Good morning to you, im ali velshi alongside Louis Burgdorf and kasie hunt. President elect donald trump went to fayetteville, North Carolina, last night. He talked about the anniversary of pearl harbor and he laid out his vision for the militarys mission under his administration. In every generation, a new threat to freedom arises. And just as we defeated these threats, we faced generations in the past, and you understand that, so, too, will we defeat the forces of terrorism. Its unseen in many cases, but were going to defeat that force, and were going to defeat it strongly and quickly. From now on its going to be america first, america first. We will stop racing to topple foreign and you understand this. Foreign regimes that we know nothing about. That we shouldnt be invol with. Instead, our focus must be on defeating terrorism and destroying isis. Were going to have such a strong, powerful military. Its not going to be depleted any longer. I mentioned equipment previously, and i said equipment. Were going to have the finest equipment in the world. Its going to be new. Its going tbe modern. Its going to be clean. Its going to be the best. Thats what were going to have. We have to be so strong militarily, like weve never, ever been before. Remember that. Like weve never been before. Well, Defense Companies are going to like that, though some conservative republicans are not. The president elect promised that he would end the defense sequester. The automatic cuts to the pentagons budget that began taking effect in 2013. Louis . And during last nights rally, donald trump also introduced his pick to lead the department of defense, marine general james mattis. Jim is a marine corps four star general, the former commander of u. S. Central command and nato supreme ally command. He led and assault italian in operation desert storm. You saw what happened. That was the way you were supposed to lead it. There were no games. Mad dog plays no games, right . It is now my honor and privilege to welcome to the stage your next secretary of defense, general mad dog mattis. Thank you for the opportunity. Im grateful for the opportunity to return to our troops, their families, the civilians of the department of defense, because i know how committed they are and devoted they are to the defense of our country, the defense of our constitution, and with our allies strengthened, with our country strengthened, i look forward to being the civilian leader, so long as the Congress Gives me the waver and the senate votes to consent. Thank you very much. Well get that waver, right . Going to get that. Oh. If heidnt g that waver, there would be a lot of angry people. Such a popular choice. As mentioned there, general mattis will need a waver from congress in order to get the job. By law a Service Member must be retired at least seven years before serving as defense secretary. General mattis has been out of the military for only three years. Last night congress released a shortterm spending bill, this included in the bill legislation and a provision that would grant mattis the waver to serve in trumps cabinet. President obama defended his counterterrorism legacy during a Major National security speech yesterday. His last one as commander in chief. Addressing troops in tampa, the president says hes built a network of partners to help fight extremists and the u. S. Is, quote, breaking the back of isis. He also renewed calls to close gitmo, a Campaign Promise hes still been unable to fulfill. And while the president didnt mention donald trump by name, many points were in direct contrast to some of the statements and proposals from his sucor. We are a nation that stands for the rule of law and strengthen the laws of war. When the nazis were defeated, we put them on trial. We are a nation that won world wars without grabbing the resources of those defeated. We helped them rebuild. We didnt hold on to tritory other than the cemeteries where we buried our dead. So rather than offer false promises that we can eliminate terrorism by dropping more bombs or deploying more and more troops or fencing ourselves off from the rest of the world, we have to take a long view of the terrorist threat. And we have to pursue a smart strategy that can be sustained. Todays terrorists can kill innocent people, but they dont pose an kexistential threat to our nation, and we must not make the mistake of elevating them as if they do. That does their job for them of the it makes them more important and helps them with recruitment. The president also mentioned that on the day he leaves office, hell become the first president to serve two full terms at war, a sobering reality. Ali . All right, after described as a courtesy call, president elect trumps communication with taiwan might have been the result of a months long lobbying effort. New filings under the foreign agents registration act reveal that the law firm of former u. S. Senate majority leader bob dole received 140,000 dollars between may and october from the taiwan ease government. Dole had proceeded in getting pro taiwanese language at julys National Convention for the first time enshrining six assurances to taiwan made by president Ronald Reagan in 1982, including that the United States would not set a date for ending arms sales to taiwan. Now, asked about the president elects phone call, dole told the New York Times, its fair to say we had some influence. When you represent a client and they make a