this sunday, looking back at 2017 and ahead to 2018. president trump. did he keep his promises? >> i will be the greatest job's president that god has ever created. the tax relief will be concentrated on the working and middle class. i will be president for a americans. >> we'll look at promises made, promises kept, and promises broken. plus the 2018 political landscape. democrats aim to take back congress. >> you could smell a wave coming. our republican friends better look out. >> but republicans hope to hang on to power. >> i feel very optimistic about 2018. also 2020, potential candidates are already visiting early primary and caucus states

and dreaming of challenging the president. >> i may very well do it, but i'm being as honest as i can. >> where do you stand? likely to run? >> this is not what i'm doing. >> how many democrats will jump in? and will any republican primary president trump? and the ways the president has influenced culture from the words we use to race. >> very fine people, on both sides. welcome to new year's eve sunday, it's "meet the press." ♪ ♪ from nbc news in washington, the longest running show in television history, this is "meet the press" with chuck todd. good sunday morning and a happy new year's eve to everyone. almost from the left hand on the bible, president trump signalled to the country that his presidency would be different. different in ways that would thrill millions, and different in ways that would appall millions more. it began with a jarring comment about the state of the country. >> this american carnage stops

right here and stops right now. >> within a day, press secretary sean spicer lectured white house reporters arguing implausibly that more people witnessed donald trump's inauguration than president obama's and a day later here on "meet the press," the president's counsellor, kellyanne conway offered this explanation. >> sean spicer, our press secretary gave alternative facts. >> that inauguration weekend kicked off a year of friction between the white house and the press, between the president's supporters and detractors, liberals and conservatives which has helped feed a sense that we as a country are more divided than we have been for decades, if not longer. over the next hour, we're going to look back at the past year and ahead to the next. our panel this new year's eve morning, charlie cook, kristen welker, bbc anchor patty kay who showed beyond 100 days will begin appearing on pbs starting

tuesday and rich lauer, editor of the national review. we're going to look at the promises made by candidate trump and whether he's been able to make good on them or not. let's watch. >> donald j. trump is calling for a total and complete shutdown of muslims entering the united states. >> $1 trillion in infrastructure investment. tax relief will be concentrated on the working and middle class. i will be the greatest job's president that god has ever created. repealing and replacing obamacare. save medicare, medicaid, and social security without cuts. have to do it. i pledge to every citizen of our land that i will be president for all americans. we will build a great, great wall, and mexico, mexico, mexico, mexico will pay for the

wall. >> all right, guys. what's been the single most important promise he made and the single most important promise he's kept? rich lauer, i'm going to start with you, i think the wall is probably the single most important promise connected to him as candidate. >> yeah, that was a signature promise and was probably the most flagrantly unrealizable promise in all of american presidential politics. the idea that mexico would pay for this wall. >> let alone build the wall. >> right -- >> but the other country pay for it. >> immigration is a success story for him. he doesn't have a wall, but reestablishing a certain baseline of enforcement and set an important message and you have illegal border crossings down to the lowest level since 1971. i'm kind of surprised he doesn't boast about that more. >> what's been the most important one that he's kept? >> the most important one i think that he's kept is that he would be the president for the people that voted for him and

carry on the culture wars in their favor. that he would carry on talking in ways that white working class voters who felt they've been neglected before, they feel they have somebody who is their president that they don't have to be pc anymore. that they can say things that they might have wanted to say for years and president trump has emboldened them to do that. >> what's the biggest one he's missed? >> i think a couple, chuck, one, he said he was going to repeal and replace obamacare. that didn't happen. he's tinkered around the edges, but where's the replacement? he also said he was going to prevent north korea from advancing it's nuclear program. that hasn't happened. and that has proven to be one of the biggest foreign policy crisis. and to pick up on what she's saying, i think he has been a president for his base, but he's failed to be a president for all people. i think in many ways the country's more divided. you have the nfl, you have charlottesville, and i think that's been a problem.

>> charlie, i left you with the topic that is sort of interesting here, and that's the economy. in that it's been a great year. and that has not translated or as john says, maybe it has and he'd be at 25% if it wasn't for the economy. >> you know, it's funny that so many people dislike him, disapprove of him, think he's a bull in a china closet on foreign policy, all of these things, and yet, the economy's doing really well. and either, a, something he's done is right or he's just really, really lucky. and i just kind of wonder whether the fact that maybe it's the absence of president obama or just sort of the idea of a president that's less adversarial towards business, whether it's released animal spirits in the economy, or maybe he's just lucky. >> let's debate this. luck or has he done something? >> let's go to 50,000 feet, you

