wants to make the government efficient. he has this dodge thing, spearheaded by president elon m. he said that he's not the president, but he is the president. he has to figure out how this will be paid for. is hery re elying on cities an states to foot the bill. is it coming from the federal government? during the trump first season, you know, he had said that max co- mexico was going to help pay the border wall. he hasn't exactly detailed what this might look like. >> mexico did, in fact, not end up paying for the wall. bloomberg's skyler woodhouse, thank you very much for joining us. thank you for getting up "way too early" with us on this monday morning. "morning joe" starts right now. we have a president, we have a vice president, we have a speaker, it feels as if elon musk is our prime minister.

i spoke with elon a couple of times this week. i think -- >> unelected. >> unelected but he has a voice. i think a large part of that voice is a reflection of the voice of the people. >> he meant that as a compliment. that's republican congressman tony gonzalez of texas, praising elon musk for speaking out against the government funding bill last week and comparing him to a prime minister. we'll update you on what the spending fight portends for president-elect donald trump's first 100 days in office. plus, trump also seems to be eyeing a couple of new properties for the united states' real estate portfolio. we'll explain why he's hinting at taking control of greenland and now the panama canal. of course, we'll get to a huge weekend on the gridiron for both the nfl and the college game. good morning. welcome to "morning joe." it is monday, december 23rd. i'm jonathan lemire along with

u.s. special correspondent for bbc news, katty kay. managing editor at "the bulwark," sam stein joins us. as does the co-host of "the weekend" on msnbc, symone sanders townsend. just saw her on "way too early." joe, mika, and willie have the morning off. wee will dive right in. a lot of headlines this morning. thank you for joining us. we begin with congress which managed to pass an 11th hour government funding package late friday evening. the short term bill will keep the government's lights on through mid march. the package passed through the house, 366-34, with democrats providing the votes to get it over the needed hurdles. the senate, for its part, passed the legislation 85-11. the no votes came from ten republicans and senator bernie sanders of the vermont, an independent who caucuses with democrats. the bill's passage comes after president-elect trump torpedoed the bipartisan agreement that

had been brokered by congressional leadership. trump had called for any funding deal to increase or even abolish the debt ceiling, which is not up until the middle of next year. trump went as far as to say that he would support primary challenges to any republican who went against his wishes. the final package, however, did not contain any language pertaining to the debt ceiling. a point in which semafor reports that trump is, quote, not happy about. the package does contain over $100 billion for disaster relief as well as a one-year extension of the farm bill. so this is a moment, katty, and we'll get into it, where republicans felt like they could say no, at least in a limited fashion, to donald trump. >> yeah, what does that mean going forward? if some are going to carry on saying no, i can't imagine the president-elect is going to be thrilled with that. of course, this new funding bill is only going to keep the government open until march, so

these debates are going to come up again. despite republicans controlling the chambers and the presidency, they'll need at least some democratic votes to avoid a future shutdown. as nbc news reports, trump's demand that congress extend or abolish the debt ceiling, to take it off his plate next year, failed dramatically. on wednesday, he threatened electoral primary challenges, the weapon of choice, of course, against any republican who voted to fund the government without dealing with the debt limit. on friday, 170 house republicans defied him and, yes, did just that. senate republicans say last week's turmoil is a preview of how difficult it is going to be for house speaker mike johnson to facilitate two budget reconciliation packages and a debt limit bill next year. "the hill" reports senator josh hawley of missouri expressed doubt about whether the speaker can pass these major bills. quote, if they can't manage the c.r., how is he going to manage reconciliation? it's bad. it bodes badly.

another concern, trump's signature campaign promise of large-scale mass deportations. "the telegraph" reports, days after his election victory, trump said there would be no price tag on his plan for mass deportations, probably involving constructing tens of thousands of detention centers. a report from the immigration council, a pro-immigration group, estimated deporting 1 million migrants a year would cost at least $88 billion. jonathan, i know it's christmas. i know people are asking for a lot of gifts. but it looks like donald trump is asking for an awful lot from congress next year. this is not to mention continuing those tax cuts he wants to do, potentially bringing down the corporate tax cut, as well. i mean, that's the kind of thing that would keep any congress busy, yet they have to deal with the procedural stuff because they haven't managed to do it before the end of this year. >> it'll cost an extraordinary amount of money. there are some republicans who are, you know, have been principled in their idea of

really wanting to slash spending. that's why they said they oppose what went down last week. sam stein, two parts to you here. first, just this idea that it is chaos yet again. the talk that we had heard in the months past, donald trump, his campaign, for him, was more organized, more disciplined. here we go. he knows how to use the levers of government now. he's not a rookie at this. he's surrounding himself by people who have been there before, and he'll have republican majorities, though slim, in the senate and the house. yet, it is complete tumult again, because some republicans, on some issues, appear ready to defy him. >> it's obvious, but he is not the president yet. the chaos has begun before he's taken office. it is interesting that on some occasions, we've seen republicans willing to just say no, so, you know, donald trump didn't enforce scott for leader

but elon musk did. we ended up with john thune. matt gaetz was supposed to be someone trump would go to the mat for. hinted at recess appointments if gaetz didn't get the attorney general post. gaetz pulled his nomination. now, you see, again, the cause for a debt limit hike, if not the elimination totally of it. we had 38 republican votes in the house against that specific proposal. occasionally, we are seeing some republican, congressional republican spine here. now, i don't know at's going to be consistent throughout the next four years, but it is interesting. i will say, this is not abnormal. not the spine, the chaos is not abnormal for anyone who remembers what the trump presidency was like the first four years. yes, it was supposed to be different, but this is how he operates. there is something almost

scripted with how it went down. there's a deal, torpedos the deal, fall back option, and go to option three. i think we'll be doing this all over again. >> this is what the first term of trump was like, symone. before even trump takes office, it seems like a sneak preview of what the second term will be like. my question to you is, what role could democrats play in this? you know, they've seen a coalesce around, last week, the attacks on elon musk. we'll get into him more in a minute. also, willing to simply, of course, say no, we had a deal. you backed out. how do you think they handled this particular fight, and what lessons can they learn for those ahead? >> look, in my conversations with democratic lawmakers, and, i mean, this really came together around 5:00 p.m. friday afternoon, when the bill text dropped, the democrats went into a caucus meeting because they didn't know what was in the bill. they wanted to make sure there were no, as they described it to

me, poison pills. as one senior democratic lawmaker said to me, there are no poison pills in here, we are probably going to vote for it. again, we need to have a conversation. one, democrats wanted to go home right before christmas. i also think they did not want to withhold or be a part of the government shutting down if there was really nothing nefarious, if you will, in the bill. because this is right before christmas and the holidays, and people needed to get their checks. i was of the ilk that democrats should have fought. look, it is not a good precedent to set if, in fact, you have a deal, and then the deal is agreed to and so on, so forth, all negotiators do the negotiating, and then elon musk, followed by the president-elect, okay, not the other way around, comes in and blows the deal up. this is going to be par for the course for the next at least two to four years. so in saying that to democratic lawmakers, they said, we did fight. they fought social security.

they fought trump on the debt limit. and ensured a number of bills that needed to come together, things in the original c.r., the original deal they had that didn't make it to the final deal that came across the desk in the house, did go through in the senate. additional money for cancer research, for childhood cancer research. of course, the rfk stadium deal, giving the land back to washington, d.c., so they could develop it or maybe have a new stadium there. those things did happen, but democrats, the last thing i'll say, jonathan, is they have governed with republicans throughout the 118th congress. every single bill that passed, passed because democrats crossed the aisle to vote with government functions. they weren't rewarded for that in the midterms. one has to question, will the american people see this chaos, see democrats coming together to be the adults in the room, doing their jobs, and reward them in the next midterm election? because they weren't awarded in the last election. that remains to be seen. we don't know yet.

>> as symone rightly mentioned, the tide turned on the original spending pill because bill beca came out against it first. only then did donald trump follow suit. that's adding to the story line of how much of a say musk has. to the point where trump addressed musk's growing political influence despite the world's richest man not being elected to any position in the federal government. several critics called out musk for having more influence than trump over the current republican party. but the president-elect was apparently having none of it, making key remarks about musk during a speech yesterday that he gave at a gathering of young consecutive activists in phoenix. >> you know, they're on a new kick. russia, russia, russia. ukraine, ukraine, ukraine. all the different hoaxes. the new one is, president trump has ceded the presidency to elon musk.

no, no. that's not happening. but elon has done an amazing job. but, no, he's not going to be president. that i can tell you. and i'm safe. you know why? he can't be. he wasn't born in this country. >> katty kay, a lot to unpack here. first of all, we know donald trump hates it when anyone challenges him for the spotlight. the fact he had to address it over the weekend shows that it's clearly getting under his skin. the fact he had to point to the constitution as an example of, hey, no, elon musk can't be president. he wasn't born here. it shows how much this is getting under his skin. weigh in on that. also, of course, as our resident european correspondent, you're far more familiar with the concept of prime minister, which is what the republican congressman said the top of the show, than we are. suggesting, unironically, that musk is going to play a role like that. >> yeah. generally speaking, the prime minister is the head of the

party. that's how you get to be prime minister. party is elected, but you are the head, and you have an enormous amount of power. i'm not sure he was aware of what he was saying. maybe he thought the prime minister would be subservient. anyway, it is an elected official. that's how you get to be prime minister. we've been waiting to see when the elon/trump relationship might run into difficulties. clearly, all the talk around washington, and even my kids sent me these funny cartoons of elon and vance in the front seat of the car, trump in the back. saying, "so cute, he thinks he is doing the steering," and the implication was he wasn't. all that seems to be getting back to donald trump, sam stein. you know, trump still seems to need or want elon around. i don't know how long that lasts, but at the moment, that still seems to be the case. he seems to appreciate the amount of money that elon poured into states like pennsylvania to get him re-elected.

i don't see elon disappearing from the scene as quickly as some other people have suggested. >> no, i don't either. it's unclear how much trump needs and wants. i'm sure he is appreciative of the money, which was -- >> yeah, the money. >> -- a lot. the money was very helpful. i think the idea that you have this person here who has the biggest megaphone in politics, and also the biggest banking account, literally in the world, threatening republicans to get in line behind you, that doesn't hurt trump. he enjoys the idea that there is this anvil waiting to be dropped object on the party. that's what happened in the c.r. debate. it wasn't that elon was spouting off against things in the bill, which he didn't understand how the congressional process worked. that wasn't what was important. elon said, anybody who votes for it will get a primary challenge, and i'll fund it. that mattered. trump likes having that tool. the problem, of course, if elon

steals the thunder, the spotlight, and it is clear that elon is more powerful than trump, that will not go over very well for the president-elect, soon to be president. i think that's when you start seeing friction between the two. >> yeah. when the "time" magazine cover drops, suggesting elon musk is actually running the show, that may be -- >> quick point on that. when they were doing the person of the year, "time" magazine, elon put out a couple tweets that gave the impression he knew he might be treading on thin water. he was like, i don't want the cover. i don't want the cover. that should be for trump. he understood that if that happened, that would have been quite pad for -- >> not supposed to be. >> doge would have been done before it began, had that occurred. we'll certainly be following this relationship in the weeks and months, if musk lasts that long, ahead. let's turn to another piece of trump news from the weekend, though. as he turned his attention out of nowhere to the panama canal. trump posted on social media saturday that the united states

might ask for the canal back if panama continues to charge the u.s. what he deems ridiculous fees. trump then doubled down on that stance during his speech yesterday. >> the panama canal, has anyone ever heard of the panama canal? [ applause ] because we're being ripped off at the panama canal, like we're being ripped off everywhere else. our navy and commerce have been treated in a very unfair and injudicious way. the fees charged by pa nama are ridiculous, highly unfair, especially knowing the generosity that has been bestowed to panama, i say foolishly by the united states. this complete rip-off of our country will immediately stop. it's going to stop. [ applause ] the united states has a big and vested interest in the secure, efficient, and reliable

operation of the panama canal, and that was always understood when they gave it to panama. you have to treat us fairly, and they haven't treated us fairly. if the principles, both moral and legal, of this gesture are not followed, we'll demand it be returned to the united states of america in full, quickly and without question. i'm not going to stand for it. so to the officials of panama, please be guided accordingly. >> in an apparent response, the seemingly surprised president of panama expressed the canal is t be handed over to the united states. trump wrote, "we'll see about that." the president-elect has also resurrected not just panama, he's also resurrected interest in taking control of greenland.

in announcing his pick for the u.s. ambassador to denmark, trump wrote, "for purposes of national security and freedom throughout the world, the united states of america feels that the ownership and control of greenland an absolute necessity." trump said during his first administration, that he was looking into buying the self-governing island, which is controlled by denmark. symone, so he's not even in office yet, and he is claiming a need for expansion with greenland, the panama canal. he's also been threatening canada because of tariffs issue. he suggested, perhaps jokingly, perhaps not, that canada should be the 51st state. he referred to prime minister trudeau as governor trudeau, as if he were the governor of a state there. as the world braces for trump's return, he's rattling a lot of cages and suggesting that the united states is going to be a bully around the world.

