♪♪ this sunday, departing. fbi director chris wray

announces he'll resign next month, clearing the path for president-elect donanald ump's pick kash patel to lead the fbi. >> we look forward to a very smooth transition at the fbi, and i'll be ready to go on day one. >> it's time for a fresh start at the fbi. >> i have concerns just because of his agenda that he has expressed in the past. >> will the senate confirm this trump loyalist who has published an enemies list? plus, pardon power. as president biden prepares to exit the stage, his decision to pardon his son is sparking backlash from democrats and former white house aides. >> i do not agree with the way it was done. i don't agree with the timing and i don't agree with the attack on our judicial system. >> my guest this morning republican senator lindsey graham of south carolina and independent senator bernie sanders of vermont and new hope. after the fall of syrian president bashar al assad, there's renewed optimism in the

search for american journalist austin tice who went missing in syria over a decade ago. >> we think he's alive. we can get him back. >> i'll talk to austin's mother deborah tice. joining me for insight and analysis are nbc news capitol hill correspondent ryan nobles. anna nawaz, co anchor of pbs news hour. ashley etienne, former communications director to vice president kamala harris and peggy noonan. welcome to sunday. it's "meet the press." >> from nbc news in washington, the longest-running show in television history, this is "meet the press" with kristen welker. good sunday morning. the all-out push is intensifying to get president-elect trump's cabinet picks confirmed. from high stakes meetings on capitol hill to public outings with mr. trump himself. on sunday the president-elect

appeared in a suite in ththe army-navy football game with his choice to be defense secretary former fox news host and veteran pete hegseth and his pick to be the national intelligence director former congresswoman tulsi gabbard. hegseth has been accused of sexual assault when he denies and has been challenged to explain past statements about women in combat after meeting for a second time with iowa senator joni ernst the first female combat veteran to serve in the senate hegseth praised troops. >> i somehow don't support women in the military. some of our best warriors out there are women who serve, raise their right hand to defend this country and love our nation. >> yes. >> now it comes as some republican senators say they are facing blowback after raising questions about president-elect trump's picks.

>> do you feel like there's a pressure campaign against people who thw out concerns? >> i do, and i think that that's a two-edged sword. >> everybody toe the line. everybody line up. we've got you here, and if you want to survive you better be good. don't get on santa's naughty list here because we will primary you. i mean, we are seeing that play out in real time right now with the nominees, and my friend joni ernst who is probably one of the more conservative, principled republican leaders in the -- in the senate right now is being hung out to dry for not being good enough. >> also this week, president biden issued a flurry of pardons and commutation says for non-violent offenders, commuting the sentences of almost 1500 people and pardoning 39 others, the biggest single-day act of clemency. it comes two weeks after the president pardoned his son hunter biden. in a stunning twist, former

senior white house aide criticized the timing and justification of the hunter biden pardon. >> i absolutely agree with the president's decision here. i do not agree with the way it was done. i don't agree with the timing, and i don't agree, frankly, with the attack on our judicial system. >> also making waves this week, fbi director christopher wray told bureau employees he'll step aside before mr. trump takes office with nearly three years in his ten-year term, bowing to the reality that the president-elect had publicly declared his desire to replace him. >> in my view, this is the best way to avoid dragging the bureau deeper into the fray while reinforcing the values and principles that are so important in how we do our work. >> kash patel, a former federal prosecutor who president-elect trump has picked to replace him has called for the agency's headquarters to be dismantled.

