Good morning, everyone. It is friday, december th, im alex witt alongside ali velshi and louis burgdorf. Amid adding new cabinet selections, president elect donald trump went to des moines, iowa, last night where he and Vice President elect pence sell blated their victory. It was the same city as his First Campaign event for his official announcement, as well as the state he nearly lost in his first contest. Trump defeated Hillary Clinton in iowa over nine points and a crowd of over 5,000 greeted him in des moines. Im here today for one main reason, to say thank you to the great, great people of iowa. You went out and pounded, i mean pounded the pavement. I also want to take this opportunity to thank your great senators. They are tremendous. Two tremendous people. They never wavered. We had some people, they would waver, right, waver, and as long as they came back some time prior to the vote, they are all right, but we dont like people that waver, right . Those two didnt waver. President elect trump also welcomed to the stage Iowa Governor terry branstad, who he has chosen to be the new u. S. Ambassador to china. Branstad has known president xi jinping for years, but last night he told the crowd he planned to change the relationship between the two economies. The nation of china is responsible for almost half of americas trade deficit. China is not a market economy. Got a lot of help. And thats why we designate them as being a nonmarket economy. Big thing. They havent played by the rules, and i know its time they are going to start. They are going to start. Theyve got to. You have the massive theft of intellectual property, putting unfair taxes on our companies, not helping with the menace of north korea like they should, and the at will and massive devaluation of their currency and product dumping. Other than that, theyve been wonderful, right . Trumps next thank you stop, grand rapids, michigan, later today, louis . Now for the latest reporting on the highest nomination in the trump cabinet. Sources close to president elect donald trump and familiar with his thinking tell Msnbcs Joe Scarborough the two names at the top of the short list for secretary of state nomination are 2012 republican nominee mitt romney and rex tillerson, chairman and ceo of exxonmobil. Bob corker is also under consideration. Romney visited new york city yesterday to deliver a long planned paid speech and did not meet with trump, but sources say last weeks dinner between the two was a, quote, grand slam, a quote echoed by those close to the massachusetts governor. The exxonmobil ceo, who rarely does interviews, seemed to know more about Global Affairs and World Leaders than some of the politicians trump has discussioned the position with. As for rudy giuliani, believed he is no longer considered for the post. Yesterday the president elect met with a man vetted by Hillary Clintons team for Vice President. He dived a question whether hes under consideration for secretary of state yesterday. When i first heard there was a short list and i thought they were referring to a list of short people, id definitely be on that list, but in terms of any job, id say why dont you talk to the folks upstairs. President elect donald trump has filled more than half of his cabinet positions, adding his choice for labor secretary yesterday. Let me tell you about andy puster, ceo of the Fast Food Company that owns carls jr. And hardees, which puts him high on my list. He was announced yesterday as labor secretary. However, hes an outspoken advocate against raising the federal minimum wage, suggesting it would lead to layoffs and curtail Job Opportunities for young people. Hes also spoken favorably about replacing some fast food employees with robots in response to rising labor costs, telling Business Insider in march, they are always polite, always upsell, never take a vacation. Resistant to trumps choice is already emerging with Incoming Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer saying the labor secretary should be someone who wakes up every day thinking about how they can raise american wages and fight for american workers. Mr. Puzters career has shown the opposite. Breitbart news writing puzder is diametrically opposed to trade and immigration, alleging he prefers foreign labor. Last night on the stump in iowa, trump talked about the net worth of some of his appointments. Some of the people i put on to negotiate, youve been noticing, are some of the most successful people in the world. One newspaper criticized me. Why cant they have people of modest means . Because i want people that made a fortune, because now they are negotiating with you. Okay . No different than a great baseball player or a great golfer. We want the people that are going to bringunes of income in make a dollar a year. And they are so proud to do it. Clearly, youre not successful unless youve made a fortune. Please dont tweet me for that one, by the way, it was just a joke. He says hell take the smallest salary possible. Alex . Hillary clinton returned to capitol hill yesterday for the First Time Since losing last months election. While there, she gave a nod to the relatively low profile shes been keeping recently. This is not exactly the speech at the capitol i hoped to be giving after the election, but after a few weeks of taking selfies in the woods, i thought it would be a good idea to come out and im very grateful to harry for inviting