the right pitch to cash in on prospects. download the app. >> good day. >> i'm chris jansing, live at msnbc headquarters in new york city. >> breaking news. >> the inferno around los angeles. >> ten people are dead, 10,000 structures destroyed in areas that look like a bomb went off. >> and for firefighters, an agonizing reality on the front lines. the battle to keep hydrants from running dry. we

are live on the ground. >> also, no jail, no penalties, but recorded for history. >> the first president who was a convicted felon, donald trump, sentenced in the hush money case, showing no remorse as he declares to the court this has been a terrible experience. the judge calling it a truly extraordinary case before ending with a message to trump, who has repeatedly excoriated him in public. he said godspeed for your second term. and the high stakes battle over the fate of tiktok. will the supreme court step in to save the social media app that's used by 170 million people in the us alone? or will national security fears over its connection to china win out? so much to get to on a friday. but we begin with the dire new images coming out of los angeles county at this hour. more than 150,000 people remain under mandatory evacuation orders as crews struggle to make progress

against five fires burning in and around the city. the biggest is the palisades fire, but it is now 8% contained, but only after scorching 20,000 acres and destroying 5300 homes and buildings. the second biggest fire is the eaton fire in the pasadena area. it has now spread across nearly 14,000 acres and is 3% contained. another 5000 structures have been destroyed in that one. take a look at these before and after satellite images showing the magnitude of the destruction and as many return to their homes hoping for good news to many. find nothing left, just devastation. >> the whole neighborhood is gone. i've been living here my whole life, and i'm. >> my whole life is gone. >> gone. >> just absolute. it's the further you go up, it's just an absolute wasteland. it's a. just stunned, shocked, speechless.

>> i don't know how we're going to come back from this. >> she keeps asking to go home and like we are our home now. >> beyond heartbreaking, the official death toll has doubled since yesterday to ten. although authorities admit the true death toll isn't yet known. among the victims, a 66 year old man who died with a garden hose in hand defending his home. joining me now is my colleague katy tur, who is on the ground once again for us in pacific palisades. katy, you've had just a little over 24 hours to begin to try to process what you're seeing, to talk to folks. tell us what's happening there today. >> it's a lot of gosh, chris, it's hard to describe. it's a lot of it's just a lot of it's a reckoning, you know. i mean, the fire crews are still battling the blazes up in the hills. much of it the eden fire is still

threatening altadena and pasadena. the palisades fire is threatening topanga. it's threatening parts of malibu. still, it's still threatening up in the hills. up here, we've seen hotspots. parts of the hillside on fire. they. they did announce some good news at a news conference a little bit about 20, 30 minutes ago, that there is some containment. so far, 8% of the palisades fire, i believe 3% of the eaton fire. and just to explain what containment means, i know we use that word as if it's self-explanatory, but it sort of is. but it's what firefighters say when they say it's 100% contained, when they've been able to secure a perimeter around the fire. so when they've been able to secure an entire perimeter, they can keep it contained to one area. that's when it's 100% contained. the flames can still be going, but the containment is there. so 8%, 3%. that means that they still have a way to go in these in these massive fires. i just have done a lot of driving around. i thought i'd be able to talk to more people today, but the

police department and the highway patrol have just locked down access to malibu and the palisades. they don't want anybody who's not supposed to be here to get up here. there's just media and emergency crews. yesterday we saw a whole lot of folks climbing up the mountain to get into the neighborhood or riding bikes. and there was a lot of concern that not all of those folks had good intentions. we did see some evidence of looting in some parts of the town. so they don't want any of that. they want to make sure that the property that does remain is still safe, that people feel comfortable leaving it as the emergency crews do the work they need to do to make sure all of this area is safe, so that people can start to come back and assess the damage and get what they need. i want to throw a little bit to or throw to a little bit of a video that i shot this morning, just after sunrise of malibu, and this is the stretch along pch that is a stripped with beachfront homes. you can see it right here. allow

me to describe it. one of the most identifying features of this stretch of pch between topanga, the palisades, topanga and malibu were these houses that lined the beachfront. some people called them the seashell houses, sandcastle houses. and they were just, you know, garage after garage after garage didn't look like much. but when you went on the other side and looked back, i mean, it revealed like a really genuinely beautiful house that was built right on the water. they had access. there was a beach. it was gorgeous. fires obviously have impacted this area before. they've impacted malibu. but to see a stretch like this along pch of, i think there's more than 80 houses that that were demolished is just not something that anybody has seen before. and as you can see, just like in the palisades, just like in altadena, there's nothing left.

