Transcripts For MSNBCW First Look 20171222

Friday before christmas, december 22. Im Yasmin Vossoughian alongside louis burgdorf. According to triple a, 107 million americans are expected to travel over what is being called the busiest Holiday Travel periods ever. Today is expected to be one of the most congested days on the roadways and at the nations airports. Travelers should prepare for long lines and congested roads this afternoon when the holiday rush is expected to hit its peek. Meteorologist bill karins is going to have the holiday forecast coming up in a few minutes. On the brink of shutdown. Congress voted to fund the federal government for another four weeks until january 19 as longterm solutions remain elusive in the capital. Democrats unable to leverage divisions in the congress to win a compromise on daca dragging the battle over undocumented immigrants and other spending minorities into the new year. John cornyn said i guess we better recharge or batteries. It seems like ground hog day. We get up and do the same thing over and over and over again. It is maddening. Yesterdays approval included 4. 7 in spending for ship repair and missile defense. Shortterm extension to keep the Childrens Program running until march. 2 billion for a veterans hurricane program. The spending resolution also waived automatic spending cuts that would have been triggered due to estimated deficit from tax bill. Paving the way for President Trump to sign it into law. Meanwhile the house passed 81 billion Disaster Relief bill for texas, florida, california, and puerto rico, but the senate will not take it up until next year. The United Nations voted yesterday in favor of a nonbinding revolution condemning the u. S. s decision to recognize jerusalem as the capital. Declaring it null and void. 128 Member States voted in favor, including several of americas closest allies, france, britain, german and japan. 35 abstained. Including australia, canada, mexico and poland. Nine nations voted against the resolution. Many of which are tiny island nations in the pacific. Heavily dependent on american aide. Before the vote, several nations delivered speeches blasted threats made this week by nikki haley and President Trump which some have perceived as blackmail. Threatening the u. S. Would cut foreign and humanitarian aid. In a speech prior to the vote, haley issued another not so warning threat. The United States is by far the single largest contributor to the United Nations and its agencies. When we make generous contributions to the u. N. , we also have a legitimate expectation that our good will is recognized and respected. When a nation is singled out for attack, that nation is disrespected. Whats more, that nation is asked to pay for the privilege of being disrespected. In the case of the United States, we are asked to pay more than anyone else for that dubious privilege. We have an obligation to demand more for our investment. The United States will remember this day in which it was singled out for attack in the General Assembly for the very act of exercising our right as a sovereign nation. We will remember it when we are called upon to once again make the Worlds Largest contribution to the United Nations. And we will remember it when so many countries come calling on us as they so often do to pay even more and to use our influence for their benefit, but this vote will make a difference on how americans look at the u. N. And on how we look at countries who disrespect us in the u. N. And this vote will be remembered. Lets go to london. Nbc news Foreign Correspondent lucy joining us from there. How is the International Community responding to sort of these threats by both trump and ambassad Ambassador Nikki Haley. Not well. The vote was a stunning rebuke. And the climax on the issue. Monday every single nation in the u. N. Security Council Voted in favor of a resolution deeming trumps Jerusalem Decision as null and void. Yesterday was an emergency vote on virtually the same wording and despite President Trumps unprecedented threat that any countrys coming out against the u. S. Could see their aide cut, the numbers 128 nations speak for themselves. Even pakistan which gets a lot of u. S. Aide voted in favor of this resolution. Now the palestinians very much see this as a success. They wanted to use this vote to show the u. S. The majority of the world backs their positions. They see this as a step forward from multilateralism something that has been echoed by turkey, and others. Meanwhile some israelis believe it as a success. Because of the number of absentees. Ambassador nikki haley inviting all countries that did not vote against the u. S. To a thank you party. Think of this as the first symbolic step of the United States taking note of who supports us and who does not. This is a bigger move that the palestinians are making to shrine the peace process. They think america has taking isra israels side on this. They are reaching out to countries like china and russia to see the void left by the United States. If you think about it from pakistans