me to be part of this celebration. Clinton also gave a warning about the spread of fake news, calling an issue that should concern all americans. Its now clear that socalled fake news can have real world consequences. This isnt about politics or partisanship. Lives are at risk. Its a danger that must be addressed, and addressed quickly. Its imperative that leaders in both the private sector and the Public Sector step up to protect our democracy and innocent lives. According to nbc news, clinton has spoken with the owners of the d. C. Pizzeria where a gunman opened fire after he said he wanted to look into a fake conspiracy story himself. Ali . He was a warrior, test pilot, astronaut, businessman, senator, candidate for president , but john glenn was much more than the sum of his biography. The last surviving original member of the mercury 7 died yesterday. He was 95 years old. His aviation accomplishments defied belief. He flew 149 combat missions during world war ii and the korean war, and setting the transcontinental speed record as a test pilot, but it was his flight on february the 20th, 1962, that forever married him to history. His mercury atlas rocket made him the First American to orbit earth, and he returned to space 36 years later at the age of 77. The president elect remembered his legacy yesterday at the airport named for the astronaut in columbus, ohio. Of course, senator john glenn, the passing, he was really, to me, he was a Great American hero. Truly Great American hero. I met him on two separate occasions. Liked him, always liked him. But he was, indeed, an american hero. Glenn ran for president as a democrat in 1984, as a pragmatist and moderate, arguing for fiscal responsibility and cuts to defense spending, but within reason. Those positions came in shark contrast to a field that included Walter Mondale and jesse jackson. I see myself as the moderate, only moderate left here. I dont believe in this politics of momentum that seems to be abroad. Politics of stampede, whatever you want to call it. George mcgovern a few weeks ago said he didnt want people to throw away their conscience. I say dont throw away your common sense either. Your vote next week, and ill guarantee ill give you a presidency you can be proud of once again. Though he lost his first two bids for the senate before winning in 1974, he served four terms in the Upper Chamber and was there when the first tv cameras were allowed to roll. Mr. President , this is the first day of television in the United States senate. And i voted for that, because i think the people of this country do have a right to know. Weve had Committee Meetings about what the camera angles will be, and how to best keep your head up and look at those cameras, and we have had meetings about how to hold a mike so you dont make some noise such as that. Rubbing against my clothing here. And those of us with thinning hairlines or little hair on the head have been advised that you do not lean over like this into the camera. I wish to note that weve had advice on how to do this and how to make certain that we cut that shine on the head. And if necessary, how to do the eye shadow. After we have that done, of course, we may even want to perhaps be certain that everything is done properly for the camera. Mr. President , these are just a few of our concerns here in the senate, and im assured that none of us will do a thing differently in the senate of the United States now that we are on television. A hero to all americans, particular hero to some of us bald men. He continued on the campaign trail for years after his retirement, alongside john kerry and Hillary Clinton. John glenns body will lie in state at the ohio state house. A Public Memorial Service will be held at ohio state university, and he will be buried at Arlington National cemetery. Louis . Truly an american hero, ali. Now to the trial against the man accused of gunning down nine people inside a South Carolina church last year. His attorney claims in Court Documents his clients mother suffered a heart attack after listening to the prosecutors Opening Statements and said, im sorry, as family members and Court Security rushed to help her. Details of the heart attack were included in a request for a mistrial yesterday. The defendants attorneys arguing that the shooting survivor Felicia Sanders testimony was roof was evil and belonged in the pit of hell. The judge denied the request saying he interpreted the testimony as a, quote, religious comment and not as a statement on what the sentencing should be. Roof faces the Death Penalty if convicted. In georgia, Police Officer jody smith has died from injuries sustained during a confrontation that set off a frantic man hunt for the suspect. Smith was providing backup from an officer responding to a domestic disturbance call. Both officers were called. One officer died at the scene, police said those two were best friends. Nick and jody were very close friends, been friends since high school, went to the Police Academy together, graduated together. When jody heard the call and knew nick was on his way, he heard that call over the radio and took it upon himself to respond and back up his friend. Both men have left behind fiances, and the suspect in the shooting has also died. He was found in a nearby home with what police say appears to be a self inflicted gunshot wound. Ali . Defense secretary ash carter arrived in afghanistan