before we go tonight, we havenidate on the news out of california where governor gavin newsom has now declared a state of emergency as a fast moving series of fires have spread over 2,900 acres in los angeles. that is twice the number of acres we reported earlier this hour. just shocking and staggering expansion. again, this fire is being fueled by intense winds that are only expected to get stronger overnight. it's worth remembering that this is a dense urban area. this is los angeles, california. this fire has already forced more than 30,000 residents to esaekt, evacuate, and there are more than 10,000 structures at risk. that is our show for this evening. "way too early" with ali vitali is coming up next. can you assure the world that as you try to getmilitary

economic coercion? >> no. >> and can you tell us a little bit about what your plan is? are you going to negotiate a new treaty? are you going to ask the canadians to hold the vote? what is the strategy. >> i can assure you, you're talking about panama and greenland. no, i can't assure you on either of those two. but i can say this, we need them for economic security. donald trump pressed yesterday about his plans for taking control of both the panama canal and greenland. the question is will the president-elect really use military force to expand united states territory? meanwhile, there's a state of emergency in southern california as wildfires spread rapidly across the region. we're looking at live pictures right here as the flames tear across the mountains. the question is will weather conditions help firefighters battling the flames? we'll have the latest forecast coming up just ahead. and mark zuckerberg announced a major change to the

fact checking program for both facebook and instagram. the question is how will the new policy impact the spread of misinformation. it's way too early for this. good morning and welcome to "way too early," the show that remembers when "way too early" was for posting cat memes and keeping tabs on your old high school flame. i'm ali vitali on this wednesday, january 8th, and we'll start with the news. president-elect donald trump says he won't rule out using military force to take control of the panama canal and greenland. he made those comments yesterday during an hourlong news conference at mar-a-lago where the president-elect framed his call for american expansion as a matter of national security. >> look, the panama canal is vital to our country. it's being operated by china. china. and we gave the panama canal to panama. we didn't give it to china, and

they've abused it. they've abused that gift. it should have never been made, by the way. giving the panama canal is why jimmy carter in nigh opinion lost the election, more so than the hostages. if you remember the hostages were a big deal. no one wants to talk about the panama canal i guess because it's inappropriate, because it's a bad part of the carter legacy. well, we need greenland for national security purposes. i've been told that for a long time, long before i even ran, people have been talking about it for a long time. you have approximately 45,000 people there. people really don't even know if denmark has any legal right. but if they do, they should give it up because we need it for national security. that's for the free world. i'm talking about protecting the free world. >> now, we've got a do a quick fact check here because the canal is run by the panama canal authority, although a hong based contractor operates two ports connected to it. that was also the case during trump's first term.

meanwhile, the danish prime minister yesterday responded to the president-elect's comments telling a danish tv station, quote, there's a lot of support among the people of greenland that greenland is not for sale and will not be in the future either. also during that press conference trump said he would use economic force to make canada join the united states. >> because canada and the united states, that would really be something. you get rid of that artificially drawn line, and you take a look at what that looks leak, and it would also be much better for national security. we basically protect canada. >> and yet another moment from that news conference, trump also discussed a potential hostage release deal in gaza and brought out his middle east envoy, steve whitcoff to speak to reporters before ultimately intervening himself. >> is that something that's -- if there's a deal even at all.

we've been hearing this -- right, i would say that the president is exaserated, i don't want to talk for him, but i don't know anyone who delegates better than president trump. he gives us a lot of authority to speak on his behalf, and he exhorts us to speak emphatically. and emphatically means you better do this because the alternative -- >> do you think they're waiting for former president trump to take office in. >> foe, i think they heard it loud and clear. >> when you say all hell will -- >> do i have to define it for you? all hell will break out. if those hostages are not back by the time i get into office, all hell will break out in the middle east. and it will not be good for hamas, and it will not be good, frankly, for anyone.

