with all that congress has to work on do they really have to make it unfair as it may be, their number one act, their priority? focus on tax reform, health care, so many other things of far greater importance. _#dts, drain the swamp. what the house republicans were proposing yesterday was essentially not to drain the swamp, but to put the fox in charge of the hen house. >> that's exactly right. it looked in some ways like there's a split, certainly, if you have the republican president-rekt basically slapping the wrist of house republicans, but if you look a little closer, it also could be, john, the republican president-elect helping house republican leaders to get this back on track. republican leaders in the house, they didn't want this.

they were surprised this even happened. they didn't want the very first story out of the gate to be the house republicans gutting the very organization that is spoeftd to make sure that they are oot ethical. the fact that donald trump did this has sent -- our colleagues can report a little more on this -- house republicans back into a meeting as we speak to figure on the a way to fix this so that this is not going to be the story out of the gate. at the end of the day perhaps the republican leaders in the house have help getting their rank-and-file who have been very unruly for the past eight years in order. >> let's go to capitol hill. you see the house floor there as they start to get the sessions in the house and the senate in order. we'll take you there live. manu raju. is this tweet from donald trump enough to get them to say, wait a minute, if we want to do this, this was certainly the wrong way to do it? >> potentially, john.

remember, it was about an hour, hour and a half ago house majority leader kevin mccarthy told reporters that there would be no changes to this rules package even though he opposed this change in the ethics body investigatory powers because is he worried about the optics. he made that case along with house speaker paul ryan privately in that closed door meeting last night, so this morning he said, look, the vote happened. it's going to happen this afternoon. i don't like this. i agree with what donald trump said, but something happened in the last hour, hour and a half with the republican leadership realizing this potentially cannot go forward because of how bad this looks and because of the fact that the president-elect is saying that he will not -- the party should not focus on this. this is the only way they could change this. have a meeting. adopt a new rules package that the full house could accept this afternoon. right now behind closed doors they are discussing what to do, and i would be surprised if the republican leadership gets

rolled again by the rank-and-file because that's what happened last night, and that's why they're in this difficult spot. >> donald trump again disrupting the day. phil maddingly, you spent a lot of time on the campaign trail. here's my question for you. you understand the changed environment out in the country from the campaign trail. is this perhaps a bit of evidence that the rank and file republicans don't understand, that the donald trump election tells us something different and protecting yourself like this, doing something that's an inside game is -- we're going to go into the pledge of allegiance. sorry, phil. get back to you in just a second. >> thank you for the illumination of your presence. as we begin a new year and a new congress, please be the guide that will lead us to fulfill your purposes. >> that was the prayer there to convene the united states senate. let's get back to phil

maddingly. you see the vice president joe biden standing over the shoulder. 17 days left in his vice presidency and to be the president much the senate, a sar motherian ro ceremonial role largely. he ran sometimes against the republican establishment as much as the obama administration. was this decision yesterday in a closed meeting for house republicans to gut this ethics agency maybe a reminder that they don't get the message of the election? >> i think what's interesting is that the house leadership, the members that often had so many problems, difficulties supporting now president-elect donald trump, they got it. they understood the problem that this was going to cause. they behind closed doors sources saying they warned their members. they've warned their congress. while they might agree with some of the reforms they were targeting with this ethics entity that did not agree with the timing, and that ends up why they line up directly with the president-elect. the interesting is that the rank-and-file decided to go against them anyway. despite the warnings, despite what they saw over the campaign season, despite what they

expected to come from the president-elect. now, one of the interesting elements when i talked to republican aides, house aides, they said, look, we think you are making this way too overblown and people aren't going to be paying to this unless -- and the unless was -- the president-elect decided to tweet about it. he decided to tweet about it, and i can tell you over the course of the last hour or so pretty plainly, our phones are ringing. when phones are ringing, members start to react. now you have an emergency meeting. >> it is a reminder of how unpredictable the new terrain in washington. 17 days away from the trump administration, but he could have called. the president-elect could have called the leadership or called rank-and-file members. he would have had his chief of staff do that or the vice president who knows many of them do that. instead, he decided to tweet publicly, to shame them, to embarrass them in public. welcome to the new world order. that's one of many different things. as we wait for the house and senate to come in -- speaking of different, you had a very -- you had a conversation very interesting conversation this

