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>> this was an act of terrorism. it was premeditated and an evil act. plus the new majority. as republicans in congress prepare to advance donald trump's legislative priorities, i'll talk to the new senate majority leader, republican john thune of south dakota. >> how would you describe your relationship with the president-elect trump right now. >> well, you know what? we are -- it's e vfling. and minority report. >> we are here ready to fight for the american people. how will democrats navigate their new role in the minority. i'll speak to senate minority leader chuck schumer of new york and california senator adam schiff. joining me for insight and analysis are nbc news managing washington editor carol lee. jonathan martin of politico. symone sanders townsend, former chief spokeswoman for vice president kamala harris, and marc short, former chief of staff to vice president mike pence. 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. on this first weekend of 2025, the nation is on edge after deadly new year's attacks in new orleans and las vegas. federal officials are on high alert about potential security threats as washington prepares for a series of key public events. the certification of the 2024 election on monday, president jimmy carter's state funeral on thursday at the national cathedral and in just 15 days, president-elect trump's inauguration. president biden with an emotional message to the victims' families of the tragedy in louisiana. >> to the families of all those killed, to all those injured and the people of new orleans who are grieving today i want you to

know, i grieve with you. our nation grieves with you and we will stand with you as you mourn and as you heal. according to the fbi, the new orleans attacker, a u.s. citizen and army veteran from texas who was inspired by isis to kill 14 people had planned to use a transmitter to detonate two explosives he had placed near the site of the bourbon street attack. top law enforcement officials have warned the ongoing war in the middle east has increased the threat of terror attacks inside the united states. >> at a time when the terrorism threat was already elevated, the ongoing war in the middle east has raised the threat of an attack against americans inside the united states to a whole other level. >> we have been warning for quite some time now, both the justice department, the fbi and the intelligence community that we are in a heightened threat environment from maligned

foreign actors including, in particular, isis. >> all of this comes as the 119th congress convened on friday, narrowly re-electing house speaker mike johnson to lead the razor-thin republican majority after he and president-elect trump persuaded several initial holdouts. i sat down with the first new senate republican leader in 18 years, majority leader john thune. >> senate majority leader thune welcome back to "meet the press". >> thanks, kristen. >> it is great to have you. unfortunately, we have to start with the devastating news out of new orleans rpgs , on this terr attack. it claimed 14 lives. what is the latest on the investigation? >> horrible news and our hearts and prayers go out to all of the victims' families and those who are still injured and praying for their recovery, but what a horrible way to start the new

year, and it points to the need to get the answers and make sure it doesn't happen again. as more information comes out and the investigation is more fully completed i think we'll have more of those answers, but you know, clearly, it's a dangerous world, and i think it's a reminder that we need to be doing everything we can at every level to keep the american people safe. >> you know, you said in your statement after the horrific attack that the threat posed by isis, quote, is a clear example of why the senate must get president trump's national security team in place as quickly as possible. as you know, there are senate republicans who say they still have questions about the qualifications, about the character of some of president-elect trump's picks from pete hegseth to tulsi gabbard. as we sit here today, are you prepared to vote yes on all of these nominees? >> well, that's a process, and we're going to -- what i promised them is a fair process. and so these nominees will go through a committee where

they'll have to answer questions. there will be hard questions posed. we will do everything we can to ensure that he has the people he wants in place. i think you give great deference and titude to the president who he wants to put in key positions. the national security ones are especially important and we have a role of advise and consent. our senators take that role very sure that these -- these make nominees have a process, a fair process in which they have an opportunity to make their cases not only to the members of the committee and the full senate, but also to the american people, and that's under way as we speak, but my hope and expectation is that the president will get the people that he wants in place to implement his agenda. >> and i hear you say there's a process, but you're not prepar to say you're a yes, a rubber-stamp on these nominees. >> well, that's why we have a process. i met with them. there are some of them that i've been really, really impressed

