And the scope of u. S. Influence around the world as two International Hot spots ignite in different ways. North korea overnight reestablishing a communication channel with the south for the first time in almost two years. Why that may be more important than tweets about weapons. And in the wave of the antigovernment protests, they escalate one weekend as the u. S. Calls for an emergency session of the United Nations security council. We are watching that. And then this, this new book bombshell this morning. Bottom line . Steve bannon certainly does not seem to think the russia investigation is a hoax. With the new report out saying he called donald trump jr. s meeting with the group of russians treasonist and unpatriotic. And here in d. C. , they are back on capitol hill. Senators in session in just a couple of hours facing a race against the clock to get to deals on the budget, immigration, Childrens Health insurance, just to name a few. We have a real bezzlesusy 60 mi coming up with the nbc reporters. Here with the latest, Kelly Cobiella is in seoul. You have more details on the initial contact between north korea and south korea. This is significant. Reporter yeah, hallie, this is a really big deal. The two countries have not spoken directly in two years, since about february of 2016. That is when this hot line was cut by kim jongun because of a diplomatic dispute with the former administration, the conservatives here in south korea. Now today he ordered it to be reestablished. The South Koreans made that phone call from that contraption that you see in the pictures to the north. The north answered. We understand that they exchanged pleasantries, introductions, the call lasted for 20 minutes. Nothing substantive discussed from what we understand. No answer on whether or not the two will, in fact, meet facetoface next tuesday at the dmc, but even so, the president here in south korea is calling this very meaningful. The first time the two countries have spoken directly instead of shouting mega phones in two years. Also, secretary of state Rex Tillerson spoke to his south korean counterpart, the foreign minister here, and talked about that new years day speech from kim jongun, the Nuclear Program and diplomacy. Kelly cobiella covering it all from seoul. Thank you. Well get the latest from Kristen Welker on the north lawn of the white house. And kristen, the tweet heard around the world, right, from President Trump overnight. Reporter it really is, hallie. This is what people are talking about. President trump taunting north koreas leader kim jongun. This is what he said on twitter. He tweeted overnight, i, too, have a nuclear button, but it is a much bigger and more powerful one than his. And my button works. Now, that is obviously gotten a lot of attention. Experts say its the type of language that is potentially dangerous, essentially saying, look, this could lead to an escalation of tensions and possibly, possibly some type of military engagement. And that is, of course, the key concern. The tweet sending some jitters throughout Foreign Policy circles, throughout some quarters here of the administration and the pentagon. Of course, hallie, a factcheck here, there isnt actually a nuclear button. The process by which the president would deploy his Nuclear Weapons would be very different. There is a Nuclear Football carried around with him, secret codes, essentially, that he and only the president has the codes and the ability to trigger. But its something that is carried around by military officials. So the details much more complicated than just pressing a button. In terms of addressing the diplomatic talks opening up between north and south korea. There were concerns among the circles that could undercut the United States relationship with south korea. The administration pushing back against that characterization and saying, look, the United States relationship with south korea is very strong. They underscore the fact that the secretary of state did have that conversation with his south korean counterpart. And the significance there in terms of having a unified message, hallie. Kristen welker, thank you. We just heard from the president not too long ago about the other major hot spot we are following this morning. A critical story unfolding in iran. Heres what he said, quote, such respect for the people of iran as they try to take back their corrupt government. You will see great support from the United States at the appropriate time the president again talking about the protests we have been covering on this show, now in their seventh day. Ambassador nikki haley calming for an emergency session of the security counsel in geneva. Bill neely is following all the latest developments. Bill, a lot going on today. Reporter good morning, hallie. A populist tone there from President Trump, siding with the iranian people, urging them to take back control promising support. The latest demonstrations we have seen in iran today are actually state organized. They are progovernment demonstrations. Iranian flags waving, people chanting for the regime marches. Curiously, they are being covered