so pretty dismissive there of the u.n. but i will say and we were talking this morning on "morning joe" with netanyahu's, the israel prime minister's spokesperson, the israelis are taking this seriously what happened as a very serious slight claiming they have information that the united states was behind the resolution even though they won't come out and show what that evidence is. they said his spokesman said they have some issues with what the united nations focused on in recent months but not as dismissive as donald trump was. >> they make the argument they're not doing enough on aleppo and syria, other places and singling out israel. how he could have done a better job, with barack obama, how is that being perceived by the clinton camp and has she responded to the stuff going on over the weekend? >> not as of yet. she sent out a message to her supporters saying thank you for everything that you did for me throughout the course of the year, but i will say that people who worked in clinton circle are watching very close

action -- any u.n. action. we were the only administration since 1967 that had not allowed any resolution to pass that israel opposed. in fact, the only time in eight years the obama administration exercised its veto at the united nations was against a one-sided settlement resolution in 2011. and that resolution didn't mention incitement or violence. let's look at what happened since then. since then there have been over 30,000 settlement units advanced through some stage of the planning process. that's right. over 30,000 settlement units advanced notwithstanding the positions of the united states and other countries. if we had vetoed this resolution the other day, the united states would have been giving license to further unfettered settlement construction that we fundamentally oppose. so we reject the criticism that this vote abandons israel. on the contrary. it is not this resolution that is isolating israel. it is the permanent policy of settlement construction that risks making peace impossible. virtually

this u.n. resolution, craig. just earlier today, the israeli security minister said this move by secretary kerry to speak about middle east peace at this particular time was a move to tie the hands of the incoming trump administration. why is he saying that? well, because there's a conference scheduled for next month. a meeting of about 70 different countries. held in france. designed to jump start the mideast peace process. this u.n. resolution was seen -- earlier this week was seen as a starting point for that and the fear among the israeli government and some in the israeli government is that this meeting in france will continue that thread. there will be another u.n. resolution and the trump administration hand's will be tied as far as their own mideast peace or israeli policy. what is at the center of that? we've been hearing about this for the past few days. settlements. jewish settlements in predominantly palestinian areas and areas palestinians see as part of a future palestinian state.

u.n. resolution ndemning israeli settlements. bill krystal is live here on msnbc. >>> i can tell you having seen it myself it is unequivocal that the obama administration, the united states was behind this united nations resolution, pushed for it, lobbied for it. and it is a real tragedy. we should be working together to advance peace. >> that was david keys, the spokesman for israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu this morning on "morning joe" talking about friday's u.n. vote condemning the expansion of settlements into east jerusalem. joining me now is bill crystal, the editor at large at the weekly standard. nice to see you. appreciate you being here during the holidays. there is a question about the viability of a two-state solution. that seems to be what's being litigated here and whether under a trump administration we are potentially seeing the end of the possibility. >> i don't think that's the case. i think we could have -- there's not going to be a two-state solution. >> ambas

the u.n. security council has done things they very much like and maybe not everything they like, but donald trump will be well advised to get his briefings, understand the environment into which he's stepping and know that the eun e united nations is an organization that russia would like to have go away as well so if he doesn't want to play into the russians' hands, he needs to be real careful with his tweets. >> i actually disagree with steve. i used to work at the united nations. the only thing good about it is its cafeteria. the lasting legacy might be he's gotten republicans to seriously consider defunding it. we give 22% the united nations funding annually. >> you acknowledge there's value in having an intergovernmental organization where member nations -- >> absolutely, if it tackles the real problems. instead of tackling problems of syria, aleppo, other human rights crises, they've been trying to kick israel for years and that's not productive. we've had a long standing policy to not

what happened friday at the u.n. security council when israel was abandoned by the u.s., the palestinians celebrated. now they can come tell their people we should not go back to negotiate with the israelis about the state. we can get them to come back to the u.n., the security council. but we hope the new administration would make it clear that the only way to move forward is through direct negotiations. splt. >> i want to play what the secretary of state said coming from israeli officials in the israeli government that the united states had anything to do with last week's resolution. listen. recruit them as an alternative to bring it up to the u.n.? >> we recruited nobody as an alternative. those four countries that brought it to the floor did it on their own. i had no communication with the four countries and that process. >> ambassador, do you accept what secretary kerry has to say? >> no. absolutely not. when you -- >> so he's lying in your view? you don't believe what he's saying? >> let's review the facts. in

