as we look ahead, we will look back at the 18 times that donald trump appeared on "meet the press" during this campaign. discuss the candidate and the man, some of the journalist whose have covered him so closely. hugh hewitt, katie turr, chief trump correspondent throughout the campaign at nbc news, and robert costa, broke a lot of stories on trump for "the washington post." welcome to all of you. welcome to all of you. happy holidays. we well show these "meet the press" interviews in three chunks. then one by one, discuss each area. i want to begin with domestic policy covering areas from immigration, health care, companies that lead the united states. and we'll begin with the issue that has divided the country for decades. abortion. >> should some form of abortion -- >> to me i have exceptions, rape, incest, if the mother is

going to die, and ronald reagan had the same exceptions and many republicans have the same exceptions. but i say, rape -- >> life of the mother? health of the mother? >> i said actually if the mother is close to death. talking about death. then you sort of say like, well -- >> what is the constitutional right between -- between the mother and the unborn child? constitutional rights matter. >> my statement on that happens to be if the mother will die. and you know that. and life, if you say life, what does life mean? >> one big thing that will jump out, you want to get rid of birth rights -- awe you have to. having a baby. all of a sudden nobody knows. >> you believe that. >> you have no choice. you have no choice. when we have some good people, we have some very good people. we have a really a lot of good people. they're illegal.

we are going to try to bring them back, rapidly, the good ones. >> i understand. >> do you know the word expedited. expedited. >> what do you do about where you have had the grandfather dream act, however you want to refer to it. the executive order the president that is -- that's -- >> the executive order gets rescinded. one good thing about -- >> you will rescind that one too? you will rescind -- >> we have to. we have to make a whole new set of standards. when people come in -- >> split up families. >> chuck, chuck, no, no, keep the families together. we have to keep the families together, but they have to go. >> what if they have no place to go? >> we will work with them. they have to go. chuck. >> either we have a country or don't have the country. >> you have spoke about your tax plan. you said it was going to raise taxes. a lot of people have done the numbers. overall cuts taxes for the wealthy dramatically. estate tax things lick that.

it is a big hole in the deficit until we find out. what are you cutting? >> we are cutting a lot. cutting taxes. more than anything else. >> everybody's taxes are going down? >> everybody's taxes are going down. some won't pay tax. i love the idea of having a little fat in the game if we can. fact is, the people that are doing very poor low. they're making not a lot of money. saving a tremendous amount of administrative costs and other things by not making them pay. under my plan, a very dynamic plan. if we do 6%, 7% under my plan. >> we can do that. we also start cutting. because, the waste in this country is unbelievable. when you look at -- >> get rid of departments? >> i will get rid of some. as an example, department of education. >> get rid of it? >> not entirely. i would certainly get aid a lot of it.

look at job bush, a big -- i want local education. we can save a fortune with environmental protection. >> not a big department person. not going to -- >> lot of money. >> what is another agency? >> in the military. going to build the mel terry. much stronger than it is now. so strong. nobody is going to mess with us. you know what the we can do it for a lot less. >> just coming back to the math. nobody can see. you said, taking social security, medicare off the table. not going to do anything, any cuts there at all. if you take that off the table. >> not fair to put it on the table. people have been paying in for years. now they're not getting what they -- >> raise the age of retirement? >> no, not going to do that all. going to take in so much money from china and other places. we have a trade deficit with china of almost $4 l billion. had it looked up. can't believe it. >> in the first speech to congress. lay out the first 100 days.

>> military, bigger, better, stronger than before. >> number one. >> take care of the veterans. take care of them. i want to fix our health care system. i want to create borders, so we have a country. flugt we don't have a country. we have borders people walk across do what they want to do. they have babies, babies become citizens. we have to take care of them. we are going to do many, many th things will make america great again. what i want to do. >> you want government system on health care. don't like the system in there now. i understand. describe the system you want. >> first of all, what i do -- i have a massive company. thousand and thousand of employees. many different states. you have artificial lines around each state, you know why, insurance company take care of the politicians don't want to get rid of lines. if you get rid of lines you will have great private insurance take care of most people. unbelievable. in addition, have a savings, do the savings -- situation. where you would have health care

savings accounts. and it would be fantastic. there is so many things you could do. problem is insurance companies don't want to do these things. they don't want to specifically get rid of the lines. rather have a monopoly in new york as an example than let 50 companies come in and, companies from iowa, companies from -- >> you will have to structure a government program to deal with this. >> no. here's what you do. you will have a great system. there will be people left that don't have any money. and what i said last night is i don't want people dying in the middle of the street. not going to happen. when i am president. this isn't single payer. this is using your hospitals to take care of people. you work it out. reimburse the hospital. because -- >> expand medicaid. >> you can do it through medicaid. you can do it through some other way. i am just saying, very simply. this has nothing to do, this has to do with humanity, having a heart. >> you defended the other work plan parenthood does. now you said you -- >> that's right. i do.

