'm looking forward to continuing that during the confirmation process as i learn every day as i go. i'm thrilled to be president trump's nominee for the director

of the fbi and i'm very excited to see senator ted cruz who is one of the most brilliant constitutional minds we have. thank you. >> you know, jonathan lemire, kash patel is viewed by many people as perhaps the most controversial of all president-elect's choices here and yet he seems to be publicly anyway getting the most broad support from republicans. it seems at least from the republican side anyway that he would breeze through if he could get all of those votes there from the republicans who have come out and spoken and supported his choice. what do you make of this dynamic? this is a guy of course who has called for the jailing of members of the press, jailing of opponents of donald trump, jailing of people he perceives to be part of the deep state. he had an enemies list at the back of his book. so arguably the most controversial of the choices and yet drawing widespread support on the hill the last couple of days. >> i was talking to a senior hill aide yesterday who was very blunt, was like this pick right here, kash patel, more than pete hegseth, more than tulsi

gabbard, maybe even more than robert f. kennedy jr. that this pick, kash patel is not only the most controversial but the one that could change americans' lives the most if he's willing to use the tools of power in the fbi to go after the enemies list, one of which he put in the back of his book, others more he's going to take his cues from donald trump either directly or indirectly. this is someone who is going to use the power of the most important law enforcement body in the world potentially on american citizens, pressure campaigns for -- and even arrests as he has threatened lawmakers, journalists, others who he has deemed in opposition to the maga movement and as so many people have said, kash patel really has no ideology of his own, per se, but rather simply channels whatever donald trump wants. elise, it is striking to willie's point we have heard senators express reservations about pete hegseth, we knew matt gaetz that pick was in trouble right away. some have said with tulsi gabbard do we really want her to have the nation's secrets.

i think next week the spotlight will turn to robert f. kennedy jr. but kash patel has flown under the radar. my question to you is there are some obviously republicans, a number of republicans, who do care about law and order, who do care about, you know, the norms of the government and checking its investigative powers. are they going to stand up against kash patel who more than anyone, i think, symbolizes what trump 2.0, retribution s , is al about? >> i don't think you can underestimate just how strong the anger is against the fbi by even the range and file republicans, what they see as the department's excesses over the past eight years or so, really starting with, you know, comey and his announcement about hillary clinton on the eve of the election was even an overstep, some republicans feel. so i think that that's why kash patel they see as someone to come in and clean up and he might -- you know, he might upset some apples in the barrel cart, but they're okay with it

as long as there's radical reform. you see that with so many of those nominees. they're willing to accept, like they are with trump, that things are going to get broken, there could be chaos, but, you know, they feel that they have to address the underlying problems that their constituents are so angry about. >> this reminds me that it could be like a 21st century version, an adaptation, an update of pat moynihan's 1993 essay on defining deviancy down. so kash patel is on the roster to be fbi director and he's on the roster, he's batting third. number one, pete hegseth, senators walking around saying he's totally unqualified, we can't have him, we can't put him in charge of the department of defense. then they go to tulsi gabbard, tulsi gabbard, no, if she's director of national intelligence out of the white house, the french, the british, the israelis, the germans, no one will tell us about their intelligence apparatus.

they won't deal with us because they don't trust her. kash patel, oh, okay, all right. we will define deviancy down and kash patel, okay, i will vote for him to be fbi director, willie. it's incredible to watch it and just thinking of what's happened to the united states senate over the course of the past couple of decades, but especially over the past ten years. i mean, it used to be the greatest deliberative body in the world and now apparently for the republican senators it's check your conscience at the door. >> and, remember, those senators' principal objection they say to the fbi right now under christopher wray is it has been, quote, weaponized against political opponents. that's their perception. now you have someone in kash patel who explicitly is saying his job is to weaponize the fbi to go after the opponents of donald trump. so how are democrats in the senate handling all of this? pete hegseth met for the first time yesterday with a democratic senator on capitol hill, donald

trump's pick for defense secretary spent the last two weeks in washington talking to republicans. yesterday, though, he sat down with senator john fetterman of pennsylvania. before the meeting senator fetterman told cnn he's just doing his job, advise and consent, and that he had never heard of hegseth before trump picked the former fox news host and military veteran to lead the pentagon. here is what fetterman had to say after their conversation. >> space, guys. create space. create space. >> i'm not really sure -- as i said, it's not really a new thing. we had a conversation and that's -- that's part of the process and that's the thing. i'm going to listen to what my colleagues on the other side continue to say and how they evaluate. >> create space. hey, guys. create space. space. space. >> are you considering voting for him? >> so it's -- it's a conversation. >> tough to hear there, katty

kay, but senator fetterman basically saying this is not news. this is our job, we bring them in, we have a meeting, it doesn't mean i'm voting for the guy but i'm going to give him a fair hearing like i would anyone else. what do you make, though, just more broadly, that's one democrat, there will be others, senator fetterman keeping an open mind, broadly about the process that we're talking about here which is that republicans, though they were able to run off matt gaetz, it appears they're having a little more trouble at least for the moment, there are still hearings to come and will be much more in this process, finding their conscience about some of these picks? >> briefly on fetterman it shouldn't be news. if the system was working perfectly, then senators from both sides would meet the candidate of any president, but it is news of course because he is the only democrat who has met with these proposed candidates from donald trump. so that in and of itself he knows this, it makes it news, he also knows he's up for reelection in the election cycle

in which donald trump would have just finished his first term in office and in a state in which donald trump has just won. so there may be a whole lot of motives going on there. you're right that it looks for the moment like this week at the end of this week very different from the end of last week donald trump's nomination picks seem to be in a stronger position than they were this time last week. we were surprised that pete hegseth made it through the weekend. i've been told there is -- you know, there are lots of different machinations going on, john thune, senator john thune, the incoming senate majority leader, is having kind of discussions about how he can play kind of checkers with the senators, give some of them the opportunity to say no to one pick, but not have any of them have to say no to more than one pick. but at the moment until this process starts -- i mean, i think we have to slightly ignore this process at the moment because some of the signals we're getting as they're going around the corridor, being followed by reporters, is

different from what will happen when we actually have the hearings. with trump you always kind of have to go with what is happening, not with what is being said. once we sit down and these hearings start taking place, that could be the moment at which you start to see some of these senators say, okay, we are going to find ways that some of us on some of these picks are able to get enough cover to vote no occasionally, and occasionally may be only once. >> and at the end of the day will they vote against donald trump? will they cross him? historically the answer has been no. we'll see. ryan, before we let you go we want to turn to a different story you've been covering that has fascinated so many people, these drones, mysterious drone sightings over new jersey, other states on the east coast. what more are you hearing today? >> reporter: willie, this story is fascinating, it's kind of funny how stories make their way to capitol hill. this story originated on the internet last week, people posting about it on tiktok,