by, and i think they are, as they go through the process, there will be opportunities throughout that where member, senators will have opportunities to make sure they're getting their questions answered and we'll see. i think this is a -- again, that's why we have the checks and balances in our system that we have, but my expectation is and as the leader of the senate that we're going to get the president his people as quickly as possible in the key positions where he wants them. >> let me ask you about kash patel, in his book as has been reported he has a list of 60 people he has members of the so-called deep state. are you certain that kash patel's priorities will be fighting crime, protecting national security rather than settling political scores? >> i think that he understands what his mission would be if he is successful in getting confirmed at that position of the fbi. the fbi is an gency that is in need of reform and needs a good

makeover, so to speak and a good amount of house cleaning in just the perception the american people have of it. these are institutions that the american people need to have confidence and trust in and that confidence and trust is largely, roded and there's an opportunity to fix that. i sat down and met with him. i think he understands that's the mission and if he's successful through the nomination process i hope that he will take very seriously that responsibility and focus on what he can do to make the fbi operate in a way that is protecting the american people and also being accountable for the same. >> when you say you think he does understand the mission, does that mean yes, you do think he'll put national security ahead of settling political scores? >> in my conversations with him and i've not talked a lot about the meetings that i've had, but i felt that he fully understood what is expected and i think what the president wants out of the agency, and i feel confident

that he gets what his job is going to be if he gets over there, and i think as he goes through the process more members will have the opportunity to ask the questions of him, but i think at least based on my conversations with him i feel very good about that. >> are you a yes on kash patel? >> i haven't been advertising and disclosing my positions on individual nominees at this point just yet, but my job is to make sure they get a fair processand so i intend to do that, and i think that's under way. >> let's talk about the republicans' agenda. when i spoke to president-elect donald trump he said his mass deportation plan was his top priority. he wants to deport everyone who is here illegally. do you support that plan to deport everyone who is here illegally? >> certainly there are categories, people who have committed crimes. there are over a million people that the current administration had targeted for deportation. so i think that we have to take

seriously the fact that there are a lot of people in this country today over 10 million under the last four years under the administration's popolicies and many of whom are not here for good reasons and we know we apprehended people on the terrorist border on the watch list and you have gang members and cartel members and all of the above. as we think about what those next steps are and the first thing is securing that border and making sure that we change the incentive struck are so people are incentivized to come here illegally which they have been for the last four years and do everything to ensure that the border personnel, the i.c.e. agents and border agents have the resources that they need to do their job. some of that means physical barriers, some of it is technological barriers, et cetera, and those will require resourceses and resources and some will require deportation of those here illegally. how that gets translateded into

policy and action will be a function of the new border czar and homeland security department secretary who will be our governor christie noll. >> you need to deport 1 million people in one year, not to mention more agents, more judges, more planes for deportation. in 2016 you said deporting everyone here illegally was not realistic. have you changed your mind? >> again, you start -- this will be, obviously, a process and it will take resources to get people to leave the country we'll have to make sure the administration has the resources they need to enable them to do that. is it realistic to deport everybody? there are a lot of people in this country who are here illegally, but i think -- they have identified already and

anybody who has committed a crime in the country ought to be on the list and there are about a million, 1.4, i think, on the list of people that need to be deported. so start with that and then we'll figure it out. i think the administration, when they take office, these are decisions that they'll have to make, and we want to work with them to ensure that we have a safe and secure southern border where people don't have the incentive structure they have today which is essentially come to this country and we will wave you in. people need to understand that we are a nation of immigrants and we are first and foremost a nation of laws and you have to follow the law. >> let's talk about tax cuts. the president has announced tax cuts as well as further eliminating the corporate rate and eliminating taxes on tips and it would exceed $9 trillion. are you comfortable adding $9 trillion to the national debt?