morning with the new face, the one new face in the congressional leadership, the man who will lead senate democrats. an interesting perspective on the president-elect. >> that's right. they're fellow new yorkers. chuck schumer, the new minority leader, has been the recipient of donald trump's money back when donald trump was a democrat, and the two of them have spoken, and there was a report in the new york post that donald trump when they spoke told chuck schumer that he likes him better than his fellow republican leaders. i asked him about that. listen p to how it went. >> the president-elect reportedly told you he likes you more than his fellow republicans here in congress. did he tell you that? >> i don't want to get into what he told me. this was reported by someone from the transition team. look, i don't know donald trump very well. i never played golf with him. i never had a meal with him. i crossed his path at things in new york, but that's going to have very little affect.

my guiding light is going to be the principles of our party and what i this i are the right principles of our country, helping the middle class, helping those trying to get there. >> but you're not saying he didn't say that? >> he said something close to it. >> were you surprised to hear a republican president tell a democratic leader he likes you more than the republicans? >> when you get to be in my position, people do tend to want to flatter you, and you have to take it with a grain of salt. >> john, he talked about the nickname that george w. bush had for him, and it didn't do bush many favors when it came to chuck schumer, but we'll hear from him on the senate floor when the senate opens in just a bit. he is trying to really walk the line between not giving in too much but giving in just enough. >> more later on that fascinating dynamic. the republicans are taking full charge of washington, but whether the democrats -- it's also a big subject of conversation. we will get back to that. let's look up into the united states senate now. dip in for a little bit. joe biden swearing in members. >> that you take this oath, this

obligation freely without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion and that you will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which you are about to enter, to help you god. congratulations. [ applause ] >> the current vice president joe biden, the democratic vice president, again, 17 more days in his job. he has been a fixture here in washington, a creature of the united states -- proud creature of the united states senate for 30 something years before he became president obama's vice president. let's listen to the conversation in the room. we may have to jump back at any moment. as we watch this play out, mary katherine hamm, you are plugged in among conservatives. why? if this agency needs to be fixed and a lot of people say it, why not have public hearings, why not signal to the american people you're going to do this, why not get democrats on board and do it in a bipartisan basis? when with you have a new

president coming to town have the first thing you do pull the teeth out of the government watchdog agency? >> it's very rare that trump tweets something. i said to myself i could have tweeted that. in this case i'm with him and the leadership on this, and i think part of it is just regular gop stupidity, which is something that they're quite adept at. >> it's a bipartisan -- >> just strategic stupidity. number two, i think it it moo be a little bit we're unleashed. donald trump is president. we shall do what we shall do, but they have forgotten that they don't have the magical power that donald trump does to tweet and change the entire media cycle. when this caught on and when it became such a symbol of what might look terrible for them and trump decided to tweet, i wonder if it also means that there is communication between the leadership in the republican congress and trump on this matter and whether that means something. >> this underscores a little bit the fact that there are sort of three factions of the republican party in washington d.c. at the moment. there is the house leadership, who we mostly consider the sort of republicans of what we know,

paul ryan, kevin mccarthy, mitch mcconnell. not terribly different. there is the incoming president-elect, who has signalled he is going to do things a lot differently by tweeting his agenda. then there's this third faction, the republican freshmen and i should say the rank-and-file republican members in the house who have really bucked leadership for the last six, eight, ten years. essentially since george w. bush became a lame-duck, there have been a group of republicans who are opposed to leadership as much as they are opposed to democrats. they are going to be a factor in sort of putting together the coalitions necessary to pass whatever is on the republican agenda. >> this is -- the committee chairman, though, is a senior republican from the state of virginia. this is not a tea party rebel who wants to just poke the speaker or we wouldn't think so. >> right. exactly. reid is pointing out something that's fascinating. a lot of these members, two-thirds, have never worked under an entirely republican controlled congress, so they are going to have a president-elect

