well still to come on the day and angry message for americal from families touched by terror as berlin remembers last year's christmas market attack those who lost relatives say the german chancellor failed them when it counted that's coming up in about seven minutes. which they sold one of the most important political votes in post apartheid south africa the ruling african national congress elected a new leader deputy president cyril ramaphosa edged out president jacob zuma as ex-wife in a closely fall race thousands of delegates took part in the vote for party leader much of south africa watched as the party announced who had won the poll now the a.n.c. which is known as the party of nelson mandela has ruled south africa since the end of apartheid the last three party leaders have all served as president of south africa. here is what here is that moment when it became official that cyril ramaphosa had clinched the agency's top job. come great investors and i mean is received. two to six one. and come great sinner from a course received four four zero. lead to. more so i think you. sh

many critics pounced on the fbi at the time that flynn tomorr also on the show, chuck todd americ chrisooks into what's >> pro greeted president spaturday morni amende is passed. >> front of the group of we're going to grow jobs. everyt >> the bill passed 51-49 early republ bob corker, joining democrats in votin long, distributed just hours margin >> let's take a look at this, folks. this i your government work. >> the plan would slash the indivi it wou also repeal the insura they say it will jump-start the econom >> this bill is about helping >> the policy center >> according to every wealth it raises taxes on millions of >> there were big differences in the house and senate versions of the tax plan. a final round of negotiation the next few weeks. york. >>> still ahead, a new high-tech option for health care. in the south bay. how it could be a game changer >> right now, 57 degrees in san chance of rain shower mid way how mu to expect w the new home of nationally injury rehabilitation centers as acute care inpatient units. the state-of-the-art building >>> a token of gra for this i at

also coming up take two for uncle americal the german chancellor tries again to form a new coalition government with some very familiar players americal and her magic or a chancellor who's run out of office that's coming up later in the show. we begin the day with a lesson in how to treat your closest friends when your u.s. president dollar drama tweet whatever you like and tell your friends to mind their business and do that with a tweet to on wednesday the u.s. president reads we did three islamophobia videos posted by the far right u.k. extremist group britain first now one claims to show muslims pushing a boy off a roof another appears to show a man destroying a statue of the virgin mary and the third allegedly shows a muslim migrant beating up a dutch boy on crutches now the dutch embassy in the u.s. has already debunked the last video is fake news tweeting facts do matter the perpetrator of the violent act in this video was born and raised in the netherlands he received them completed his sentence under dutch law what's more dutch media reporting that the attacker is not even m

with greure people go to college it's part of our commitment to being amer ter chemo might mean a trip be doctor's o a shot. k ther withations. in a key studyneulasta reduced the risk of infection from 17% to 1%, a 94% decrease. applied the day of chemo neulasta onpro is designed to deliver neulasta the next day, so you can stay home. neulasta is for certain cancer patients receiving strong chemotherapy. do not take neulasta if you're allergic to ruptured spleen, lung problems, allergic reactions kidney injuries, report abdominal or shou trouble breath or allergic reactions to your doctor right away. in patients with sickle cell disorders, tal cresan occouso if you'd re, as e or receivehere's abc's adrienne bankert. >> reporter: if you purchased gift cards as presentsuld s wepys after jo er >> this ftard had been used thrter: layton checkewhich plainly shows those y llet. >> >> rexperts liftf infhat are out in theodyvated them, and then they can loot them. >> reporter: layto didn't get his money back. walmart tells us i protocols in place to protect our customers from criminal behavior

well the speech that uncle americal delivered here on the sidelines of the ceremony here was that was an appearance really that i have never seen before that way it was a very somber speech full of humility and a very emotional appearance that she's made and she's usually known for not being very emotional and we also know that it took her a year to invite the victims into the chancery to speak to them that happened yesterday and they spoke about three hours we don't know anything about the content of these talks other than she wants to re-invite these people the what she said to days that this is a day of grief but then also a day to look for ward and to to see what the government can change in order to take the wishes and feelings off the the victims' families better into consideration and this is basically the outcome of this today and it is now on the victims to accept this apology that came across very credible in a way that is not very typical farm and you know all of the people around the world may be asking tonight why did it take the chancellor a year to send her condolences

