♪ ♪ o christmas tree ♪ o christmas tree ♪ ♪ ♪ o christmas tree ♪ o christmas tree ♪ >> mike: good evening, welcome to washington. i'm mike emanuel in for bret

baier. breaking tonight be two stories some republican lawmakers are on the fence about reelecting mike johnson as house speaker after a contentious vote to avert a government shut down. chad pergram on a potentially messy speakership election. but, first, president-elect donald trump's transition team has been moving at lightning speed to have potential cabinet member and other top officials ready to make major changes on day one. some say mr. trump is already acting like he is the president. senior national correspondent aishah hasnie is here with more on what the former and future commander-in-chief is up to today. good evening, issue sexual harassment. >> mike, good evening to you. he is searchly thompsoning at the bit to get back into the oval office. is he in mar-a-lago. spent most of christmas day on the golf course in palm beach. hit more than just some golf balls today firing off series of truth socials making news tonight. first off trump announcing kevin member reno cabrera as ambassador to the republic of panama. this is modern important he is

doubling down on retaking the panama canal. merry christmas to all including the wonderful soldiers of china who are lovingly but illegally operating the panama canal. he also slammed the canadian prime minister justin trudeau again today while suggesting that ice hockey champion wayne gretzky run for prime minister. he could cut taxes if canada does indeed become the 51st state. interest in buying greenland from denmark saying it is necessary for national security purposes. meanwhile denmark is reportedly spending $1.5 billion to boost its security of the island, something that they claim was already preplanned. in another truth social post, trump attacked the radical left and then he had this message for the 37 inmates whose death sentences were just commuted by president biden. he writes, i refuse toe wish a merry christmas to those lucky souls but, instead, will say go to hell.

meanwhile trump special envoy to ukraine in russia is slamming the kremlin for surprise attack on energy infrastructure today. general keith kellogg writing the u.s. is more resolved to bring peace to the region. of course, it will be one of the first foreign policy scitions that he will comes no office. work oong slew of executive orders that they want to take care of day one. >> more on that in a moment? aishah hasnie thanks so much. >> house speaker mike johnson is likely working the phones this holiday recess trying to retain support from his g.o.p. conference after funding fiasco nearly shut down the government. senior congressional correspondent chad pergram is here with more on his prospects for retaining the gavel. good evening, chad. >> chad: good evening, mike. house speaker mike johnson emerges bruised from last week's battle from government funding, anywhere from # to 10 republican could say oppose johnson. thomas massie of kentucky is a no. freedom caucus chairman andy harris is undecided.

cory mills of florida is fed up. >> i'm losing confidence with each day. i think that johnson has to do his best to finally start showing that he is going to do what says and not just continue to hakeem jeffries. republicans relied on democratic votes to avert a government shut down last week. democrats hinted they would bail outer johnson last spring if conservatives tried to oust him. that's because he avoided a shutdown and sent money to israel and ukraine. but johnson is on his own right now. >> there will be no democrats available to based on the breaching of a bipartisan agreement? >> some republicans oppose conservatives repeatedly undermining their own house speakers. >> we're different members. we're getting a little uppity against the speaker. i do support speaker johnson for

being the speaker right now. >> now it's about the math. the house begins with 434 members on january 3rd. there are 219 republicans but 218 is the magic number to become speaker. the most votes does not win. the house. >> i would not want mike johnson's job right now. being the speaker when you have such narrow majorities and such a diversity of opinion of republicans. >> the house is paralyzed until it elects a speaker. it must vote repeatedly until it chooses someone the house can't even swear in members. it took five days to tap a speaker nearly two years ago. the house was frozen for three weeks in october 2023 when members ousted former speaker kevin mccarthy. a struggle to elect a speaker could imperil the certification of the electoral college on january 6th. mike? >> mike: so you are saying it could be a bumpy ride when we get back after the holidays? >> just a little bit. >> let's bring aishah back in