extensively by iranian television. Overnight, we have had more antigovernment protests. They are not covered on tv. They take they mostly take place after dusk. We have now had one week of the demonstrations. The death toll at over 20. And theres clear evidence, firstly, that this has shaken the Iranian Regime and split it. We have irans supreme leader, explicitly blaming the protests on foreign countries. Now, he didnt name any, but he is talking about the u. S. , about israel, about saudi arabia. On the other side, we have president rouhani, relatively moderate, else police xplicitly hes calling for the protesters to be understanding. Theres no doubt where the u. S. Stands on this. Americas u. N. Ambassador Nikki Haley Says it is nonsense to blame the protests on foreign powers. They are spontaneous. And, of course, President Trump weighing in, tweeting, not only that the u. S. Is watching this, but adding that iranians are hungry for freedom and explicitly saying it is time for change. Hallie . Bill neely there. Thank you. I want to bring in the former ambassador to the un for special government affairs, stuart holiday, president and ceo of Meridian International center. And Nbc News National Political reporter carol lee and reporter ken vogel from politico. Thank you for being here on a day when we have a lot of news. As we pick up with bill and kristen left off, theres an interesting comment earlier this morning from james de vries about what is really important here. What really matters the most. Listen. We need to continue to do the preparations for cyber, for amaritime cyber operations. We need to be ready militarily, but i think we have a tiny sliver of an opening. So nonsensical tweets about how big somebodys button is are not going to get us further on the path we need to be on, which is diplomacy. So making the point here made by stavridis is that it is not just diplomatic. Do you agree . What President Trump is reacting to is the fact that kim jongun and his government basically have done this before. Theres a pattern here. As soon as the pressure comes on, they begin to do things, to try to alleviate and get more economic help. And what the president is trying to do, and he did it in an artful way with the nuclear tweet, but what Rex Tillerson can do is, trump stays close to south korea and makes sure that we dont get lulled into a sense of, you know, optimism over simply this new years speech. Was his tweet inartful or dangerous . I think to the world, people who know donald trump have seen that he doesnt want any taunt or threat go unresponded to. And that said, in this case, were talking about nuclear war and the use of Nuclear Weapons, it is quite alarming. Yeah, i mean, the big concern that people have is that its not so much that the president is going to start a war in or with north korea. It is that this sort of rhetoric raises tensions and something accidental can happen. And then you are in a conflict that is massive, has huge implications. And it spins out of your control. And so i think the rhetoric that the president is using and to match the rhetoric of the north korean regime is potentially fueling these tensions to the extent that you can see something accidental happen in the region. And that is what people are concerned about and could be catastrophic. The people inside the west wing supported axios. And some white house officials fear accidental war, blaming it partly on what they call misinterpretation. It seems like a bizarre statement. The president s tweets speak for themselves. If folks are not supposed to interpret those as the president s words, then what else is there . North korea is looking at his twee tweets. This is also driving a wedge between the u. S. And south korea. President moon he even talked about it potentially with a veto over the u. S. Preemptive strikes that did bother people in the west wing and around trump. So that is the risk with the tweets in south korea to step in and be a reasonable party. And all of a sudden, we are left sort of powerless in this negotiation. Step back for a second. What has the last 24 hours taught us, if anything, about donald trump, about the president that we did not already know . Because for him, at the top of the show, size matters. He had a great writeup saying after the inauguration, it was about the size of his crowds. When he was a Real Estate Developer, it was the size of his penthouse. Things he said were bigger than he actually was. He wants to be the biggest, the most, he wants all of it. I think what is going on here is it is effective to point out that the United States has a very Strong Nuclear deterrent and we wont be threatened. However, if you put kim jongun on the same stage or level and begin to have a debate with him, you actually begin to elevate the assertion that hes got the capability to hit the United States, which we have said we will not permit. And then theres all of what President Trump said about Nuclear Weapons and the Nuclear Arsenal in the past. Since the campaign. Since covering him back in 2016 or late 2015 raising questions about what he would do with the Nuclear