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>> call 1-888-246-2612 or visit homeserve. com. >> 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. >> get the latest updates on future msnbc live events, thought provoking conversations, and insider perspectives while building your msnbc community. scan the qr code on your screen to sign up today. >> good day to all of you from msnbc world headquarters here in new york. welcome, everyone. to alex witt reports. we begin this hour with breaking news on those devastating wildfires in los angeles. right now, crews are

making some modest progress in taming those two largest fires, ahead of some strong winds expected to intensify this weekend. the wildfires have killed at least 11 people, with more reported missing. officials say that the palisades fire, the most destructive in the city's history, is now 11% contained. but it is expanding and forcing new evacuations today. a short time ago, los angeles mayor karen bass said she is confident the biden administration will provide any assistance the city needs and warned residents they need to evacuate when ordered to do so. we know that those people who stay behind might not be able to get out, and i think that it's important that people pay attention to that. the good news is, is that the fires have been slowly being contained. we i know that the palisades area is one of the ones that is the most vulnerable for the winds to continue to spike up, and it's

anticipated that the winds will kick up again at the beginning of the week. l.a. county is now under a health emergency due to the poor air quality and an overnight curfew for areas with mandatory evacuation orders. residents whose homes were destroyed in the fires are now grappling with their new reality. >> topanga is there. if we burn, topanga burns. we need to stop this. >> you're sweating. >> you're covered in water and dirt. why are you doing this? >> because there's a whole community behind us. >> and if we go, they go. >> we're ready to go if we need to. >> we have routes out. but, yeah, we want to try and stay in tight. >> i'm pointing to a street where a friend of mine lived, and she died in the fire right up there. >> so coming down here and seeing it, it's very, very it's very real. >> we have nbc's morgan chesky in westwood and dana griffin in brentwood there covering the devastation for us. we're going to start with dana, who's tracking the massive palisades fire. dana, where are you today and what are you seeing?

>> we are in the brentwood neighborhood where the palisades fire has stretched farther east. you can see the smoke and some flames coming over this ridge. firefighters have been attacking it from the air, trying to put out those flames and prevent the fire from spreading to other parts of the community. you've had several new evacuation orders issued overnight, including actor dennis quaid. right now, 11 people total in total have been confirmed dead throughout all of the wildfires in southern california. more than 100,000 people have been displaced. officials are warning of a potential red flag warning that is forecasted for next week, which could last monday through wednesday. so there is definitely a concern here. there were some rumors overnight that there may be a change in leadership when the mayor of los angeles and the los angeles fire chief met last night, but both say that there was no change in leadership and that the fire chief is still very much in charge. right now, firefighters say that they are putting

everything they've got toward this fire. but there has been some criticism from the chief, who says that those budget cuts, about $17 million, has impacted their ability to fight this fire. also, there's been an issue with water, no pressure in some hydrants, which allowed some of these flames to continue and homes to burn down. so officials are reminding people that when you get that evacuation warning, it's time to leave. back to you. >> okay, dana, thank you so much from brentwood. next, let's bring in nbc's morgan chesky in the westwood neighborhood of los angeles. i understand, morgan, you are near a red cross shelter. so talk to me about where residents are, how they're feeling, what they're telling you, and how are recovery efforts looking? >> yeah, very much ongoing. >> alex. this is a rec center turned into one of the largest shelters that the red cross has opened up, one of nine in the los angeles metropolitan area. >> this one behind me opened up on tuesday, the same day we watched these flames explode in the palisades at the eaton fire

near altadena. and i had a chance to speak to one of the representatives helping run this shelter. and she says, when you walk inside the building, there is absolutely just a sense of heaviness of what these fires have done to multiple communities around this area. they have cots inside. people have been here in some cases, alex, since the night these fires began. and i should add that they still don't know if their homes still stand or not, because some of those evacuation orders still remain in place five days in. that's the reality of what we're facing. and i think adding to the frustration is the fact we saw those red flag warnings expire yesterday night. and yet, even though the winds have died down, there are new fires that have popped up in the last 24 hours that crews are trying to do their best to contain here at this shelter, despite that heaviness that she described, she said red cross is trying to do whatever they can to create some sort of a sense