can see there is a disconnect between political dysfunction around the world, not just here in the united states, but certainly in europe too and there are national security issues that are looming and crisis in ways we have not seen for a very long time, and yet every single investor will tell you this is a great time to economically. and at what point does that disconnect come back to haunt us or doesn't it? can we carry on operating where stock markets keep rising, unemployment keeps falling, growth is ticking up, wages are ticking up, and still have this political insecurity, there's not just american political insecurity, but global insecurity. >> i remember you'd hear the frustration in the last two years of the obama, like everything's there, it's poised to take off, but it wouldn't, trump's election and then to quote charlie, whatever the animal spirit is, boom, it finally is here. >> so it's luck in that he inherited an economy that was in pretty good shape. it's not like obama and hearing

an economy that's cratering after a financial crisis, it's more than luck and the policy matters. and the expectation of the market and the business community is that at least you'd see no new regulations, no new taxes, not any additional burdens on the economy. and we've seen even better than that from the business perspective because we've seen a major deregulation rollback, and now a tax bill that is a generational change on the corporate side. and will, all things being equal be pro-growth? >> i think the white house would argue, the fact that they have cut so many regulations is what has spurned this economy. look at health care versus taxes. he got read in on all the of the details, he ran as the job's president, and i think that you have investors who feel good about that, the market obviously reflecting it, and we're starting to see that in his policies. >> all right. let's pivot a little bit to foreign policy. yearend, do we know what a trump

doctrine is, patty? >> in some ways it's a continuity of the past. it was a key campaign speculation, nafta is still in place for the moment. we still have american troops in afghanistan. we still have them in iraq, we still have them in syria. so in some ways things are the same. what's different is that in the foreign policy, the big security strategy review that the president gave at the end of the year, no mention of climate change as a national security threat and no mention of american human rights and values. the single biggest change with the president is that we are not seeing america leading the world through principle. america hasn't always got it right, but it has always relied on some sense of principle and higher moral standing. what we have is a transactional foreign policy. >> you're nodding a lot. >> the basic structure, it's a central right realism. you see the policy even on north korea where he's been aggressive, it's a status quo of

policy, very cautious in the middle east, who did a big surge in afghanistan early in his administration. but i agree there needs to be more of an emphasis on ideals. this is a reaction against the crusade that george w. bush fought for our ideals, they're an important deals. >> i don't sense coherence. he does seem, i'm going to get tough on china, and then say we're pals. then you're going, what? >> you're seeing that disconnect around north korea as well. he talked about fire and fury, and that made a lot of people very nervous that he was on the brink of taking some type of action, and he didn't. i think we won't know what the trump doctrine is until we see how north korea plays out. will he take a limited military action? i mean based on my conversations with senior officials, his military options are very few and very far between. so it doesn't look like that's likely. i do think though, chuck, retreat from multinationalism, he pulled out of paris and tpp,

i think that is the beginning at least of a shift. >> legacy there. >> the national security policy report that katy referred to released just before christmas, when i read it, it actually did provide some coherence to what, through the past year, has looked like complete, random, ricochetting around and i couldn't tell whether is this thing actually more coherent than i thought or is there just a heck of a speech writer on board? i tend to think the latter. >> let me does you this, i feel like the issue we don't cover enough in foreign policy is how close are we to war? a hot war. whether we're involved or not, a hot war that involves iran or saudi arabia? it feels like a tender box. >> we have in yemen iranian proxies fighting saudi regulars. we have in syria, saudi proxies fighting iranian regulars.

we are one step away, and with the yemeni rebels firing missiles at riyadh in saudi arabia, that's a hot area of the world. >> there is one foreign policy issue that seems to congeal with our domestic politics, and it's russia. here's the best of russia from this year. >> i have nothing to do with russia, folks, okay. >> why would there be any contacts between the campaign? >> i don't think of bigger lies. >> russia is a ruse. i have nothing to do with russia. >> there is no connection. you've got russia. if the president puts russian salad dressing, somehow that's a russian connection. >> we had no dealings in russia. we have no projects into russia. we have nothing to do with russia. >> those conversations never happened. >> there was no collusion between me and my campaign and the russians. >> we think going on this russian, trump hoax for the better part of a year now with no evidence of anything. >> there is absolutely no collusion. that has been proven.

>> rich lowrie, he's not getting the benefit of doubt on all of this is it seems for one big reason. he seems to want nothing more than to cozy up with vladimir putin. if he were willing to be tough on putin, he might get more benefit. >> or say the meddling was an outrage and i'll never stand for it and it won't happen again on my watch. he won't say that. my theory, which i can't prove is he considers the russian story a personal affront because he thinks it undermines his victory, it's kind of a psychological reaction rather than speaking to a deeper conspiracy he's trying to hide. >> i think that's right. and one of the things that is so striking if you look at his tweets, he's lashed out about just about everyone, including the leader of china who he needs to work with on north korea. he's never had sharp words like that for russia. he's never convened a meeting of the national security team to just address that issue.