>> defund it. >> i would. >> democrats will say, money they give to planned parenthood does not go to abortions, the money to planned parenthood goes to other women's health issues including mammograms and things like that. if you knew the government money were only going to that, would you support funding planned parenthood? >> yeah, if it didn't have to do with abortions. look, i understand i have many, many friends who are women, who understand planned parenthood better than you or i will ever understand it. they do some really good work. cervical cancer, lots of women's health issues are taken care of. one of the candidates, won't mention names, said we won't spend that kind of money on women's health issues. i am. planned parenthood does a really good job in a lot of different areas, but not on abortion. i am not going to fund it, if it is doing the abortion. >> you said there will be consequences for any country that decides to move.

explain right now. explain it. what would it be? >> carrier comes in. they announce they're moving to mexico. fire all their people in indiana. they say, hi, here we are in mexico. plan to enjoy the rest of your life. you hire people from mexico. now they make their product. they put it into the united states. well we have a very strong border, by the way, they put it in the united states. don't charge them a tax. there will be a tax. fire their people. move their plnt ant. build air conditioners and sell to the united states. there will be a tax. >> what kind of tax? >> 25%. 35%. could be 15%. haven't determined. could be different for different companies? >> some things will not get through the world trade organization. >> then we will renegotiate or pull out. these trade deals are a disaster, chuck. >> there it is. part one. donald trump, domestic issues. donald trump at home. let's dive right in. katie, we look to highlight

inconsistencies. there were consistencies. first 100 days. first three items. expanding military. dealing with immigration. dealing with health care. talk about that? >> he did have consistency in some idyllic ways. you can tell he didn't have policy depth in what he was saying. while he would talk about something like, medicare, or we talk about something look refor. he wouldn't realize what he was describing the that got him into trouble with the republicans. he was often going against, long established republican talking points and platforms. that's where inconsistencies arose. when ehe would dial it back or work around it, he would say that's not what i believe. often times what he said in the aftermath of comments. made it a little work here, than it may have seemed initially. >> robert, trump priorities or republican priorities, right? funny, katie, you said, trump

hurt himself with republicans not voters. only republican leaders the that will happen in the first 100 days. health care medicare where we see it most. >> 2016 the year of donald trump's victory. also the year of the shattering of the ideological consensus in the republican party. interview after ifts vinterviewh donald trump go against conservative orthodoxy. on the plane with him in august 2015. are you a populist? he said, costa, i am common sense. each and every time he seemed to make news. a lot of people say he is probably the first independent president of the united states, not really republican at his core. >> hugh, is he? >> i think he is. i think he will become one. i can binge watch the clips forever. i love watching donald trump use things like, if it funds the abortion, the articles.

standing next to katie, in cleveland, he gave his speech. he brought up the supreme court. the biggest christmas president that will unify the conservatives and liberals, supreme court. he is becoming a conservative. payoff. >> conservative of convenience. interesting, i think scalia is easy. conservative for conservative. >> something he can give the party. mike pence is part of cooperating the religious right. >> what does he do if there is a second opening that would change it? >> yeah. >> might not be where everybody things he is. >> not so sure donald trump is that doctrinaire. >> all of these are ideological idea of the party that existed with the elites. at the base of the party they like donald trump he talks the way they talk around their dinner party toen clupd the articles throwing in, talking the abortion. he talks about it free of any deep thought or any ideological

background. he just says what at the time sounds logical to him. for a lot of republicans, republican elites thought the base of party wanted tax cuts for the very rich, wanted corporate tax rates 15%, certain ideological things. that is not what they want at all, end of trade agreements, reduction in immigration, and a lot of things were to the elite of the party for years. >> let's see how much donald trump cares about thor use when he is in office, and hutch he delegates to people under him, shown themselves off to be conservative members of the republican party. how much is it donald trump leading policy. how much is it his cabinet officials, i have to say, i was at dinner last night. this was a shocking moment. two wall street bankers sitting next to me. they were thrilled at donald trump's presidency. they said they didn't know how he would do necessarily, but they were thrilled because they didn't believe he was going to have his hands in anything. they believed commerce was going