of normalcy here, interacting and engaging with people as they come in, understanding that there is just an unprecedented nature to this disaster, and knowing that the recovery process, we are just beginning to get a glimpse of it because it is weeks, months, years away to getting people back into homes that unfortunately lost them as a result of this historic series of blazes. alex. >> okay, thank you for that. update from westwood morgan one. let all of our viewers know what we're showing you to the left of the screen there. those are live pictures. if we want to pop those back up again, we're not sure where they are. they're being described as los angeles county. and as much as i can tell from the air in placement to the different freeways, this might be in the calabasas area. they were put on alert and there was a small fire there. it could also be a further examination of what's happening with the eaton fire. we're not sure. but again,

that is certainly within los angeles county. and none of that looks very good for all of you. if you have talked with anyone in southern california, they are going to tell you this. the air is terrible and it is not an exaggeration. they are, in fact, downright dangerous. we're going to talk to a doctor shortly about the hazardous particles in the air and the impact they can have on your health. but first, what lies ahead for an extremely popular app? what to make of the arguments heard by the supreme court on the tiktok ban? we're court on the tiktok ban? we're back in 90s. [♪♪] do you own a dishwasher, but only use it for storage or as a drying rack? get better results than hand washing, with your dishwasher and cascade complete. your dishwasher does the work for you, with temperatures up to 140 degrees - too hot for hands. some dishwashers even have a sanitizing cycle. load pots, pans and tableware at the bottom, with plastic and glassware on top. cascade complete removes visible and invisible residue, for virtually spot-free and shiny dishes. switch to your dishwasher, and cascade complete.

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$19 cleaning today. >> this breaking news has relentless fire. fighting on the ground and in the air have led to increased containment of the massive fires in la. but the biggest one, the palisades fire, is expanding and threatening the heavily populated neighborhoods of brentwood and encino, leading to some new evacuation orders there. this map shows just how many fires are actively burning across the area. strong winds are expected to pick up again later tonight and into next week, which could definitely complicate things for firefighters, crews from surrounding states, as well as mexico and canada, have joined the firefight, and here's some of what they are up against. >> we lost everything we owned, but. just look like house

anymore. >> this is home. >> what are we going to do? where are we going to go? >> yeah, this is our house. >> backyard is on fire. i'm out of here. >> and people in southern california are also dealing with another hazard. suffocating smoke containing harmful chemicals and toxic metals. and joining us to discuss the health risks is doctor alice chen, founder and former executive director of doctors for america. welcome, doctor chen, i'm glad to talk with you about this because these clouds are carrying toxic smoke. they are traveling for miles around the l.a. basin. how can people in the region be safe, particularly when they're outside? >> thank you so much for having me. >> i've been in touch with friends and old colleagues from la all through the week, and it's heartbreaking what's happening in la. >> i know that everyone is worried about the smoke and it's not just wildfire smoke, right? we have thousands and thousands of homes and businesses that have gone up in flames, releasing whatever toxins are in

those places. and so there are a lot of things that people need to do to protect themselves from the smoke. >> number one is to stay indoors as much as possible. number two is to use an n95 mask and or a kn95 if you don't have an n95. >> and it's important that when you're using that mask, you squish down that metal clipping on your nose so that there is a good seal, so that when you're breathing in and out, you can see the mask moving in and out. >> that's how you know that you have a good seal, making sure that your indoor air quality is as good as possible, using a hepa filter, using making sure your filters are clean, reducing the amount of smoke that's in your home with, you know, not using candles. >> using your gas stove as little as possible. don't vacuum if you don't have to, because that puts out dust into the air. really try to keep your your air as clean as possible. >> so can issues of smoke or toxin inhalation. can they be treated at home? i mean, does it depend on the severity or if you have an underlying issue? because i'm curious when someone should head to a doctor or the hospital.

