homegrown terrorism expert rick nelson. thank you for speaking to france 24. three weeks have passed since the paris terror attacks in which 130 people were killed. in the aftermath, francois hollande declared war on the islamic state organization. today, he paid a visit to an aircraft carrier that is of central importance to the campaign. it is positioned off the coast of syria and is going to be used in the fight against jihadists. although germany is not going to be conducting airstrikes itself, the house in berlin voted overwhelmingly in favor of joining the campaign in syria. sendingis reconnaissance jets and military personnel to the region. to join thes set international campaign against the islamic state group. after lawmakers approved a plan to provide military and logistical support. of the 598 mps who took part in the vote, 445 voted for, 146 against, and seven abstained. the decision means that germany will deploy up to 1200 soldiers, six reconnaissance jets, refueling aircraft, and a frigate. german jets will not carry out airstrikes against jihad

-united states ends official relations with nationalist china in 1978-rick nelson dies in a plane crash in 1985-panama canal turned over to panama in 1999 today is... new years eve... world peace meditation day... and national champagne day. that's all 33 the time that we have for the first hour of good morning columbia. but we're coming right back. so be sure to from main and gervais. >>> good morning, columbia. today is thursday december 31. the countdown is on to 2016! from performances to fireworks, we have all the details on what you can expect during a "famously hot new year" celebration. plus can the tigers take home once last win before the year comes to an end? what we can expect from tonight's big matchup in miami. and they started in our backyard and grabbed national attention. we're taking a look back at some of the top stories abc columbia brought you during 2015. "good morning, columbia" starts right now. captioning provided by www.captionassociates.com. >>> rochelle: good morning, columbia. thank you for joining us. i'm rochelle dean. we're live from main and gervais. you