>> to say the least. the panama canal strikes me, his comments, they were random. it strikes me as though he perhaps got a briefing about something. because, you know, the president-elect at this time, the president-elect and vice president-elect are receiving security briefings and whatnot. maybe he's trying to get it off his chest. when it comes to what he is saying about greenland, and, furthermore, what he's said about canada, to me, this actually helps me understand a little bit more his stance on russia's war on ukraine. for the life of me, i was been struggling to understand why, not just donald trump, but this faction of republicans within the republican party apparatus, are just so cavalier, if you will, about the sovereignty of another country. but the president-elect himself is very cavalier about the sovereignty of another country. joking about canada being the 51st state is actually quite serious, right? he's talking about trampling on

the sovereignty of the people of canada. saying that not respecting their borders, it is not a hard line for him. while it may seem light hearted, i do think it helps us get a window into why he has said the things he has said about ukraine. to donald trump, ukraine's sovereignty is really just up for grabs. so talking about potentially striking a deal between russia and ukraine without the ukrainians at the table, right, this is something that he thinks he can broker because, to him, the situation is no different than him looking to buy greenland or him, you know, usurping the sovereignty of canada. and this, this in donald trump's mind, would be the new world order. >> yeah, important to underscore that. trump's foreign policy summed up, it's transactional, with the united states financial interests in mind. next up here on "morning joe," president joe biden announced early this morning that he will be commuting the sentences of most of the 40 inmates on federal death row.

we'll explain who was instrumental in helping biden arrive at that momentous decision. beautiful look at new york city this morning at 6:20 a.m. here on the east coast. our friends in chopper 4. we'll be right back in 90 seconds. r's license? oh, what did you get us? with the click of a pen, you can get a new volkswagen at the sign then drive event. lease a 2024 tiguan for zero down, zero deposit, zero first month's payment and zero due at signing. limited inventory available.

welcome back. time for a look at the other stories making e ing headlines

morning. ukrainian president volodymyr zelenskyy is signaling a greater willingness for negotiations to end the war with russia. it comes as his country's forces are struggling to hold off moscow's recent advances. president-elect donald trump is also pushing to broker a deal. despite his change in rhetoric, ukraine's leader has not explicitly said what concessions might be part of this deal. elsewhere, more teenagers are using dangerously powerful pot. "the wall street journal" is focusing on dabbing, where users inhale fumes from highly concentrated cannabis that is heated at high temperatures. health authorities say they're seeing more and more teens land in the emergency room with seizures, vomiting, or psychosis. dabs have up to 90% thl, the psychoactive component of cannabis, compared to 4% in 1995.

dangerous trend there. dozens of new species were discovered in the jungles of peru. the findings came during a 38-day expedition in the summer of 2022. the research team found four mammals, eight fish, three am fibbians, and ten butterfullies. it includes a mouse that swims with webbed feet. one of the rarest groups of mammals in the world. there he is. also, a new species of climbing sal salamander. not as cute as the mouse. armored blob-headed catfish. also new to science. researchers found rare and endangered species, some not known to occur anywhere else on the planet. as we leave up the picture of that catfish, katty kay, this is a remarkable scientific discovery, all the same. >> the ming mouse was a cute

idea. the catfish, we could have pulled that picture down a little quicker. now, making a turn to something very different. president joe biden announced today he will be commuting the sentences of most of the 40 inmates on federal death row. biden will be changing the death sentences to life without parole to all but three inmates. the exceptions being the boston bomber and the two men responsible for the mass shootings at the tree of life synagogue in pittsburgh and the church in charleston, south carolina. advocates fighting against the death penalty, including pope francis, had been urging president biden to grant the commutations before donald trump, who is pro capital punishment, takes over in january. biden said in a statement, "make no mistake, i condemn these murderers, grieve for the victims of their despicable acts, and ache for all the families who have suffered unimaginable and irreparable loss. we must stop the use of the death penalty at the federal

level. in good conscience, i can't stand back and let a new administration resume executions that i halted." joining us now is the president and ceo of the naacp, derrick johnson. the organization has been advocating for the biden administration to commute the sentences of even more people in prison, especially those incarcerated under the war on drugs. so what to you make of this move? perhaps not surprising, particularly after the pope weighed in, but what do you make of it? >> we commend the president for this extraordinary act. the clemency and pardon power that the president has is unmatched. it's good to see he is using the moral authority of his faith to do what's right. you think about those who are on death row. over 55% of those individuals are people of color, african americans and latinos and others. in fact, for every eight people who are killed, one person later is found to be exonerated. we are encouraging the president to continue on this moral path

to ensure the disparities that we see in the system that has been proven, it's addressed through the clemency process. there are individuals that should be pardoned. they are productive citizens. this is the type of legacy we will want to see any president go out on. a legacy of helping people, recognizing disparities, and addressing moral inequities. >> in 2021, attorney general merrick garland actually issued a moratorium on federal executions. of course, that doesn't apply to state execution, but he did on federal executions. what do you think happens to that moratorium under a new trump administering? >> unfortunately, we will resume the process for those who are on death row top be addressed. but think about it. we are clearing the road now. the president, with this one act, reduced the number of federal inmates on death row from 40 to 3.

i think that's extraordinary. so what happens after this will take a while because, to go through a trial, to be sentenced for -- to death is not something that happens overnight. hopefully, with this act, we can begin to right size the criminal justice system, at least on the federal level. particularly, we're encouraging the president to continue on this path. there are far too many individuals who were convicted of the crime today, they would not be in prison today. they wouldn't have received a harsh penalty. we condemn him for what he has done so far. >> sam stein here. i think the backdrop to this is interesting. it was joe biden in the mid '90s who crafted the law, the crime bill, that ended up establishing some of the statutes that applied for the federal death penalty. now, we have him, what is it, my math is pretty bad, 30 years later, going in the opposite

direction. as this decision comes down this morning, commuting or changing the sentences to life without parole for 37 of the 40 inmates, i'm wondering if you can talk about what you think is politics are here. obviously, the white house will be attacked for this decision by a lot of people who think, look, these are heinous cases, horrible crimes. these people don't deserve leniency. joe biden, you set the law yourself for putting these people to death. do you think there's going to be sharp political blowback? do you think it'll stick? >> i grew up in the '80s and early '90s. i understand the crack epidemic and the fear it had in the african american community which d the law of 1994. you had the majority of the congressional black caucus who also supported the law. let's evolve as a nation, our understanding around the criminal justice system has evolved. in fact, mass incarceration has not served this nation. if we don't learn from the past,

we're doomed to repeat it. i commend the president for taking a stand today to address what we know is a reality. mass incarceration, inequity in citizens, and a disparity between crack and potter did not serve this nation well. let's look forward, not backward. i don't think anybody will have the backlash, although those who will will be individuals who are already in the trump camp. >> president johnson, symone sanders townsend here. i'd wondering what else you'd like to see the president do prior to him leaving office on january 20th. i am sure, i am positive, that the president has sought your council, and i'm wondering what that was. >> first of all, we'd encourage this administration, the president, to use the clemency powers to address disparities across the board. you have individuals who are sitting in jail today who are convicted of marijuana crimes that's no longer a crime. pretty much 50 of the states.

you have individuals who are subject to disproportionate impact of sentencing disparities. you have individuals like smith or mosley who should be pardoned. we have an opportunity to hear, as this administration goes out, to right size our criminal justice system on a federal level, in a way we have not seen before. his legacy is something we will celebrate once he pardons and commutes the sentences of so many individuals who should not be sitting in jail and could be leading productive lives and contributing to society. >> katty mentioned the role that pope francis played here. the white house announced that president biden will make his final international trip while in office to the vat ican to se the pope sometime next month. derrick johnson of the naacp, thank you, sir, for joining us this morning. >> thank you. >> symone sanders townsend, thank you, as well. great to see you. coming up here, you've been waiting all weekend.

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atlanta. >> you don't dance in the backfield at that running back spot. >> goff on first down. firing downfield for williams. he's got it! jamison williams into the end zone. touchdown! >> back to taylor. taylor trying to put it away all by himself. into the open field one more time. oh, a stiff arm to loosen the load. he's into the end zone. >> first and ten. fake to williams. here they go. higby, five, leaping, and the pylon touchdown. >> hubbard, dancing into the end zone. a panthers victory with a touchdown in overtime. >> first and ten. another big run. there he goes. he's got wide open space. achane. >> on the ground, cook has a

hole, still going. james cook takes it the distance. >> play action, stepping up. launching downfield. and it is caught! >> quick snap, flag is in the secondary. daniels had an open man. blown coverage. zacchaeus, touchdown. tie game! >> pressure, showing the pressure. here it comes in the back. jordan lewis got there. mayfield pitches it forward. a gain out of that. the ball taken away. >> those were some of the biggest plays from across the nfl yesterday, including the dallas cowboys' game-sealing turnover to beat the buccaneers on sunday night football over on nbc. let's now bring in the host of "pablo torre finds out" on meadowlark media, pablo torre,

and his sweater. >> that's right. >> and espn commentator paul finebaum joins us as well. let's start with the nfl. we'll get to the underwhelming college football playoff in a minute. we had an eh slate of games this week, but some results did matter. highlighting two, in particular, from yesterday. the vikings continue to be the under the radar team this year. they go to seattle and win. if they win out, they're the number one seed in the nfc. then the eagles, who had also been on track potentially for that, their quarterback, jalen hurts, knocked out, and they give up a game to the commanders. >> let's start with the latter example you mentioned. because jayden daniels, i just need to keep zooming out on what the dmv area, what the commanders have represented. to a franchise that could not be proud of tself for so long, its name, building, sewage system, decades' long history of poor

quarterback play. jayden daniels as a rookie has the game of his life. john, this was a guy who comes out of lsu, and you're like, okay, how good is he really going to be? turns out, he is as good as pretty much any rookie quarterback in recent history. five turnovers. he sol it was the problems by doing stuff like that. it's a remarkable thing to have the guy you pray for actually be as good as you dreamed. now, they're a ten-win team. this game, by the way, eliminates the dallas cowboys, or those wondering, what about the cowboys? they've been knocked out now. eagles, let's keep in mind, also, are a favorite to make the super bowl. this is an incredible marker in the history of a franchise that has needed, yeah, moments of actual optimism grounded in evidence, opposed to just dreams. >> it comes just days after there's at least a chance now they might move back to washington, d.c., for the stadium. >> legislation and all of that. >> the vikings, they go to seattle, reeling at this point.

the sam darnold experience continues. >> so if you're a jet fan, okay, you're watching sam darnold start for the vikings. a 13-2 team now. playing against geno smith starting for the seahawks, also a playoff contender. so this is one of those games where you're like, okay, we need to take this team incredibly seriously. it's not just the defense which we know has been good all season. we know the secondary is the best at celebrating in professional sports. sam darnold is just not the sam darnold that was seeing ghosts before. sam darnold was basically humiliated out of the nfl, it seemed like, when he was a new york jet. he could not trust himself or his eyes or his instincts. i'm seeing ghosts is what he was caught saying on the sideline. >> it was against bill belichick. >> of course. so the haunting is over. sam darnold, now you have a choice if you're the vikings, do we pay him all this money, which is another controversy. but if you're a fan of the vikings, you look up the standings and say, okay, 13-2

vikings, right behind the 13-2 lions. they play on january 5th for the division. for the nfc. this is just one of those divisions that, again, the packers are 10-4 and right behind these two teams. a really strong win, you know, close game. it is incredible to see what the vikings look like. >> packers play tonight on monday night football. one more on the nfl, then we'll pivot to the college game. the hierarchy which of the afc, stop teams won. pats gave the bills a scare but buffalo hangs on. we saw the chiefs on saturday gut out a win against the texans. >> yup. >> then the ravens, an impressive win. first time they'd beaten the steelers in a while. division up for grabs. >> jackson is on the mt. rushmore currently, or the contemporary version of the four can bes in the league you have to quarterback. mahomes, jackson, burrow. for all of his mvp trophies, he's struggled in the playoffs

and circumstances against teams like the steelers. he does it, man. throws a pick. yes, you're worried for a bit. lamar jackson winning this game, this decisively, yeah, it's an mvp race down to lamar jackson and josh allen right now. and lamar, if you're going to tell me it'll be him again, i'll tell you, i would take allen. but i understand the counterargument. >> the narrative might be for allen since he never won while lamar has more. >> exactly. paul, let's turn to the college playoffs. >> there we go. >> extanded. >> here we go. >> expanded. opening weekend a bit of a dud. first, your broad thoughts of what we saw. four games, all pretty decisive. a couple were routs. does this format work? >> no, it doesn't, jonathan. the best moment of the four game playoff was the introduction of the game at notre dame friday night. it literally went straight

downhill. every game was a blowout. you look at the scores and there were a lot of late touchdowns. the biggest flaw in the system was several commissioners tried to kill it once there was expansion going on. you had a bunch of commissioners in a room, and it had to be unanimous. you understand that from d.c. they made a terrible deal, letting in the highest rated power five conferences. of course, there's only four now with the pac-12. schools like boise state and arizona state, who would have probably had to go on the road first round, end up waiting for the opponents. you had ohio state, another team that's probably one of the two or three best in the country. it was convoluted and really, at times, difficult to watch. the good news is, it will get reshuffled in the future. this is only a two-year deal that they had to make. but for the most exciting weekend in college football history, there's literally nothing to talk about that happened. >> yeah, it was deeply uninspiring. paul, as you see the winners

there, notre dame, penn state, tennessee, and texas, and ohio state. beyond them, what are other schools that did something over the weekend to make you think, hey, they have a shot to make a deep run in the tournament? >> texas is probably the team you have to watch. i mean, when you look at them, you find flaws, but they have an elite defense. they ended up playing probably, yeah, the closest game, one of the closest of the group. it came down to a fourth down call against clemson. ultimately, they have not only one of theter quarterbacks, quinn ewers, but one of the better backups, arch manning. may have heard of his hall of famers relatives. matchups were remarkable. you mentioned ohio state. they end up going to the rose bowl on january 1st and have to take on oregon.

they've already met once this year in an epic game in eugene. one-point game. these are two of the three best schools in the country playing in the quarterfinals of the college football playoff. >> paul, i love you more when you were miserable and when your audience is miserable, but you mentioned looking ahead to two years from now. take me inside the room of power brokers. what does this look like to you in terms of how this is going to change the system itself? >> well, what's going to happen is, you're going to seed it correctly. this is not like the nfl where -- it's convoluted with the conference and divisional winners, but ultimately, it's going to be seeded one through twelve. we're not oing to get the convoluted matchups in the first round, and it'll be more entertaining. another problem for college football that they're dealing with and they had to deal with on saturday is that two of the games, the two afternoon games, the one at penn state, which was unwatchable, and the one at

austin, which was only slightly more watchable, were both competing with nfl games. they're not just random carolina at the jaguars. we're talking about, you know, serious games. texans and the chiefs. as well as the ravens and the steelers. i don't think that will happen again. they had to compress the schedule. the rest of the games, you have the new year's eve and new year's day. the following week, the games will be on thursday night and friday night. why? to avoid the wild card round in the nfl. the final game will be on monday night. these are not your normal college football afternoon and evening saturday games. >> all right. let's hope for better games in the coming rounds. espn's paul finebaum, thank you. we will talk to you again soon. pablo, two more topics. one, a sad and stunning rickey henderson passing away. leader in stolen bases and runs.