the u.n. vote and after and seeing that the u.s. took a pass on even participating in the vote, donald trump let it be known he was not happy about that, and this is one of the cases where the obama administration and donald trump staked out different positions. a divide between the president and president in waiting over israel. >> that the united states did not vote in favor of the resolution. >> reporter: friday when the united nations voted to rebuke israel the concern the ambassador to the u.n. told the world the obama administration would not get involved skipping the vote, and less than an hour later donald trump sent his own mess eupblg on twitter. some experts caution trump to wait his turn. >> now we have the very difficult situation of two people speaking for the united states. >> in palm beach, mixing work and play, and trump made no official appearances in florida but did not need to be seen to be heard. on foreign policy, trump's team released a congreatulations fro putin, and pu

decision on that u.n. vote is aligned with american values and that a two-state solution is the only way to achieve peace in the middle east. he says if israel rejects two-state solution for peace with palestine, it can be jewish or it can be democratic but not both. >>> new developments now in germany where prosecutors say they arrested a tunisian man who they believe may be involved in last week's truck attack on that christmas market in berlin. investigators say they found evidence linking the 40-year-old to the suspected truckdriver who carried out the attack. twelve people were killed. >>> we've learned the man convicted of carrying out the charleston church massacre will not submit evidence to save his life. dylann roof will represent himself next week in court tells a judge he plans on calling no witnesses nor evidence to convince the jury against giving him the death penalty. now back to politics with just 23 days until donald trump takes his oath of office. a new analysis says too simple that jame

whether it is the u.n. resolution dealing with israel, the pakss president obama is suggesting, promising he will take when it document russia ordering the investigation. he wants answers on what happened before he leaves office. it does seem like barack obama is very mindful of who his successor is, and trying to get certain things on the record before he leaves office on january 20th. >> an interesting point. you played sound bite talking about his concerns with how this transition is going. other reports on this staff level, the transition isn't proceeding as it typically would. a little bit, maybe not atypical but notable, the steps that the obama administration is trying to put in to put in these policies and procedures in place so they can't be rolled back or put them in now so they can't be unrolled on january 20. that has caught the attention of members of the trump transition team. i think at this point the idea of one president at a time, while it has been precedent for a long time, it is somethin

abstained from a u.n. resolution last week that condemned israel's continued settlement expansion in the occupied west bank. e resolution called further settlements, quote, a flagrant violation of international law. this in the twilight of the obama administration with less than a month to go before president donald trump takes over. now, predictably, trump condemned the resolution and kerry's speech, even before it was dlifelivered. many in israel had harsh words for the secretary of state. others praised him. chris, we're going to get you more reaction as it comes in. the full implications of this speech and the resolution before it have yet to be felt. chris? >> matt bradley in london for us. thank you so much. >>> when we come back, a look at the stories making news in the day ahead. stay with us. it's ver... sfx: (balloon squeals) ok can we... sfx: (balloon squeals) i'm being so serious right now... i really want to know how your coffee is. it's... sfx: (balloon squeals) hahahaha, i had a 2nd balloon

but at the same time the u.n. security council, because of its history, that world body of being, according to israel, anti-israel, netanyahu felt that the u.s. should have taken this out of that forum. so we also saw donald trump tweet after that vote the big loss yesterday for israel, referring to friday, in the united nations will make it much harder to negotiate peace. too bad, he says, but we will get it done anyway. that's a quote from donald trump's twitter feed. so he is trying to align himself with netanyahu at a time when he knows that there is a sensitive relationship, a frayed relationship between president obama and prime minister netanyahu. donald trump is choosing to take action at that time when it is so sensitive. craig. >> kelly o, west palm beach. thank you. >>> queen elizabeth missing her christmas service for the first time in nearly three decades because of a cold. that's not the only reason this was an historic holiday for the royals. we'll explain after this break. also ahead, more on the d

cruz, who basically said, you know what, if the u.n. moves a resolution like this, one that hurts israel, maybe the u.s. should stop giving money to the u.n., and that's something that we could see in the early days of congress, and something that donald trump being critical of what's going on at the u.n., could possibly get in favor of, get behind. >> ozzy, the leading democrat on capitol hill, incoming minority leader chuck schumer, strongly critical of the obama administration on this particular issue, staying in a statement, i'm strongly opposed to the u.n. putting pressure on israel through one-sided resolutions, an abstention is not good enough. the administration must veto this resolution. presumably, chuck schumer carrying a fair amount of sway with the white house. presumably he talked to them and the white house decided we don't care. what happened here? was what the political calculation for the obama administration? >> whenever you have an outgoing president, who is being succeeded from someone from the opposing party, you d