historic defeat at september's elections and has been reluctant to join a government under uncle americal again here's more. it's a balancing act for martin schulz most germans want another grand coalition but the social democrat party leader knows that this option is not well loved by his party base. it's an open question whether these talks will lead to forming a new coalition i must repeat this again in all seriousness the fact that we are having exploratory talks doesn't mean we have committed to any particular coalition in fact the opposite is true. in these talks it's all about how we discuss topics and how we can push through a social democratic platform for this country the s.p.d. agreed unanimously to continue talks leading to a repeat of a coalition with the conservatives whether the result will be a grand coalition a minority government or new elections depends on how many social democratic issues can be put into any agreement. it is important to me that we talk about the topics that move people for example german families who need to be relieved of daycare fees and families wh

>>'re cameras, bedidn't a lot of that construction so talk about that so americ-- 422 is good al. we watch that pseudoo because it typically getening jammed up. and it's roogt know no, aemplg speeds into the mid f 60s. we'll have another update when i cam in about ten. >>> mistier use death. how did a little girl die at a sleepover. >> winners batake the wheel. an e-mail scandal shocked the organization and ring the in few new year, a hand to getting their little ones into bed tfr real ball really drops well eel sew you how coming up . >>> philadelphia nainvestigator hope an autopsy will have some answers. the crime scene unit serge searched a home on anggus street. >> obviously an 1-year-old is heart breaking this time of year. we're taking all the step to find out what happened. >> the families involve are cooperating. joond i in thise. >>> -- and new the morning, a up group of former pageant winners will lhelp kree create a new infrastructure. >> and philadelphia is as christmas trees head to the curb, the it runs through next tuesday through january 13th. then so app and nbc.c

and five wounded so obviously the fighting continues so much so that emmanuel mccall and angle americal issued a statement over the weekend calling for an immediate cease fire that still has not taken hold we're hoping that we will see a cease fire for the holiday season so obviously we have two separate things going on we have the fighting and the prisoner exchange it remains to be seen which one will actually be the indication of how things move forward and david does some prisoner exchange still i believe the last prisoner exchange was about fourteen months ago how exactly did this one come about the deal that made it possible. it's difficult to say we're really not privy to the discussions but it needs to be said that these discussions have been continuing pretty much under uninterrupted we have the discussions that go on in minsk each time there is talk about a possible prisoners exchange there is hope or there has been hope there would be an all for all prisoner exchange but that is still not that's still not has happened both sides still have prisoners in their position in their

meeting in berlin to consider why and key issues they want to take into talks with chance are on the americal all that after the s.p.d. decided to go ahead with exploratory talks on a possible coalition let's have a listen to what party leader martin schultz had to say you have not given us over the cliff we will focus on results in the negotiations and attempt to find ways to lead this country out of the difficult situation it's currently finds itself in. and that's why i will say again it can be annoying that we are once again called on to take political responsibility for our future after others have led us into a dead end road. but we social democrats would do it on our own terms of don't worry about me even most of our previous and that was s.t.d. leader martin schultz all our political correspondent thomas sparrow has been following the final hours of the party's conference i asked him earlier what key demand the social democrats will bring to the table when they meet with chancellor angela merkel. they will determine in watch form they could participate in a new german government as fa

