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this sunday, raging inferno. wind-driven wildfires in the los angeles area burn out of control forcing hundreds of thousands to flee and leaving behind apocalyptic scenes. >> this is one of the most devastating fires i've seen in california. >> what are the questions you're hoping to answer. >> the same ones you're asking. the same ones that people in the streets are asking, yelling about, what the hell happened? >> we'll talk exclusively to california's democratic governor gavin newsom and senator alex padilla. plus expansive agenda. with just one week before he returns to the white house, president-elect donald trump suggests he might use military force to take control of the panama canal and greenland. >> i can say this, we need them for economic security. >> how far is mr. trump willing to go to enact his geopolitical vision? i'll talk to republican senator james lankford of oklahoma, and final farewell. the five living presidents make a rare appearance together at

former president jimmy carter's funeral with some extraordinary exchanges on display. joining me for insight and analysis are nbc news chief international correspondent keir simmons. politico playbook co-author judge eugene daniels and editor of the dispatch, and jennifer palmieri, former obama white house communications director. welcome to sunday. it's "meet the press". >> from nbc nenews in washingto the longest-running show in television history, this is "meet the press" with kristen welker. good sunday morning. the inauguration of donald trump as the 47th president is now just one week away as the country prepares for this historic change in power, we witnessed a rare moment of unity here in washington when all five living presidents came together to mourn the death of the 39th president jimmy carter, but with

just days before taking office even more unprecedented was friday's criminal sentencing of president-elect trump in the new york hush money case making him the most convicted felon to ever serve in the white house, the judge imposing a sentence of unconditional discharge removing any punishment or jail time or probation. mr. trump addressed the court before his sentence was read. >> this has been a very terrible experience. i think it's been a tremendous setback for new york and the new york court system. >> but the most pressing and immediate issue for the country, the deadly wildfires unfolding in southern california prompting president biden to cancel his final overseas trip as president to manage the federal response to the disaster. >> now i speak for the american people when i say we owe you, we are with you. we will make sure you get every resource you need. >> the wind-driven wildfires in the los angeles area have been burning out of control, wiping out entire neighborhoods,

displacing hundreds of thousands, leaving billions of dollars in damage and claiming at least 16 lives. >> it is safe to say that the palisades fire is one of the most destructive natural dafters in disasters in the history of los angeles. >> it looked apocalyptic. not since the 1990s when los angeles was hit with the fire, the flood, the earthquake and the riots have i seen such disaster occur here in our city. >> as frustrations grow and the search for answers mounts, the l.a. fire chief is now blaming budget cuts and city leaders. >> did they fail you? >> that is our job, and i tell you that's why i'm here. let's get us what we need so our firefighters can do their job. >> did they fail you in. >> yes. >> when a firefighter comes up to a hydrant. we expect there will be water. we don't control the fire supply. our firefighters are there to protect lives and property and

to make sure we are properly trained and equipped. >> while president biden has pledged to deliver federal aid to california for the next six months and some democrats have expressed fear, president-elect trump might withhold aid when he comes into office, a threat he's made multiple times. >> the water coming here is dead and gavin newscum will sign those papers and if he doesn't sign those papers we won't give him money to put out his fires, if we don't give him money to put out his fire he's got problems. he's a lousy governor. >> this morning mr. trump stepped up his attacks on california's governor accusing him of failing to bring the fire under control. >> i think that gavin is largely incompetent, and i think the mayor is largely incompetent and probably both of them are just stone cold incompetent. what they've done is terrible. >> on saturday, governor newsom spoke to nbc's jacob soboroff in an exclusive interview for "meet

the press" from inside the fire zone in altadena, california. >> governor gavin newsom, welcome back to "meet the press". >> good to be with you. >> thank you very much for doing this. >> thank you. >> six different wildfires raging right now. do you have the resources to combat all these fires at this hour? >> yeah. we have 14,000 people working the line, we doubled the national guard. we have 1680 out there helping. i was with folks from mexico, 73 folks relieving the hand crews and nine states that are providing under this emac system support and we have the resources and we have the winds that have changed and that allows us to be more resourceful with existing resources and particularly the aerial resources. >> in your opinion, is this or will it be the worst natural disaster in the history of the united states? >> i think it will be in terms of just the costs associated with it. in term of the scale and scope i don't need to remind the folks