who will poke at them and see how they react for a time. i think for matters of accuracy in history, democrats also hate this, and there were many democrats back in the day not that long ago, actually, who also wanted to get rid of it. we're going to hear a lot of screaming and kplcomplaining one floor from house democrats, but in reality all of them want to get rid of it. the optics are terrible. they own this problem today on day one. we'll see how it's resolved. we don't know. we started the morning thinking it would pass. we are not sure. >> if you do not have to have much of a brain to know that this is going to look terrible. >> it's really hard to know why this is the opening move of this congress, this republican house that has been talking a lot about actual policies that they want to move forward on. obama care, for example. that is such a major issue for republicans. why not focus on that? it reminds me slightly to a different degree, but it reminds me a little bit of when you had the obama care troubles and house -- the house and senate decided to shut down the

government instead of focussing on that. they kind of can't get out of their own way sometimes. >> they need to stop and think before they act. let's go back to capitol hill for breaking news and whether you are a democrat, republican, or independent, it sounds like, manu, that we should all say thank you, mr. president-elect. >> well, a major about-face, republicans have just dropped that ethics change, that change to the ethics rules -- the ethics committee would investigate members going forward. they have decided to strip that very controversial provision that got all that backlash in this emergency meeting that just happened right now on capitol hill. i mean, this happened lightning fast, john. in the last hour the house republican leaders are saying this package is still going to be voted on because a majority of their members have voted for it, and they're going to do what the majority of their members want, but after donald trump's tweet criticizing this change on how ethics controversies are being investigated here in the

house, they've decided no longer to move forward with that change. in this closed door meeting i'm told look with our colleague deirdre walsh that they voted by unanimous consent unanimously as a republican conference to take this provision out, so recognizing the significant backlash they've been getting and how bad of optics this is on day one of the new congress, house republicans moved forward with this package without any changes to that ethics investigation, so a major about-face for republicans after all that backlash and a hope that they could be on the same page as they move forward with their agenda going forward. john. >> manu with the breaking news on capitol hill. again, many of you at home have probably never heard of this government watchdog agency. it is about that. congress should have independent eyes watching it for ethics reasons, and it's about something else. we are learning today on the first day of the 1 15th congress that, brace yourself, these will be unpredictable times.

we have a president-elect who in 17 days will be president who communicates very differently, who is not beholden to the republican party. he was nobody's favorite for the nomination among the republican leadership, and he is now about to be the president-elect, and he is proving on day one of this congress even before he moves to washington that he can change things with a tweet. >> you know, you don't want to read too much into the dynamics of the republican party based on one action here, but if we are going to try to do that, it shows that when paul ryan and kevin mccarthy were saying basically the same thing to their members yesterday, their member has decided to act on their own. when donald trump says this, they act. shows us who has the juice here. >> he with saw a tweet last week from the president-elect talking about the economy, and he said thanks, donald. i think this is a thanks donald moment because this wouldn't have happened without his action. we don't know yet if there was back channel communication at the time between the president-elect in trump tower in new york and on capitol hill. >> the process was business as usual, and the process was frankly a joke. good for the president-elect for

stopping it, and if they're going to do that, do it in the light of day. >> i often talk fasciously about trump's magical power, but this was obviously a fumble. you have the republican leadership and trump unified. the rank-and-file in line, which they aren't often over the past years, and the media is going, hey, trump was right. this is what i'm talking about. it's strange times. >> the honeymoons can end quickly, and, again, we're watching. you see in the top right of your screen there, that's the house coming into session. a few minutes late. they were in this meeting to now strip this controversial rules proposal. on the bottom you see vice president biden swearing in more members of the united states senate. the 115th congress getting about its business. 17 days before a new republican president comes to washington. tomorrow the current president will be on capitol hill urging house democrats to fight as hard as they can when the republicans move to repeal his signature health care act, the affordable care act, obama care. vice president-elect pence will also be there meeting with

republicans trying to chart a course for repeeling it. again, unpredictability. we're seeing it today with president-elect trump changing the ethics debate. listen here. as the number two house republican and one of the president-elect's top advisors explain what is going to happen when the house moves very quickly -- the entire congress moves very quickly to repeal obama care. >> in the repeal process we can do that pretty soon. if you watch, we'll start taking up the budget. first in the senate for 2017. >> let's see what happens practically. some people -- some experts say that it could take years to actually complete the process, but there's no question that there will be different health insurance coverage in this country under president trump. >> i'm going to go to my "hamilton" friend here. winning is easy. governing is harder. kevin mccarthy says we can do this in the budget this year. kellyanne conway says it could take years. what she means is president-elect trump boxed in