look at how hot this fire burned. i mean, the indication right here is obviously the bent and melted steel. but look at this car. the ground beneath the car gave way. look at the way that the fire tore through. what is left of this thing. i mean, i don't even i couldn't even tell you what type of car this is. and the engine is melted. the seats. i mean, you go to the worst fires that you can imagine, and this is the sort of destruction you see. i mean, this is just unbelievable. i have to say, chris, you know, everywhere looks just like that. everywhere looks just like that. so much of this town is gone. if you told me 75, 80% of the houses are gone, i would say that. that that feels right. just block after block, neighborhood after neighborhood. just gone. ten people are dead so far. according to official

count between altadena, pasadena and malibu. they don't think that that number is going to stay at ten. and the reason is they just can't imagine, given the scope of this, that everybody was able to get out. the one good indicator that maybe the death toll is not quite as bad as you might expect is that we're not hearing a lot of missing person reports. usually in natural disasters like this, you have frantic family members or friends saying they're looking for folks. we haven't had a lot of that, and i'm certainly hopeful that that indicates that despite the, the, the, the immediacy of the fire, despite how fast it came and how hot it burned that people were actually were actually able to make it out with their lives. >> katy tur, along what was one of the most spectacular stretches of road anywhere in these united states, now reduced to rubble. it was kind of the

american dream, you know, you would drive by those houses and like you say, they were just garages, but you knew what the view was on the other side. and along with way too many others gone. katie, we're going to check back in with you multiple times over the course of the next couple of hours. thank you so much for that report. i want to turn now to jordan capitano. he she lost her home and one of her businesses in the palisades fire. first of all, we're very sorry for what you're going through. and looking at the video just from 3000 miles away where i am, it is hard to get a grasp of what's happened there. how are how are you doing right now? >> thank you so much. >> thank you for asking. seeing all those videos that you just showed, i felt like i was so strong before i sat down to speak with you and seeing all those videos of my friends and family, family members and neighbors losing their homes has my heart racing again and holding back tears. sorry. but

holding in their moments of, you know, feeling very optimistic. and we're going to get through this and it's going to be okay. and then other moments you had a moment ago just before us, my friend jennifer with her baby talking about, you know, wanting to go home. i know jennifer and greg, they're our neighbors. they're our friends. and it's heartbreaking. we did lose our home. my sister and i built our business. this girl walks into a bar in the palisades eight years ago from the ground up. fortunately, there's two divisions. our bartending company. part of it. we've we've totally. we've lost. we lost all of our equipment, our uniforms, our supplies. but more than that, because we're headquartered in the palisades, our whole client base was really in the palisades and surrounding area, and they have lost their homes. our amazing clients and neighbors. and there just won't be that much to celebrate. so we're closing our bartending business. we're very grateful that we still have our mixer line. and that the product that we just produced is safely at a

warehouse about an hour away. so we will turn our focus onto our cocktail mixer line and mourn the loss of the other company that we built from scratch. and we let all of our staff know that, that we're closed indefinitely, which is heartbreaking. but we'll get through it. and again, staying positive, trying not to think too much about, you know, the fact that my wedding dress was left behind and wedding albums and my children's time capsule. sorry, things like that. and focusing on the fact that we are all safe. all of our friends and neighbors lost their homes. so we're not, you know, we're not in this alone. and there's some comfort in knowing that we're all going through this together, that we have each other and we're all safe. we're healthy. people have their their their pets. we have a plan. my husband and i are, you know, focusing on the future. and my sister and i are, you know, shifting our focus for our business. and we will, we will we will make this,

this better. >> as you talk to friends and family, colleagues, coworkers, do you think it's too soon for people to make decisions about whether or not they'll stay, if they'll rebuild? and i'm not just talking about, you know, physically rebuilding their homes or their businesses, which is obviously no small thing, but it's another thing to rebuild the life lives of kids who aren't going to see their classmates necessarily because they've scattered, or neighbors who have known neighbors for a very long time. i was reading in the la times about a neighborhood where most of the people's homes had been in the family for generations, handed down from from generation to generation. is it is it too soon for people to really make those kinds of decisions? what are the conversations you're having? >> that's a good question. you know, my son and i rode our bikes back to our neighborhood two days ago, the day that our home burned to see, to see our home. and then my cousin and i

rode our bikes up to their house yesterday and riding through town. it seems like we're we're a ways off from any rebuilding, being able to start soon. i mean, the whole town is, is decimated. but i think in terms of in your mind and, you know, in your dreams, you should start to rebuild mentally right now and come up with with those plans as far as executing that actual physical rebuilding, i think it will take time, but i hope that everyone comes back and everyone rebuilds my friends and neighbors who i've spoke with and we've had, you know, sitting in the hotel lobby together, crying together, holding each other. our plans are all to rebuild. i to your point, i think my advice to myself and to my close friends is let's take a beat. you know, reassess, file the claims, get everything organized, and then when the time is right for your family to think about going back in, i, i have my son in college

and my daughter will be going to college next year. so i think that gives us for our family a little bit of a of a moment. but my heart goes out to all the families with the young children who, you know, already went through covid and, you know, learning from home and not having a classroom and having that community was certainly very difficult for many years. and to think of all of our friends in the palisades and other parts of los angeles that are experiencing this devastation, to have to go through that sort of remote learning and disconnect from from their friends and from their teachers is very difficult to think about. so i hope that as a community, we can find some sort of online connection forum, facebook page, you know, something. zoom meeting once a month that we can all stay connected as we are dispersed around the city and staying in hotels and friends homes and airbnbs and all those locations. so we, my husband and i and our

kids would like to try to start rebuilding, you know, in a year if possible, while we get everything together. >> if i can just say personally, jordan, i find your optimism and your forward looking ness inspiring, given what you've been through. i wonder if you could talk to officials, state, local, federal officials, what would you want them to know? and maybe more to the point, what do you want them to do? >> i you know, i response services. you know, supplies, clothes, medical needs, whatever, you know, access people can can have to things as quickly as possible. you know, we're on hold for hours and hours right now with, with, you know, utilities and post office and things like that. but i would say that the other cities that weren't, you know, weren't harmed. that are in los angeles, that cities have to have a very

