top trump adviser kevin hassett with nbc's hans nichols. >> is the fed chairman's job safe? >> of course, 100%. >> 100%, the fed chair's job is not in jeopardy by this president? >> absolutely, yes. >> that was a signal that politics wasn't going to take over economic policy and investors liked hearing that. >> reporter: fears of an impending recession eased for today. >> how significant is it? that remains to be seen. when you get this kind of a snapback rally, you wt out if it's going to be confirmed by even more rallies down the road. >> reporter: a new survey of cfos show half believe we will be in a recession by the end of next year, 82% by the end of 2020, kate. >> kristen dahlgren, thank you. >>> as the stock market was rebounding, president trump was making a splash overseas. the president and first lady took their first trip to a combat zone visiting troops in western iraq at the al asad airbase. chief white house correspondent hallie jackson has more. >> reporter: a standing ovation for a milestone two years in the making. president trump personally thanking troops

2,000 troops are pulling out, i think it just doesn't bear up under scrutiny. >> let me go back to hans nicholsi understand, hans, there is some more reporting about the president and first lady's trip. >> reporter: chris, that's right. according to the associated press, which is traveling with president trump t, the presiden has no plans to pull out of iraq. that's significant, because there are 5,000 u.s. troops there, that are continuing the fight as part of a broader coalition against isis. now, he also says that he thinks the rest of the world will come around to his decision and his way of thinking of pulling those troops out of syria. again, according to the associated press, reuters is reporting some of this, as well. he says the u.s. troops in iraq will be able to go back into syria and hit isis very hard. just to give you an update, chris, on what the situation there on the ground looks like, most of the caliphate, most of the territory that isis has, had, has been taken away by this counter-isis coalition. that involves the u.s., the french, the british, providing support to a largel

top trump advisor kevin with hans nichols. >> you made it clear secretary mnuchin's job is safe, is the job chairman's safe? >> 100%. >> 100%, the job is not in jeopardy? >> absolutely. that's correct. yes. >> that was a signal politics wast going to take over economic policy investors liked hearing that. >> reporter: fears of an impending recession eased for toda when h you get this kind tf a snap back rally, you wafind out if it's going to be confirmed by even more rallies down the road. >> kate, it's important to note with this rally, the market is down double digits from the highs earlier this year. a survey of cfoshows lf believe we will be in a recession by the end of next year, 82% by the end of 2020. >> kristen dahlgren, thank you. >>> as the stock market was rebounding, president trump was making a splash overseas, the president and first lady took their first trip to a combat zone visiting with american troops istern iraq. at the al assad air base.at t al assad air base. chief whe house correspondent hallie jackson has more. >> reporter: a standing ovation for a milestone two

nbc pentagon correspondent hans nichols has more. >> reporter: vice admiral scott stearney commandedy's fifth fleet sailing in dangerous waters from the red sea to the persian gulf. his death at age 58 is an apparent suicide under investigation. a shock to the navy. >> scott stearney was a decorated naval warrior, a devoted husband and father and a good friend for all of us. >> reporter: a graduate of notre dame, he received top gun training to fly f-18 super hornets, making more than 1,000 aircraft carrier landings. amid the three-star admiral's responsibilities, helping to coordinate strikes against isis and the taliban while keeping iran in check. >> i'm ever vigilant. >> reporter: the naval criminal service opened a case and tonight a reminder, even the highest ranking members are vulnerable. >> these are mental health problems of the most serious questions and they require skilled psychiatric or medical intervention. >> reporter: hans nichols, nbc news, the pentagon. >>> former first lady michelle obama took some by surprise on her book tour in new york this week, speaking candi

han -- hans nichols, what do you have? >> reporter: lester, the crash occurred around 2:00 a.m. in the morning during a refueling operation between a marine kc-130 andf/a-18. both planes crashed into the water. it's now light out there and japanese search and rescue continue to look for the missing crew. the kc-130 has been a staple of marine aviation. recently it's had some deadly accident. in 2017, one crashed in mississippi, killing 16. >> hans nichols, thank you. >>> the ceo of gm is in full damage control mode, face-to-face with members congress today about those massive layoffs and plant closures. nbc's tom costello was there. fire, gm's ceo mary barra making the rounds on capitol hill today, defending her decision to lay off thousands of workers and close plants in ohio, michigan, and maryland, but making no promises. would you consider using those plants for new production lines? >> it's incredibly difficult to make these types of discussions. our focus is on the gm team members that are impacted. >> reporter: gm is shifting truck and suv production in mexico, focusing o