engineered that u.n. vote. joining me is bill neely. 3wi bill, kindly set the stage what led up to this. what do we know about the speech? >> yeah, good morning, chris. what we do know comes from john kerry's spokesman at the state department, mark toner. he said kerry would lay out a pr comprehensive vision. he feels it's his duty to lay out what he believes is a way to a peaceful two-state solution in the middle east. now many, of course, in the region and beyond believe that two-state solution is dying, if not already dead. the speech comes amid a sharp downturn in relations between the u.s. and israel after the u.s. abstained the u.n. security council vote. it was the first time in almost 40 years that the u.s. did not protect israel from a vote of this kind. now the state department says that would simply serve as a wake-up call to israel. it denies accusations that the u.s. colluded with palestinians and others to draft the language of that resolution. all of that, the curtain razor, for a speech that's a

an stained from a vote on a u.n. resolution that would demand israel stop building jewish settlements in the territories. trump tweeted a few hours later, quote, as to the u.n., things will be different after january 20th. kelly o'donnell joins me from florida where the president-elect is spending the holidays. working, also playing a round of golf with tiger woods, i understand. talk to us about the divide over israel playing out between president obama and donald trump. >> we know president obama has had what some perceived to be a tense relationship over israel over the span of his time in office, especially with benjamin netanyahu, the israeli prooiime minister. while the u.s. says israel is an ally and president obama has done many things in step with israel's interest, there ishi perception that he's not as close to israel as some would like. donald trump has tried to position himself as a candidate and now as president-elect as a strong ally for israel, and he has some definite supporters who feel strongly abo

is behind this u.n. security council. what's your take? >> that's what we've been hearing from nettenia hue, ron is the arm of nettenia h in washington. i don't think they would be making such an allegation if they didn't have such evidence proving it. i can tell you from politicians that are close to netanyahu, i've been hearing they know of top official, even joe biden himself getting involved speaking to the countries on the u.n. security council in order to try to get them to vote for the resolution. while netanyahu was really cause off-guard. >> when is this happening, that the vice president was working other members of the security council? what are your sources telling you? >> i heard it from a cabinet minister yesterday netanyahu kind of got lulled into sleep with a resolution when netanyahu persuaded sissi to back doubt from. we thought it was over, and that it wouldn't be a conflict. little by illustrates it's coming out that the united states was working to try to get other countries involved in another resolution quite similar

benjamin netanyahu quickly addressed that u.n. vote and again, we heard in the exclusive interview, john kerry explaining why, take a listen to this. >> you did not orchestrate it? >> no, we did not. >> you did not recruit them as an alternative to bring an offer to the u.n. >> we recruited nobody as an alternative. those four countries that ultimately brought it to the floor did so actually on their own. i had no communications with those four countries and that process and i don't know, i think it is kind of makes a statement if you will that they decided to go ahead no matter what. >> what are you hearing there? john kerry explaining that the united states had nothing to do of orchestrating and initiating that resolution united state council. so much so that it had comments benjamin netanyahu double down on that accusation that we had evidence that the university is behind it. >> what we heard today is how much of a sharp departure was that speech from what we heard in the administration in the past eight years. >> in terms of

despite the u.n. security council's vote on friday condemning israeli settlements, israeli is not backing down and announced plans to build thousands new homes in east jerusalem. israel's government is warning countries against any further action saying israel does not turn the other cheek. those are the exact words. joining me, bob franken, syndicated columnist. hi, bob. in our last hour, senator george mitchell who served as special envoy for middle east peace he said he thought the obama administration should have handled the u.n. vote a little differently. let's take a listen to that. >> president obama would have been wise to veto this resolution, not because of the policy implication but because of the timing and the circumstance that it leads to with respect to trying to get the parties together. >> what do you think about mitchell's comments? you agree? >> well, the flaw that i might find in it is that the united nations has not considered a credible mechanism in trying to get the parties toge

even with that u.n. security council vote israel is not backing down announcing it plans to move ahead with thousands of new homes in east jerusalem. joining me, george mitchell, former minority leader who served as the envoy for middle east peace with a new book called "a path to peace, a brief history of israeli palestinian negotiations and a way forward in the middle east." thank you very much for being with us today. plenty to discuss. that's for sure. israel strongly believes the u.s. was behind the security council resolution. as you know, administration officials denied they have anything to do with it, had anything to do with drafting it. they say they weren't involved at all. how do you see it impacting the relationship between the u.s. and israel moving forward, particularly given that president obama only has a few weeks left in office. sp >> there is a long history as we documented of hostile relations between the prime minister of israel and presidents of the united states. this is not new.