>> sure. so most people are going to be feeling a little bit wheezy. your eyes are a little burning, your throat's a little sore. that's not great, but it's okay. you can deal with that at home. drink some hot water. you know, don't move around too much. put eyedrops in your eyes. you can deal with that. if you are feeling like you're having a lot of trouble. if you have an underlying health condition like asthma, like copd, and you're having a lot of trouble breathing, you use your inhalers and they're not working. you're really using it all the time. that's the time to go to your your the emergency room and make sure that you're getting additional help in addition to kind of the things that you might expect from smoke, we also see increased risk of heart attacks and strokes when people when there is smoke in the air. and so really being sure that you're keeping vigilant of those those effects, especially because people aren't sleeping, everyone is feeling anxious. so if you're feeling that that crushing chest pain, if you're feeling, if you're you're, you know, one side of your face is droopy. if grandma's not making any sense, going to the emergency room is really important. if you have something

that's not so urgent, don't go to the er. don't clog it up because there are people who really need it who need to go. >> what are the long term effects of smoke inhalation? i'm curious. the warning signs to look out for that are serious and can exposure create health issues that you may not see until down the road? >> so the short answer is that we don't entirely know. the level of exposure to wildfires has skyrocketed in recent years because of climate change, and so we do not have a huge amount of data on what is the impact of a week or two of wildfire smoke exposure on your long term health. what we do know is that there are there are impacts, you know, of people who are exposed to a lot of kind of a lot of air pollution. we know from other disasters that people who are exposed to a lot of air pollution might have increased risks of developing chronic lung disease in the future. there may be risks of cancer. we don't really know. those are things that will need to be sorted out in the in the weeks and months

and years to come. but another important piece is also mental health. so the mental health impacts right now there's a lot of anxiety. people who have an underlying mental health condition are probably feeling it even even more strongly. usually, you know, people who have schizophrenia are most likely more likely to have kind of exacerbations during these kinds of disasters. but the impacts on your mental health can, can, can go for months. they can go for years, especially if you've lost your home, especially if you've had to be evacuated and you've been in these very stressful situations. the most important thing in terms of that, you know, it's important to seek help, but it is also we've seen in other disasters that people who come from communities that really band together and really work together to try to, you know, take care of each other and build back together are less likely to have those long term mental health effects. so that's an important piece of resilience that is important to keep in mind. >> doctor chen, you may not have been able to see this, but to the left of the screen we're watching live pictures and we

just saw an air tanker drop that bright red fire retardant. it's obviously chemical in nature. and look, you want it to be dropped, obviously. are there any concerns though about that kind of retardant? is that something that you want it on the fire but you don't want it around people. >> you don't want it on the fire and it is being dropped directly on the fire, where hopefully everybody has gotten out. and so the risk from that fire retardant is definitely very much secondary to all that smoke and ash that is billowing, you know, tens, hundreds of miles away. so that, that, that particulate matter from the fires is really the primary concern. >> okay. thank you so much, doctor alice chen, appreciate you sharing your knowledge with us. and for all of you, we have gotten a placement. we are looking at fires there in the mandeville canyon area, which means this is probably an offshoot of the palisades fire that is an area very, very rural, particularly as you get up into the mountains. and we've been told how the palisades fire

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>> com or just stop by granger for the ones who get it done. >> it's monday, it's monday everyone. we're happy to have you here on this monday night. what would you do as dnc chair to better communicate with this generation? >> you feel like the u.s. government is starting to figure out how to do this. everything matters. lots to get to. >> is every monday night like this. >> way on monday night. stay up to date on the biggest issues of the day with the msnbc daily newsletter. sign up for msnbc daily@msnbc.com. >> the future of tiktok is now in the hands of the supreme court. after hearing oral arguments yesterday, the justices seem likely to uphold a law that would force the popular social media company to vanish from app stores by next sunday