perspective, do we side with the neighbors, with the muslims nations around us, Muslim Community or brothers, do we side with a country that gives us a lot of funding and has been for the last couple of years, for many years at that. Certainly a dilemma for them, but making their voice known. They spoke with their vote, quite clearly. Absolutely. Vice president mike pence made ale surprise visit to afghanistan yesterday. First trip to afghanistan after vp. Coming four months after President Trump who is yet to visit the country announced strategy for americas longest war. Met with president before delivering a speech at the air base. Meanwhile President Trump visited wounded troops at Walter Reed Medical Center outside of washington yesterday. Calling them some of the bravest people anywhere in the world. Presented the purple heart to 25yearold victor prado. Wounded last months in a blast in afghanistan. Deputy fbi director concluded a combined 16 hours of closed door testimony this week. Reportedly confirmed hes a witness in the investigation of actions by President Trump to halt the russia investigation. Three unnamed sources tell cnn that he told the House Intel Committee that fired director james comey informed him of conversations he had with President Trump soon after they happened. Last june, comey testified that he had told mccain and other members about trumps requests for loyalty and what he perceived the president asking for an end to the russia investigation. I discussed the lifting the cloud and the request with the Senior Leadership team, who typically and i think in all these circumstances was the deputy director, my chief of staff, the general counsel, the deputy directors chief counsel, and i think in a number of circumstances, the number three in the fbi and a few of the conversations included the head of the National Security branch. You have the president of the United States asking you to stop an investigation thats an important investigation. What was the response of your colleagues . I think they were as shocked and troubled by it as i was. So this all happening after report in Foreign Policy unconfirmed by nbc news that Trump Administration records show that the white house counsel, don mcgahn, was aware in january that when National Security adviser Michael Flynn had possibly violated laws about lying to federal investigations and communications with russians ambassador, flynn remained in his job until mid february. 18 days after acting attorney general alleged concerns. Flynn and possibly anyone authorized approved of such contacts would be in potential violation of the logan act. According to Anonymous Sources who work in the administration. Lets go to washington now. Capitol Hill Reporter for the hill, molly hooper joining us on this friday. Molly, good to talk to you. I want to talk first about what the democrats have been doing with regard to the spending bill. Congress kicking the can down the road with regards to the spending bill. See the cycle repeating illness over and over again. Do you think thats the case, groundhog day as senator cornyn said. It feels like bill murray should be up on capitol hill. Every day waking up with the same alarm clock. Now that the tax bill is through, that had been a major focus of the republicans and so much so they pretty much didnt you know engage in really serious negotiations on these other issues. You know, obviously the funding bill and also the must pass items attached to that, including daca, the Childrens Health insurance program. Flood insurance programs. So all of those items were essentially as you said kicked down the road until the end of january. Or mid january. And i think by that time, in the amount of you know the four weeks that come between then and now, we will see some movement on all of those issues. Behind the scenes there have been bipartisan talks on daca. A daca fix that would include some mixture of border security, and, you know, making the children of undocumented individuals coming across the border, that would give them legality so they could stay and work in the country. I think well see that in january. Its just that, again, the republicans have been laser focused on tax reform. So much the other issues fell by the wayside. From the public perspective, it has to be frustrated and have you scratching your head. It happens more often than not they kick it down the road and threat of government shutdown. They say no, weve avoided it. Three more weeks to figure it out. Yet were going take a holiday and then have five days to figure it out again. Starting to echo what senator cornyn was saying. Lets talk about daca here. Seems the democrats have backed off on talking a really tough stance on daca. How big of an issue is this going to be, molly, amongst the hispanic caucus or is it. It is a huge issue. Since the house and senate did not pass the entire funding of the government through september 30, you know, daca still has that sort of four week we preview. If the government had been funded through september 30 and daca was not included, that