seeing these mysterious crafts in the air, looking for an explanation. then it got to local mayors wanting answers, asking the fbi and others, and now yesterday in a big way it finally made its way to capitol hill and while the white house is saying it's nothing to worry about, they're not telling anybody what they think it is, and that has many leaders on capitol hill demanding answers. >> this is over my house right now. >> reporter: as mysterious drones continue to pop up in the skies over the east coast -- >> now it's hovering over my other neighbor's house. >> reporter: -- lawmakers in washington are growing frustrated that the biden administration isn't explaining what they are. >> you can see the internet is running wild with conspiracy theories. >> yeah. >> do you feel like the administration needs to fill that void? >> i think they should get out something as quickly as they can. >> reporter: theories are running wild about what the flying objects may be. one new jersey congressman said they were being launched by an iranian mothership off the atlantic coast. the white house saying an investigation is under way, but

there is no cause for alarm. >> right now there's just no indication that this is some sort of foreign malign activity or, in fact, even criminal. >> reporter: adding the objects being seen in the sky aren't even necessarily drones. >> it appears that many of the reported sightings are actually manned aircraft that are being operated lawfully. >> reporter: while the pentagon has said they aren't military drones and do not come from a foreign threat, senators like new york's kirsten gillibrand are demanding more information. >> we cannot simply say, well, they are not causing any harm. well, do we know that? what are they doing and who is sending them? >> reporter: and you do get the impression that the white house feels that they can just tell everyone, you don't have to worry about this, it's not a foreign actor, it's not anything that is a real threat, but what you're increasingly seeing and what i think i saw yesterday talking to lawmakers is that their constituents, the people that are actually seeing these things flying above their house, this he don't feel confident enough with the white house just

telling them don't worry about this. they want to know what these things are and they want to know as soon as possible and if there continues to be this lack of transparency you're going to see conspiracy theories continue to fill that void and so i think the administration here, the pentagon, they have a lot to do to try and ease people's fears here and come up with some concrete answers. we know there's an fbi investigation, dhs is involved, the faa is involved but at this point they haven't given us any indication as to what they have uncovered and what these things could possibly be. >> interesting to hear admiral kirby said yesterday these are legally owned, licensed planes or helicopters that people are seeing and the residents on the ground are saying, no, we know what those look like. we've seen those. we see them all the time. this feels like something different. the saga continues. so interesting. nbc news capitol hill correspondent ryan nobles covering a lot of ground for us this morning. thanks so much. coming up, a close call for first responders in michigan as

a blast of lake-effect snow batters the region. we will have the very latest on the impact in the upper midwest and the northeast when "morning joe" comes right back. midwest and the northeast when "morning joe" comes right back.

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>> reporter: in the midwest and northeast yet another winter whiteout and dangerous moments like this, a box truck loses control on a michigan highway, slamming into a fire engine. authorities say the driver was taken to the hospital, suffering minor injuries. no first responders were hurt. while in new york, officials in one county say they've responded to 50 traffic incidents in the last 24 hours. they're urging anyone out on the roads in this to slow down. it's the third lake-effect snow warning to strike the region since thanksgiving. this time it's so cold, ice balls are filling up this michigan beach. and in western new york more than 30 inches have dropped in the last 24 hours, so much snow that in buffalo its practice canceled for the bills, their stadium blanketed in white, after pulling off a snowy victory over the 49ers earlier this month. mean while, hard hit erie, pennsylvania, woke up this morning to blizzard-like conditions. the relentless weather is straining infrastructure. officials say at least eight

commercial buildings have either collapsed or partially collapsed under the weight of the snow. a state of emergency remains in place there for a second straight week. with no end in sight to this wintry mess. coming up, president-elect trump is starting to walk back his vow to bring down grocery prices quickly. we will show you what he's saying now about the cost of everyday items when "morning joe" comes right back. of everyday items when "morning joe" comes right back. still have moderate to severe ulcerative colitis... ...or crohn's disease symptoms after taking... ...a medication like humira or remicade? put them in check with rinvoq,

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turning back to politics and the economy, one of donald trump's often repeated campaign promises this year was to bring down the price of groceries very quickly. >> because people can't afford their groceries and they're going to be affording their groceries very soon. >> and i -- groceries, a very simple word, groceries, like almost -- you know, who uses the word -- i started using the word. the groceries. >> a vote for trump means your groceries will be cheaper. >> it will also bring your

grocery bill way down. i have more complaints on grocery, the word grocery, it's a simple word, but sort of means like everything you eat. the stomach is speaking, it always does, and i have more complaints about that. bacon and things going up double, triple, quadruple. >> i don't like the -- the tags very much. look at that, up 46%, eggs. wow. up 65%. wow. school lunches up 65%. how can a family afford that? >> i haven't seen cheerios in a long time, i'm going to take them back with me. bacon is through the roof. they are all through the roof. the milk. everything is bad and we're going to straighten it out, bring prices way down and get it done fast. >> marveling at his own discovery of the word groceries. but in his "time" magazine person of the year interview he acknowledged lowering the price of groceries will not be so easy, saying, quote, it's hard to bring things down once

they're up. you know, it's very hard, but i think that they will. jonathan lemire, there's so much to plow through and dig through in in "time" person of the year interview. all of these admissions i said a lot on the campaign trail but it will be a little tougher once in the white house. he talked about inflation, he talked about ukraine i'm not sure i can solve that on day one as i promised. we will dig into that as we go. but obviously no one, no president, no person can come down on day one and bring down the price of eggs, bacon and other groceries. it's a word, john, a simple word that people are using now, groceries. >> groceries all the rage. always such a tell when trump is reading something for the first time and reacts to it in realtime like he was with those price tags and then when he saw the cheerios on the table and realized that might be his lunch at bedminster that day. mike barnicle, you among all of us at this table have been for months if not years singularly focused on the price of

groceries, you got there before trump did and those particularly at the market basket franchise that you and i -- >> he goes early morning on his days off. >> saturday morning. >> near and dear to our hearts. market basket. >> saturday morning, 6:30 a.m. i'm at marquette basket in wall that all that many doing the grocery shopping. it's amazing to me that the democrats didn't focus more on the actual cost of groceries. they kept talking about the national system in terms of global economies, but the lived economy, the way people live and pay for things nowhere does it occur more in reality each and every day than at grocery stores and gas stations. i'm wondering what do you think, elise, what do you think the over/under is on the last time that donald trump was in a grocery store? 40 years? 50 years? >> wow. i mean, does 7-eleven count maybe on a campaign stop?

maybe on the campaign trail he wandered in, but i doubt that even as a teenager he ever went to the grocery store. coming up, we will have the latest on the political upheaval in syria. nbc's matt bradley joins us live from damascus with a look at how rebel forces plan to govern the country now that bashar al assad is out of power. "morning joe" is coming right back. ssad is out of power. "morning joe" is coming right back and most importantly, it works for them. i don't have any anxiety about money anymore. i don't have to worry about a mortgage payment every month. it allowed me to live in my home and not have to make payments. if you're 62 or older and own your home, you could access a portion of your equity to improve your lifestyle. a reverse mortgage loan can eliminate your monthly mortgage payments and put tax-free cash in your pocket. it was the best thing i've ever done. really? yes without a doubt. these folks know, finance of america can show you how a reverse mortgage loan uses your built-up home equity to give you tax-free cash.