weeks in fact of the last week has been particularly intense so much so that emanuel mcallen angle americal issued a statement calling for an immediate cease fire whether this takes place whether takes place is a hope over the over the holiday season that remains to be seen but if it does obviously that is another positive sign that will give people hope david stern in care for many thanks for that background. turning now to man mall where a court has remanded to reuters journalists in custody for a second fourteen day period before it is a probing allegations of the to breach the country's official secrets act they were reporting on the crisis in rakhine state where a military crackdown forced more than six hundred thousand range of muslims to flee the country. who are alone in the blue jacket hasn't seen his family in two weeks. even so as he and fellow journalist arrive to a courthouse scrum he protested their innocence. we're just carrying out our jobs we would never violate journalistic ethics he told the crowd. in the frenzy no amount of police or press could stop his wife. and. the m

making statements not just secretary secretary of state tillerson but emmanuel mccall and angle americal made statements over the weekend what they're hoping for is a ceasefire for the holiday season which will hope which they hope will prove to be more lasting all right so world leaders are watching this very closely but david put this in context for us what it all mean for the peace process we will see exactly how what the moment the momentum is whether we'll see more exchanges in the coming weeks or perhaps a month there is there have been indications or some statements by the rebels and we'll see what exactly comes from this on the in the in the bigger picture whether there is going to be a larger agreement between russia and united states and ukraine right that's david stern reporting for us from kiev thank you as a look now at some of the other stories that are making news around the world russian opposition leader alexina bonus says he is organizing a nationwide rally on the twenty eighth of january to support his boycott of next year's presidential election the country's election

well meantime german just ongoing americal spoke out this evening about president trump's decision to recognize from some as israel's capital reiterating her opposition to them. in this instance we will act according to the un resolutions which state that during the negotiations towards a two state solution the status of jerusalem must also be negotiated this is why we desire the renewal of this process and are not in agreement with the decision made last night. the german chancellor are reacting we want to tell you now about some of the other stories making news around the world. the european union is taking the czech republic hungry and poland took four days for failing to take their fair share of refugees under twenty fifteen plan the countries have taken in almost no way a few g.'s in the past two years despite the e.u. agreement to relocate some one hundred sixty thousand people from italy and greece their governments accuse brussels of limiting their national sovereignty. with only two weeks to go till catalonia holds new elections more than forty thousand pro catalan protesters

seventy tons of it was used to carve iconic landmarks and famous faces in the statue of liberty to go americal this year is will need to wrap up warm the exhibition hall near berlin is being kept at a chilly negative seven degrees celcius. definitely something to check out over the holidays and don't forget you can always get your news on the go just download our out from google play or from the apple store that i give you access to all the latest news from around the world as well as push notifications for any breaking news you can even use the v.w. app to send us your photos and videos. and that's the news at this hour i'm sara harmon in berlin thanks for watching we'll see you again at the top of the hour for more by now. the whole g w o one. for the global insights the news out for local euro.

forming a government this comes after last night's meeting with the german president and chaffed americal merkel has been trying to form a government since the september elections thank you for watching t w we'll have an update on the story for you at the top of the. kick off. independence cyprus site and you have to go unfed pick up sites socially controversial. new video evidence designed to make decisions by bundesliga referees more transparent and thus farah. but it doesn't want. to go next to g.w. . the more intriguing international talk show for journalists discuss the topic of the week following the e.u. african union summit europe and africa work together as equal partners to do young africans a brighter future on their own car that's our topic this week on quadriga join us. in sixty minutes on. the w.'s program guide on the internet the highlights. the home. dot com highlights. when i'm traveling i like to be comfortable. but i also want to stay up to date on the latest news and events. and the w makes that part of traveling easy just because it's available and thousands of hotel

here in berlin to consider what key issues they'll want to take into talks with chancellor uncle americal that's after s.p.d. delegates voted on thursday to go ahead with exploratory talks party leader martin shoulder to stress the role of germany in the e.u. pledging to push for reforms that would eventually lead to what he calls a united states of europe our political correspondent thomas sparrow has been following the final hours of the s.p.d. party conference thomas good to see you the social democrats have been deciding what they're going to bring to the table when they meet with merkel it seems like they can demand almost anything they want what do you think they're going to ask for. well it depends how you see that sorrow whether whereas some people might say that they demand anything they want there are others who say that they are starting here from a different perspective from a perspective of weakness of after a bury bad result in the elections in september in any case what they have said here is that they want to first and foremost discuss what proposals they want to bring to