congressional republicans by saying preexisting condition coverage should stay. if you are 26, you should be able to stay on your parents' coverage a little longer. he named several specific proposals, but the democrats love and that cost money that he wants to keep. how do they do that? >> as democrats learned, it's tricky to revamp the entire health care system of the united states of america, and now the republicans will be facinge fac the same thing. they are going to be talking about the problems with obama care. repeal can happen quickly, technically, but they will probably put in several years of timelines or as the obama care implementation did itself so people don't get stuck by losing coverage that they had. the thing that worries me, not terribly smart about strategy, and this has to be a really delicate process if you are not going to tick off many people who do have some coverage that they like better. there are also many people who don't like their coverage better. >> it is now about taking things away from people, and that may not be popular among some people, but watch confirmation hearings. that's why these are also so

important. tom price, of course, has been nominated to be the health and human services secretary. he has actual ideas how to repeal and replace obama care. we'll see if the president-elect agrees with him or if congress agrees with him. this is a tough road. kellyanne conway, lowering expectations for the speediness of this process. >> we talked about the different factions within the republican party. there are other factions too, including more idealogical factions. drr a lot of groups that are moored and want to see obama care repealed and replaced. they passed something similar to medicaid expansion. in fact, it was pretty much the same thing. they just called it something different. i think it was hoosier cares in indiana. if the answer to repeeling and replacing the aca is something

that looks 98% like the aa, is that enough for the conservative idealogical groups that are still involved. >> it has been the affordable care act or obama care, call it what you will, that's been a weapon for the republicans for years now. the house democratic leader nancy pelosi saying yesterday you break it, you own it. this will become the republicans' issue now, and potentially their problem. we'll take a quick break. live coverage of the 115th congress getting about its business. a dramatic day here in washington. the president-elect already putting his stamp on this big day. when we come back, what will congress do about trade? a lot of the president's appointees to the cabinet get confirmation hearings pretty soon. we may answer then a lot of the very many questions everyone in washington has about the policy priorities of the new administration. stay with us. a special live breaking news coverage continues in just a moment. a-3s... but did you know your eyes, your brain, and your joints

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than $30 on dealdash.com. visit dealdash.com for great deals. and start bidding today! >> welcome back it "inside politics." you can see there live the united states house of representatives coming into session, the 115th congress beginning. the bottom right of your screen, the united states senate. again, the new republican controlled congress taking charge here in washington. 17 days before the donald trump inaugural. the president-elect already making his presence felt on this day normally for celebration and ceremony. tweet from donald trump forcing house republicans to go into a private meeting and strip froo a new rules package a plan to gut an agency that oversees congressional ethics. one impact of the president-elect already. another big issue, when the congress gets about its business, gets past this ceremony, is how will republicans deal with the new president on one of the big issues where there are significant disagreements? that is trade. back to our conversation in the

room. we'll keep the congress scenes up as well so you can watch it play out. donald trump is withdrawing from nafta. he can serve notice that he will withdraw from the transpacific partnership. easier said than done, but you can serve notice. it starts a process that takes some time. just this morning ford motor company says it is cancelling plans to build plants in mexico and keeping 700 jobs in the united states. they say they're doing that as a gesture, an olive branch, a vote of confidence in president-elect trump. good for president trump. president-elect trump tweegt general motors is sending mexican-made chevy cruise to the united states. car dealers tax-free across border. made in usa or pay big border tax. this is one of the most controversial proposals. democrats don't mind it so much. some democrats don't. this is against free market republican trade policies. again, listen to the number two house republican this morning saying, sure, we want to work with our new president, but we're not sure about all his

trade ideas. >> we talk tax reform. what are ways we can go about bringing more jobs in america? not with a trade war. we're working on tax reform to level the playing field and give america the ability to compete around the world. >> i'm not trying to leave the impression that the new republican president will not agree. he will. he has talked about stripping regulations. he has talked about working on repealing and replacing obama care. there's a lot that they do agree on, but there are some pretty big funldamental issues where h is at odds with not only the overarching philosophy of the republican party, but with the leaders, with paul ryan, the speaker, with mitch mcconnell, the senate yort leader wrash they are free trards. they do not believe a president of the united states or that the federal government should be picking winners and losers. singling out general motors and slapping them publicly.