would be a huge issue. As nancy pelosi said, listen, weve extended december into january. And essentially, those issues that are remaining, they will be taken care of, including reauthorization of the Intelligence Surveillance law. Theres a lot of problems with that as well. So again, it would have been a bigger deal had Congress Actually approved funding through the fiscal year. They didnt. They just have the shortterm extension. Once january 19 comes, thats going to be the big date to watch for. There would be a government shutdown. It would happen after january 19 if daca is not included. Heres the gray area. Those people protected under daca who run out within this period. So hoping that those people do still remain protected until theyre able to figure this thing out. Im going to talk to you again at the bottom of the hour, thank y you. Okay. Could be moving on from obama repeal. New signups for the health care remain strong. More what to expect getting into the busy holiday weekend. Get a full check on christmas weather and winter weather, of course. When we come back. Some cancellations. Maybe your start your christmas break a little early here. Really albany northward the snow now. Heres the snowfall forecast. Just in the next 36 hours. Pinkest purple color. Six inches of snow. Solid half of foot snow through the region. A lot of plowing going on through the night and tomorrow morning. The cold air is still going to be in place. Youre going to go from snow over to sleet and then freezing rain. This is an ice storm. Talk about half an inch of ice here. Near the worcester hill, mass pike out past springfield. Could cause Power Outages and downed tree limbs. Dont want to deal with that mess through the holiday weekend. Forecast for today also calls for heavy rain developing in dallas. Airport delays policy. San antonio, heaviest rains in this area of red and pink. Moderate chance of flash flooding. Not what you want to see either. Memphis, little rock. Watch out. Areas of southern kentucky, two to three inches out of it. Weekend forecast for the most part. Big story will be getting rid of this storm by the time we get to christmas eve. For all those people standing by in the airports and awaiting takeoff. Can we push it on bills face here. Why do you have sparkle on your face. Nice little closeup. Its glitter friday. I dont know what youre talking about. Werent we supposed to use glitter. Lets not ask any questions. Actually i just did. Next couple of days are expected to be the busiest of the year for travelers. Tsa expecting to screen between 100 and 400,000 passengers each day. As the number of passengers continues to climb. Under pressure to upgrade against Screening Technology to protectexplosives. Reporter tsa checkpoints nationwide this holiday season, more passengers, more screen officers, more dog teams. Belts and shoes off. Personal electronics out of the carry ones. Veterans warn a terrorist might still get a bomb through checkpoints. This could be the solution. The laptop, the charge cords, the liquids, everything is in here. New 3d scanners that unpack the bag. Like a medical scan, the Software Removes the clutter from overstuffed bagged and highlights in red anything of concern. In this case, an aerosol can. Literally slicing the bag like a cat scan. If you unpack the clutter, you are able to delineate faster. 3d scanners already scanned checked bags. Pushing to use them for passenger carry ones. Being tested in phoenix and boston. Coming soon to jfk and chicago ohare. Among the most challenging weapons to detective, plastic explosives that could be molded to look like anything. And a cell phone triggering device. New 3d scanners automatically detect. Passengers will be able to leave liquids in their bag. This system can distinguish between water, cocacola and liquid explosives. Going to be faster. Going to be able to identify automatically not just explosives, but weapons. Which is going to help the screeners. Because youre taking the human factor out. The cost of 300,000 per shooem machine. The tsa starting to roll them out. Still ahead, cleveland puts home winning streak on the line against the chicago bulls. Knicks welcome back the unicorn to the garden. Would it be enough. All the highlights in sports coming up next. Accumulations up to 8 inches. Dont know if you can hear me, but [monica] whats he doing . [lance] can we get a shot of this cold front, right here. Winter has arrived. Whooo hahaha [vo] progress is an unstoppable force. Brace yourself for the season of audi sales event. Audi will cover your first months lease payment on select models during the season of audi sales event. Hey julie, i know todays critica. A sick day. Need. Dads dont take sick days. Dads take dayquil severe. The nondrowsy, coughing, aching, fever, sore throat. Stuffy head, no sick days medicine. Its whats inside isthe person who opens it. X. Give ancestrydna, the only dna test that can trace your origins to over 150 ethnic regions. Save 20 for the holidays at ancestrydna. Com. [ click ] [ keyboard clacking ] [ clacking continues ] good