the conversation. you teased about executive orders january the 20th. what are the exceptions? >> aishah: i think we are going to see a lot. he did 14 the first time around. i'm seeing reports upwards of 25. north of that. we will see a variety of things he has teased executive orders about the border. we could see him restart construction of the border wall. i'm interested to see if he reassigns or assigns the mexican drug cartels as terrorist organizations because that could really open up a whole variety of things that he could do with that after that, perhaps even sending troops down to the border. so, i want to focus on the border. but then trump has promised that day one he will issue pardons. i know he has been going off on president biden for his pardons. this one is going to involve the january 6th reuters and so it will be interesting to see who he pardons there. who he least behind there and then of course you will see some movement on energy. but what is interesting -- this will be interesting to you, chad. chuck grassley told et

president-elect sign these executive orders at the capitol right after being inaugurated. don't wait until you get to the white house. because you will lose a couple of hours. shows you the mentality of this administration and republicans they want to start -- they want to get the job done. work immediately. don't want to wait for a parade and all the pomp and circumstance. they want to hit the ground running as soon as is he inaugurated. >> mike: chad before we get to january 20th. what about january 3rd. mechanics of electing a house speaker and in uncertain period. >> going to take one or two votes. maybe more. you have to have an outright majority of all members who have voting for someone by name. so, again, i talk about those numbers, that's going to be very challenging if there is more than one or two defections. and god forbid this drags on. there were three weeks, you know, with the house of representatives back in october of 2023. if this goes over that weekend into january 6th, they cannot begin the certification of the

electoral college. that's because the house and senate have to meet in a joint session of congress to certify the electoral college. it doesn't really get to be a problem unless this goes all the way to january 20th. you don't have a president, president biden is out the door, harris is out the door. there is no speaker. guess who would become the acting president at that point. chuck grassley. bingo. >> mike: that's the house side of the capitol. on the senate side of the capital. first order of business naming those nominees. >> we have been following many of them around capitol hill e has been posting quite a bit. i have truth social up right now. the president likes to make a lot of news on there he has been posting a lot about kash patel and pete hegseth today 70s secretary nominee and fbi director nominee. he has really dug in his heels on his nominee matt gaetz era is over. i have made good picks. i'm standing by them. the tide has turned for some of these more controversial

nominees. i think that's a big thanks to maga. this maga movement that i think senators are paying attention to. whether it's on twitter or x now. on social media, people are listening to what people are saying. look, he has got a mandate. this is the person that you have entrusted to you change the country to disrupt certain parts of the federal government and so i think he has dug in his heels and said to these senators look, if you have a problem with these nominees that make sense, if there is something that comes up. a surprise background checks, fine. if not, if it's just politics, i'm going to primary you are. >> mike: chad, if it's a bumpy ride in the speaker election, what does this say about the rest of the year in the house? >> what is past is prologue. certainly the government funding fight. remember 38 republicans in the house of representatives who voted against the bill that president-elect trump propounded to keep the government open and lift the debt ceiling 34 ultimately on that bill that kept the government open.

that indicates some pushback and every single roll call vote is going to come down to a handful of members when they only have a two or three seat majority. deals with bucket reconciliation, taxation, anything they try to do. >> mike: chad, aishah, well done. thank you so much. >> thank you. >> mike: sadly, this holiday season thousands of migrant children are not spending time with their families. the number of unaccompanied minors that surged and youth under the biden administration's watch with thousands of them unaccounted for. correspondent brooke taylor is in dallas with that story. good evening, brooke. >> hi, mike. incoming border czar tom homan says president-elect donald trump gave him three priorities. he laid it out pretty clear. one is you are securing the border and running deportation operations and lastly prioritizes finding these missing migrant kids. you may remember this video last month. it went viral. >> heart breaking. the side of a young 2-year-old girl alone at the border.