>> the fbi's footprint has gotten so freakin' big and the biggest problem the fbi's had has come out of the intel shops. i would break that component out of it. i would shut down the fbi hoover building on day one and reopening the next day as a museum of the deep state. patel names roughly 60 people in his book as being part of the, quote, deep state. i asked president-elect trump about that list in our one-on-one interview last week. >> do you want kash patel to launch investigations into people on that list? >> no. i mean, he's going to do what he thinks is right. >> do you think that's right? do you think that's right, sir? >> if they think that somebody was dishonest, crooked or a corrupt politician i think he probably has an obligation to do it? >> are you going to direct him to do it? >> not at all. not at all. >> joining me now is senator lindsey graham of south carolina. welcome back to "meet the press

"qwest. >> thank you. >> thank you. thank you so much for being here. i want to start with syria. i know you have been quite focused on the conflict there. the fact that president bashar al assad has be overturned by rebels creating a power vacuum there. i know you've expressed some concerns that there could be a resurgence of isis in syria. i want to ask you, president-elect trump said the u.s. should, quote, not get involved in syria. is that the right approach, senator? >> well, i'm -- leaving it up to the syrians to form their new govevernment d what kind country they want to be to a point, but we do have an interest from having isis from coming back on the battlefield. for five years they reigned terror in america all over europe slaughtering people. isis fighters are killing machines. they want to the purify islam. they want to take down the king of jordan, the king of saudi arabia, and they want to replace the uae with a theocracy.

you don't want these people in charge of the mideast. they want to drive us out of the mideast and they want to destroy our friends in israel. there are 50,000 isis fighters under the control of kurdishal eyes of the noise and northeastern syria. it is in our national security interest they do not break out of jail and re-establish the caliphate. it is in our national security interest that we help the kurds who destroyed the caliphate on our behalf. we lost about four soldiers, god bless them in destroying the caliphate. i do not want ice sis to break of jail. turkey is putting pressure in syria. we need the militarized zone and it occurs if turkey attacks the kurds and these isis fighters break out of jail, it's a nightmare for us. it's a nightmare for syria. it's a nightmare for the world. that cannot happen. >> all right. senator graham, i know you will

continue to track that situation closely and whoever becomes the next defense secretary will inherit the crisis in syria as well as a range of other crises on the world stage. you said last week that some of the allegations against pete hegseth, president-elect trump's pick to become defense secretary were, quote, very disturbing. senator, let me ask you. at this point in time are you prepared to vote yes on pete hegseth and do you think he has enough support to get confirmed? >> i'm in a good place with pete unless something i don't know about comes out. these allegations are disturbing, but they're anonymous. i asked him point-blank were you drunk in a bar and got up and said let's kill all of the muslims, he said no. there was one report about sexual assault. that person has the right to come forward to the committee, but about mismanagement of money, about, you know, having a drinking problem and saying inappropriate things and all of these are anonymous allegations.

he's given me his side of the story. it makes sense to me, i believe him. unless someone is willing to come forward he'll get through. remember kavanaugh? three were outright lies and the other two were not credible, s we're not going to let that happen topete. you're not going to destroy his nomination based on anonymous sources. people have to come forward to make credible obligations and he'll get through. >> pete did sign a non-disclosure agreement? do you want to see that? should that type of information be released? >> yeah. yeah. he told me he would release her from that agreement. ust think about what we're talking about. i would want to know if anybody nominated for a high-level job in washington legitimately assaulted somebody. i've known pete for years. i met him in afghanistan. i've heard nothing, but good things about his service over

there. he's a friend. the pete hegseth i know, this is not a problem i've been aware of. however, if people have an allegation to make, come forward and make it like they did in kavanaugh. we'll decide whether or not it's credible. right now he's being tried by anonymous sources. that will not stand. >> senator, how do you respond to your republican college. you heard lisa murkowski there at the top and thom tillis say that basically there is a pressure campaign against them to get onboard with president-elect trump's picks? >> yeah. that's true of everything we do up here. you have a right to petition your government. i get pressured all of the time to do this or do that. i'm pretty consistent. i vote for almost every nominee. i think i voted against one or two presidential cabinet picks and their cabinet. the people have to be qualified. they have to have good character. those things are all part of the