in california, the tubbs fire 5600 houses were lost and 15,000 units lost and 85 people that lost their lives. currently we're getting confirmation from the coroner, so we always have to be careful on the death toll, but it's in the 13 range, and i've got search and rescue teams out and we have cadaver dogs out and there's likely to be a lot more. >> what is your biggest concern over the next 48 hours? >> think it's making sure the life safety focus and property focus is there and at the same time addressing the perimeter issues and the challenge is winds. we have the win coming back this evening, sunday night and we have peak winds on monday and we'll see 50+ milan hour gusts subject to change and we are prepositioning assets and not just here in the theater and those existing five-plus fires and broadening that to a number of other counties and moving farther south in anticipation,

we cou see flare-ups in new places and new starts. >> you are here to announce a new executive order. what are you hoping to accomplish? >> we have to be thinking three weeks, three month, three years ahead at the same time we are focusing on the immediacy of life, safety and property. making sure people are getting their applications and addressing the issue of fraud. recovery. we want to get inspections and units like this, we want inspection teams out here. they're already starting to get up here. we'll come up with timeliness so we can get within the next few weeks so people can get the insurance claiming and start the big contracts to remove the debris and address the hazmat issues and i have to button up the canyons here as it relates with flooding. we're in the middle of winter, this january. the day of this fire, not a stone's throw away there was snow right up the mountain here.

the same day as this devastating fire here in altadena, so all of those things have to happen concurrently, but here's the big thing. i'm worried about issues of rebuilding as it relates to scarcity and property taxes and scarcity of resources, materials, personnel. i'm worried about time to getting these projects done, and so we want to fast track by eliminating any requirements. i have coastal act changes that we're making. i want to make sure when someone rebuilds that they have their old property tax assessments and that they've not increased and they're all done. >> if you'll be suspending those temporarily, are you concerned about problems that may result from the suspension of those environmental regulations and the potential abuse by developers? >> yeah and within this executive order we frame those abuses and we basically bookmark

that in the context of maintaining the existing footprintsthe coastal act they allow the 10% variant. we'll be very mindful of that and california lead the nation in environmental stewardship and i'm not going to give that up, but one thing i won't give into is delay. delay is denial for people. life, traditions, places torn apart, torn asunder, families, schools, community center, churches. you've seen it. the number of schools that have been lost in this community and we've got to let people now we have their back and we're ing to be back and we'll do it efficiently and effectively, don't turn your back and don't walk away because we want you to come back to rebuild and rebuild with higher quality building standards, more modern standards and so it's not disproportionately forra a mid class community like this. >> what are you questions you're

trying to answer? >> the same ones you're asking and the people in the streets are yelling about. what the hell happened? what happened to the water system. by the way, was it just overwhelm that you had so much that was used? we drew it down. was it pipes? was it electricity? was it a combination of pipes, electricities and pumps? what was the drawdown impossible because you lost 11,000+ structures and every one had a pipe that was leaking and we lost that water pressure anyway? did it contribute in any way to our inability to fight the wire or were the wins determinative and there was no fire fight that could have been more meaningful? so i want all -- all of us want to know those answers and i don't want to wait because people are asking me. i want to know those packs.fact determined and let the chips fall where they may and it's not about finger-pointing. >> the independent investigations are passing the

blame on other people? how could it be when we're doing an independent investigation. it's not about fing er pointing and it's about getting the answers and a propensity to wait and people want immediacy and a response and responsiveness and the idea. >> ultimately here, does the buck stop with you? >> i might as well be the mayor of california and we're all better off working together to take care of people and make sure people are supported, empathetic and we're not here just in the immediacy of the crisis and after the crisis and i suppose to creating a crisis in the middle of this by trying to divide people and take cheap political shots. >> do you have mayor in los angeles mayor karen bass? >> i have absolute faith in our community and faith in our leaders to work together. >> president-elect trump blames you and called you incompetent.