all hell will break out. i don't have to say anymore, but that's what it is. >> joining us now white house correspondent for politico and the coauthor of "the playbook" eugene daniels. thanks for waking up with us. first week of the show. to me that press conference had what we're used to from the first trump term, which is a million headlines to choose from. let's take three of them on their face. we had what he said about all hell to pay or all hell to break loose in gaza if the hostages aren't released two weeks from now, effectively. that's one, the second of course greenland and panama as we detailed. the third one to me private companies in this case meta, he asked are they changing their policies because of threats you made, and he said probably. this is the new reality we're in once again. >> i'm old enough and you're old enough to remember there's one president at a time. what's very clear with what he's saying with his envoy is he's

engaging in foreign policy before he becomes president in a just a few weeks, right, just a couple of weeks. what's really fascinating about all these things and the thread is that this is a completely different way that he views foreign policy than he did in trump 1.0. there's a maga theory which is the richard era aspect, which is i'm going to be unpredictable and if you don't do what i say and don't guess what i'm going to do, then you're going to have problems. there's that. then there's the american expansion that is, you know, imperalistic and not something part of the maga movement. it's not something republicans have talked about. republicans have not been the party talking about adding states to the union. and whether or not he's literal about this, he literally wants to buy green lpd, he is serious about this kind of expansion being part of trump 2.0, which i think a lot of folks are paying attention to.

>> i think the thing on trump when you look at press conferences like this one is there's its on its face headline, this american expansion with potential use of the military, and yet that's also trump's negotiating tactic. so how do you metabolize in the upcoming trump era the literal versus the negotiating tactic? >> yeah, i did an interview with the canadian ambassador to the united states a few weeks ago. >> well-timed. >> and it was after he had said at dinner with justin trudeau he wanted canada to be the 51st state, after he made messages about him being the governor of canada, and he said they didn't take it as a slight, they took it as a negotiation tactic. so it's also clear that people on the hill and around the world are kind of hip to how he negotiates, and so it might not be as chaotic internationally as it felt at the time because people understand -- seemed to understand that when he's saying

he's kind of things it's a negotiating tactic. when he talked about the tariffs, she said, they looked at and said we need to do something about immigration and help refocus the mind of a lot of people in the country. so he seems to be getting the results he wants even if he doesn't have to, like, pull the trigger on the big thing that he's promising. >> well, we're also starting to see the way that the tariffs might actually be used. they've been talked about so broadly, i'll just do tariffs but we're starting to see a coercive tactic with canada and or the countries, but there's also a downside to that. tariffs end up harming american consumers. do you think americans are going to get onboard for we want canada to be the 51st state. i don't think americans even want that. >> i think the thing that's most tricky here for the incoming trump administration is going to be the fact at at its core this election was about the economy,

right? any time you and i talk to paem people on the road the thing they talked about is the prices are too high. that's the thing he was elected, that's why vice president kamala harris lost. if he focuses too much on these shiny kind of strange things that he's talking about, the american people, even people that are within the republican party, might have issues with that, right? we usually see around the first 100 days how people are grading like a progress report, and we'll know then if -- if prices haven't changed, which they're likely not to, if the tariffs actually come through and they have a negative impact on those prices, they could be and most likely will be a backlash against the trump administration for doing that. >> because it all feels like it flies in the face of the very idea of maga and america first. make america great again was the slogan. it wasn't make america and greenland again. or great for the first time. >> exactly. >> but it does feel like the voters that we talk to and that we know are the fuel behind the

trump machine, they might have a problem with that especially if they start seeing their pocketbooks staying heavy and getting heavier. >> exactly. i mean, this is not greenland and panama canal are not top of mind for voters. >> how many voters did you meet who were like greenland? >> you know what? that's all i've been thinking about. but i will say and you know this, too, when you talk to trump voters, they also have a way of getting onboard with some of his stranger ideas that seem strange at one point. there could be a world where the maga folks at the rallies, which he's definitely going to have, say i do want greenland. however the independents and moderate republicans which are kind of the reason he won in a lot of these states who are not going to be onboard with some of those things and that's who they're going have to watch. >> i also think as much as the president-elect is the central figure here, we should look at what's actually happening from a legislating perspective, and yesterday the first bill moving

on was the immigration bill. so, eugene, thank you so much for joining us. many more mornings to come, my friend. here in washington former president jimmy carter is now lying in state in the u.s. capitol rotupda. the public has the opportunity to pay respects the late president throughout the day today before public viewing concludes tomorrow. following that carter will be honored with a funeral service at the national cathedral. carter's casket reached the capitol yesterday withens fired upon arrival and family gathered on the steps. honorary pallbearers carried him to the capitol rotunda. they delivered eulogies to honor carter's life, faith, and accomplishments. still ahead this morning firefighters are struggling to contain a fast moving fire in los angeles as tens of thousands of residents evacuate the area. plus new york city mayor eric adams could face more criminal

charges ahead of his upcoming trial. what prosecutors are saying about that. those stories and a check on sports and the weather when we come right back. sports and the weather when we come right back.