Arsenal. This is a campaign wedge issue. This is the president who as a candidate and until now that is talked about Nuclear Weapons in this very casual way. He said during the campaign, you know, left open the possibility of other countries getting Nuclear Weapons, challenging decades of u. S. Policy, suggesting maybe well use them in europe. Then as we reported earlier this year, he looked at the nuclear ars nam and saienal and said, g be bigger . The Nuclear Arsenal is more sophisticated than it used to be. And conventional weapons are more conventional that you dont need a war to have something detrimental to happen in the region. Coming up, were talking about the explosive new comments from steve bannon about the russia investigation. What hes now saying about the Infamous Trump tower meeting last june and the implications that could have for Robert Mueller and the special counsel. Stick around. burke at farmers, weve seen almost everything so we know how to cover almost anything. Even a swing set standoff. And we covered it, july first, twentyfifteen. Talk to farmers. We know a thing or two because weve seen a thing or two. We are farmers. Bumpadum, bumbumbumbum brand new this morning, explosive quotes from steve bannon coming from a fourth book by the author michael wolf. It was first made public by the guardian. Nbc news obtained a view of the book. Quote, even if you thought this was not treasonous or unpatriotic or bad blank, and i happen to think its all of that, you should have called the fbi immediately. So that is bannon talking about that meeting between donald trump jr. And a group of russians. Thats not all. He goes further talking about special counsel Robert Muellers investigation, quote, you realize where this is going. This is all about Money Laundering. He says mueller chose senior prosecutor Andrew Wiseman first and hes a Money Laundering guy. Their path to blank trump goes right through Paul Manafort, don jr. And Jared Kushner. Its as plain as the hair on your face. Ken delanian is joining me and carol and ken are back as well. Taking this broadly, steve bannon is saying, nah, russia is not fake news or a hoax, this investigation is real, right . Thats how i read it, hallie. For all the antiestablishment tendencies, steve bannon sees the trump tower meeting the way the accomplishment does, which means it is improper for the trump team to meet with a russian they thought was representing the russian government offering dirt on their opponent. So that is number one. And secondly, in terms of the Money Laundering, he sees the investigation the same way many members of the legal establishment do, which is that even if Robert Mueller doesnt prove that donald trump xlcollud with russia at the end of the day, trump and those around him face legal jeopardy with how they did business with russians and other developer. No Real Estate Developer would want the fbi combing through their business records. And bannon thinks that donald trump and his soninlaw Jared Kushner face jeopardy around potential Money Laundering. So speaking of Jared Kushner, i want to bring in carol and ken on this, too. Bannon goes on to say, it goes through Deutsche Bank and all the kushner blank. The kushner blank, he says, is greasy. They will roll those two guys up and say, play me or trade me. So bannon, who first of all, carol, as you are well aware, hates Jared Kushner. Basically is saying or Paul Manafort. And he does not like Paul Manafort but hes basically following the money. And the backdrop to anybody who has talked to steve bannon knows hes constantly spinning his perspective on this. And if he hates Jared Kushner and Paul Manafort, this could be his spin on this. Sure, he does not like them. The don jr. Shots he was taking, saying they will crack him like an egg on national tv. But his overall suggestion was that mueller is going to try to get don jr. And Jared Kushner essentially to flip and deliver donald trump. And, you know, that is for someone that he worked with for this long in the oval office. Correct. Is really significant. And even as things go with steve bannon in terms of being bombastic in what he says, it stands out. This is not the only development when it comes to the russia investigation today. This is new this morning, but overnight you flagged something else. Over the last year, the name that has popped up in the headlines a time or two, fusion gps. This is a research firm, of course, that was working on information during a 2016 campaign, commissioning intelligence reports from the former british spy, christopher steel. The intelligence reports became what is now known as the steele dossier, 35 pages that allege these ties between trump and russia. This is part of the research where the republicans pounced saying it was discredited. Now the founders of the firm are slamming the Congressional Republicans in the new oped accusing them of selectively leaking details of their testimony. Ken, this is significant because as you flag in this oped last night, quote, we dont blooefz the ste believe the steel dossier was it corroborated reports the bureau received from other