>> he's the president-elect, i respect the office and we have the president of the united states that within 36 hours provided a major disaster declaration over text. we had support from the president of the united states joe biden with 100% reimbursement. all of the resources you could hope for and imagine. constant communication, i'd like to extend that to the president-elect. i don't know what he's referring to when he talks about the delta smelt and reservoirs. the state reservoirs are full in california and that mis and disinformation aids any of us, responding to donald trump's insults we would spend another month, i'm very familiar with him, every elected official is familiar with him. >> we do know that that one reservoir that serves the palisades was not full. >> that was not a state system

reservoir that the president-elect was referring to as it relates to the delta and somehow connecting the delta smelt with the fire which is inexcusable because it's inaccurate. also incomprehensible to anyone who understands water policy in the state. >> he put in a call to president-elect trump and has he called you back? >> no, that was months ago. and i invite him coming out. >> you did invite him to come out here? have you gotten a repons? >> no. >> as president and now as president-elect. are you worried that he might do that? >> he's done it in utah, in puerto rico and did it to california until he found out folks in orange county voted for him and then he gave the money. he's done this, for years and states including georgia.

that's his style, and you know, we take it seriously to the extent that in the past it's taken a little bit more time. i've been pretty expressive about that context of someone threatening our first responders in terms of supporting the immediacy of their needs. >> that's what you take it as, president-elect trump is threaten the first responders. >> that's what he said. i'm not going to support the fire fight, and he made this clear during the election unless they do my bidding. these are familiar terms and familiar to lots of other states and not just my state and not just me as governor, but the previous governor brown who was dealing with the same thing. i'm blessed, i mean this, i'm blessed. i have 40 million americans who happen to live in california that president joe biden is president of the united states and did what he did immediately

and to the extent that we can work with the same relationship and same spirit with donald trump, i hope we can. >> the last time i saw you in the palisades on wednesday right after this fire started you were on the phone at the side of the road trying to reach president biden. subsequent to that, he pledged 100% of the disaster recovery relief for the next six months. is that enough? >> well, it's significant. i, in fact, when i was on the phone, you saw me on the phone, i was trying to get the satellite phone to work. i asked for 90%. he said no, i'm going to do 100%. it was a big deal. 180 days was a big deal and he had also just provideded a major disaster declaration and we did the press conference the next day and that is profoundly significant because that's individual assistance, people should go to disasterassistance.gov and start filling out applications and get that immediate relief and get longer and medium-term relief, but no, he stepped up in a way that an american president should step up and i couldn't be

more proud of him. that's not a political statement and that's not because i'm a democrat saying that. thatat's because i'm a human beg trying to help other human beings in the most extreme elements in the most difficult times of their life. >> some of the homes thrown like this were thrown off of their fire policies before this fire season. what do you say to those californians? >> it breaks your heart and this is an issue that persists in california because of the acuity of the new reality, the hot is getting hotter, the dry is getting dryer and the wet is getting wetter and also across the rest of the united states. you're seeing insurance rates through the roof, but here's the point. we've been proactive in trying to stabilize that market that was the executive order a year and a half ago. the insurance commissioner has been moving in that direction. i'll give you a point of some of the success of that. just a week ago on a major insurer announced they were reinsuring in paradise california where the camp fire was because people repopulated

and farmers said they we coming back. so we are very mindful of that and that's why the fair plan is the backup plan, but i'm also mindful of this, as someone on the fair plan, intimately aware of how it works, it's not the kind of insurance that you get on the private sector meaning you're not getting as much in tomorrows of that protection. >> over the course of the next several years los angeles will be host to the world cup and then the super bowl and then the olympics. >> yeah. >> with this rebuilding effort needing to take place is l.a. going to be ready for those events? >> my humble position and it's -- it's not just being naively optimistic, that only reenforces the imperative moving quickly, doing it in the spirit of collaboration and cooperation. the president of the united states, donald trump to his credit was helpful in getting the olympics to the united states of america, to get it down here in l.a. we thank him for that. this is an opportunity for him to shine, for this country to shine, for california and this community to shine, the