>> i think you have to look at perhaps if we don't act by the end of the year and that's a tax increase on the american people because that's essentially when you're talking about if you don't extend the 2017 tax law. the president has had other ideas with the area of tax reform and we'll take those into consideration, but i think we intend to ensure that we don't have a $4 trillion tax increase on the american people by december 31 of this year and in order to do that, we have to act collectively, the house, senate and white house to extend the 2017 tax cuts. now in doing that, i believe there will also be a robust conversation about whether we can find offsets and achieve reductions in spending that would help offset some of that, but then also you have to understand, too, that tax policy is directly connected to economic growth and the -- we've been told by all of the experts and the joint committee on

taxation and the congressional budget office that for every 1% of gdp you generate $10 trillion in additional tax revenue. many of the tax provisions in law today that will be extended will have a positive impact on growth in the economy. i am somebody who believes in growth. with growth, you get better paying jobs and you generate more tax revenuand that is something that isn't fully contemplated or considered when people talk about deficit numbers. >> you've said the size of the national debt is actually a national security threat. you're talking about the 2017 tax cuts, but when you lump all of these other potential tax cuts it balloons the debt. how would you pay for that? i hear you express skepticism that the whole entire package could get done. >> you start with extending existing tax policy and that's current policy. you know, some people depending on which score keepers you use say this will contribute to

deficits down the road. the fact of the matter is this is the law today. >> well, it's -- i'm not, perhaps all of it, but what i'm telling you is a combination of growth and a combination of offsets and an expectation, i think that if you want to avoid a $4 trillion tax increase you'll have to take some steps to extend the current tax policy. when you do that, i think you get outcomes that are good for the economy and when the economy is growing and expanding and creating better paying jobs and they're taking money and paying taxes and tax revenues go up and that was demonstrated and proven with the tax cuts and jobs act. >> monday marks four years since january 6th, since the attack on the capitol. you were here that day. you've been in this building for more than 20 years. in my interview with him, president-elect trump plans to pardon those who attacked the capitol on that day and potentially even some of those who pleaded guilty to assaulting police officers. do you support that?

pardoning people who attacked police officers who stormed the capitol that day? >> well, as we've discovered under the biden administration, the biden authority is a broad one. these taken it to a whole new level. that's ultimately going to be a decision that president trump is going to have to make, and you know, what i'm focused on is the future and not looking in the rearview mirror and looking in the windshield and what we have to do. you look in the past, you remember the past and you live in the present and the future, and right now we have an agenda which consists of a stronger, more robust economy, energy dominance and rebuilding our national security and securing our border. those are things that we want to get done which i think the american people voted on in november and gave president trump a very decisive victory, and i think the expectation is that we're going to work with him to accomplish that agenda. >> as the majority leader in the senate, though, what message do you think it would send to give

pardons to people who pleaded guilty to attacking police officers who stormed this building four years ago? >> well, look, again. that's ultimately going to be a decisions that the president of the united states, the pardon authority exists with him. my job right now is to help the president get the people into the positions that he wants to implement his agenda and work constructively with him with the house of representatives on an agenda that we think is what the american people are working for and you can't -- you can't be looking in the rear-view mirror to do that. that's four years ago. i think the american people are living in the present and i think they want the work that we're doing to be done with an eye toward improving their lives today. >> president-elect told me he is open to doing a deal with democrats to protect dreamers and those brought here illegally as children. do you commit working with democrats to get a deal on the dreamers? >> well, if the president of the

united states will lead on a lot of this with the policy with respect to the border. that is an issue in which there could be bipartisan cooperation. in the past, at least, there have been conversations around, if you get the right things with respect to border security that might be part of a conversation where you could get a package i just finally, big picture, want to ask you, you endorsed tim scott during the republican primary. you ultimately backed mr. trump. how would you describe your relationship with president-elect trump right now? >> well, we are -- it's evolving. we hahave a relationship, i thi, where we understand what each other wants to accomplish, and what i said before is we have -- there is an alignment of incentives. we want to get to the same destination. i want to accomplish the same things that he does, and i think that's a powerful combination and we'll continue to build on that. >> senate majority leader john thune, thank you very much for your time. >> thanks, kristen.