certainly, as we know, there will be a new u.n. representative at the united nations and representing the united states in governor nikki haley. she's got a great background as a republican governor of south carolina. she's kind of new to the game of diplomacy, but i think she'll do well. but then, he's got an ambassador pick for israel who is a pretty controversial mr. friedman, some who strongly supports the settlers and the settlements that are being built on palestinian land. that's going to lead to certainly lots of controversy and discussion. a very, very different kind of attitude and stance from previous u.n. ambassadors. so this will indeed be very interesting time. donald trump is not at all shy about messaging, either, because as you know he messages every day on twitter. and although messaging isn't always the same as policy, it none the less clearly starts discussions. so there's going to be lotsf discussion. lots of discussion going forward. >> no doubt about the fact this relationship is very different with benjamin

both sides have accepted u.n. security council resolution 242 which called for the withdrawal of israel from territory that it occupied in 1967 in return for peace and secure borders as the basis for ending the conflict. it has been more than 20 years since israel and the plo signed their first agreement, the oslo accords and the plo formally recognized israel. both sides committed to a plan to transition much of the west bank and gaza to palestinian control during permanent status negotiations that woput an end to their conflict. unfortunately neither the transition nor the final agreement came about. both sides bear responsibility for that. finally, some 15 years ago, king abdullah of saudi arabia came out with a historic arab peace initiative which offered fully normalized peace relations with israel when it made peace. an enormous opportunity then and now which has never been fully embraced. that history was critical to our approach to try to find a way to resolve the conflict. based on my experience with both

trump was highly critical of the u.n. security council vote last friday that condemned israel's stoplight building on land claimed by the palestinians. the united states abstained from that vote, but breaking from past precedent, it declined to veto the resolution. israel now accusing the obama administration of orchestrating the vote. the white house denying that claim. after the vote, trump tweeted things that the u.n. will, quote, be different, when he becomes president. and over the weekend, he said the big loss yesterday for israel and the united nations will make it much harder to negotiate peace. too bad, but we will get it done anyway. besides his comments this weekend about the middle east and the united nations, trump also suggested he's willing to engage in a nuclear arms race, and he called the pre-trump world a gloomy place without any hope. so what does all of this tell us about trump's world view? i'm joined by nbc's hallie jackson in palm beach, florida. "the washington post's" robert costa and "huffington

this u.n. resolution has now been delayed. my reporting is that egypt has pulled back on the scheduling of the resolution for today, the vote. and it was a result of pressure from israel. certainly we saw that the prime minister came out overnight with a very strong statement indeed. >> yeah. well, of course, israel's made its position abundantly clear. it's a position that actually accords with what president obama himself said in 2011, very eloquently, i might add. he said that peace won't come through resolutions or statements at the united nations. and susan rice echoed those words as well at the united nations. and what this resolution seemingly wants to do is to impose a solution on israel. and it actually will push peace further away. it won't bring peace closer together. peace will come about when the two parties can sit together in a bilateral fashion for direct negotiations without any preconditions. that's prime minister's netanyahu's position. unfortunately, the palestinians have yet to say yes to our repeated offe

at the same time, israel says the u.n. is not the proper forum because of this long history of anti-israeli sentiment. and donald trump has positioned himself opposite president obama and much closer to israel. in advance of that vote, he was asked by israel to make some phone calls, to try to lobby. he did so. he also used his favorite method of tweeting before the vote, and then after the vote, donald trump tweeted this. the big loss yesterday, referring to friday, for israel in the united nations will make it much harder to negotiate peace. too bad, but we will get it done anyway with the notable exclamation point that so often follows a donald trump tweet. so he is taking the position that after january 20th, treatment in the u.n., the u.s. approach to the u.n., will be different. this is a sharp divide. not terribly surprising, given the history with the obama administration, but donald trump is trying to seize on this. as you pointed out, other conservatives are jumping in on it as well. >> kelly o'donnell for us in