opportunity with all of that and all of that opportunity and the pride and spirit that comes from not just hosting these three iconic games and volcano you, but also the opportunity, i think, to rebuild at the same time and that's why we're already organizing a marshall plan. we already have a team looking and reimagining l.a. 2.0 and not just folks on the coast and people here that were ravaged by this disaster. >> you just said you're organizationize the marshall plan for the rebuilding of california. >> we're just starting to lay out. we are still fighting these fires. we are talking to city leaders and talking to civic leaders. we're talking to business leaders and non-profits and labor leaders. we're starting to organize how we can put together a collection of individuals on philanthropy and recovery and how we can organize the region and how we can make sure we're seeking federal olympics more broadly and federal assistance for the

recovery, forts and how we can galvanize the community with folks who love this community to really develop a mind set so the scale that we're dealing with the scope of this tragedy and responding to it at scale with efficiency like the executive order i talked about, time value of delivering projects, addressing building codes and addressing permitting issues and moving forward to rebuilding and being more resilient. >> and jacob soboroff joins me now standing in front of more of the wreckage and devastation in california. jacob, you did just a tremendous job with that interview with governor newsom, and i know you had a chance to talk to him even more of that interview and you got new details on the time line and how long he thinks it will take just to remove the debris before the rebuilding can even begin. >> after the interview, kristen, governor newsom and i walked a little bit through that

neighborhood in altadena and visited with the national guard troops he deployed across southern california and remember, there are effectively terns of thousands of instantly homeless people in southern california. e question on everyone's mind is how long will it take to rebuild and the beginning of that rebuilding process is just the sheer environmental remedia the removal of the debrifrom these neighborhoods and he said that alone could take nine months to a year before any of the rebuilding even begins, and on top of all that, kristen, just over the next couple of hours and the next couple of days we let wildfires and the wind is starting to pick up again and it is forecasted to increase over the next couple of days. this is not over yet. >> well, jacob, this, i know, is personal for you. this is your home state where you grew up and your reporting has been fantastic and we'll continue to follow you throughout the week. thank you for bringing us that

interview. we really appreciate it, and to help those impacted by the fires in california please consider giving to organizations like giving to organizations like these when my doctor gave me breztri for my copd... things changed for me. breztri gave me... better breathing, symptom improvement, and reduced flare-ups. breztri won't replace a rescue inhaler for sudden breathing problems. it is not for asthma. tell your doctor if you have a heart condition or high blood pressure before taking it. don't take breztri more than prescribed. breztri may increase your risk of thrush, pneumonia, and osteoporosis. call your doctor if worsened breathing, chest pain... mouth or tongue swelling, problems urinating,... vision changes, or eye pain occur. ask your doctor about breztri.

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welcome back. joining me now is democratic senator alex padilla of california. senator padilla, welcome to "meet the press." >> good morning, kristen. thank you for having me. >> well, thank you for being here. our thoughts are with all of you in california during this devastating time. we appreciate your perspective. this morning i want to start by asking you about the l.a. city fire chief who has said that the city has failed her, that the mayor's budget cuts have made it harder for the fire department to fight the fire. do you believe that budget cuts have played a role in the challenges that firefighters have faced?

>> look, on the one hand yes, on the one hand, no. we can always use more resources. that's just public safety in general, but because every city, every county has different capacity and capabilities, we have this federally led mutual aid system. when the governor in the previous segment talked about the personnel fighting these fires it is buttressed by crews coming in from central california, northern california, oregon, washington, new mexico, colorado, utah, i understand crews coming in from north and south dakota are expected today. idaho is upon helping out. national guard, firefighters, et cetera, we're putting as many resources on these fires as possible. >> senator, do you believe you have the resources that you need right now to fight these fires? because firefighters are still in the thick of it, particularly with those winds expected to kick up as you just heard the governor say? >> yeah.

