trumpet sounds again, next sunday morning. this week on "face the nation," president-elect trump select a, quote, warrior to lead the fbi and rattles top trading partners with threats of

tariffs. the drum beat continues from mar-a-lago as president-elect trump announces plans to nominate loyalists who have more than once lashed out at the agencies they hope to lead. we'll hear from two senators who will be evaluating these cabinet picks. texas republican ted cruz and california democrat alex padilla. plus, as americans kick off the busiest shopping season of the year, it's crunch time for retailers and a window into the economy at large. questions loom over the future of american consumers as the inm canning president threatened across the board tariffs. we'll look at the impact with jill schlesinger. then just weeks to go before he leaves office, president biden is notching a few hard-fought victories overseas. securing the release of americans wrongfully held in china and a cease-fire deal between israel and hezbollah. could a deal between israel and hamas be next? we'll talk unfinished business

with white house national security adviser jake sullivan. >> finally, a conversation with author and historian h.w. brands, his latest book "america first" examines the debate over isolationism. it's all just ahead on "face the nation." good morning, everyone. welcome to "face the nation." as we put the final touches on this long haoliday weekend and the leftovers with it, the economy and border loom large. meanwhile, president biden tries to secure last-minute diplomatic breakthroughs congress tackles unfinished business, and retailers slash prices to launch the holiday season.

but we begin this morning with the latest on the trump transition with senior white house correspondent weijia jiang. >> reporter: kash patel's pending nomination for fbi director embodies president-elect trump's desire to disrupt federal law enforcement agencies. >> i would shut down the fbi hoover building on day one and reopen it the next day as a museum of the deep state. >> reporter: he rose to prominence during trump's first term when he helped lead the charge against the doj's investigation of russia meddling in the 2016 election. >> kash patel is here. >> reporter: the current fbi director, christopher wray, woo was appointed by trump in 2017, has three years left on a ten-year term. he would have to resign or be fired to create an opening. the fbi says director wray's focus remains on the men and women of the fbi. the people we do the work with, and the people we do the work

for. trump also announced he has selected son-in-law jared kus kushner's father, charles kushner, to serve as the next u.s. ambassador to france. kushner was pardoned by trump in 2020 after serving time in prison as part of a two-year sentence on federal criminal charges. as trump fills his administration, he's also meeting with world leaders. canadian prime minister justin trudeau had dinner with trump at mar-a-lago on friday. then posted, i look forward to the work we can do together again. but trump's threat to impose a 25% tariff on canada and mexico remains. unless he says the countries take action to stop migrants and drugs from entering the u.s. border. both north american allies say they are preparing retaliatory tariffs on u.s. exports. now, trump has issued a flew threat against a group of nine countries including brazil, russia, and china.

he says if they try to shy away from the u.s. dollar on international trade, he would impose a 100% tariff on their goods. ma major. >> weijia jiang, thank you. we turn to texas republican ted cruz who joins us this morning from houston. senator, good to see you. good morning to you. let's pick up this thread on tariffs. i remember covering your presidential campaign in 2016. and you were a skeptic of tariffs then. i know the politics around tariffs have changed. president-elect trump has done that. have the economics changed? >> well, i tell you what hasn't changed is the importance of leverage. i have to say, you look at the threat of tariffs against mexico and canada, immediately has produced action. we have seen the president of mexico stand up and promise that she is going to work hand in hand with the president of the united states, president trump, to secure the border. i'll tell you, representing texas, we have seen four years of an invasion at our southern

border. let me ask you, major, why hasn't joe biden done this? why hasn't he stood up and used leverage to skeer the border. joe biden and the democrats wanted this invasion to happen. i have to say, this is a promise i believe president trump is going to deliver on and deliver quickly. we're going to secure the border. this is about using leverage to get mexico and canada to cooperate. i tell you, i think one of the very first bills we're going to take up in the senate, vote on, and i hope pass, is my legislation, the justice for jocelyn act, that is a response to the horrific rape and murder of jocelyn, a 12-year-old girl in houston, texas, killed by violent criminal illegal aliens released by joe biden and the democrats. this is a promise the president needs to deliver on. >> when you think about tariffs and president-elect trump, you don't take them seriously as an economic matter. you take them seriously as a diplomatic lever? >> well, look, i think the

president was explicit with mexico and canada. he said he would impose these tariffs unless they secure the border. and by the way, that is the same way that president trump negotiated the remain in mexico agreement. if you remember during his first term, president trump threatened tariffs against mexico, and the president of mexico, he was incredibly scared and concerned. he was scared of trump, and he ended up signing the remain in mexico agreement which produced the lowest rate of illegal immigration in 45 years. it was incredibly successful. what did joe biden and the democrats do when they came in? the very first week in office, they ripped up that international agreement. i expect we will once again enter into remain in mexico and we're going to see, i'm going to make a prediction right now, we will see the numbers plummet of illegal immigration coming into this country, not in a year, not in six months, but in january and february because we will have a president who will vigorously enforce the law.