>> hans nichols with that breaking news, thank you. >>> here in washington isthe ceo of g.m. full damage control mode face-to-face with members of congress about the massive lay offs and plant closures. tom costello is there. >> repornder fire, mary barra making the rounds on capitol hill today defending her decision to lay off thousands of workers and clo plants in ohio, michigan and maryland but making no promises. >> would you use those plants for new producti lines? >> it's iredibly difficult to make these decisions so our focus is on t g.m. team members impacted. >> reporter: g.m. is shifting truck and suv production to mexico focussing on new electric vehicle and ending production of sedans, the volt and cruz. >> we're reably dsided by this. we didn't expect it at all. >> reporter: g.m.'s decision comes the same year ter it benefitted from the tax cut and u.s. taxpayers spent 13,000 -- $13 billion bailing them out.$13 billion bailing them out.>> e're not asking for charity, what we're asking for is to give the community and work force the portunity to once again show wh

nbc pentagon correspondent hans nichols has more. >> reporter: warships sailing in dangerous waters from red sea to the persian gulf. 5 his death at ais an apparent suicide under investigation. a shock to the navy. >> he was a decorated naval waior and devoted husband and father and a good friend. >> reporter: graduate of notre dame, he received top gun training to fly f-18 super hornets making more than 1,000 aircft carrier landings. amid his responsibilities, helping to coordinate strikes while keeping iran in check. >> i'm ever vigilant. >> reporter: the naval ce criminal ser opened a case and tonight a reminder, even the highest ranking members are vulnerable. >> theseroblems with the most serious consequences and require skilled psychiatric or medical intervention. >> reporter: hans nichols, nbc news, the pentagon. >>> former first lady michelle obama took some by surprise on her book tour this week speaking candidly about work life balance but taking a perceived swipe at sheryl sandberg. here is stephanie gosk. >> reporter: it was an intimate conversation with michelle obama. erhat

>> hans nichols, thank you. >>> tonight president trump making a push for border wall funding siting an incident wednesday when authorities say a california police officer was killed by an undocumented immigrant. the officer, an immigrant himself was gunned down during a traffic stop and the urgent manhunt for the suspect continues. morgan has that. >> reporter: in tinywm , california, the overwhelming loss. >> i do not want to be here today. >> reporter: is still much sinking in. >> i would give anything not to. >> reporter: today's emotiona from police chief randy richards help find the man who killed 33-year-old officer ron singh. >> my department is hurting. >> reporter: he just took this oto on christmas with his wife and 5-year-old son. five hours later, he was gunned down a affic stop. immigrated from fiji, becoming a police officer and driving two and a half hours ch way to the academy. >> this suspect unlike ron who immigrated to this country lawfully and legally, this suspect is in our country illegally. >> reporter: authorities launched a statewide search, police finding t

hans nichols is holding it down at the white house. there's been a reaction to the president's visit so far. what are you hearing? as the president and first lady are back in the residence behind you there this morning. >> they're potentially getting some sleep. what we have is clarity on what the president's strategy is. as well as a hint on who his long-term secretary of defense can be. it's clear he's defending his decision to pull out of syria. he's also recommitting to iraq. there are 5,000 u.s. troops in iraq roughly. what the president is saying is they can be used for counterterrorism purposes. to go ahead and strike at isis inside syria. that isn't the outcome that secretary mattis would have wanted but that's what the president is saying his new strategy is. as you mentioned, it was a defensive speech. here's what he's saying. >> america shouldn't be doing the fighting for every nation on earth. not being reimbursed in many cases at all. so we're not the suckers of the world. we're no locker the suckers, folks. and people are

nbc pentagon correspondent hans nichols introduces us to some of those who made the ultimate sacrificehis year. >> reporter: for american troops fighting from africa to the middle east, 2018 started out deadly. sergeant first class mihalil was born in latvia, became an american and was killed on new year's day. major brent taylor was a father of seven and mayor of his town in utah, the victim of an apparent insider attack. killed by the very afghans he was trying to train. >> i love you, honey. stay strong. >> reporter: dedicated to helping others. >> it just keeps coming back to service to god, family, and country. they're one to him. >> reporter: the deadliest single incident of the year took place in iraq, when a special operations pave hawk helicopter crashed at night, killing all seven aboard, including two new york city firefighters. christopher tripp known for his service. >> he liked to help people and that's what he did. >> reporter: a total of nine americans died fighting isis in syria and iraq, part of a global fight against extremism that also took the life of 26-year-old s