likely to take weeks as well what does this mean for germany and perhaps more specifically for uncle americal just how strong is she right now. well the key priority obviously so try and form a stable government but leaders on the conservative side of leaders here on the social democrat side have said that's this is not about hiring off to form a government it's about forming a correct if you will formal a government based on the proposals that both parties the conservatives on the social democrats can bring to the table which is obviously that until that happens there's only a caretaker government in germany a caretaker government that probably current think long term a current plan a long time when it comes to priorities at home but also to international crises and situation that the something that is obviously affecting on that american on the so obviously why she has the priority to try to form the government a soon as possible. as thomas fair reporting for us from the s.p.d. party conference thank you. now johnny hallyday fans are paying their last respects to the singer often dubbed the

in russia and only a quarter in the united states under donald trump germans still support uncle americal even if his standing is diminished still can't imagine anyone else taking charge of the german government. let's turn now to some sports news and cologne have been knocked out of the europe europa league after a one nil defeat to red star belgrade though the german side created more chances they went down to a twenty two minute goal from. sarah niche the win saw red star leapfrog cologne into second place in group g. earning them a spot in the competitions last thirty two and the other match group winners arsenal thrashed off six nail colognes to feed means that all three german sides crashed out of the group stages often high and lynn who were eliminated on the previous match day both through their final matches one all and staying with football cristiana rinaldo has won the long door for a record tying fifth time the rail madrid forward retains his crown as the world's best player after helping to the spanish league in the champions league titles last season were naldo has now drawn

deserving children when the toy sponsor for the police athletic league could not contribute this year amer health filled the void and the organization donated hundreds of toys and coats to the cause and the delivery was made extra special with an appearance by santa. who received all kinds of hugs today. >>> last to games at home. the eagles. >> if they clinch? >> i asked jaw that you have to still play the guys you we'll see. the eagles get set to take on the oakland raiders, the eagles rank second in rushing but don't have a single player in the top 15 and running the ball is a true team effort. >> firing alshon jeffrey touch down. >> the eagles are running with nick foles as quarterback and when it comes to the running game doug peterson plays the run around game. sometimes blunt and sometimes ajayi and sometimes clemente with the ball. >> you can't be frustrated when you are 12-2, we want to continue to do it whatever is working. >> they may not have a number one running back per se but the numbers speak for themselves. ajayi 4.6 yards per carry since being traded from miami. and you w

america speake americ america speaks out on that scandal. >> she hopes that the pageant keeps going. >>> and we start the look back at 2017 with the major news event that shaped the year including the big one that we happened to sleep through. yep, you're watching "world news now." always leave packing to the last minute. time to break these bad boys out no i have a couple of things to wash we got this- come on. even on quick cycle, tide pods cleans great 6x the cleaning power, even in the quick cycle let's go did you just get up uh-huh it's got to be tide that cough doesn't sound so good. take mucinex dm. i'll text you in 4 hours one pill lasts 12 hours, so... looks like i'm good all night! why take 4-hour cough medicine? just one mucinex lasts 12 hours. let's end this. 60% of women are wearing the wrong size pad and can experience leaks discover always my fit. find the number that's right for your flow and panty size on the top of any always pack. the better the fit, the better it protects. always. (male #1) it's a little something i've done every night since i