she had nothing but a piece of paper with a phone number. it is a site too familiar to border agents and texas state troopers. a few days ago. troopers encountered this 11-year-old boy from mexico in eagle moose, tens of thousands of kids just like this. they get transferred to the department of health and human services, then they get released into the u.s. only for many of them to get lost in the system. the surge of unaccompanied minors has just reached alarming levels, especially during the early years of the biden administration. according to an inspector general report from earlier this year. ice lost track of at least 32,000 minors who failed to appear for their immigration court hearings from fiscal years 2019 to 2023. the question becomes where do they end up? >> talk about vulnerabilities. that's what these children are forced into sex trafficking, labor trafficking, the exploitation of these children

when they come across the border. >> and homan has admitted this is going to be a massive undertaking. he not only blames the open border but sponsors not properly vetted. >> now, whistleblowers and hhs say many of these sponsors weren't even fingerprinted. they took whatever identification was given to. they i guarantee some of this information is going to be fraudulent. >> according to border patrol data, in the fiscal year 2024 alone, border patrol agents encountered more than 99,000 unaccompanied children at the border. so will to put that all in perspective for you, that is enough to fill up madison square garden nearly 4 times. mike? >> mike: brooke taylor live in dallas. brooke, many thanks. ♪ breaking tonight, at least six people are hospitalized after a taxicab plowed into a group of pedestrians in new york city. the new york police department says the vehicle struck the pedestrians at harold square, a popular tourist area on

christmas day. the cause of the incident is still under investigation. if we get more details, we will bring them to you when we get them. ♪ fbi and dhs officials are now following up on roughly 100 credible tips about possible unexplained drone sightings but say there is still no need for the public to worry. they are, however, worried about vulnerabilities in our drone defense that were exposed by this fen none ma'am. patrick callahan telling fox news officials want state and local law enforcement to have the authority to take drones down if necessary. stock markets were closed today in observance of the christmas holiday. up next, where do all that wrapping paper and boxes end up after you take out your holiday trash? first, here's what some of our fox affiliate are covering tonight, khon in honolulu where department of transportation officials say diseased body was found in the wheel well christmas eve.

maui police are now investigating the incident. fox 5 in san diego as the mega millions jackpot has surpassed $1 billion after no one won the christmas eve drawing. the estimated path for friday's drawing is 1.1 billion, potentially the fifth largest jackpot in the game's history. and this is a live look at houston from fox 26. one of the big stories there tonight, nfl football comes to netflix for the first time. with two christmas day matchups, the kansas city chiefs versus the pittsburgh steelers and houston texans against the baltimore ravens. the queen bee herself. beyonce, also taking the halftime stage in houston. that's tonight's live look outside the beltway from "special report." we'll be right back. ♪ ♪

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♪ >> mike: alec baldwin may soon face a civil lawsuit related to the death of cinematographer halyna hutchins on the movie of rust in 2021. the criminal charge dismissed against the actor in july, halfway through the july after police and prosecutors were accused of withholding evidence. the prosecutor in that case withdrew her appeal of the

dismissal in on tuesday, officially ending the criminal case. and now, a 40 year effort to increase recycling in america may have a long way to go. even more noticeable this time of year when americans have a whole lot more trash. here is senior national correspondent william la jeunesse. >> well, mike, where most christmas packaging end up largely depends on us. about 75% of u.s. households have access to recycling but only half actually do it. that's partially because of poor consumer education but also in some areas see cycling is neither profitable or economical. now, most people are well-intentioned and yet a lot of stuff still ends up in the wrong bin. >> goes back to education and enforcement. we have to get people to recycle and do a better job at it. >> some states are better than others. maine and vermont right near the top. the nationally recycling rate is only 32%. >> americans consume a lot more material between thanksgiving

and new year's, as much as 25% more than average. >> paper is recycled the most, followed by aluminums glass and cardboard. plastic the least according to dpa just 13% is recycled the rest ends up in a landfill. >> there is a huge number of untapped recycles. a lot of plastic. a lot of plastic. in the problem is there are so many different kinds of plastic. maybe it more difficult and less valuable to recycle. >> recycle is a work in progress in the united states. >> jd and body may have the answer. robot uses ai to sort what is reslibleg from what is not. >> the software knows it's a coke coalla, it's a pepsi, and it tells the robot what to put where. >> that's important if the waste stream is contaminated wet paper or cardboard, dirty glass or aluminum cans those items can't be recycled. who is to blame for this situation? the government did a lousy job educating the public. consumers are careless and industry labels is misleading.

just because you see a triangle on the bottom. doesn't mean that item is reslible. the bottom line is glittery wrapping is not recyclable. plank, no bubble wrap and no thin plastic film. when you look at the bottom for triangle number one and two are okay. numbers 3 through 7. all the other plastic for the most part is going to end up in the trash and go to a landfill. mike? >> william la jeunesse, thanks so much. meantime california businesses are now tasked with replenishing the state's unemployment insurance fund and they are not happy about it. here is fox business correspondent max gorden. >> california's unemployment insurance program has been called broken bib the state's office. funded back from the brink.