>> first of all, we are not very popular at the u.n. we do thank the american administration for standing with us. as we speak, there are a few initiatives coming to the security counsel while we are in the transition period. people are trying to take advantage of the transics period and we hope that they continue to support the u.n. security council. >> doesn't america lose leverage if it takes a hardline position that david friedman is articulating and that donald trump is articulating? wouldn't it hurt israel, put your politician hat on for a second, wouldn't it hurt israel if the palestinians decide america is not willing to be a fair broker in this deal? >> well, i think we have seen it so many times, that the americans tried to put us together in the table. it didn't work. >> so eventually they stop trying? >> maybe it will be a new approach. and we are open to coming to washington or go anywhere to negotiate with the palestinians. and i think that people expect something new to come with the new administration. >> when you have t

they were very critical of that u.n. abscension last week when the u.n. decided to abstain on the vote of the resolution, asking it to condemn on these settlements. and the kerry speech critical of the obama administration over the past eight years. they sort of feel like they've been forgotten by the obama administration. one settler in particular who we spoke to lives very close to rumala. this is a palestinian city in the west bank where the palestinian authority is based. he's lived there for 32 years. he's on an israeli settlement, he's raised his seven children there, and he says, look, i see this as israeli land, as jewish land, and he points back to a text in the old testament as proof. here's a little bit more of what he had to say to us earlier toy. we're in the israeli settlement of bait, it's one of the oldest settlements. it started in 1977 with just six families. 6500 israelis live here now and these are some of these homes, these red-roofed homes you can see just behind me. if you look across this road, on the other side of the road are pal

out of the u.n. entirely if it doesn't, quote, live up to its potential. >> you've been critical of the u.n. lately. do you want the united states the leave the u.n.? are you considering that move? >> the u.n. has such tremendous potential, not living up to its potential. there's such tremendous potential, but it is not living up. when do you see the united nations solving problems? they don't. they cause problems. if it doesn't live up to its potential it's a waste of time and money. >> this morning trump criticized president obama for impeding his transition with inflammatory words and deeds. trump struck a far different tone saying he had spoken today with the president on the phone and there conversation had been very nice. the outgoing secretary of state john kerry delivered a remarkable speech in washington today to which he rebuked israel in uncharacteristically blunt terms. kerry arguing israel had pursued policies that he said undermine its stated commitment to a two-state solution with the

by the way, the u.n. didn't do anything particularly new from a legal standpoint but certainly emboldened the leadership by saying they refuse to. you heard. he came out and was very clear to say they're willing to resume negotiations so long as they cease all activity. no indication that that's going to be happening soon. also on the international stage, and this is something that john kerry defechblded in his speech yesterday saying the u.s. has consistently tried to block efforts to nationalize this conflict or address it in other international foray. now they're taking the legal settlement to legal courts to try to seek compensation for palestinian families and what have you. from their position that's the only practical thing that may change for them. you're absolutely right. with 22 days left to go in this administration, i don't think anyone is going to be concerned about what the obama administration is doing. he's made it very clear come january 20th it's going to be very clear. with his own vers

as we talk about the humanitarian crisis, the u.n. and human rights office says at least 82 innocent people have been killed, murdered, quote, on the spot inside their homes. now we have a report of 100 kids trapped inside a building that's under fire. what do we know about what's being done to rescue and what's being done to stem the violence? >> the u.n., thomas, has been pushing hard throughout the day to gain access to aleppo. they've been denied access, they say, by the syrian government presently and actually for months, if you look back at what's been happening there. they've been pushing hard again today, saying they really need to get in and verify or discount some of these reports. some horrifying reports about those people being civilians, being executed by fighters loyal to assad. 13 children, 11 women, among those who died. now, the united nations is saying, look, we don't have the proof, but we need to get in. we need to get access to some of these civilians. we're talking about tens of thousands of people potentially st

he defended the decision not to veto u.n. measure vetoing israel. and he warned that israeli settlements could jeopardize prospects for peace. >> despite our best efforts over the years, the two-state solution is now in serious jeopardy. we have to be clear about what is happening in the west bank. the israeli prime minister publicly supports a two-state solution. but his current colt is the most right wing in history. the result is that policies of this government which the prime minister himself just described as more committed to settlements than any in israel's history. are leaning in the opposite direction. they're leading toward one state. >> hours later, benjamin netanyahu hit back. >> now i must express my deep disappointment with the speech today of john kerry. a speech that was almost as unbalanced as the anti-israel resolution passed at the u.n. last week. >> today palestinian president says he is ready to resume peace talks with israel if it halts settlement constructions staying minute they this agree on cease all settlement activities,