that's what people are hungry for. he begrudgingly more sanctions that congress imposed. >> not just that he wants to cozy up to putin, people around him, time and again, seem to forget meetings that they had with russians. why the secrecy? why have the meetings and reveal them later? and it's happening too often it seems for this to look like just coincidence. >> final word. >> nobody wants to think that they won illegitimate matly. that you want to believe, i won on my merits. i think rich is right, why can't he just say, you know, they were meddling. i don't think it had an impact on the outcome of the election, but we need to make sure this never happens again. that's pretty painless. what's wrong with that? >> you're doing something donald trump's never done before. be humble. all right guys. when we come back, we're going to look ahead to the year that starts tomorrow.

it's an even numbered year. and you know what that means. elections. are we looking at a democratic wave or can republicans somehow maintain their hold on congress and of course that means on all of the power that comes with it? their experience is coveted. their leadership is instinctive. they're experts in things you haven't heard of - researchers of technologies that one day, you will. some call them the best of the best. some call them veterans. we call them our team. heare you one sneeze away from being voted out of the carpool? try zyrtec® it's starts working hard at hour one and works twice as hard when you take it again the next day.

stick with zyrtec® and muddle no more®. finding the best hotel price is whoooo. now a safe bet. because tripadvisor searches... ...over 200 booking sites - so you save up to 30% on the... ...hotelock it in. tripadvisor. this holiday season... give the gift of effortlessly smooth feet... from amope. amope pedi perfect with diamond crystals. removes rough, hard skin effortlessly...

for touchably smooth feet. salon quality results you can see... and feel immediately. new amope pedi perfect soft feet kit... perfect for that special someone on your list. exclusively at walmart. amope. love every step. welcome back, if there's one thing you can count on in politics, it's the party that loses the seat looks to be no exception. and the party's upset win in alabama this month means democrats would only need to net two seats to achieve their longer shot goal of taking back the senate.

>> in 2005 you could smell a wave coming. the results last night smell exactly the same way our republican friends better look out. >> we think we'll produce results. results that we will certainly be able to talk to the american people about in the fall of 2018 and in 2020 as well. >> can you win back the house next year? >> doothe door is certainly ope for pus. >> a wave selection coming your way, that your majority is at risk. what do you make of that? >> blah, blah, blah is what i say about that stuff. >> i think we're going to win the senate and the house. >> i feel optimistic. >> we're going to do the blah, blah, blah, the panel is back with us, let's talk about the blah, blah, blah in november of 2018, welcome. got to love speaker ryan. >> this is my life's work and he's making fun of it. >> he blah, blah, blah'd over the best part. let's do it by the numbers here, senate make-up after doug jones is essentially 51-49. blah, blah, blah.

the house is 289-193, charlie cook, this is what you do for a living, you saw the 11-point advantage of the nbc wall street journal poll for democrats. it suggests that wave is building the question is just how big and will it crest at the right time and the right moment for the democrats? >> this is the -- this is what waves look like when you're standing on beach looking out and we've seen this before -- >> see it from afar, wow, look at that. >> you know, can't tell precisely how tall it is, but you can tell it's a big one. could things change? you know, if we had a couple more quarters of good growth, i don't think it will. we're looking at the senate. it's now plausible that democrats could take the senate back. i think it's not likely, but it's plausible in the house. if you had to bet today, i think you'd bet the house would turn. >> one of the reason why is rich it doesn't look like this is going to shift. we look at the demographic

breakdowns on jet network ballot. among millennials, it's nearly a 50-point advantage. among women, 20 points, independents, 12 points. even seniors which has become a base vote. it's the democrats that are up four and among all white voters, only down two. that's why it doesn't look like a couple of good economic quarters change things. >> that's the best thing republicans could have going for them is robust growth to take the edge off of this, but my fear is that this isn't a condition's based reaction, it's not an agenda-based reaction so much. it is a profound personal reaction to trump himself. and there is no way to change that. >> the white house says the opposite. they say that candidates are knocking down their doors to get an endorsement from president trump and he's eager to get out -- >> by the way, there probably are some candidates knocking on their doors for an endorsement. their door is not being answered

when they knock on mitch mcconnell's. >> that's right. they look at ed and say he tried to walk a fine line, and it backfi backfired. the white house saying you should embrace trump. we saw that that doesn't always work. obviously roy moore deeply flawed candidate in his own right, but he did run base odd an trump playbook. i spoke with the democratic strategist who said we're looking at a tidal wave. and i said, wait a minute, don't you run the risk of overplaying your hand? if you go into 2018 with that type of thinking. i think that's the real concern. the economy is a big unknown. that could i think shift the outlook. >> you know what's interesting is that you look historically and there's this very clear pattern. i mean, all but three midterm elections since the edge of the civil war, but we're now seeing a more explosiveness. i mean, the last six midterm elections, either the house or the senate or both have flipped in four -- >> that's -- that hasn't happened in 100 years. >> yeah, yeah, yeah, and so it's -- people are voting, it's

not more parliamentary, but it's more by party and we're seeing big, big explosive results and that's got or it scary for republicans. >> katy, the challenge for the democrats is on the senate side at least is the red state democrats. and you could argue, how they handle red state america in order to win the majority is going to say everything. let me put up the senate map here. these are just democratic seats that are in states in 2018 up where president trump carried that state and you can see, montana, they're not surprised, but florida, ohio, wisconsin, and michigans in there, here's how a few of the red state democrats we've talked to the last year have been walking the line of trump. take a listen. >> one thing that we don't have and you see that out in public polling and when i'm out and about is so what do you guys stand for? what are you about? overarching discussion for the democratic party isn't there.