if it is not sold by its chinese owner. the conservative majority court did not seem convinced by tiktok's claims the measure violates their users free speech rights. >> for years, the chinese government has sought to build detailed profiles about americans where we live and work, who our friends and coworkers are, what our interests are, and what our vices are. tiktok's immense data set would give the prc a powerful tool for harassment, recruitment and espionage. >> the act directly restricts the rights, the first amendment rights of american creators to participate and speak. >> and with a court a little less than a decade ago called the modern public square. >> and what you might say today is the most vibrant speech forum in the united states. >> well, joining me now, we have one of the co-sponsors of that bill and a good friend to us, democratic congressman from massachusetts, jake auchincloss. so welcome. let's see, the court should issue at least a preliminary decision in days,

right. do you expect the justices to set aside tiktok and some of its users first amendment concerns and allow the ban to go into effect? that would be a week from tomorrow, sunday the 19th. >> good afternoon, alex. >> thanks for having me on. >> given the oral arguments. given that the president and congress have both weighed in on forcing tiktok to sell, i expect the supreme court is going to uphold this law. >> certainly, i hope so. >> i didn't just co-lead this law as a member of the china select committee with access to analysis about what china is doing with this app. i also co-led this law as one of the youngest parents in congress. >> my oldest is four and a half. the way i see it, i got about five years to rein in social media corporations before my kids start using this stuff. >> because these companies not just tiktok, but meta and twitter and twitch and reddit and discord, they are attention fracking american children. >> they are monetizing their attention spans and it is sabotaging mental health and

american youth's sense of self and society. jonathan haidt wrote in his new york times bestseller that since 2012, when smartphones with social media apps became ubiquitous, we've seen the incidence of body image problems and self-harm in young women skyrocket. we've seen anti-social behavior in young men skyrocket. >> is that multifactorial? yeah, of course it is. >> but social media is certainly one of the biggest culprits. >> yeah. >> president elect donald trump, who previously supported a tiktok ban, has filed a brief urging the court to stand aside and let him make a deal with tiktok. is there a chance that once he takes office, he could overturn the law or extend the deadline once it's passed? i mean, if so, where would that leave your efforts? >> it would be illegal. the law is quite clear that that january 19th is the deadline, and i should just make this plain, as you did at the top of the segment. >> it is not a ban, it is a forced sale. >> tiktok is free to operate in

the united states. >> it needs to be owned and controlled by a company that answers to the united states congress, not to the chinese politburo. >> because the chinese communist party has been using this app to amplify content that is anti-american, that undermines our cohesion as a society. >> meanwhile, they do not let they do not let the version of tiktok available on the chinese mainland amplify any of that content. that content is usually educational in nature, and they actually put a 45 minute time limit for most of their underage users. >> so we can already see that the ccp has a split screen view of how to use tiktok, and there is no reason why we have to allow ourselves to be subject to their ideological manipulation. >> when xi jinping calls the smokeless battlefield, it'd be like if in the 1960s, walter cronkite was a soviet spy. it's just nonsensical that this is somehow a first amendment issue. >> okay, let me get to what happened this week with donald trump refusing to rule out using military force to take control of greenland and the panama

canal. now, look, it may seem like just a distraction, but now your republican colleague, congressman dusty johnson, proposed a bill allowing the federal government to repurchase the canal, which president carter turned over to panama half a century ago, in 1977. johnson is arguing china's influence on the vital shipping canal is a national and economic security risk. but here's the thing. you know, this region, i mean, we have this picture of you, you're there training panamanian troops in the canal zone during your time in the marines. panama says it is not interested in selling. so should this even be up for conversation? do you believe donald trump is serious about a revival of american expansionism this way? >> alex. you're right. >> ten years ago, i commanded a 60 man counter-narcotics training mission to the panama canal zone, worked with colombian special operators. >> as we trained the panamanian public forces and riverine and jungle patrolling.