he also is someone who had an on-base percentage of over .400. the greatest lead-off hitter in the game, not even a conversation. frankly, one of the most exciting players to ever don the uniform. maybe a top 20, 25 guy of all time. >> yeah, you're watching the video where, when he breaks the stolen base record, he pulls the base out of the ground and declares, i am the greatest. >> yes. >> there was a theatricality to this guy, a mythology to this guy, except it was tiated by actual, iconic acts and statistical feats. rickey henderson, just the story of him, he's delivered early in his mother's car in the backseat. to him, this was always the story of how he was presaged to be the all-time stolen base leader. i was born fast, is the quote rickey always said. there are so many quotes and stories about this guy, how he framed his first check instead of cashing it. it held on his wall in his

accounting department, wondering what happened to the $1 million rickey got paid? turns out, he was just celebrating it. there are so many stories like that. rickey henderson was also ahead of his time and i think underappreciated still. rickey henderson, when it comes to this mix of ego and charm, and also just an unapologetic dynamism, both in terms of his football style physicality on the base paths, but also the way he would completely, completely destroy another team by just being a guy without getting a hit, could demoralize you, john. when you talk about the speed of him, in the end, it is a shame that at age 65, he is also, in that way, gone too soon. >> you're right. he controlled the game from the base paths and also played the game with such flair and style and swagger. >> people hated him. >> the snap catches in the outfield. which we see prevalently now. at the time, again, way ahead of

his time. extraordinary player gone too soon. >> yes. we'll end on a more upbeat note. the apple does not fall far from the tree. charlie woods. son of tiger here at the pnc championship. orlando, florida. tees off. as we watch, you can guess where this is going. that's his first hole in one. >> pretty good, turns out, charlie woods. i'm numb, john, to the idea at this point we're going to be watching the sons of pro athletes pretty soon. they're going to be dominating every sport you watch on television. this story and this hug, right? tiger woods gets to be the rare thing. he was goliath, and now he is david. he is the guy who was so destroyed by his injuries and his own mistakes, that to see him being what we can all relate to, which is just a kind of corny dad who is celebrating his son at the golf course. a son who he may not have to reckon with, could be better than him if all of us get our

wish es and they come true. tiger, of course, the greatest of all time. charlie doing this on this stage, with this spotlight, with this ace, look, it's unrealistic to think he would actually ever be better than tiger. but when you can dream -- again, the story of today being, what you can dream on. it's just a delightful thing to see tiger at his most human, his most vulnerable, kind of tearing up. again, we know the relationship he had with his own dad, earl, and he gets to be that character with his son again, in a way that's a surreal story, the middle of the spotlight, in a way that, yeah, i didn't expect charlie to be this good. child actor, kind of like his dad also. heart warm on a really cold winter. >> tiger afterwards joking, after the hole in one, you have to buy everyone a beer. charlie responds, i'm broke, i can't. i'm sure the woods family can find the money. >> i am confident. >> pick up the tab for others. >> charlie is good for it. >> like father, like son.

it's sunday. they wear red. >> that's right. >> heck of a shot. host of "pablo torre finds out," heck of a sweater. >> yes. >> pablo torre from meadowlark media. >> greenland is for sale. that is my, i'm interested sweater. >> good for greenland. we'll talk real soon. next up here, we'll switch gears. a gender gap that looks more normal than historic is just one of the many stories that the cook political report says defined the year 2024. we'll go through their list of the year's top news headlines with senior editor and elections analyst david wasserman. plus, the latest developments out of the middle east. the concerns the biden administration is raising about iran's nuclear capabilities. "morning joe" will be right back.

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while in the world -- ♪♪

♪ you're too sweet for me you're too sweet for me ♪ >> irish singer hoser performing on "snl" over the weekend. it's christmas. thought we'd give you the music, not the jokes this morning. after an historic year that marked the first time a former u.s. president is convicted of a crime, nbc correspondent vaughn hillyard takes a look back at donald trump's legal battles, the status of each of his different cases, and how the indictments ultimately helped shape the narrative of his re-election. >> reporter: for defendant donald trump -- >> donald j. trump is guilty. >> reporter: -- the fate of the election could determine both his political and legal future. >> they want to put me in jail. >> reporter: trump using his own potential imprisonment to rally supporters around his defense. >> our enemies want to take away my freedom because i will never let them take away your freedom. >> reporter: as a candidate arraigned on criminal charges in new york city, washington, d.c.,

florida, and atlanta, where a local fulton county jail formally booked, fingerprinted, and photographed him, for a mugshot that trump capitalized on. >> when i did the mugshot in atlanta, you know, that mugshot is number one. >> reporter: trump turned sbiet a symbol of his fight for freedom, using it for merchandise and fundraising. >> every time the radical left democrats, marxists, communists, and fascists indict me, i consider it a great badge of honor. >> reporter: in 2023, the indictments coming in rapid succession. >> i got arrested four times in the last -- t almost like i wak up in the morning, think they'll arrest me today? never got arrested before. >> reporter: trying to separate from the cases. >> we can't keep living in vengeance of the past. we have to move forward. >> it is indefensible in my view.

>> reporter: as trump made his way to new york for facing charges of falsifying records to cover up payments to stormy daniels and influence the 2016 election, his narrow lead in the gop primary began expanding. >> it disported crowded out so things. >> reporter: jack smith brought two cases against trump. in d.c., charging him over his efforts to overturn his election loss. and in another, refusing to turn over classified documents, allegedly trying to hide them from the fbi. leading to federal agents executing a search warrant on his florida eestate. >> they raided mar-a-lago, no notice, no nothing. they raided it. >> reporter: letitia james brought another suit, and a judge found trump and his family company to have engaged in repeated financial fraud, fining him $460 million. >> donald trump may have authored "the art of the deal,"

but he perfected the art of the steal. >> reporter: a jury in new york finding his liable for sexually abusing e. jean carroll and then defaming her. >> he's nothing. we don't need to be afraid of him. >> reporter: another jury months later then ordering trump to pay carroll more than $80 million after the judge overseeing the litigation determined that he had defamed her again. as trump called the prosecutions and lawsuits politically targeted, the justice system continued to churn. >> shouldn't be allowed to happen, so i'll stay around here. >> reporter: major witnesses taking the stand in the hush money trial. stormy daniels, michael cohen, the publisher of the national inquiry, david pecker, and hope hicks. meanwhile, his political allies courting public opinion. >> the judicial system has been weaponized against donald trump. >> they're persecuting him, not prosecuting him. >> reporter: the jury unanimously found him guilty on

all 34 felony counts. the judge scheduling a sentencing date for after the election, raising the stakes of america's decision. >> we're projecting the next president of the united states is donald trump. >> this was, i believe, the greatest political movement of all time. >> reporter: and with the result, concerns about ity from prosecution and the ability and precedent of imposing a sentence on a sitting president. leading special counsel jack smith to drop his two cases. federal judges agreeing to toss the indictments out. his fulton county case indefinitely on hold. the judge in his new york trial now deciding whether to toss the verdict against trump out all together or suspend his sen tebsing tebs sentencing date until he leaves office in 2029. vaughn hillyard, nbc news. >> legal scholars have said repeatedly, the two strongest cases were the mar-a-lago case and then the january 6th case.

if there hadn't been -- and maybe this is one of the big unanswerable questions of 2024 -- if there hadn't been all of the other cases, do you think it is possible that those cases standing alone, one or perhaps two of them, might have had a different impact on the outcome of the result, the election result? >> yeah, there are so many sliding door moments here as to what could have happened. i know there was deep frustration in the white house. we reported upon it, merrick garland moved slowly to act on the cases. if it moved sooner, maybe they would have reached a conclusion ahead of the election. there was a lot of consternation. the manhattan case went first, seen as the weakest. it also did lead to a conviction. sam stein, i mean, there are so many places to go with this. this could have broke been so many different directions. instead, we remember, you know, a year or so ago when trump, the historic indictments in four different cases, followed by a

conviction. we thought his whole year was going to be defined by the legal battles, that it could derail his entire campaign. instead, three of them went away, and the one that did happen, the one that did happen, trump told people cles ose to h he thinks it helped. it sort of martyred him in the eyes of the public and motivated his supporters. >> yeah, first of all, i remember the story that you did and i edited on garland. there was so much frustration at the time at how slow and methodically he moved. it is unanswerable about what would have changed if he'd moved faster, but it definitely was a feature, a present frustration. in terms of what we're talking about, we're also thinking a year ago, this would be the courtroom campaign. how would he wage his run for the office from the courthouse? ended up being that he leveraged it, frankly. i think the real lesson from this, you know, say what you will about donald trump, but he has one attribute that

distinguishes him from anyone else in politics, which is, an insatiable perseverance. he will just grind through stuff that, more often than not, other politicians will ccumb to. he'll figure it out, claw back in, and fight it. it turns to an advantage. he martyred himself by the trials. he did get the rest of the republicanto rally around him. if you talk to people in his universe, there was a time when the primary itself was uncertain, right? ron desantis looks ascendant, at least seemed positive. then the indictment came down, and everyone, including desantis, rushed to trump's side. trump managed to use that and leverage that to the nomination, and it changed the course of history. >> that indictment may have ended the republican primary. that's what some in trump world

believe. turning back to events in washington. congress managed to pass an 11th hour government funding package friday night after president-elect trump and his most powerful adviser, elon musk, torpedoed a bipartisan agreement brokered by congressional leadership. trump is addressing recent criticism and mockery surrounding his relationship with musk. nbc news white house correspondent aaron gilchrist has more. >> the golden age of america is upon us. >> reporter: president-elect trump in phoenix for his largest public event since winning the white house, taking a victory lap. >> january 20th will truly be liberation day in america. is that okay? liberation day. >> reporter: in his hour-long speech to the conservative turning point usa conference, trump addressed his cabinet picks, tax cuts, and ending the war in ukraine. >> president putin said that he wants to meet with me as soon as

possible. >> reporter: the president-elect never spoke directly about last week's narrowly averted government shutdown. democrats blamed trump and tech billionaire elon musk for tanking the original deal. >> we'll have elon musk injecting instability into how we tackle important issues for our country. >> reporter: trump attempting to put to bed umors that musk was pulling the strings behind the scenes. >> the new one is president trump ceded the presidency to elon musk. no, no. that's not happening. >> reporter: republicans defending the role musk has in the party. >> we're going to bring in elon musk and allow him to help us see what we're not able to see. >> joining us now, msnbc political analyst brendan buck. he was communications strategist and former aide to house speakers ryan and boehner. someone well familiar with the difficult job of a republican speaker of the house, including

when donald trump is president. brendan, now, we not only have donald trump as president, we have elon musk sitting on his shoulder, sometimes getting out ahead of trump, weighing in. republicans feel they have to listen to him, too. >> sitting ting on his shoulde also half informed about what is actually going on. you know, it was always one thing when we were on the hill before and donald trump was one tweet away from blowing up what we were doing. at least he was in the white house. he had staff. he was involved in the process in some way. we could sort of keep him, you know, course correct if we needed to. elon musk is clearly just learning about congress and politics for the very first time. all the things he is tweeting about, i'm sure he has no idea about or just learned about. it'll a disaster as long as he's engaged in the process. i think, like, how long does he actually care about this? i don't know how long he can be tweeting a hundred times a day about something.

yeah, if they have a three seat majority, one vote they can lose, and at any moment, this person has veto power over whether they can pass something, virtually, their agenda can go up in flames quickly. again, i think you talked about this, donald trump isn't going to allow that to happen forever. hopefully he moves on. i think it portends very poorly for the future of their ability to keep the house in order. >> i've got a question for you. so you have elon who has this megaphone, and yet -- and you have trump, obviously. yet, 38 house republicans decided they weren't going to vote for the bill trump wanted. he wanted a debt limit hike or elimination all together. they said, no, we're not going to do it. i'm curious, how do members on the hill decide when to show backbone versus not? how do they separate the signal from the noise? elon is going to generate a ton of opposition whenever he wants. are they so afraid of that? why is there some episodic feel

but sometimes they're okay breaking with trump? >> that was a remarkable show of strength for elon musk and donald trump. all but 38 members of the house voting to raise the debt limit is not nothing. >> right. >> the fact those 38 didn't, those are the more normal 38 in the conference. raising the debt limit is probably the worst vote republicans think they can ever take. the fact they got real conservatives to do that says something. now, the 38 that didn't vote for it probably established themselves so much in their district as hard core conservatives, the idea of a primary threat doesn't feel real. you can probably do that. could they defy trump and musk over and over again? i don't know. to me, it was actually not that those 38 didn't do it but they got the 170, whatever it is, to vote for it. >> certainly, dynamic to watch in the weeks ahead. let's turn to the cook political report, which is out with its top stories that defined 2024. including the shifting electoral map, the gender gap, and

vulnerable incumbents this election cycle. let's bring in senior editor and elections analyst for the cook political report, dave wasserman. good to see you this morning. let's start with some of the top lines here as you look back on the year that was. in particular, as we teased before the break, the gender gap and some surprising developments. >> that's right. in fact, the gender gap was historically normal. it looked as if we had around a 20 point, 21 point gender gap in the exit poll, where kamala harris was winning women by about ten. donald trump was winning men by around twelve. yet, that's in line, more or less, with the gender gap we saw in 2016. the bigger development of 2024, in my view, is what i'd call the reversal of the partisan engagement gap. in the obama era, when ore people voted, democrats

generally did better. think of '08, '12, he ushered in low propensity voters, new participants to the process, who were disproportionately young and non-white. in today's era, when more people vote, donald trump's party does better, and specifically donald trump. democrats are doing well among the people who always turn out, whether it's in off years or special elections. in fact, special elections leading into 2024 were not predictive of what we saw in this year's race. in fact, when millions of americans who didn't vote in the midterms were added into the pool, it benefitted donald trump in a lot of these key battleground states. even as democrats have more money and are outspending republicans at all levels, republicans have the masses. that is the new trend in our politics. >> dig into that a little more. the less informed, less engaged voters who break for trump, maybe don't come out in off-year

elections. does that play into why we saw ticket splitting, as well? some of the battleground states, michigan, wisconsin, arizona, trump wins, but so did the democratic senate candidate. >> there you go. in nevada, for example, there were 70,000 trump voters who didn't bother voting for sam brown, the senate nominee. there were 120,000 trump voters in michigan who didn't vote for mike rogers, so elissa slotkin wins the race. the fact that kamala harris kept this election close, which is not something i would say joe biden might have been able to do had he stayed in the race, means democrats will be sitting on 47 senate seats rather than 43. it did make a big difference. >> dave, talk about the house. how tight it was. as we came out of election night, it looked like the republicans had done better in the house than they finally ended up doing. how surprised were you or not by the final house result? >> you know, this is the one

area where democrats' money advantage really did make a big difference. republican candidates got vastly outspent. whereas, even if kamala harris had a marginal advantage in the presidential spending in the battlegrounds, it was basically at a point of diminishing returns. it was complete saturation. in the house, democrats were able to pick up three seats each in california and new york. they fell short in races in pennsylvania and arizona, some of the battlegrounds where republicans just narrowly were able to hang on to control of the house. but it gets back to republicans' turmoil. they overthrew in october of 2023 their best recruiter and fundraiser in modern history in kevin mccarthy. mike johnson ended up being politically green at those aspects of the speakership job. it cost republicans the opportunity to grow their majority at a time you saw a six-point swing toward trump

between 2020 and 2024. as a result, he's going to have just almost an ungovernable majority to navigate, considering that you have elon musk weighing in at the last minute on issues, to an extent, that you've never seen before. >> the phrase, house republicans in turmoil, basically acts as a bat signal to go back to brendan buck. brendan, let's get you to weigh in on what dave had to say there. that dynamic we saw play out over the last few months, and also how it impacts things going forward. including, i'd argue, speaker johnson's ability to hang on the to the gavel. >> no sure thing that mike johnson actually is speaker next congress. now, if i were to guess, i would assume he gets through. but a lot of unforced errors, obviously, in the last week with this government funding bill. i mean, it was his goal the entire time to have a no-drama, lame duck session, three-month spending bill. for whatever reason, he decided to add a bunch of stuff to it that got everybody's attention. i will say this, though, i don't