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♪ far-xi-ga ♪ (♪♪) welcome back. and joining me now is the senate minority leader democratic senator chuck schumer of new york. leader schumer, welcome back to "meet the press." >> kristen, good to be back and happy new year to you and your family and to all of america. >> happy new year to you. thank you so much for being here on this first sunday of the new year. i do want to start off by getting your insights into the attack in new orleans. as you know, a lot of families are sitting at home. they feel afraid. they feel on edge. there are a lot of big events coming up from the inauguration to the super bowl which is going to be in new orleans. what are the security gaps that you think need to be addressed? >> well, first, i want to express my condolences to the

families who are in mourning for the loved ones who were lost in new orleans. we grieve for them. i also, you know, the former soldier, a member of the armed forces who had ptsd and committed suicide in front of the las vegas hotel showed, i think that we need to do more for our veterans who have ptsd and other things there. as for security, the bottom line is that i believe the authorities are on full alert in terms of security. look, terrorism is a greater threat here in america. we have isis and we have other groups. the terrorist who rammed his car and killed so many people was a from fessed member professed member of isis. we know he acted alone and we don't know if ices sis directed

to do it. we are very, very vigilant. i sent a letter to john thune suggesting we had an all-senators briefing this week on the preparations for the big events that are coming up and for the ability to ask questions of our law enforcement. i believe they are on top of this, but having an all-senators hearing giving us a chance to answer questions and for them to reply is a good thing. so i'm hopeful senator thune and i can work that out and get it done this week. >> well, i know you will continue to watch that closely. i do want to turn to how you see democrats' role in this new congress. your fellow democratic congressman colleague tom swazy says the party has to deal with president-elect trump. >> i know my party will be tempted to hold fast against mr. trump at every turn. that would be a mistake. only by working together to find

compromise on the president-elect's agenda can we make progress for americans. do you agree with congressman swazee. >> i think it's clear whenever we can do bipartisan things that is very important. it creates programs that are long lasting and very popular. back in 2021 and '22 when we had the most successful session of the senate, of the congress in decades, seven of the eight major bills were done in a bipartisan way. so we always look for bipartisan cooperation n and wou welcome the ability. on the other hand, when there are things we can't agree with, for instance, tax breaks for the wealthiest of americans paid for as many republicans have suggested by cuts and social security in medicare and making it harder for new families to buy their first home, they're going to have to go through us

and we'll oppose those kinds of things very, very rigorously. so we will be bipartisan when we can, and we are also when they are trying to do things, our republican colleagues who are so bad for working people we'll oppose them. >> leader schumer, i'm curious where you see those areas with president-elect trump. he said he's open to potentially getting a deal for dreamers those brought to the country as children to stay here permanently. do you think that is feasible. you heard leader thune say yes, there are areas of bipartisan there. do you think a deal on dreamers is possible? >> well, we'd love to do that. our party has been strongly fighting for the dreamers for a decade. we've been blocked by our colleagues on other side of the aisle. if we can have some change -- people, they were tiny children when brought over the bordrder. they've been here for decades and many served in the armed

forces and many of them have been working productively and have families. yes, if we can find a solution so that the dreamers can stay here, we'd welcome it. >> you heard of president-elect trump's cabinet that the senate should vote as quickly as possible to get his cabinet picks in place and basically saying that if his national security picks are not in place quickly, that could undermine the nation's national security. do you agree with leader thune there? >> look, we've asked for three things that are reasonable. first, that there be thorough fbi background checks of every one of the nominees at the cabinet level. second, that there be hearings where members have the opportunity to fully ask questions that they want answereded and third, there would be a vote. there is the democratic and republican presidents and it's been advised and consent and look, any american who applies for a job has to undergo a

background check, and has to answer questions that the potential employer asks him or her. so, of course, we should do those things, and i hope we will. the bottom line is these positions are really important as senator thune said for our national security and the american people should have the ability to know who is being nominated and what their criteria are. >> are you a yes right now? are you a yes right now on any of these picks? >> no. i'm waiting for this process, this reasonable process that we've asked for to unfold, background checks -- thorough background checks, hearings and votes. >> let's talk now about the future of the democratic party. democrats have said this is a reckoning after losing the white house and the senate not winning back the house. here's what democratic strategist james carville had to say. we lost for one very simple reason. it was, it is and it will always