>> my job's to fight for missourians. so i get up every day, my feet hit the ground figuring out how to get stuff done for them and not how i criticize the president. >> here's the thing that bothers me more than anything. because i am up for reelection in 2018, i guess people think in washington i'm going to vote differently or i'll be differently or i'll have to cow tail if you will to what they think might be popular. i don't think impeachment is something we should be talking about. >> katy, what was interesting this year, we all expected at least some of the red state democrats to somehow forge a partnership with trump, and none of them did. i think some of them wanted to, i don't know -- joe manchin blames mitch mcconnell and not donald trump. what say you? >> we came out of alabama with democrats say we can win in true red states. we've done it in alabama. exactly those people you chose, north dakota, missouri, west virginia, they took some heart from there that, but they have

different populations. they do not have 30% african american make-up in those states. they know that. they have to be more careful about how they run. they can't expect to run up against a roy moore again, that's just not going to happen, and claire mccaskill said donald trump is above water in my state. he has approval ratings that are parallel to mine. i cannot totally isolate myself from him, but she's not going to sign up. sherrod brown has, he is a democrat who decided that he's going to try and work with the president. >> i am curious, charlie -- >> some can. >> if impeachment is part of the conversation in the fall, i assume it's red state senate democrats that are the most nervous about that. >> i think you're right. and the thing is, this is so implausible. i mean -- >> and yet -- >> every single -- if democrats won every single senate race next year, every single one of them, they would still need republicans to vote for impeachment, and that's not going to happen.

and so why just -- just shut up. they're not helping themselves. >> these democrats hate that conversation. they hate the ads up on tv. >> i want to pivot because i hinted at it before. i want to pivot to the republican side of things. the reason the democrats have a longer shot is look at the map. this is a rosy scenario. i throw in texas and nebraska on there. texas for demographic reasons. i throw nebraska on there because of what steve bannon has promised, rich lowrie, which is to primary some establishment republicans like ed fisher in nebraska. here's our little bannon versus the gop compilation, and we'll talk about it on the other side. >> and right now, it's a season of war against a gop establishment. >> i think what steve bannon is trying to do is completely inappropriate. >> because they think you're a pack of morons. >> i hope he pays attention. we need good candidates. >> mitch mcconnell and this permanent political class is the

most corrupt and incompetent group of individuals in this country. >> what he's a specialist in is nominating people who lose. >> i like mr. bannon. he's a friend of mine, but mr. bannon came on very late, you know that. >> look, steve bannon is the face of that sort of anti-establishment crowd. before there was a steve bannon, there was still an anti-establishment crowd that cost them at least five senate seats. you can blame i guess bannon for the six. colorado, delaware, nevada, two from 2012, indiana and missouri, and of course roy moore. bannon, is he going to cost them another senate seat? another is mississippi, for instance. >> yeah, well, i would hope alabama was a blow to steve bannon's theory that you can just run any loathsome couth for the senate and somehow win a general election, but you're right, this is not a new phenomen phenomenon, it began before steve bannon and it's in part because republicans kind of against type, they're not the blue blazers tie types anymore,

they are the anti-establishment party, which involves very oftentimes not just rejecting the establishment's judgment about candidates, but rejecting conventional norms around that. >> this is important. mcconnell and ryan are no more in touch with the base of the party than trump is with the establishment. >> who did president trump speak to? he spoke to steve bannon that week. and so, he still sees him as a touchstone to his base. and to your point, does bannon take a look at that race and say hey, it was the candidate? no, he says we need to work harder. we're now emboldened, energized, we know what we need to do in the next race. i think the challenge is he obviously divides resources and messaging and continues to have this internal war. >> go back to 2008 when barack obama won. this so radicalized, i mean, the conservatives, republicans despised him so much that it effectively radicalized a large element of the republican party,

i think it led to the tea party movement. it ultimately led to the election of donald trump. but it led to the -- this nomination or this attraction of these exotic candidates that are just more exotic than can win general elections. and i think republicans are paying a price. and if i were democrats, i would worry about the loathing that they have for president trump, whether it radicalizes an element of the democratic party and we start seeing that happening in coming years. >> well, that is the nice segue because the next conversation has to do with the list of candidates running for president. is it easier to make the list of candidates not running? that's going to be the real debate. once we're done with 2018, it is 2020 vision time and whose vision is only focussed on 2020? we're going to look ahead to the many, many, many democrats who may decide to run for democrat and a handful of republicans as well.