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we're very focused on syria, very focused on the opportunity that now is before us and before the syrian people to move from -- out from under the shackles of bashar al assad to a different and better future for the syrian people, one that the syrian people decide for themselves. secretary of state antony blinken in turkey earlier this morning speaking about the future of syria as the united states and its allies work to secure a peaceful transition in the country and flesh out future terms of engagement there. meanwhile, celebrations

continue in syria following the toppling of bashar al assad and his regime. the leader of the rebel group that overthrew assad's regime called on syrians to take to the streetsed to to mark what he described as a revolution. nbc news international correspondent matt bradley joins us now live from damascus. matt, what's the latest there on the ground today? >> reporter: willie, amidst the euphoria and the fear, and i can tell you, willie, there really is both, there is quite a bit of fear amidst all of these celebrations we keep seeing, there is a real call for justice and not just justice for those who were wrongfully imprisoned, wrongfully executed and for toured and we've been seeing stories coming out of the sednaya prison but also victims of chemical weapons, that was something that had been wielded by the assad regime on several occasions over the 13-year -- more than 13-year-long civil war that really just ended as far as we can tell it is over just in

the past week. so i went down to a town not so far from here where i am in central damascus where there had been a chemical strike by the assad regime back in 2013. i spoke with some young men about what they endured, about how many people they lost. this was an attack that killed somewhere between nearly 300 or nearly 2,000 people. we don't know exactly how many people were killed and maimed and injured, many others, including the young man mohammed who i spoke to. here is what he told me. [ speaking in a global language ]

>> reporter: so as you can see this is a hugely emotional moment for so many people. remember when we're hearing from these people, this is not just a time when they are recalling something that occurred to them when they were recalling their victimization, this is really the first time they're able to speak publicly about these events inside syria with comfort, knowing they're not going to be thrown in jail for speaking their mind and telling their truth. that's why this is so momentous for so many people here in this country. guys? >> matt, the stories from the people going around prisons trying to find their loved ones after sometimes decades are just heart-wrenching. are we getting any sense of what the new incoming government, i guess we would call it, is going to look like and whether it's going to be more open, more tolerant, whether it's going to be a government the syrians will

be able to keep their voices alive and allowed and in opposition if necessary to the incoming government? is this a real sea change? >> reporter: it's a great question, katty and the one that everybody here is asking. nobody has an answer yet except this new regime led by hayat tahrir al sham they are an organization that has past loyalties to al qaeda. they are listed designated as terrorists by the united states and european nations and even turkey who has backed their allies in just the past week. this is a really thorny situation. we've heard from the u.s. and other countries that they're considering delisting this group as terrorists so that they can actually deal with this new government here in syria. but they've been making all the right noises as far as the international community is vernd. we heard from abu mohammad al julani who goes by ahmed sharaa,

he's being saying women will enjoy full rights in this new syria, ethnic and religious minorities will be treated with respect and equal rights under the law. this is exactly what the international community wants to hair, but the very is given the history of this group will this group be able to talk the talk -- or walk the walk, as well as they are talking the talk when it comes to liberalism. guys? >> many reminded that the taliban said all the right things a few years ago in afghanistan about women. what are you seeing there, matt? >> reporter: well, i think we're hearing celebratory gunshots -- i hope that's celebratory gunshots right off my right shoulder. we don't know exactly what's going on. you hear this every once in awhile as well as the sound of israeli bombardments which are continuing around damascus. >> we will let you get to safety there. matt bradley, thank you very much. coming up, while president-elect trump walks back some of thinks campaign pledges, he's also claiming preemptive

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♪♪ conservative columnist david french has a new piece for the "new york times" that caught our eye "biden has a pair of gifts for trump." david writes in part donald trump is a lucky plan. he's inheriting a growing economy and weakened enemies in 2025. if trump wants to capitalize on our enemies' weaknesses he will have to shed some of his isolationism. trump is far more self-interested. an american retreat in syria or the sight of russian troops in kyiv or iranian nuclear bomb would all be deeply humiliating to him signal american weakness which would signal trump's

weakness. trump's vanity may save us, but vanity is a poor proxy for a coherent national security strategy. trump is a fortunate man inheriting the conditions for a profound foreign policy success, but he's also inheriting the possibility of failure and the troubling reality is his instincts are wrong. his national security picks are flawed, and he may well snatch a series of terrible defeats from the jaws of extraordinary military and diplomatic success. that's david french writing this morning in "the new york times." elise, what do you make of david's point there, which is that joe biden actually, for all the criticism from donald trump, has left trump in a pretty good position here? >> i like david, but i really don't agree with that argument very much. i think that the world, as richard haas would say, is in disarray right now. i think that i'm not going to lay all of that on president biden, but it's just coming into a very perilous point, and i do

think that the save face aspect of donald trump and he's so reactive to bad press, will, you know, mean we're not going to have some crazy retreat into isolationism the way some have predicted. it's going to try to save face no matter what. so i don't really think that that's exactly -- i don't want to see bombing tehran. i don't want to see hard-core action immediately. we're not going to see any of that. i don't think. >> i mean that's possible, but we also, let's remember, he was this close pulling out of nato in 2018 on the eve of the putin helsinki summit. it is interesting, mike, that in the interview with "time" magazine released yesterday he acknowledged it will be harder to deal with the ukraine-russia conflict when he originally promised when he said he would get it done in 24 hours and might want to leverage u.s. military aid there to try to bring an end to this. he also suggested that the situation in the middle east was

thorny and wasn't going to be as easy as he talked about on the campaign trail. there are some grownups in the room, marco rubio, secretary of state, as we prepare for a second trump term, how do you see a trump foreign policy doctrine 2.0? >> you know, i was sentenced to washington, d.c., for a couple days this week. >> we saw. our hearts went out. >> company town. you mentioned marco rubio. he -- right now he is the most interesting nominee of donald trump's secretary of state. it's going to be interesting to see which direction he wants to take the administration in terms of foreign policy. national security adviser who has been named is a good pick. a solid pick that everybody likes. but you're looking at a situation where i'm told the question -- the immediate question is, is syria going to be a failed state like almost immediately? is it going to be balkanized? what's turkey's role going to be in the future of syria? what are the russians going to