>> they are pro american, they are professional. >> and even the implication that americans would invade panama is reckless and feckless, and it needs to be thoroughly rejected by congress. we are not fighting our ally in the americas. this whole debate, greenland and panama, they really tie in to the monroe doctrine, 200 year old pillar of american foreign policy that says that we do not want foreign influence in the americas. i support the monroe doctrine. and to the degree that we want to have a sphere of influence over greenland and panama, whether it's for resource extraction and control of critical minerals, whether it's for economic security and the transit of cargo through the panama canal, those are all reasonable diplomatic objectives. we can get into conversations with denmark and with panama about how those operations might work, but threatening to use force is wholly unacceptable. >> can i just quickly ask, have there been a lot of issues with the panama canal that would predicate the need to do this?

>> what president trump has been pointing to is that two hong kong domiciled companies have operations, maritime operations at either end of the panama canal. he thinks that the united states is getting a bad rate through the panama canal. i actually haven't seen evidence of that. in fact, the treaty allows the united states naval ships to transit through the panama canal at discounted rates and through and with expedited priority. so if anything, the united states has a slight advantage at the panama canal. now, it is true, though, alex, that the chinese have influence throughout the americas. they have influence in telecoms and local media and politics and resource extraction. we do have to be concerned about the ccp operating in our backyard, but the way to counteract that is not to bully a small ally. the way to counteract that is to show up in these south american and central american capitals, bearing deals for trade and investment that are better than the deals that the ccp are coming with. >> jake, i always love talking with you. this time i really learned something, but i always

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1-800-290-7477 now or visit us at mso fund.com. >> now to new fallout from the sentencing of donald trump. he is now the first convicted felon who will be sworn in as president, but enjoys the unusual privilege of completely escaping punishment. and hours after trump ranted against his sentence, president biden said

he may still pardon trump's critics, considering the possibility that trump could punish his enemies. >> i put in the application for a presidential pardon because i believe that joe biden has the same responsibility to me that he had to his own son, and i would expect that the same exact pardon that he gave his son has to go to me and to anybody else that's on that enemies list, whether they want it or not, because i assure you, solitary confinement, where i did 51 days sucks. >> well, joining me now we have danny cevallos, trial attorney and msnbc legal analyst. danny, thanks for joining us. so now that trump has been let off, i mean, without even a slap on the wrist, should michael cohen be worried as well as any others who investigated and or prosecuted trump? >> yes and no. i mean, there's the possibility that trump might go after his enemies, but even whoever he appoints as his d.o.j. as the head of the doj,

whoever ends up in that attorney general's spot, that's the person that you really need to watch, because that's the person who makes independent decisions and look for whether or not we're going to be dealing with somebody who is just an automaton who does, who at least follows trump's signals and does whatever he wants or exercises independent judgment. look, when it comes to cabinet positions, the doj is special. the attorney general is special. he or she has independence in a way that other cabinet officials do not just as all prosecutors have the independence to make their own choices about who to prosecute and who not to prosecute. so look, i understand michael cohen being concerned. i get it. but i don't necessarily think that he's automatically going to be on the hit list once trump takes office. there's a lot of steps that could be really problematic. he would have to trump would have to direct the attorney general to go after cohen, and then that attorney general would have a lot of accountability. maybe that's exactly who he's appointed for the job. who knows?

>> do you know much about pam bondi? i mean, i will say that we had an indication about matt gaetz. of course, he was up for the job. gone now, pam bondi, what do you think? >> yeah, it's possible. and i think i often i thought that the original suggestion of gates or the desire to appoint gates, i was concerned that that might be trump appointing to cabinet positions people who he may not have had a direct conversation with, but instead there's just an understanding that this is the kind of justice department i want. this is who i want you to go after. this is who i don't want you to go after. so, sure. that's you're exactly right. that's something to be concerned about. but we really don't know until he takes office. so i totally sympathize with the idea of wanting a preemptive pardon. who wouldn't want a pardon? pardons are great. they're the broadest presidential power that exists. so if michael cohen wants one, i understand that, and i would understand being concerned about trump coming after him. >> okay, back to trump, because after the sentencing, he continued his rant on social media, claiming, quote, i was