welcome back. you're looking at live pictures from los angeles county where wildfires broke out due to dangerous windstorm and dry conditions in the area. the palisades fire rapidly expanded by thousands of acres over the course of just a few hours. and as of last night the fire burned roughly 3,000 acres of land with about 50,000 people ordered to evacuate. as of this morning the l.a. county fire department reports the fires are 0% contained. wildfires also broke out roughly 30 miles east near pasadena. no injuries or deaths have been reported in either fires as of this morning, but california governor gavin newsom has

declared a state of emergency. and president joe biden who's in los angeles this morning for previously scheduled events has been briefed on the wildfires while fema has already approved aid to combat them. and up in manhattan new york city mayor eric adams who's already facing multiple criminal charges may have additional counts added to his case before his trial begins in april. in court documents filed on monday, federal prosecutors say they've uncovered, quote, officials criminal conduct by the mayor. nbc news reports the prosecutor's filing was in response to adams request for a bill of particulars, meaning more details about the charges and why he's being accused. the government pushed back against his request arguing that revealing a list of alleged coconspirators would prejudice the ongoing investigation and could lead to potential witness tampering. the former nypd captain already faces multiple criminal charges including bribery and conspiracy to commit wire fraud. he's pleaded not guilty and maintains that he did nothing wrong. adams is the first new york city mayor to be indicted on criminal charges in the modern era.

still ahead this morning, we'll turn to sports with the latest coaching moves around the nfl, plus a blowout in gainesville as the florida gaiters take down the top team in college hoops. those stories and a check on the weather forecast coming up next on "way too early." but first we want to know why are you awake with us? e-mail your reasons to "way too early"@msnbc.com or tell me, as some of you already have, on social media at ali vitali use the #waytooearly. we'll have some of our favorite answers coming up later in the show. of our favorite answers coming up later in the show u need it most. its non-habit forming and powered by the makers of nyquil. have you always had trouble with your weight? same. discover the power of wegovy®. with wegovy®, i lost 35 pounds. and some lost over 46 pounds.

and i'm keeping the weight off. i'm reducing my risk. wegovy® is the only weight-management medicine proven to reduce risk of major cardiovascular events such as death, heart attack, or stroke in adults with known heart disease and obesity. don't use wegovy® with semaglutide or glp-1 medicines, or in children under 12. don't take if you or your family had mtc, men 2, or if allergic to it. tell your provider if you plan to have surgery or a procedure, are breastfeeding, pregnant, or plan to be. stop taking and get medical help right away if you get a lump or swelling in your neck, severe stomach pain, or any of these allergic reactions. serious side effects may include pancreas inflammation and gallbladder problems. call your prescriber if you have any of these symptoms. wegovy® may cause low blood sugar in people with diabetes, especially if you take medicines to treat diabetes. call your prescriber about vision changes, if you feel your heart racing while at rest, or if you have mental changes. depression or thoughts of suicide may occur. common side effects include nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, constipation,

stomach pain, flu, or upset, headache, feeling tired, dizzy, or bloated, gas, and heartburn. some side effects lead to dehydration, which may cause kidney problems. with wegovy®, i'm losing weight, i'm keeping it off, and i'm lowering my cv risk. ask your prescriber about wegovy®. molly leaving was one thing. but then i thought mom's osteoporosis might keep us stuck on the couch. no way. ♪♪ if you have postmenopausal osteoporosis, and are at high risk for fracture, you can do more than just slow bone loss. you can build new bone in 12 months with evenity®. evenity® is proven to significantly reduce spine fracture risk. she said the evenity® she's taking builds new bone. builds new bone! evenity® can increase risk of heart attack, stroke, or death from a heart problem. tell your doctor if you have had a heart attack or stroke. do not take evenity® if you have low blood calcium or are allergic to it, as serious events have occurred with evenity®. signs include rash, hives, swelling of the face or throat,

which may cause difficulty in swallowing or breathing, muscle spasms or cramps, numbness, or tingling. tell your doctor about severe jaw bone problems, as they have been reported with evenity®. report hip, groin, or thigh pain. unusual thigh bone fractures have occurred with evenity®. building bone? we dig it. want stronger bones? ask your doctor about evenity ® . here's to getting better with age. here's to beating these two every thursday. help fuel today with boost high protein, complete nutrition you need, and the flavor you love. so, here's to now... now available: boost max! it's deflected by daniels! for the tie. hawks don't have a timeout.