do with regard to propping up their existing naval base and military bases in syria? are they going to play ball with any other countries? who is going to run syria? it's an enormous question because it spills over into the israeli wars with gaza. israel is still operating every day as if they are at war and they are at war every day, and the impact that the israeli attacks with lebanon and syria, what effect does that have on the whole situation? then after you get ready -- finish worrying about that, ukraine. what's going to happen in ukraine? is that going to be resolved within the next 90 days, next six months or never going to be resolved? i mean something's got to happen there. the ukrainians are running low on manpower. it's a very small nation compared to russia. putin doesn't care about life. he just feeds, feeds anyone into the battle and the casualties

thare enormous. so how are you going to handle this when you don't know who's going to be secretary of defense, when you don't know who is going to replace tulsi gabbard, director of national intelligence in the white house? how are you going to handle this from within the administration? that's almost as big a problem as america's role in the world because to play a role in the world you have to be ship shape here at home going forward. coming up actor peter sarsguard joins us with a look at his movie that covers the host age crisis during the 1972 munich olympics and how it played out on television. "morning joe" is back in a moment. "morning joe" is back in a moment my moderate to severe ulcerative colitis symptoms kept me... out of the picture. now i have skyrizi. ♪ keeping my plans, i'm feeling free. ♪ ♪ control of my uc means everything to me. ♪

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juror according to the "time" website the person of the year is bestowed upon a person, group

or concept that had the biggest impact for good or ill, which that's him all right. it is a no-brainer in every sense of the word. over the years trump has had many ups and downs when it comes to "time" magazine. in 2013 he wrote the "time" magazine list of the 100 most influential people is a joke and that will like "newsweek" be done. "time" looks flimsy like a free hand out of the parking lot the sad end is coming like "newsweek" but in 2015 when they put him on the cover. on the cover of time magazine a great honor. i told them "time" would never pick me as person of the year. they picked the person who is ruining germany. the next year, thank you to "time" magazine and "financial times." a great honor. the good feelings did not last. time called to say i was

probably going to be named man person of the year like last year but i would have to agree to an interview and major photo shoot i said probably no good and took a pass. thanks anyway. this was today when trump celebrated his person of the year hood at the new york stock exchange. [ applause ] >> ding, ding, ding. he jammed his little finger on the bell like it was the diet coke button in the oval office. >> if it's big with the 1980s it's big with donald trump. welcome to the fourth hour of "morning joe." it's just before 6:00 a.m. out on the west coast, 9:00 a.m. here in the east. i'm jonathan lemire. elise jordan with us. let's dive right in. president-elect trump is now admitting that he may have some trouble delivering on what was a key campaign promise, lowering

the price of groceries. nbc news chief white house correspondent peter alexander has the latest. >> reporter: president-elect trump taking a victory lap on wall street. ringing the opening bell at the new york stock exchange after being named "time" magazine's person of the year. but just days after sharing this assessment about the election with nbc's kristen welker. >> i run on groceries. >> reporter: in his interview with "time" the president-elect backed off his central campaign promise to lower prices for consumers, including on groceries saying, look, they got them up. i'd like to bring them down. it's hard to bring things down once they're up. you know, it's very hard. but i think that they will. i think that energy is going to bring them down. i think a better supply chain is going to bring them down. throughout the campaign, trump repeatedly vowed lower prices. >> but prices will come down. you just watch. they'll come down and come down fast. not only with insurance, with

everything. it will also bring your grocery bill way down. >> reporter: trump detailing a move he plans to make in his first hours in office pardoning defendants from the january 6th capitol riots. asked if that would include those who committed violent acts trump saying he'll look at each case adding, it's going to start in the first hour that i get into office. and a vast majority of them should not be in jail. meanwhile the current administration issued a flurry of pardons and commutations for nonviolent offenders in what the white house said was a single day record. president biden commuting the sentences of almost 1500 people and pardoning 39 others. the president saying many of the 1500 would not be convicted if they were tried today. it comes two weeks after president biden pardoned his son hunter and the president is signaling clemency may be a focus of the last weeks of his presidency, writing i will take more steps in the weeks ahead. >> that was nbc's peter

alexander with that report. joining us now, we have managing editor at the bulwark sam stein, staff writer at the new yorker, susan glasser, and opinion columnist for the "washington post" dana milbank. thank you for being with us this morning. sam, let's start with you. in this "time" magazine interview donald trump seemed to be admitting he understands that campaigning is easy, governing is hard, and prices of groceries, something he was obsessed with all year long, will be a difficult challenge. >> yeah. i mean the interview was tonal shift for trump, obviously, going from saying he will definitely bring down prices to i think i can bring them down, but it's going to be hard. clearly a rhetorical backtrack. look, this happens, obviously, but it should be an insult to the people who voted for trump based on the price of grois.cer. his policies as basically every

economist will say are inflationary if you're going to launch trade wars, jack up tariffs with foreign countries including mexico and canada, he's already threatened to do, that will have inflationary effects. it you're going to launch a mass deportation upon entering office, which he said he's going today, that will have a direct impact on the price of groceries. and so at some point the rubber hits the road and looks like to me at least this "time" magazine interview was an attempt for him to start to recall by ibrate th expectations who were promised explicitly prices would come down. >> even though the president-elect is backing away from some key promises he's claiming a number of preemptive victories on other issues. as you point out in "the washington post" the president-elect doesn't take over for six more weeks but magically, he has already made

america great again. you write in part he has solved the border crisis. mexico's president has agreed to stop migration through mexico into the united states effectively closing our southern border, trump tells us. this will go a long way towards stopping the illegal invasion of the usa. he has brought peace to the middle east. former nato chief says israel-hezbollah cease-fire a direct result of incoming trump administration, was the headline trump posted on his fledgling social media site on monday. he has scored a breakthrough against the opioid epidemic and announced he has secured the commitment of the canadian government to work with us to end this terrible devastation of the u.s. families. and he has already turned the u.s. economy into the envy of the world. the stock market just recorded its best month this year in the wake of trump's landslide victory, proclaimed the headline of another trump social media post.