know that if mike johnson is speaker or someone else, it matters a whole lot. i don't think the house republicans' problem is the speaker. i think house republicans' problem is their unwillingness to accept some of the realities that come along with being in the majority. funding the government. raising the debt ceiling. being able to accept anything that is actually achievable, and anything actually achievable being unacceptable to them. you could make jim jordan, the arch conservative speaker of the house. make elon musk speaker of the house. he could be. i don't think it'd make much of a difference if they're not willing to accept certain realities. mike johnson finds himself in the position of catching all of the flak, and he's not necessarily -- hasn't built up enough goodwill and reputation to kind of take it on and brush it aside. i think there's going to be a real challenge, and he may get through because there is no alternative. that's what mike johnson has been saying. anybody who can get 218 votes, good luck to them. i agree. it's not the speaker's fault, it's the members. as long as they refuse to accept

realities, they'll keep having to face a leadership they're looking to overthrow. >> such a sweet idea, he thought he could have a drama-free, lame duck session before trump took over. dave, now that you've been through all data and have seen the things that surprised you, the story lines we got right and we didn't, how much have you learned in terms of 2028? lessons for democrats in 2028. we know they're all going through a post more mortempostm conversations about where they went wrong, where they need to be. is there some risk they -- if they take too much from this election, end up fighting the last battle in 2028, could look different again? you've been looking at the tight house races and what would happen in districts that are more racially mixed than some others, and how, actually, 2028 may not be the same as 2024. >> yeah, the immediate autopsies after every election are usually worthless when it comes to what voters are going to be

interested in four years down the line. >> yeah. >> the one lesson here is that authenticity is the most prized commodity in politics. even if voters did view trump as more extreme, they viewed kamala harris as canned. democrats have been running the same kind of teleprompter based campaigns with textbook rallies in the seven key swing states for years now. even if voters abhor what donald trump is saying at times, they know trump is being trump. they didn't mind that he campaigned in states like new york and california. to them, that suggested he wanted to be president for the entire country. even though he was never going to win those states. and at the house level, it's instructive that you did have 13 democrats who were able to win in trump districts. people ranging from golden in maine, marie perez in washington state, don davis in north carolina. there are democrats who are able to crack the code here.

even if voters viewed kamala harris as too liberal, they did send the message they wanted balance in government in some of these places, in both senate and house races, where you had split tickets. there were a variety of younger democrats who knew how to communicate with their voters via social media and come across in an authentic way. that's, i think, a huge lesson for democrats in '26 and '28. >> democratic surging continues as we speak. fascinating. senior editor and elections analyst at the cook political report with amy wasserman. thank you very much. political analyst brendan buck, thank you, as well. we'll talk soon. turning to other stories we're following this morning. former rnc co-chair lara trump is withdrawing her name from consideration for u.s. senate seat in florida. president-elect trump's

daughter-in-law wrote in a social media post this. "i'm truly humbled by the unbelievable support shown to me by the people of our country. i do have a big announcement that i'm excited to share in january, so stay tuned. i remain incredibly passionate about public service and look forward to serving our country again sometime in the future." lara trump's announcement comes as current senator marco rubio of florida has been tapped to serve as secretary of state in the new administration, though there has been chatter that governor desantis, who makes the appointment, was not going to select lara trump. elsewhere, new york city police arrested a suspect accused of killing a subway passenger by sets her on fire. this is a horrific crime. the public information office says the charges are pending. once they are made public, the man's identity will be released. police say the female passenger, who has not been identified, was

asleep on an idle f train before 7:30 a.m. the man approached her, lit her on fire, and fled the subway. officers put out the flames, but emergency medical services declared the woman dead at the scene. the case is now being investigated as a homicide. we'll keep you apprised of updates. and the man accused of killing united health care ceo brian thompson is set to appear in court in new york for the first time. it's happening later today. luigi mangione has an arraignment hearing for the three state murder charges he is facing, which include two counts of terrorism. prosecutors allege he used a 3d printed handgun to kill thompson in midtown manhattan earlier this month. he was arrested several days later at a mcdonald's in pennsylvania. mangione was extradited to new york last week where he faces federal charges. he has pleaded not guilty to

those counts but if convicted on a federal level, the 26-year-old could face the death penalty. still ahead here on "morning joe," we'll take a look back at some of the biggest stories to come out of the middle east this year, an eventful year there. richard haass will join us to weigh in on the region's changing political dynamics and the impact that the incoming trump administration might have on america's foreign policy. you're watching "morning joe." we'll be right back. with liberty mutual. customize and sa— (balloon doug pops & deflates) and then i wake up. and you have this dream every night? yeah, every night! hmm... i see. (limu squawks) only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪

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the israel-hamas war crossed the one year war in october. as nbc news chief foreign correspondent richard engel now reports, in that time, we've seen the conflict spread across the region and change the political dynamics of the middle east. we want to warn you, some of the footage you're about to see may be graphic. >> reporter: it has been one of the most destructive, violent, and transformative years in the middle east in a decade. israel's war on hamas, payback for the october 7th massacre, has left gaza in ruins. everywhere you look, there is just nothing left standing. lawless and teetering on the brink of famine. israeli forces killed hamas' top leader, along with more than 45,000 palestinians, according to local officials.

for the first time, the clerical regime in tehran abandoned its caution and launched two direct attacks against israel. firing hundreds of missiles and drones. there is a lot of activity in the sky here, as well. i think you can see some of these flashes of light. the only person killed was a gazan, crushed by a missile, shot down by air defenses. wrong time, wrong place. israel responded with restraint, so far, with complex, long-range air attacks that targeted iranian defenses. it was a clear message that israel can launch a devastating air campaign at will. lebanon felt that firsthand, as well, when israel launched a war against hezbollah to stop the group from firing rockets into northern israel. you get a sense of how powerful this blast must have been, just by how much debris there is.

israel shattered hezbollah. >> hezbollah blaming israel for an unprecedented attack that involved blowing up its members' pagers. >> reporter: and assassinated its leader, too. and his chosen successor. by early december, a shaky cease-fire was in place. >> the fighting across the lebanese/israeli border will end, will end. this is designed to be a permanent cessation of hostilities. >> reporter: weakening hezbollah changed the balance of power across the region. in neighboring syria, it created an opportunity for islamist rebels who had been fighting against the government for a decade. rebel forces marched into the capital of damascus and overthrew the regime of dictator bashar al assad, whose family ruled the country with an iron fist for over half a century. assad's government had been propped up by three seemingly reliable backers.

russia, hezbollah, and iran. but none of them would or could step in to save his government. the rebels saw an opportunity and took it. there is one word i'm hearing over and over again. it is arabic for freedom. [ gunshots ] and a lot of celebratory gunfire. syrians were in a state of shock, delighted the dictator was gone, but not sure if they could trust the rebels' promises that they'd be more moderate. the map of the middle east is being redrawn by the hour. richard engel, nbc news. >> it's been the most extraordinary 14 months in the region. meanwhile, the biden administration is now concerned that a weakened iran could possibly look to build a nuclear weapon. a worry it has shared with the incoming trump administration. jake sullivan spoke about the concerns in an interview

yesterday. >> if you're iran right mow and you're looking around at the fact that your conventional capability has been reduced, your proxies have been reduced, your main client state has been eliminated, assad has fallen, it's no longer there are voices saying, hey, maybe we need to go for a nuclear weapon right now. >> there are voices in iran saying that? >> they're saying it publicly. in fact, they're saying, maybe we have to revisit our nuclear doctrine. a doctrine that has said we'll have a civilian nuclear program and certain capabilities, but we're not going for a nuke. that is a real risk. >> jake sullivan this weekend. earlier this month, "the wall street journal" reported the incoming trump administration is considering preemptive strikes on iran's nuclear facilities in a bid to halt the country's development of such weapons. let's bring in president emeritus on the council for foreign relations, richard haass. thank you for joining us this monday morning. first of all, how probable do you think these -- or how strong

are these voices out of iran, echoed by jake sullivan, that iran may try to make a quicker dash for a nuclear weapon because it is in this weakened state? >> good morning, katty. i take it seriously. historically, countries have increased their dependence on nuclear weapons when conventional, non-nuclear forces were deemed to be insufficiently strong. plus, for a long time, talking about nuclear weapons was taboo in iran. clearly, that taboo has faded. i don't think it is a done deal either in terms of iranian decision making. we haven't heard from the ayatollah. second of all, just because they do decide to go in that direction, if, in fact, they do, the united states and israel have had various options at that point. >> good morning, good to see you. iran one of the various countries impacted. stunning what we have seen in syria in recent weeks. the collapse of the al assad government there. he flees to moscow. you know, obviously, there's

tentative optimism of the early days of the regime. the biden administration has gone there and met with the rebel group that's in charge. what's your assessment so far? i mean, no one wants to get too far ahead of themselves, but should we take some signs of encouragement here? in terms of what seems to be a new era in damascus? >> jonathan, it's a xed bag. just about everyone is happy the old regime is gone after 50 years of brutal rule. but we still have yet to see what this new crowd is going to do. if, in fact, they can assert authority. there's real questions about what the turks, in particular, are up to. turkey is the most important ternal country in syria. they've clearly decided the biggest threat is not what happens in damascus, or the biggest concern. rather, they want to snuff out kurdish nationalism and the kurdish forces. this has a long way to go to

play out. we have to see, you know, both the ability as well as the character of the forces that were able to sweep out the old regime. i think, you know, my own view is keep your optimism in check here. history would suggest to be really wary as to what comes next. >> richard, sam stein here. i want to broaden it out a little bit. the new york giants, we're not going to talk about the giants, sorry. >> we're not going there. >> let's not get too depressed, okay? i want to talk about russia and the role that, specifically, its teetering economy is playing in all of this. if you look at the headlines, overheating war economy, stagnation that could be irreversible. obviously, they've been fighting in ukraine, devoting a huge amount of resources to that war. to what degree is russia's weakness in this current moment contributing to the instability, or one can argue, opportunity, i suppose, in syria? what kind of challenges does that present the incoming trump

administration? >> obviously, as you suggest, it's one of the reasons the syrian regime fell. i don't think it's the most significant. the single most is the israeli decapitation of hezbollah. hezbollah was the principal prop for the assad regime. the fact that russia is distracted in ukraine, iran is weak right now, all contributed to it. look, i'm actually struck, sam, and people haven't talked about it a lot, by the potential vulnerability of the putin regime. it is highly personal. he's deinstitutionalized the country. he's basically ruling by cronyism, which is reminiscent of assad. to me, i don't assume the permanence of the putin regime in russia. that may or may not make it tougher for donald trump to get the deal he wants in ukraine. the good news is i think the ukrainian leadership has essentially accepted the idea of

a cease-fire in place, that so long as they get american arms, they would be willing to accept such a deal. i think mr. trump's diplomatic efforts are going to turn to moscow, to see whether he can bring vladimir putin on board. i think that it's quite possible in 2025, alongside the battlefield, we're going to see the negotiating table come to the floor in ukraine. that's potentially a rare piece of good news. >> trump has acknowledged it'll take more than one day to resolve the conflict, which he previously promised, but it seems to be a priority for his incoming administration. richard haass, thank you, as always. the latest edition of richard's newsletter, "home and away," is available to read on substack. check that out. up next, we'll dig into what another donald trump term means for american business leaders and the u.s. economy. "morning joe" will be right back with that.

we have a lot of great executives coming in. the top executives, top bankers, they're all calling. honestly, in the first -- i don't know what it was. it's like a complete opposite. >> that was donald trump during a news conference last week at

mar-a-lago, talking about the business leaders rushing to meet with him ahead of his inauguration. as the president-elect builds his administration, tech ceos are donating major cash to his inaugural fund. meta and amazon are set to donate at least $1 million to the fund. artificial intelligence ceo sam aultman says he will personally donate the same. these donations come as multiple business executives, includingz amazon's jeff bezos, traveled to mar-a-lago to have dinner with the had the of with the preside. we have the act that will be introduced at the world economic forum in davos. thank you for joining us and congratulations.

>> thank you. >> it seemed like many ceos and corporations wanted to almost fancy themselves as part of the resistance the first time around, or at minimum torks , ts a check or bulwark to trump. now, he was moved to tweet, "everybody wants to be my friend" in recent days. >> the president-elect is right. it is a remarkable difference from what he witnessed the first time around. if you remember going back to august 2017, after his comments on the charlotteville, awful violence. you had members of his business councils, one by one, walk out, decide they couldn't work with the current president. we saw businesses desperately trying to separate themselves from a polarizing president. now, we're seeing something much more calculated. we see businesses going into the administration with an interesting mixture of fear and

greed. two forces are always at work on the minds of ceos. this time around, there is such uncertainty about quite what this president may deliver, that they're desperate to get an early tin fluns influence on hi. they feel there's one man to lobby in washington, which is the president-elect. >> he talks openly about retribution and punishing who he perceives to be enemies standing in his way. you know, there is something almost normal about a ceo, of course, going to the president president-elect and try to curry favor. he has a responsibility to the shareholders. this seems transactional. >> that's the word. we are heading for a much more transactional presidency. this is a president who, right now, is keen to have $1 million checks from billionaires. it's a rounding for the size of the companies and the individual ceos writing the checks. going forward, what he is going

to want to see is what have you done for this country lately, and what have you done for me lately? that'll be a combination of things. it'll be, are you bringing investment into this country? you're seen the japanese billionaire behind softbank walk in with a promise of $100 billion in investment. are you creating jobs in this country? it's going to be a lot harder for some of the ceos to control their costs by laying off people as they used to. he's also going to want to see the prices are not going up, but are actually coming down. there will be a lot of pressure to avoid the kind of inflationary moves we have seen everywhere from groceries to pharmaceuticals in the next four years. >> your construct of what have you done for the country, for me, i might flip the order for donald trump. we shall see. fascinating to watch. a very new dynamic re in trump 2.0. >> could be a minefield for them to navigate. >> editor of ceo signals,

andrew, thank you again. >> thank you. this year, christmas and the start of hanukkah fall on the same day. only the fourth time that's happened since the year 1900. a conversation about that with faith leaders, just ahead, right here on "morning joe." ♪♪

throughout my life, rabbis, jewish friends, colleague, have always been there for me and my family when we've gone through tough times. i mean it sincerely, been there, on our doorstep, in our home, with us. they talk about the optimistic spisht of spirit of the jewish people. they taught me one thing we can never lose, hope, hope, hope. i've seen the power of the hope in my own life and the life of our nation. next week, you'll light the eight candles on your menorahs. my final message to you is this, as president, this is to hold on to the hope. >> that was president biden. the nation's second catholic president talking about his connection to the jewish community at the white house's hanukkah celebration last week. this year the festival of lights

begins in two days, the same as christmas night. this is the first time since 2005 that the start of hanukkah coincides with the christmas holiday, and only the fourth time ever this has happened since 1900. joining us now, senior rabbi in short hills, new jersey, and of the diocese in minnesota, robert barron. he is the founder of word on fire, a non-profit catholic media organization. bishop, let me start with you. i went to a service of lessons and carols, a lovely one, st. john's in lafayette square outside the white house that i hadn't been to. maybe it was because i was in lafayette square outside the white house that i started thinking during this service about power. it struck me that there was a lot in the tale of jesus. we focus on the birth of jesus, but in some ways, there's a lot there about power, as well. the power of jesus coming into the world as the son of god, but

king herod, caesar augustus who thought he had the power. was i off beam, thinking of this during the service of lessons and carols, but made me think of what it's about in other ways. >> one of the dangers is we sentimentize christmas. 10,000 christmas cards. the christmas story is properly subversive. in luke's great account, it begins, as you say, by evoking caesar augustus, the governor of syria. these high and mightily political figures. that's the way most stories and poems in the ancient world would begin. they're talking about important people. then luke pulls the rug out from under it. the story isn't about them. it's about this little nobody couple making their way from a roman perspective, of a little dusty nothing city of bethlehem. then it unfolds as a contrast.