to take over. they believed that tillerson was going to make the oil futures rise the they belief they were going to make a ton of money off this and toasting it. >> the mistake people make is assuming, assuming some stereotypes of trump. trump if he doesn't care about anner eissue. they may be right. >> trump won the election. when i'm at the capitol, a lot of congressional republicans, members of the house and senate feel they won the election too. trump didn't run on tripping medicare spending or social security. he didn't run as a deficit hawk. he ran as a populist. many conservatives in washington believe they can enact their agenda. look at history. look at bill clinton any first term. president obama's first term. when- you have majority, you think you can roll policy after policy. from didn't have the mandate of his campaign for the kind of policies being advocated by leadership. >> the irony. donald trump runs this campaign

now as he is putting his cabinet together it is essentially a feast of movable feast for wall street. it is a series of executives, whether it is a foreclosure king, even he is stacking his administration with the ultraelite, the very people that the base of party despise. >> let me close with this question? what its a oner to promise that he made. if he doesn't keep it, he has got to worry about political standing with his base. >> he has to build a wall. >> an actual wall or virtual like -- >> actual, 700 miles. i really believe that. if there is not the expression of the invisible commitment. >> i don't believe that. i talked on the campaign trail. they didn't seem to care. jobs. got to create jobs. >> enough the that. infrastructure. he is a builder. if the highways don't start getting built in the rust belt again factories don't come back, not the infrastructure. >> when we were in ohio talking to steel workers who voted for

oeb twice really interested in trump. they cared about ending trade deals it will create jobs and immigration. if he doesn't do substantive reductions in immigration. people want him to pull out of nafta. that isn't going to happen. that's what they think is going to happen. >> year two. start dealing with trade deals. touch those in year one. great conversation. when we come back we'll hear from donald trump on all things national security. >> so you welcome it? >> i like him, bombing the hell out of isis. and blood sugar better than the leading branded pill, which didn't get me to my goal. lowers my a1c better than the leading branded injectable. the one i used to take. (jim) victoza® lowers blood sugar in three ways. and while it isn't for weight loss, victoza® may help you lose some weight.

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welcome back. during the campaign, donald trump was unsparing in his criticism of president obama's foreign policy and of the foreign policy establishment left and right n general. among other things he argued that america's military was hollowed out, that the iran deal was a one-sided disaster for the united states had and that he knew more about isis than the generals. that's where we start part two of our broadcast w donald trump on isis. >> you want to knock the hell out of isis, how. >> i want to take away their wealth. they went into iraq, destabilized the middle east. it was a big mistake. isis is taking over a lot of the oil in certain areas of iraq. i say you take away their wealth. knock the hell out of the oil. take back the oil. we take over the oil, which we

should have done in the first place. >> that's going to take ground troops. >> that's okay. >> what you are talking about is ground troops. 25,000. >> we are going to circle it. we would have so much money. and what i would do with the money that we make, which would be tremendous, i would take care of the soldiers that were killed, the families of the soldiers that were killed. >> who do you talk to for military advice right now? >> well, i watch the shows. you see a lot of great -- when you watch your show and a lot of the other shows and you have the generals and you have somebody that you like. >> is there a somebody, a go-to for you? every presidential candidate has a go-to. >> two or three. boulton is a tough cookie, knows what he is doing a good job. jacobs. >> ambassador boulton. colonel jacobs. >> yes. this deal with iran, you would have the prisoners back years ago.

>> iran would still get money. >> do you believe that? >> no, why is iran getting the money. >> i understand people are critical of the deal. what deal could you come up with that wouldn't give iran money. >> i would have told them up front by the i with a we will never give you back your $150 billion. you are never getting that money back. number two, in order to start negotiations you have to give us back the three prisoners. now it's four. when it started it was three. you don't want them, it will do us psychologically good. but we will make a better deal that's good for you. but i would have told them they are never going to get their money back. they are going to be so powerful. they are going to have nuclear weapons, they are going to take over parts of the world you won't believe. and i think it's going to lead to nuclear holocaust. i would say this, the people that negotiated that deal, kerry and his friends, are incompetent at the present time.