our pentagon correspondent hans nichols introduces us to some of those who made the ultimate sacrifice this year. >> reporter: for american troops fighting from africa to the middle east, 2018 started out deadly. sergeant first class golan was born in latvia, became an american citizen and died in afghanistan on new year's day. one of 13 americans killed in combat in afghanistan, including major brent taylor, a father of seven and the mayor of his town in utah, the victim of an apparent insider attack. killed by the very afghans he was trying to train. >> i love you,in honey, stay strong. dedicated to helping others. >> keeps coming back to service to god, family and country. >> reporter: the deadliest incident took place in iraq when a helicopter crashed at night killing all seven aboard including two new york city firefighters. christopher tripp and lieutenant ragus o'who was remembered for his service. >> the guy loved to save and help people and that's what he did. >> reporter: a total of nine americans died while fighting iies? syria and iraq, part of a global fight against extrem

msnbc's garrett haake is on capitol hill for us, hans nichols is over at the white house. garrett, we've now reached the seinfeld of broadcast territory, which is a live shot about nothing. >> that about sums it up, hallie. >> back to you, garrett. >> exactly. the senate will be back in session. it's not the full crew. they cleared the decks before leaving town so they could moving quickly if and when there is a deal. right now, no deal is in the offing. democrats are looking to the president, hoping they will come to him with an offer they feel he can accept. they don't really know where he stands. despite the president saying he definitely wants a border wall, he has also called it a wall, a fence, steel slats. the dollar figure seems to be an open question and democrats don't want to move until the president moves and that's leaving republicans essentially on the outside here, even though they control both chambers, waiting to see what democrats and the president can hash out. republican senator bill cassidy on another network this morning was talking about exactly that

hans nichols is at the white house for us. it's the first time we've seen the president respond to the sentencing of michael cohen. >> he has broken his silence. his old argument was there is no collusion, as it pertains to russia. the new argument is there's no crime as it pertains to these payments. and he seems to be blaming his old lawyer. take a look at these tweets from the president. i never directed michael cohen to break the law. he is a lawyer and he is supposed to know the law. it's called advice of counsel and a lawyer has a great liability if a mistake is made. that's why they get paid, despite that, many campaign lawyers strongly stated i have done nothing wrong with respect to campaign laws. this tweet goes on. you get the gist of it. blame michael cohen and claim you didn't know what was happening in terms of these payments. the president's entire posture on these investigations was there's no collusion with russia. now that it looks like these investigations, especially in the southern district, are taking a s

nbc's pentagon correspondent, hans nichols, introduces us to some of those who made the ultimate sacrifice this year. >> reporter: for american troops fighting from africa to the middle east, 2018 started out deadly. sergeant first class golan became an american citizen and died in afghanistan on new year's day. one of 13 americans killed in combat in afghanistan. including major brent taylor, a father of seven and the mayor of his town in utah. the victim of an apparent insider attack. killed by the very afghans he was trying to train. >> i love you, honey. stay strong. >> reporter: dedicated to helping others. >> it just keeps coming back to service, to god, family and country. they're one to him. >> reporter: the deadliest single incident in the year took place in iraq when a special operations helicopter crashed at night, killing all seven aboard, including two new york city firefighters. christopher tripp and christopher raguzo, remembered for their service. >> the guy loved to save and help people and that's what he did. >> reporter: a total of nine americans died while fighting isis

i think the key question is will he meet with political leaders in iraq. >> that was hans nichols reportings a surprise trip. that's why there were so many questions still. but in the coming hours we are going to learn more about the president's itinerary

nbc's pentagon correspondent hans nichols is at the white house and nbc's garrett haak sechlt on capitol hill. they join tonight's panelist "washington post" reporter eugene scott, "washington post" opinion writer jennifer rubin, and nbc news analyst howard fineman. hans, i do want to start with you. the president made this surprise visit to iraq, and when he got there he bragged about -- or admitted at the very least he completely ignored the advice of his generals. what does that mean going forward? >> well, that means that the process -- the normal process that we've come to expect with presidents in consulting their national security council, their apparatus, might not necessarily be as traditional with this president. which could be the understatement of the night. it was clear the president had long wanted to get out of syria. it was clear that some people were counseling him against getting out of syria, and when he made his decision it was precipitous. i think we should note what the president did do, though. he said the u.s. forces would stay in iraq. so a defense on syria, a re