>> we have house republican leaders backing trade deals that the majority of americans suppo support. >> in the swing states where trade deals have hurt manufacturing jobs and the notion that this is going to be a big scism between the president-elect and the republican majority in congress is probably good for the president-elect who will be on the side of those working class white voters who won and sent him to the white house this time and, two, who he will need to keep him in the white house in four years.

>> if we pass tax reform and not exactly what he wants, if we ps an immigration plan that doesn't build a wall, that has more money for some border enforcements. maybe it's drones or several miles of wall, that he will sign it. right or wrong or do we not know? >> i'm skeptical on the issue of trade. he has been -- there aren't that many things he has been consistent about for many years. i do think voters see that -- they see a lot of room between free trade and, like, tariffs and trade wars. >> as we have seen with the -- >> and the tariffs is an area where congress will have more power than trump will. he can't do that unilaterally, and he has talked about it a lot. he has continued to do it. tariffs on goods from china. that will be very hard for republicans to swallow.

to the point you were making, though, the bet that paul ryan essentially made in the general election and then he continues to make is that donald trump wants to win. i'm not sure that is the smartest bet. paul ryan has to hang on to that right now. i don't know how donald trump will react. i think he has proven that there's no guarantees that he will support them just because it's his own party. >> he wants to be strong. he wants to project strength. that's what he is doing this morning in the gm, ford thing. he is running the show. once the congress is fully form and once is he in office, the chaltening will be the details of that. democrats want to play a role here, particularly in the senate on trade and other things.

>> i'm not saying the president-elect has not had issues with stheez companies. without a doubt, he has. they will get tax reform and lower corporate taxes and they will get more incentives for keeping jobs here in the united states, so they are essentially putting their chips on the table now expecting the republican congress and the new president will give them a more pro-business environment. something they wanted throughout the obama administration, throughout the bush administration for that matter. they competing parties couldn't get together on a tax reform plan. a quick break here. when we come back, congress about to elect a new speaker of the house. looks like paul ryan will survive. remember people thought he would dp. . more as the 115th congress gets down to business here in the new republican controlled washington. stay with us.

>> live pictures of the first day, first hour of the house of representatives and the united states senate. the bottom right. a big change election sends donald trump to be the president-elect 17 days away from being president of the united states. congress, three of the four leaders are the same leaders from last year. we expect the votes still have to be held later this hour. the house will vote in a speaker. we expect paul ryan to win. nancy pelosi will be the democratic leader there. harry reid has retired. the new face of the democrats is chuck schumer, democrat from new york. last year the democrats changed the rules. it used to be you could block a

nominee. >> let's do all of these in a week and not ask him any tough questions. >> the hands are tied because in the last congress your democratic leadership was part of it and changed the rules and you only need 51 votes to confirm a nominee. not 60. therefore, you're living by your rules. was that a mistake in retrospect? >> i argued against it at the time. i said both for supreme court and in cabinet should be 60 because in such important decisions there should be some degree of bipartisanship. i went on supreme court. lost on cabinet. but it's what we have to live with now. >> not the grats situation when you are in the minority. >> yep. >> can you see that full

interview tonight. yep. schumer says. you want to watch that interview. very important player now in washington. if you're not familiar with him, you are employ to get familiar with him. remember, president obama is passing from the stage. vice president biden is passing from the stage. the clinton era is over. chuck schumer in the senate. nancy pelosi in the house. to the point senator schumer is making there with dana, we have confirmation hearings starting next week. you made a smart point that we have a lot of questions about what campaign promise from the president-elect actually carry over into the new administration. when tom price is being confirmed for health and human services, how do they want to deal with obama care? when general madison is being confirmed for the defense secretary, what will he do about russia hacking and the threat from north korea on the table? go through each and every agency and we have a lot of question marks. the democrats, though, are powerless. unless they can get republicans, the democrats are largely powerless. >> all of these nominees have