be the economy, stupid. do you agree? what do you think was the root cause that democrats across the board lost? >> look, i told my caucus, and i'll say it here, too. we should regard this election certainly, it was a loss, but it is also a challenge and we did some things right against veriy is rear headwinds. we had seven contested democratic seats and we did some things wrong and then there are some things we didn't do that we should have done. one of the things we have to do is we must focus on the working families of america. we believe in them and we passed all kind of legislation that helped them, the infrastructure bill which made our economy stronger and employed lots of people. the chip hubs where we are having chip hubs to do new manufacturing and new research that were left out, missoula,

montana, bloomington, indiana, and lowering the cost of prescription drugs as of january 31st. drugs will be greatly lowered because we finally allowed under our leadership we forced them to negotiate with medicare. we did a lot of things and all too often, we talked about the mechanics of the legislation and the details of the legislation, and we really didn't show the kind of empathy and concern to average or show enough of it to average working families who didn't realize how much we had done and how much we care for them. so what we are going to do is spend a lot of time talking to working families, showing them how much we care about them and not just talk about legislation, but talk about the conditions that have made so many working families worried about their futures and that's going to be a significant change. i think it will make a difference.

>> obviously, there has been a lot of focus on president biden's role in this. you were, obviously, in close contact with president biden well before the public tuneded into that debate that ultimately led to him stepping down. i want to play you a little bit of something you said last year. take a look. >> i talked to president biden regularly, sometimes several times in a week or usually several times in a week. his mental acuity is great. it's fine. it's as good as it's been over the years and this right-wing propaganda that his mental acuity has declined is wrong. >> what do you say that you and top democrats misled them about president biden's mental acuity? >> look, we didn't and let's look at president biden. he's had an amazing record. the legislation we passed, one of the most significant groups

of legislation since lyndon johnson's great society, putting 235 judges of record and he's a patriot. he's a great guy, and when he stepped down he did it on his own because he thought it was better not only for the democratic party for america, we should all salute him. we should all salute him. >> do you feel as we have this conversation today that president biden could serve another four years had he stayed in the race and potentially won? >> well, i'm not going to speculate. as i said, i think his record is a stellar one and he'll go down in history as a really outstanding president. >> before i let you go, leader schumer, in two weeks you will be the highest ranking democrat serving in washington. do you believe you will be the leader of the democratic party? >> look, i think we have a lot of great leaderses in our part. we have a great bench of people coming up and i am optimistic

about the future of the democratic party in the future. as i said, there are certain adjustments we have to make. we are going to do those, and i think people are going to realize that the democratic party is the party of working families, of working people. we are doing more for them. we will show them that some of these republican things like tax cuts for the very wealthy individuals which were -- they did it in 2017 and they lost the election in 2018. they haven't learned, but we'll hold their feet to the fire when they do things that hurt working people. we'll stand with the working families of america and that will bode very well for us. >> all right. senate minority leader, ck schumer, thank you so much. i hope you come back soon. i really appreciate talking to you this morning. when we come back, democratic senator adam schiff o senator adam schiff o califf or have you always had trouble with your weight? same. discover the power of wegovy®. with wegovy®, i lost 35 pounds.

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welcome back. as we approach monday's anniversary of the january 6th attacks, president biden this past week awarded the country's second highest civilian award, the presidential citizen's medal to the leaders of the january 6th committee. former congressman liz cheney and congressman bennie thompson. democratic senator adam schiff of california who is a member of that committee is with us. welcome back to "meet the press". >> great to be here. >> happy new year. >> happy new year. tomorrow, as we said does mark the anniversary of the january 6th attacks and in my interview of president-elect trump he said he does plan to pardon those who attacked the capitol, potentially even those who pleaded guilty of their crimes. you heard leader thune say