oh, look... another anti-wrinkle cream in no hurry to make anything happen. neutrogena® rapid wrinkle repair works in just one week. with the fastest retinol formula to visibly reduce wrinkles. neutrogena®. when food is good and clean and real, it's ok to crave. and with panera catering, there's more to go around.

panera. food as it should be. your body was made for better things than rheumatiod arthritis. before you and your rheumatologist move to another treatment, ask if xeljanz xr is right for you. xeljanz xr is a once-daily pill for adults with moderate to severe ra for whom methotrexate did not work well. it can reduce pain, swelling and further joint damage, even without methotrexate. xeljanz xr can lower your ability to fight infections, including tuberculosis. serious, sometimes fatal infections, lymphoma and other cancers have happened. don't start xeljanz xr if you have an infection. tears in the stomach or intestines, low blood cell counts and higher liver tests and cholesterol levels have happened. your doctor should perform blood tests before you start and while taking xeljanz xr, and monitor certain liver tests. tell your doctor if you were in a region where fungal infections are common and if you have had tb, hepatitis b or c, or are prone to infections. xeljanz xr can reduce the symptoms of ra, even without methotrexate.

ask your rheumatologist about xeljanz xr. we cut the price of trades to give investors even more value. and at $4.95, you can trade with a clear advantage. fidelity, where smarter investors will always be. you wouldn't do only halfrade with a clear advantage. of your daily routine, so why treat your mouth any differently? complete the job with listerine® help prevent plaque, early gum disease, bad breath and kill up to 99.9% of germs. listerine® bring out the bold™ welcome back. from the moment a candidate is declared the winner of a presidential election, people in my business begin to ask, who is

going to run in four years? this year is no different and with president trump's approval ratings stuck in the 30s and low 40s, many democrats and perhaps a handful of republicans are viewing a run as a real possibility. one sign that someone is considering a run at this stage, they write a book, it's seen as a sign that the author is serious about becoming a candidate. so far books from senator bernie sanders of vermont, former vice president joe biden, senator elizabeth warren of massachusetts, and senator cory booker of new jersey. those are the democrats. now, you have governor john kasich of ohio. senator ben sass of nebraska, and senator jeff flake of arz, all of whom are republicans. the panel is back. okay. another way you get yourself on the list to run for president, say you're not going to run. take a look. >> where's your mind about that right now? are you 50/50, 80/20. are you likely to run? >> no. this is not what i'm doing.

>> other people will make lists, i'm not running for president. >> sure, i just might. >> that is not on my radar screen. that's a long way off. >> i don't know what i'm going to do tomorrow. >> if in a year from now, if i'm ready and no one has moved in that i think can do it, then i may very well. >> obviously the most significant person in that list who say yes i'm thinking about it is the former vice president, i think he decided to say hey, i'm sending a message to national donors. i want in. >> yeah, the most honest of all of those answers, was probably joe biden. the concern for democrats has to be that the two white guys most likely to run who you'd have to give a reasonable shot at giving the nomination to, joe biden, bernie sanders, they're going to be 78 and 79 on inauguration day of 2021. that's a problem for the democrats. if -- and you could go through the list of them and problems with all of the candidates, but two, you know, old, white guys is that where the party needs to be positioning itself?

>> kristen, before you chime in, i want to show, we put this together. here's all the traveling in the early states. that's another way to let us know. you show up in iowa, sanders, mark zuckerberg, ben sass, tom cotton have all made iowa trips this year. kasich, biden, sandsers, o'malley. south carolina, biden, zuckerberg and o'malley. it's book tourish. the the one person is kirsten gillibrand. around the issue of sexual harassment. it's one she has obviously championed in the past, but she's really i think been out front on that, taking the lead in terms of calling for al franken to resign.

angering folks in her party about president clinton. she's eyeing a run seriously. >> in that vein, is it gillibrand has she had the breakout '17 to carve out space? who else has had breakout to start carving out -- doing more than just saying i want to be in. i'm carving out space. >> well gillibrand, people up for reelection in 2018 have to be a little bit more discreet, but i'd say harris in california, that she's poised to do that. the way i look at it, i've got a list of like 25 people here that -- and the thing is some of these i think are laughable, but you know what, three years ago today, donald trump was. and bernie sanders was too. so i'm being a lot more humbled than i used to be, but the way i'm looking at it is there will be at least one woman. there will be at least one african american -- >> and when you say one woman. one that is in the -- >> the final four.

the final four. there will be a woman. there will be an african american. there will be one white guy, and then there's an at-large. and some of these, like a harris could be two of those categories, but that look for categories. because there are powerful constituencies within the party that i think will gravitate behind. >> i think just a bigger point, we can all do this on paper, but the lesson from the last two people elected president, donald trump and barack obama, is that personalities matter so much. both in their own way, completely dominated the media, figures of fascination that the supporters couldn't get enough of, and another lesson that we should all remember, crowd size really does matter. >> actually rich, great segue, my 13-year-old literally the other -- said to me, hey dad, you know that dwayne johnson's thinking about running for president. and i said why do you say that? well, he said so on ellen.