dre, he hit! dre young m. >> that was trey young answering the utah jazz with a buzzer beater from beyond half court lifting the atlanta hawks to a 124-121 victory. and turning now to the college court in gainesville where number 8 florida knocked off the last unbeaten team in men's 1 division hoops. top ranked tennessee losing in blow out fashion last nightfalling 73-43 on the road against the gators. it marks the most lopsided win against a number one team since 1968. over to the nfl another head coaching position has opened up in the league. the las vegas raiders will be hiring for the third time in five years after dismissing head coach antonio pierce just 48 hours after he completed his first full season in charge. pierce, who took over on an

interim basis before last season, returned this season with little success. the raiders finished 4-13 in a campaign that included ten consecutive losses. meanwhile, in dallas it's still unclear the cowboys will stick with their coach mccarthy. the cowboys have apparently denied permission to the bears to interview mccarthy for a role in chicago. the bears meanwhile are expected to interview pete carroll after he expressed interest in the job, and the new york jets are considering a familiar candidate to fill their coaching vacancy, interviewing rex ryan yesterday for the old gig. ryan went 46-50 in six seasons leading the jets including back-to-back afc championship appearances in 2009 and 2010, which was the last time the team played in the post-season. over to the nba where coach reddick says memberfes of his family were some in california forced to evacuate yesterday because of wildfires being

fueled by winds. he discussed the situation. >> i want to acknowledge and send thoughts and prayers to everyone in palisades right now. it's where i live, my family and my wife's family, my wife's twin sister they've evacuated. i know a lot of people are freaking out right now including my family. and from the sound of things with the winds coming tonight, i know a lot of people are scared, so just want to acknowledge that, and thoughts and prayers for sure. i hope everybody stays safe. >> we're, of course, thinking of everyone in california as well. but time now for the weather. for that we go to meteorologist angie lassman for the forecast. angie, good morning. good morning, ali. we continue to see the worst of the winds yet to come here as the day goes on. it's really going to be one of those situations where we don't see a whole lot of improvement. instead we've got 19 million people still under red flag

warnings. ventura stretching down to basically the border. we've got another round of really strong winds potentially up to 100 miles per hour in some spots. we've already seen some of the smoke plumes showing up across three main fires across southern california leaving us with smoke plumes visible at least right now. we've got the potential to see 95 to 100 mile perper winds. conditions are going to be explosive throughout this region. yes, we've got malibu to santa clarita and up through oxnard and glendale under extreme risk. this does stretch down to mission viejo to temecula to

riverside. we've got wind alerts for a good chunk of the region, 36 million people. again, we've got kind of a high pressure and low pressure sitting in that same region. that means we're going to continue to see winds being issued through today and potentially tomorrow as well. meanwhile, we've got another winter storm system we're going to be looking for. 35 million people under winter alerts across much of the south. here's why. dallas with snow and ice. we'll see rain further south, but notice all of this heavy snow that works into the appalachians, the tennessee valley, and that wintery mix we'll have to deal with across atlanta as we get are you friday. and saturday the midatlantic and north east gearing up for light to moderate snow. ali, a busy couple of days ahead as we get closer to the weekend. >> very busy. angie lassman, thank you for the update. coming up ahead senate confirmation hearings have been set for some of president trump's picks. and a preview of trump's day on

capitol hill when "way too early" comes back in just a moment. hill when "way too early" comes back in just a moment ♪far-xi-ga♪ ♪far-xi-ga♪ ask your doctor about farxiga.

at harbor freight, we do business differently from the other guys. we design and test our own tools and sell them directly to you. no middleman. no folks in suits telling us to raise prices for the heck of it. just quality tools you can trust, at prices you'll love, every aisle every day. that's how we like to do business any way. whatever you do, do it for less at harbor freight. (♪♪)

welcome back to "way too early." it's 5:30 on the east coast, 2:30 out west. i'm ali vitali. senator marco rubio, who's president-elect trump's pick for secretary of state and congresswoman elyce stefanik, trump's choice for u.n. ambassador will both have their senate confirmation hearings next week. the process is heating up as hearings for some of trump's other picks are also on the calender including controversial