bungle americal is now only the acting chancellor and it could be some time until she is once again the head of an elected government if it ever is the merkel era as some suspect germany's most popular politician is foreign minister sigma gabriele of the social democrats the s.p. dame with an approval rating of sixty five percent merkel has the approval of fifty four percent while s.p.d. had martin schultz gets just thirty nine bought a majority of germans say they'd welcome merkel's dying on as chancellor for weeks merkel tried to form a so-called jamaican coalition with his cd un the c s u together with the greens in the free democrats alternately without success is now only another grand coalition with the s.p. day or a minority government can prevent you elections the s.p. day is being grappling with the way that to join such a coalition again what does the public think which would be the best government at this point. forty five percent called a grand coalition of the c.d.u. c.s.u. in the s.p.d. good about fifty two percent consider it not as good or even bad for the first time a m

me usually takes two minutes that's helpful for the chancellor of the front falter whether uncle americal or her challenger martin schultz daniel biskup has photographed them all. over an israeli air is no. one september sixteenth munich's mayer open the first barrel of beer signaling the traditional start of the october fast the ne will bear festival as the world's biggest party drawing millions of visitors many of them wearing traditional bavarian costume. each son was one of france's greatest fashion designers until his death in two thousand and eight in october a new museum opened in paris showcasing many of his designs including accessories drawings and films. october thirty first the grand finale of celebrations marking the five hundredth anniversary of the reformation there were events throughout the year to remember martin luther who published his theses in fifteen seventeen british artists gilbert and george produced their own take on luthor displaying works from their scapegoating series in berlin it was part of a project designed to highlight luther's reformist ideas. thanks no

before the day was over he and first lady melania trump wished naix amer y they sent christmas treat and video message. >> at this time of year we see the best of america and soul of the american people. >> we renew the bonds of lover and good will between our citizens and most importantly we celebrate the miracle of christmas. >>> president trump also claims he is responsible for making the words merry christmas acceptable again. in a tweet he said people are proud to be saying merry christmas again and i'm proud to have led the charge against our cherished and beautiful phrase merry christmas. >> at the vatican pope francis used his message to call for negotiated two state solution as he attempts to end the israeli palestinian conflict after trump sparked tension with president recognition of jerusalem of palestinian capital. israel declared the whole city to be united and eternal capital. >> here in the district, washington archbishop cardinal whirl led the basilica of national shrine of immack ulate conception. the church offered dibber for those in need. and volunteers delivered

majority don't, the five tribes are suing, but it is probably not fair to say he take any native americ americans into account, he supporters.had some host: from michigan, joe is next, democrat's line. hi, joe. caller: good morning. i want to point out good luck to the native americans on any based on ny of this, the u.s. government's history with treaties. how about aty, zero, a couple zeros were upheld by the united states government indian tribes? lakotahsu and the bad land, the government said, you can have this land, nobody else it, the bad lands, nothing there, cuhave it as parts of fortunately ion. cold was discovered and we know the lacotasu and lastsd lands, this treaty until friday, lasts forever or friday, whichever comes first. you. guest: yeah, the five tribes uing were the five who petitions the government to crea -- president obama decided to create it in large art because the five tribes pushed hard for it. they are upset and angry and drespected. in court will play out and we'll see what happens. host: cindy, go ahead. caller: hi. a question that obama -- obama? rump ma

unveiled a memorial on the anniversary of a deadly truck attack at a berlin christmas market on the americalsaid her government needs to improve defenses against attacks by extremists.

in an open letter to ms americal entitled a question of respect they write almost a year after the attack we note that you have not shared your condolences with us either in person or in writing in our opinion this means that you are not doing justice to your office it is a matter of respect and decency and it should be self-evident that you as head of the government acknowledged to our families the loss of a relative because of a terrorist act. or today almost a year later i'm going to marital extended that hand of condolence she agreed to speak in person with the victims' families that meeting took place behind closed doors here is what the chancellor said earlier today. so isn't it is a theft is a meeting is very important for me i know that some people might have waste for this meeting to take place but it's important to me that we make it very clear once again today how much we feel for the reality of this and it and how much we want to improve things. as the government's commission if the victims has brought to light many things that are inadequate. the insulation. tough tough it is