trump, you have been critical of the u.n. lately. do you want the united states to leave the u.n.? >> the u.n. has such tremendous potential, not living up to its potential. there is such tremendous potential but it's not living up. when do you see the united nations solving problems? they don't. they cause problems so if it lives up to the potential, it's a great thing. if it doesn't, it's a waste of time and money. >> this morning, trump criticized president obama for impeding his transition with inflammatory words and deeds but in his remarks to reporters, trump struck a different tone saying he spoke with the president and their conversation had been very, very nice. with the obama era drawing to a close, the outgoing secretary of state john kerry delivered a remarkable speech in washington in which he rebuked israel in uncau uncharacteristically bunt terms, saying israel undermined its stated commitment to a two state solution with the palestinians. >> the israeli prime minister publicly supports a two-state solution but his current coalition is the most right wing in israeli

on friday, u.n. ambassador samantha power explained why the united states did not vote for that resolution and why it did not veto the resolution. >> it is because this forum too often continues to be biased against israel, because there are important issues that are not sufficntly addressedn this resolution and because the united states does not agree with every word in this text that the united states did not vote in favor of the resolution. but it is because this resolution reflects the facts on the ground and is consistent with u.s. policy across republican and democratic administrations throughout the history of the state of israel that the united states did not veto it. it is precisely our commitment to israel's security that makes the united states believe that we cannot stand in the way of thisolution as we seek to preserve a chance of obtaining our long-standing objective, two states living side by side in peace and security. >> joining us now, founder and president of j street, the politica

was standing up for at the u.n. but frankly, what i look at this resolution as saying, the settlements are illegal. you cannot do it. it reaffirms an american policy that goes back to the beginning of the occupation and puts the u.s. in the same corner as the rest of the community and i hope donald trump doesn't act in a dangerous way to undo this or try to remove the u.s. from the u.n. >> thank you so much for your time. we greatly appreciate it. >>> with the inauguration day 25 days away, president-elect trump is trying to, according to his team, untangle some of the potential conflicts of interest over the weekend, trump announced he's dissolving his charitable foundation that came under fire over how its funds are used and joining me now, senior politics editor, sam stein and msnbc contributor. sam, good morning. good to see you. >> good morning, happy holidays. >> happy holidays, these questions about conflicts of interest. and donald trump with his children, it's limitless here and you and i both know the stor

the u.n. itself can't take much action. they can impose sanctions on some countries, but even then individual countries have to enforce it. so this -- this is a series of votes, and routinely we see at the u.n. efforts made to marginalize israel and to blame israel for in a one-sided way for what's been happening in the middle east. and so the u.s. has for -- really since the obsession of israel, been the defender of israel at the u.n., to try to present the other perspective. so this vote about the settlements is interesting in particular, because settlements have been recognized by international law and almost all communities, including previous presidents of the united states that building in palestinian areas is considered problematic. and that it gets in the way of the two communities coming up with what we call the two-state solution. so, again, this is a symbolic vote, and by not vetoing it, the united states is perceived as giving a sharp rebuke to the current administration in israel for continuing to build these s

clear and unequivocal call of president-elect@realdonaldtrump to veto anti-israel resolution at the u.n. when the resolution passed away, israel responded with fury. israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu pointedly saying he looks forward to working with trump and accusing the obama administration of orchestrating the u.n. vote, something the administration denies. here's the israeli ambassador making the claim. >> we have proof. i don't believe it. we know it. we'll share it with the incoming administration through the appropriate channels and they can decide if they want to share that with the american people. we obviously won't share it with this administration because this administration is behind it. >> the administration he's talking about, it's worth noting, finalized a deal in september to give israel $30 billion in military aid over ten years, a new record. as for trump he claimed in a tweet, the big loss yesterday for israel in the united nations will make it much harder to negotiate peace and vowed ominously as to the u.n., things will be different after january 20th. trum

russia and france have announced an agreement on a u.n. resolution to send u.n. monitors to eastern aleppo. tens of thousands of syrians are are still desperately waiting to escape the war zone in aleppo. it is still unclear exactly when evacuations will resume. >>> china has agreed to return a u.s. navy research drone it snatched last week. it was recovering two of the unmanned gliders near the philippines when the chinese ship took one. the pentagon said it engaged with china to secure the return. and clinton campaign aide john podesta said there needs to be an independent investigation into the russian hacking of the election. >>> president obama and president-elect trump sharing one thing in common, about as far from the white house as you can get without leaving the u.s. mr. trump in mar-a-lago in west paem beach, florida, and president obama is in hawaii. steve patterson is traveling with the president. still morning there. any sightings of the president yet today? >> yes, there is, and i will get to that in just a second. i just want to say what a privileg