choice pete hegseth next tuesday and sean duffy on january 15th. robert f. kennedy jr. for hhs secretary and tulsi gabbard who's been tapped to lead america's intelligence agencies have not yet had their confirmation hearing dates announced. committees can't really set a hearing date, though, until lawmakers have reviewed all necessary materials. attorney general pick pam bondi's hearing will be delayed for exactly that reason. the senate judiciary committee said they're still waiting for her background information. senator chuck grassly said the snag will likely push her hearing back for a week. and president-elect trump will be here today to pay respects to jimmy carter. and trump expected to meet with senate republicans this evening, according to two congressional sources. joining us now senior congressional reporter for punch bowl news, mel zanona. mel, let's start off with the confirmation hearings. they're starting to get on the

calender. i know all of us on the hill keep an official whip count how well or poorly these might be going. especially for these controversial picks like hegseth, you expect that rubio, for example, is going to cruise through because of his relationship with his colleagues, not so for hegseth. >> right. over the last few weeks republicans have been keeping their powder dry for some of these nominees. a lot of these have gone under the radar. it's been a bit more quiet over the holiday breaks. and some of the ones we're looking out for are your pete hegseths. democrats are going to come out swinging. this is going to be an opportunity for them to really grill him and also going to be an opportunity for himself to show how he's going to defend himself, how he's going to try to persuade some of these senators to vote for him and show they'll vote for him. if trump is watching at tv at home as he usually does and

starts to see some of these people start to flounder does he pull support for them. >> hegseth has been vocal about this on the hill. for as long as he has the support of the president-elect he's going to continue fighting on in this role. you're right, the confirmation hearings for that are going to be monumental, i think, but also the question of delays and information. we've talked to a lot of senators both of us in the halls who say they want to read the background checks, they want all the information before they make their decisions. that's not asking for very much, but why the delay especially as president trump is saying i want to hit the ground as fast as possible. >> part of the reason for the delay was because the trump administration wasn't submitting to the process of fbi background checks. and republicans warned trump and his team this is going to slow things down. we need to go through the normal trps and you have not just democrats but republicans saying we need to read through materials. because of that as you mentioned in in the trow there is going to be delay for nominees because

there's a very strict rule about if you have these materials submitted, you have to wait several days. theoretically that can be waived, but democrats are not going to waive that especially for these more controversial nominees. >> but they also know they have the confirmation hearings coming, they can read quite quickly if they're motivated. this also comes as trump is going to capitol hill. do you imagine the conversation in the room with republican senators is going to be, hey, let's all get onboard with my picks, whether or not he has reservations. >> i think the message is going to be let's unify and get on the same page, whether they get into the nitty-gritty or talk about nominees, that remains to be seen. the big topic on capitol hill as you know is about this strategy for reconciliation. that's the process they're going to use to try to jam through all trump's agenda. there's a great debate now whether they do that in one bill or two bills. >> trump is fueling that debate.

and so those republicans are just paralyzed waiting for, you know, direction from him, and they are just begging him to finally end this dispute once and for all. as one senator said to me and my colleagues time to end this once and for all. >> i hope that senator is not holding their breath. melanie zanona, thank you for joining us. this morning's newsletter is out now with punch bowl. still ahead nasa and its mars mission. "way too early" coming right back. mars mission "way too early" coming right back

♪ like a relentless weed, moderate to severe ulcerative colitis symptoms can keep coming back. start to break away from uc with tremfya... with rapid relief at 4 weeks. tremfya blocks a key source of inflammation. at one year, many people experienced remission... and some saw 100% visible healing of their intestinal lining. serious allergic reactions and increased risk of infections may occur. before treatment, your doctor should check you for infections and tb. tell your doctor if you have an infection, flu-like symptoms or if you need a vaccine. healing is possible with tremfya. ask your doctor about tremfya today. ♪