well, collectively, we're putting all of the resources we can towards fighting these fires, and as -- not just the governor, but others have reminded us the biggest factor in the next 24, 48 hours and hopefully not longer than that are the winds' conditions. now the whole world knows what we mean when we say red flag warnings. when it's dry, when it's warm and the winds kick up regardless of the cause of a fire, it has the chance to spread much more quickly and it's exactly what we've seen. both in the eaton canyon areas, altadena, sierra madre as well as the palisades and the other fires that are also still burning within the region. >> as jacob was just discussing with the governor, there is a lot of frustration with state and local officials. let me ask you bluntly, senator, do you have faith in governor gavin newsom? do you have faith in mayor karen bass? >> look, i do have faith in our leaders and not just as

individuals, but especially because we, after disaster, after disaster, after disaster have gotten really good at working together and that's not just the elected officials. i give even more credit to the first responders, to the emergency response personnel and police officers and firefighters. when you have federal agencies, state agencies, county and city agencies all collaborating to work very effectively and efficiently. that's how we're able to protect lives and save lives and protect properties and respond to whether it's fires in this particular case and it could be atmospheric rivers and floods and other disasters we've had here in california, but most importantly, let me send a message to all of the families out there and more than 100,000 families displaced and the family of those who have perished in these fires. our hearts are with you and d t perspective of these families are what's driving the urgency of the efforts to put these fires out as quickly as possible

and begin the planning process of providing the temporary assistance, shelter and otherwise of impacted families and the planning that we know will happen for the recovery and rebuilding of these neighborhoods. i've had a chance to tour these communities and every house is a home and everery home is a fami. we can and we will rebuild. >> well, to that point, president biden has pledged that federal government will pay for the efforts to rebuild 1 00% fo the next six months. are you confident that the incoming administration and the new congress will follow through on that pledge, senator? >> first of all, god bless him and a big thank you to president joe biden. consider this, kristen. he was in the situation room when this happened. he was in the situation and his presence here in los angeles, i think, helped that major disaster claration be approved

in record time and i hope that not just president trump, but my colleagues in congress continue to support these efforts have been in touch not just with democratic leadership, senator schumer and senator murray who chairs the appropriations committee, but senator collins from maine who is the leader, and senator cassidy from louisiana who is no stranger to disasters, just as californians have been there for other regions of the country and in their times of crisis, it's time for the country to unite behind california and that includes incoming president trump. at the end of the campaign he talked about uniting the country and here's his first opportunity and he can begin by touring the areas just as he toured the areas impacted by wildfires during his first term. >> let me ask you about something that happened this week in washington. a crucial vote on the lincoln riley ath. let me explain to the viewers

what that is, to detain migrants on who commit theft-related crimes. more of the fellow democrats supported is bill this go around, this vote. do you support, will you vote yes on the lincoln riley act? >> my understanding is there was a procedural vote to allow the measure to come up in the senate for the purposes of allowing the debate and allowing us to offer amendments and the bill currently as written first of all is not immigration policy. second of all, it is already in law that those who commit violent crimes can and should be detained and a deportation. >> are you a yes or a no, senator? just to be clear. are you a yes or a no? >> as currently written i'm a no because it opens the doors for people simply being charged without a conviction to be

detained and deported and that includes migrants, dreamers and shoplifting a pack of bubble gum. there has to be more of a focus on a piece of legislation like this. >> senator padilla, our thoughts are with everyone suffering right now, and thank you very much for joining us. we really appreciate it. when we come back, reblican senatopu the thompsons' new front door looks sharp, right? did we need to wave her down to tell her that? no. no. for a young homeowner turning into their parents, the neighborhood is their life. wonder who's visiting the burkes. that's not their car. hey, guys. who's winning? [ giggles ] now most of the neighborhood uses progressive -for their cars and house. -okay. she didn't ask. ohhhh! [ sighs ] progressive can't save you from becoming your parents. but we can save you money when you bundle home and auto with us. here he comes...like clockwork. [ giggles ] the average dog only lives to be ten. at the farmer's dog, we don't think that's long enough.