process, but my predisposition is to support presidential nominations, just not for republicans, but for democrats. so at the end of the day people will push you to do things up here. it's up to you to resist. i feel very comfortable in the way i do my job. you can have your say with me, and i will listen, but i will do what's best for the country and that's have a process that works. >> let me ask you about the fbi, senator. president-elect trump has picked kash patel to lead the fbi. christopher wray did announce he's resigning three years before his term ends. here's what you said on this program the last time donald trump was choosing an fbi director. look. >> he has a duty, an obligation to pick mebody beyond reproach outside the political lane. i think he'll do that. i hope he'll do that. i would encourage to pick somebody we can all rally around including those who work in the fbi. >> senator, is kash patel beyond reproach and someone that

everyone can rally around? >> well, i think you were talking about what he should do the last time. look what's happened since the last time. the fbi in the eyes of conservatives has become sort of a very biassed organization. the hunter laptop was real. right before the election of 2020, the intelligence commit including the fbi had the story. it was a joke and a political effort to take trump down using false information generated by somebody connected to russia. the steele dossier was a lie. people used to get warrants based on faulty information. so the fbi we talked about then has changed. so what do i want in an fbi director, someone that can get back to the job of fighting climb and don't have your thumb on the political scale and make sure it's not used as a

political weapon against people that you have a beef with. we don't want to go back to the days of j. edgar hoofer and what we want to do is have an fire that calls balls and strikes and it will take someone to clean out the place. >> i guess what i'm asking about is bipartisan support. christopher wray was confirmed by a vote of 92 to 5. are you concerned about president-elect trump putting forward who might not have that type of bipartisan support? >> i can't stress to you enough that when i was a young person i wanted to be an fbi agent. i'd watch it every sunday. it was a great show. i admire the fbi, but it's way off track. comey was a disaster. they used the steel dossier to get warrant against american citizens that was fabricated and there was no credible evidence to suggest otherwise. they have suppressed information

that would have been relevant to 2020. the laptop was real. they said it was false. 50 intel people signed a letter saying that laptop was russian disinformation. none of us trust these people anymore. >> senator, a little bit of a lightning round, president-elect trump told me he thinks the members of the january 6th committee should go to jail. do you agree with that statement? >> no. >> okay. that was very clear and concise. let's move on. >> you said lightning. >> i appreciate that. i appreciate that. i want to ask you about dreamers because the president-elect wants to work with democrats on a deal to protect dreamers. do you think dreamers will have a path to legal status after president-elect's second term. >> only if we clean up the border. i was on the gang of eight bill doing the conference of immigration. i've been on every dreamer bill there is, but what's happened

under president biden, you've allowed 13 million people come here illegally, until you deport people here illegally, if you legalize one person now there would be a run on the border. there will be no legalization and no dreamer bill until we lock our border down and the number one job for the budget committee of the united states senate is to pass a border security bill on day one. i want to cut taxes, but that mes later. to my friends in the house, we are playing russian rule eat with our national security. terrorists are all over the place trying to get in the country. 250 people die a day of fentanyl poisoning and what we will do in the senate is come up with a border bill supported by stephen millier and president trump and finish the wall. that's what we will do. if we don't do that first it's national security malpractice. secure the border first. any legalization has to come after you secure your border.

>> all right. you've got it all in. senator graham, thank you very much. i really appreciate -- >> thank you. merry christmas. merry christmas to you. thanks for doing the lightning round with me. appreciate it very much. when we come back, senator bernie sa (fisher investments) at fisher investments we may look like other money managers, but we're different. (other money manager) how so? (fisher investments) we're a fiduciary, obligated to act in our client'' best interest. (fisher investments) so we don't sell any commission-based products. (other money manager) then how do you make money? (fisher investments) we have a simple management fee, structured so we do better when our clients do better. (other money manager) your clients really come first then, huh? fisher investments: yes. we make them a top priority, by getting to know their finances, family, health, lifestyle and more. (other money manager) wow, maybe we are different. (fisher investments) at fisher investments, we're clearly different. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪

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(balloon doug pops & deflates) and then i wake up. and you have this dream every night? yeah, every night! hmm... i see. (limu squawks) only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪ welcome back. joining me now is independent senator bernie sanders of vermont. senator sanders, welcome back to "meet the press." >> great to be with you. >> it's great to have you here. let's start off by talking about the decision of fbi director christopher wray to announce his resignation three years before the end of his term, do you think that that was the right decision, senator? >> well, i'm a little bit nervous about it. when trump talks about sending to jail people who are on that january 6th committee.

that sounds like being a tin pot dictator. so i would hope that we have an fbi and a justice department that protects the civil liberties of the american people and does its best to protect american democracy. >> well, we know the white house is considering potential preemptive pardons of those who clashed with president-elect trump. in light of what the president elect said to me that yes, he does think that members of the january 6th committee should go to jail, do you think that mr. biden should issue preemptive pardons for the entire january 6th committee? >> well, i think he might want to consider that very seriously. look, that is an outrageous statement. this is what authoritarianism is all about and dictatorship is all about. you do not arrest elected officials who disagree with you. who undertake an investigation. so all of us, and i would tell you, chris and i think there are a lot of republicans, you just

heard lindsey graham make that statement. i think that idea of trump is not going to go very far. it is quite outrageous. >> it was notable to hear, senator, lindsey graham say no, point-blank when i asked if they should go to jail. let me ask you about president biden's pardon of his son hunter. former biden senior adviser anita dunn said she disagrees with the decision to pardon him and disagrees on how it was carried out and the criticism of the justice department and i want to remind you what we heard from president biden himself earlier this year. take a look. >> will you accept the jury's outcome, their verdict no matter what it is? >> yes. >> and have you ruled out a pardon for your son? >> yes. >> i said i would abide by the jury decision, and i will do that and i will not pardon him. >> senator, was it the right decision for the country to pardon hunter biden? >> well, i think two things. when you have his opponents going after his family, as a

father and as a parent i think we can all understand biden trying to protect his son and his family. on the other hand, i think the precedent being set is kind of a danger. it's a very wide-open pardon which could under different circumstances lead to problems. >> do you think he can hurt his legacy with this pardon, senator? >> i think his legacy is a strong legacy. i think president biden has been the most progressive president since fdr and the economy in many way is in very strong shape, but i do believe as president trump comes into office, we have got to understand, kristen and i feel very strongly about it and it's not talked about enough. we are moving rapidly into an oligarchic set of government, never before have so few people

had stow much wealth and so much power and never before has been been sector by sector power on wall street and never before in american history and we better have to talk about this have the people on top had so much political power. in russia, putin has an oligarchy. we have an oligarchy here, too. and in this last election in both parties, billionaires spend huge amounts of money to elect their candidates. here in the state vermont, we believe we have town meetings. one person, one vote and that's democracy. those are the issues we have to focus on. we have to rebuild the middle class. 60% of the people living paycheck to paycheck and not to guarantee, seniors are struggling and high rates of childhood poverty. i look forward to working with president trump and we will vigorously oppose him if he wants to address democracy or women's rights to control their

own bodies. >> i want to ask you about one of the issues and that you care deeply about. you obviously chair the senate health committee. i want to get your reaction to the horrific shooting of the unitedhealthcare ceo brian thompson and your colleague elizabeth warren said this. >> the person who allegedly killed the ceo of united health, but you can only push people so far and then they start to take matters into their own hands. >> senator warren, quickly clarified she said violence is never the answer, period, i should have been much clearer that there is never a justification for murder. my big picture question for you, though, senator, is this the right time in the wake of this horrific murder to be talking about health care policy? >> look, elizabeth warren obviously understands killing and murder and shooting somebody in the back is totally unacceptable, but what i think