[coughing] copd is an ugly reality. do you have his medical history? i watch as his world just keeps getting smaller. but then, trelegy helped us see things a little differently. with 3 medicines in 1 inhaler, trelegy keeps airways open for a full 24 hours and prevents future flare-ups. once-daily trelegy also improves lung function, so he can breathe more freely all day and night. trelegy won't replace a rescue inhaler for sudden breathing problems. tell your doctor if you have a heart condition or high blood pressure before taking it. do not take trelegy more than prescribed. trelegy may increase your risk of thrush, pneumonia,

and osteoporosis. call your doctor if worsened breathing, chest pain, mouth or tongue swelling, problems urinating, vision changes, or eye pain occur. ♪♪ ♪what a wonderful world♪ ask your doctor about once-daily trelegy for copd because breathing should be beautiful, all day and night. welcome back. time now for something totally different. nasa is overhauling its plan to collect samples from mars because of technical difficulties and high costs. the perseverance rover has been collecting samples since 2021, but scientists need a new

spacecraft to bring them back to earth. the original plan was projected to cost more than $11 billion and the samples wouldn't return to 2040. now scientists are considering whether using a similar rover or working with a private space company to complete the mission. and what's white and black and covered in 5 inches of snow, the best snow story here in d.c., adorable giant pandas enjoying a snow day in their new habitat. the smithsonians national zoo here in d.c. released this adorable video of its new two pandas who seemed over the moon as they made snow angels, somersaulted and frolicked and played the panda way. the furry duo will make a public debut in d.c. in the next few weeks to much fanfare and pandemonium. finally a baker on chicago's south side and one of her long time customers discovered a

sweet vise. >> their connection started over sweets. for more than ten years he found himself drawn to giving some sugar. the owner took up baking after retirement. >> i just wanted to have a little place where everybody knows your names. >> years later their easy rapport became more as lamar zoshed he was adopted as a child and with the help of a genealogist and investigator they found his biological mother. >> you can't tell this story without talking god because i always led the entire way. >> led to lunor who had placed him for adoption when she became pregnant at 17. once the investigator found him 50 years later she had omhis name and number to call thinking he'd only be a stranger. >> i called him from a bakery line. >> then sugar pops up, and then i heard a voice. and i'm like ms. lenore.

yeah. it was a lot of oh, my gods. >> oh, my goodness, no, no. no. we just went on like that. >> but just as the two were making up for last time, lenore was fighting breast cancer and running the shop was taking a toll, so lamar decided stoostep up, quitting his job to now run the bakery full time. >> he loves it like i love it. >> mother and son now together feeding the souls of this community. laura jarrett, nbc news, chicago. what a beautiful story of the invisible string there in chicago. still ahead, we'll take a closer look at meta's decision to get rid of its fact checking feature and the impact this could have on social mead you that you and i use every day. "way too early" is coming right back. use every day. "way too early" is coming right back help fuel today with boost high protein, complete nutrition you need, and the flavor you love. so, here's to now... now available: boost max!

many remedies you take for chest congestion only mask the symptoms. hey... how you doing? this mucus won't move out. you're gonna love this property. the guy's congestion remedy? harmless. try this. mucinex 12 hour treats the mucus that causes chest congestion for all-day relief. don't leave! it's fine! ugh! i was worried about this side of town! mucinex in, mucus out! don't mask symptoms, treat the cause. want a next level clean? swish with the whoa of listerine. it kills 99.9% of bad breath germs for five times more cleaning power than brushing and flossing alone. get a next level clean... ahhhhh with listerine. feel the whoa!

meta ceo mark zuckerberg announced a series of major changes to the company's fact

checking program yesterday, end agpractice that was focused on limiting the spread of falsehoods on the platform. zuckerberg cited a shifting political and social landscape and a desire to embrace free speech. the social network giant will now rely on users to add user to posts similar the way x uses community notes instead of the program's trusted third party fact checkers. the changes will affect facebook, instagram, and threads. zuckerberg no surprise pointed to the 2020 election as a major influence on the company's decision while also criticizing in his words governments and legacy media for what he alleges are pushing to censor more and more. during a press conference yesterday president-elect donald trump who in the past has threatened zuckerberg with prison praised the move. >> i thought it was a very good news conference. honestly i think they've come a long way, meta, facebook. i think they've come a long way. actually i watched it on fox.