between caesar augustus and his palace in rome and this baby king, no place to lay his head. he's born in a stable. wrapped in swaddling clothes. he's not feeding himself but placed in a manger. it is meant to contrast sharply with augustus. here's the kicker, really. augustus was the most powerful man in the world because he had the largest army. but in the christmas story, what appears is an army of angels. the word in greek there means army. we say host or multitude of angels. but the word is army. the point is, the baby king representing god's power is greater than the power of caesar augustus. then the gospels unfold as the tells of the story. you're right, sensing something subversive in the story. >> rabbi, hanukkah, as noted, is a few days away, as well. talk to us about what sort of lessons or comfort or inspiration you hope people draw from that holiday this year, in

particular. what has been such a hard year for so many, particularly those of the jewish faith. >> this has been an incredible rough 18 months with october 7th. we have over 100 hostages still in the tunnels of gaza. of course, an increasing anti-semitism. both of us are sports fans, so in a way, i want to answer your question. i'm very devoted to sports, but i have a pension for picking horrible teams. i don't want to ruin all the reputations, but new york jets. that should say it all. >> it does. >> but we've learned from supporting teams like that, that talent is assessed on paper, but the games are played on the field. sometimes great miracles happen. there was a king years ago who wanted all subjects in his kingdom to dress like him, eat like him, and pray like him. he comes across somebody named mockobee, a figure in jewish history, who said, sorry, i don't conform. greco roman said, we'll have a

problem. military conflict ensues. on paper, there is no way mockobee and his rag tag team can win. miraculously ly they win. they go to the great temple, which has been vilified, pillaged, and they have to repurify it. they have one vile of oil for the process, not nearly enough. the one vile lasts eight days. becomes the eight days of hanukkah. we bring all the light into the world. ultimately, we learn especially in days like this, we cannot conform and be like everyone else. we have to triple down on our own identities, being who we are, caring about who we are, but also reaching out to other communities, especially during a week where christmas, hanukkah, and kwanzaa all come together. >> the idea of that light and that hope, it's miracles, but it's -- it also requires doing the work. >> i love you say that. miracles are not magic. there's a combination of the divine and human messengers, bringing light into the world

means feeding the homeless. bringing light into the world means somehow clothing the naked. bringing light in the world means freeing the oppressed and being who we are ultimately. with god as the wind at our back, in partnership, we can bring light to days that are so physically dark and met metaphorically dark these days. >> leave us with a christmas message for those of us who had aening a long and exhausting year, many suffering, what are things you feel hopeful and optimistic about as we enter this christmas period? >> one thing, i think this revival of interest in religion. last 20 years, there's been a lot of disaffiliation from the churches. a lot of people have stopped going to church. the increasing secularization. some of the indicators now say that that's perhaps stopping, and even reversing a bit. there is a renewed interest in the bible, a renewed interest in worship. there, i'd pick up the rabbi's point of hanukkah. the rededication of the temple,

over and against the hostile culture, that's a very important metaphor for our own time. when our secularizing culture can be hostile to the churches, it is time for us to rededicate the temple. you know, i'll say this, too, the one thing a christian can never consistently be is anti-semitic. it's simply out of step with christianity. christianity is grounded in, based upon, related to in every detail, judaism. before you get to the christmas story in matthew's gospel, you have to go through the genealogy of jesus, which lays out his lengthy and detailed jewish heritage. and so there is a sign of hope, too, i think, the coming together of christianity and judaism. we see it in a fresh way. >> this year, of course, the exceptional year where the two start at the same time. bishop and rabbi, thank you so much for joining us, both of you, on this christmas week. also this week, kwanzaa, as mentioned.

the nationally recognized celebration of african culture and community in the united states since its founding in 1966. kwanzaa begins on thursday. the non-religious holiday spans seven days, through new year's day. the celebration emerged during the black freedom movement as a way to reconnect black communities in the u.s. with important african cultural traditions that were severed by the transatlantic slave trade. everybody celebrating this week. still ahead, ranking member of the house budget committee democratic congressman brendan boyle of pennsylvania will join us to discuss what next year's spending priorities might look like now that congress has passed a short-term government funding bill. plus, president-elect donald trump suggests the u.s. should take control of the panama canal and greenland. we'll play you his comments and the reaction it's receiving next on "morning joe." we're back in two minutes. nv est. driver: exactly! i can invest and trade on my own... client: yes, and let them manage some investments for me too.

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and advanced security. all from the company with 99.9% network reliability. get the 5-year price lock guarantee, now back for a limited time. powering five years of savings. powering possibilities™. we have a president, we have a vice president, woef a speaker. it feels like it is as if elon musk is our prime minister. i've spoken with elon a couple of times this week -- >> unelected.

>> unelected, but he has a voice. and i think a lot of the large part of that voice is a reflection of the voice of the people. >> he meant that as a compliment. that's republican congressman tony gonzalez of texas, praising elon musk for speaking out against the government funding bill last week, and comparing him to a prime minister. we'll update you on what the spending fight portends for president-elect donald trump's first 100 days in office. plus, trump also seems to eyeing a couple of new properties for the united states real estate portfolio. we'll explain why he's hinting at taking control of greenland and now the panama canal. and, of course, we'll get to a huge weekend on the gridiron for both the nfl and the college game. good morning! welcome to "morning joe." it is monday, december 23rd. i'm jonathan lemire along with u.s. special correspondent for bbc news, katty kay.

managing editor at the bulwark, sam stein joins us, as does the co-host of "the weekend" on msnbc, symone sanders townsend. just saw her on "way too early." joe, mika, and willie have the morning off. we'll dive right in. we'll begin with congress, which managed to pass an 11th hour government funding package late friday evening. the short-term bill will keep the government's lights on through mid-march. the package passed through the house, 366-34 with democrats providing the votes to get it over the needed hurdles. the senate for its part passed the legislation, 85-11. the "no" votes came from ten republicans and senator bernie sanders of vermont, an independent who caucuses with democrats. the bill's passage comes after president-elect trump torpedoed the bipartisan agreement that had been brokered by congressional leadership. trump had called for any funding

deal to increase or even abolish the debt ceiling, which is not up until the middle of next year. trump went as far as to say that he would support primary challenges to any republican who went against his wishes. the final package, however, did not contain any language pertaining to the debt ceiling, a point in which semifore reports that trump is, quote, not happy about. the package does contain over $100 billion for disaster relief, as well as a one-year extension of the farm bill. so this is a moment, katty, and we'll get into it, where republicans felt like they could say no, at least in a limited fashion, to donald trump. >> yeah, what does that mean going forward? if someone is going to carry on saying "no," i can't imagine that the president-elect is going to be thrilled with that. and of course, this new funding bill is only going to keep the government open until march. these debates will come up again. and despite republicans now controlling both the chambers and the presidency, they will

need at least some democratic votes to avoid a future shutdown. as nbc news reports, trump's demand that congress extend or abolish the debt ceiling failed dramatically. on wednesday, he threatened electoral primary challenges, the weapon of choice, against any republican who voted to fund the government without dealing with the debt limit. on friday, 170 house republicans defied him and yes, did just that. senate republicans say last week's turmoil is a preview of just how difficult it's going to be for house speaker mike johnson to facilitate two budget reconciliation packages and a debt limit bill next year. the hill reports that senator josh hawley of missouri expressed doubt about whether the speaker can pass these major bills. quote, if they can't manage the cr, how is he going to manage reconciliation. it's bad. it bodes badly. and another concern, trump's signature campaign promise of

large-scale mass deportations. the telegraph reports, days after his election victory, trump said that there would be no price tag on his plan for mass deportations, which will probably involve constructing tens of thousands of detention centers. a report from the american immigration council, a pro-immigration group, estimated that deporting 1 million migrants a year would cost at least $88 billion. jonathan, i know it's christmas and people are asking for a lot of gifts, but it looks like donald trump is asking for an awful lot from congress next year. this is not to mention continuing those tax cuts that he wants to do, potentially bringing down the corporate tax cut as well. that's the kind of thing that would keep any congress business. and yet they've got to deal with all of this procedural stuff, because they haven't managed to do it before the end of this year. >> that's going to cost an extraordinary amount of money, and there are some republicans who have been principled in their idea of really wanting to slash spending. and that's why they say that they oppose what had went down

last week. so sam stein, let's talk about this. two parts to you here. first, just the idea thats s i chaos yet again. the talk that we had heard in the months past, donald trump, his campaign more him was more organized, more disciplined. here we go. he knows how to use the levers of government now. he's not a rookie at this. he's surrounding himself with people who have been there before. and he's going to have republican majorities, though slim, in the senate and the house. and yet, it is complete the ultimate again in part because some republicans, at least on some issues, appear willing to defy him. >> yeah, he's not -- we should note, it's obvious, but he's not the president yet. the choose has begun he's taken office. it is interesting that on some occasions, we've seen republicans willing to just say "no." you know, trump didn't endorse rick scott for leader, but elon musk did. and trump kind of let it be known that he wanted rick scott to be majority leader. he ended up with john thune.

matt gaetz was supposed to be, you know, someone that trump would go to the mat for. he hinted at recess appointments if matt gaetz didn't get the attorney general post. matt gaetz ended up pulling his nomination. now you see again the cause for a debt limit hike, the elimination, totally, of it, with 38 republican voice in the house against that specific proposal. so occasional, we are seeing some republican -- congressional republican spying here. now, i don't know if that's going to be consistent throughout the next four years, but it is interesting. and i will say, this is not abnormal, not the spying, the chaos is not abnormal for anyone who remembers what the trump presidency was like the first 48 years. it was supposed to be different this go-around, but this is just the way he operates, right? there's something almost scripted about how the government funding fight went down. which is, you have a deal, he torpedos the deal, you have a fallback option, that doesn't work. you go to plan three.

in three months' time, i honestly think we'll be doing this all over again. >> symone, i think that's exactly right. this is what the first term of trump was like. this is, before even trump takes office, sure seems like a sneak preview of what the second term will be like. so my question to you is, what more can democrats play in this? you know, that they seem to coalesce around last week, these attacks on elon musk. we'll get into him more in a minute. also, willing to just simply, of course, to say "no," we had a deal, you backed out. how do you think they handled this particular fight, and what lessons can they learn? >> we've had conversations with democratic lawmakers, and this really came together around 5:00 p.m. friday afternoon, when that bill text dropped, the democrats went into a caucus meeting, because they didn't know what was in the bill. they wanted to make sure there were no, as they described it to me, poison pills.

one senior democratic lawmaker said, there are no poison pills. i think one democrats wanted to go home for christmas. but i also think they did not want to withhold -- be a part of the government shutting down, if there was really nothing nefarious, if you will, in the bill. because this is right before christmas and the holidays, and people needed to get their checks. so i was of the illegal that democrats should have fought. it's not a good precedent that if, in fact, you have a deal, and the deal is agreed to and so on and so forth, all the negotiators do the negotiating, and elon musk followed by the president-elect, not the other way the around, comes in and blows the deal up. this will be par for the course for at least the next two to four years. and in saying that the democrats lawmakers, they tell me, when he did fight. they protected social security, they fought donald trump on the debt limit. and ensured that a number of bills that may be that needed to

come together, things that were in the original cr, that didn't make it into the final deal that came across the desk in the house, did go through in the senate. some additional money for childhood cancer research. obviously, that rfk stadium deal, giving the land back to washington, d.c., so they could developing it or maybe have a new stadium there. those things did happen. but democrats, the last thing i'll say, jonathan, is they have governed with republicans throughout the 118th congress. every single bill that passed, passed because democrats crossed the aisle to vote. that had to do with the government functions, if you will. they weren't rewarded for that in the midterms. so one has to question, will the american people see this choose and see democrats coming together to be the adults in the room doing their job, and reward them in the next midterm election. because they weren't awarded in the last election. that remains to be seen. we don't know yet. >> as symone rightly mentioned, the tide turned on the original

spending bill, because elon musk came out against it first. only then did donald trump follow suit. and that's adding to the story line about just how much of a say musk has. to the point where trump addressed musk's growing political influence, despite the world's richest man, of course, not being elected to any position in the federal government. several critics have publicly called out musk for having more influence than trump over the current republican party. but the president-elect, who's apparently having none of it, making some key remarks about musk during a speech yesterday that he gave at a gathering of young concerned activists in phoenix. >> you know, they're on a new kick. russia, russia, russia, ukraine, ukraine, ukraine. all the different oaks hoaxes. the new one is, president trump has ceded the presidency to elon musk. no, no. that's not happening.

of but elon's done an amazing job. but, no, he's not nna be president, that i can tell you. and i'm safe. you know why. he can't be? he wasn't born in this country. >> katty kay, a lot to unpack here. first of all, we know donald trump hates it when anyone challenges him for the spotlight. the fact that he had to address it over the weekend shows that it's clearly getting under his skin. the fact that he had to point to the constitution as an example of hey, no, elon musk actually can't be president, he wasn't born here, shows how much this is getting under his skin. so weigh in on that, and also, of course, as our resident european correspondent, you're far more familiar with the concept of prime minister, which is what that republican congressman said at the top of the show, than we are, suggesting unironically, that musk was going to play a role like that. >> yes, generally speaking, the prime minister is the head of the party. that is how you get to be prime minister of your party, that you are the head of the party.