>> what do you do on day one, though. this is a deal secretary gates didn't like the deal, thought the u.s. wanted the deal too much. >> they begged for it. they should have doubled up the sanctions. >> then he said can't pull out of the deal because of the international ramifications. what do you say to that? pretty wise guy. >> i have heard people say, i'm going to rip up the deal. but that's tough to do. i've taken over bad contracts. i buy contracts where people screwed up and they have bad contracts. >> but you have to abide by it. >> i'm good at looking at contracts even if they are bad. i would polices that contract so tough that they don't have a chance, as bad as the contract is, i would be so tough on that contract. >> so the deal lives in a trump administration, you are just going to be -- >> the deal -- it's hard to say we're ripping u. the problem is by the time i've got in there, they will have already received the $150 billion.

do you know if the deal gets rejected they still get the money. >> do you think the middle east would be better today if saddam and gadhafi and assad -- if saddam and gadhafi were there and assad were stronger, do you think it would be safer. >> it's not even a contest. iraq is stronger. don't forget, isis came out of iraq. >> do you like putin's involvement? >> i like that putin is bombing the hell out of isis. >> why do you trust him and nobody else does? >> i don't trust him. at all. we got the highest ratings on 60 minutes. me and putin. did i get the ratings or did he? it's not a matter of trust. the united states, we've spent $2 trillion in iraq, probably $1 trillion in afghanistan. we are destroying our country. here's the problem to what you are saying in syria.

we are fighting assad, and we are fighting for people, and helping people that we don't even know who they are. and they may be worse than assad. they may be worse. okay? they may be worse. and if assad -- if assad never happened, if you didn't have a problem in syria, you wouldn't have the migration, you wouldn't be talking about all of these countries with what's going on in europe. and now they are talking about taking 200,000 people that we don't each know who they are and bringing them to the united states? the whole thing is ridiculous. so i'm not justifying putin. but you watch, he will get bogged down there. he will be there. he will spend a fortune. he will be begging to get out. everybody that's gone to the middle east has had nothing but problems. >> let me give you one more issue where you sort of went counter to what is perceived as republican orthodoxy. >> okay, fine. >> on the issue of israel and the palestinians. you said wednesday you wanted to be neutral in that dispute. explain what neutral means, some heard that in the pro-israeli community and thinks oh, he is going to be anti-israel. explain what you mean by neutral?

>> they want me. i'm pro israel. i was head of the israeli day parade a number of years ago. i did a commercial for netanyahu when he was being elected. he asked me to do a commercial for him. i am. i don't want to be -- the hardest thing to do is that in terms of deals, if you are a deal person the ultimate deal is that deal. israel, palestine, are you going to make sit in that probably is the hardest deal to make. people are born with hatred, they are taught hatred. i have to say it's mostly on the one side, not on the other side. but nay are -- but they are taught hatred. i say this, if i'm going to be president i'd rather be in a position -- i will try the best i can, i am a very good deal maker to try and solve that puzzle. you are not going to solve it if you are going to be on one side or another. everyone understands them. if i'm going to solve the problem i want to go in with a clean slate. otherwise you are never going to

get the cooperation of the other side. >> there you go. donald trump on the various hot spots around the world. hugh hewitt, national security its probably the issue you care the most about as a conservative. do you think you know donald trump's foreign policy doctrine at this point? >> i know he is the most unpredictable and interesting interview in the world. if you just watch his interviews you can't piece together a foreign policy. but we were talking in the green room, and i believe it to be true. there is a nixonian element, the good nixon, the deal maker, the unpredictable, the willing to go to china when he had spent his entire life campaigning against mao. i think there is a way to understand the russia play as being a repurposing of the least strong among the russian/china adversaries as nixon went at that time to china. i think he is going to avail himself of dr. kissinger as he has.