last night. Carter is visiting to thank u. S. Troops for their service during the holiday season. Hell also meet with military commanders and receive an update on recent counterterrorism efforts against both al qaeda and isis. Carter is also scheduled to meet with afghanistans president. Alex . Still ahead, a major pileup in michigan is being blamed on snowy conditions. An arctic blast is hitting across the country. A check of weather next. Plus, to the grid iron as the chiefs and raiders battle it out for first place in the afc west. Those stories and more when we come right back. I want a hippopotamus for christmas only a hippopotamus will do at the United States postal service, we deliver more Online Purchases to homes than anyone else in the country. And more hippopotamuses, too. So whatever your holiday priority, our priority is you. When i was too busy with the kids to get a repair estimate. Liberty did what . Yeah, with Liberty Mutual all i needed to do to get an estimate was snap a photo of the damage and voila voila sigh i wish my Insurance Company had that. Wait hold it. Hold it boys. Theres supposed to be three of you. Wheres your brother . Wheres your brother . Hey, wheres charlie . Charlie . you can leave worry behind when liberty stands with you. Liberty stands with you™ Liberty Mutual insurance welcome back, everyone. Three people are dead in michigan after an estimated 40car pileup during the busy morning commute. An additional 11 people were hurt in the accident, which shut down both stretches of i96 yesterday morning. Severe weather and slick roads are being blamed. Michigan has been dealing with a blast of cold air and snow, with reports of whiteout conditions on the roads there. Wow. Hows that happen . Did you see those pictures . And they are so squished together. Take a boulder to push everyone together like that. Thats frightening. You know there were all those people in those cars, yep, yep. Were all in this together, alex. Not many people excluded from this first arctic blast of the season. The wind chill is 30 in houston. Thats frigid. New orleans at 36. Now the cold air is filtering to florida. Everyone is included. Yesterday it was negative 30 in casper. Well, its negative 20. Were slowly heading in the right direction, but its still bitterly cold, especially up in the dakotas and new england, wind chills are in the 20s and the teens. Lake effect snow is pretty epic, as youd expect, first cold air over the warm water, even reports of thunder snow. Literally its snowing. You hear thunder, the claps of thunder. Thats off of mostly lake erie. Lake ontario has broken up a bit, but still scattered snow showers across new york state. Fluffy half inch to inch in indianapolis last night, so careful driving in those areas and a lot of heavy snow heading down towards south bend. Some of the areas around the lakes will pick up two to three feet, those are isolated areas, but in general this is the snowfall over the next three days. Still getting the snow in the mountain west, a piece in the plains. Well get two to four inches of snow saturday night, sunday morning in chicago. Thats this band here. Throughout areas of michigan and then that will go sunday night into areas of northern pennsylvania, so again, you know, winter is here, little pieces of snow are going to move across the country. No huge snowstorms in sight. The bigger buzz is next week, unfortunately, well have an even bigger cold outbreak coming across the country. I felt it. I got a question for you, this is my canadian question of the day. You always refer to that little chunk east of lake ontario as a shelf. What do you call that . Which one . Thats off lake ontario. The plateau. Never knew that. Grew up around there, didnt even know that. Thank you, bill. Thats my question of the day. Now to a story straight out of jurassic park. A piece of a 99 millionyearold dinosaur tail has been found preserved in a piece of amber, consists of bones, soft tissue, and as you can see if you look real close, feathers. Its the first time scientists are definitively able to connect well preserved feathers to a dinosaur. Plant debris are also trapped in the resin. Thats pretty cool. Really cool. I cant believe how preserved that is. Still ahead, why the city of cleveland doesnt seem too concerned with the browns losing streak. Plus the bulls hand the spurs their first road loss. Louis has those game highlights next in sports. See me. See me. Dont stare at me. See me. See me. See me to know that psoriasis is just something that i have. Im not contagious. See me to know that. I wont stop until i find what works. Discover cosentyx, a different kind of medicine for moderate to severe plaque psoriasis. Proven to help the majority of people find clear or almost clear skin. 8 out of 10 people saw 75 skin clearance at 3 months. While the majority saw 90 clearance. Do not use if you are allergic to cosentyx. Before starting, you should be tested for tuberculosis. An increased risk of infections and lowered ability to fight them may occur. Tell your doctor if you have an infection or symptoms. 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Having the worst team in the nfl isnt getting the city down, no, cleveland rocks. It was planned for a perfect season parade were moving forward. Thats right, if the Cleveland Browns can manage to lose every single game this season, the city will throw them a parade. Its like the ol