request, youre supposed to respond. The gunman in the shooting of a former nfl player has been charged. This after the the Jefferson ParishSheriffs Office announced manslaughter charged against 54yearold Robert Gasser yesterday. Officials said gasser admitted to shooting joe mcknight thursday afternoon, following a road rage incident in a new orleans suburb. During a press conference yesterday, the sheriff took a combative stance towards the people questioning why gasser was initially released friday despite his admission. He said race had nothing to do with the decision and then read expletive laden attacks from the public. Im sure you see the emotion in me, because its not fair. Its not fair for him to be called you punk [ bleep ]. We saw you sell out to them you [ bleep ] punk. Thats the tone of what were calling our elected leaders for standing up and simply saying, let justice prevail and let the process take its course. To go on to say you [ bleep ] that has done little to our community, all we know is that you are a [ bleep ] puppet. You [ bleep ] looking on tv. I bet they made you say that, puppet boy. I know what i see. I know that norman is a [ bleep ] and you stood behind that white boy with that [ bleep ]. You wont even stand with your people, you self serving [ bleep ]. Anger there. Officials have revealed gasser had been arrested for road rage at the same intersection ten years ago. Those charges were dropped. Kasie . Officials in oakland have identified nine more of the victims of last weeks deadly warehouse fire, as new video surfaces of Police Inside the facility just two months before it went up in flames. Authorities have released names of the 26 of the 36 people that died on friday. Theyve added theyve identified 35 of the victims and nearly all of the building has been searched. One of those victims, 35yearold alex gosan, posted this video before the fire broke out. Were learning new details about the final moments for those lost in the inferno. Officials say some of the victims were able to text loved ones with messages of goodbye and i love you. They say the remains of some were found apparently shielding one another from the flames. Meanwhile, nbc news obtained video from october showing Police Inside the facility. The embattled manager oe warehouse told nbc earlier in the week police had come to the building while responding to a neighbors party. The footage brings up new questions. The Oakland Police department declined to comment about the video, citing the ongoing investigation. Meanwhile, Officials Say theyve declared a state of emergency for the city to receive federal and state funds to cover the cost of the response and help local businesses affected by the deadly blaze. Officials are looking at whether a refrigerator or another appliance could have sparked the fire. Well, president elect Donald TrumpsTransition Team is working to distance ielf from the son of his nional security chief in the wake over him spreading fake news regarding former secretary of state Hillary Clinton. In a Conference Call yesterday, Communications Director jason miller confirmed that Michael Flynn jr. , the son of the man on the screen here, is no longer involved with transition efforts. Miller said the younger flynn had been helping his fathe Michael Flynn with some administrative and scheduling duties, but the New York Times is reporting flynn jr. Was actually fired for pushing a number of fake news stories, including pizzagate, the Conspiracy Theory that suggested a washington, d. C. , restaurant was the base of a child sex abuse ring run by Hillary Clinton and her president ial Campaign Chair john podesta. A North Carolina man, you know, was arrested sunday after walking into this pizza restaurant with an Assault Rifle and firing the gun into the floor. He told police he was there to investigate if children were there. Vice president elect mike pence is changing his tone on flynn jr. s involvement after being asked several times in an interview why h had security clearance. This after pence denied flynn jr. Had any role on morning joe yesterday. Whats the level of concern within your National Security apparatus about general flynns son . Well, general flynns son has no involvement in the transition whatsoever. He has a transition email. He has no involvement in the transition whatsoever. The last question, im sorry, youre not answering the question, were you aware that the Transition Team had put in for a security clearance . This is a young man that had a social media profile with crazy conspiracy theories, all sorts of links and retweets with white supremacists. Were you aware the transition put in for security clearance for him . What i can tell you is in talking to general flynn today, he made me aware his son was assisting him in scheduling. You put in for a security clearance . Whatever the appropriate paperwork was to assist him in that regard, jake, im sure was taken place, but thats no longer the case and your viewers and the American People can be confident were going to continue to drive forward. Turning from politics now and breaking overnight, the Associated Press is reporting at least 97 pple with dead after a 6. 