clear, organized, well thought out preparation, evacuation plan. i've got a lot to say that i won't say. now, on on what that evacuation was and the response, hearing about a fire truck on our street that was trying to put out the fire on our neighbor's house across the street. but the water pressure was too low to make a difference. i'm sure you've all heard that other parts of our town. there was no water coming out of the hose. i can't wrap my head around that. that it's very hard. the firemen and fire women who were working so hard to save our properties. you can't fight fire without water. and you know, i can only imagine the frustration that they felt being there and trying to do everything that they could and knowing that they couldn't really, you know, do do much. we heard that there was a line of fire trucks that formed a wall in a section of our neighborhood to protect homes, and my understanding is that those homes were saved. so that's wonderful that that there will

be so many people who can return to a structure. obviously, there will be a lot of repair that needs to be done inside and out. but for the rest of us who lost our homes, i think we have a lot of questions on could they have been protected? and you know, we are my particular street had heard as of on tuesday night, sorry wednesday morning that our homes had all made it through the night and we're still standing. and so i think it's heartbreaking to know that that they had survived. but the fire couldn't be stopped and continued to rip through the neighborhood and take them down one by one. so, you know, i go through emotions of i'm glad that day is over because there was a lot of waiting. my son and i rode our bikes down on pch to the will rogers parking lot, and could see that the canyon that led up to our house was not yet burned. so we had, you know, a lot of positivity that our house was still standing. and then we got word that it was only to find out later that a friend had

sent a picture of our street. we zoomed in and could see the top floor of our house was on fire from the photo. so i think once my son and i rode our bikes in and saw that our house that in that video right now is our home. that's our e-bike right there. once we saw that our home was burned. my son and i rode away to safety, got off our bikes, gave each other a really long embrace. and i think we sort of turned a corner as a family knowing like, okay, the home is burned. we're safe and now it's time to focus on the future. i'm sorry i'm so emotional with you at the moment. i feel like i've been strong all morning, but i'm seeing all these images again. i haven't had the tv on in the background for about a day because we've been focusing on filing claims and thinking about what we're doing with our business, but yeah, we are going to stay positive and, and look towards the future. and, and we're we're grateful for all

the, the first responders and the firefighters who have done everything that they could to save our homes. and, and thank you for the homes and businesses that you were able to save. i know everyone has a lot of gratitude for that. >> well, if i can just say your positivity, your forward looking on this and your ability to articulate so very clearly what this has been like is it's a service. it's admirable and i can only wish you all the best. and i'm going to i'm going to look for your products because we're all looking for ways to, to support people who have been through this. my best to you and your family and all of your neighbors there. jordan catapano. thank you. >> thank you so much. >> well, president biden just got briefed on the wildfires in the oval office with other officials, including the governor of california, the mayor of los angeles. take a listen. >> vice president harris and i are about to receive a briefing with governor newsom and mayor

bass and the fema director criswell. so both of them are on the ground leading the fight against this god awful wildfires in california, the worst in california history. and there's been some progress in the last 24 hours. so i want to give an update of where we think things are at the moment. first, overnight, local, state and federal firefighters were able to partially prevent some of the largest fires from spreading to new areas. 3% in pasadena has been kept from spreading. 8% in pacific palisades, 35% in ventura and 37% in sylmar. and but this time yesterday, these fires are mostly spreading out of control. we've still got a long way to go, as they're out to hear from the governor and others. and while the winds have died down from the time, we expect they'll remain a threat until early next week. so we're going to keep working 24 over seven to support state and local officials to fully stop these fires as soon as possible. next,

we're going to make sure california has every possible resource to fight these fires and help survivors. as soon as the fire started, i approved the fire management assistance grants, which is a fancy phrase for saying new grants to cover the cost of firefighting federally and the gear equipment capabilities like search and rescue. then i immediately approved to the governor's request a major disaster declaration, which will pay for things like debris removal, temporary lodging, first responder overtime pay. both of these, the grants and the declaration usually covers 75% of the state's cost. but yesterday i directed the federal government will cover 100% of the state costs for 180 days. i also announced fema has turned on its critical needs assistance program. this program gives one time payment of $750 to survivors, so they can quickly purchase critical items like water, formula, gasoline, and

prescription drugs. and survivors should go to disasterassistance.gov or call. one (800) 621-3362. we can't help you if we don't know you need the help, so call disasterassistance.gov or contact or call one (800) 621-3362. and i want to be clear. this is not the only aid the survivors can request from fema. more programs are going to be available through the disaster declaration. but this assistance that survivors can get now and get it fast. we're also helping the state and local law enforcement personnel keep people safe. i've offered governor newsom additional support on, on on that front to, for example, the defense department military personnel can help direct traffic, evacuate. people with traffic lights are being destroyed. finally, i want to thank all the first responders. and i often say god made man. then he made a