questions lead to good answers. Our advisors can help you find both. Talk to one today and see why were bullish on the future. Yours. Helping the knicks beat the celtics 10293. Irvings former teammate, lebron james enjoyed success over the chicago bulls. Could not be contained. In the Second Quarter got the steel. Open floor and the slam. This is just vintage lebron right there. He would have 34 points on the night as the cavs go onto win 115112 snapping the bulls seven game winning streak. Nchlthe. Do have bills to pay. First team to receive a monetary penalty from the league for violating the concussion protocol being fined 100,000 for failing to keep quarterback Russell Wilson out of the action until a. Taking a hit to the chin after the sea hawks victory against the cardinals. Returned to the action before medical officials had the chance to clear him. Team accepted the penalty and said any missteps were unintentional and the result of confusion on the sideline. And some unfortunate news coming out of the sports world today. Legendary sports caster dick emberg was found dead in his home. Got his start accidently in a Radio Station before getting the weekend sports and disk jockey job. Got big break with ucla basketball calling the bruins game over a nine year span. The team won eight ncaa titles. Went on to call olympics, final fours, baseball games. Often embellishing broadcast with classic oh my. That became so familiar among sports fans. He received a star on the hollywood walk of fame over 60 year career. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family and legendary voice will undoubtedly be missed and live on. You know youve made it, and, you know, youre a legend when you have a catch phrase like that, oh my. Much more ahead on the reaction to the United Nations and al franken gives final address and calls on lawmakers to stand up for the truth. Those stories and more coming up next. I dont want to sound paranoid, but dya think our recent online sales success seems a little. Strange . Na. Ever since we switched to fedex ground business has been great. Theyre affordable and fast. Maybe too affordable and fast. What if. People arent buying these books online, but they are buying them to protect their secrets . . hi bill. If that is your real name. Its william actually. Hmph affordable, fast fedex ground. This s electricity. This is a power plant. This is tim barckholtz. Thats me this is something he is researching at exxonmobil using fuel cells to capture Carbon Emissions at power plants. This is the potential. Reducing co2 emissions by up to 90 . While also producing more power. This could be big. Energy lives here. Welcome back, everybody. Im Yasmin Vossoughian alongside louis beurgdorf. Lets start with top stories. U. N. Voted in favor of nonbinding resolution to recognize jerusalem as the capital offi israel. Chief correspondent reports. U. S. Firing back after the u. N. Vote. Threatening to withhold potentially 3. 3 billion it provides u. N. Activities each year. This vote will make a difference on how americans look at the u. N. And how we look at countries who disrespect us in the u. N. And this vote will be remembered. The warning after the United Nations overwhelmingly condemning the u. S. Recognizing jerusalem as isra israels capital. The only Country Planning to move embassy there. Countries cheering the final tally. Including major american allies, britain, france, germany and japan. All opposing the u. S. 35 countries including canada on staining. Still against the white house decision. Were watching the votes. Let them vote against us. Well save a lot. We dont care. Haley herself sending a letter to dip plomats saying th president and u. S. Take this personally. The u. S. Will be taking names. Protest throughout the muslim world ripping the muslim decision. Fearing it could end hopes for peace talks. Already palestinian leaders telling Vice President he is not welcome in bethlehem for planned meetings. Threatening to withdraw american support for countries that voted against us. Threatening to take names. Makes us appear as a bully. Thank you to Andrea Mitchell for that report and former cry director john brennen took his first stab at twitter yesterday. A minute in tweeting after the locker bombing 20 years ago posted this. Trump admin threat to retaliate against nations that exercise sovereign right to oppose u. N. Position on jerusalem is beyond outrageous. Shows donald trump expects blind lis loyalty. Quality found in narcissistic vengef vengeful. Pretty strong words to say the least, but he is not alone in this criticism as weve seen, lucy, a lot of countries and nations around the world feeling this way as well. They did when the president first announced his decision a couple of weeks ago and feeling it even more so now. Thats right. Turkey being one of them. Before i get to that, theres two issues at play here. A decision by President Trump to recognize jerusalem as capital which changes u. S. Policy that holds the status of the city should be left up to peace talks between the palestinians. That