a friend of mine says tillerson is wonderful. i think general mattis is the great geostrategic thinker. i think he has a great team and i think he is going to work with him. i'm an optimist. >> it's interesting that you bring up nixon. i think nixon is a fascinating parallel to trump because of what he said, eye delogically neutral. nixon would get talked into conservative causes but could easily veer off into a populous realm just like trump. >> because trump is sort of an empty vessel, the dangerous part is the strong camps in the world are all troubling. you have putinnism, which trump feels in his gut, very pro-putin. turning over global leadership to russia is worrying. donald trump is echoing the european ethnonationalist line that the far right parties in europe are. his language is not specific countries that are our allies, it's about christians versus islam. this eliminationist language that says we are in a war of

civilizations and embracing that. something george w. bush never did. even with the mistakes george w. bush made in policy, he did not do that. trump is echoing that christian nationalist line which puts us in a dangerous line when you have this potential israeli ambassador wanting to move the embassy to jerusalem, which could touch off a conflagration in the muslim world. i am not sure donald trump knows his own mind enough to have a strategy to deal with an absolute crisis which he himself could provoke very soon. >> joy makes a really good point. i think if you take a look at the tape, if you see donald trump's first reaction to things, his gut reaction to topics, whether it be planned parenthood or the iran deal it is a much more moderate position. it's only after he has taken that moderate position and somebody gets into his here behind the scenes, who knows which adviser it is on any given topic does he change and did he go to the more conservative end of the spectrum. early in the campaign one of the earliest rallies i went to was july in phoenix.

it was huge. he got up on stage and he said this is not a popular position, but i think we need to have universal health care because we need to take care of everybody. later on, it became a rallying cry, repeal and replace obama care. he starts out in a moderate position and moves to the right when people get inside of his ear. the question is -- and this is what people have been debating, did donald trump see an opening within the republican party to manipulate them in a way he didn't see with the democratic party and is that why now he is so conservative? >> robin, i want to bring up a point that everybody realizes when it comes to presidents and foreign policy is that don't pay attention to how they campaign on it because whatever the foreign policy issue is during a campaign it usually is the last debate that we're having on foreign policy. we actually don't know what the major foreign policy challenge -- we probably don't know what the challenge is going to be for trump coming forward.

>> the president-elect is going to face a challenge once he is in office. >> we don't know what. >> one them would be the islamic state. he ran as you said distancing himself from the george w. bush world view. he ran in part with militaristic language but with a non-interventionist approach. he is going to be tested from day one, does he work with vladimir putin. how does he interact with assad? how does he confront the crisis in syria and isis even though he had so much support from working class americans disgruntled by the wars, wearied by them. to be this noninterventionist candidate. >> i think we cannot discount how his personal conflicts of interest wipe up influencing his foreign poll see. we diplomat know which banks he is in debt, if his children are still running his company and there is a hotel to be built in dubai does that influence his

reaction if their government acts in a way we don't know or turkey or other countries. these entanglements become really important. this is a republican strategist to said to me repeatedly, you start to have anything with the trump name on it around the world becoming an instant terrorist target. how do we react to a world in which the name of the president of the united states is plastered all over hot spots around the world. >> of all the people you interviewed over the years, chuck, no one is less predictable, i would guess, than donald trump. i ask you this question. so i think the sunday shows when he starts to do them. every foreign leader, whether it is put spin, australia, indonesia, they will tune in to find out what he thinks. president obama was hard to find on the air. i think, president trump is going object on the air and people are going to watch because he is so unpredictable. >> he is. i'm going to be curious to see at the end of four years do we have a bigger rivalry with china or russia? anyway -- when we come back, we'll look at president-elect trump's leadership style. right after the break a look at

some presidential christmas messages over the decades. here's a taste. >> for over two millennia, christmas has carried the message that god is with us. >> it is indeed a holy season in which to work for good will among men. whole communities are living on mars and solar satellites provide earth with unlimited clean power. in less than a century, boeing took the world from seaplanes to space planes, across the universe and beyond. and if you thought that was amazing, you just wait. ♪

welcome back. we're going to take a brief holiday break this christmas day to look at an american tradition.

the christmas season messages from presidents throughout the years. thankfully this is one tradition that has been immune from partisan politics. and as you will see, it goes back a long way. >> we are joined by simple and universal convictions. >> treating one another with love, and compassion. caring for those on society's margins. >> never too late to touch a life and maybe change the world forever for someone. >> our nation is not one of

solemn faces and sad demeanors. >> let us just remember we do have some problems which we will overcome. >> the holidays are, as we've seen here tonight, a time of laughter and children and counting our blessings. >> we americans have always tried to follow a higher light a star, if you will. >> for over two millennia, christmas has carried the message that god is with us. >> it is indeed a holy season in which to work for good will among men. >> for this is the time of year when most of us try to be better than our everyday selves. >> let us rededicate ourselves to the principles of peace and good will towards men. >> during christmas we celebrate the blessings of the season, and the blessings that surround us every day. >> let's reach out to those who can use a hand. let's summon the spirit togetherness that's always helped to kindle america's shining example to the world. >> good advice for any time of year, but especially during the holiday season. and speaking of, we also want to wish many of our viewers and many members of my own family a happy hanukkah as well. we'll be right back. better than the leading branded pill, which didn't get me to my goal. victoza® works with your body to lower blood sugar in three ways: in the stomach, the liver,