sources, including one inside the trump camp. Explain why that stood out to you. Well, hallie, because for months republicans have been trying to tarnish the investigation by suggesting that it was entirely about in the dossier, which at the end of the day was an Opposition Research project, largely paid for by democrats and started by republicans and migrated to the democrats. And that was the way they said this was illegitimate. But fusion gps is making the point here, and they are not the only ones making the point, that the fbi had other sources, including George Papadopoulos at some point. They talked about a meeting he had with the australian diplomat. So fusion gps is saying as they were talking to the fbi, as Christopher Steele was talking to the fbi, they were learning this was not new information for the fbi. They were already investigating. They began a Counter Intelligence investigation in july 2016, right around the time Christopher Steele first went to the fbi contact in rome. It is inaccurate to suggest that this grew entirely out of information that Christopher Steele gathered with the dossier. What else did the oped reveal that they are claiming to reveal . Well, it was more of sort of a complaint that essentially republicans had grilled these guys for hours and gone through their bank records, but havent subpoenaed other bank records, for example, deutche bank, where fusion gps says they passed on information they had where they believe trump had questionable financial dealings. And fusion gps did a lot of research about Donald Trumps questionable relationships with the russians on his other projects over the years. Speaking of those bank records, heres the that quote that youre talking about. We suggested, they write, that investigators look into the records of Deutsche Bank and others that were funding his businesses. Congress is uninterest in that tip, reportedly, ours are the only bank records that were subpoenaed. Citing the congressional interest, clear indication that is the special counsel is most certainly interested. Yes, but this is really aimed at republicans. This is a group that is the firm that felt under siege about the steele dossier, they had not had the opportunity to speak out in this way. Clearly they are hitting republicans and saying, essentially, that the dossier is not the only thing that this firm produced. That they pointed them to all other sorts of tips and suggested they look into all the other things and are not. So it is largely their first shot at really fullthroatedly pushing back on what they felt was an attack on them. They are defending their work here and doubling down on it. They are talking about collusion they found. Thats further than mueller has gone, thats further than any of the congressional committees have gone, certainly democrats on the congressional committees have suggested that there was collusion. But we havent seen any evidence of that. I see this more as a marketing document. The firm got a lot of attention, and to some extent, it was good. It was good if you talk to people in the Opposition Research world, good for business to have that sort of mystery around the allpowerful firm to drive the most important investigation in modern political history. But then it reached a tipping point. And now it is bad for business to have that much attention, and particularly to have to reveal your clients, which they did under pressure from the house intelligence committee. And its subpoenas, now they are pushing back depending their business. And in a way, trying to sort of refocus the attention on the work that they did as opposed to the firm itself. Ken and carol, hang out for a little longer. Ken delanian, thank you for joining us to talk through all of this. When we get back, well talk about the first full day in congress. Well talk spending talks, well look at the sticking points with two weeks to go until the deadline. Happening as two Democrats Join the ranks. Well have a live report from capitol hill. They appear out of nowhere. My secret visitors. Hallucinations and delusions. The unknown parts of living with parkinsons. What plots they unfold, but only in my mind. Over 50 of people with parkinsons will experience hallucinations or delusions during the course of their disease. If your loved one is experiencing these symptoms, talk to your parkinsons specialist. There are Treatment Options that can help. My visitors should be the ones i want to see. We are back now with a look at the morning headlines. The pentagon is sharing the name of a soldier killed in afghanistan on new years day. A 34yearold from new jersey, four of his fellow Service Members were hurt in the same battle. The military says two are in stable condition now. The other two have returned to duty. All told, 11 u. S. Soldiers were kill in afghanistan in 2017. And today mormons are mourning the loss of a man that went to their church. Thomas monson dies at the age of 90. He refused to change his stance on gay marriage. Back here in washington, todays happenings on capitol hill are brought to you by the letter d. We are talking dollars, dreamers and democrats. The