has happened in the last few months is that what you have seen rising up is boom's anger at a health insurance industry which denies people the health care that they desperately need while they make billions and billions of dollars in profit. killing anybody, shooting somebody in the back who is a father of two is outrageous and unacceptable. nobody should applaud it. senator warren did not. when we have to ask ourselves when it comes to healthcare why we are the major country on earth not to guarantee health care for all people and why we have a life expectancy that is significantly lower than other countries and why working class people die five to ten years shorter than the people on top. chris and i feel very strongly about this, and i think the time is long everdue for us to guarantee to every man, woman and child especially at a time

when we are spending twice as much per capita on health care as people of another nation. the goal here is not to make drug companies phenomenally rich and it's to guarantee health care for r all pele. >> let me ask you about another topic, very important for working-class voters and the minimum wage in my one-on-one interview with president-election trump, i asked him if he would consider raising the minimum wage. it's been at $7.25 since 2009 and he also said it's too low and it's quite complicated to raise the federal minimum wage, but do you think you can work with president-elect trump in trying to get a deal on raising the minimum wage? >> i surely hope so. i tried two years ago raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour. we got zero, not one republican supported it. we ended up with 42 votes. look, a $7.25 per hour minimum

wage is an absolute disgrace. we have millions of people in this country who are working for starvation wages that cannot afford housing. they cannot afford to adequately feed their kids. so yes, we have got to raise the minimum wage, and i would suggest 17 bucks an hour, and i hope we can work in a bipartisan way. >> i have to ask you about the story that captured the country's attention, these reports of reported drones flying over new jersey, other parts of the east coast, the biden administration official said, quote, there's been a slight overreaction to these reports. i wonder, what do you make of the biden administration's so far? are you satisfied by the administration's reaction? >> i honestly don't know anything more about that than what i read in the papers. sorry. can't give you great insight on

that. >> are you concerned, though? >>. >> am i concerned? yeah, i guess. i don't know. what can i tell you? yes, i'm concerned. >> very quickly, rfk jr. will be on capitol hill this week and he's talking about food safety, and i know that's something you have said you're interested in and he's a vaccine scent inic and where are you on him and his potential nomination. i look forward to sitting down and talking with him. vaccines whether it's polio or covid have saved millions and million of lives and i strongly support vaccines and on the other hand what i will tell yo is the food industry through the processed foods are helping to cause obesity in this country, cause diabetes in these countries and we have epidemics in the country in terms and we

have to tell the food industry stop making our kids overweight and causing problems. >> are you voting for rfk, senator? >> the process, there is a process. i will sit down and i'll talk to him and we'll have a are hearing on it and it's premature to say how i'll vote unless meeting with the nominees. >> senator bernie sanders, thank you very much for joining us. i really appreciate it. >> thank you for having me. >> when we come back, the search in syria for american journalist austin tice who has been missing in sy

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and save on every plan versus the other big guys. what a deal. that's a lot if you ask me. ya'll giving away too fast t-mobile, slow down. welcome back. american journalist austin tice has been missing in syria since 2012. his family has renewed hope he will be found now that assad's dictatorship has been overthrown. here's what president biden said last sunday. >> we are mindful that there are americans in syria including those who reside there as well as austin tice who was taken captive more than 12 years ago.

we remain committed to returning him to his family. >> what do you know about where austin tice might be and if he's safe? >> we believe he's alive. we think we can get him back, and assad should be held accountable. >> joining me now is deborah tice, austin's mother. welcome to "meet the press," mrs. tice, thank you for being here. we are so sorry for what you and your family have been going through for the past 12 years? thank you very much for having me here. >> well, it's an honor to have you here. let's start off by talking about this extraordinary moment. rebels have overturned the assad regime. i know some in your family feel like this is a turning point. how do you feel right now about your chances of finding austin? >> when we first came into the city we met with the state department. we met with the white house, and you know, it was saturday night

when this happened, when they breached damascus, and for us, this kind of chaos, for us it represented a huge opening, a huge opportunity and especially when people started going into the prisons, finding their families. there was a man that had been held in silence for 34 years, and he was reunited with his family, and so we are just really excited about being a reunited family. and you have information that suggests that he is alive. >> austin was born alive and he's been alive ever since then. i've never had any doubt about that. >> nbc news' richard engel visited one of the prisons that you just referenced. he spoke to someone who was held in this prison who said he was kept in the cell right across