and the pancreas. and while it isn't for weight loss, victoza® may help you lose some weight. non-insulin victoza® comes in a pen and is taken once a day. (announcer) victoza® is not recommended as the first medication to treat diabetes and is not for people with type 1 diabetes or diabetic ketoacidosis. do not take victoza® if you have a personal or family history of medullary thyroid cancer, multiple endocrine neoplasia syndrome type 2, or if you are allergic to victoza® or any of its ingredients. stop taking victoza® and call your doctor right away if you get a lump or swelling in your neck or if you develop any allergic symptoms including itching, rash, or difficulty breathing. serious side effects may happen, including pancreatitis. so, stop taking victoza® and call your doctor right away if you have severe pain in your stomach area. tell your doctor your medical history. taking victoza® with a sulfonylurea or insulin may cause low blood sugar. the most common side effects are headache, nausea, diarrhea and vomiting. side effects can lead to dehydration, which may cause kidney problems. now's the time for a better moment of proof.

ask your doctor about victoza®. welcome back. one thing we can all agree on donald trump was nothing if not a different kind of candidate. brash, unfiltered, willing to insult half the country in order to win over the other half.

some saw him as a con man, otherwise as a man not afraid to tell it like it is. but never in doubt was that donald was always, always the showman. >> sort of was amused about this excerpt from your playboy interview in 1990. the questioner asked, what does all of this, meaning the yacht, the bronze tower, the casino, what does it really mean to you? and you replied, props for the show. and they said what show is that? and you replied, the show is trump with sold out performances everywhere. >> it has been for a long time. >> are we all part of a show. you know some of the criticisms, are we in a reality show.

>> no, this is not a reality, this is the real deal. >> you did smile when i read the show -- because it resonated. >> my life has been an interesting life. i have had a lot of fun. >> people call you a lot of names. some positive, some negative. i want to throw you some. music man this race, kim kardashian. biff from back to the future. george costanza. p.t. barnum. do you consider any of those a compliment? >> p. development barnum. >> you will take that. >> p. development -- look, people call you names. we need p.d. barnum a little bit bus we have to build up the image of our country, we have to be a cheerleader for our country. we don't have a cheerleader. >> transparency in the white house. will you commit to releasing the names of everybody you meet with as president to the public. >> i would have no problem with it. transparency is a great thing. if merkel wants to come over from germany i'm not looking to embarrass her. if she wants to have a quiet meeting i'm not looking to go wild.

i want people to like trump and like this country:r i think having to do with campaign financing everything should be released, should be open. but having to did with that, i want to make a country coming to the white house feel comfortable. people coming in to our country, business people, 100%. these guy he is get out and almost immediately go to work for a company and have power that they shouldn't have. the lobbyists and the special interests and the donors -- >> no lobbyists will work in the trump administration. you will have a ban? >> i would certainly have a ban, yeah. you can't put a lifetime ban, you you can certainly make it three, four years. >> right now on twitter there is a trending retweet of yours. you retweeted someone from e, whether dulce 216. it says it is better to live one day as a leigh onthan 100 years as a sheep. that's a famous mussolini quote, you retweeted it. did you know it was mussolini. >>. it's okay to know mussolini. he was who he was. it is a very good quote, i saw it. i know who said it. what difference does it make whether it's mussolini or somebody else? it's certainly an interesting quote. >> fascist.