top money man from the white house meets today with key lawmakers. Look for a deal on the budget, january 19th, not on the table today for the talks is what democrats would like to be discussing. And that is daca, the program that protects roughly 800,000 undocumented immigrants brought here when they were younger. Some Homeland Security officials now say congress has just about three weeks to act. Not a couple months until the deadline hits. And making all this harder for republicans in charge, the new guys. Two new democrats being sworn into the senate in just about two hours from now. And Leanne Caldwell is on capitol hill for us. It seems like what is old is new again. Same sticking points in 2018 that we had in 2017. Reporter thats right, hallie. The new year is starting just as the old year ended. Congress is facing a critical deadline to fund the government. And there is a whole host of issues wrapped into this. As you mentioned, the big four leaders are going to meet with top officials at the white house, or are meeting from the white house on the hill today, and the big issues that they are going to be talking about is at what levels to fund the government. Republicans want an increase in defense spending. And democrats want an equal increase in domestic spending. And they have been having these talks for at least two months now. And they still have not come to an agreement yet. Im told they are far away from that. But one issue that is really going to hang up all of these negotiations is immigration. The daca issue. Democrats are wanting a straight dream act as part of these, this deal to fund the government. And republicans say that thats not an option for them. They are going to want to do it separately. Democrats say, look, we are open to having Border Security involved in this, but we want a path to citizenship for these children, these people who came here as children. And this is really going to be a big sticking point. And im hearing a lot of pessimism from the republicans and democrats entering the negotiations. They have only two weeks left in a lot of issues to figure out. Leanne caldwell live on the hill, thank you. With us for his first appearance but not the last of 2018, former rnc chairman and msnbc political analyst, michael steele. Carol and ken are back with us. Start talking budgets, because as the u. S. Budget fight looms, the republicans are suddenly worried about spending. Now they are worried about spending after passing the 1. 5 trillion tax cut. What do you make of that . If we can create a 1. 5 trillion hole, we can make a bigger hole. The president wants to throwdown with the big infrastructure plan. The republicans somehow all of a sudden now after the holidays, maybe it was something in the eggnog before christmas, but now they are like, oh, gee, we have to worry about how much all this is going to cost. Why do they worry about that . Because the democrats now are to play. They are stepping to the table to say, you need us now more so than before. And heres our agenda. These are the things that are our priorities, starting with daca, and that will tie into the president s infrastructure. Youre right. Because you have the deficits like mark med doadows and the Freedom Caucus to be the hard line on spending, this means daca does come into play here. It absolutely does. And the idea is that i covered the obama administrations ongoing fights with john boehner, and that was and republicans, and at that time, it was all about deficits. You cant im oneforone on spending and they made it a big deal. Now youre right, democrats are back in play and want things like daca and other things. So that is the leverage. One of the things i heard from todays meeting with my conversations from the sources is, democrats want to talk like they want to bring up daca and immigration, but that is not according to the republican perspective on what todays meeting is supposed to be about. Thats what democrats want to discuss. Heres what ben carden had to say about what democrats are willing to compromise on, because you know donald trump wants the wall. Listen. We should be bringing it up just as a separate issue itself. And it would easily pass. But what the Republican Leaders are talking about, combined with other things, is it will make it more challenging. Will you give trump the wall to get daca done . Well, the wall makes no sense whatsoever. But Border Security is going to be something that republicans will need to see. So what does that even mean, Border Security . Well, if its not the wall, it means more funding for Border Patrol agents. Could it mean portions of the wall . Potentially, yeah. Theres a number of issues in play here, which republicans are divided. That is one. What is Border Security and how is it and what is the balance between that and daca. Michael eluded to it and talked about it. And also stabilizing obamacare. Republican senators want to see, including from me, who want to see this obamacare stabilize. And in its current form. So on those three issues, there are divisions within both conferences, on the republican side and theres complete unity