from austin, and he saw him in 2012. we are looking at some of that video right now, mrs. tice. it's just extraordinary to see some of the drawings on the walls. when you see this video, what goes through your mind? >> i think that behar said he was with austin in 2022. >> excuse me, 2022. >> we were able to verify this. he was. as far as, you know, of course, we have incredible respect for the people going back to the prison and that must be very challenging, but we do -- we do have some feelings about what richard thought and we're just so glad that he went in there, and we are so glad that he filmed it, and it mattered. it mattered to us hugely. >> this is very significant. you say you have also confirmed that you believe austin was

there in 2022. >> yeah. >> okay. syria obviously has this new rebel group that has taken over. have you been in touch with any of the new leadership within syria? they've told the u.s. government they're trying to find austin. we haven'ten gamed we haven't engaged with them, but we work very dosely with hostage aid worldwide, and they are on the ground. so we asked people if they have any informatation all if they reach out to hostage age worldwide because they are the ones that we've been working with, they've had a huge campaign in syria and lebanon about austin asking for information about austin, and so now they're on the ground, and they are ready. they know. they know what to do when they find him. >> they are on the ground. the biden administration has said it's doing everything it can to bring austin home and yet

based on what we've been told, there aren't u.s. officials in damascus right now actively searching for austin. do you think there should be? what do you make of that? >> well, the u.s. government has made the decision that they're not going into damascus, so my feeling is if they don't want to be there, they shouldn't be there, and the people that are there are the people that are determined, and there are -- i mean, richard engel is there, other journalists are there, they are determined to be here. looking. they are going into the cells. they're going into some deep and dark places, and obviously, they are compelled to be there and the u.s. government is not. >> should the u.s. government be there? >> what do you think? >> we'll take your silence as your answer there. you know, was there this really

remarkable moment this week where another american travis timmerman was found wandering on the streets, and the outskirts of damascus. many thought for a moment this could be your son austin. of course, it was want. how did that moment unfold for you? >> so when i go to sleep, i silence my phone, and i really go to sleep. my children don't do that. so my oldest daughter came into my room at 4:25 and said, mom, we have this video and we don't think it's austin and a lot of people think it's austin, but we want you to look at and see if it's austin and i woke up out of a fog and i said no, it's not austin. no, mom, it's not austin, but we had to wake you up. we had to ask you about it. of course, we had so many people reaching out, this is so great, what a wonderful day, and so

it's almost like having a rehearsal, you know, of -- of -- just an inkling of what it would really feel like when it is austin walkingy from. >> did it feel like a moment of false hope? i know it was a fleeting moment when you looked at that photo, but even in the moment did it feel like false hope? >> when i see people coming out and even travis is that feeling where as humans we share joy, right? we share suffering, too, but we share joy and just seeing these families reunited. think about travis' family being reunited with him, what incredible yoi incredible joy, and we can share that. >> what do you want people to know about austin as you sit here today, and can you explain to people how you have kept

going, how you've been so strong for more than 12 years now? >> austin tice, let's e. he has a very strong will. he always has. he has a huge joy of life. he's very much a fully alive person. he was in his first year of law school, and he was compelled to go into the marines, and he's just a man of honor. if he's -- if he's calleded to do something he's going to do it all the way. that's his personality. he was in d.c. at 9/11, and he experienced that. he saw the pentagon burning, and he just took it -- he just took it on. i have an obligation to serve my country. >> and so he continued to do so with his decision to go to