few firefighters. and these are men and women. the firefighters of los angeles are proof of that. the scope, the scale and the erratic movements of these fires is truly unprecedented. i mean, it's truly unprecedented. and but day after day, these firefighters have been pulling 24 hour shifts, rushing the flames of hurricane force winds as well, to rescue people, to evacuate neighborhoods, to put these fires out. now, i speak for the american people when i say, we owe you, we're with you, and we're going to make sure you get every resource you need. i want to turn it over to the vice president. thank you. >> that is a president joe biden, just a short time ago. and on the other end of the line was governor newsom. he added to what the president was saying about the devastation. but he added this governor newsom did. he said, you may not believe in science, but believe your own eyes. no rain. it's january, the wettest time of the year, and none is predicted in the coming days. so there are a lot of

thanks to the firefighters out there, the other emergency responders who have been doing heroic work. this is far from over, and we're going to continue to cover this in a very fulsome way. but in 90s, the historic sentencing of donald trump, what an unremorseful president elect told the court right before the judge handed right before the judge handed down his decision. dry eyes still feel gritty, rough, or tired? with miebo, eyes can feel ♪ miebo ♪ ♪ ohh yeah ♪ miebo is the only prescription dry eye drop that forms a protective layer for the number one cause of dry eye: too much tear evaporation. for relief that's ♪ miebo ♪ ♪ ohh yeah ♪ remove contact lenses before using miebo. wait at least 30 minutes before putting them back in. eye redness and blurred vision may occur. ♪ miebo ♪ ♪ ohh yeah ♪ ask your eye doctor about prescription miebo. what the biggest companies deliver is an exceptional customer experience. what makes it possible is unmatched connectivity and 5g solutions from t-mobile for business.

t-mobile connects 100,000 delta airlines employees, powers tractor supply's stores nationwide with reliable 5g business internet, and partners with pga of america on game changing innovation. this is how business goes further with t-mobile for business. want to get the most out of one sheet? grab bounty. (♪♪) bounty is made to be stronger... ...and more absorbent. so, while ordinary brands can't hold up, one sheet of bounty keeps working, even when wet. (♪♪) now that's the sound of value. bounty. the quicker picker upper.

>> we are back with the first ever criminal sentence handed down to a former and future president, judge juan merchan. sentencing donald trump today to unconditional discharge for 34 felony counts related to his hush money trial. it's a sentence imposed without prison time, without a fine, no probation in the audio feed from the courtroom. here's the judge explaining his decision. >> to be clear, the protections afforded the office of the president are not a mitigating factor. they do not reduce the seriousness, seriousness of the crime or justify its commission in any way. it is clear from legal precedent which until july 1st was scarce, that donald trump, the ordinary citizen. donald trump, the criminal defendant, would not be entitled to such considerable protections. >> today's sentencing went

forward despite appeals from trump's legal team and far from showing remorse, donald trump insisted he did not commit a crime. >> i'm totally innocent. i did nothing wrong. they talked about business records, and the business records were extremely accurately counted. i had nothing to do with them. anything that was done by an accountant or bookkeeper who i think gave very credible testimony and was corroborated by everybody that was asked. i got indicted over calling a legal expense. a legal expense was called a legal expense. >> i have an all star panel to talk about all of this. nbc's vaughn hillyard, msnbc host and washington post associate editor jonathan capehart, msnbc legal correspondent lisa rubin, andrew weissmann, former fbi general counsel, former senior member of the mueller probe and an nyu law professor. and christie greenberg is former s.d.n.y criminal division deputy chief, former federal prosecutor and an msnbc legal analyst. christie

and lisa were both inside the courthouse for today's sentencing. vaughn. usually when a defendant exercises their right to speak at sentencing, remorse is the starting point, but obviously not with donald trump. what else did we hear from him, and what do we know about his thoughts about today? >> no, he was unrepentant. and i think that's why we are so clear about the remarks that he did choose to make inside of that courtroom. he did not deny the underlying allegations that he had sought to pay hush money payment to stormy daniels to keep her silent and improperly influence the 2016 election. instead, as in that audio you just played, he continually came back to the argument that he did not falsify business records, and that the notations on those ledgers were, in fact fair and accurate, and that they were not worthy of him being charged, as he did inside of that courtroom. and then in a truth social post, upon leaving the courtroom or virtual courtroom, he maintained

that he will seek an appeal, as his legal team has continually indicated that they would seek to go to the new york appellate division to overrule the jury's verdict back from may. but he also went as far in that social media post as to suggest that the unconditional discharge that was handed down to him as his sentence that leaves him with no prison time, probation or a fine amounted to a vindication. that, quote, there was never a case in this whole scam, fully deserves to be dismissed. quote the radical democrats have lost another pathetic, un-american witch hunt. he is using that unconditional discharge to claim that it was noted that he shouldn't have been charged in the first place. i think importantly, though, of course, while the appellate division could take hold of this case and overturn it for now, there this is a moment where donald trump, the incoming president, united states, was found guilty and will be a convicted felon heading to inauguration day. and despite the u.s. supreme court's immunity decision over the

summer, the actions that donald trump took inside of the white house in 2017 during his first presidency were not immune. that is what the judge in new york, and that is so far, what the appellate courts in new york and in the rejection of the stay last night from the supreme court, they noted that the arguments about some of that evidence that was brought before the court and the extent to which it may have been protected by the immunity decision that could be brought during the appeals process. but for now, at this moment in time, the system has played out in lower manhattan, and donald trump is leaving that courtroom as a convicted felon. >> 34 felony counts, 34 convictions. was this sentence in line with what someone else in a similar position might get? no. >> and it wasn't in line with what any person convicted of a felony in new york state would get. this is a wholly atypical sentencing. and the judge noted that, chris, because it was like