so dana, pretty neat trick for trump to take credit for things before he wealds the levers of power. tell us about what you found but is there any truth to the idea just the looming presence of trump might be changing at least some things, maybe not the victories he's claiming, but at least some things both at home and abroad? >> well, sure, jonathan. it may be changing things at the margin in terms of the way allies and foreign governments act, but, you know, basically what's happened here is the fantasy that trump portrayed on the campaign trail is colliding with reality here. look, he said we're a failed nation, and now he's going to inherit this supposedly failed nation, but well what's he going to do then? on day one most likely he's going to proclaim victory and start talking about all the greatness of america and it's fairly easy to do since america

didn't stop being great in the first place. it's kind of a neat trick, except that his supporters seem perfectly willing, you know, like they're in on the joke to some extent, as soon as trump was elected you saw the polls swing suddenly republican voters were saying they're optimistic about the economy, things aren't so bad after all, so, you know, it was a lot -- it was a charade going on that a number of trump's own supporters were in on. so, you know, at some point you have to adjust to the reality of the situation, which is that our country is not the disaster he portrayed it to be. why not sort of preemptively take credit for it. >> dana, you had an interesting podcast yesterday about americans just not believing in experts anymore. what has to happen for experts to win back any faith in their solutions and in their process if. >> gosh, i can profess to you right now that i am not an expert on anything, but, you

know, look, this is a much bigger problem than what we're having at the moment. you're seeing it in the trump confirmation battles where, you know, qualifications really aren't important and i think that's an extension of, you know, sort of a rejection of expertise. but this has been years and years in the building. it's been a discrediting of traditional media. you know, it's hand in hand with the sort of anything goes alternative facts universe. i wish i could say that there is a solution. it just seems to me that we're going to have to have more of these collisions with reality. unfortunately we're going to have to presumably see some disastrous results during the trump presidency that would make people rethink their prodition positions -- predispositions. >> susan your piece request the donald trump is picking fights. will anyone hit back? you talk about the ways you see

leaders capitulating to the president-elect instead of standing up to him. tell us more about what you found. >> well, look, obviously, there was a lot of surprise i think that created the decision this week by chris wray to preemptively announce his resignation from the fbi, rather than waiting for donald trump to fire him on the grounds of essentially not being personally loyal to donald trump himself. i think there is a robust debate about how best to deal with the challenge of donald trump coming in, you know, here in europe at a conference, at a moment when officials in nato, allied governments are extremely nervous about trump coming in. they're worried about him making a peace deal with russia essentially on putin's terms that would potentially undermine the nato alliance. in the past trump has threatened to walk out of nato altogether. they're preemptively signaling,

hey, we're going to raise our targeted spending to 3% of our gdp on defense, but to a certain extent they're negotiating with themselves at this point. trump hasn't even taken office. is that the right thing to do to nullify trump not get in his sights or is it a disastrous mistake because trump is going to ask for more. you see this to a certain extent with canada. it was a remarkable thing to me to have the president of the united states openly taunting the leader of canada saying, you know, maybe you should just become our 51st state. what i thought was really interesting you didn't hear canadian prime minister justin trudeau clap back at trump and say, wait a minute, you know, not only are we an independent sovereign country, but we may have many advantages over the united states. that is as insulting as you can get to a foreign government, and i think the response has been notable for how much people are weary of confronting donald trump.

>> susan, actually i completely agree with you. it goes beyond that even and you see some of the tech giants who had been in cross hairs with trump turning around and donating heavily to his inauguration committee. i'm wondering if we could kind of dig a little deeper here. what do you think is sort of the psychology happening right now? if you think back to 2016 at this time period going into 2017, you know, if i'm recalling correctly there was a lot of talk about, you know, how do you fight this? what are the protest movements going to look like? lawyers are getting ready for the muslim ban. you had immediate pushback. scenes at airports. the women's march. et cetera. i don't sense any of that in talking to democrats or people who would be involved in the type of pushback you traditionally see. why do you think that is the case >> are people worn down by it all? >> yeah. you know, there's so many potential explanations. one of them is sheer exhaustion.

eight years into this, not one month, but eight years and one month into it. exhaustion is a part of it. there appears to be a collective conclusion among some of trump's critic, some of trump's opponents that somehow the early resistance framework did not produce the results that they wanted it to. that certainly is notable here in terms of foreign leaders as well. i remember angela merkel's statement when trump was elected essentially lecturing trump saying i'm going to be on the watch for violations of democracy. you don't see any statements like that this time around from foreign leaders who are eager not to be in trump's cross hairs. the question is, is that going to serve as a deterrent to trump in any way or constraining him in the sense he has so many partners to work with? it's a big question. you know, there are many people who look at what's happened in countries that have gone through democratic back sliding in recent years, people like the

yale historian, they have the frame of hey, listen, don obey in advance. i was speaking with a leader of the turkish opposition interestingly, you know, to erdogan for all these years and asked him about christopher wray resigning, and i asked him about, you know, what do you think about this debate that's happening in washington? he was uncategorical which is interesting. he said, don't do it. don't obey. fight as long as you can. don't resign until you absolutely have to. i just thought it was really interesting that that was the perspective of someone who has been resisting erdogan's authoritarian moment for a long time in turkey. >> yeah. very important moment and an important piece. staff writer to the new yorker susan glasser. we'll be reading that piece online this morning. dana, to you here on this idea of resistance. it does seem very different than the aftermath of the 2016 election, at least so fashion in terms of the lack of protest movement here at home, the lack of uproar overseas.

do you see things that could change that? at least domestically there's some democrats who think if trump were to follow through with the mass deportations plan that might be the spark that changes things? what do you think? >> well, i agree with what susan was saying about this exhaustion and you're seeing it, you know, by our newspaper readership is down, your viewership is down. i think people having been through this once are saying, oh, we have to do it again, and that is the slippery slope that we're talking about. it all becomes normalized. we just accept and say maybe it won't be so bad this time. so what does it take? there's a chance that we'll start to see this when the confirmation hearings begin in january. you know, some of the more outrageous characters may spark some. you're right, it may be round ups at the border and may require some other policy failure setting off a trade war,

for example, or something we don't know. if we know anything that the trump administration will be unpredicted. i think there is a chance around the inauguration and in january that energy of the, quote, unquote, resistance returns. but it is -- you know, it's a sign of how beaten down i think the left and the never trump republicans are that it's just so quiet right now. >> yeah. 2017 it was the inauguration that sparked real rises in newspaper subscriptions and cable viewership and the like. we'll see if that happens again. "washington post" opinion columnist dana mill bank, thank you. your latest piece online and book with the headline "fools on the hill the hooligans, conspiracy theorists and dunces who burned down the house" it is on sale. rare sam stein makes an important insight. when he does we like to mention it publicly. the e-commerce giant amazon planning to donate $1 million to

president-elect's trump inaugural fund according to reporting in the "wall street journal." this comes as the company's founder jeff bezos and other tech leaders work to shore up ties with the incoming trump administration. the "journal" notes bezos decided on the contribution earlier this week and he's also set to visit trump next week at mar-a-lago. meanwhile, meta the ent company of instagram, facebook and what's app has donated $1 million. ceo mark zuckerberg has had an up and down relationship with trump to say the least but the two did have dinner last month at trump's palm beach club let's bring in the co-anchor of cnbc's skauk box and "new york times" columnist andrew ross sorkin. thank you for being with us this morning. talk to us about this phenomenon, some would say to use susan's phrasing, it's these tech giants obeying in advance.