given an all caps unconditional discharge. that result alone proves that all caps. there is no case. there was never a case. does the judge's decision, danny bolster trump's claim? there was never a case. i think i just saw you shaking your head. >> no, it definitely doesn't. look, the unconditional discharge was really you know, i have a lot of issues with how the sentencing was carried out because i've never had a sentencing where the judge announces beforehand, i'm not really supposed to do this, but here's what your sentence is going to be. criminal defense attorneys and prosecutors. sometimes they work out plea deals. that's not what happened here. but usually you walk into the sentencing knowing that you don't know exactly what you're going to get. that is something that is unusual about this. however, the unconditional discharge was not a measure of how light the punishment should be. instead, it was the only constitutional punishment that would work because anything probation, community service, anything that lasted longer than a week or so to when trump gets inaugurated is essentially

unconstitutional. so that was a huge problem. it was the it's not that this was not a punishable crime, it's that this was the only punishment that would work for a defendant who was being inaugurated in a matter of days. >> got it. so to that end, trump enters the white house as a convicted felon. but he says he plans to appeal his 34 convictions. if that goes to the supreme court. danny, how do you expect the justices might handle that appeal? because they did not intervene to stop his sentencing in the first place? >> that's right. and that can be a preview, because, for example, when you're going to appellate courts, including the supreme court, and you're looking for stays of proceedings, often you have to show that you're likely to win ultimately on the merits. so you could say that to some degree, trump's merits of his arguments have been tested already in a smaller laboratory, because courts have to look at that possibility of victory when they're deciding stays. but on main appeal, i guess something different could happen. but trump's appeal options are still pretty narrow. we know what they

are. they've already raised all of these issues. it's essentially that evidence came in what, during his time in the white house, that was improper. according to the supreme court's immunity decision. but we've already seen at least one court conclude that, hey, this isn't necessarily going to invalidate the conviction. this is something instead that will that can that came in, it was essentially harmless error. >> okay. danny cevallos, thank you so much for working through it with us. and next it crossed my mind and i'm sure it crossed yours. who's helping the animals caught in the middle of the caught in the middle of the california gum problems could be the start of a domino effect parodontax active gum repair breath freshener clinically proven to help reverse the 4 signs of early gum disease a toothpaste from parodontax, the gum experts. prilosec knows, for a fire... one fire extinguisher beats 10 buckets of water, and for zero heartburn 1 prilosec a day... beats taking up to 10 antacids a day. it's that simple,

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( ♪♪ ) of the firefight happening right now in the mandeville canyon area of los angeles. airtankers tankers. they've been trying to gain some ground on this fast moving palisades fire before the winds pick back up again later tonight. meanwhile, thousands of homeowners are grappling with the shock of returning home to rubble. >> it's not about the financial loss, but just. everything every possession of you and your family and every memory forever. >> it was hard to imagine losing all of that. >> it's just all the memories here. so walking in it was extremely hard. i walked around the side, tried to just get in a

little bit more and just felt i just became sick. >> nothing prepares you for this amount of destruction. i mean, there's no manual. there's no book. >> yeah. and as fires tear through los angeles, humans are not the only ones hurrying out of harm's way. many animals barely made it out in time. cats, dogs, horses, even peacocks are now in need of shelter and loving care. and nbc's liz kreutz talks to the heroes who are working to help all of them. and there's a lot of them. >> as fires ignited across l.a, forcing thousands from their homes, horses, donkeys and even a giant pig, all among those also needing to get out, it's time to leave. this woman evacuated her 175 pound tortoise. tiptoe. >> this is no good. >> this is no good. >> how do i get to my house in the palisades? >> a first responder reuniting

this man with his beloved dog. >> what's his. >> what's her name or his name? tika. >> tika tika. >> and now at the pasadena humane society. an overwhelming outpour. donations of blankets, food, air filters. so many in the community jumping in to help. the shelter has taken in more than 400 animals over the past two days. some of them dropped off by evacuees looking for a safe place for their pets, others by good samaritans who found them wandering amidst the chaos. >> one of the animals that i transferred out is this cat inside. >> veterinarians tending to so many animals. >> at first i didn't know where they were all going to go. i didn't know if we had the number of hands to take care of them. >> this cat covered in soot, even a peacock. >> any animal that's out there either owned or wild like we're going to be expecting to see them. >> rachel meek says she had to come help. >> so it's pretty cool to help out and just be a part of this community that loves animals. >> a reminder that through the horror, the best of humanity shines through. >> people are good, you know,