i've got hans nichols on the phone.ing at joint base andrews for services for the president but also reporting out what is -- explain. the significance of this move by the pentagon here. >> the pentagon does freedom of navigation operations where they sail close to, within 12 miles, of an island that another country will claim. now normally 90% of the time we talk about this, it happens with china and the south china sea. just a week ago they did one of these ops, the navy did, down by the parasol islands. china gets upset and launch formal complaints. what's interesting here is the u.s. is challenging a russian claim on a russian island in the great bay. now put that together with a report from cnn that they're sending a destroyer back into the black sea and you see the navy being a little more aggressive toward russia. we don't want to oversell it. what the u.s. says is that the ops are well within international law and just establishing agreed upon norms and you're not allowing russia or in this case, china to make a

hans nichols at the white house, and garrett haake at capitol hill. and now, hans, it seems that i are trying to give up on the $5 billion demand. what are you hearing? >> they rare not going to get te $5 billion, and they are going back and forth with the negotiations. they have not indicated what the number is, but they have come down. so while there is softening there, but at is same time they are hardening the decision of entire entirely shutting down the border. it is new, and a new element into the discussion about tying the open of the border to this overall negotiation of building a fence, a wall a barrier or whatever you want to call it. the white house is trying to set the stage for today's debate l earlier in the morning with a series of tv appearances, and also, this is what sarah huckaby sanders had to say. >> the democrat s has have not willing to do anything, and that is sad part. they care more about keeping the borders open than the government open. they do not want to protect american citizens, but they want to protect illegal immigra

we want to go to robert costa, with us, national political reporter for the "washington post," hans nichols is at the white house for us. so to that question, hans, what does the president want, is it clear? >> it's clear he wants something for a wall/border security and i think the interesting thing about this proposal from the democrats is that it's going to force the president's hand on two fronts, really. one, will he continue to hold the other agencies hostage to the negotiations for the funding for dhs and the wall? and then there's the separate question, entirely separate question whether or not the president wants to agree to have a fight later in february. have a big valentine's day fight, that's when this would run out, when we get closer to the debt ceiling, if the president wants to take these fights and arguments in sequence, the democrats have given him the opportunity. if the president thinks he has more leverage now with all these other agencies but again, this is not the entire federal government or the military but if he likes the leverage now, then this is doa and it's a

. >> nbc's hans nichols is at the white house for us. ans, what more do we know about that visit at this point? >> we know it was short. we know it was about three hours. it left political scars in iraq by not meeting with the prime minister, and we do have some clarity on what the president's path forward is in the counterisis fight in the middle east. he wants to keep troops in iraq, there are 5,000 troops in iraq. and he made it clear he wants to withdraw from syria and also gave us an explanation on the time line for their withdrawal. >> there will be a strong, deliberate and orderly withdrawal of u.s. forces from syria, very deliberate, very orderly, while maintaining the u.s. presence in iraq to prevent an isis resurgence and to protect u.s. interests and also to always watch very closely over any potential reformation of isis, and also to watch over iran. we'll be watching. >> we still don't have a lot of clarity how the president plans to withdraw those 7,000 troops from afghanistan. remember, he didn't visit afghanistan. his one

. >> and i want to bring in hans nichols now who's standing by at the white house. , overnight president trump gave an interview to "reuter" in which he ordered, look, those payments prior to the election, that's just a civil matter. talk about the strategy we're seeing from this president from this white house really digging in in the face of all of this. >> reporter: what you see from the president this morning is studied silence. the president hasn't really come out on michael cohen. he has been talking about his border wall and what he is accusing nancy pelosi and chuck schumer is doing and that is not funding it to the detriment of the country. you're seeing the president clearly trying to keep the focus on what he wants to talk about, which is border security, funding of the wall, and tstudid indifference on what's happening with michael cohen. the president isn't in the west wing yet. he's had all morning to watch tv and watch these unfolding developments in the residence if he so chooses. >> we'll be watching our twitter feed. that may be where we hear from h

hans nichols, thank you as well. umgine, jennifer, and howard, you guys are staying with us. up next our breaking news coverage continues. the president is on defense over defense. have we really knocked isis silly? we'll talk to an expert who knows the region better than pretty much everyone. gion betten pretty much everyone ♪ bring all the gifts for under the tree. and while you're at it... bring the tree. ford f-150 best-in-class payload. best-in-class towing. built for the holidays. hurry! it's the final days to get 0% financing for 72 months on ford f-150. see your ford dealer today. >>> welcome back. just days after president trump announced a withdrawal if syria that was denounced by his fellow republicans president trump today told u.s. troops serving in iraq is he is in no hurry to appoint a new secretary of defense, that the united states cannot continue to be the policeman of the world and that it is "ridiculous" how many countries the u.s. has troops serving in. he also said we've knocked isis syria, that turkey and saudi arabia will help defeat isis, which by the