others say this is smart business. it would happen no matter who was in office. what's your read of it? >> somebody is going to write a book that will probably come out maybe a year from now and the title is going to be "if you can't beat them join them." i think that's what this is about in large part. this is about this idea that so much of what's happening here is sort of if you can't beat them, join them, situation. you know, as we know, mark zuckerberg had pulled trump off the facebook platform, and i think that has really reversed himself, as has jeff bezos and as has amazon in terms of how they're thinking about trying to move forward, so i think what's happening right now is they're all what i would put in the context of hopefully good faith efforts to try to create some kind of relationship with this -- with this president that they did notes have at least

over the last several years, and here we are. i know there's going to be a sense that this is an obeying situation. i'm not sure it's that yet. i think there's a view that you know what, we're going to try to make this work and see if it does. i think there is an optimism about it, but there's also a view that if it doesn't, then maybe we'll have to reverse course later. spending a million bucks like this is actually not that different than what used to happen hisser torically with ve different kinds of president-elects. . >> so andrew, there's a lot of thought here, the trump team promised regulation will go by the wayside. reporting this morning that they're going to scrap some car crash reporting requirements opposed by elon musk's tesla and then last night, "the wall street journal," big story, teams exploring ways to reduce merger or eliminate the top bank

regulators, including some really important big names. talk to us about what that could mean? would that be something wall street would welcome but does it endanger perhaps the foundation of the economy? >> look, so the report effectively suggested that institutions like the fdic, which guarantees deposits in america, could ultimately get merged in, if you will, inside the treasury department. this alphabet soup of regulators, which the truth is industry has long complained about because there's been this sort of competition by regulators to regulate -- they would argue overregulate -- if you could consolidate that, both, maybe you would have a better system and spend less doing. there is a value arguably to that competition among regulators because it forces the hands to some degree, but it also does create this uncertainty. i don't know -- on the fdic piece, probably the most important piece, are your

deposits safe? if the fdic were to disappear it's not that the guarantee tis appears, the guarantee in that group just moves inside the treasury department and probably with less overhead and the truth is that over the last several frankly financial crises that we have lived through, the fdic has had to work almost hand in hand, frankly, with the treasury department and the secretary of the treasury. i'm not sure it would create that big a distinction, but i do recognize that i think once you start to consolidate these things, you don't have as many different voices and the diversity of those voices around the table potentially competing with each other that may actually create hopefully better regulations when it's done well. >> lastly, susan mentioned how canadian prime minister trudeau, at least to this point, has not really fought back against trump's taunting about tariffs or the suggestion he would an next canada being our 51st

state, calling him governor trudeau in a social media post, but all eyes turns to the province of ontario and doug ford which is floating the idea they're going to hit back, they may bar american-made alcohol and other restrictions if trump follows through on these tariffs threats. >> ontario is not having it, and they're throwing down the gauntlet on the alcohol front because it would make the export of alcohol from the u.s. complicated and much more expensive but more importantly there's this electricity piece, ontario delivers electricity to about 1.5 million homes in the united states and suggesting maybe they would consider cutting that off. you know, this is -- when people talk about the tariffs and the uncertainty the tariffs could create, it's -- it wasn't just the cost of the tariffs, it's the retaliation and this is an example of the kind of thing that could happen and, therefore, a kind of different leverage points you think either the u.s. has or in this case

canada may have. i think we're going to see a lot more of this. is this all a lot of talk and bluster or is this real? i think everybody is waiting to see how real it very much is for president-elect trump and how real it is in some of these both countries and now provinces and what kind of political support there would be for those things because, by the way, there would be a cost for them too. >> ontario, welcome to the resistance. cnbc's andrew ross sorkin v a good weekend. talk to you next week. let's take a look at the other stories making headlines. elon musk, the aforementioned elon musk is on a mission to turn spacex's launch site into a new texas city. the billionaire sent a letter to local officials asking for an election to turn star base, which is located in south texas near the border, into its own incorporated city. more than 3400 full-time employees and contractors work at the site where spacex builds

and launches its massive starship rockets. united airlines is the first major airline to integrate apple air tags with your luggage. travelers who place air tags in their checked bags can now directly provide location tracking information to united through the airline's app, which they say will help the air carrier track down a lost bag much more quickly. 15 other airlines have also pledged to start integrating that technology. and city officials in bend, oregon, are asking residents to stop attaching googly eyes to the city's sculptures. look. those eye, undeniably. the oversized plastic eyes have been found on eight public art installations so far. costing the city more than $1500 to remove them. that's a good one. city leaders say the ad hesives from the eyes can damage metal

coatings and may require the sculptures to be repainted or recoated, but some citizens say they like them. coming up next, lawmakers in washington are pressing the biden administration for answers on the drones that have been spotted over the east coast, particularly over new jersey. we'll have the latest on that growing mystery. plus, actor peter sarsgaard joins us to discuss his new film that covers the decisive moment during the 1972 munich olympics that made broadcast history. you're watching "morning joe." we'll be right back. ach other. because here at st. jude, we believe there are families who were born into and families you choose, families who choose to show up, lift up and never give up. one in five kids still won't survive cancer. it takes all of us together to give them their best chance to live. this holiday season, choose to join our st. jude family.

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trump their 2024 person of the year. trump is the first man in history to be "time's" person of the year and mcdonald's employee of the month. history is being made.

now trump said the honor feels just as exciting as the birth of his child, except he was present for the award. >> there we go from jimmy fallon upstairs. lawmakers on capitol hill are demanding answers after a series of mysterious drone sightings across new jersey and the other states on the east coast. in a magic topic of conversation around this table the last couple days. let's bring in nbc news correspondent sam brock. it appears the number of sightings continues to grow. what can you tell us. >> people want to know what's going on. it's clear. there are two separative narratives. the mayor and residents of new jersey saying our communities are blanketed with drones every night. on the other side the federal agencies saying we reviewed the footage this looks like manned aircraft. four senators, two from new york, two from new jersey, stepping in and saying we would like to know what is going on behind the scenes. >> reporter: the reported drone

sightings that have consumed new jersey. >> it's a drone. >> reporter: now expanding to bowie, maryland, outside of washington where a group of four senators from new york and new jersey are demanding a briefing from the fbi, faa, and homeland security, as soon as possible, on how the agencies are working to identify and address the source of these incursions. >> we don't know who is sending them, controlling them, spying. >> i've been a little frustrated. there hasn't been enough transparency letting people know what's happening. it's allowing a lot of potentially misinformation to spread or at least fear. >> reporter: at rose's luncheonette in new jersey, the drones are the talk of the town. >> there's a lot of panic in the area. >> reporter: the restaurant's owner says he was actually woken up by one. >> it sounded like a helicopter. looked out the window and you saw lights, you know, in the sky like a green light, red light. >> reporter: a pair of drones here in front of me. >> reporter: about a week ago mayor morris in nearby mine hill township investigated reports of eight drones flying by his