>> on that point, senator cruz, you would concede in the last three or four months, numbers have gone down already, have they not? >> they have ticked down slightly. we have still seen over these four years the highest rate of illegal immigration in our nation's history. 12 million illegal immigrants have come into this country. i have to say in a state like texas, you want to see the consequences. this last election was an incredible landslide for president trump. he won all seven of the swing states, and in texas, president trump won hispanic voters in texas, i won hispanic voters in texas. i won state-wide by a million votes, nine points, and south texas, the rio grande valley, has literally spent over 100 years as a bright blue democrat bastion. this cycle, south texas flipped republican and it's amazing what having 12 million people invade your home can do to change

people's voting behavior. i think the president has a mandate to deliver on securing the border and i look forward to working hand in hand with him to deliver on that promise. >> kash patel suggested by president trump as the new leader of the fbi. how enthusiastic are you about that? >> listen, i think kash patel is a very strong nominee. i think the entire slate of cabinet nominees president trump has put forward is very strong. i believe every one of these cabinet nominees is going to be confirmed by the senate. i think kash patel is going to be confirmed by the senate. you look at his background. he has a serious professional background. he was a prosecutor. he was a public defender. he was a senior intelligence staffer on capitol hill. he was a senior intelligence staffer in the white house. he was the chief of staff of the department of defense. he was the deputy director of national intelligence. i gotta say, all of the weeping and gnashing of teeth, people pulling their hair out, are the

people dismayed about having a real reformer come into the fbi and clean out the corrupted partisans who sadly have burrowed into senior career positions at the fbi. the fbi and the department of justice are two institutions incredibly important to the rule of law in the united states. i revere both. and one of the most tragic consequences of four years of joe biden and kamala harris is both doj and the fbi have been politicized and weaponized, and i think kash patel is a very strong nominee to take on the partisan corruption in the fbi. >> as you know, there isn't a vacancy at the top at the fbi. what should become of christopher wray, appointed by president trump? >> i think he'll make a choice. i think either he will resign or president trump will fire him. but it's no secret to anybody, including chris wray, that he is not going to continue to serve as the head of the fbi under donald trump. listen, if you look at james comey and chris wray, there has

never been a period in our nation's history where the fbi has suffered a greater loss of respect where more americans doubt the fundamental integrity of the fbi. and it's because james comey and chris wray presided over allowing the fbi to become a partisan cudgel, to be used to target parents at school board meetings, to be used to target people who chose not to take the covid vaccine, to be used to target president trump and to target the political opponents of joe biden and the white house. it is tragic, that is not what the fbi is for. that is not what the doj is for. and i gotta say, pam bondi and kash patel together are a very strong slate of nominees to go and restore integrity to both institutions. >> how do you place that up against the prosecutions of bob menendez, a congressman, a democrat from texas, hunter biden? are those political prosecutions as well or not? >> well, first of all, let's be clear. bob menendez was literally

caught with gold bars and a stack of cash with his fingerprints taking bribes. it's why he's not my colleague anymore. at that point, the evidence was overwhelming. look, major, i wrote an entire book entitled justice corrupted, how the left has weaponized the legal system. it broke down, it started sadly under barack obama where he began using the federal government to target his political opponents. the book details how many of those partisans then burrowed in to senior career positions during the trump administration. they waged war against president trump during his first term. and now under joe biden, they have been open and brazen, and i think it has done unbelievable damage to the integrity of the department of justice and the fbi. i think merrick garland will go down in history as the most partisan attorney general our nation has ever seen. and i gotta say, i hear regularly from prosecutors, from fbi agents, who are deeply

dismayed about the institution they devoted a lifetime working for, because listen, i don't want a republican department of justice. i don't want a democrat department of justice. i want a department of justice and fbi that enforces the law regardless of party. and sadly, we haven't seen that. >> what can you tell us about the three americans released by china who were in san antonio? have you been in touch with them and do you have concerned about it contours of that swap? >> well, at this stage, we don't know all of the details of the contours of the swap. i tell you, i am celebrating the return of three americans, mark swidan is a texan from houston. i talked to him mom many times. i authored a resolution that passed unanimously calling for his return to america. he spent 12 years unjustly imprisoned in communist china. i have raised it directly with the foreign minister of china, i

have raised it with president biden, i have raised it with secretary of state tony blinken. and i will give them credit on this. tony blinken just two weeks ago was the most recent time i spoke with him about mark, and the administration has pressed the chinese government and mark swidan is back home with his mother, who has prayed for him, who has loved him. i want to say, mark, welcome home. catherine, congratulations. i told you this day would come. this is a time where all texans ad all americans should be celebrating. >> quickly, senator cruz. i also know you care about the case of austin tice. do you have any sense that the rebel gains in syria of the recent vintage will have any chance of unlocking austin tice's freedom? >> i don't know. i certainly hope and pray, austin tice needs to come home, and i hope and pray, listen, there's a combination of two things working. one is joe biden is in the process of transitioning out, any outgoing president is looking to get final wins.