that's ultimately a decision for the president to make. how do you respond to that? nah first of all, that day when we peacefully transferred power, historically, peacefully transfer power is a solemn occasion for the whole country, but it has ago meaning that we had this violent, terrible attack four years ago. for those of us in the capitol it will be quite an emotional experience to be back in that environment on that day. i invited daniel hodges, one of the metropolitan police officers to remind people what that day was like given the revisionist history about it, but if the president goes forward with pardoning vast numbers of people involved in that violence he will begin his new administration the way he ended his last administration and that is by celebrating violence against our democracy. i think that would be a terrible start, send a terrible message

abouour democracy and lawlessness, about people when attacked police officers. it would be exactly the wrong message and the wrong way to start out the administration. >> let me ask you about something else the president-elect said to me. he believes everyone that was on the committee should go to jail. that includes you. senator schiff, are you bracing to be targeted by the president-elect, by his incoming administration? >> i don't think any of us really knows what he means by any of that, whether he's serious about it or whether it's trumpian hyperbole or whatever it is. the committee is very proud of the work that we did. we stand behind it. i'm glad to see president biden acknowledge the role of senator bennie thompson and liz cheney. adam kinzinger showed great courage and the witnesses that came before the committee were so powerful because they were republicans that put the country first. so who knows what the president means? i guess we'll find out, but we

stand behind our work. >> there's been a lot talk about whether president biden should issue preemptive pardons to those who served on the committee. you have been very public about saying you don't want a preemptive pardon. i wonder, senator, have you conveyed that directly to the president himself, to his administration? >> not directly to the president, but i have conveyed it to the administration and the concern that i have which is what i conveyed side the precedent that it would set that you have an outgoing president giving a broad group of pardons to members of his party or others because i think the precedent could be abused. people have pointed out, donald trump may abuse that precedent regardless, but the idea that each administration hereafter gives broad pardons to the people who worked with the administration or aligned with the administration, i don't think that's a road we want to go down, but the president will do what the president does, and

if he goes forward i'm sure it will be responding to these baseless arguments of donald trump and the threats to retaliate against people. >> we learned this week that sentencing will be scheduled for president-elect trump in that hush money case. the judge has said he's not going to seek jail time. that sentencing's going to happen a little bit later on this week. do you agree with that decision not to seek jail time? >> what i've always said about what the judge will do vis-a-vis sentencing is the whole process of this case is he should treat donald trump as he would any other criminal defendant charged with like offenses. so if the judge concluded that someone else charged with similar events of fraudulent business records to conceal a campaign finance violation, and that would lead to no jail time then it should get no jail time, but i particularly concur with his decision to go forward with

the sentencing. the federal justice system really let down the country. the supreme court certainly did. it didn't timely investigate and prosecute the offenses around january 6th. i think new york has demonstrated, frankly, how the justice system ought to operate. no one should be above the law. >> so much of your time in congress was spent basically conducting oversight over then president trump for a range of different reasons. the russia investigation, ukraine and then january 6th, given that the two federal cases as you just referenced have been dropped for now. how focused as a senator, will you be on overseeing oversight of donald trump's actions? >> a lot of that will depend on what the president's actions are. does he take a different approach in the second administration or does he once again try to abuse the powers of his office. >> do you continue to focus on

his election interference? >> my focus will be on getting things done for the people of california and the country and particularly on the economy. i know i'll have to face very early on the tax cuts for rich people and large corporations. what the voters of california elected me on do was to try to bring down the cost of living the cost of housing and the cost of child care and not give tax breaks to wealthy people and corporations. so my focus is on the economy. to your question earlier about james carville. i think james carville was right. i think it is still about the economy. i think we lost the argument on the economy. we need to win that argument. we need to persuade the american people once again that we are focused first and foremost on delivering for them, and that means helping them with the small businesses and helping them pay their rent or their mortgage. that's going to be my first priority, but if the president is trying to take away the rights and freedoms of the american people or abusing his office, i'm certainly going to stand upup and defend our count and our constitution. >> let's talk quickly about the