and sometimes it is a great cost. >> hans nichols reporting for us. according to the ministry of defense, the three ships provided include a submarine, rescue ship and two destroyers. >>> back here in california, sacramento county leaders are asking for financial help if and when the golden state killer case goes to trial. joseph deangelo faces 26 counts of murder and rape. the string of crimes spanning more than a decade. across six california counties. he'll be tried in sacramento. the cost of that trial could potentially balloon to $20 million. the county is now asking the state to help shoulder the cost. >>> developing right now, a one-time san francisco giants player was one of two baseball players killed in a car crash in venezuela. infielder jose castillo played in 2008. the other player played for the l.a. angels last season and a played a total of 11 years. they were playing for a venezuelan winter ball team. authorities say their car struck a rock last night and went off the road. >>> mud flows from heavy rain triggering evacuations in parts

hans nichols is at the white house. i understand, are we getting some video finally?> we are waiting for that video to play out. remember, the president is up and away. air force one has left iraq. the president was on the ground for about three hours. so what we -- we will hear the president's first comments when he's addressing those troops for about 20 minutes. that's what we expect to get played out, if all the technical challenges can be surmounted. as you well know, whenever you do a trip like this, logistical challenges, technical challenges. it's great difficulty for the pool to actually get the material, that's the group of reporters that travels with the president, back into position and get that -- get those images and the sound out to the world. just to recap the headlines, though. we have the president of the united states has finally made a visit to a war zone, visiting the troops in iraq. declaring, telling reporters that he'll not be withdrawing from iraq. that's significant because he has said he's going to pull the 2,000 troops out of syria. they've

here is pentagon correspondent hans nichols. >> reporter: in choppy waters off the coast of japan, time is running out. five u.s. marines are still missing at sea after their kc-130 collided with an f-18 fighter jet more than 24 hours ago. the two marines in the f-18 ejected and rescued at sea, but one died overnight according to the pentagon. the planes took off from japan and crashed at 2:00 a.m. 200 miles from the coast. the accident happened during a training exercise in midair refueling. a complicated but routine procedure. the seas have been rough for the massive search and rescue effort with the japanese navy and u.s. ships and planes scanning the water for debris or any signs of life. it's been a dangerous two years for the kc-130. one crashed in mississippi last w when a corroded propeller blade spun off slicing into the fuselage and a crash in georgia killing all bett part more hour support. we need new airports. we've got to improve our procedures.>> reporter: overnight, the temperatures dropped into the 30s, so if those marines survived the crash, they're in danger of hypoth

our pentagon correspondent hans nichols has been sifting through this report. e can you tell us, hans? >> this has been a persistent challenge, craig, for the u.s. military trying to enforce sanctions on the north koreans to force them to the negotiating table. this is the maximum pressure campaign that secretary mattis talks about. what my colleagues have discovered, there's a top secret report coming out of pay com, that is the naval basically, the operations for the entire endo pacific. that's the region where they're trying to prevent these ship to ship transfers of oil as the north koreans try to evade sanctions. what this report is finding is that it's clearly happening. the north koreans are trying to circumvent it, and they're changing their tactics. just to give you a little refresher on this. there are strict sanctions on the amount of oil that the north koreans can import into their country. it's actually quite strangling, but they've been able to work around that by doing these ship to ship transfers so in the middle of the night they have one ship c

joining us from the white house, nbc's hans nichols, kevin barron, ned price, former nfc spokesperson and sam stein, politics editor for the daily beast and noah rothman, for commentary magazine. ned, let's start out with you. are you surprised that donald trump finally made a trip to a combat zone, and can you talk a little bit about the preparations that go into this kind of trip? >> yeah, elise. i can't say i'm surprised and primarily for one reason. it's now nearly two years into the trump presidency. this is something that the past two presidents, presidents george w. bush, as you know, president barack obama, as i well know, did routinely. several times during their presidencies, much earlier in their presidencies. and certainly well before it became a political liability for their administrations. but as you note, this is not something that is an easy under taking. it's a sophisticated feat to literally sneak the president out of the white house, all the way to andrews air force base, out of washington, d.c., and all the way to a conflict zone, whether it's afghanistan or iraq.