i went, he did? here's the evidence. >> will you run? i mean -- would you -- seriously, would you run? >> i'm seriously considering it, yes. >> look, i've actually been following him for the last six months on instagram and social media, this guy is very good at his own public relations. very good. here's about a -- hears about a sick kid for a fan, flies in with a ticket. somebody in this space is going to break out. is it cuban, the rock -- >> zuckerberg -- >> somebody's messing around here. >> if we are now lifzing in an era where to run for president of the united states you need to be a celebrity and you need to have a television following and an instagram following and you need to be able to reach people through charisma and through your background for having been on their television screens for years and years and years, which was donald trump's way of doing it, then somebody like the rock has a chance.

donald trump may have been an exception, i don't know. >> three years ago -- >> there are presidents rolling in their graves. >> and as they should. >> here's what i don't get though, kristen, is that actually i think when you try to do -- when the other party does something and you try to do what that party does light, it always fails. >> backfires. >> when you do the exact opposite. where is the boring, who is the least charismatic, most boring guy out there because i have a theory that that's the person we'll turn to next. >> i think whoever can give president trump a real run for his money has to be his counterpoint, there's no doubt about that. what does that look like? does it mean the person is unifying though? is that the aspect people are looking for? one thing in addition to all of the charismatic, all of things you laided out, i think the person needs to be authentic, even if they're a little boring. >> i would just say that ralph,

doug jones, i can go down the list here. the good democratic candidates this year were boring guys. >> yeah. >> were not offensive. but to your point, our friend mark shields has a theory that let's say you're in a subway car, and it stops between stations, it's, you know, the light goes out, panic, chaos, and then a reassuring voice, a firm reassuring voice comes on to make you feel calm. things are under control. and will people be looking for someone that would be reassuring, calm, a good bedside manner, that sort of thing? >> the rock played tooth fairy. >> boring, boring never works in presidential politics. you could be the opposite, like george w. bush emphasis on toughness, barack obama emphasis on thoughtfulness, right, but a he was not boring. >> but we hadn't had a donald trump before either. >> has highway changed the game? >> let me close with this. i think trump will get a primary challenge just for the sport of

it. the question is who is the most effective primary challenger to a trump? rich, let's start with you. this is what national review may be covering a lot of. >> yeah, it's really hard to see how this would work unless trump totally craters, otherwise, you'll get some symbolic challenge from someone like john kasich who if you've got 25, 30% in places, but if you ran against him at this juncture, he wouldn't win ohio. >> you don't buy ben sass, mitt romney? >> ben sass or mitt romney will be the two names that would come up. mitt romney probably has a better chance because he's done it before, he knows the access to the money and he has more name recognition, but it's a tough call. >> it is. somebody's going to do it just for the coverage. >> i think jeff flake could be interesting. >> president trump runs, he will be the nominee. the only question if he doesn't, then it's pence versus the field. >> free for all. when we come back, oh how the political world has changed in just one year.

david. what's going on? oh hey! ♪ that's it? yeah. ♪ everybody two seconds! ♪ "dear sebastian, after careful consideration of your application, it is with great pleasure that we offer our congratulations on your acceptance..." through the tuition assistance program, every day mcdonald's helps more people go to college. it's part of our commitment to being america's best first job. ♪ looking for a hotel that fits... whoooo. ...your budget? tripadvisor now searches over... ...200 sites to find you the... ...hotel you want at the lowest price. grazi, gino! find a price that fits. tripadvisor. you myour joints...thing for your heart... or your digestion...

so why wouldn't you take something for the most important part of you... your brain. with an ingredient originally found in jellyfish, prevagen is now the number one selling brain health supplement in drug stores nationwide. prevagen. the name to remember. when you ache and haven't you're not you. tylenol® pm relieves pain and helps you fall fast asleep and stay asleep. we give you a better night. you're a better you all day. tylenol®. we35 mules,ur doors with 70 mega-watts, and an ice plant. but we brought power to the people- redefining what that meant from one era to the next. over 90 years later, we continue to build as america's 3rd largest investor in infrastructure. we don't just help power the american dream... we're part of it.

nick is a logistical mastermind. when it comes to moving packages on a global scale, nobody does it better. he's also an avid cookie connoisseur. dig in, big guy. but when it comes to mortgages, he's... less confident. fortunately for nick, there's rocket mortgage by quicken loans. it's simple, so he can understand the details and get approved in as few as eight minutes. apply simply. understand fully. mortgage confidently. rocket mortgage by quicken loans.