>> reporter: despite the fact that nike beat estimates, what analyses will look for is the north americ business, which is down 5%. people were expecting it to be down 1 to 3%. 5% is a lot worse than people were expecting. that will be the key. is there too much supply in that business? are price being discounted too much? the company is still targeting a $50 billion revenue target five years from now. they're at about $36 billion right now. they've got a long way to go. it will be interesting to see what happens in the next few quarters. can they stay on track for that $50 billion number? the big takeaway, that down 5% number in their north american business. for "nightly business r" i'm eric chemi. >>> the american economy expanded at its fastest pace in more than two years in the third quarter. the final reading of gross domestic product came in at 3.2% annual rate. slightly lower than the last reading. an increase in business spending offset a slight decline in consumer pending. the report marks the first time since 2014 that the economy experienced growt of 3% or more for two >>> a

tusk called a mandatory quota for refugees quote highly divisive and ineffective but your uncle americal who's just arrived has responded by saying member states can't just pick and choose when it comes to burden sharing and solidarity and the migration crisis is not the only controversial issue on the agenda another difficult topic. this was the happy moment at the summit leaders celebrated the start of closer defense cooperation which might lead to something that a few years ago it seemed unattainable a real defense union today this dream becomes a reality we are launching permanent structure of cooperation so-called. which is a practical expression of our will to build european defense but right after the happy moment the german chancellor seemed to have a word with two sgt nobody said what it was about but one thing seemed certain medical wasn't happy about comments on a mandatory refugee quota the council president had called the quota divisive and ineffective some agreed but the chancellor had a rather different view when said to him i made it very clear that i'm not happy about th

been massive in recent weeks and months and it has been directed to some extent directly at angle americal herself people felt people involved felt that the chancellor herself should have taken time to meet them should have taken time to speak to them and she is only done done so yesterday in other words a year after this attack the victims felt that there was that that was much too late until america i think will of course one that everything was done by the book as it were was done according to the rules which is how she likes to do things but in such an emotional situation that was not the optimal way of responding to those whose case is it's not only the chancellor that's come under criticism also police and security services it's perceived as a failure on their behalf tell us more about that. yes indeed there were and in fact failures on many many levels in the security operators in germany and he's amery the. person who committed this crime was actually well known to the security or foreign he's in various parts of germany they did not manage to coordinate their knowledge about this

political world social democrat leader martin jol refused to consider a coalition government with uncle americal after his party's election defeat but now in a huge turn his party has said yes to kicking off talks with americans conservatives again. i bring golf it's good to have you with us in response to u.s. president donald trump is controversial decision to recognize jerusalem as the capital of israel the palestinian group hamas has called for. uprising a new intifada israel's president a while fish freeze on president trumps decision today but the palestinian president says he is rallying international opposition to the move which he calls quote an unacceptable crock. it was a day off unrest in many parts of israel thousands of palestinians took to the streets to protest against u.s. president almost trumps decision to officially recognize jerusalem as israel's capital. and in many parts of the country protesters clashed with security forces. israel is preparing for more violence in the coming days and is deploying additional troops to the west bank but many fear that the situation could e

and international praise for this pick as well from uncle americal spokesperson the german chancellor who relays her message saying she welcomes the decision to make the women and men behind hash tag me to the time person of the year now the spokesman then quotes the german chancellor we have them to think for their courage to break the silence on sexual assault and thereby launch a world wide discussion so how will times decision affect the future of the movement many say that it's only just starting the human agency unicef tweeted this hash tag me too is the beginning of a global conversation about gender based violence and harassment not the end of one thank you to time. so there is some good news out there but with the conversation continues online you'll find us on twitter either at d. w. news or you can write to me brant off t.v. don't forget to use the hash tag the day and remember no matter what happens between now and then tomorrow is another day we'll see you then everything. is it. just the man who. won but then textile design a. trampoline. and an inspiration fashion and a