the collision of a typical trial of an ordinary citizen who happens to be by other ordinary ordinary citizens, will return to the white house. and therefore, he said, the only lawful sentence that he could conceive of was one of unconditional discharge. but he was very clear this was not about him thinking that the presidency is a mitigating factor, it was just that he felt his hands were tied constitutionally. and to recognize that during the presidency, it was better that this has some finality, that donald trump go on and be able to appeal, rather than having this hang over not only his head, but that of the citizenry of the united states. >> and, andrew, prosecutors did have their say as they as they do in these cases. they described trump's lack of remorse. they said that his intimidation of witnesses, his accusations of unlawful conduct by by the prosecution and the judge. i want to play a little bit of what they said. >> he has characterized these proceedings as corrupt, rigged

witch hunt or a sham too many times to tabulate. the defendant's rhetoric has only ratcheted up since this court's rulings. on his motions to dismiss, he has been unrelenting in his unsubstantiated attacks upon this court and its family, individual prosecutors and their families, the witnesses, the grand jury, the trial jury, and the justice system as a whole. put simply, this defendant has caused enduring damage to public perception of the criminal justice system. >> the public perception of the criminal justice system. that's one part of this, right? i mean, what does this say about the justice system? what does it tell people? i mean, countless hours, countless hours of investigation, courtroom time, the people who served as as jurors in this case. and here we are. he walks away. >> so a lot of people have

talked prior to donald trump about there being two systems of justice and talked about that in terms of racial terms and in terms of class terms. but what we have seen with donald justice, donald trump is sort of three systems with a very separate system. with respect to donald trump. there's no question that today a system unto himself. exactly. and there's no question that new york in particular looks really good in terms of the da's office having pursued this case in spite of enormous obstacles. and the judge as well, and the jurors, the judge today went out of his way to commend the entire court staff, which all of us who were there in in the proceedings saw just how efficient it was and how fair the trial was. but i think for the big picture, i think for the sort of the country and also internationally is we do not look like the same country that we thought we were. we have a president who's going to be assuming the white house

in ten days, who is a convicted felon. when we think of ourselves as sort of a shining beacon on the hill, it is very hard to have that view when you have somebody who is not only been convicted but continues to denigrate the legal system and the justice system that he will be the head of. so it is a real, i think, shock to the system in terms of who we are and how we see ourselves. >> and the lawyer sitting next to him is somebody who's going to be a part of d.o.j. we'll get to that. but jonathan, so the president elect says this is vindication politically. does this change anything at all for donald trump? in ten days, he becomes president again? >> one it's not vindication. two no, it does not change anything politically. >> we just went through a presidential campaign where he spent a lot of it in the courtroom. in this trial. we spent a lot of it seeing him on trial. >> people knew that this was one of four cases.

>> so, no, this doesn't change the political calculus at all here in washington. in fact, one could argue that those cases fueled the politics behind him and helped propel him into the white house. but the fact that he has not shown any remorse does not surprise me shouldn't surprise anyone. >> he's singing the same old tune. >> the fact that he's not going, he's not going to spend any time in jail, i'm sure, rankles a lot of people who would like to see him held accountable in that way. but to those people, i would say that the fact that he he has been held accountable, he was found guilty on 34 counts by a jury of his peers in his hometown of new york city. and the fact now that he has been sentenced, he will enter the white house. i think andrew pointed out he will be a convicted felon in his in stories written about him. now

through history will make that point, if not on first reference, definitely on second reference. and because of that, history will not judge him kindly. >> we know, christie, that he's free now to appeal this conviction. it was something trump himself talked about. let's listen. >> they acknowledge what the judge said about no penalty. and there is really there's no penalty. but we're going to appeal anyway just psychologically because frankly, it's a disgrace. but they invited the appeal. and the appeal is on the bigger issue. so we'll see how it all works out. >> what court would get that appeal and what would it look like? >> well, he's going to have to work his way through the new york state appeals system. first, the first appellate division. >> presumably that could work its way all the way up to the top court in new york. >> that's the new york court of appeals. >> and then if he doesn't get the relief he seeks there, it could find its way back to the

supreme court, where we've already seen. >> now, there were at least four members of that supreme court, our united states supreme court that didn't even want this sentencing to proceed. so that kind of gives you a sense of maybe how they would view an appeal as well. >> so, you know, we'll see. >> he has evidentiary concerns. >> he's raised a number of different issues, even at the sentencing today about certain privileges and evidence that wasn't available to him. again, i don't think those really carry a lot of weight, but he will certainly make those arguments. and it seems like at least at the highest court, he may have some sympathetic justices. >> well, one thing we can say, andrew, is the supreme court decision was 5 to 4, right? amy coney barrett, who was appointed by donald trump, voted along with chief justice roberts, siding with the three liberal justices. does this show? i mean, it is kind of rare show of independence, right? does it tell us anything about the court going forward and maybe in other trump related cases? >> yeah. so first, amy coney barrett, definitely keep your eye on her.