we are back. data download time. what kind of year is 2017 been? well if you look at our new nbc news wall street journal poll for the end of the year, the answers are mixed. ahead of president trump's inauguration in january, 37% of americans felt the country was going in the right direction. 52% felt it was on the wrong track. that was actually an improvement at that time from the months before the 2016 election. but, in our year end poll, 29% now say right direction. that's an eight point drop from january. while 63% say wrong track. that's up 11 points. and no surprise, how you view the year depends a lot on who you are. republicans thought it was a pretty good year, for example, 79% say 2017 was either the best year for the united states above average or average. only 20% thought it was the worst year or below average. independents were pretty evenly split. while hardly any democrat thought it was a good year, the

vast majority 81% say 2017 as either the worst year for the country or the below average. men and women also viewed the year differently, a majority of men thought 2017 was good for the country, while a majority of women thought it was bad. and we saw similar breakdowns across racial demographics. only a slim majority of white americans, 52% thought this year was either the best, above average, or average. while majorities of hispanics and african americans thought it was the worst year or below average. finally, what did americans view as the most significant events of 2017? events like the mass shooting in las vegas and natural disasters like hurricanes and wild fires, were on folk's minds the most. third on the list was president trump's inauguration, followed by terrorist attacks, the attacks in congress, and sexual harassment revelations, and of course the me too movement. when we come back, words that came into being. and new words that gained new meaning in 2017. president trump's impact on american culture is next.

how's your cafe au lait? oh, it's actually... sfx: (short balloon squeal) it's ver... sfx: (balloon squeals) ok can we... sfx: (balloon squeals) goodbye! oof, that milk in your coffee was messing with you, wasn't it? try lactaid, it's real milk, without that annoying lactose. good right? yeah. lactaid. the milk that doesn't mess with you.

when food is good and clean and real, it's ok to crave. and with panera catering, there's more to go around. panera. food as it should be. this is charlie. and this is charlie not coughing because he took delsym 12-hour. this is charlie not coughing while trying his hardest not to wake zeus. this is charlie not coughing while sitting ververy still. easy, walter. and this is charlie not coughing while getting a little too into nana's party. because he took delsym... the #1 12-hour cough medicine. nothing lasts longer for powerful cough relief. delsym. the joy of not coughing.

how much money do you think you'll need in retirement? then we found out how many years that money would last them. how long do you think we'll keep -- oooooohhh! you stopped! you're gonna leave me back here at year 9? how did this happen? it turned out, a lot of people fell short, of even the average length of retirement. we have to think about not when we expect to live to, but when we could live to. let's plan for income that lasts all our years in retirement.

prudential. bring your challenges. welcome back. we're going to look at the culture changes that took place in the country this year that i think for some people were inspired at least in part by donald trump's presidency. guys, i think the biggest one in sports has to do with his involvement in the nfl which has

been sort of with race. let's take a look at what -- what sort of instigated this. >> wouldn't you love to see one of these nfl owners, when somebody disrespects our flag, to say get that son of a bitch off the field right now. out. he's fired. he's fired! and you had some very bad people in that group, but you also had people that were very fine people, on both sides. now we're going to take down his statue. so you know what, it's fine, you're changing history, you're changing culture. was sheriff joe convicted for doing his job? i'll make a prediction, i think he's going to be just fine. okay. >> you know what's interesting, kristen, especially that first one, many times when he dabbles into sort of culture wars, it's at a moment of political weakness for him. where he did the nfl was when he was embarrassed to be endorsing luther strange when he was about

to get thumped by roy moore that weekend before, and literally the story wasn't about him supporting luther strange, it was about him and the nfl. >> it's a great way to energize his base to rally supporters around him. it was very similar during charlottesville when he made those remarks, which by the way, engaged some people within his own administration, but i think you're starting to see a backlash at the polls. you sow that with how energized african american voters were in alabama. that's concerning republicans when they look at 2018, look, i think the white house know they have a problem when it comes to diversity, they have to bring more gersty, particularly to their senior staff we just reported on omnirow is a leaving for example, she was the only african american senior staffer had he in the west wing, and so i think that's going to possibly be a focus in the new year. >> i would have guessed at the beginning of the year you would have an unorthodoxed president with an unorthodoxed agenda. instead you've had an entirely orthodoxed republican agenda that doesn't necessarily have

anything for the signature kind of trump voter, but you still have this unorthodoxed president, and he's stoking these controversies with, that's what the voters are getting. >> there's been a weird backlash, not from voters per se, some with voters, charlie, but corporate america has been the one, and nfl is part of this. they have struggled with how to handle this. they don't know how to handle it. especially nfl has really struggled with it. >> i think they sort of don't approve of the behavior, but, i was meeting with the ceo recently, who said the tax bill probably saved about $350 million, so they're torn. i mean, there's some good things, you know, less regulation, laxer enforcement, there are things they like, they don't like the tone and where this is going. they're really torn. >> and corporations have to watch out for customers, shareholders brand and all of that, and when the president says something, which is why

we've had so many of these advisory counsels disbanded, those corporate leaders don't feel that they can be aligned with those positions. >> i think the other factor here, some of it is strategic as you suggest with the nfl controversy, but a lot of it, he just enjoys stirring the pot, he enjoys everyone freaking out. and the remote control goes and he watches it on his 90-inch tv screen and enjoys every minute of it. >> it's the trump show, and it's been sold out for years. >> i think that's the point. i think that's the part of the job he wanted. it was sort of head of state, and to be the pot stirrer and all of this other stuff, gosh, do i have to do this too? >> all right, i think 2017, the time's person of the year, whistle blowers on women, you just told us, feminism is the word of the year. it's an understatement to say culturally and i think many people think that women are speaking out more because of the election of donald trump, but here's sort of a highlight of the year.