among democrats. So in many ways, democrats have the advantage heading into the talks. These issues are inexplicably linked and the democrats have a united front. And you have tee ma smith and doug jones getting sworn in, im looking at my clock, in two hours, not even. And that will be a moment, obviously. How does that play into this . You hear all the time, newcomers to washington, they come here to get things done. They want to get some action. Well, everybody comes here to get things done. They dont get anything done. But no, this will be a little different because it changes the numbers in the senate. Youve got a lot of energy as ken eluded to that now is in the democrats courts. They can play their cards a little bit more ferociously. They can be hardnosed if they want. Schumer can sit on the president s couch and kick back a little bit and just kind of go, okay. Do you think that is what hes going to do . Why not. Put his feet up on the table in the oval office . This makes it more fun and intriguing. You have two new yorkers at the table negotiating. And both of whom think they know how to negotiate a deal, right . And so that is going to be a very nancy pelosi will play, but the real dynamism will be between the two guys from new york and how they get through this. And schumer knows i have one more member that you dont have. And that really helps the democrats. Also, if you look at Chuck Schumer, this is his first big moment to shine. So hallie, how this turns out will impact sort of how he is seen in part. Because the tax reform debate was just, that was a very republican isolated debate. This now is how democrats play their hand. How they use the leverage that they have. And democrats like how Chuck Schumer plays those cards, for sure. Michael, thank you for being on. See you soon, im sure. Carol and ken, hang out longer because coming up next, we are talking about the canadian man freed from the taliban after five years in captivity that has lost his freedom again. In trouble with the law. Well have more of the serious charges against the former who is taj just months after his return to north america, next. Tech at Safelite Autoglass we know that when youre spending time with the grandkids every minute counts. And you dont have time for a cracked windshield. Thats why we show you exactly when well be there. Saving you time, so you can keep saving the world. Kids safelite repair, safelite replace were back here at msnbc. A former taliban who is tan freed last year after five years in captivity is now in canada facing multiple charges including assault. Senior correspondent kate snow has more on this for us, in what is a puzzling and strange twist to this, kate. Reporter it really is. And we just learned that joshua boil appeared from jail at a teleconference in a Court Hearing in ottawa just last hour wearing an orange jumpsuit. The case will be back in court on monday, so they have given lawyers time to go over the evidence. Boil is charged with more than a dozen crimes by court order. No one is allowed to say the name of any victims, but we received an email by his wife katelyn who said, she and her children are in canada in good health and safe. This morning stunning new criminal charges against joshua boyle, the canadian man held hostage for five years in afghanistan and pakistan by the taliban. So we ask that you are merciful. Reporter boyle along with his wife katelyn and three Young Children born in captivity were freed in october. When they returned to canada, boyle said they planned to start a new life. Obviously, it will be an incredible importance to my family that we are able to build a secure sanctuary for our three surviving children. Reporter but now boyle is charged with 15 crimes. Canadian police alleging the incidents began the day after the family returned home. According to ctv and the toronto star, the charges include eight counts of assault, two counts of sexual assault, two counts of unlawful confinement, one count of uttering death threats, one count of causing someone to taken a antidepressant, and one count of misleading police. In a statement to the toronto star, katelyn said she cant speak about specific charges but ultimately it is the strain and trauma he was forced to endure for so many years and the effects that had on his mental state that is most culpable for this. Obviously, hes reasonable for his own actions, but it is with compassion and forgiveness that i say, i hope health and healing can be found for him. In an email to nbc, joshua boyle writes, mr. Boyle is presumed innocent. Hes never been in trouble before. No evidence has been provided yet, which is typical at this early stage. We look forward to receiving the evidence and depending him against these charges. Days after their release, joshua spoke about being free. Part of what got me through prison was the vain hope and belief that the day im released, everything is going to be sunshine and flowers. But its an ordeal of its own that im not sure we were actually expecting. Reporter that was back in october. This morning, today, after less than three months out of captivity, joshua