i'm not allowed to say -- say it? >> now, zuckerberg's announcement comes four years to the day after trump was banned from facebook following the january 6th capitol attack. joining us now columnist for the independent, ahmed baba. thanks for getting up with us. zuckerberg says meta is making six key changes. can you walk us through the implications it will have for users and myself every day. >> you've outlined it pretty clear here. we've got this fact checking roll back where now instead of relying on expert fact checkers they're going to go the way of elon musk and doing community notes. beyond that they're not only removing the expertise when it comes to the fact checking, they're targeting the content restrictions on issues and zuckerberg exclusively mentioned immigration and gender, which were truly hot button issues

during the 2024 election right with disinformation. as much as we can blame the anti-incumbency effect and other issues as to the reason why trump won, we know -- we also have they have reducing enforcement of their automatic processes to automatically flag kind of the lower level content violations and these rules. so essentially taking these rules together, these changes, you're going to have a system where you are rolling back the content restrictions on really controversial issues. you're going to be reducing the automatic flagging of these content violations, and also he's turning the spigot back onto increase political content. so right now we're looking at a system in which donald trump as he enters a second term he's going to have not only elon musk's x as a potential propaganda arm here, but meta's

platforms that have billions of users potentially having their algorithm assist his disinformation campaigns. >> i want to circle back to what you just said about trump and the influence that he has on private essential media companies, but first can we make a quick note that, yes, this is something that could open up more misindisinformation. certainly aldwu rhythm allowing back in political content is notable but also women are targeting gender harassment online some of the guidelines shows that harassment is probably going to run more rampant. i see it on the x platform now. can you talk about that, for users that are more rife for that kind of targeting? >> i'm glad you brought this up because as we saw with the facebook whistle-blower in 2021, facebook ran studies. they knew their content was harmful especially to teenage girl. there was a study 17% of teenage girls that used instagram said they had an increase in suicidal

thoughts and facebook did nothing to address that. now as we see and comb through the content guideline changes here, you see that rhetoric that targets women, rhetoric that targets the transgender community is now going to be given a license to speak more freely, which is going to only increase the depression levels of young people, right? so there's not just the disinformation aspect, there's the mental health impact of this. and, of course, these impacts are going to have wide ramifications for, you know, our broader information ecosystem, but i also think the the intent of why zuckerberg did this is important, too, and we can touch on that as well. >> yeah, that's exactly where i'm going next, med, because i thought trump said so much yesterday when he said, yes, zuckerberg in his words is probably changing meta's content policies in response to it threats he's received from the incoming administration and president-elect.

>> yeah, he's he was asked whether his threats moved mark zuckerberg, he said probably. another aspect of this something that's been underdiscussed is the ftc is bringing meta to court in april, right? they're facing an anti-trust case that's accusing them of running an illegal monopoly and illegally purchasing instagram and whatsapp. that'll be devastating to their bottom line and you have tic talk encroaching on their market shares. this is in my opinion a blatant self-interest move on zuckerberg's part and under the guise of free expression. they present these self-interested acts under the guise of these constitutional high minded ideals, which in reality as joe kaplan were saying trump is now a bastion of free expression. he's threatening to jail journalists, he calling people who disagree with him the enemy within.

he's levying defamation lawsuits left and right. he's now some bastion of freedom of expression and the first amendment. and the fact he said that, it's just trying to provide a cover for his self-interested moves. meta is in the number one priority and what's in the best interest of meta is what zuckerberg will do, no high-minded principles. >> thank you for joining us for this important conversation. >> thanks for having me. and earlier in the show we asked you why are you awake. jim says he's awake after flying in from colorado springs to pay his respects in person to former president jimmy carter. and speaking of travel another viewer tells us she's visiting from the and is up early with jet lag. that's the worst. but she's enjoying the show frommer her hotel room before heading to universal for the day. i love that. i want to join you. richard is a substitute teacher in new york who says he's catching up on the news to keep his students informed. that's an important job and we so appreciate it. and finally genie is up watching

alongside zasu, who quite frankly looks like he'd rather be napping. sorry zasu. coming up next donald trump vows to rename the gulf of mexico. we'll dig into that new policy proposal. and coming up on "morning joe," president joe biden says he could have won re-election. susan-page will we a guest on the heels of her exclusive interview with the outgoing commander in chief featured on the front page of usa today. and fast moving wildfires destroying homes and forcing mass evacuations. "morning joe" is just moments away. " is just moments away nothing beats it. i recommend pronamel active shield because it actively shields the enamel to defend against erosion and cavities. i think that this product is a game changer for my patients. it really works. [restaurant noise] allison. [swooshing sound] introducing allison's plaque psoriasis. ♪♪ she thinks her flaky, gray patches are all people see.