>> hollywood titan harvey weinstein fired from his own company. >> kevin spacey. >> lewis ck. >> matt lauer. >> sexual harassment has no place in any workplace, let alone in the united states congress. >> we are in the midst of a cultural revolution. >> was it one accusation, is it two? i think there has to be. john conyers is an icon, however, congress conyers should resign. >> he is not going to be pressured by nancy pelosi or anyone else to step down. >> in the coming weeks, i will be resigning as a remember of the united states senate. >> the president has firsthand knowledge on what he did and didn't do. he can speak directly to those and he has and he's addressed them, and i don't have anything further to add. >> i think everyone should be held accountable starting from the president of the united states. >> quite the moment, katy, that this has been and politics is struggling with it more than every other sector.

>> it's happened really, really fast, this has been the last two, three months of the year. snowballing effect where sexual harassment doesn't seem to be tolerated. there's concern that there will be a backlash against this movement because it's happening so fast. it's a revolution that's going to eat it's own. everybody agrees, if we can make safer workplaces and bring men with us on board on that project, they don't feel victimized, they don't feel like they're the object of revenge, then we'll be better off. politically, you're seeing this reflected in the number of women running for office. >> rich, the week before the franken allegations that led to resignation, you said hey, there is going to be some that wonder, ah, is that resignation worthy? do you throw him out? ultimately that's what happens in moments of revolution. there is some not sure moments, but there's a larger movement happening here. >> it was a bizarre resignation speech that al frank, gave, he professes innocence. if he's innocent, he owes it to

himself to stay and fight. so, it doesn't surprise me that there's been some back and forth about this, but that "new york times" story, initial "new york times" story and harvey weinstein is the single most influential piece of journalism i can remember. it instantly changed this country. >> bill o'reilly didn't change it, it was harvey weinstein, i don't know why the fox firings were the canaries in the coal mine. >> what requires the death penalty? and the standard has gotten have been were have been were have been slim on what, what ends a career? but i think this is going to provide a lot of opportunities for women, for younger men to behave themselves. that is society changing event. set of circumstances. >> november 2018, kristen, i think when we are looking at the new faces of the new congress, i have a feeling we're going to see what the house bank scandal did in 1992, it wiped out people on both sides of the aisle. this moment on women and sexual

assault may wipe out 50 members left and right. >> i think that's right. i think they're bracing for that possibility. a lot of people on both sides of the aisle think this is going to be the year of the woman when it comes to 2018. but look, i think that democrats have tried to seize the moral high ground on this and i stress that word tried to because it is very complicated. and i think the white house knows they've got some work to do. a lot of the president's accusers came forward, they said we didn't feel like our voices were heard during the campaign, we feel like they're being heard now. the white house infuriated by this, the voters have had their say. >> i'm going to close here with words. new words that miriam web ster. troll. and they did it as a verb. dog whistle. which we were surprised hadn't been in there before. and alt-right. what does that say about america? >> wow. you know, i'm 64 years old and i'm sitting here, the whole world is changing and i'm just

sort of astonished by it all. >> well, one thing i'm going to enjoy -- >> troll people, charlie. >> it's really a lot of fun. >> that's not my style. >> when charlie starts trolling stew, we will know the world has changed. anyway, you guys were great. that's all we have for today. as always, thank you to our viewers for being such a big far of our broadcast each week. we take every critique seriously. please, continue to send them in. on behalf of all of us here, wish everyone a safe, happy, healthy, and politically less stressful year. all next week, if it's sunday, it's "meet the press."

fembarracuda networks,ss:here" is cloud-connected security and storage solutions that simplify it. scott mcgrew: good morning everyone, i'm scott mcgrew. a very happy new year to you. we've given our crew the day off to celebrate the holidays with their families. so instead, we hope you'll enjoy at least a few of our "best of" clips this sunday morning, interviews i've picked out as some of my favorites. we're going to start with a fellow who's in charge of a private company that helps social media companies keep offensive content off their sites. it's a job that's super boring until it's not. scott: let me ask you, 3,000, just speaking generally about this, with facebook adding 3,000 people to watch these, is that enough? henry chang: absolutely not, i mean, just some figures out there, facebook has videos, photos, and just photos alone,