government building. >> you saw them right over there. >> over the street line. >> reporter: he says local mayors are demanding answers too. >> this smacks of a lack of control and that makes people very uncomfortable. >> reporter: thursday the white house downplaying concerns saying the sightings are not military drones and do not come from a foreign threat. they aren't sure if they're drones at all. >> it appears that many of the reported sightings are actually manned aircraft that are being operated lawfully. >> reporter: rob d'amico is the former head of the fbi's counter drone unit who says it can be easy to confuse drones with planes or other aircraft. >> you suspect a large percentage of these sightings are actually manned aircraft? >> i believe probably 90% of them are and i think the other 10% are drones allowed to be flying. >> reporter: whatever is swooping around in the skies locals believe they're not getting the full story. >> do you get the impression the federal government knows way more than what they're -- >> absolutely. without a doubt. >>, obviously, a lot of people feel that way, guys so the fbi

police in deploying personnel and technology to investigate whether or t aircraft, perhaps some folks are just having inaccuracies in what they're seeing. at least this week, governor murphy said in one night there were 50-something sightings and yet he believes a lot of those were probably overlaps of the same thing or people getting confused. they don't know. they want answers from the agencies that do know and that's where the source of the frustration is now. >> could anyone in the administration or at the agencies pinpoint when they would have the study done, this review? how long is it going to take? as the -- the longer it takes the more easily crazy theories abound >> 100%. you don't want misinformation spreading which is what senator booker's point there. in terms of a timeline we don't have one. i was told from the man that used to run the counter drone unit, if there was a real national security threat here the fbi would have been in there

yesterday intervening. the fact that they don't think this fits the profile of russia or iran, they wouldn't necessarily come in with guns blazing, lights visible and loud signs over people's homes they don't see the risk threat. when might the government intervene? that's what the senators want to know? please just tell us, whatever you're thinking is there testing going on, mostly personal drones or manned aircraft and people getting excited and bringing up more drones to fan the flames of this? tell us what you thing the theory is. >> did they talk about aliens. >> that would be a great question. i like to say the truth is definitely out there. i don't know it's the top of their list but in this day and age anything is possible. >> nothing ruled out. sam brock, thank you for that report. keep your eyes skyward. the owner of the "los angeles times" moved to kill an editorial on president-elect trump's controversial cabinet selections. "the new york times" reports the editorial in question argues the

senate should follow its traditional process for confirming nominees, particularly fitch particularly given the board's concerns about his picks and ignore mr. trump's call for so-called recess appointments. four sources tell the "times" that the hours before the editorial was to be sent to the printer the paper's owner a billionaire told the department's leaders the editorial could not be published unless the paper published an editorial with an opposing view. editors removed the editorial which then never saw the light of day. this is not the first time the paper's owner has weighed into his paper's opinion section. shortly before the election he stopped the editorial board's endorsement of vice president kamala harris. a spokesperson for the paper declined to comment on the editorial about trump's cabinet picks. sam stein, you've always had a really sharp eye on this confluence of media and politics, these sort of stories.

what do you make of this. is this the obey in advance phenomenon we heard. is this something more practical or economic in mind from the owner of the paper? what's your read? >> i mean, there's a lot of threads to pull here. one is, it wasn't always a thing that newspapers had this traditional what we called independence from their ownership. back 100 years ago or so they used to be vehicles for their owners and this is a relic of that. on the other hand it's clear that the wealthy owners of some of these newspapers clearly sense that they either need to butter up to the trump world or rearrange their editorial leaning so that they reflect more of what the trump world and trump voters feel. so in addition to spiking the editorial, the "l.a. times" is hiring scott jennings, a fairly bombastic and interesting personality in conservative politics who is also a personality on cnn, right, and this is a case where newspapers feel like they're losing

credibility and the only way to gain it back is to incorporate more voices. the flip side of that, though, is that a lot of people think there should be, you know, a real strict bar and line between an owner and the editorial leanings and operations of a newspaper, and clearly that's been violated here on a couple occasions. so look, the answer to all of this is very simple, you should all subscribe to the bulwark where we don't have the meddling of billionaire, multimillionaire owners. that's the only solution here. >> you do have to worry about some of the opinionated editors, however, who run the copy day to day. >> no. those are the best part of the bull bulwark. you have to subscribe. >> well done plug. thousands of people here are free from their crippling medical debt thanks in part to an nbc news report. we'll explain how it happened when "morning joe" returns. e" rs

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businesses, chili's and applebee's fighting about who has the better value meal. the great chicken sandwich war of 2019 has the country been so divided. chili's versus applebee's this might be the only peace agreement trump is qualified to negotiate. meanwhile thousands of americans struggling with crushing medical debt have some more relief this morning after an nbc news report on one large hospital system that placed liens on the homes of patients that could not pay. christine romans explains. >> reporter: for 15 years, gary and donna lindabury worried they'd lose the home they built in the mo untains of western north carolina. >> you wake up every day and wonder is this going to be my

house tonight? >> reporter: it started in 2009. gary lindabury's heart attack required a quadruple bypass at 64, the retired factory worker didn't have insurance figuring in six months he would be eligible for medicare. >> i said, we don't have the money for this. i can't do this. >> reporter: he told the doctor head' just go home and wait. >> he was pretty plain i didn't six months. i probably didn't have two days. >> reporter: the bills for his care totaled close to $100,000. >> i wouldn't have made that in five years. >> reporter: the hospital sued the couple for payment, putting a lien on their home. gary and donna kept their plight a secret. >> did you tell your kids? >> no. both of us come from families that paid their bills. >> reporter: by one estimate americans owed $220 billion in medical debt, a leading cause of bankruptcy. the lindaburys paid what they could but barely made a dent. then came the story of terry

belling. >> you weren't running away from these bills. >> no. i was trying to pay them. >> pay them. >> reporter: the north carolina man who was struggling with medical debt he took on for the cancer treatment of his late wife more than 20 years ago. >> like an abba tros around my neck. >> reporter: after his story aired on "nbc nightly news" in september, just a few days later belk received a call from the hospital. >> they're going to be lifting liens and canceling judgments. >> reporter: not long after belk had that call the lindaburys received their news. >> i would say the first thing i felt was just a tremendous weight was gone. >> cancellation of judgment. >> reporter: advocate health the parent company of atrium was canceling the judgment against them. zeroing out the $92,000 of debt that was hanging over their heads. >> we're both just ecstatic. >> reporter: advocate health has stopped taking new liens out and

is canceling judgments against 11,500 families in six states totaling millions of dollars. in a statement telling nbc news, quote, removing judgment liens on homes to recover unpaid medical bills was a natural next step in our continuing efforts to make sure patients aren't burdened by medical costs. >> you built it and then part of it belonged to the health care system, but now it belongs to you again? >> yeah. it's ours. >> reporter: the lindaburys now free to enjoy their health and home. >> good news there. nbc's christine romans with that report. coming up next on "morning joe" -- >> making broadcast history. more people have seen this. >> now police are on the roof. >> oh, guys. that's a tv. are they seeing what we're seeing? >> what are you talking about? >> are the terrorists seeing this? >> that was a look at the new

film "september 5," set amid the chaos of the terrorist attack at the 1972 olympic munich games. actors peter sarsgaard and john magaro along with jeffrey mason, who was a 32-year-old producer working in the control room for the abc sports in munich that day, will leave our control room and join us on set next. we'll be right back. et next. we'll be right back. asthma. does it have you missing out on what you love,