syria. we are going to pray for his safe return as soon as possible. >> thank you. >> and that reunion that i know you hold in your head and your heart. deborah tice, it is an honor to have you here. thank you so much. >> it is. >> i really appreciate it. >> it is so wonderful to be here with you, christine. thank you so much for having me. >> i really appreciate it, and i'll be back with austin. >> we cannot wait for that moment. thank you so much, deborah tice. when we come back, presidential pardons for family members. isit hi, i'm greg. i live in bloomington, illinois. i'm not an actor. i'm just a regular person. after working 25 years in the automotive industry, i retired. eight years ago, i just didn't feel like i was on my game. i started taking prevagen and i want people to know that prevagen haworked for me. give it a try. i want it to help you just like it has helped me. i've been taking prevagen for eight years now and it is still helping me tremendously. prevagen. at stores everywhere without a prescription.

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> welcome back. new polls this week show low approval for president biden's pardon of his son hunter, a decision made earlier this month despite repeated promises he wouldn't grant it. a similar controversy surrounded president bill clinton in 2001 after a string of pardons including one for a fugitive from justice and another for his brother roger o faced drug charges. days after those pardons the

late senator joe lieberman joined this broadcast to share his thoughts on press pardon. >> the constitution gives the president an unlimited amount power and reprieve, but it seems to me when you exercise this power the best thing to do is to do it according to procedures, and when there's not consultation with the pardons attorney at the justice department or with the prosecutors who prosecuted the case then people are going to second guess the decision of the president. >> how about legislation or a resolution which says these are the procedures that should be used when granting a presidential pardon. >> well, that's an interesting idea. the important question is is there more congress can do to try to express through ourselves the will of the american people about a procedure for issuing pardons? >> and when we come back with just 36 days until a change of power in washington, are

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to learn more about the books featured on "meet the press" go to nbc news.com/books. you will also find new releases on history, biography and more. nbc news receives a commission for sales made through our website.

welcome back. the panel is here. nbc news capitol hill correspondent ryan nobles, amna nawaz, co anchor of pbs newshour. ash what etienne spokesperson for kamala harris and peggy noonan columnist for "the wall street journal" and the author of the new book. congratulations. we will get to it. let's start off, though. ryan, i want to talk about the confirmation battles that we are seeing unfold on capitol hill. a flurry of meetings. pete hegseth has really been in the spotlight obviously with president-elect trump at the army-navy game yesterday. where does the battle go from here. who will be in focus this coming week? >> i think the way to look at this is and you can do it in the lens of the nomination. we saw matt gaetz and exit the

confirmation process quickly because it was clear he didn't have the votes. all of these other nominees and there's quite a handful of them that have controversial issues and they'll get the opportunity to gogo through the confirmatio process and answer questions in an open hearing and then we'll see if we have the vote. there's no doubt the hegseth nomination was in a much better position than it was two weeks ago, meaning that they're going through the process and there is no guarantee that he'll make it through the finish line at this point. next week it will be crucial though, because that's where robert f. kennedy jr., will be there for the first time. he is a controversial pick and there are a lot of issues that he has that could be stumbling blocks. the pro-life community is not happy that he would take over a department like the health and human services. the question is does rfk jr.'s arrival shield pete hegseth and those are things that we'll be watching for on capitol hill. >> amna, what will you be

watching for as christopher announced. >> the interesting thing about the wray decision and the argument why wray had stayed, right? if you believe that this powerful organization that people had, worked so hard, if you believe that it should remain that way then you stay, fight and make the president fire you if he's going to do that rather than obeying in advance and we'll see immediately at the bureau. this clears the way for trump's nominee of kash patel who has said he wants to basically completely reform the bureau from the inside out. he has an enemies list that he published in his book and you asked the questions in the interview. the question is if the fbi director is not one willing to stand up and fight for the safeguards, there's the question of who will. >> great point. peggy, pick up there and within the context of some of what we heard which is that some republicans feel like they are