the u.n. vote late last week has brought that relationship even lower. now israel is waging some counter diplomacy, recalling certain ambassadors, confronting envoys, leveling accusations against the obama administration. kind of set the stage for us because this disagreement that we've had between the u.s. and israel, particularly between benjamin netanyahu and barack obama, is nothing new. but does this change the equation significantly? >> it certainly changed perhaps the degree of respect the two men have for one another because a lot of this has become personal. you talked about the history between these two men. it's certainly been a tumultuous one the last couple of years with the prime minister coming here and lobbying against the iran deal, all sorts of stuff. interestingly it came to a head over the past week with the showdown at the united nations. and in particular these new accusations that are coming out by the israeli government that the obama administration actually orchestrated this u.n. security council resolution. that resolution was i

the u.n. is coming out and saying this. this is not something the u.n. has been able to independently verify. they're eting these accounts. we're seeing people tweets of what's happening, barrel bombs falling again, buildings being reduced to rubble. unicef saying they have accounts of up to 100 families, women and children, trapped in the rubble of these buildings. they're calling on syria and russia to give u.n. access to assess the situation on the ground. you're right, we're getting reports of men being executed in homes and being separated from their families as they try to evacuate this area. it is a very dire situation. in fact, you know, there's an account by this woman and her daughter, and they've been tweeting -- >> i was going to ask you about that. how old is she? >> she's 7 years old. you see her tweets. she's 7 years old talking to the world live from east aleppo. this was the last tweet we heard saying, this is my last moment to either live or die. her mother tweeted out last night as well saying she couldn't believe she's still alive bas

was passing the resolution that the u.n. treated israel differently than it treats a number of other countries that have done nasty things in terms of humanitarian issues that israel has been accused of, but certainly no worst than any other country, and doing far fewer terrible things that was called out in her prepared remarks, but it's certainly a matter of the obama administration, and kind of putting its foot down, saying israel has continued to push for the settlements and it's not part of the administration policy and it's not all that great for what everybody wants, which is the two-state solution. >> it's a policy that has not run president obama's eight years in office and that of previous republican and democratic presidents. mike, let me ask you about donald trump in particular tweeting over the past couple of days on serious issues, including nuclear arms, and it's called the chaos theory of trump. is there any sense the strategy here by donald trump with the outbursts or the tweets that he is putting out there,

the u.n. added 82 civilians were executed, including 11 women and 13 children while attempting to leave their homes in a complete meltdown of humanity. speaking yesterday, ambassador samantha power directly addressed president assad and his allies. >> to the assad regime, russia, and iran, three member states behind the conquest of and carnage in aleppo, you bear responsibility for these atrocities. when one day there's a full accounting of the horrors committed in this assault of aleppo, and that day will come sooner or later, you will not be able to say you did not know what was happening. you will not be able to say you were not involved. we all know what was happening, and we all know you were involved. it should shame you. instead, by all appearances, it is emboldening you. are you truly incapable of shame? is there literally nothing that can shame you? is there no act of bar barrism of civilians, no execution of a child that gets under your skin, that creeps you out a little bit? is ther

the u.n. and six states digging out from at least a foot of snow. the latest on the storm front causing havoc in nearly 75 president of the country. look at those roads. let's start with trump and our reporters stretching from to capitol hill and trump tower. kristen, let's start with you. talk to me about wisconsin, this latest thank you tour stop. how does he feel right now? he's facing a lot of criticism about hacking, about tillerson's ties to russia. is the campaign on the defensive? the transition, i should say? >> reporter: they're on the defensive, katy, but they're also digging in. first to the tillerson flap backlash that we are seeing. look, they're bracing for a fierce fight in that senate confirmation hearing. they know they're going to get one, but they feel confident, they say, that ultimately he will be confirmed. and you've started to see them really lay out the case for tillerson over the weekend. the president-elect himself saying that tillerson is a dealmaker. someone who's