>> elizabeth member reno brews up tasty beverages. >> we're husband and wife owned coffee shop. >> while some of the drinks sweet recent tax increase for california businesses like hers is leaving a bitter taste. >> we get taxed left and right. >> businesses in the golden state paying $21 billion more in taxes as contribution to unemployment insurance fund. and according to the california chamber of commerce, businesses can expect a $21 tax hike per employee per year for the next 6 to 10 years. >> we try to be mindful of how many staff members we have and we try to be mindful of the hours. because even though, you know, let's say we have to 200 hours we still have to account for all the extra taxes that california does put on. >> businesses are paying more because california's unemployment insurance fund is in thee pandemic have put the fund more than $20 billion in debt. and with the current system,

payroll taxes shouldered by businesses are going to have to bail it out. >> very frankly, california's unemployment insurance program has not been reformed since 1983. so it is woefully out of date. >> part of 9 problem identified by some policy experts only up to $7,000 of an employee's wages are taxed. >> by increasing the taxable wage base it won't get us out of the water when it comes to making unemployment insurance funds workable for everyone. but it will certainly be a stopping up there. >> tax expert say for years the system has gone underfunded. taking care of the workers out of a job. >> we need to rethink the system and reinfrastructure structure the system. that's really fundamentally what is needed. back end. people being harmed by it workers find themselves unemployed who can't get enough benefits.

>> the state of new york also owes the federal government money for loans taken out during the pandemic insurance program new york's debt is much smaller than california's, sitting at about $6 billion. mike, back to you. >> mike: max gordon, thanks very much. up next, part two of bret baier's series on name, image and likeness rules in college athletics.re. ♪ ♪ i've got places to go and i'm feeling free. ♪ ♪ control of my crohn's means everything to me. ♪ ♪ control is everything to me.♪ and now i'm back in the picture. feel significant symptom relief at 4 weeks with skyrizi, including less abdominal pain and fewer bowel movements. skyrizi helped visibly improve damage of the intestinal lining. and with skyrizi, many were in remission at 12 weeks, at 1 year, and even at 2 years. don't use if allergic. serious allergic reactions, increased infections,

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next round of the college playoffs next week looking live at state farm stadium in glendale, arizona where boise state will face penn state in the fiesta bowl tuesday. the other three behalf games air one week from today. arizona state fedex in the peach bowl. oregon will play ohio state in the rose bowl and georgia and notre dame in the sugar bowl. tonight series looking at name, image and likeness money in

college sports. my colleague bret baier takes a look at deals in playoff teams, bret? >> bret: thanks, mike. the original 12 playoff teams were worth around an estimated $150 million in nil funds. usings data from media and technology company on three we analyzed nil spending across ncaa football. tonight, we take a closer look at how some of the deals have helped these playoff teams. [cheers] >> bret: the game of college football has changed in the last five years. [ ♪ ohio. [cheers] >> bret: name, image and likeness profits have coincided with a longer season, increased revenue and higher stakes. >> if you want to win your nil has to be almost as good as your team does. >> bret: for the people who say devil's advocate, these kids are performing. the colleges, the ncaa, tv

making a lot of money on their backs of their performance so why not get paid? >> exactly. we have been for it forever. i have been for it forever. the problem is the ncaa never really wanted to get into that part. and what has happened over the years is more and more money has come into these universities. >> bret: republican alabama senator and former college football coach tommy tuberville is working to address what some argue is unlevel playing field. >> the problem was in 2021. the supreme court says okay, we see this lawsuit, and we agree with the athletes, they need to be able to make money off of name, image and likeness. and it has gone down hill from there. there was no rules put into it. it was just wild wild west? schools with threetsd learning more from nil appeared to be succeeding of the teams that qualified for a college playoff spot also had the highest valued rosters. >> there is a class within the class of schools across the country that have the best

