. >>> let's bring in mark jacobson, senior fellow for international relations. former senior adviser to secretary of defense, ash carter. thanks for joining us. happy new year to you. >> thanks and happy new year to you, as well. >> let's start. first of all, what's your take on the way putin has reacted to these sanctions? is it really all strategic? or is this potentially an olive branch from the russian president? >> it's both. it's strategic and it's an al live branch. i think one of the short-sighted moves the obama administration made was not considering that not only was this too little, too late, but that both putin and trump would take advantage to continue to embarrass the administration. look, i'm all for hard action against the russians for what they have done. but i just think this was handled in a way to open things up to allow, again, for further moves by putin and trump, but to make trump appear the diplomat, which is a very difficult thing to do. >> mark, didn't the obama administration need to do something about this? >> they definitely needed

mark jacobson. thank you for being here. happy holidays. >> you too. >>> still ahead, high gear.n international arraignment with what you might want to know about leaving early, potentially fr for the holiday weekend. they are the natural borns enemy of the way things are. yes, ideas are scary, and messy and fragile. but under the proper care, they become something beautiful. >>> up to date on some of the stories we're following this friday morning. president-elect trump not mincing words coming to his recent statement on nuclear weapons. the incoming commander in chief telling morning joe, let it be an arms race. trump tweeted that the u.s. needed to expand its nuclear capabilities. russian president vladimir putin said moscow does not want an arms race but does say his country needs to reinforce their nuclear potential. >>> breaking developments on this week's terror attack in berlin. the man behind the attack is dead. amis amri was shot. >>> in libya, the hijackers who took a commercial flight bound for tripoli surrendered in malta. all 118 passengers and crew on board were re

second, i suggested up front the assumption of mark jacobson: with about every power center in washington, media, congress, and in the end i think it dooms the carter administration well before the economic in foreign-policy crises oftiatives get a lot playing. it is critical to understand the broader context in which carter comes to office. in the wake of vietnam, watergate, the crisis of confidence in government. it is difficult to overstate that. we see a bitterness in washington now. communityn policy depression. this is similar to the post-watergate and post-vietnam make iraq. stanley hoffmann argued the reassertion of american idealism by the carter administration and that first 100 days was really their great success. thecannot underestimate importance of tapping into the national reservoir of moral and busy as him. during the campaign of 1976, carter sought to unite as part of his campaign. if you look at his campaign pamphlet, the top priority is -- our wholequote system depends upon trust. the only way i know how to trust is to be trustworthy. he was calling for a government tha