5magnitude earthquake struck indonesia early this morning and Officials Say that number could rise. The quake hit just off the shore. Officials are saying theres no tsunami threat following this event. Dozens of homes and buildings, including multiple mosques, have been destroyed. Hundreds of people are also reportedly injured. Back in 2004, a devastating earthquake and tsunami hit the region, killing more than 200,000 people. Kelly cobiella will join us shortly with a live report on that. Kasie . Angela merkel laid out her case for a fourth term yesterday in a speech to germanys main conservative party, merkel called for restricting the use of full face muslim veils wherever its legally possible. Germany saw almost 900,000 Asylum Seekers arrive last year. Merkel insists germany will continue to take in people in genuine need of protection. Still ahead, what do the Boston Red Sox and Golden State Warriors have in common . Plus, Vice President joe biden sits down with Stephen Colbert for a late night pep talk. Those stories and a check on weather when we come right back. When you find something worth waiting for, well help you invest to protect it for the future. Financial guidance while youre mastering life. From chase, so you can. Ad, and my sweethearts handsome,gone sayonara. Rance. This scarf, all thats left to remember. What she washed this like a month ago hows a guy supposed to move on the long lasting scent of gain flings. He wears his army hat, he gets awalks aroundliments. With his army shirt looking all nice. And then people just say, thank you for serving our country and im like, thats my dad. Male vo no one deserves a warmer welcome home. Thats why were hiring 10,000 members of the military community by the end of 2017. Im very proud of him. Male vo comcast. You know, dont think i havent noticed youve been cutting some corners when youve been mowing the lawn lately. Any job worth doing is worth doing well. Okay, you have to always do your best to mow the lawn. Doesnt matter that somebody else is about to get the job of mowing the lawn after you, even though as far as you can tell that person has never touched a lawn mower in his life. Look, doesnt matter whos mowing it. No matter the differences, were all responsible for its upkeep. I have to believe in their heart the next mower is going to do the best they can to make sure that lawn, that everyone feels safe to have a picnic on it. Thats a beautiful metaphor. Metaphor . Metaphor, okay, look, im talking about mowing the lawn. Mr. Trump on notice from joe biden about keeping up the white house lawn it seems. That was biden with Stephen Colbert having a heart to heart pep talk with viewers last night. He also discussed his comments about a potential White House Run in 2020. We have that coming up later in the show. One of my favorite stories in the morning, a Police Officer doing his part to raise money this holiday season, the officer was caught onamera dancing outside of a walmart while collecting red ketitle donation. Cleveland police and the local Sheriffs Office were competing to see who could raise the most money. This video has been viewed on facebook more than 700,000 times. Officials say the officers dancing moves helped the Police Department raise more than 1,000 in a few hours. He has some moves. Junchts outside here, rockefeller center, the Salvation Army people on three sides and they are always doing some fantastic dance. Ive been doing snap stories on that, bill. Literally, like the allstar team, the best of the best. Are they going to get disturbed in their dancing today . No, they dance in umbrellas and everything else, too. The cold will be the biggest thing. Weve been out ringing the bells before, the cold days are the worst. Snow this morning, little bit, some in colorado in the denver area and also through new england. This blue is light snow moving through higher elevations, outside boston. Boston itself is plain old rain and drizzle left over around new york city and southern new england, but the big weather story, the cold is on the move. Right now wind chills negative 19 in casper, wyoming. Negative 17 rapid city, so thats allout bundle up cold as possible. This cold isn the move, already down to 1 in sioux city, chicago is at 13. Eventually its going to head through the great lakes today. Tomorrow it will reach the ohio valley and friday the east coast. Today, frigid across the midwest. Chicago 31. Bismarck, only 7, thats it. Even with a bit of sunshine. This is some of the coldest weather of the season and looking to be sticking around. So now were getting into our winter pattern of cold following cold and late this week, new york city coldest day is friday and saturday. Raleigh looks like friday is your coldest. Atlanta around 42 friday is your coldest. Look at chicago staying in the 20s as we go through thursday and friday. Todays travel forecast, southern half of the country dont look too bad. New england early today and plain old cold through the rest of the country. Talking about minus 17, how cold it is in bismarck. Im canadian, minus 17 is when you put a tshirt over your tank top. Dont think too hard about that. Lets move on. As the producer wisely says, move on. Still ahead, Vancouver Canucks player gets carted off the ice after a vicious hit. Louiss got it next in sports. Its ver. Sfx balloon squeals ok can we. Sfx balloon squeals im being so serious right now. I really want to know how your coffee is. Its. Sfx balloon squeals hahahaha, i had a 2nd balloon goodbye oof, that milk in your coffee was messing with you, wasnt it . Yeah. Happens to more people than you think. Try lactaid, its real milk, without that annoying lactose. Mmm. 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