been working with the transition officials, specifically shifting policy ideas. we need to learn much more about what he thinks and what this administration thinks and simply about their own backgrounds. the reality is most of them, if not all of them, will likely be confirmed. that's how the math works. you can see the look on senator schumer's face. i can remember that. he is speaking accurately there. we are going to get a lot of answers to what trump's policies are going to be here, but, you know, if mitch mcconnell wants to get a lot of people confirmed by inauguration day, that will very likely happen. >> but we're also going to learn not only some of the policy details, but we're going to learn whether -- will we learn? are they there yet? do they understand they're going to lose the bully pulpit? they're going to lose it whether you like him or support him, a very powerful communicator in president obama. a very loyal and well known democrat in joe biden. the clintons are gone.

>> i think you would expect pretty strong questioning at least and probably lock step opposition to people like tom price for hhs, scott pruett to head the epa, and some other folks like that. the problem for democrats, though, is that you kind of only -- you kind of have on pick and choose. you can't be against everybody or you become the obstructionist party that they have been complaining about for the eight years of the obama administration. a part of me thinks that president-elect trump has given these -- >> two people and two issues that democrats are talking about focussing on in the hearings is russia, obviously. we know that's part of the

discussion. also, for the hearings to be an opportunity where democrats are going to try to have a reset on their economic message. they're still trying to figure out exactly what that is, but they see that as an opportunity to if not block him from confirmation, at least take some shots at him and try to damage trump's reputation as a president who is going to look out for the working class and then turns around and appoints people with goldman backgrounds. >> we learned from the campaign that trump likes to be a counter puncher, and if the democrats beat him up so much -- beat up his people so much in the confirmation process, will trump then push back on infrastructure spend and on trade. a member of the house leadership team cathy mcrogers nominating paul ryan for speaker of the house. >> here in this chamber. by the people and for the people. just over a year ago when he picked up that gavel, speaker ryan challenged us to raise our gaze, to respect this institution and open up the legislative process, says which

represents the will of the people, to be accountability people we represent, to be men and women of integrity, to serve our country with pump and to empower everyone to reach their full potential. speaker ryan knows that the healthy competition of ideas between our passionate talented members is an says asset to representative government. paul ryan made a commitment to getting the institution working, and as a result we've had more conference committees and more bipartisan achievements. he put this majority to work on bold policy solutions that have united us. under his leadership this think tank of ideas was able to find common ground without compromising conservative principles. together after crisscrossing our districts and listening to americans of all walks of life, we developed a better way. our vision for a confident america. policy that saw the biggest challenges of our time. policies that trust people not

the government to make their own decisions and pursue their own dreams. as speaker ryan said the day he was called upon for his role, nothing could be more inspiring than a job well done. nothing could stir the heart more than real concrete results. in this critical moment as our unified republican government begins to take its place, we have an opportunity to think big, to reimagine this government from the top to the bottom. it's time to rebelieve the american dwrd and reclaim the people's voice. there's no one better to lead the people's house in that calling than paul d. ryan. through all of it the man from james ville never forgets who he works for. he insists on calling his constituents his employers. he insists on all of us calling

him paul. make no mistake, today and every day we are honored to call him mr. speaker. >> that's cathy mcmorris rogers, a member of the house leadership team. republican from washington state. the highest ranking who am in the republican leadership, nominating her friend, paul ryan, for speaker of the says house. democrats will nominate nancy pelosi, but we fully kmp paul ryan will be reelected. a quick break. inside politics will continue in just a moment. the big day here opening day for the 115th congress. the house and the senate both controlled by republicans. president-elect trump 17 days away from becoming president. stay with us. see me. see me. don't stare at me. see me. see me. see me to know that psoriasis is just something that i have. i'm not contagious. see me to know that... ...i won't 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.