president elect's cabinet picks. kash patel for fbi director. that comes against the backdrop of this latest terror attack in new orleans. you, of course, serve on the judiciary committee. if kash patel is confirmed, will you be able to work with him? you've been critical of him. >> i think the terrorist attack in new orleans and my heart goes out to those who have lost loved ones in that attack just underscores the importance of having someone directing the fbi that has experience, that has judgment, that has character that will prioritize defending the country against the violence wewe saw in new orleans or the violence we saw on january 6th and not someone whose top priority is polical vendettas who believes in deep state conspiracy thinking and not someone as qualified as kash patel. he's an easy one and should not

be confirmed. marco rubio is well qualified and several of the other nominees, again, we should follow the regular process that the majority leader has laid out, but that one should be an easy one. >> all right. senator adam schiff, thank you very much for being here in person, we really appreciate it. thank you. >> i look forward to hopefully talking to you soon. when we comes back as the nation mourns the death of former president jimmy carter, we ok president jimmy carter, we ok lo psoriatic arthritis symptoms can be unpredictable. one day, your joints hurt. next, it's on your skin. i got cosentyx. feels good to move. feel less joint pain, swelling and tenderness, back pain, and clearer skin, and help stop further joint damage with cosentyx. don't use if you're allergic to cosentyx. before starting, get checked for tuberculosis. an increased risk of infections, and lowered ability to fight them may occur, like tuberculosis or other serious bacterial, fungal, or viral infections. some were fatal. tell your doctor if you have an infection or symptoms like fevers, swts, chills,

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in the carter center in atlanta after he passed away last sunday nearly two years after being admitted into hospice care. jimmy carter joined this broadcast 11 times. in 1976 he talked about wanting to bridge the country's divides just days before becoming the democratic nominee in his first run for president. >> i think the american people resent putting in bockes and i resented that mice. in the beginning of the year i've been heavily filtered by the news media, and i think those sharp differences that used to exist between the liberal and conservative elements of our society have pretty well been removed. so when i say i'll manage a government in a tough, businesslike way and deal with the sensitive needs of our

people on human rights, civil rights and good environmental quality, don't believe there's as much of alienation of groups as there was before. >> president carter was 100 years old. 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 has worked 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. most people don't realize how processed typical dog food is. at the farmer's dog, we believe dogs should be able to get their daily nutrition without the excess processing. ♪♪

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welcome back.

the panel is here. nbc news managing washington editor carol lee. jonathan martin, politics bureau chief and senior political columnist for politico. symone sanders-townsend former spokesperson to vice president kamala harris and marc short, former spokesperson for mike pence. thank you for being here. let me kick it off with you, you heard senate majority leader john thune who said his relationship with president-elect trump is evolving and i thought it was a fascinating answer and it underscores what we'll be watching for. how difficult will it be for the trump agenda to pass? >> he describe side as a business relationship, achieving goals in a policy genda and trump has said that he'll get a lot done very fast with the

senate and white house. what you heard from thune is more measured, more pragmatism about what is actually going to be possible. how this relationship evolves is really going to depend on whether in trump's view thune is delivering for him and if he is want, then you will see the president-elect looking to blame someone and thune may find himself on the receiving end of that. >> he has conveyed to the new house speaker he wants to get border, tax e trade done all in one big bill and it comes after house speaker mike johnson won the gavel back. >> it's all in a day's work, kristen. exactly. donald trump has not been known to accept blame for anything at all and the clock is running, and i think there's a huge challenge ahead for junethon, john thune and mike johnson because of the coalition that johnson is trying to juggle in the house. donald trump is going to want

victories and want victories fast and to john thune's credit, that's why he wanted to do two big bills because he wanted to get trump a big victory first on the border and energy and on defense spending and trump has come to the conclusion these guys in congress can only do one big bill and that's what we'll have to do, but when you do that, you've denied trump a fast, early win and that sets up a difficult spring and summer i think for johnson and thune, johnson especially because he'll get impatient. where is my bill in. >> marc, you understand legislative affairs better than most. can this get done? this big, massive bill. >> i hate agreeing with him. it's going to be difficult. there will be an expectation with the nominations to get confirmed, but getting two reconciliation bills done is always impossible. that bill will take a long time to put together in the meantime,