you have an enormous amount of power. is. i don't know if he was totally aware of what he was saying, in that he thought the prime minister would be subservient in this role, but anyway, it is an elected official. that is how you get to be prime minister. we've been waiting for a while to see when the elon/trump relationship might run into difficulties. clearly all of that talk that there was a rally in washington, you know, my kids sent me -- even my kids sent me these funny cartoons of elon and vance in the front seat of the car and trump in the back, and them saying, it's so true that he thinks he's doing the steering, which is the implication is that he wasn't. so all of that seems to be getting back to donald trump, sam stein. but you know, trump still seems to need or want elon around. i don't know how long that lasts, but at the moment, that still seems to be the case. he seems to appreciate the amount of money that elon poured into states like pennsylvania to get him elected. and i don't see elon disappearing from the scene as

quickly as some other people have suggested. >> no, i don't ither. it's unclear how much trump needs and want. the money was very helpful. and i think the idea that you have this person here who has the biggest megaphone in politics and also, the biggest banking account, literally, in the world, threatening republicans to get in line behind you, that doesn't hurt trump, right? he kind of enjoys the idea that there's this anvil waiting to be dropped on the party. and that's frankly what happened in the debate. it wasn't just that elon was spouting off on provisions in the bill, which he clearly didn't understand because he got one wrong, that wasn't what was important. it was when elon said, anyone who votes for this will get a primary challenge and i'll fund it, that's what mattered. i think trump likes having that tool. the problem, of course, is that if elon starts stealing the thunder, the spotlight, and it becomes apparent that elon is more powerful than trump, that

will not go over very well for the president -- if the president likes to be president. that's when you start seeing friction between two. >> when the "time" magazine cover drops, suggesting that elon musk is actually running the show, that may be -- >> a quick point on that. when they were doing the person of the year, "time" magazine, elon mutt out a couple of tweets, which it gave the impression that he knew he might be treading on thin water. i don't want the cover! i don't want the cover! he understood if that happened, this would have been -- >> from steve bannon. >> right. >> doj would have been done before it began had that occurred. well, we'll certainly be following this relationship in the weeks and months, if musk lasts that long, ahead. so let's turn to another piece of trump news from the weekend, though. as he turns his attention out of nowhere to the panama canal. trump posted on social media saturday that the united states might ask for the canal back, if panama continues to charge the

u.s. what he deems ridiculous fees. trump then doubled down on that stance during his speech yesterday. >> the panama canal. has anyone ever heard of the panama canal, huh? we're being ripped off at the panama canal like we're being ripped off everyone else. our navy and commerce have been treated in a very unfair and injudicious way. the fees being charged by panama are ridiculous, highly unfair, especially knowing the extraordinary generosity that has been bestowed to panama, i say very foolishly by the united states. this complete rip-off of our country will immediately stop. it will stop the united states has a big invested interest in the security, efficient, and reliable operation of the panama

canal. and that was always understood when they gave it to panama. you've got to treat us fairly, and they haven't treated us fairly. if the principles, both moral and legal of this gnanimous gesture of giving are not fold, we will demand that the panama canal be returned to the united states of america in full, quickly, and without question. not going to stand for it. so to the officials of panama, please be guided accordingly. >> in an apparent response, the seemingly surprised president of panama expressed that the canal is a sovereign entity and would not be handed over to the united states. trump then responded to that on truth social, writing, we'll see about that. the president-elect has also resurrected, not just panama, but also resurrected interest in taking control of greenland. in announcing his pick for the u.s. ambassador to denmark,

trump wrote, for purposes of national security and freedom throughout the world, the united states of america feels that the ownership and control of greenland is an absolute necessity. trump said that during his first administration, that he was looking into buying the self-governing island, which is controlled by denmark. and symone, he's not even in office yet, and he is claiming an expanse -- a need for expansion with greenland, the panama canal. he's also been threatening canada, because of the tariffs issue, where he suggested that perhaps jokingly, perhaps not, that canada should be the 51st state. he started referring to prime minister trudeau as governor trudeau, as if he was just the governor of a state there. this is trump again, as the world graces for his return, rattling a lot of cages and suggestions that the united states is going to be a bully around the world. >> to say the least. the panama canal strikes me, his

comments, they were random. it strikes mebriefing about something, and president-elect, the president-elect and the vice president-elect are receiving those national security briefings and what not. maybe he got a briefing about something and he's trying to get it off his chest. when it comes to what he is saying about greenland and furthermore what he has said about canada. to me, this actually helps me understand a little bit more of his stance on the russia's war in ukraine. because for the life of me, i have been struggling to understand why, not just donald trump, but this faction of republicans within the republican party apparatus are so cavalier about the sovereignty of another country, but the president-elect himself is very cavalier about the sovereignty of another country. joking about canada being the 51st state is actually quite seriously. he's talking about trampling on the sovereignty of canada,

saying not respecting their borders, it's not a hard line for him. and while it may seem lighthearted, but i think it helps us get a window into why he has said the things he's said about ukraine. for donald trump, ukraine's sovereignty is up for grabs. to him, this situation is not different than him looking to buy greenland or usurping the sovereignty of canada. and this in donald trump's mind would be the new world order. coming up, president joe biden is sending a message today with the stroke of a pen. dozens of federal convicts will no longer face the death penalty. and will instead remain behind bars for the rest of their lives. we'll talk about the president's position to commute those sentences and what it means for other prisoners facing execution straight ahead here on "morning joe." execution straight ahead here on "morning joe.

welcome back. time now for a look at some of the other stories making headlines this morning. ukrainian president volodymyr zelenskyy is signaling a greater willingness for negotiations to end the war, with russia. it comes as his country's forces are struggling to hold off moscow's recent advances. president-elect donald trump is also pushing to broker a deal, despite his change in rhetoric, ukraine's leader has not

explicitly said what concessions might be part of this deal. elsewhere, more teenagers are using dangerously powerful pot. "the wall street journal" is focusing on dabbing, where users inhale fumes from highly concentrated cannabis that is heated at high temperatures. health authorities say they're seeing more and more teens land in the emergency room, with seizures, vomiting or psychosis. dabs have up to 90% hc, the psych psychoactive component of cannabis compared to the 4% that joints typically had back in 19 95. dangerous new trend there. and dozens of new species were discovered in the jungles of peru. the findings came during a 38-day exhibition in the summer of 2022. the research team found four mammals, eight fish, three amphibians and ten butterflies. that includes a mouse that swims

with webbed feet. one of the rarest groups of mammals anywhere in the world. there he is! also, a new species of climbing salamander. not quite as cute as the mouse. and armored blob-headed cat fish. also new to science. there he is. a blob-headed cat fish. researchers also found dozens of rare and endangered species, some not known to occur anywhere else on the planet. coming up on "morning joe" -- >> i am your warrior, i am your justice, and to those who have been wrong and betrayed, i am your retribution. i am your retribution. >> that was then-candidate trump at an annual gathering for conservatives last year. we'll talk about how that pledge fits into the president-elect's plans for the fbi when "morning joe" comes right back. elect's plans for the fbi when "morning joe" comes right back. you got this. one — remember, i don't want surgery for my dupuytren's contracture. two — i don't want to wait for my contracture to get worse.

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president joe biden announced today that he will be commuting the sentences of most of the 40 inmates on federal death row. biden will be changing the sentences to life without parole to all but three inmates, the exceptions being the boston bomber and the two men responsible at the mass shootings at the tree of life synagogues in pittsburgh and the church in charleston, south carolina. advocating fighting against the death penalty, include pope francis, had been urging president biden to grant the commutations before donald trump who is pro-capital punishment takes over in january. biden said in a statement, make no mistake, i condemn these murderer s and grief for the families who have suffered irreparable loss. i am more convinced than ever that we must stop the use of the death penalty in the federal level. in good conscious, i cannot stand back and let a new

administration resume executions that i halted. joining us now is the president and ceo of the naacp, derek johnson. the organization has been advocating for the biden administration to commute the sentences of even more people in prison, especially those incarcerated under the war on drugs. not surprising, especially after the pope weighed in, but what do you make of it? >> we commend the president for this extraordinary act. the clemency and pardon powers that the president is unmatched. and it was good to see that he's using the moral authority of his faith to do what's right. think about those on death row. over 50% of those individuals are people of color, african-americans, latinos, and others. for every eight people that are killed, one person is later to be found exonerated. we're encouraging the president to continue on this moral path

to ensure that the disparities we see in the system that has been proven, as it applies to the clemency product, that they are productive citizens. and this is the type of legacy that we would want to see any president go out on. a legacy of helping people, recognizing disparities, and addressing moral inequities. >> so, derek, in 2021, attorney general merrick garland actually issued a moratorium on federal executions, but he did on federal executions. what do you think happens to that moratorium under a new trump administration? >> well, wonderful, we will resume the process for those who are on death row, to be addressed. but think about it. we are clearing the road now. the president with this one act have reduced the number of federal inmates on death row for 40 to 3. i think that's extraordinary. and so, what happens after this

will take a while, because to go through a trial, to be sentenced for -- to death, is not something that happens overnight. so hopefully, with this act, we can begin to right-size the criminal justice system, at least on the federal level, but particularly, we are encouraging the president to continue on this path. there are far too many individuals who were convicted of the crime today, would not be in prison. they would not receive the harsh punishment that they have received. so he must continue on this ford. it's the moral thing to do and we commend him for what he's done so far. >> derek, sam stein here. i think the backdrop to this is kind of interesting, which is that it was joe biden in the mid-90s that crafted the law, the crime bill, t ended up establishing some of the statutes that apply for the federal death penalty. and now we have him, what is it, my math is pretty bad, 30 years later going the opposite direction. as this decision comes down this

morning commuting or changing the sentences to life without parole for 37, 40 inmates. i'm just wondering if you think think about the politics are here. obviously, he will be attacked for this decision by a lot of people who think, these are heinous cases, horrible crimes. these people do not deserve leniency. and joe biden, you set the law yourself for putting these people to death. do you think there's going to be sharp political blowback or do you think it will stick? >> i grew up in the '80s and early '90s and i remember the crack epidemic that generated the law of 1994. and as a result of that law, you had the majority of the congressional black caucus that also supported that law. let's evolve the nation, our understanding around the criminal justice system has evolved. in fact, mass incarceration has not served this nation. if we don't learn from the past, we're doomed to repeat it. it commend the president for taking a stand today to address what we know is the reality.

mass incarceration, inequity, in citizens, and a disparity between crack and potter did not serve this nation well, let's look forward, not look backward. i don't think anybody will have that backlash, those who will be individuals who are already in the trump camp. >> president johnson symone sanders townsend here. i wonder what else would like to see the president do prior to him leaving office on january 20th? i am sure, i'm positive that the president has sought your counsel. and i'm wondering what that was. >> first of all, we encourage this administration, the president, to use the clemency powers to address the disparities across the board. you have individuals who are sitting in jail today, who are convicted of crimes that are no longer a crime in pretty much 50 other states. there are individuals who are subject to disproportionate

impact of citizen disparities. you have individuals like kimber smith or marilyn mosey who should be pardoned. as this administration goes out to rightsize our criminal justice system on a federal government level in a way we have not seen before. his legacy is something that we will celebrate, once he pardons and commutes the sentences of so many individuals, who should not be sitting in jail, or who could be leading productive lives and contributing to society. >> katty mentioned the role that pope francis had to play here. the white house announced that president biden will make his final trip to the vatican to see the pope some time next month. president and ceo of the naacp, derek johnson, thank you, sir, for joining us this morning. >> thank you. and symone sanders townsend, thank you, as well. great to see you. coming up here, you've been waiting all weekend. paul finebaum will join us with their takeaways from that slate

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second down and 7. lock looking, gold deflected and intercepted! grabbed by matthew judon! the second picked pick today for atlanta! >> you don't dance in the back field as that running back stops. >> going for a first down. for williams, he's got it! devonshire williams into the end zone! touchdown. >> back to tailor and tailor trying to put it away all by himself. taylor into the open field one more time! oh, loosened the load. he's into the end zone. first and 10. here they go.

five, leaping, and the pile-on, touchdown! >> hubbard dancing into the end zone and a touchdown in overtime! >> first and 10, another big run! there he has goes! he's got wide-open space! >> doing a nice job with the extra blocker. >> on the ground. cook's still going! james cook takes it the distance! >> play action, stepping up, launching downfield and it is good! >> quick snap flags on the secondary. an open man! touchdown! tie game! lots of pressure.

showing the pressure. >> those were some of the biggest plays across the nfl yesterday, including the dallas cowboy's game-turning turnover to beat the buccaneers on sunday night football on nbc. let's bring in the host of "pablo torrey finds out," and espn commentator paul finebaum joins us as well. pablo, let's start with the nfl. we'll get to the underwhelming first round of the college football playoffs in a minute. let's start with the nfl. it was sort of weird, talking as you sat down, kind of an eh slate of games this week, but some games did matter. highlighting two in particular from yesterday. the vikings continue to be that under the radar team this year. they go to seattle. if they win out, they're the number one seed in the next fc.

and the eagles, who had also been on track potentially for that. the quarterback, jalen hurts gets knocked out, and they give up a game to the commanders. >> let's start with the latter examples. jayden daniels, i need to keep zooming out on what the dmv area, what the commanders have represented to a franchise that could not be proud of itself for so long. its name, its building, its sewage system, its decade-long history. decades-long history of poor quarterback play. and jayden daniels as a rookie had the game of his life. this is a guy who comes out of lsu, and you're like, okay, how good is he really going to be? it turns out he's as good as any quarterback in recent memory. this is a game where the commanders had five turnovers, and the guy solved those problems by doing stuff like this. it's a remarkable thing to have the guy that you pray for actually be as good as you dream. and now they're a ten-win team.