boyle once again has lost his freedom. Kate snow staying on top of that. Thank you for joining us. Up next, with senator o hatch retiring, mitt romney gets the chance to jump back into politics. But the former governor is a harsh critic of President Trump and one of his biggest political rivals. So when we will get the official word on romneys next move . His former Deputy Press Secretary is joining us next. And i expect you will be breaking some news, ryan. That will be after the break. Im on the move all day long. And sometimes, i dont eat the way i should. So, i drink boost. Boost high protein nutritional drink has 15 grams of protein to help maintain muscle and 26 essential vitamins and minerals, including calcium and vitamin d. Save seven dollars. Look in sundays paper. Trust 1 doctor recommended dulcolax. Use dulcolax tablets for gentle dependable relief. Suppositories for relief in minutes. And dulcoease for comfortable relief of hard stools. Dulcolax. Designed for dependable relief. The senate is getting two new members today, but somebody not running yet is getting a lot of attention inside the beltway. We are talking mitt romney. The twotime governor of massachusetts apparently has thinking to do. The utah longtime senator is retiring as you know, which gives romney a chance maybe for political comebacks. So now were just waiting for the official word, and wait, maybe the endorsement from President Trump, right . After all, the white house said a few weeks ago the two men have a, quote, great relationship. With us now is a guy who may know the answer of the will he or wont he question, ryan williams, Deputy Press Secretary for mitt romneys president ial run. Go, is he running or not . Well, i think he is seriously considering it. This is an opportunity he didnt think about but its come up as the governor has a desire to contribute to public discourse, to try to make our country a better place. So i think he will consider this, talk to his family and make a decision in the future. Now is not the time, the time is to reflect on orrin hatchs time in the senate. And that is what the governor will focus on. So when is the time . Theres no timetable. Everyone was waiting to hear what senator orrin hatch is going to decide. Now well reflect on his career in the senate and the governor will make an official decision in maybe a few weeks. But heres the thing, if you look at his twitter page, we talked about this during the commercial break, yesterday at 3 00 it said mitt romney, from, if we pull it up here, massachusetts, you see highlighted. Within four hours, mitt romney, from holiday, utah. So you can read the tea leaves there. But they seem to be standing up to say, im running for office here, no . Hes lived in utah for the last four years. So that may have been an oversight. To coincidentally, mitt romney announces hes changed wheres from. Why wouldnt he run . Hes got a great life, spending time with his family, why would he want to get involved in politics again . Hes got a lot going on in the private sector. I think he cares about the country, thats why he would think about running for office, his devotion for the country. Im getting something in my email from Garrett Haake who covered mitt romney in 2012. Two sources close to mitt romney, i dont know who the sources are, tell nbc news its now largely a matter of when, not if, he will announce a run for the utah senate seat. So the announcement for this guidance is likely weeks away. I think the thinking inside romney world, which you are a part of, is they want to allow orrin hatch to have his moment and not to step on that. You have other factors playing out in utah there. This is an opportunity to knock down that reporting. I dont think youre gonna. I think the governor wants to let people talk about senator hat hatchs career. He had a big win with the tax bill, he served the state add mamerica admirably for 40 years. Fair to say its a matter of when, not if . I think he has a desire to serve. Lets say he runs and wins in utah as he is likely to, as Jason Chaffetz said this morning. The question becomes, what kind of a thorn in the side is he to trump . I spoke with a senior white house official, and this person said, we have other bigger things to worry about. Had he is the least of their worries right now. Here is what Ronna Romney Mcdaniel has to say. I dont think hes a never trumper. Mitt seriously considered taking the secretary of state position. He wants to see President Trump do well. He wants to see our country do well. And i think thats going to be the overriding issue for him if he ends up becoming the next senator from utah. Will mitt romney be a thorn in the side of President Trump . I think ronna is right, governor romney wants to see the country do well, he wants to see the president do well. He disagrees on some things, he will speak out if he has a disagreement. Hes a statesman and will voice his concerns if he decides to run for senate. You got that last clause in there. It does sound like its a foregone conclusion hell run. This is not a surprise, that people would expect mitt romney to put his hat in the