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comm or just stop by granger for the ones who get it done. the second inauguration of donald trump morning joe kicks off coverage. then, at 10 a.m, rachel maddow and team will bring you key moments of the day, followed by analysis from our prime time anchors as the new term begins monday, january 20th, beginning at six on msnbc. >> president elect trump will likely inherit a chaotic situation in the middle east. >> we are getting a picture of what a donald trump cabinet will look like in el paso from philadelphia in israel, new hampshire from msnbc world headquarters.

>> during donald trump's sentencing, in which he was officially designated a convicted felon but received no other penalty. judge juan merchan acknowledged the unique protections trump received because of the election, and the supreme court. >> i'm referring to protections that extend well beyond those afforded the average defendant who winds their way through the criminal justice system each day. no ordinary citizens do not receive those legal protections. it is the office of the president that bestows those far reaching protections to the office holder. and it was the citizenry of this nation that recently decided that you should once again receive the benefits of those protections. >> well, joining me now, democratic strategist and former adviser to the obama campaign and misha cross and brendan buck, msnbc political analyst and former press secretary to house speaker john boehner. there we go. now we're seeing

you both. sorry i introduced you in the clip, but there we go. amisha with you first. what's the significance of this sentence for you? does it carry weight? and are you surprised there wasn't even a fine? >> not surprised at all. >> as the adage goes, elections have consequences. >> and the consequence here was a donald j. >> trump, who will always have 34 felony convictions but essentially walk free, which is something that no other american could do, particularly americans of color in our criminal justice system. but what it shows is that the rich and powerful always skirt the reality of everyone else. when it comes to our criminal justice system, it is weighted against those who do not have means. and i think that, you know, trump's election showcased that, you know, all of his all of his criminality has in some ways been wiped away. i don't think people are sitting at home thinking, oh my gosh, this is the first president to have felony convictions to be in the white house. if there is no penalty, no fines, no fees, no probation, at the end of the

day, this is a guy who essentially walked off scot free, and that happened because of the vote that came out in early november. >> okay, brendan, let's turn to the devastating wildfires in california because trump has not stopped blaming governor gavin newsom and president biden, saying that the shortages of water in fire hydrants was because of their policies, even though water experts have said, yeah, that's not true. there was unprecedented demand and ferocious winds, making it impossible for tankers to make airdrops, straining the hydrant system. and trump said fema money was wasted on the green new deal, which is also false, and making the fires about politics is spreading among republicans. now, how far can this false narrative go? and is this the time and focus needed right now? >> yeah, maybe the least surprising aspect of all of this is trump not not having his facts straight. >> and look, it's difficult to process. >> you look at these images and think, now's a great time to do

a bunch of politics. >> but sadly that is kind of where we're at at this point. >> now, i'm a little bit of two minds on this. >> there should be some anger about what's going on here, and we should want to have some answers about what happened here. surely someone is to blame now. of course there is. you know, this is a natural disaster, but there does seem to be a failure of the infrastructure and planning here. this, this, you know, this is not a threat that was unknown to the state. >> so i understand. >> and people, people there i'm sure, also want answers as to how this happened and why they were not better prepared to deal with it. i just think that it's very clear that that is not a good faith argument that the incoming president is making. he's very clearly trying to take down somebody who is perceived to be a front runner for the democratic nomination next time. >> yeah, i think we can all see through that. and let's say there is a lot of anger. and karen bass, the mayor, has had to face a lot of it thus far over the last couple of days. so but it's something that time is