this game eliminates the dallas cowboys for those who are wondering what about the cowboys. they've been knocked out now. and eagles are a favorite to make the super bowl. this is an incredible marker in the history of a franchise that has needed moments of actual optimism grounded in evidence. >> it comes days after there's a chance that they might move back to washington, d.c.. >> legislation and all of that. the vikings can they go to seattle reeling at this point. and the sam donald experience continues. >> if you're a jets fan. you're watching sam donald start for the vikings, a 13-2 team now. playing against gino smith, starting for the seahawks, also a playoff contender. and so this is one of those games where you're like, okay, we need to take this time incredibly seriously, because it's not just the defense, because noaa has been good all season. sam donald is just not the same

donald that was being ghosted before. sam donald was basically humiliated out of the nfl, like he was a new york jet. he could not trust himself or his eyes or his instincts. i'm seeing ghosts is what he was caught -- >> i was there. >> it was against bill belichick. >> the haunting was over. and sam donald, now you have a choice to be a viking, pay him all of this money and that's another controversy. but if you're just a fan of the vikings and look up the standings and say, okay, 13-2 vikings, right behind the 13-2 lions, and they play on january 5th for the division, for the nfc, and this is just one of those divisions that again, the packers are 10-4 and right behind these two teams. and so, a really strong win, you know, again, a close game, but it's incredible to see what these vikings have done. >> packers play tonight on monday night football. one more on the nfl and we'll pivot. buffalo hangs on. we saw the chiefs on saturday

got out a win against the texans. and then the ravens, an impressive win. the first time they had beaten the steelers in a while. >> lamar jackson is on his mt. rushmore or the contemporary version of the four quarterbacks you have to respect. mahomes, burrows and lamar jackson. and so you go into this game saying, it's a test for the mar minutes. all of his trophies, have struggled in playoffs against teams and defenses like the steelers. and he does it. now, look, he throws a pick, and you're worried for a bit, but lamar jackson, winning this game this decisively, yeah, it's an mvp, it's down to lamar jackson and lamar. and if you can tell me it's going to be him again, i'll tell you, i would take allan, but i understand the argument. >> the argument might be for him while he's never won one.

paul, let's turn to the college playoffs. of >> here we go! opening weekend, let's just put it out there, a bit of a dud. we'll dive into the games in a second, but first your broad thoughts about what we saw. four games, all four pretty decisive. a couple were routs. does this format work? >> no, it doesn't, jonathan. the best moment of the four-game playoff was the introduction of the game at notre dame friday night and it literally went straight downhill. every game was a blowout. you look at some of the scores and there were a lot of late touchdowns, but the biggest flaw in this system was that several commissioners tried to kill it once there was expansion going on. so you had a bunch of commissioners in a room, and it had to be unanimous. you understand that from d.c. and they made a terrible deal, letting in the highest-rated power five conferences. of course, there's only four now with the pac 12. so schools like boise state and

arizona state, who would have probably had to have gone on the road the first round sit there waiting for the opponents, you had ohio state, another team that's probably one of the two or three best in the country. it was convoluted and really at times difficult to watch. the good news is it will get reshuffled in the future. this is only a two-year deal that they had to make. but there's literally nothing to talk about that happened. >> yeah, it was deeply uninspiring. >> so as you see the winners there, and as notre dame, penn state, and ohio state, you mentioned ohio state. beyond them, one of the other three schools, they did something over the weekend that would make you think, they've got a shot to make a deep run in this tournament. >> texas is probably the team you have to watch. when you look at them, you find flaws, but they have an elite defense and they ended up playing probably the closest game, one of the closest games of the group, because it came

down to a fourth down call against clemson. ultimately, they have not only one of the better quarterbacks in the country, they have the best backup in the quarterback named arch manning. you may have heard of his famous uncles and grandfather, a couple of hall of famers right there. so they're another school to keep your eye on. they have up with of the easier second-round matchups. what's really markable is you mentioned ohio state. they ended up going to the rose bowl on january 1st, jonathan, and have to take on oregon. they already met once this year in an epic game in eugene. a one-point game. this is literally two of the best three schools in the country playing in the quarter finals of the college football playoff. >> paul, you know i love you more when you are miserable and your audience is miserable. you mentioned looking ahead. take me inside power brokers. what does this look like to you, in terms of how this is going to change the system itself? >> what's going to happen is you're going to seed it

correctly. this is not like the nfl, where -- it's a little convoluted with the conference and the divisional winners, but ultimately, it's going to be seeded, 1 through 12. you're not going to get any of those convoluted matchups in the first round. and it will be more entertaining. another big problem for college football, that they're dealing with, and they had to deal with on saturday is that two of the games, the two afternoon games, the one at penn state, which was unwatchable, and the one at austin, which was only slightly more watchable, were both competing with nfl games. and not just random carolina -- at the jaguars. we were talking about you know, serious games, texans and the chiefs, as well as the ravens and the steelers. and i don't think that will happen again. they had to compress the schedule. the rest of the games, you have the new year's eve and w year's eve and the new year's day. and the following day, the games will be on thursdays night and

friday night to avoid the wild card round. these are not your college football afternoon, evening, saturday games. coming up, what's driving the day on wall street. business before the bell is in our fourth hour after last week's wild ride from the markets. a live report from cnbc is straight ahead here onmonger. is straight ahead here onmonger

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coming up, the top democrat on the house budget committee, congressman brendan boyle, was part of the spending fight on capitol hill, and he'll take us inside those negotiations, when "morning joe" comes right back. "morning joe" comes right back

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beautiful shot of new york city two days before christmas.

welcome to the fourth hour of "the 11th ""morning ." i'm here with katty kay and molly jong-fast. joe, mika and willie all have the morning off. let's get right to the headlines this hour. president-elect trump returned to the stage over the weekend for a campaign-style rally and gave a preview of what to expect when he returns to the oval office. ryan nobles brings us the details. >> reporter: president-elect donald trump ran on a promise to change the way washington operates, and he may be delivering before he's even sworn in. >> great to be here. nice to win the election. >> reporter: the incoming commander in chief promising his disruptive style like the one he

displayed in the spending plan last week will yield results. his unpredictability will be put to the test, especially given his long list of priorities for the new year. he has promised to implement a mass deportation program, and with the help of elon musk slash trillions from the federal budget, promises he did not back down from this weekend but made clear it is he, not musk, run the show. >> the new one is president trump has ceded the presidency to elon musk. no, no. that's not happening. but elon has done an amazing job. >> reporter: trump joking the south african-born musk couldn't be president.

>> you know why? he can't be. he wasn't born in this country. >> reporter: the president-elect also airing an unexpected complaint. >> we're being ripped off at the panama canal like we're being ripped off everywhere else. >> reporter: calling for the return of the panama canal, which was return ed in a treaty in the 1970s due to high shipping fees. >> the panama canal will be returned to the united states of america in full, quickly and without question. >> reporter: panama's president overnight rejecting that idea saying the sovereignty and independence of our country are not negotiable. >> that was ryan nobles with that report. let's bring in representative brendan boyle from pennsylvania. let's talk about the budget. given your assessment of how

this process played out with donald trump and elon musk, both throwing 11th hour curve balls and talk to us about the deal we ended up with. >> good to be with you. we had a four-party agreement, the leaders of the house democratic caucus, senate republicans, they announced this deal late tuesday night, early wednesday morning, and then elon musk took to his social media platform and issued tweet after tweet over the course of about six hours, and that backed mike johnson, the speaker of the house, at least for now -- that forced him to back down. in terms of process, that is not the way it should work. the good news is, knows when they went to plan b, when was a republican-only approach supported by donald trump, 38 house republicans joined democrats to vote against that. finally, we got a very bare-bones continuing resolution

passed late afternoon on friday to avoid a government shutdown. so in the end, it was a messy process and perhaps a sign that things will likely be chaotic when donald trump is president, but i will also take a hopeful note note. >> he said he wanted the biggest first days of any presidency. some of the tariff and things he can do through executive order, but other stuff he would need congress for, if he wants to do a big immigration bill, for example. do you have a sense of how much

of his agenda donald trump is actually going to be able to enact this year? >> you're looking at it the right way, separating those things that trump can do by himself by executive order versus those things where he needs congress. when it comes to those things where he needs congress, i think he's going to have a real problem. we saw the last two years house republicans were badly divided. two years ago it took them four days and 15 rounds of voting just to elect their own guy's speaker only to vote him out nine months later. then we fast forward nine years to this past week, which was equally as confusing and chaotic. from january 20th on, the republican lead in the house or the majority will only be 217 to 215. they're have no margin of error, so i think they'll have a very tough time getting things done without democratic support.

my concerns lion the executive actions donald trump can take as president and where congress has a limited role. >> hi, representative boyle. it's molly jong-fast. i wonder if you could talk about this trump surprise of raising the debt ceiling. that seemed to come out of nowhere. do you think that is something that will be a legislative priority for him? and is that even feasible? >> good to be with you, molly. as i think you know, i'm the author of the debt ceiling reform act. i have been fighting for almost a decade now to permanently reform the debt ceiling and end this perennial debt ceiling dysfunction. what i don't support is preemptively raising the debt ceiling by $4.5 trillion just so

donald trump can give another round of tax cuts, most of which favor the richest 1% of americans. >> thanks so much for joining the conversation this morning. >> thank you. the house ethics committee is expected to release its report into the conduct of former republican congressman matt gaetz of florida as early as today, according to a source. the committee had voted to publicly detail the findings of its years-long investigation which looked into allegations gaetz obstructed the house investigation probe. for his part, gaetz is seeking a temporary restraining order against the committee and its chair, asking for an injunction to prevent the report's release. gaetz resigned from the house last month after president trump said he intended to nominate him

for attorney general. he withdrew 14 days after the announcement. the 42-year-old has denied any wrongdoing. i don't know how much of america is hanging on their seat waiting for this, jonathan, but this is something that's been teased so often. it will be nice to see what is in this report. what are you hearing about it? are you ing any surprises? >> nbc news has not obtained the life-support just yet, but certainly there have been rumbling and rumors for weeks now on the hill that suggest it is indeed very damning and politically damaging to matt gaetz, who we should note is not charged with any crime, but someone whose reputation has certainly taken a hit as of late. let's remember, molly, this is someone who a couple of weeks ago donald trump saw fit to nominate for the nation's top law enforcement post. he was going to be attorney

general of the united states. that, of course, will not come to pass. he withdrew his name from the process. we're going to find out shortly what's in this report, and it's probably not going to be good. >> it makes a really good case for more vetting. we knew there was this report coming out wherever. this is a good case for vetting all of these nominees as much as possible. you'll remember that trump and trump world really want to move quickly and not allow a sort of traditional vetting process. and this is a person that was put up for the cabinet, and really it is a case for vetting and the democratic norms we treasure so dearly. i think this is a really good example why we have these norms in place. >> we have heard from some republican senators in recent days that they won't make decisions on some of trump's other controversial picks, pete

hegseth, tulsi gabbard and the rest. starting here with nasa's parker solo probe, which is about to make history as it attempts to fly closer to the sun than any human-made object sent before. launched back in 2018, the probe will pass within 3.8 million miles of the sun's surface, seven times closer than the previous mark. the fastest spacecraft ever built is outfitted with a heat shield that can withstand temperatures up to 2500 degrees fahrenheit. meanwhile, the streaming giant netflix has scored the exclusive broadcast rights in the united states to the 2027 and 2031 fifa women's world cups.

it is the first competition to be acquired in full by netflix. it will take place in brazil, while the 2031 host nation has yesterday to be chosen. the announcement comes just days before netflix will stream its first ever nfl christmas day games, the streaming giant more and more pushing into the realm of live sports. and the mega millions jackpot is nearing $1 billion after no ticket matched the six numbers that were drawn on friday. the next drawing for the $944 million jackpot is tomorrow evening. the winner can choose a one-time lump sum payment of 429 million. the mega millions jackpot has been won only three times this year. your odds of inning? a near 1 in 302 million. but with those kind of prizes as stake, i expect lottery tickets

as stocking stuffers in the coming days. coming up, we'll have wall street's reaction to the last-minute deal to avert a federal government shutdown. this time a key government agency is, quote, absurdly overstaffed, says elon musk. we'll tell you which one he's referring to next on "morning joe." referring to next on "morn joe. my moderate to severe ulcerative colitis symptoms kept me... out of the picture.

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according to reporting in "the telegraph" the u.k.'s office of communication says the platforms would be expected to remove potentially millions of children from their sites by using highly accurate and effective age checks. the firms could reportedly face multibillion pound fines under the country's online safety act. the office estimates as many as 60% of 8 to 11-year-olds in the country have social media platforms, the equivalent to 1.6 million children, despite facebook, instagram and tiktok having a minimum age requirement of 13 years old. there's been rising talk in recent months in particular about trying to make social media apps safer, trying to safeguard children from so many toxic side effects. this one in the u.k. seems to be a step in the right direction if we think the technology will

work. >> yeah. i mean, look, it's one of the few issues around which there is bipartisan concern. we've seen it in washington in those hearings outraged about what they're seeing in terms of access for children. europe, which has been more open to regulation, u.k. looking to how it can stop kids pretending to be older than they are from getting social media sites. you're right, it could be up to 10% global turnover for a company like meta if they are found to be in breach of these regulations. after that last-minute deal avoided a government shutdown --

this story about what the u.k. is planning to do, we've seen efforts to do that in various countries. does this look like it could have teeth, and would it impact these social media companies? >> this has been a big talking point for all countries right now, right, what type of regulations should we put on social media companies. there's been discussion about what's happening in australia right now. now the question is about what this country could be doing when president-elect trump enters office on january 20th. it's something companies are getting ready for with their lobbying associations in d.c. for sure. >> we've seen a selloff in the markets over the last couple weeks. how are they responding to that very last-minute success in not shutting down -- i don't know if you can call it a success when you're that close to shutting down the u.s. government anyway. how are they markets responding?

>> premarket moves on wall street suggest sort of a muted response. of course, avoiding a government shutdown and upheaval in washington is a good thing for financial markets. we did see stocks end lower last week, partly on concerns about whether a deal would come together. the question is how the incoming government handles discussions come spring 2025. >> quick question for you, the honda and nissan merger that has been bandied about here, these are two giants of the automotive world. talk to us about what this merger would look like and how likely is it to come to pass. >> it's nissan and honda talking about a merger that, if approved, would essentially create the world's third largest automaker. according to experts, what's driving this deal is some of the challenges the automotive

industry is deal with, sluggish sales, competition and waning demand in china. this idea that the ftc will be more conducive to mergers and acquisitions under trump, that's incentivizing ceos to look at deals and mergers and looking at whether two companies together will help them fend off competition and the challenges that the broader industry is dealing with. we'll see if this deal does come together and how talks continue in the coming months. >> circle back to one more thing elon musk related. the man is certainly in the headlines a lot these days. but as part of his new role here as the head of doge which he wanted to cut, cut, cut, he's suggesting there's another government agency on his radar for these trends, if you will, and it's a pretty significant one. tell us about it. >> elon musk, the billionaire

ally of trump who is tasked with finding areas to cut government spending, he made comments about the federal reserve being overstaffed, and he made those comments on social media. we know president-elect trump has been critical of the fed in the past, its independence. so curious how that is factored into musk's comments, but what we do know is according to the latest government data as of last year the fed had roughly 24,000 employees. the federal reserve just met last week embarking on another interest rate cut, but did not hint at as many interest rate cuts in 2025. that's why markets have been a bit volatile in coming days. >> thank you very much for joining us. quick look at the morning papers now. in ohio, the columbus dispatch reports state lawmakers have passed a bill that requires hospitals to list prices of medical care both with and without insurance.

under this legislation, hospitals will also have to disclose the costs of at least 300 different services that can be scheduled in advance or offer an online price estimator. those include surgeries and non-urgent care. it's unclear if governor mike dewine will sign the bill. in colorado the state tax on guns will take effect in the new year. in november, voters approved a 6.5 tax on guns, gun parts and ammunition. the money will be used to help victims of gun violence and protect mental health care for veterans and security for public schools. experts estimate the tax will generate about $39 million a year. the anchorage daily news reports that alaska officials are seeking to kill 100 wolves and bears a year by shooting them from planes and helicopters. officials say this could boost the population of moose and caribou.

critics argue the killing tactics are cruel and do not make exceptions for bear cubs and wolf pups. in illinois, the "chicago tribune" has a front-page feature on a middle school student who helped discover a new cancer fighting molecule in goose poop. the student was conducting research for science in chicago. she collected goose poop samples and it was found it had a compound that slows the growth of human melanoma and cancer cells. brilliant. >> more than brilliant. perhaps an unlikely hero here, geese and their digestive systems. millions of americans are on the move this morning driving or flying to their holiday

destinations. nbc's sam brock has a behind the scenes look at how airlines are preparing for what's expected to be a record number of passengers. first, nbc's emilie ikeda has the latest on the winter weather making this travel even more challenging. >> reporter: this festive week getting off to a freezing start, millions under alert for below average and bone-chilling temperatures, parts of the northeast even dipping below zero overnight after a blast of winter weather snarled travel from coast to coast. satellites captured sweeping snow across all of the northeast. travelers faced more than 26,000 flight delays and cancellations. the tsa says it is expected to screen some 40 million fliers between the run up to question and the trip home on neve, up 6% from 2023. >> it is really crowded in here.