>> i twitter 14 million people. it is a very interesting quote, and people can talk about it. >> do you want to be associated with a fast fascist? >> no, i want to be associated with interesting quotes. >> this violence on the campaign trail, it's got a lot of people concerned. i guess why won't you go up on stage and ratchet it back? you have used rhetoric about islam hates us, surveillance of certain mosques, calling mix can immigrants rapists. what did you expect? a lot of people say you are reaping what you sew here, that there is so much tension at your rallies is you have used such divisive rhetoric. do you have any regrets? >> the reason there is tension at my rallies is these people are sick and tired of this country being run by incompetent ten people that don't know what they are doing on trade deals where our jobs are being ripped out of our country, chuck, being ripped out. on isis where we can't even beat isis with our military. our military is not being taken

care of. we can't each take care offesis. on our vets, who are being treated horribly. the people are angry. i'm not saying anything i'm just a messenger. the people are anger that over 12 years the workers in this country haven't had a pay increase. 12 years they haven't had an effective pay increase. >> you will not call for ratcheting back the rhetoric? you will not call for it? >> i haven't said anything. i am just expressing my opinion. what have i said that's wrong. >> why not released the tax returns that are not involved in audit? >> it is a link. i have large tax returns. literally from the floor up to here. >> will you do it before the election? >> i hope so. >> do you pledge to do it? >> sure.

when the auditors finish. i've already given my financials. they show i'm worth more than $10 billion by any stretch of the imagination. has tremendous cash, tremendous cash flow. you don't learn much from tax returns. i would love to give my tax returns when i can't until i'm finished with the audit. >> back with the panel, two words, bully pulpit. there is no doubt donald trump is going to redefine this? >> i think he's still going to do rallies. when he wants to push an issue he is going to go and have a rally in mobile, alabama, get 10, 20,000 people come and see him and say look you have got to pass it, congress. look at all the support. >> heavy on the bully. what donald is all about, whether it's the profiles in "vanity fair" or the books written about him it is the politics of resentment. it's the queen's rich guy that wants the manhattan elite to respect him. he loves the aduelation of the

crowds. that's the feel of respect he has been missing in his life. yeah, i think he is going object out on the road as was pitched to john kasich. mike pence is going to be running the government and he is going to be out making america great again. whatever gets the applause is what he is going to do. that's the only way to predict an unpredictable president. >> i am a proud owner of trump the musical.com, i did that in 2015 after my first interview with him because i thought the show man is going to be around for a long time. he said in that first interview. i haven't interviewed him as much as you have, chuck. but he used to go to hear norman vincent peel at marble collegiate. that's where he agree grew up on sunday he is. a showman extraordinary air. i don't think it has politics attached to it but it's going to be interesting. >> every day he wakes up very early. he is consuming television. he has a pile of printouts. doesn't use e-mail. reading stories in the news, foreign policy, domestic policy, also about himself as a marker. he is going through it, then he is on his cell phone looking through twitter. this is someone who is

constantly engaged. some would say for better, otherwise for worse. >> go go. >> one of the things i think we have to guard against as you just discussed, hue, this sort of entertainment factor there are some elements of authoritarianism in his approach for government. his admiration for putin. these are troubling. we love in a democratic system, small d where america is supposed to be immune from authoritarianism, i think we have to be on guard from allowing ourselves to slip casually into it. >> i'm wondering what kind of west wing he is going to run. it feels -- look, he went through three campaign managers. i wouldn't want to be rhines priebus. >> i think so if it's not going well there will be black sheep, who can i blame for whatever disconsent that might be breeding throughout the country. rhines priebus might be in an uncomfortable position. i would like to others as well, michael flynn and wonder if he

is going to be able to maintain the nsa position because there has been so much discontent about him. i think nobody is safe in a trump white house or trump administration -- >> except the kids. >> maybe the kids. >> and jared, right. >> i don't know. >> wow. >> i think when donald trump needs your loyalty he could have, et cetera your loyalty, he cultivates it, touts your loyalty, promises it. but when he doesn't need it anymore he casts you aside. i think we saw that with chris christie who went out on a ledge, ruddie giuliani, and they went out and defended him when nobody else would. and they are not players at all. >> that's spot on. about the fleeting loyalty in trump's inner circle. i see that in multiple spheres around the president-elect. you have the family, steve bann oechlt -- bannon, the

populist. mike flynn is in the group. you have reince priebus, the incoming chief of staff. there is always a direct line to trump, instead of having an isolated presidency i would expect to see a president who is taking advice and counsel from people outside of his administration. >> that's what's going to be fascinating because you can have a relationship with trump outside of his staff. >> get to him directly on twitter, which is odd for a president. out of the list that rod reeled off. i can tell you the most divisive person in that list with the conspiracy theories is bannon. as long as donald trump maintains someone like steve bannon who ran a website that touts itself as home of the ald-right. who white nationalist s website, who white nationalists see as their window, doorway into the administration, as long as that person is in the administration he will never get away from the divisiveness. awe one athing b 4 >> what it will also keep him away from traps like cutting medicare. i think that's where bannon's intent is at. >> bob gates of our day.