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>> welcome back. we're about 45 minutes to the

opening of the 115th congress. you see the new senate democratic leader chuck schumer. top right of your screen congressman joe crowley of new york. he is nominating nancy pelosi to be the speaker of the house. she will lose. republican controls the house of representatives. this is part of the ceremony, the circumstance of the first day of the new congress. democrats nominate their candidate. republicans nominate theirs. republicans have the vote. we'll keep our eye on that as we go forward where, bah being in the room, though, one of the fascinating questions. we've talked about trade differences the president-elect has with congress. we've talked about how they will fry to deal with the replace part. repeal is easy. foreign policy is a huge issue. number one is the whole russian hacking question. there is broad bipartisan agreement that russia hacked into institutions here in the united states, including the democratic national committee, including john podesta's emails and meddled in the election. the one slois questioning that still is the president-elect of the united states.

a lot of republicans are nervous about this. we know his vice president, mike pence is, a russia hawk. very skeptical of vladimir putin. he has muted that because the boss won't go there. listen to vice president elect this morning. he has asked a direct question. have you lost faith in the u.s. intelligence community? it and he punts. >> have you lost confidence in the u.s. intelligence community? >> i think the challenges will be faced with new american strength and leadership. engaging leaders around the world as the president-elect has done. it's all part and parcel of a new season. >> pretty straight forward question, and you could answer yes or no. you could give a more nuanced answer. instead he ignores the question completely because this is one area where we are reasonably certain for people close to him

he disgrays with the boss, and he is a little skrept e skeptical about why his boss won't say i win, i will be president, but i'm going to find out what the russians did, and i will hold them accountable. >> i'm sympathetic to those in the trump circle that think that people are using this story to delegitimatize trump. i think faets thar. the best way to conquer that is to say i'm going to get to the bottom of this and be serious about it, but this is where the new shape of the democratic caucus is interesting to me because also it does not look like the ascended psycholigs with pelosi and schumer heading it, schumer is as hard-nosed as reid but savvier, and he knows that, for instance, trump might like him better than others in the republican party. that he could work with him on some things. and that republicans are worried about the russian issue. i think he will be better at figuring out where they can work together than a reid would have be where. >> it's also possible -- i don't want to say likely, but it is possible that trump has created a way out of this for himself. if you listen to some transition officials when they briefed reporters earlier today, they talked about intel officials coming to give trump another

briefing on this later this week. we have james clapper who will be up on the hill and an obama administration report that's coming out. it is possible he could use that as his window to say i've now been briefed more fully, and i gra he with russia. i don't think we should be holding our breath for that given what he said in the past, but essential people around him would like for this issue to be viewed in a different lens. it's really unbelievable that we're still talking about this right now. >> we're still talking about it, and it is an issue. you're right. president-elect trump himself has said people have tried to delegitimatize me. he won. he will be president of the united states in 17 days. if you are out there thinking that's going to go away, get over it. he will be president of the united states. does the president trust the men and women who have risked their lives across number of agencies. wait a minute. we're risking our lives to get you this information. senator john mccain wants to have investigations in the armed services committee. he believes the senate intelligence committee will also have investigations. he is just back from a trip from eastern yoourp. he says this isn't just a

washington issue. he says some of our small allies in eastern europe are worried about the new president. >> i can assure you our friends in eastern europe are concerned about what this administration's policy will be. of course, vladimir putinin, they're already feeling a lot of pressu pressu pressure. they're deeply concerned. there is there's a lot of us in the united states senate that's -- >> a little bit of background news there. noise as manu tried to interview senator mccain there, but he says there's a lot of a lot of pressure. this is a big test for the -- we can make it about politics in washington, but this is a huge global test for the president-elect on the world stage because once the clock ticks, the 17 more days, it matters.

>> i think something you hinted that underscores one of the biggest changes between the obama administration and the trump administration. that's how the various white houses are going to work within each other. president obama stroef to create an administration that had no drama. no drama obama was the big story. this president-elect has set up what is essentially a team of rivals wrush you have people like the president and the vice president very clearly disagreeing. very clearly disagreeing about russia and its role in terms of the u.s. and whether it's an ally or antagonist. you know, we've got john bolten in the conversation to have a prominent role in russia. i mean, there are a number of russia hawks who were very likely to have very prominent roles within the administration, and then there are a bunch of people who take a view that's much more like donald trump.