by describing a mandatory quota for refugees as highly divisive and ineffective germany's uncle americal has responded by saying that member states cannot pick and choose and the refugee crisis is not the only controversial issue on the agenda over the next few days another difficult topic will be no surprise breaks despite a friendly gesture to kick off the summit many see the european council president as a divider rather than a unifier that's because donald too is going to get rid of mandatory refugee quota it's his suggestion that e.u. countries be allowed to set their own refugee quotas voluntarily faces strong criticism. i don't believe in selective solidarity among european member states and the countries are fly on the e.u. border have a great responsibility and that's why we also need e.u. wide solutions. yes to solidarity no to quotas that's the message from some eastern european countries they would rather pay to protect their borders to the tune of thirty five million euros that's solidarity according to hungary and prime minister viktor orban we've got four countries are rea

general has had since the attack let's just watch and listen for a little bit it appears that chance americal and the other dictatorial have candles there. here is part of the memorial the twelve steps with the names of the victims and for viewers who are joining us that is their chance of america both there from her party as well the mayor of miller as they honor the victims of this attack and sumi this is also important because it happens at the kaiser wilhelm memorial church which in itself is a writ is already a place of a lot of symbolism in germany after the war it's a place that's true but also commemorates the peace resilience of the people in berlin and in germany and the fact that now we have another memorial here one with the names engraved with that crack that we see there it's incredibly important for berlin it's very important for germany also in a way as the country tries to heal after the attack on december nineteenth two thousand and sixteen a dates that i think many in the country won't forget. clearly various somber moments here thomas not only the names as you mentioned bu

emotion of the moment palpable a minute's silence a mark of respect to those who died although i get americal stood shoulder to shoulder with victims' relatives they do not think she's done enough since the tragedy in a letter to the german magazine der spiegel they spelt out their grievance saying the attack was not only aimed at the victims directly it was aimed at germany it's a question of respect decency and technically it's self evident that you as head of government should acknowledge to us the loss of our family members caused by an act of terror the chancellor did hold her first meeting with the families on monday and had this statement after the minute's silence. once an issue. for me and i'm speaking on behalf of the entire government we will work to improve or didn't go well and do everything humanly possible not only to ensure safety but also to give those whose lives have been destroyed or affected a chance to go back to their lives again as well as they can the problem for angela merkel and her government is despite such public pronouncements the families of the victims still h

joining talks for a new coalition government germany's president has been pushing to get a chance long americal and social democrat leader martin shields to break the deadlock over forming a new government and they met last night at the presidential palace in berlin with discussions lasting more than two hours chancellor merkel has been trying to. put together a government since i mean election on september twenty fourth the social democrat leader martin charles had earlier ruled out forming another coalition with merkel's party but pressure is building on him to reconsider his position. and he's all over salad has been following the latest for us he joins us in studio hi oliver so martin schultz he's meeting with leaders from his party and we're expecting a statement from him in about an hour's time what do you think do you think that he's going to get the green light from his party to go into these exploratory talks as they're called now that's want to the whole country is basically a waiting for right now for this statement here of his decision really will he go ahead into these exploratory

. >> there are a lot of procrastinators in americ late as possible and get their holiday gifts where they need to be by christmas eve. >> reporter: convenience reigning supreme as consumers wrap up their shopping list. jo ling kent, oxon hill, maryland. >>> tonight president trump's christmas vacation is under way with his family at palm beach, florida. but not before taking care of one last important piece of business impacting your taxes. nbc's hallie jackson is at the white house with the details on what the president did and did not do today that's also making some news. good evening. >> reporter: and what's coming next? hi, good evening, peter. president trump is getting away for the holidays, but there's plenty of work waiting for him when he gets back from mar-a-lago. before he left for his trip, he signed a major gop tax overhaul into law doing it now he says rather than waiting for something more formal after the new year because he wanted to keep his promise to get that tax plan done by christmas. he also signed a short-term fix to keep the government open for another month