in itself sparked worldwide outrage. Exacerbating the issue was the unprecedented threat echoed by nikki haley on the u. N. They could see aide cut. This infuriated other member nations. President erdogan warning trump you cannot buy the democratic will be dollars, sentiment; owed by Foreign Ministry yesterday. Take a look. Before this meeting, a u. N. Member state threatened all the other members. We were all asked to vote no or face the consequences. This is bullying and this chamber will not do that. It is unethical to think that the words and dignity of Member States are for sale. Let me put it in in way, we will not be intimidated. You can be strong, but this doesnt make you right. Now, irans foreign minister also slamming the Trump Administration in a tweet for what he called americas thuggish demands. The United States is in a difficult position now because they have to decide basically whether or not to follow through on these threats or risk being seen as something of a paper tiger. We know Ambassador Nikki Haley inviting the 65 nations to a party in january. Still waiting to see if the u. S. Response will go beyond that. Not surprised to hear the that response, but erdogan and trump have had somewhat of an alliance throughout the trump presidency. Over erdogans own controversy he faced. A bit more sprieurprising to he those words from erdogan. Were not used to hearing the way nooikki haley spoke. Were not used to hearing that from our own administration mpx wi. With the package of tax bill. Saying obamacare was essentially dead. New figures revealed enrollment in obamacare remains strong despite numerous hurdles ahead of the centers for medicare and medicaid certificates. Revealed 8. 8 Million People signed up for insurance on the federal Health Care Exchange during the latest open enr Enrollment Period. Down slightly from last year. New figures come despite numerous heads winds including an Enrollment Period half as long as previous ones. 90 cut in advertisement. And new attempts by congress to replace the law as well as the president cutting off billions of dollars in cost sharing reduction payments to insurers. Following the repeal of the Obamacare Mandate by the tax plan, Mitch Mcconnell appears ready to move on from trying to dismantle the health law all together. Speaking with npr yesterday. Republican leader says he is hoping to spend much of 2018 focusing on issues which his party can work on with some democrats in the senate. Comes after the gop spent much of the year trying and failing to repeal and replace the Affordable Care about. Mitch mcconnell said in part, we obviously were unable to repeal and replace with a 5842 senate. Well have to take a look what that looks like, but i think well probably move on to other issues. Referring to the new challenges republicans face once democratic senator elect doug jones takes office next month. Mcconnell also says he things the repeal of the individual mandate takes the heart out of obamacare. Adding we want to steady the Insurance Markets if we can. I think well probably be addressing that part of health care sometime next year. With the new year, mcconnell says he hopes republicans will become more cooperative with democratic counter parts. Saying this year has not been very bipartisan one. Mcconnells fellow republican Lindsey Graham doesnt feel the same way. Called those who believe there will not be another effort to repeal and replace obamacare in 2018. Sadly mistaken. Mcconnell also weighed in on trumps tweeting. I think hes doing a good job. He knows im not a big fan about tweets. There are some exception sgs. Some of his tweets about you may have been hard to overlook. They werent my favorite. Hes gotten better. In what sense . Were doing just fine. Has it gotten better because theyre no longer focused on you for now. Of course. The Senate Majority leader and the president have had a rocky relationship to say the least throughout trumps first year in office. After wednesdays tax reform victory, trump has spoken much more favorably. Trump praised in a tweet after republican tax reform victory writing he could not have asked for a better or more talented partner. Outgoing senator al franken took to the floor to make farewell address. Criticized some of the policies of the Trump Administration and questioned whether there is still truth in politics today. As i leave the senate, i feel i have to admit it feels like were losing the war for truth. And maybe its already lost. And if thats the case, if thats what happens, then we have lost the ability to have kinds of argument that help build consensus. Pomt politics is about the improvement of peoples lives. The American People know that to be true. And they fill me with hope for our future. Senator frankens resignation comes amid several allegations of Sexual Misconduct. His last day in office will be january the 2. Tina smith is expected to be sworn in as successor on the following day. Capitol Hill Reporter molly hooper, lets talk the Sexual Misconduct stuff thats been going on throughout the country. Really