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welcome back. joining me now is republican senator james lankford of oklahoma. senator lankford, welcome back to "meet the press." >> thanks. good to see you again. >> it's great to have you back on an important sunday. you just heard from governor gavin newsom. you heard from senator padilla, are you confident that this new congress will continue to fund disaster relief for california for as long as is needed, senatoror? >> yes is the simple answer to that. i would tell you that our hearts go out. we've been praying for the people of california. we've all, as a nation and quite frankly, globally watched what

happened in los angeles all of us have concerns there. when republicans met privately with president trump just about three days ago, president trump opened his statement to everybody saying we're all watching what's happening in the fires. we're all grieving about that, we're all paying attention and we know something has to be done there, so everyone is very focused on this. >> okay. let me ask you about this incoming administration. there will be con fumation hearings. they begin this week. let me ask you about tulsi gabbard, mr. trump's pick for director of national intelligence. you have said that she needs to clarify where she stands on 702 and just to let our audience know what that is, that's a critical intelligence gathering authority. she consistently opposed it when she was in congress, but here's what she said this week. she came out in support saying, quote, if confirmed as dni, i will uphold americans' fourth amendment rights while maintaining vital national security tools like section 702 to ensure the safety and freedom

of the american people. are mrs. gabbard assurances enough for you, senator? are you now a yes on her? >> yeah, i am, and that was a very important piece for me. obviously she voted against 702 authority and to clarify that, that was to be able to track terrorists overseas and that has nothing to do with american citizens or anything happening in the united states. it is, if someone is planning to attack us overseas, we find out about that, we should be able to act on that. that's what 702 authority allows us to be able to do, is able to track international individuals overseas before they attack us and she voted against that in the house when she was a member of the house of representatives and she said she wanted changes and she said those changes have been done because even when she was in congress there have been quite a few changes that we've made in congress to make sure we're protecting the civil rights of americans and when she said this is something that we'll stand for and that's part

of the role of the office of national intelience and we're watching them from people who attack us. >> you are now a yes on tulsi gabbard. let me ask you about a top agenda item for president-elect trump. his mass deportation policy, in my one-on-one interview with him, he said that was agenda item number one. he said he wants to deport everyone who is here illegally. i want to ask you, senator, do you agree with that? is that your plan to deport everyone here illegally? >> well, to be very clear, if someone has violated the law in the united states there should be consequences for violating the law in the united states. i'm not going to come out and say hey, if someone breaks the law we'll just look the other way. that's not who we are. we are a nation of laws. we if we have a law we should enforce that law and that's who we are as americans and that's one of the things the president made clear with you when he sat down is we have to. this is the law of the united

states, and we're going to do that. he also made very clear he's going to go after people who commit additional crimes in the united states. he will go after people who a court has said to them they have to be removed and we have over a million people in the united states right now that a federal court has looked at their case and examined the facts and said no and you have a final order of removal and you haven't left the country, that should be the first priority for those individuals. there are still working through their asylum and cases and such, witness a court said you have it leave we can't just ignore a court order. >> in the past you talked how lodge of theicry it could cause tens of billions of dollars every single year. do you think it's realistic to remove all of the people who are here illegally, more than 11 million people by some estimates? >> yeah. so there's this perception that somehow there will be a gathering of busses out in the city square and everyone will

load up. that's just not how it happens in real life. this will take a long time. this will take some dollars, but again, if someone has committed a criminal act, if someone has a final order of removal from a court, we should not just ignore that and to say the court rulings don't count and we'll ignore what the court says and when the federal court says this needs to be done and we are a nation of laws and we suld enforce that. >> i do have a process question and it's a big debate on capitol hill right now and obviously, president-elect trump wants to address the border and he wants to have tax cuts passed and he's proposed a slate of them including extending the trump-era tax cuts. do you think this should be addressed in one big bill as president-elect trump has said is his preference? house speaker mike johnson has said that's his preference or two bills which majority leader thune, for example, has said might be more realistic? >> well, i would say whether we

do it in one bill or two bill, we need to get this done. i know there's a lot of this buzz in washington, d.c., of what's the process that everything would get done and probably no one outside of washington, d.c., cares one way or the other. we're not going to have a $4 trillion tax increase at the end of this year, so we have a ticking time bomb on taxes and let's get that resolved and we have to deal with border security issues and that was very clear and the american people want to get the economy back on track and that's a lot of the issues and $2 trillion in overspending this last year. everyone knows you can't do that. so people are looking for how do we get more efficiency and how do we enforce existing laws and how do we make sure the tax policy is fair? those are things we need to do in the first five or six months. whether it's one bill or two, i don't think it will matter to