. >> hans nichols let me bring you in here first. president trump late reporting to the white house yesterday, what about today? >> reporter: craig, the president is not in the west wing. the marine guard isn't post out there. no sign of the president in the west wing. he does have something at 11:45. his thumbs have been working. he's been on twitter this morning offering his defense to the cohen portion of this investigation and when you look at his defense, he's not arguing against collusion saying there's no collusion, he's saying there's no crime. what he's doing is blaming his lawyer. take a look at this tweet. he had a flurry of them this morning. here is the relevant part, it's called advice of counsel, and a lawyer has great liability if a mistake is made. that is why they get paid. craig, he is clearly trying to shift blame on his lawyer, and in all the tweets this morning, the president is not admitting, he's not saying he made these payments. he's just saying he was following the advice of his counsel. >> hans nichols for

here is pentagon correspondent hans nichols. >> reporter: in choppy waters off the coast of japan, time is running out. five u.s. marines are still missing at sea af ter their plane collided with an f-18 ejected and rescued at sea but one died overnight according to the pentagon.pl thes took off from japan and crashed at 2:00 a.m. 200 miles from the coast. the accident happened ring a training exercise in midair refueling. a complicated but routine procedure. the seas have been operation and planes scanning the water for any debris or signs of life. it's been a dangous two years for the kc 130. one crashed in is mippi last summer killing 16. the plane went down when a corroded propeller blade spun fuselage and a crash in georgia killing all nine aboard. >> we need more hours and better part support and new airplanes. the eporte temperatures dropped and if they did survive the crash, the ey are in danger of hypothermia. >>> there is political drama, me than a month after the midterms, the house race remains uncalled and under investigation and todathe democrat withdrew his concession to

hans nichols is at the white house. welcome. hans, i'm going to start with you. how is a deal going to get done if the president isn't reaching out to democrats, only speaking out on twitter, it seems? >> reporter: when you look at the way negotiations normally happen, you have your public position and try to work out a compromise in private. the president indicating he is not at that work out stage, yet. he's clearly digging in on the idea of a wall. i campaigned on border security, which you can't have without a wall. our border is an open wound where illegal traffickers pour into the country. this is a president trying to put out his red lines. doesn't appear he is ready to negotiate, yet. lindsey graham is talking about a compromise. we are not heard from the president he is willing to cut a deal. >> the president seems to be disputing john kelly. he gave the forthcoming interview to the l.a. times. >> reporter: john kelly is saying what the president hinted at on twitter. this isn't going to be a concrete wall. when you look at the picture, it was a galvaniz

joining me nbc news correspondent hans nichols and rick tyler. hans, you're standing there in front of the white house. how are these exit interviews playing at the white house? >> reporter: it's clear that president trump doesn't like the message that his departing chief of staff is propagating. the president never really wanted a wall. they just want something closer to border security. the president taking to twitter to try to refute that even though that december 21 tweet where the president pictured a prototype of the wall. it was slats. the slats had spiked tips. it was a slatted wall and not a concrete wall. kelly is giving lie to that myth that the president wanted a concrete wall. >> kelly is being honest about what's happening. the president is going on twitter and claiming no, he wants this cement wall. who do folks believe, rick? the president or his two adults in the room. >> that's such a tough call. they will believe because what ma mattis and kelly are saying is all the reporting we have been hearing the last two years in the whus.

hans nichols, sorry about that. thank you and hp appy new year. >> thanks. >>> elizabeth warren spoke to reporters and announced she is going to build a grass roots campaign as she considers a run for president. she also had questions addressing criticism she is too polarizing for the national stage. that's next. polarizing for the national stage. that's next. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ comfort. what we deliver by delivering. i am a techie dad.n. i believe the best technology should feel effortless. like magic. at comcast, it's my job to develop, apps and tools that simplify your experience. my name is mike, i'm in product development at comcast. we're working to make things simple, easy and awesome. >>> spoke to reporters outside her home about why she is considering a run for president. here is what she said when a reporter asked if she was too polarizing for the national stage. >> america's middle class is getting hollowed out and the opportunity for our young people is shrinking. i'm in this fight all the way. it is already. it is

want to bring in hans nichols at the white house, garrett haake, also with us, national security reporter julia ainsley and ken vogel. hans, i will start with you on this one. we heard from the president on the holiday mostly in the form of tweets. but that's to be expected. what's the bottom line here? is the white house making an effort to work with congress to end the shutdown? >> reporter: they're sending no signals that they actually are worried about the economic impact of the shutdown. i think that's the story line out of the white house this morning. kevin hasset saying they'll see no impact on the economy. this is a president that's willing to suffer some short-term political pain, even market gyrations, economic pain. but the wall is a priority and indicated that time and time again. guys? >> garrett, the president claiming he has support of the shutdown, that it is all actually the democrats' fault, despite the fact he sat there saying that he's going to take the blame for the shutdown and here we are saying -- shifting the blame to the democrats. what are you hearing? >> repor