political reckoning over all of it. Do you believe that we are now in store for sort of a surge of female lawmakers that we havent necessarily seen in the past. Well, i think the data shows that we are. If you look at a rutgers poll, according to a recent New York Times article, theres almost 400 women running for house seats. Thats huge. These are people knethese ar new candidates taking on current sitting incumbents or vying for open seats. Running is different than winning. Thats true. It is different, but you have to look at quality of candidates. And you look at women running. Christie gnome running to be governor of that state. Shes been in the house several terms. And marsha black burn. Shes returning for senate to fill corkers seat. Youre looking for women who have established street credit, who have some money in their pockets and able to actually launch, you know, serious bid. I think you are seeing that by actually sitting members of the house right now. Weve seen a big rift in accusations of corruption and boois. Im calling for the firing of bob mueller. Rumor floating around possibly President Trump was looking to fire him over the holidays when people couldnt focus on it as much. Whether thats going to happen is still in question. Whats the sense of the hill here of where all of this goes next . Does this die down . Do they let mueller do his job or what. I think a combination of two things. I think they let mueller do his job. When mueller came in, he took on, he brought his own people in, but he also had to absorb an fbi investigation that was ongoing that involved individuals who have been, you know, we just saw texts come out by agent peter. Thags investigation is being done by the fbi looking into the handling of the clinton email investigation. That is sort of separate. At the same time, you and andy who came up to the hill and had 18 hours of intense questioning behind closed doors and very little reporting on it and from what i understand is its because both democrats and republicans at least on the house side were shocked by what he said about the handling of the russia investigation. And how that came about and why its being pursued so much. I think we are going to be seeing more action in the house at least and it will make for an interest accident 2017. Shocking turn of events with regards to mueller. And the way people are talking to him. When first assigned, he was the best man and suddenly that story changed. Exactly. It did. Still ahead the new details on the impact the Opioid Crisis is having on the Life Expectancy rate. Plus grading President Trump one year in. Where his accomplishments stack up against his predecessors and bill karins will have the details for the forecast for your christmas and hes still wearing some glitter. Well be right back. Ive been thinking. Think of all the things that think these days. Businesses are thinking. Factories are thinking. Even your toaster is thinking. Honey, clive owens in our kitchen. Im leaving. Oh never mind, hes leaving. But what if a business could turn all that thinking. Thinking. Endless thinking into doing . To make better decisions. Make a difference. Make the future. Not next week while you think about it a little more. But right now. Is there a company that can help you do all that . I can think of one. Welcome back. New figures reveal a drop in Life Expectancy in the u. S. With the Opioid Epidemic playing a major role. More than 63,000 people died of drug overdoses in 2016. The cdc said drug related deaths serves 21 from the previous year. 42,000 of those deaths were opioid related. Mortal dity recline. Third leading death after Heart Disease and cancer declined in 2016. Office trump has boasted president ial achievements outweigh those of predecessors. One of the many examples, few, if any, administrations have done more in seven months. Bills past regulations killed. Border, military, isis, sc. New report from the Washington Post shows that actually compared to the last ten president s who took office after an election, not resignation of death, trump is in last place in terms of legislation signed by this point in his terms. Siting data from congress exiled by the organization golf track. Report counts 93 pieces of legislation under trumps belt. Falls blow kennedy 1 does not include tax bill. Trump will reportedly not sign into law next month. Back to meteorologist bill sparkles. Bill. Glitter or sparkles. Either one. Still sends the same message. I start add trend. Bill sparkles. Oh, boy. The winter storm is started in areas of new england. Winter storm warnings up. Be careful driving this morning. Youre used to it. Youve had a couple of storms anyways. This is gold for the ski reports upcoming season. Nice six inches. When we get down to massachusetts and coastal sections of New Hampshire and also areas of maine, that gets a little more iffy. Goes from snow to freezing rain. Could have Power Outages. North of i 90 going to have concerns today. South of 90 is just going to be a brief period of ice and rain. As we head into saturday, we even warm it