the american people. we have to get it done. >> president-elect trump not ruling out using military force to take greenland which is a territory of denmark which is a nato ally. do you support that type of action against a nato ally? >> the united states is not going to invade another country. that's not who we are. the president speaks very boldly on a lot of this and negotiations whether with real estate, he makes a bold statement and he gets everyone at the table and you work it out. he's done this with mexico, canada and panama and the president has pt the american troops out of war. he's not looking to be able to go start a war and expand american troop, but he does want to be able to protect america's national security and part of that is our economic security and our future. >> senator, very quickly, because we're just out out of time. he did propose tariffs on

denmark. would you support that? >> he's proposed tariffs on just about everyone at this point and he said we'll have fair trade around the entire world and we'll make sure american workers are not abused and quite frankly, what he's looking for and what he said over and over again is he wants companies from around the world that sell in the united states to come build it in the united states. he wants to open up the country to more jobs and economic activity so he's laid a marker out there saying we're not going to be taken advantage of anymore. >> senator lankford, up this for joining the program. we really appreciate it. >> you bet. good to see you again. >> you, too.

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welcome back. it's been close to 50 years since the united states signed control of the panama canal over to panama, but as we saw this week, president-elect trump now wants to reverse that and wouldn't rule out taking it by force. in 1976 negotiations between both countries were ongoing and they emerged as a flashpoint in the gop primary. president gerald ford supported

the transfer, but his challenger, ronald reagan criticized his position as irresponsible. senator barry goldwater weigheded in on "meet the press". >> i have to support ford's position on it, and i think reagan would, too, if he knew more about it. as i say, i'm as completely opposed to giving that canal away as anyone. i also know from personal visits to that part of the world and my personal friendship with people in that part of the world that unless the united states begins to bend a little bit, now this could be a gradual little more economic control, a gradual little less military occupation, that we're going to be faced with the problem of guerilla warfare whether we like iter not and the question is -- the question i ask anyone who comes to me on this subject, are you willing to go to war over the panama? >> president jimmy carter signed

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welcome back. the panel is here. nbc news chief international

correspondent keir simmons. eugene daniels, co-author of politico playbook. stephen hayes, editor of the dispatch and jen palmieri, former white house communications director. thanks to all of you for being here. keir, thank you for being here. >> my pleasure. >> -- and traveling in. we are thrilled to have you. we are about a week out from president-elect trump being sworn into office. take us inside your conversations. how do you think washington is preparing for this moment. >> they are kind of girding on both sides, they're prepping. on the one hand they kind of know how he operates and even in your interview with senator lankford, he talks about how trump gets people to the table by saying things that are outlandish. they figured out some of the ways that he operates and they don't fully know what it's like to oppose him in this current climate. do they help govern still as a party that's supposed to be happening, but do they let

republicans fail in the house over and over and over again and just let that go? for republicans, this is everything will be seen in the lens over the next few years and this trump's party, period. four years ago you expected post trump and you get back to the bush party and the decision they make will be in that lens. >> the gut check of where we are was on display when kamala harris certified her own election loss to president-elect trump. jimmy carter's funeral. we were all talking about this in the commercial break and these extraordinary scenes shaking hands and obama and trump sharing laughs. this is a moment of bipartisanship that seems to be from a bygonier e era. >> it is from a bygone era.