ring if senator hatch retires, when he did. He would have to give up a lot to run for office again, but he does care about the issues, which is why he would look to return to public life. Guys, the bigger question is whether he will position himself for a run for the 2020 president ial nomination. I think he will be a sharp and irritating thorn in the side of trump administration, frankly will he wants to or not. People will look to him as a leader in the gop establishment. Thats what he is. To the extent there are misgivings in the gop establishment about trumps reelection chances in 2020, those will be transposed onto mitt ryan. I dont think he runs for president again. I think he views this as an opportunity to serve his country in a new role. He potentially would be against the president on a few things. When am i going to have you back when mitt romney announces his run . Thats up to him to decide what hes going to do. Ryan, please come back, i appreciate you being with us on set. Carol and ken, thank you for hanging out for the past hour. Much more to discuss when we come back with todays big picture. Thank you so much. Thank you so were a go . Yes we got a yes what does that mean for purchasing . Purchase. Lets do this. Got it. Book the flights hai si si ya ya ya what does that mean for us . We can get stuff. Whats it mean for shipping . Ship the goods. Youre a go you got the green light. That means go oh, yeah. Start saying yes to your companys best ideas. Were gonna hit our launch date scream thank you goodbye let us help with money and knowhow, so you can get business done. American express open. So you can get business done. People are fighting type 2 diabetes. With fitness. Food. And the pill that starts with f. Farxiga, along with diet and exercise, helps lower blood sugar in adults with type 2 diabetes. Lowering a1c by up to 1. 2 points. Do not take if allergic to farxiga. If you experience symptoms of a serious allergic reaction such as rash, swelling, difficulty breathing or swallowing, stop taking and seek medical help right away. Do not take farxiga if you have severe kidney problems, are on dialysis, or have bladder cancer. Tell your doctor right away if you have blood or red color in your urine or pain while you urinate. Farxiga can cause serious side effects including dehydration, genital yeast infections in women and men, serious urinary tract infections, low blood sugar, and kidney problems. Stop taking farxiga and call your doctor right away if you have signs of ketoacidosis which is serious and may lead to death. Ask your doctor about the pill that starts with f and visit farxiga. Com for savings. If you cant afford your medication, astrazeneca may be able to help. So after more than a week of brutally cold temperatures, all the east coast is bracing for a winter storm. Tens of millions of americans from florida to new england could be hit with snow, ice, and really bad wind as soon as today. Nbc meteorologist bill karins is following the storm. They call it bomb bogenesis,r a bomb storm. This is going to double that anyway, a catchy little term. This morning the big story, it snowed in tallahassee for the first time in 28 years. Its snowing in southern gag georgia. As we go throughout the afternoon, they turn over to heavy snow. Savannah only had 14 times in their recorded history. They have the possibility of getting four inches of snow. Their highest snowfall ever was 3 1 2 inches. Savannah, charleston, maybe myrtle beach too. Norfolk, virginia beach, cape cod, eastern portions of maine will get nailed with this. The snowfall map, the norfolk area around 48 inches, looks safe for you. New york city, two to three, maybe four at most. Long island, maybe six. Boston to cape cod, hallie, well see blizzard conditions tomorrow afternoon. Theres ice chunks in cape cod bay. Those ice chunks during high tide will be pushed up towards docks, boats, whatever is in the water and near the shore. It will be quite the messy scene some tomorrow. Nbc meteorologist bill karins. Im sure well be talking about with you again throughout the week. I appreciate it. For todays big picture we let to ethiopia for a story thats been under the radar. I want you to look at ethiopian soldiers standing in front of the protesters. People have been demanding more freedoms. The government is taking thousands of Political Prisoners. But you know what happened earlier today . The ethiopian leader in a surprise to a lot of folks announced he plans to release all Political Prisoners and close one of the countrys most notorious prison camps. This Photo Courtesy of the associated press. We would love to hear your thoughts on facebook, twitter, snapchat, and instagram. That does it for me. Ill see you from the white house north lawn later this afternoon. Now more news with stephanie ruhle, hey, lady. Hey, lady, make sure you have your hat, coat, and scarf on, its cold out there. Will do. My partner alley velshi is off. Its wednesday, january 3rd. Brandnew this morning, some explosive new quotes from former white house chief strategist steve bannon. He called donald trump jr. s meeting with russians as