a vote is scheduled at the u.n. later this morning. meanwhile on friday, president obama addressed the persistent criticism against his administration that his policies have led partly to the situation in aleppo. >> i always feel responsible. i felt responsible when kids were being shot by snipers. i felt responsible when millions of people had been displaced. so with respect to syria, what i have consistently done is taken the best course that i can to try to end the civil war, while having also to take into account the long-term national security interests of the united states. i cannot claim that we've been successful. and so that's something that as is true with a lot of issues and problems around the world, i have to go to bed with every night. >> more on this when nbc's lucy cappenof joins us in a moment. >>> on saturday, president-elect donald trump pushed back against first lady michelle obama and her claim that the country has lost hope. in mobile, alabama, trump disagreed with the first lady, but he also defended her. here's

dozens of civilians were killed by syrian troops in what the u.n. is now calling a complete meltdown of humanity. many civilians are still trapped. right now the u.n. security council is holding an emergency meeting to discuss the crisis. you can so ethe russian ambassador speaking there. and we'll be right back. i was working in the yard, my chest started hurting and i thought, well, you need to go to the doctor. i was told that is was cancer, and i called cancer trereatment centers of america. dr. nader explained that they can pinpoint the treatment. once we identified that there was this genetic abnormality in her tumor, we were able to place her on very specific therapy. our individualized care model gives each lung patient specific treatment options with innovative procedures that are changing the way we fight lung cancer. we have excellent technology that allow us to perform very specialized procedures for patients who have lung disease. to learn more about these targeted therapies and advanced procedures for lung cancer, as well as the experi

and vowed, ominously, as to the u.n. things will be different after january 20. trump later adding "the united nations has such great potential but right now is just a club for people to get together, talk and have a good time. so sad." i asked democratic congressman steve cohn what he makes of donald trump inserting himself into u.s. foreign policy before he takes office. >> between the time he was elected in january 20, he should leave foreign policy to president obama. the constitution gives executive foreign policy and it certainly doesn't give president-elect and what president-elect trump has done is out of character with our traditions in america and it's disrespectful to the president and harmful to our foreign policy. >> what do you say to those, some of whom are democrats, who have been quite critical of the president's decision not to veto this resolution before the u.n. security council to say these were extraordinary times and it's a good thing that israel has an ally in donald trump. >> israel has an ally in barack obama and israel has an ally in th

abstention from the u.n. vote as a mistake. >> we really don't know. it's like the he said/she said, we don't know. to me that's not important. what's important, regardless how one feels about settlements, the fact is the united nations never gives israel a fair break and israel relies on the united states to block the most onerous of resolutions against them, and we didn't do it, and i think it was a mistake. it's not a matter of whether you're for settlements or against settlements. >> president obama would have been wise to veto this resolution, not because of the policy implications, but because of the timing and the circumstance that it leads to with respect to trying to get the parties together. we have a new administration coming in. they will make a new initiative. unfortunately, this moves israel further away from being willing to negotiate with the palestinians and makes the palestinians less likely to negotiate, which is difficult. >> outgoing labor secretary tom perez is challenging president-elect donald trump's transition team, even calli

trump on that committee, senator rand paul, who commented both on tillerson and reports that former u.n. ambassador john bolton could be trump's pick to be deputy secretary of state. >> i'm keeping an open mind on tillerson. i want to know what his world view is more than where he traveled or who he knows. and i think it may be overblown. he made deals in many, many countries, you know, some award -- i don't know that this means he is skiing and fishing with putin, some awards. let's hear at least a little bit about what his world view is. i think this person, john bolton, should never have any position in the state department. i will vote no and i hope my vote will be the deciding vote to keep him out of the state department. >> there was also an interesting cast of characters in trump tower today. that list included former nfl line backer ray lewis and the great hall of famer jim brown. kanye west was there. more on that in a moment. bill gates was there today. there were also reports that trump met with vogue magazine editor in chief anna winteror today, something trump mentioned ton

"as to the u.n., things will be different after january 20th." but some experts caution trump to wait his turn. >> now we have the very difficult situation of two people speaking for the united states. >> reporter: in palm beach, mixing work and play. trump made no official appearances in florida but did not need to be seen to be heard. on foreign policy, trump's team released a congratulatory message from russia's president. trump described "as a very nice letter from vladimir putin. his thoughts are so correct." putin referred to trump as "his excellency." and "encouraged improved u.s.-russia relations." sharing that letter came after criticism of the president-elect for bold comments that contradict years of u.s. policy to reduce global nuclear weapons. trump tweeted, "the united states must greatly strengthen and expand its nuclear capability." some experts expressed concerns that trump is making pronouncements before taking office. >> certainly doesn't bode well for dealing with serious issues when it's nuclear weapons, terrorism, syria, wha