going to work out. they'll have to do, obviously, a deep dive into what happened and figure out where things did go wrong. though mother nature has really been in control of this amicia. in nine days, trump will be responsible for the federal response to these fires. and during those 2018 california wildfires, trump was reluctant to give the state any aid until he was shown that parts of l.a. voted for him. really? and during a campaign event in california in october, he said if newsom doesn't go along with his policies, here's the quote. we're not giving you any of that fire money that we send you all the time. come on. is there real concern that he would hold back from giving california what it needs? will republicans call him out? and california republicans especially? >> well, i think california republicans will call him out. wholistically i don't think the republicans will. >> this is a donald trump who was absolutely fine, you know, allowing for disaster relief only in places that voted for him by a specific margin. and he was stopped, obviously, by

individuals who had a better understanding of how crises can take shape. but i think that this election has shown us a few things. first and foremost, we've seen over the past few years greater instances of natural disasters and a lot more frequency of those natural disasters. gavin newsom has his hands full in california. he has since written a letter and posted that on on twitter x and several other social media platforms as it relates to donald trump having a visit with him conversing about this, but also ways in which they can work through what will be more natural disasters across the state of california. i think that it's very important to recognize that the republican party writ large has been the party of anti-science, the party of anti-climate change, the party that is, denying that these instances are either happening at the speed that they are, or the science and climatology that shows exactly how these instances occur and why it's so important for us to invest resources in ensuring that fema is leveled up and ensuring that we have a federal response. donald trump is going to be taken to task, i think, as we see more and more of these

happen. but right now, my heart is with the people of california, specifically those in the la region, but also with an understanding that donald trump is going to be president in just a few short days. and this will also be something that will sit at his lap. he's going to have to figure it out. >> yeah he will. brendan. meanwhile, we have trump, who is continuing his tirade about taking control of greenland and the panama canal and making canada a part of the united states. and he has bizarrely suggested renaming the gulf of mexico the gulf of america. i mean, changing what centuries of precedent these countries are critical partners for the united states. we even reported that we have firefighters from canada and mexico on the front lines in california right now helping our firefighters. so even if this doesn't go beyond trump's typical inflammatory rhetoric, what damage could it do potentially to our relationships on the global stage? >> it's a great question. >> i'm the thing i'm wondering about is where does all of this come from? how does how does

panama slip into your talking points at mar-a-lago when you're giving a speech? is there some type of shipping magnate that is hanging around mar-a-lago that has gotten his attention? and i know greenland has been on his map for a long time, but i'm more curious as to the motivation behind all of these things, because they're more arbitrary and bizarre than anything else. look, i don't think we need to worry too much about our relationship with with denmark. we're going to be okay. but it does tell me that he has a very imperialist view of the world. that is a little more. maybe we don't appreciate because he presents himself as this isolationist sometimes. but i do believe that, you know, he at his heart, he wants a strong america in a way that, you know, may not operate through normal channels. and the things that typically have worked to strengthen our relationships, like working through nato, he doesn't care about and he's willing to tear some things down. so i think hopefully when he gets to people around him, they'll spend a little more time thinking about the means and not just the ends. >> yeah, okay. great

conversation as always. you too. thank you michel. thank you brendan. we'll see you soon in our next hour. what to make of a painful example of grin and bear it. that will happen in nine days. molly jong-fast will join me in just moments. meantime, a good day to all of you from msnbc world headquarters here in new york. welcome, everyone, to alex witt reports. we begin again with the breaking news and several developments in the california wildfires at this hour. an active firefight underway from the air from above as the air tankers raced to suppress the expanding palisades fire before the winds are scheduled to pick up later on today. looking at it right now, what's happening there in the mandeville canyon area and that fire is now about 11% contained, though it shifted directions. and that is what's led to some new evacuation orders today. just a short time ago, california's attorney general, with a warning not to take advantage of the emergency, saying price gouging and looting. no, no, that's not going to be