infrastructure, the best systems, the best fundraising. the best corporate deals involved. >> a 1-member college playoff committee is it schools received playoff spots but not all were among the top 12 ranked teams, at the end of the regular season, the nine major conferences across the power 4 and group of 5. held championship games. the five winners of those games that were ranked the highest received guaranteed playoff spots. that included schools from each of the power four conferences. and the boise state broncos of the mountain west. the bronx were the only team to qualify among the 62 schools in the group of five conferences. the team also has the most nil money out of the 62 schools. >> there is different states that play differently. there is also different sports and how nil factors in to different sports. >> and if you look at that fair market, football really is the only sport that makes big money

athletics, basketball is next. maybe a little baseball. >> bret: the nil funds for boise strike were a traction of what teamsy other conferences received. clemson players had the most money amongst acc schools. ohio state topped the big 10 at more than $20 million. sec teams saw some of the highest funds. >> you guys do a lot as far as what you do to these student athletes, what you show them. what you teach them. not only the classes but what you teach them on the court. does that get hurt in this process? >> well, it's not gotten hurt at auburn. i'm really proud of it. the investment that goes into these student athletes is significant. not only for athletic careers. their mental health, their training, the academic counseling. and now we're providing them with financial counseling so they can understand okay, what are we going to do with our money? >> texas is number one overall with an estimated roster value of 24 million. georgia is close behind at

23 million. the longhorns are also considered to have the top recruiting class of 2025. >> you talk about football. texas, georgia, ohio state, alabama, have some of the best recruiting classes. in part because they are spending the most money. >> at the end of the day, i think what is going to have to happen and we are going to look at this in our new pass act is contracts. >> bret: only big 12 team in the playoffs is arizona state. the entire roster had less in valuation than the highest paid player in all of college football. colorado quarterback shah door sanders he is the son of colorado head coach and former duel nfl, mlb athlete deion sanders. >> you are always going to have stars. >> overseas collective. >> elite crop of athletes since day one always risen to the top and made the most money because they bring a lot more star power than necessarily the rest of the team does or spent a long time

building their brand. >> big 12 teams. while the team is not in the playoff, high caliber players are on the roster, including sanders, a projected first round draft pick and heisman trophy winner travis hunter. >> is there a way to fix this to make it more fair or capitalism college football version. >> so what we want to do is try to make sure that everybody has that opportunity at the get whatever you can get. when you take money you sign a contract. >> bret: large donor groups known as collectives. big donor ohio's 1870 society a major partnership with giant eagle. tennessee's quarterback landed an $8 million deal from the speier sports collective before ever signing with the volunteers. >> i think that where the red flag is popping up is there's a lot of money being paid to high school seniors that are coming

in to college athletics that have never played down or minute of college sports before. and you have no idea what you are going to get. >> we got find a way to make it work for everybody. and that's where i think we need some federal assistance so that each state is not doing their own thing and we won't have a true ncaa championship. >> bret: it's interesting you say maybe congress should weigh in. the men and women in that dome behind me, sometimes they can't get their stuff together to fund the government. let alone figure out a messy nil situation in college basketball and other other sport. you have confidence this place can do that? >> ha ha ha. i think there needs to be some level of liability protection. look, the fact that these kids are getting compensateside terrific. it's long overdo you. >> the texas one fund combined several provided quarterback quinn use a private jet and

every scholarship offensive lineman $50,000 annually i know some universities bring lamborghinis and corvettes and put out in front of the office building when they bring the recuse. in big money. minor league sports is what it is now, bret. >> bret: it's a messy problem but the president-elect sports fan maybe he will weigh in too. >> he has his hands full. i will tell you there is nothing more important obvious to me than college sports. i have seen what it's done for young people wise, education wise and eligibility wise we need to get back to that. >> one bowl game on fox later this he can would. syracuse and washington state face off in the holiday bowl. coverage begins 7:30 p.m. eastern on friday. we will send it back to you. >> mike: bret, thanks. up next, how chri christians in israel and gaza are celebrating christmas in the middle of a war. ♪