♪♪ otezla is the #1 prescribed pill to treat plaque psoriasis. over here! otezla can help you get clearer skin and reduce itching and flaking. doctors have been prescribing otezla for over a decade. otezla is also approved to treat psoriatic arthritis. don't use otezla if you're allergic to it. get medical help right away if you have trouble breathing or swallowing, swelling of the face, lips, tongue, throat or arms. severe diarrhea, nausea or vomiting; depression, suicidal thoughts, or weight loss can happen. tell your doctor if any of these occur and if you have a history of depression or suicidal thoughts. with clearer skin, girls' day out is a good day out. live in the moment. ask your doctor about otezla.

here's to getting better with age. here's to beating these two every thursday. help fuel today with boost high protein, complete nutrition you need, and the flavor you love. so, here's to now... now available: boost max!

president-elect trump directly criticized mexico during his press conference yesterday at mar-a-lago. he called out the country for not doing enough to stop migrants from crossing the border. he didn't stop there vowing to rename the gulf of mexico. >> we're going to be changing the name of the gulf of mexico to the gulf of america, which

has a beautiful ring, that covers a lot of territory. the gulf of america, what a beautiful name. it's appropriate. it's appropriate. and mexico has to stop allowing millions of people to pour into our country. >> so trump didn't provide any details on when or how he would make that name change, but within hours of the announcement, republican congresswoman marjorie taylor greene releasing the text of a bill that would make the name change official, saying she plans to file the bill as early as this morning. joining us political analyst brendon buck, communication strategist and former aides to house speakers ryan and boehner. i missed this campaign promise of renaming the gulf of mexico, so what do you make of this, and is this really where lawmakers should be focusing their attention? i have to say when i saw this from the congresswoman, it seemed almost too obvious, but also, who does this help?

>> yeah. i mean it's the classic example of how this has become sort of entertainment politics and, you know, when more jorrie taylor green is on the case you can be sure it's serious. as you noted, they got a lot of big problems they need to figure out, a lot of questions they need to answer about their broader agenda and the fact that this is on his mind is very telling. at the same time, clearly this is him, classic donald trump, sort of negotiating, grabbing things and, you know, trying to use it as leverage. you noted, you know, his sort of tax on mexico are a familiar refrain, as you said. perhaps the thing that's striking to me most, is that this is a president coming in with his foot on the gas. >> yeah. >> in contrast to eight years ago, where he sort of knew what he didn't know and kind of easied into it and looking to

other people to give him direction and here he clearly comes in with his priorities and mind made up and push his weight around before he takes the oath of office. you know, again a bit of a distraction from the thing most people on capitol hill want to be focused on, but shows you he's ready to lean into some things. >> the more things change the more they stay the same. as much as he's coming in with a laundry list of priorities -- and he is, you and i know that from our conversations on the hill -- at the same time he's still the very same person who is weighing in on all sides of the debate that's happening on capitol hill right now over do we do this in one big legislative push, in two legislative pushes? i know that process isn't sexy, but it's the only way things get done on capitol hill. as someone who has been in these rooms for these kind of legislative pushes, it matters. tell us why. >> republicans will get one or two shots at an opportunity to pass priorities in a way that allows them to get past the

senate filibuster. you can break this up into one bite or two, and there's a big debate about what the best approach is there. it seems to be that there's a lot of momentum in the house and trump has sort of bought into this idea if you put everything in one bill, it basically becomes too big to fail, that you basically are daring everybody to vote against it. the entire republican trump agenda rests on this one vote, and nobody will dare vote against that. that's awfully risky because as we just saw with the government funding bill, things get really big, they get really ugly and people find lots of reasons to be opposed to it. elon musk basically killed a funding bill because it was 1500 pages. i can tell you whatever bill they do is going to be much bigger than that and it's going to take a really long time to put all of that together and they're talking about tax reform, which is, as you know, very complicated, and so i've always thought probably better to break this up into two. get a few wins on things easier

to do, immigration, defense, process those things -- and i don't think they will have any trouble passing that -- and get to tax whenever you can. it feels process, you can imagine people being angst on the hill. >> the angst is there, brendan. you and i know that. we've talked about this all week with the congressional reporters we've had on, there is a lot of concern, is he going to agree to something, and renege on it. someone going to whisper in his ear and travel down a policy path and have to completely reverse course. the role of the president in this is so central and it's also the thing that could be a catalyst for chaos or success. we're going to see ultimately which way it ends up going. political analyst brendan buck, you'll be watching it all with us. thank you. and that was "way too early" for this wednesday morning. "morning joe" starts right now.

we're go