>> she she surprised more than once. exactly. >> and in the immunity decision that was sort of heavily criticized by me and many other people. she on important ways was in dissent. so it was really in many key ways a 5 to 4 decision. so that's why keep your eye on her in the future for independence. and i think sort of honesty and integrity in terms of how she appears to be handling herself in the court. the surprise here was that chief justice flipping and going from because amy coney barrett seemed pretty clear, was going to vote along with the three liberal justices. so i was the chief justice who flipped hard to know exactly why. one good sign is that this is really the normal process. and in many ways, what he was saying is the normal rule, if it were any of us, is you go to like, you have a trial, you have sentencing, and then you raise your issues. and that is exactly what he said in his decision, which is this is

going to follow the normal processes. it's nice to see the court coming out that way and not treating donald trump, at least in this one instance, differently than any other criminal defendant. >> where do you see the appeal going? >> it's a really hard question to answer, chris, because again, it's a collision course between two different things and the new york state system. generally, if a judge makes a ruling on evidence that a convicted defendant thinks is faulty, that judge gets a lot of deference on appeal. usually the rule is unless that error was more than harmless, the verdict stays in place. and yet the kind of evidence that he's objecting to that was admitted at trial is evidence that he says constitutionally should not have been admitted because of the presidential immunity decision. so we've got new york law on one hand about procedure and evidence, and on the other hand, this presidential immunity decision that in places is ambiguous, if not downright messy. and the only person who really knows what it means, i will surmise, is john roberts

himself. and i think that at some point, donald trump is going to overplay his hand with the chief justice in terms of trying to interpret that decision. last night may have been one of those instances already. we'll see in the future how elastic that decision is. >> it is going to be something, jonathan, to watch what happens when it comes to trump's relationship with the supreme court over the next four years, especially given the controversy over that phone call trump had with justice alito at just one day before he filed his appeal. >> yeah, what it shows is, and i don't know who who to be more concerned about a president, a former president and president elect that accepted the phone call from the sitting supreme court justice or the sitting supreme court justice who thought it was just perfectly fine to pick up the phone and call the incoming president of the united states, basically to ask for a favor, you know, the separation of the separation of the branches seemed to especially when it comes between the executive and the judiciary

and specifically with regard to the supreme court, seems to be obliterated. and so you take that, that that contact between the justice and the president, and you throw in there that all the ethical concerns there are about the supreme court and their relationships, not just with billionaires with deep pockets who are flying them around the world and paying for houses and doing all sorts of things for them. and those things not being not being disclosed, but those same justices still not not recuse themselves from cases that involve those same people, those same friends. and so what we have here is a is a supreme court specifically. that is one that leaves a lot of a lot of people wondering how independent is the judiciary, if not from the incoming president, then from hyper moneyed interests who have their own interests at heart and not those of the rule

of law or the american people. >> so in the meantime, andrew, where do things stand with former special counsel jack smith's report? >> well, on monday, if nothing else, changes in the 11th circuit on monday, the department of justice should be free to release both volumes. but we know from merrick garland's filing that he is intending to release only the january 6th component, volume one publicly. so we will all see that with redactions for grand jury material. the second volume relating to mar-a-lago, which frankly could be super interesting to see, is one that merrick garland has said that he is going to give to certain members of congress so that they can review it, but he is not intending to release that publicly. why? because he says there are still two co-defendants who are pending trial in florida. it's technically i think he's wrong because they are not technically

pending. it has been the case that's been dismissed, but out of an abundance of caution because they are seeking to have that reinstated, merrick garland has said he is not seeking to release publicly that volume related to mar-a-lago. now, obviously, that if the two defendants are somehow no longer defendants, that is something that could change. >> which begs the question, christie, what might we learn from the release of this one report, the january 6th report? >> well, one thing i'm hoping to find out, and that i'm hoping actually is not in the report, but that maybe there is some redactions would be as to coconspirators that are named in the indictment, there were six coconspirators. >> one of them we know is was a former doj official is not somebody that could be prosecuted under the presidential immunity decision. but there are others like rudy giuliani, john eastman. what evidence was there that was developed that was enough to

call them coconspirators in the indictment against donald trump? what evidence is there? and could the special counsel have made referrals to other state prosecutors to perhaps pursue charges against those individuals? again, i don't expect we would necessarily see that in the report. you may see a number of redactions if they did do that, but that would be the kind of thing, at least for me, that would pique my interest. i'm interested in some of the other individuals, because so much of the evidence that jack smith had against donald trump really was laid out, not only in the indictment and the subsequent briefing as well. >> it's a bit of a reunion for all of us. and great to have you all here on such an important day. jonathan capehart, andrew weissmann, lisa rubin, christie greenberg, thank you. and still ahead, frontline crews facing challenges that only start with the flames. the latest on the problems getting water to the scene. but first, what nbc's tom llamas saw while touring the burn area in pacific palisades. >> this is one of the eeriest

scenes we've seen so far. these were the cars that were abandoned when people got stuck in gridlock and had to run for safety. a bulldozer came through here to let fire crews out. those cars were spared, but these cars right here were stuck in the inferno. >> you can see how hot it got. >> look at that. >> look at that. >> that's head & shoulders is launching something huge. ♪♪ the bare minimum. anti-dandruff shampoo made with only nine ingredients. no sulfates, silicones or dyes. and packaged with 45% less plastic. giving you outstanding dandruff protection. and leaving hair beautiful and moisturized. major dandruff protection, minimal ingredients. job done. head & shoulders bare. 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!