>> reporter: some, desperate to get home for the holidays, giving trains a try, but critical amtrak routes in the northeast were delayed or cancelled due to downed power lines obstructing tracks. the vast majority of americans heading to holiday celebrations by car. treacherous driving conditions blamed for this crash outside boston that took down utility lines. the one bright spot for many, gas prices hovering around $3 a gallon nationwide. now with another round of frigid weather on the way, travelers hoping mother nature won't deliver more holiday headaches. >> reporter: over the christmas holiday season, the tsa expects to screen around 40 million passengers, set to stress test everything from ticket counters

to catering to, yep, you guessed it, bags. >> during the holidays is a little extra stress. >> reporter: at dfw airport, american airlines anticipated 100,000 checked bags a day, up from the normal 75,000. >> ramped up for the holidays, we've seen our big schedule increase before our customers. our team continues to be laser focused on customers' baggage. >> reporter: if you ever wonders where does my bag go after i drop it off, we are about to show you. after that initial check-in and scan, your luggage ends up crisscrossing some 20 miles of baggage belts, finding its home in the bag room, where expert handlers scan the bags, all while keeping a close eye on how many more are coming and when

they need to go to their plane. the cart behind me is loaded with luggage, . we have 40 minutes or less to get all of this luggage on the flight. the crew chief tells us it's a highly orchestrated operation. >> you don't really have a second to spare, it feels like. >> no, not at all. >> what is the hardest part about this job? >> maybe the elements. we work in all elements, rain, snow, sleet, ice, whatever. >> reporter: the airline has a 45-minute cutoff before departure time to check your bags for domestic flights. as teams get the bags already in the belly of the plane off and get new ones on. of all the passengers that fly with american, about a third in some way touch dfw on a given day, which explains why there are literally thousands of people on the front lines making sure your bags get where they

need to go. >> we're seeing some of the best performance we've seen in a very long time in this industry. >> reporter: there are a lot of numbers american airlines is juggling this holiday season, from the 320,000 bags in their system every day to the 23.6 million cans of coke and the 6.6 million bags of pretzels. the number one priority remains getting you, your family and your luggage through the maze that is the high-octane holiday season with the knowledge that all of these people are guiding the process every step of the way. >> nbc's sam brock and emilie ikeda with those reports. still ahead here, actress blake lively has filed a lawsuit against her costar in the film "it ends with us." we'll break down those allegations. plus, some current and former department of justice officials are worried they may be investigated as president-elect's perceived

political adversaries. we'll dig into that new reporting. "morning joe" will be right back. reporting. "morning joe" will be right back i'm the team mascot, and boy, am i running late. ha, ha, what a hit! and if you don't have the right auto insurance coverage, the cost to cover that... might tank your season. ♪♪ so get allstate, and be better protected from mayhem, like me.

beautiful shot of chicago this morning. 8:34 in the morning in chicago. time to get up, everybody, get that christmas wrapping done ahead of the holidays. hollywood is reacting to a new legal complaint filed by actress blake lively, who is making allegations of sexual harassment against her costar and director of the hit movie "it ends with us." chloe melas has more. >> reporter: this morning holiday reacting to those explosive allegations of sexual harassment on the set of the hit

movie "it ends with us." after blake lively filed a legal complaint saying her costar and director justin baldoni repeatedly harassed her onset and crossed boundaries during intimate scenes. lively's friends and family now showing support, including america ferrera, amber tamblin and alexis bledell. the novelest ist saying thank for being exactly the human you are. the charges claim baldoni improvised numerous kisses during a scene. in another instance it says baldoni and the film's producer suddenly pressured ms. lively to

suddenly simulate full nudity during a scene in which her character gives birth, complaining that a full-time intimacy coordinator on the set was established to finish shooting. the complaint says baldoni hire hired a crisis communication team to destroy lively's reputation. in a text message between two experts working for baldoni, he wanted to feel like blake lively can be buried. you know we can bury anyone. >> this reveals a new playbook for waging a far-reaching and largely undetectable smear campaign in the digital age. >> reporter: a lawyer representing baldoni and his production company wayfare called the allegations false and another desperate attempt to fix

her reputation, saying these claims are completely false, outrageous and salacious. with the residence gnation christopher wray as fbi director, all signs point to kash patel taking the reins at the bureau. patel famously published a list of so-called deep state enemies that even includes members of the fbi itself. a dozen current and former fbi officials tell nbc news they fear for the future of the bureau under patel's control if he is indeed confirmed. joining us now, david rohde and editor at large at "newsweek" tom rogers, who writes in a new piece that going after those officials or anyone on patel's

list could lead to officials allegedly pursuing baseless investigations. thank you both for being here. david, we'll start with your latest reporting for nbc news titled "curious if i'm on that list" kash patel's targets fear his tenure as fbi director. you write, a dozen current and former officials expressed fears to nbc news that patel, if confirmed, would use his power as fbi director to criminally investigate trump's perceived adversaries including them. the choice of patel, who has used claims of deep state conspiracies against trump, signalled to current and former officials that trump's campaign trail talk about seeking vengeance was more than just that. david, that's the key point here. we know that donald trump says a lot of things, doesn't always

follow through. but he's been consistent on this and has been for a very long time. when pressed, he doesn't deny that retribution is going to be at the heart of his administration. he simply says, well, i won't personally direct it, but sure seems to many observers he already has. >> yeah, that's the sense. there's a real sense of frustration among trump supporters and republicans that they think he was unfairly prosecuted by democrats. this is on a broader level. that quote in the headline of the story, curious if i'm on that list, that came 24 hours after trump named kash patel as his choice before fbi director. then i got a dozen other people in conversations and interviews after that who expressed the same sense of alarm nd fear of being on that list. they all insist they've done nothing wrong.

they fear a long protracted federal criminal investigation directed by the fbi, directed by kash patel that could put enormous financial strain on them, hurt their ability to get jobs. there is a sense that this is serious. lastly, last week about ten days after president trump said in an interview with nbc news he wanted all of the january 6th committee members to go to jail, a house committee considered liz cheney for investigation by the fbi. it's a pattern here. >> tom, i'm wondering if you could talk about the possible pushback to this. >> well, the fact that kash patel has said he's going to be seeking retribution has been out there for a while. what hasn't been out there is that there are remedies for targets of malicious prosecution by federal officials. and so there's something here

that the kash patels of the world have to be mindful of. we all know there was a major supreme court decision that provided absolutely immunity for the president of the united states, but that doesn't apply to other executive branch employees. what is known as the federal tort claims act gives people whose constitutional rights were violated here, presumably due process rights, to be able to pursue an action against the government for redress if they find themselves subject to something where there was no probable cause, just malicious retribution. and if you're able to prevail in court that you were right and the government was wrong, you can sue for redress. redress against the government itself may not be that much of a disincentive. redress against the individual federal official for personal

liability where damages have to come out of their pocketbook for attorneys fees, loss of income, emotional distress, that could be a real disincentive. there's a doctrine, the bivens doctrine supreme court decision gives them a right to pursue that. if it ends in what patel said, criminal or civil actions, he said he'd have to see which he'd pursue. then the ability for someone to seek redress against the official for personal liability exists as a path. >> david, some of the people that trump and patel have singled out for retribution, it's not clear at all what the criminal charge would be. there's never been any sort of real answer to that. you know, yes, to tom's point,

there are ways that people's lives can be made miserable just being a subject of investigation. but at the end of the day, is there real thought that charges could exist, and would there be people at the fbi and other places that would be willing to investigate and bring them? >> that's the key question. i reviewed the whole 288-page memoir. it's a list of about 60 people. some of them, their names are just in this appendix b. it's a list of current members of what patel calls the executive branch deep state. but there's no explanation why they're on that list. some of the names you can look in the text of the book itself and see why he's making the allegations. so it's a broad brush thing. what the deep state sort of refers to, what used to be sort of the washington establishment, many experts in and outside of government. and that's fine. that's always been a political issue where new presidents come in and attack it. this new term "deep state," he

says in the book, they are the ones guilty of the crimes. he uses the term criminal. that's what's so new here. and he alleges that they undermine trump's ability to enact his policies. so our level of rhetoric has just grown higher and higher. i don't know about charges, but prolonged investigations are sending a message to people, do not investigate donald trump in his second term. >> tom, briefly, we've heard talk of the business community might be a bulwark to try to stop trump in putting in tariffs. we know the markets and the business world really prize stability, the stability created by a free democracy. do we think if this retribution campaign does go forth, do we think we hear some powerful voices trying to stand up against it? >> well, i think there are major law firms with major pro bono capabilities that are gearing up

to help defend people who may be on the targeted end of malicious prosecutions that are purely being pursued for retribution. i'm hopeful there. the democracy check that i mentioned, the federal tort claims act and seeking personal liability, i worry a bit that elon musk, who's there as a pocketbook to fund primary efforts against republicans who step out of line, may also say, hey, i'm here to indemnify any federal official who is found personally liable and ve that completely as a disincentive for federal officials to pursue this kind of retribution. hopefully big law can step up here, and i think some are prepared to do so. >> thank you both very much for joining us. luigi mangione is appearing in a manhattan courtroom this morning for arraignment on state murder charges in the killing of

unitedhealthcare ceo brian thompson. the 26-year-old is accused of shooting thompson on december 4th in midtown manhattan in what authorities describe as a premeditated and targeted act. mangione has pleaded not guilty to all of the charges. we'll bring you the latest on that when we get more details. coming up "national geographic" is wrapping up 2024 with its annual picture of the year issue. its editor in chief joins us next with the collection coming up on "morning joe." with the c up on "morning joe." i'm cologuard®, a noninvasive way to screen at home on your schedule. i'm for people 45+ at average risk, not high risk. false positive and negative results may occur. ask your provider for me, cologuard. hey, grab more delectables. false positive and negative results may occur. you know, that lickable cat treat? de-lick-able delectables? yes, just hurry. hmm. it must be delicious. delectables lickable treat.

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welcome back. the power of mother nature was on full display in 2024 and "national geographic" was there to capture it all. the publication is now out with its pictures of the year. the images, many of which illustrate the impacts of climate change, showcase everything from groundbreaking

innovations in science to the bravery of emperor penguins in antarctica. joining us is the editor in chief nathan lump. good to see you this morning. let's go through a few of them. number one, the title simply liquid fuel from the sun, a truly gorgeous picture. tell us what we're looking at here. >> this is a terrific scientific image. when you look at it, you don't know what it is really. this is actually synthetic fuel. this is captured by a photographer who worked on a lot of energy-related projects for us. this is a synthetic fuel that's being developed made from the sun as well as water and carbon dioxide being developed in germany. it has the potential to potentially replace fossil fuels. >> the next is called "dangerous ." we noticed many of these capture

the effects of climate change. this year in zambia, an elephant tried to cross the road to find a water source and look what happened. >> yes. there is a lot of challenges obviously that the planet faces today, and a lot of that is on display in some of these images. some of them are more hopeful than others. this one is a little bit more difficult. really what jasper is looking at in this picture and broader work is human/wildlife conflict as climate change and other developmental pressures force animals to move into areas with people, that creates circumstances where the animals don't do so well. >> another with the title "deep knowledge" also talks about how the environment and people try to adjust to climate change. >> yes, indeed. this is our cover image. this is taken in africa.

what you see here is a group of researchers working in this cave, studying stalagmites and cave formation tells us a lot about the history of the planet and also how climate changed over time. so what these researchers are looking at is trying to understand in this area how was the climate thousands and even millions of years ago as an effort to understand where things might be going. >> let's talk about one that a lot of people watching the show experience "total eclipse of the heart" when the total solar eclipse arrived. >> indeed. some of our images are just happy. they capture incredible moments that happened over the past year. i'm sure you remember the total eclipse we had this summer. this is a gathering of individuals who got married at

the total eclipse and came together to mark that moment with a very special event in their own lives. >> lastly, "taking the plunge" we mentioned the bravery of emperor penguins. what a shot this is. >> it's a really incredible photograph from birdie gregory captured on a production we're doing about penguins, a docu-series in 2025 called "secrets of the penguins." you're seeing an incredibly brave little bird taking the first plunge with a large cohort of penguins behind it jumping in off a 50-foot cliff for its very first swim. i love the emotion of this image. also it's a really important back story. penguins didn't used to have to nest and raise their young on such high cliffs of ice. they used to do this on ice that was much closer to the water. of course, in many parts of

antarctica that's ice has melt. the penguins make it, they do know how to swim, but of course they are having to adapt to a changing planet. you know, they're doing well so far, but of course we don't know how that will go in the long term. >> "national geographic's" december 2024 issue is available now. editor in chief, nathan lump, thank you for joining us. as we close out this morning, we want to take a moment to celebrate the incredibly hardworking team who make "morning joe" possible each and every day. our thanks to them. r thanks to m

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it's 10:00 a.m. eastern, 7:00 a.m. pacific. we have breaking news as the beltway is bracing for the imminent release of the ethics report of the former congressman, matt gaetz. house ethics staffers will convene today. the panel was investigating sexual misconduct allegations against gaetz that included he paid for sex with underaged girls and prosecutes.