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>> what do you mean? >> can we show someone being shot on live television? >> we're on. >> the eace that involved the olympics this morning. the games are still going on within a few hundred yards nine terrified human beings are being held prisoners. >> that was a look at the new movie "september 5" the film goes inside the abc sports control room at the 1972 munich olympics when a terrorist group took members of the israeli delegation hostage. in a whirlwind 22 hours, abc sports president roone arlidge and jeffrey mason must fight to stay in control of the story as the events play out on live television. watched by an estimated $900 million people worldwide in realtime. joining us costars of "september 5" peter sarsgaard who plays roone arledge, john magaro playing geoffrey mason and

geoffrey mason is with us as well,en emmy award winning producer and serves as coproducer on the film. jeffrey, we start with you. >> thank you. >> watching here the trailer again, watching these moments that you lived through, what is that like? >> it's a first experience for me. i never had anybody play me. there was never any reason for anybody to play me. it brings back how difficult that day was. i still feel it when i think of it. the way peter and john played their roles in the movie is really, really accurate, really authentic, and even though it is a dramatic re-creation of what we went through that day, they nailed it. i'm proud to be part of it. >> peter, tell us what drew you to this story and in particular, the roone arledge character, the tv executive, caught with

geoffrey in the middle became such a defining television event. >> well, when it first came to me actually, sean penn is one of our producers an he actually was in my first movie i ever did was "dead man walking" and so i looked at it in a different way, you know. it had his stamp on it. then i met the director tim and for me, the most important thing with this story was that it be told truthfully because it's about these guys trying to tell the story as it happens in the most accurate way and if we had someone who was interested in hyperbole it would have thrown off the whole message of the movie. this guy was obsessive, you know, like the equipment was going to be the actual equipment. he wanted to use this documentary footage and then showed me some of it and seeing jim mackay on that, i saw we had a fantastic leading man. >> john, what was it like to play geoff?

>> oh, what a challenge. >> oh, really? >> look at this. >> why was it such a challenge? >> looking in a mirror right there. it's weird. no. you know, i -- first of all, there were so many people we wanted to honor who were in that control room and, obviously, the victims and everyone on that day, and sometimes when you're playing a real person who exists it's kind of a detriment but geoff was such a vital resource for me in more ways than one. he was a vital resource for the entire production. the reason we got that foot annual, the 22 hours of footage from disney, a different company, was because of geoff and his -- how revered he is in the broadcast world. so it was an honor. i'm just happy that he feels like i got it right. >> so, geoff, let's talk about there was a real -- we alluded to it, tension between the sports side and news side of abc as to who was in control of what was happening that day. walk us through what happened.

>> well, we mentioned it in the movie, abc news in new york was quite anxious to get on top of the biggest story on the planet and roone arledge, spent a lot of time on the phone talking to new york during that day and basically refused to hand it over to news. the whole -- the whole story was developing 100 yards from our broadcast center, so there was no reason we could see to give it back to, you know, a host in new york. why would we want to do that? so roone won the argument. he kept it. we knew we had it. we knew we were capable of telling the story the way it should be told. and it turned out pretty well. >> the numbers, 900 million viewers, nine zero zero, at what point in the day did you realize just how big and how momentous what was happening, horrific,

but you were there and you were at the scene of it? >> you know, elise, we were so busy we never thought about it that day. we were too busy, truthfully. the next day when jim mackay got a telegram from walter cronkite saying, in essence, well done, you told the story beautifully, couldn't have been done better, then we began to understand, okay, we did have more of a footprint than we thought. >> so let's take another look, a clip from the film where unexpected visitors make their presence felt. >> what's going on? >> off. >> what? >> take it off! >> [ bleep ]. nuts. you do not point a gun at my view. jesus christ. all live cams off. three charlie turn the tower cam off. happy? >> hey, hey, hey, what's going on here? >> they just took us off the air.

>> sam stein, next question is yours. >> let me just say first of all that it looks like an amazing film. munich, by steven spielberg, which details the afterplafts of this incident was an amazing film, and i have a question for john or peter, honestly, the production of this took place during or in the aftermath of october 7th. we've had this intense political debate around, you know, acts of terrorism, responses, culpability for them. obviously, this movie isn't necessarily about that. it's about a news coverage of a terrorist incident. but to a degree, was that in the back of your mind as you sought to portray these news men covering this horrific event. >> if so, how did it affect your acting? >> well october 7th hadn't happened when we started shooting this. >> in fact -- >> we were done editing when that event tragically occurred. but i don't think it would have changed anything in the way i

approached it. this is a story about the media and the media's response to tragic events and how we as consumers of these events in our homes and now on our phones and through all these devices are -- how it's given to us. i think we wanted to show this time when the media forever changed and that was our goal. it was never to be political or apolitical. that's -- this is a crisis that has been going on for decades. you could argue millenia. there was no way we were going to solve it. and i think we wouldn't have been honoring the crew and people on that day if we tried to do it any other way. i want to say this was bound to happen. technology had reached that point. so whether it was that conflict or a different conflict, it was inevitable. it just so happens that was the tragedy that was unfolding. >> if anything, the events of october 7th amplified the issues that the movie is about, right, which are about issues of journalism.

>> no question there. the new movie "september 5" is playing in select theaters beginning today. it goes nationwide starting january 17th. costars peter sarsgaard and john magaro and one of the subjects of the film geoffrey mason, thanks to all three. congratulations on this. >> thanks for having us. >> that does it for us this morning. we will see you again monday morning. anna cabrera picks up the coverage after a short break. have a great weekend, everybody. . luis fonsi: in this family, we take care of every kid at st. jude like they are our kid. because at st. jude, we believe all children deserve a chance to live. but one in five kids in the us still won't survive cancer. and globally, that number is even higher.

in this family, we won't stop until no child dies from cancer. this holiday season, join our st. jude family. we need you. please donate now. i used to leak urine when i coughed, laughed or exercised. i couldn't even enjoy playing with my kids. i leaked too. i just assumed it was normal. then we learned about bulkamid. an fda approved non-drug solution for our condition. it really works, and it lasts for years. it's been the best thing we've done for our families. call 800-983-0000 to arrange an appointment with an expert physician to determine if bulkamid is right for you. results and experiences may vary.

right now on "ana cabrera reports" -- the search for a motive. a twist as police hunted for answers in the killing of unitedhealthcare ceo and new details on how luigi mangione was allegedly able to evade capture for days. plus, mystery in the sky. lawmakers now demanding transparency as drones are spotted night after night over

new jersey.