>> oh in place. but replacing your windshield doesn't have to be. go t hi, my name is damian clark. and if you have both medicare and medicaid, i have some really encouraging news that you'll definitely want to hear. depending on the plans available in your area, you may be eligible to get extra benefits with a humana medicare advantage dual-eligible special needs plan. most plans include the humana healthy options allowance. get $1200 a year. that's $100 each month help pay for eligible groceries, utilities, rent, and over-the-counter items like vitamins, pain relievers, first-aid supplies and more. the healthy options allowance is loaded onto a prepaid card each month. and whatever you don't spend, carries over from each month. you pay nothing for covered prescriptions, all year long. even name brand

drugs. all plans have $0 copays for covered preventive dental services, which include 2 free cleanings a year as well as fillings. they may also have vision coverage including vision exams and a yearly allowance towards eyewear such as lenses or contacts. even hearing coverage, which includes routine hearing exams and coverage toward hearing aids. you'll even have a $0 copay for routine vaccines and telehealth visits. plus, your doctor, hospital and pharmacy may already be part of our large humana networks. so, call the number on your screen now to speak with a licensed humana sales agent. wouldn't you love benefits like $1200 a year to help pay for eligible groceries, utilities, rent and over-the-counter items? so, if you have medicare and medicaid, call the number on your screen now and speak with a licensed humana sales agent. if you're eligible, they can even help enroll you over the phone in a humana medicare advantage

dual-eligible special needs plan. so, call now. humana. a more human way to healthcare. ♪ ♪ with so much great entertainment out there... wouldn't it be easier if you could find what you want, all in one place?

my favorites. get xfinity streamsaver with netflix, apple tv+, and peacock included, for only $15 a month. approved, get your funds as soon as the same day your loan is on deck. >> donald trump plans to reshape the u.s. government. >> democrats have wasted no time in laying the groundwork to fight the incoming trump administration. >> donald trump wants a presidential cabinet full of loyalists. >> don't miss the weekend, saturday and sunday mornings at 8:00 on msnbc. >> each week on my podcast, i'm joined by uniquely qualified guests who help me take a big picture, look at the issues like representative jasmine crockett, late night host seth meyers, former attorney general eric holder, and many more. >> why is this happening? listen now. >> in the middle of southern california's most catastrophic fire disaster, the ongoing question of how and why hydrants

around los angeles are running dry. firefighters already stretched so thin are clearly frustrated. >> this hydrant has no no water. >> what should the water pressure be right now? ideally. >> i mean, you want 50 to 80. >> is your ideal hydrant pressure and what have you got? >> i'm bouncing between 0 and 50. it's not a consistent pressure. >> joining me now nbc's morgan chesky. and back with us is msnbc's katy tur in her hometown of pacific palisades. okay, morgan, tell us more about what we know today, about what you heard from firefighters. this lack of water in hydrants around los angeles. i just had a woman in business, owner from pacific palisades on, and she said that's exactly what happened in her neighborhood, on her street. >> now, chris, a frustrating reality for countless numbers of people as a result of this generational disaster. we heard firefighters not having enough water on the fire two days ago. we heard the same thing from

firefighters on the pacific palisades fire yesterday when we embedded with a crew there. i think before i say anything else, it's important to say that multiple things can be true at the same time here. and i say that because this issue is becoming a bit politicized. officials are saying right now, chris, that there is arguably no system that could have been created, that could have provided enough water to enough crews as they fought these fires simultaneously tuesday, wednesday, thursday, because they had reservoirs that were drained simply because this is arguably a once in a lifetime event. at least that's how they're portraying it. that said, this system certainly deserves a closer look. i spoke to firefighters here in altadena today that have been fighting the eaton fire, and they say in the days since removed from that initial intense firefight that first 24 hours, they say they still don't have enough water pressure here. and that's now three, maybe four days later. chris. so that is the reality. that is not politics talking and

that i that's why i think there is so much frustration, particularly from homeowners that we've heard who know that there was a hydrant on their street, if not in front of their house, that didn't perform when it needed to. now, all that to say that i can't give enough credit to the crews that we've had a chance to speak to who, upon realizing that they make the call for those water tankers to arrive as quickly as possible, and then while they're waiting for those tankers to arrive, they'll use what little water they have in their trucks to try to defend other structures and contain the fire as best they can. but i think a firefighter we heard from yesterday standing atop a roof watching a home burn down said it best. he says we don't have any water right now. if we did, perhaps we could have saved more of this home here. >> chris morgan, thank you for that. katy tur, you're probably not able to see this, but we have a picture now of a helicopter that is in the air over the palisades fire, reminding folks that 20,000 plus