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♪ ♪? for the second year in a row christians in israel and gaza celebrating christmas with a backdrop of war. and this year unwelcomed news about the status of hostage negotiations. chief foreign correspondent trey yingst is in tel aviv tonight. >> as war rages on in the holy

land there were moments of calm and bright this christmas. inside the gaza strip, palestinian christians gathered to pray overnight at the only catholic church inside the enclave, hoping for a better holiday season next year. >> we were displaced to the holy family church and still living inside the church to this day. this is the second christmas we are experiencing while being displaced in the church. we have been here for nearly a year and two months. >> further north in the ancient city of beth lem traditional mass though fewer people were in attendance this year. at the place where people believe jesus was born. innovate. israel also had christmas celebrations today though it was the first time since the time since the fall of the assad regime earlier this month with islamic rebels now in control of the country there are questions what life might look like for minority population. >> christmas for this year for

sure is not like any other year. there was a lot of changes, it a new birth to a new life. there is a lot of cautions but the life is almost normal. >> tonight marks the first night of hanukkah as jews across israel gathered to celebrate. though with israeli hostages still being held in gaza. families spent the day in hostage scare in tel aviv calling for the release of their loved ones. >> those families were supposed to light a menorah to mark the first day of hanukkah though the event was canceled due to a security threat in the area. mike? >> mike: trey yingst in the holy land, thanks very much. up next, the panel on changes the trump administration aims to make right away. >> what a new presidents presidency might mean for the white house briefing room. first beyond our borders tonight. 38 people are dead after airliner crashed en route to the russian city of grows any. a cass sack official says 29 people survived the crash the

president said in a news conference it is too soon to speculate on what exactly went wrong. ukrainian president volodymyr zelenskyy calling vladimir putin inhumane for christmas day attack on infrastructure. a mask number of missiles and drones targeted ukraine's power grid causing power outages across the country and killing at least one person. this and this is a live look at london. one of the big stories there tonight. king charles iii honored healthcare workers in his christmas address today after a year marked by illness for the british royal family. saying is he continually impressed by those who dedicate their lives to helping others. just some of the other stories beyond our borders tonight, we'll be right back. ♪

>> we're going to do something that is going to be really, really especially special. you are going to be happy. i made a series of big day one promises in my campaign. you know just as well as i do. and 29 days from now i intend to keep those promises to the american people just as we did four years ago, my administration will live by the motto, promises made, promises

kept. >> mike: that is president-elect trump eager to get off to fast start once he is inaugurated january 20th. bring in our panel. white house correspondent for the hill, shelby tall cot, political support for semafor and caroline downy. welcome to all of you, merry christmas. i appear to be one lucky guy working with you. ♪ merry christmas. >> mike: let's start with the trump tans session and his desire to put points on the board. what do you estimate for the early start of trump 2.0? >> just point out what critics have saying because trump didn't receive 50% of the popular vote that doesn't necessarily mean he has a mandate. which is not true. every major swing state. every major demographic. every part of the country swung towards trump this election and 1992, "time" magazine declared that bill clinton had a mandate for change with 4 #% of the vote

and trump has republican trifecta of government. with that he has to enforce border security. which is a major priority for the american people sees how current administration is trying to undermine efforts against the will of the people daily wire originally reported auctioning off existing border wall materials border is top of mind for trump. >> mike: anticipation about executive orders january 20th. first order of business in the senate early january will be confirming top trump officials. what do you anticipate? >> that's right. we are going to see some of these cabinet picks that trump has named over the last few weeks, actually now get cirgs hearings. we saw someone like pete hegseth for defense secretary who there

was some reluctance from some senators to totally back him. things seemed to have really turned around for him. so we could see him going into an easier confirmation hearing than i think we thought he would go into three weeks ago. and then somebody like marco rubio have a very easy confirmation hearing. i think he is going to see support from both sides of the aisle. i think there will still be some fights. tulsi gabbard, former congresswoman director for national intelligence. when we talked to some senators on the hill. there is is still some apprehension if she has the right skills and resume for that role. so they have to get to know her more and see if that turns out to be more of a contentious hearing. >> mike: shelby, what do you anticipate january 20th and then in the first 100 days of this new administration? >> i think everything that donald trump plans to do, you can just take a look back at what he said on the campaign trail. and it is all sort of playing