this spring you'll have a debt ceiling fight and you will have a continuing resolution. they should have passed one continuing resolution for the entire year. pushing it off just to march creates an enormous struggle for speaker johnson and there will be a lot of pressure. if that bill fails to fund the government the president will blame speaker johnson. >> let's talk about the democrats. i thought the conversation with leader schumer was fascinating. i asked him if he thought president biden could serve another four years. he kind of ivoted and didn't answer that directly and there is soul-searching going on in the democratic party. what did you ask about leader schumer. >> i was surprised when you asked about mental acuity he didn't push back. is the president all of the way year. unequivocal answer is yes. he's doing the onand the mental a cue sit there. there is a conflation of two

things there. it's his mental capacity and serving another four years as old as he is, but those are two separate things in my opinion and these people that have known joe biden for their entire lives and i know president biden and he's, like, can you all defend me a little more? >> he has taken the path for the turn for himself rather than the good for the party by running again, by pardoning his son and by frankly, some of these choices for the medal of freedom and going to rome for one last trip. he's not exiting in a way that i think reflects well on his party and democrats are deeply, deeply unhappy about it, and they should be, frankly. >> i've heard democrats, to try to tell the american people something they could see with their own eyes that's not true. >> it's not true that the president doesn't have mental acuity. >> the people saw it themselves in the debate. >> i recently spoke to the president. let me say this thing about the

democrats and with friends like these, the democratic friends that joe biden has had, i do think that he understands the nature of where things are going which is why he pardoned his son because the president-election has been very clear about his ire and what he wants to do to his son. after joe biden has done do you really expect him to go out on a high note for his last surviving son because chuck schumer would like him to be so? >> let's talk about the note, cararol, he'lbe having two major peaches. >> he is delivering two different speeches. >> breaks with tradition. >> on foreign policy which is his wheel house. he will talk about his alliances and the importance of that, and the second one, a farewell address and he'll have a message for the future and talk about his legacy and it's an opportunity for him to have one final moment on the national stage before he exits after more than 50 years. >> the fact that he's not conducting interviews or taking

questions from the press as he leaves office is a huge hit. and also after he turned the white house over to donald trump by running again at age 82 and there's no accountability for it at any kind? i think that's remarkable. marc, let me shift gears a bit and talk about the anniversary tomorrow, january 6th. you were in the capitol on that day. obviously, i'm sure the day comes with a lot of thoughts, emotions for you and it does come as we are watching and waiting to see if president-elect trump does decide to move forward with what he said that he's going to pardon those that he attacked the capitol on day one, he told me. >> i expect that he will. i think that's pretty clear that's been his intention. president trump has the remarkable ability to tell a narrative and have american people follow the narrative. from the day of january 6th he wassy is disturbed by the events he referred to them over antifa

protesters and over the course of history they've become patriots. they were put there by trump-appointed judges who heard the evidence. so i expect that he will go forward with pardons. people got caught up in the capitol in things they shouldn't have been caught up on in, and to see him pardon people who assaulted police officers is a departure from order. >> a lot of them pled guilty and that's a good point. symone, what are you going to be watching for? i talked to senator schiff about oversight. how much is he going to be focused on oversight versus actually trying to govern potentially across the aisle. >> democrats in the senate and the house they want to find ways to govern because they want wins so they can potentially take back power in the mid-term election and the reality of the situation is some of the things they just won't be able to come together on when it comes to the house specifically because of mike johnson's aggressive way of

wanting to take on donald trump's agenda. >> thank you all. great way to kick off the year. we'll be back next week, because if it's sunday, it's "meet the press." ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪ ♪♪

morning. it is sunday, january 5th, 7:00. as we take this live look outside from our emeryville camera. wow, the bay almost looking like a