acres have burned. it is 8% contained. it is good that the santa ana winds are now down low enough that they can get some of that firefighting effort into the air, but talk more about what you're hearing about water issues and other issues on the ground there. >> you know, some good news is we saw in the past few minutes a dc ten carrying phos-chek right over the hills there, headed toward the still burning part of the palisades fire up in the up in the santa monica mountains. they're going to be able to drop a lot of fire retardant on this fire. it's that that pink fire retardant that you might have seen in the past. so they are operating right now. and it's incredible that these planes are giant and they've got a huge red water tank underneath them. but once they hit that smoke chris, it's so dense up there they disappear into it. so there are certainly some visibility issues out there in the distance where the fire is still burning, even

though the smoke has cleared up pretty nicely from here in the wreckage of the palisades. when you talk about water issues, one of the other bits of news that's been reported by the l.a. times is the reservoir here in the palisades. it was empty at the time of the fires. they were going through maintenance of that reservoir, and that what it would have helped with if that reservoir was full is not necessarily access to that water, but the water pressure in the system here in the pacific palisades that once all these taps got turned on, the fire crews started trying to put out these fires. the pressure of having the water in the in the reservoir. and forgive me, i'm not, you know, an engineer on this. i might get some of the details wrong, but the pressure would have been better able to sustain itself. that being said, the l.a. times is also reporting that officials are reporting that experts said that it probably wouldn't have made that big of a difference in totality, that this fire was just an

exceptional, exceptionally powerful fire and that the winds were really helping it along, that there is no amount of fire. there were no fire crews that could have feasibly gotten this thing under control, given the conditions. and i think that's just a hard reality for folks to face. and they're going to want to want to have some more concrete answers. they're going to want to have somebody to blame for all of this. and they're going to ask very difficult and fair questions. and they already are. of the los angeles city government about the response, whether they were prepared, whether there was water, whether the municipal system needs to be upgraded and bolstered, given the world we now live in with climate change and these fires burning faster and hotter. and, you know, there used to be a fire season here in la, but there were in california. but it's all year. >> now you have fire year. and some of those embers can carry on those santa ana winds a couple of miles, and then another spark goes somewhere

else. and there aren't firefighters there. katy tur, thank you for your ongoing reporting. we'll see you next hour. still ahead, an update on the fierce winds that have been driving the flames. is there any driving the flames. is there any relief in sight? go-friends, gather! keke! chris! jason! boop! friends. let's go, let's go, friends! hold onto your dice. woohoo!! -nice frosting, pratt. -thank you! how we doin', keke? tastes like money to me. i can't go back to jail! wait, did you rob my bank? -hehe. -are we winning!? -ha ha ha! -oh boy! yeah! money, power, friendship. let's go! arghh! [explosion] ugh! here we go again. wait there's a red hulk now? excuse me... what do i do about this? we use tide oxi boost. it's a lifesaver. the most powerful clean in any universe. lookin good. thank you. see captain america: brave new world. i'm getting vaccinated...

...with pfizer's pneumococcal pneumonia vaccine. so am i. because i'm at risk for pneumococcal pneumonia. i'm getting prevnar 20 because pneumococcal pneumonia could put me in the hospital and my risk is 6 times greater because i'm over 50. the cdc just expanded its recommendation for those 50 or older to get vaccinated. you're also at risk if you're 19 or older with certain chronic conditions. prevnar 20 is proven to help protect against both pneumococcal pneumonia and invasive pneumococcal disease in just one dose. don't get prevnar 20 if you have a severe allergy to its ingredients. a weakened immune system may lower your response. common side effects include injection site pain and swelling... ...fatigue, headache, muscle and joint pain. millions have chosen prevnar vaccines, which have helped protect adults for over a decade and have an established safety profile. that's why i chose prevnar 20. i want to be able to keep my plans. ask your doctor or pharmacist about prevnar 20. (♪♪) how did i ever miss this?

before you were preventing migraine with qulipta? you'll never truly forget migraine, but qulipta reduces attacks, making zero-migraine days possible. it's approved to prevent migraine to help give you that forget-you-get migraine feeling. don't take if allergic to qulipta. get help right away for serious allergic reactions, like trouble breathing, face, lip, or tongue swelling, itching or rash, which may occur when taking qulipta or days after. common side effects include nausea, constipation, and sleepiness. learn how abbvie could help you save. qulipta, the forget-you-get migraine medicine. 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! dexcom g7 sends your glucose numbers to your phone and watch, so you can always see where you're heading without fingersticks. dexcom g7 is the most accurate cgm, so you can manage your diabetes with confidence. ♪♪ it ain't my dad's razor, dad. ay watch it!

it's from gillettelabs. this green bar releases trapped hairs from my face... gamechanga! ...while the flexdisc contours to it. so the five blades can get virtually every hair in one stroke. for the ultimate gillette shaving experience. the best a man can get is gillettelabs. 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. (♪♪)

(vo) fargo is your virtual assistant from wells fargo. at harbor freight. (woman) oh, come on! come on! (vo) fargo lets you do this: (woman) fargo, turn off my debit card! (woman) i found it! i found my card! (vo) and also, this: (woman) fargo, turn on my debit card. (vo) do you fargo? you can, with wells fargo. what else can fargo do? quickly tell you what you spend on things like food. (dad) fargo, what did i spend on groceries this month? (son) hey dad, can the guys stay for dinner? (dad) no... (vo) learn more at wellsfargo.com/getfargo. (800) 378-9643. call now. >> it is good to be back with you on this second hour of chris jansing reports at this hou