i think donald trump is at his absolute strongest right at this moment and look at the fight that we were expecting and the house of representatives, his pick, speaker mike johnson wasn't really a fight, senate republicans are loving him and most nominees are on track. you have corporate america bending the beat to donald trump. his legal problems seem to be over this is peak donald trump right now, but he could have a very short honeymoon. this is somebody who has campaigned on fixing things with a snap of a finger. so he comes in and says he'll end the ukraine war on day one. that's not going to happen. he's going to fix grocery prices. he's already backtracking on that and there are things that set him up for trouble if he doesn't notch accomplishments really early. >> keir, the world is watching so closely. you heard me talk to senator lankford about president-elect trump saying, in fact, he's not ruling out taking greenland by

military force potentially the panama canal and you actually think a lot of this has to do with china. talk a little bit about that and this world order that we're watching. >> no question. to eugene's point about democrats who thought they kind of had it figured out and european leaders thought they had trump figured out and i don't think they'll be reassured to hear that he's threatened tariffs on everybody. now, there are diplomats who have told me that his unpredictability, his bombast is helping negotiations in the middle east, but, look, this is the prolog this week, right, and next week. president-elect trump will try to impose his will on the world. the world will attempt to impose its will on him. president putin does not have to agree to end his aggression towards ukraine. ayatollah khamenei from iran can decide to move toward nuclear weapons. you've seen in california, and events, events, events affect

politics and china is the elephant in the room and it is the big struggle and it is the one country to try to transform the international order and will this bombast be it underneath it, the question has to be is president-elect trump able to shift the attention to that? >> a lot of power and very little control. >> he wants control and all of this comes to president biden who said if he stayed in the race he could have beaten president trump. >> he has to say that, right? he has to say that. >> show me! >> by the way, kamala harris, yes, he thinks she should run again. she has not made up her mind again. we're watching it closely. what do you think about what we heard? >> that's what every politician would say and of course, he will be supportive of his vice president as he was throughout her campaign and for democrats,

as stephen said, they'll play their game. they understand that trump has set a very high bar for himself and less resistance this time and more about accountability and he said i'm going to lower prices and he said america will have the greatest economy in the history of the world. look at what leader jefferies said this week. i'm not going to talk about greenland and how is that going to lower prices, right? there is every opportunity and the house dems are focused on accountability and how is anything that comes out, how will that help the middle class and that's been haening for decades and they're not just pushing back on trump and they're telling a story about what's going on with the economy. play your game. he's going to do what he's going to do and react to real time and it's all about saying he's not accomplishing or maybe he is. but it's all about what are you doing to lower prices and help the middle class grow. >> on monday, president biden

will deliver his farewell address and he's going to try to argue that he had a strong record and what are you going to be watching for? >> that speech on monday, he'll be going to the state department and doing a foreign policy speech, right? >> yeah. >> it's interesting that he's doing it in the oval office. he's not doing his final speech like obama did somewhere big. i think what i'm looking for is does he understand the things, the failures of the -- of his time and what does that actually look like when youio say i did good job. >> what are you looking for in the speech? >> he started strong, but i feel like the world, the modern world, if you like is always disappointed with the american president until a few decades later. >> you saw jimmy carter. >> right. >> and neither the trump administration or the biden administration will like this, but internationally, at least, their legacies are intertwined,

actually. so how has -- how has the u.s. confront china is going to be a question. this will be by the biden administration and the trump administration now will enter. >> just with a minute left, jen. i'm told these speeches will be in the spirit of the farewell addresses that were delivered by former presidents clinton, george bush or barack obama. this is a big moment for him and he'll get the final words in some ways. >> i mean, look, he's leaving with the u.s. economy, the strongest in the world and what remarkable record of accomplishment will be for decade cades and trump won and he can lay out what that was and he's got a good case of storing american leadership in the world. >> securing out those allies. >> yeah. >> he's going to try to shape his legacy and let's be clear. this was a failed presidency and this is someone who -- if you

look at his own inaugural address failed by his own terms and deceive the american people about his mental acuity for years. >> all right, guys. great conversation. thanks for being here, keir. we ash appreciate it. as a reminder, to help those who have been impacted by the fires in california please consider giving to organizations like these on your screen. that is all for today. thank you so much for watching. we'll be back next week because if it's sunday, it's "meet the press." ♪♪ ♪♪ pete g. writes, "my tween wants a new phone. how do i not break the bank?" we got you, pete. xfinity mobile was designed to save you money and gives you access to wifi speeds up to a gig. so you get high speeds for low prices. better than getting low speeds for high prices.

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