invites him to trump tower. bob gates try tillerson. that tells me, a tremendous openness to an argument. maybe it's the last person in the room. i understand your authentic concern, and i think the press needs to be vigilant but i am so much more optimistic than most people are because i believe that tillerson's selection shows us he is tremendously open to argument. developers do this. i talked to bob corker about this. developers are focus and execute people. >> all right. we will pause there. when we come back, some of the shining figures and ground breakers in politics and culture that we lost this year. >> my intention is to box to win a clean fight. but in war, the intention is to kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, and continue killing innocent people. ue killing innocent people. on mars and solar sates

provide earth with unlimited clean power. in less than a century, boeing took the world from seaplanes to space planes, across the universe and beyond. and if you thought that was amazing, you just wait. ♪

as we celebrate this holiday season with zprends families we want to take a moment to remember those in the world of politics media and culture who we lost this year and who meant a lot to us and to you, our "meet the press" viewers. >> you love to argue the law, don't you? >> i just love the law. i love to think about the law. i love to argue the law. >> tonight on washington week in review. >> we must take sides for neutrality helps the oppressor. never the victim. ♪ >> this is what the war in vietnam is all about. ♪

>> issue one. ♪ >> it's just so beautiful up there, you can't help but look out and you get teary-eyed almost. ♪ >> when am i going to hate for the people of the state. i don't hate anybody, including my enemies. ♪ >> my intention is to box, to win a clean fight. but in war the intention is to

kill, kill, kill, kill, kill and continue killing innocent people. ♪ >> there's a big, wonderful world out there for you. >> thank you for all you do. thank you for your love. and thank you for just being you. saving you up to $100 over each bulb's lifetime. so change yours today.

back now with the panel for the last end game segment of the year. okay. obviously predictions is not the greatest idea for 2016, but let's see if 2017 is any better.

first 100 days headline, joy? >> conflicts of interest royal trump administration. i think it's still going to be the big headline is going to be donald trump and his children's business impacts around the world. huh-uhity. >> huge bipartisan support, trump tie up fant. >> mr. acosta. >> trump keeps test his party with him. >> trump provokes iran. >> provokes iran. >> security experts. >> it's going to be a very busy first 100 days, perhaps a very busy four years. i'd like to thank our panelists for this year in review on trump. foris it's been quite a year on that front. but what about what is happening in the democratic party? where do they go?

>> i think they are going to go with a mainstream pick for party chairman. maybe labor secretary tom perez. and i think we are going to see an ongoing civil war. is this going to be the party of bernie sanders and elizabeth warren and progressives or tim ryan and focus on rust belt issues? >> who is the democratic party? they have to find an identity and somebody to rally behind. is it bernie sanders or a new face that we haven't yet seen. >> i don't think it can be bernie sanders because we a as we all know he is not a democratic. >> donald trump is not really a republican. >> good point but because i think because he didn't actually join the party it's going hard for him to exert leadership. i think the democrats are scrambling for a message, for a lead e for an identity. at the moment they don't appear to be well equipped to deal with donald trump or trumpism. >> mr. hewitt. >> joe biden hits the gym and the road on behalf democrats

everywhere, staying in shape for 2020. >> watching president obama, does he be part of these discussions in a vital way or does he go off and paint george w. bush style? >> what we are hearing is president obama is not going to be to able to ride off into the sunset. et cetera going to be cultivating new democratic leaders. >> they have to stick to the party of president obama until they find a heir apparent. we had a little bit of democratic talk there at the en. i would like to wish everyone a merry christmas, a happy hanukkah, happy holidays to all. as we leave you, we do so with some moments with first ladies and the way that many of them celebrated christmas at the white house. remember, next sunday, even on new year's day, no matter what day it is, if it's sunday, it's

"meet the press". ♪ ♪

♪ i got to think twice before i give my heart away and i know all the games you play ♪ ♪ because i play them too >> this morning remembering a superstar. looking back at the amazing career of pop icon george michael dead at 53. it was a white christmas for millions of americans and this morning ng up to an ugly commute. and an update on the health of actress carrie fisher. and usa today names their top actors, singers, and entertainers of the year. and the matchmaker uber driver making love connections one ride at a time. "early today" starts right now.