out. so i do anticipate some of the first executive orders that he is going to sign are going it be to roll back some of the things that president biden has implemented over the last four years? he is also, as we have talked about on this show, going to really ramp up immigration. he has said that he wants to close the border on day one. that is certainly going to be a priority for him. self-also going to start to implement tariffs. he has talked a lot about that. he has preemptively sort of issued of threat of tariffs in an effort to get some of these countries on board with what he wants to do on day one of his administration. >> mike: okay, a new administration will mean the change in the white house briefing room and the end of explosive moments like these. >> you are upset because the president has note cards you? are upsetting me a question about the president having note cards? >> do you have any regret over using that language? >> independent mainstream fact-checkers in the press and misinformation experts have been calling out cheap fakes and at the end of the day they are fakes. >> how many more assassination

attempts on donald trump until the president and the vice president and you pick a different word to describe trump other than threat? >> the question that you are asking, it is also incredibly dangerous in the way that you are asking it. because american people are watching. >> you were asked about the president pardoning his son you said it's a no. it will be a no. it's a no. >> the fact is when you think about how the president got to this decision, circumstances have changed. >> mike: meanwhile, incoming white house press secretary karoline leavitt has teased how things may change under her watch. >> i think as far as the landscape of the briefing room, it needs to reflect the media habits of the american people in 2024. not in the 1980s. and president trump won this election. by utilizing nontraditional, non-legacy media voices outside the beltway. that's clearly who the american people are listening to. that's how they are digesting their news. i think it would be irresponsible of us not to

include some of those voices in the briefing room. >> mike: caroline, what do you estimate when karoline leavitt takes over? >> i democratizing the briefing room. the same press corps that duped the public into believing that biden was doing jumping jacks in his sleep when he was deteriorating mentally and cogny tialy for a very long time. they wanted us to believe that they only noticed his decline after the hur report when, in fact, it was obvious for anyone to see the worst kept secret in washington. and cleft karoline leavitt, they deserve their due, they deserve a seat at the table. when you think how joe rogan's interview with trump got 50 million views not to say that podcasters deserve to be in the briefing room but other outlets that contributed to the

conversation. >> mike: what could you anticipate, alex? >> there is definitely rumblings after karoline leavitt makes statements like that over what could change legacy in place of the white house conders association that typically figures out who is in what seat and regardless of the administration whether it's trump's first term or president biden's first term. they figure out how the layout goes. and, yes, the legacy media from reuters, associated press, fox news, cnn in the front row. typically has historically stayed in place. but there is, you know, conversation, of course in doubt that the president-elect was successful how the american public are consuming the media

there will have to be conversations about it. >> mike: shelby, what's your assessment? >> i come from new media. for me this is a really interesting conversation. cleft is clothe did nontraditional media. skepticism whether it would work and it worked. what donald trump's team is trying to do here as caroline set, better reflect what the american public is listening to and how they are getting their news. it does not necessarily mean kicking out "the washington post" or the "new york times" but, rather, making room for some of these newer outlets. you know, i don't anticipate that a thea vaughan or joe rogan is going to be sitting in the briefing room but there are opportunities for newer outlets and newer forms of communication to be in there and asking different questions. >> mike: fascinating times. weave will be tracking it all. caroline, alex, shelby, thanks for taking time out of your christmas day to be here with us. >> merry christmas. >> merry christmas. >> thank you. ♪

>> mike: finally tonight, a special delivery from a good samaritan in st. petersburg, florida put out a post saying he left $4,000 on his porch to help anyone who is struggling to afford groceries or christmas presents. by the end of the day he ended up giving out more than $10,000 to folks in need. elliott perry. bringing holiday cheer to veterans by donating 125 christmas bags. >> he hands stuff with snacks, combs, razors and toilet tries and playing cards. wonderful people. merry christmas to them. and, of course, happy hanukkah to those celebrating that tonight. remember, if you can't catch us live. set your dvr, 6:00 eastern, 3:00 on the west coast. all of us here at "special report," wish you a merry christmas, happy hanukkah, i'm mike emanuel. good night from washington. [cheers] >>