it's a way we never saw within the obama administration, and that could lead to great results. it's just different from what the way obama -- >> i think on russia this is something that donald trump did not campaign on. his constituents, his supporters, his admirers don't necessarily, i don't think, are going to follow him on the putinen thing. this is something that's engrained in our history more and on trade. he is a little out there more on his own. that could be one huge confrontation with the republicans. >> very important. you mentioned he may find a pivot here. very important the things he says in the next several days. including once he takes his hand off the bible about russia and about north korea, which is threatening to test an intercontinental ballistic missile. we'll head to a break here. as we go to break, let's listen to the new senate democratic leader for a moment, chuck schumer of new york. >> it becomes clear the democratic proposals on what the american people want and need i

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>> senator chuck schumer, the new democratic leader speelking live. first day of the 115th congress. >> on presidents of both parties. many in this body have long observed that in america we are a nation of laws, not men. that sacred constitutional duty of holding the president accountable to the law must continue, and democrats will make sure of it. sometimes it will mean pointing out where his rhetoric and reality diverge, and sometimes it will mean resisting the president and republicans in congress when they propose legislation that we believe will hurt the american people. this will be an accountability congress, and we will be a caucus that makes sure the president-elect keeps his commitment to truly make america great again in its finest sense and tradition. we know what makes america great. fundamental optimism. a belief that the future will bring every child more opportunity than their parents a

conviction this american dream can be had by all of us. we will hold president-elect trump accountable to the values that truly make america great. we will fight him tooth and nail -- instukts that have too often plagued this country and too often plagued his campaign. we'll have benchmarks throughout the campaign the president-elect said he could push gdp growth to 5% or 6%. he complained that the real unemployment rate was too high, and he would bring it down. we'll hold him accountable to that. what does he think he can achieve in a year or two or four? what policies does he propose to achieve those goals? he promised to be much tougher on china even though many republicans for years have

resisted legislatijgislation he congress to do that. we'll hold him accountable for it and demand he keep his promise. he promised to protect social security and medicare, but tapped an avoied critic of medicare, a man who has spent his career advocating for its demise as his secretary of health and human services. we demand he keep his promise not to cut social security or medicare. he says he wants to build a strong america and earn respect around the world, but seems to be marching in lock step with a bullying, disassemblining autocrat, vladimir putinin. we're going to hold him accountable to that. president obama nominated a mainstream candidate in merrick

garland. president-elect trump should do the same. and the president-elect said many great things about build a great many things -- about being our infrastructure. democrats welcome that discussion. we have tunnels and highways and schools, waste water, airports in need of repair. not only in our big cities, but in rural and suburban communities throughout america. program of tax credits isn't going to get the job done no matter how large. we need significant direct spending. how does the president-elect plan to get that done? the president-elect said there are parts of the affordable care act that he favors. we'll hold him to that. we asked the president-elect, if

you repeal the aca, what will you do to protect these 30 million people, and how are you going to insure that a kid right out of college can stay on his parents' or parents' plan. that the mother with a child who has a preexisting condition can get health care for her child, that women everywhere are not charged more for their care simply because they're a woman. it is not acceptable to repeal the law, throw our health care system into chaos, and then leave the hard work for another day. mr. president-elect, what is your plan to make sure all americans can get affordable health care? >> we will hold the president-elect accountable, for growing our economy and lowering our trade deficit, for protecting voting rights and civil rights, for safeguarding our clean air and clean water, for maintaining our commitment to our nation's veterans and

troops and their families, for giving that worker in michigan, that college student in l.a., that single mother in cleveland a real opportunity and a ladder up. what could be fairer? after all, his biggest and most consistent pledge was that he would "make america great." make the lives of america better. we, democrats of this senate will hold him accountable to that and we will resist him if he breaks that promise. while we respect the office of the presidency, we won't hesitate to call out the person occupying that office if he demeans women or muslims or latinos or our friends in the lgbt community, and if allies or aides to the president dmeen a group of americans, we won't

hesitate for a moment to demand that our new president condemn these comments. not sidestep them, not simply distance himself from them. condemn them. pointedly and roundly. as presidents of both parties, every president of both parties have done throughout the decades. we will hold president-elect trump accountable to the finest instincts of what america has always stood for. ed bottom line is president-elect ran has a change agent. he ran against the establishments of both parties. he promised to change the way america operates to oppose elites, drain the swamp, pay attention to working families but, my friends, since the election he seems to have forgotten that. looking at the