let's crossover to hans nichols at the white house, and he also covers the pentagon, and so we are luckyhave that p perspective as well. hans, talk about this a little bit. does it seem likely that the president wants to the make iraq the centerpiece of the policy in the middle east and as easy as he made it sound, that the troops positioned in iraq and i don't know exactly how many are in that theatre, but the same way that we use out of qatar and other syrian and other operations? >> in the air, there are 5,000 troops in iraq, and they have helicopter assets which we learned after that fatal crash killing seven. but the president wants iraq to be the base of the counter-isis fight at least as it relates to the middle euphrates valley, and the middle east there, and there is a whole other fight where isis is, and where the president also wants to withdraw troops as well. so when you are listening to the the president defend the strategy and articulate the new one with, it is part of the america first ethos. have a listen. >> america shouldn't be doing the fighting for every nation on ea

hans nichols is back with us from the white house. if you can, take us inside the pentagon.ow much of an impact is mattis's departure having this morning and what are the priorities that patrick shanahan has ahead of him. >> the priorities will be the same. mattis is trying to ensure an orderly transition so people in the pentagon and down range fighting in places like syria, iraq, and afghanistan don't detect a difference at the top of the dod, at the top of the pentagon. what mattis is saying today is in large part keeping what he said publicly and privately during his two years as secretary of defense. there's a video about a year ago when he was in jordan telling his troops to hold the line with all the dissengs in the political ugliness in the country. at the time he was read as a rebuke of president trump, but he's been saying this military needs to do what they do, ban together, make sure the defenses of america stay firm and fast and not let any of the internal divisions cloud their thinking. it's been a standard mattis line for two years. shanahan will be the acting

joining us is pentagon correspondent hans nichols, jake sherman covering congress for politico, brett stevens in studio with me for "the new york times" and msnbc political con trib josh rosor the and jennife. what is the white house strategy here, hans? >> reporter: they want to expand the things potentially on the table for negotiating so the president threatening to shut down the border. softening or not clear on how much and don't want do get hard enned into a position for border security and not talking about 5 billion. also not insisting that it be a wall. this sort of slat idea, they claim there's a consensus that it's agreed upon by republicans and democrats and then finally i think we are getting a taste of what to hear for two years and that is blame pelosi. >> this all comes down to mrs. pelosi speakership. >> she is looking to protect the speakership and not the borders. >> is nancy pelosi's speakership worth shutting down the government for? is it worth leaving the border unp unprotected? >> reporter: jake will have a busy year on capitol hill between the white house and

hans nichols is joining me now. we had the discussion about the markets reopening after that terrible, no-good, very-bad day on christmas eve. the economic adviser to the president and head of the economic council is coming out and saying, chill out, we're okay. >> it is one of the calming interviews that white houses try to do to let everyone know to chill out and don't check their 401 cans too many times during the day. number one, he said steve mnuchen's job is entirely safe. the president has full confidence. he is in those meetings all the time. the president is not upset with steven mnuchen. he also said the same thing about jerome powell. why is that interesting? well, because so many of the market fraught right now has been about the potential firing of jerome powell, the fed's independence. when pressed on this, he said that his job is safe. as we know with the white house, the only one who can determine that someone's job is safe is the president of the united states, and we have not heard from him. finall

. >> reporter: hans nichols, nbc news, the pentagon. >> and with the war sort ofnd g down, a lot of people can forget there are still service members overseas serving in that capacity. >> yewe. >>> , it's some big changes coming in the new year for some nfl coaches. ami, and denver fire their coaches and the bengals could be next. >> after the break, we'll take a look at the dskins' final game and where the team goes from here. i'm alex trebek here to tell you about the colonial penn program. if you're age 50-85 and looking to buy life insurance on a fixed budget, remember the three p's. the three what? the three p's? what are the three p's?of the three p'ife insurance on a fixed budget are price, price, and price.u a price n afford, a price that can't increase, urd a price that fits udget. i'm 54 and i wasa smoker bu. alex, what's my price? you can get coverage for $9.95 a month. i'm 65, retired, and take medications. what's my price? also $9.95 a month. m i just turned 80 and a fixed income. what's my price? $9.95 a month for you, too. if you're age 50 to 85, call now about the number on

. >> that was hans nichols reporting. was a surprise trip. that's why there were so many questions still. but in the coming hours we are going to learn more about the president's itinerary in iraq. >> stay with news4 on air and on the nbc washington app. we will bring you updates and new details as they come in. >>> and there is more breaking news this evening. umocks surged today, 'racing the dismalrs that we saw on chief. the dow rallied 1,000 points after being closed yesterday for christmas. it is the biggest point gain ever. now, retailers were among the best performers today. surprisehere. energy stocks, by the way, also jumped. > here in washington it is day five in the shutdown stalemate. >> over the holiday president trumpaying heill not reopen the government until hongets $5 biln funding for his border wall. >> democrats also diggingn, refusing the president's demands. now, the senate returns tomorrow, but with no end to the standoff in sight. tonight we've got t as hundreds of thousands of federal workers remain in the crosshairs.