being pressured to get in line and senator graham kind of said well, that's what happens here. >> yeah. >> yeah. he didn't fight that. >> no. >> believe it was lisa purr muri said look, people are being put under real pressure. you better toe the line. it's a very funny thing and there was a time when you were afraid if you were a republican of donald trump you are now arc trade of donald trump's operatives on the ground in various states who, as lisa murkowski said will primary you, will push you around in any number of ways so they're under real pressure, but in a funny way the democrats are going to be under pressure, too. it will be pressure in these sparky hearings that everybody watches not to seem merely obstructionist or partisan, to

be well read, know your brief. know who this person is and pull them out and let them reveal themselves. >> ashley, what do you expect to see from democrats. as peggy says they have a pretty fascinating role to play here. >> no, peggy is absolutely right. the challenge for democrats will be pick and choose your battles. you can't go after all of these guys. i personally believe the one nominee that we are ignoring right now who is the biggest threat is tulsi gabbard. that would be my advice to democrats. some of these folks you'll have to let go, but those that i think pose the greatest threat to america or american democracy or national securiy, those are the ones they'll have to lean on and tulsi gabbard is one of them. >> she'll be back on the hill this week, i am told. let's talk about peggy's book. in one chapter, you called it, quote, it appears he didn't take my advice. in two of youcolumns, in one you advised president biden not to run in 2020 and you

encouraged moderate to moderate his tone in 2016. what advice do you have for the incoming president, peggy? >> speaking of the hearings, president-elect trump made himself look very good when his am in me mr. gaetz knew it wasn't going to work. dropped down and trump accepted it. a certain give, a certain ability to the move softly, it made trump look good a few weeks ago and maybe he should keep it in mind for the future, for the coming future for january have a good inaugural, have a good inauguration and also have an address that is not american carnage that is instead, americans are tired of hearing that they're part of a sinking nation. if trump feels he's rit on the issues, paint a rising nation. >> ashley, what is so

fascinating to pick up on peggy's point when it comes to president-elect trump and what is the theme of your president-elect will be and he is unity. do you think he can strike a tone of unity and during his convention address and part of it did and we veered into a bit of campaign rhetoric. what will you be watching for? >> i don't think he can strike a tone of unity as much as i think he would want to. the reality is all we have to do is refer back to what he says he'll do on day one. he will deport millions of people and he'll pardon those who initiateded a dadly attack the capitol and american democrat see and all of that speaks to unity and trying to unify the nation. i think he'll have a hard time doing this and i don't think it's in his dna. i think his dna is destruction and carnage. he leaned into it in the last election and it proved to be a winner for him.

the one thing we know about donald trump is he's a creature of habit, and i think he'll lean on what he's always done. >> ryan, he did -- lindsey graham did signal today there could be some pushback to some of what president-elect trump said. he was very clear no when i asked him, should president-elect trump jail the scan jan 6th committee members. >> right. that's not something the u.s. senate can stop him from doing. the same thing of the pardoning of the january 6th defendants and so we have to look at these opportunities that the senate has and push back on maybe the most radical things that donald trump wants to do. this first showdown could be the recess of the appointment and this is in the control of the congress and it's not something he can do unilat rlly. it remain a tool in the tool box that if republicans, where

ultimately with 53 vote, republicans will determine whether or not the nominees make it through the confirmation process, and if trump doesn't push them to be, which could be a pandora's box and that would be, or whether or not they will stand up for him when they think it's necessary. >> amna, give us the final thought, is there any hope that anything can be done on the bipartisan. >> i think dreamers, for example, there's been bipartisan support and an indication from both parties i talked to and we will learn a lot about how president trump's next term will go within the first 24 hours and we'll see how far he's willing to go. in the past he's pushed the envelope and had to dial it back based on what the courts have said, sources have told us they

expect tens of executive orders in the first week alone. sources tell me they're written and ready to go. i'm watching immigration very, very closely. we know that trump is very, very susceptible to public perception and he told you that in the interview, as well and that's where i'm watching those closely. great conversation. thank you all for being here. that is all for today. thank you for watching. we'll be back next week because if it's sunday, it's "meet the press." ♪♪ ♪♪ >