up enough to go to rain in areas of maine after the ice and the snow. On the backside, well get snow on saturday. Rain for the big airports. Thats one travel issue. The other one is a heavy rain event starting today from dallas to memphis to areas of nashville. Chance for flash flooding and saturday a little bit of snow on the backside of that. Rain for atlanta and charlotte and d. C. Really north of i 90 today and 95 south the Rainy Weather tomorrow. Thank, bill. Still ahead. Major shakeupping including google Parent Company. Detail on eric schmits departure. Welcome back, everybody. If you still have shopping to do for christmas, a few warning for gift cards, crooks are draining the cards before recipients can use them. Jolene kent has tips few plan on getting or giving the proper gift this holiday. She was about to buy 1,500 for toys at walmart. She had been given three gift cards worth 500 each. We had a cart of toys by the time we hit the checkout. They said, sorry, there is nothing on this card. The cards value drained, 50 christmas wishes dashed. It was an absolute nightmare for me. Its 50 kids i am seeing if my mind i cant purchase gifts for. Reporter half of americans say a gift card is their most popular lastminute gift. They can also be risky. If you give the card the person can end up losing it or in some cases, someone could have stolen the gift card number and utesed that ahead of time, trying to recoup those losses can be a headache. They reveal it by replacing it with a sticker. Here is a walmart football, heres a zer practice stick bought online. Shopping experts recommend buy them online rather than if person. Do not buy them hanging on a store rack, where thieves can get to them. Ask for them behind the counter. Use a credit card or cash and change the Security Code as soon as you buy it. Walmart ultimately replaced her gift card. I was relieved we were able to pro i the gifts for our kids. We want them to not know it was ever at risk. Just to make sure they are full so the stockings arent empty. Lets turn to business, googles Parent Company announced aaron skwh midter eve Aaron Schmidt stepping down. Whats the reason . I know a lot of people are surprised be this move . Yes, he announced he will be stepping down and taking on a technical advisory role. He plans to spend more time in philanthropy and research an science and tech following issues. Only in a tech physical am adviser capacity when it comes to alphabet. In a statement released. He said google cofounder, larry page and i believe the time is right in our ultimate revolution in transition. There is another ceo stepping down the ceo of papa johns delivery systems. He founded it back then by selling he says from the back of his fathers truck. Of course, its grown into one of the biggest pizza developing services. He blamed the nfl handling of the National Anthem controversy for declining sales. Papa johns stock is down about a third, well, almost 33 this year. Lets talk about another popular topic. Bit coins, its dropped 25 in 24 hours from a record high of 20,000 earlier this week. Is it the bitcoin bubble finally popping or a temporary pullback if crypt to currencies . What can you tell us . It appears that bubble will never burst. Look at how it started off trading at a thousand dollars and got up to 20,000 at the beginning of the week. It pulled back about the 14,000 mark. Now cne have introduced futures trading in bitcoin and banks like goldman sachs. It appears as bitcoin and crypto currencies will be around for a while. Merry christmas to you. Merry chift christmas to you. Thank you very much coming up next, mike allen of axios and robert costa on whether the trump team is ready for the 2018 midterms. Also, congressman scott perry of pennsylvania, one of 16 House Republicans to vote no on the continuing resolution to keep the government opened through the new year. That and a lot more coming up next on morning joe. Welcome back. Everybody. President trump is expected to return to the white house at some point on new years day Mitch Mcconnell is said to hold his end of the year press conference. It comes on the heels of passing a funding bill to keep the federal government opened and the republican tax reform bill the week. That does it for us on this friday morning, merry christmas. Morning joe starts right now. Christmas is only two days away, which means its time to watch the classic holiday movies. Can you tell trump likes theming he has been practicing lines from his favorite holiday movie. Can you iton the down a bit in. Can you doan tone it down a little bit . Were all if this towing. Were all in this towing. As dead had a door fail. Its dead as a door fail. They mate me with a passion from cry, baby, cry. Let the baby cry. Get him out of here. Get him out of here. Oh my god oh my god. Kevin kevin . Arrr. Arrr. Amazing him amazing. And good morning. It is friday, december 22nd. Were counting down, were almost there. Right . Joe, were almost there. Along with joe, willie and me, i know, i cant believe it, im kind of excited. I have to say. I am,