here is hans nichols at the pentagon with more. >> reporter: good morning.to have the latest on the search for those five missing marines. now, you remember, they ended up in the ocean there in the western pacific, after a crash between a kc-130 and f-18 touring a refueling operation. it's a complicated maneuver, but also one that they do fairly regularly. this shouldn't happen. initially, the reports were that two of them ejected from the f-18. one of the pilots ended up dying and the search continues in some very difficult waters. we'll have all the latest coming up on the "today" show. >>> 5:58 now. also new jo every nigovernight, an office in new york city home to cnn. the phone threat came in around 10:00 in the evening. that caller claimed there were five devices planted all around that cnn building. the all clear was given right around midnight. >>> and you'll remember in october, cnn was targeted in a wave of pipe bombs mailed to the netwo network, former president, plus other critics of president trump. >>> new for you this morning, some research he

hans nichols said the president didn't even come down to the office or the west wing until closer toious to get your thoughts, carol, from your reporting, have you gotten a sense of what is the biggest concern for impeachment? what part of the investigation, even with this new investigation that "the wall street journal" is reporting about the inaugural committee, which out of the litany of investigations facing the president that the democrats could possibly pick up in 2019 is he the most concerned about, according to your reporting and the aides? >> well, i think actually it's kind of -- it's all of them. it's broadly the fact that you have the special counsel investigation and then you have the southern district of new york, that investigation. and then you have other investigations that are percolating about, the president's business ties. now this report in "the wall street journal" about the inaugural committee. it's just that there are all of these sort of you can envision it like trains on the track, that this white house feels like they can't get control of and they don't kn

fast but they will get pretty soon and then kevin hassett came out and had this exchange with hans nichols asked is the fed chairman's job safe yes, 100% yes, and somewhere after that the market rallied more than 600 points can the market cross off from its worries listed that there will be a full-blown crisis between the fed and the president. other situations where the administration officials have shade a person's firing was not imminent and would be contradicted by the president's actual actions that said in the other situations it was clear that the president had the authority to move that person maybe not so clear, wilf, with the chairman. >> and, steve, in general, will we say that he's also softening his rhetoric, the president himself, in terms of how have anti he is towards the fed's action or not. >> reporter: he said in my opinion, they will get soon, that's a difference, but we both know that that can change on a dime. >> right. >> there's both i think a real criticism of the federal reserve here, and there's a political criticism where the president is trying to deflect any b

joining us now nbc news pent concorrespondent hans nichols. what's the latest? >> well, the latest is they're facing some difficult seas there in the sea of japan with these rescue efforts. they're still looking, as you mentioned, for those five marines. what happened was you had a refueling plane, a kc-130 collide, an f-18. they've pulled two of those marines out. one of them is receiving medical treatment, but they are both alive. but as of this morning, it's dark there now. they continue the seven witharc whole lot of assets. >>> we've learned jim mattis has extended the troops on the south western board he. >> mattis gets something called a request for assistance, an rfa and he signs it. the most recent one was about 48 hours and that will extend those troops for another 45 days. the more interesting question is, guys, what are their rules of engagement going to be.? it's clear that president trump wants them to be able to use a little bit more policing activity than mattis is comfortable with. this is the complicated dance that secretary mattis always has t

nbc's pentagon correspondent hans h nichols the latest on this. good morning. >> reporter: good morning. night has fallen off the coast of japan. officials say the seas areopen, they are rough. finding those five marreese ven evens mayor -- marines may requir a miracle. still no sign of those five missing marines. lost in an angry sea after their kc-130 crashed with an f/a-18 fighter jet while refueling almost two days ago. ejected and rescued at sea, but one died yesterday.ll it's s unclear what caused the deadly accident. president donald t yesterday, my thoughts and prayers are with the u.s. marine corps. whatever you need, we are here for you. the crash h tpened inhe dead of night at 2:00 tm. after planes took off from iwakuni collidin during a midair fueling operation. it's a complicated but routine procedure. roses extend the kc-130's wings with a basketg danglin opom the end. f/a-18 fighters off their tanks. first proced in the vietnam era, it's been a dangerous two years. a this spring a c-130 from the puerto rican national guard lost powe