i would encourage him and i'm sure he's doing everything he can to bring austin tice home, to bring the hostages in gaza home, both the israelis and americans. bring them home in this window. i also think president trump coming into office on january 20th, the enemies of america i think are afraid of president trump. that is a moment i hope we have a moment right now that is very much like the end of the jimmy carter administration right before ronald reagan came in and we saw on january 20th our hostages in iran released. i think in significant part because the ayatollah was afraid of reagan. i hope a similar dynamic is playing out. if we can see more hostages come home, that would be cause for enormous celebration. >> republican senator ted cruz of texas, thank you. good morning. we'll be back with "face the nation" in just one moment. empowers post-9/11 veterans and their families with life-changing programs and services. i realized i could be successful in a civilian career. we stand by warriors and advocate for their needs going forward.

they were by my side in the hospital, and they're still with me today. through our programs, community and advocacy, we're proving anything is possible. learn more at wounded warriorproject.org/connect (husband) we just want to have enough money for retirement. (wife) and travel to visit our grandchildren.unded (fisher investments) i understand. that's why at fisher investments we start by getting to know each other. so i can learn about your family, lifestyle, goals and needs, allowing us to tailor your portfolio. (wife) what about commission- based products? (fisher investments) we don't sell those. we're a fiduciary, obligated to act in your best interest. (husband) so how do your management fees work? (fisher investments) we have a transparent fee, structured so we do better when you do better. at fisher investments, we're clearly different. welcome back to "face the nation." we go now to california democratic senator alex padilla. he joins us from california. senator, good to see you.

let's start with kash patel. your reaction to that nomination or that suggested nomination from president-elect trump. >> good morning. great to be with you. and look, this announcement that kash patel is going to be nominated for a high ranking position at the fbi, very key to the department of justice, raises a lot of the same questions that other announcements and other nominations raise. are they going to go in there and do the job of the department of justice calls for to truly be independent of the president of the united states? or is he going in there to do trump's bidding? that's the big question here. is it a genuine legitimate appointment or a political appointment to politicize the bureau and the department in trump's favor? that's just the beginning of the questions we expect to raise in the confirmation hearings that will begin in january. >> do you expect the current fbi

director who has three years remaining will just have to resign? >> that's going to be a personal decision for director wray, who the public should remember, was a trump appointee to begin with. and so he's got three years left. it's up to him to resign or not. your prior guest suggested that trump may very well fire him, which is just par for the course. anybody who recalls the first trump administration recalls a whole lot of cabinet officials being named, being confirmed and being sold as the greatest thing since sliced bread. as soon as they lose favor with trump, as soon as they don't do 100% of what he's demanding, all of a sudden they're fired a lot of times by social media posts and so who knows what donald trump is going to decide to do, whether it's with director wray, kash patel,o any of his other nominees this coming term. >> during the first trump

administration, california fashioned itself the resistance state. some democrats in the legislature have begun to describe this as a cliche and say they don't know what it means anymore. what does it mean? >> look, i think there's a lot of reason for concern of the second trump administration. if the first administration is any indicator. i think as the governor, as other legislative leaders and the congressional delegation have said, if the federal government will continue to support california in its leadership in so many policy areas, there's a lot of good work to be done there, but donald trump has made it no secret he has it in for california, whether it's the withholding of disaster funds. a lot of fema dollars that donald trump tried to keep from not the government of california but from california families simply because it's a state that did not vote for him in the presidential election. we're trying to inoculate ourselves from those types of threats. there's also a lot of good that

can be finalized before the end of the biden administration, whether it's environmental protection agency waivers that will allow california to continue to grow our economy while tackling climate change aggressively. waivers that health and human services that would give california a little flexibility with our medicare dollars to be able to also treat behavioral ealth issues, mental health issues of californians. we know treating the whole body is good for both physical and mental health. we're trying to make sure the waivers are locked in before the end of the biden administration. >> where do you stand with the biden administration on that? are they going to be responsive? >> they have been very encouraging that the technical work can and should be done before the end of the term, but we'll know when there's signatures on the documents that we need. again, these are just examples of locking into place before president trump comes into office and can use it as a

threat, as a punishment, or as senator cruz mentioned in the prior segment, leverage to get other things he may want out of california. >> you know president-elect trump has promised mass deportations. you also know in california, there is a state law that tells local law enforcement not to participate and cooperate with i.c.e. agents in deportation or identification processes. the incoming trump administration border czar tom homan has said any law enforcement who don't cooperate will be prosecuted under federal law. how is this going to be resolved? >> yeah, i think there's an important distinction here. no state's government, not texas, not california, not any state in the nation has a constitutional authority to impose federal immigration law. that is the responsibility of the federal government. some states like texas want to push the envelope and try to find a way to assist, but there's no obligation to do so.

that's what california leaders and municipal leaders throughout the state are saying. we're not going to utilize state and local resources to do the federal government's job for them. number one. i think there's a long history of this being smart public safety policy as well. california is the most populous state in the nation, the most diverse state in the nation, home to more immigrants than any state in the nation. the last thing you want to do is have immigrants who have victims of crime afraid to come forward and report the crime. the last thing you want is immigrants who may be witnesses to crime be afraid to come forward and share any information they have in the investigation and prosecution of crimes. that's what we're talking about here. let the federal government do the federal government's job. but have state and local officials do the state and local officials' job. it doesn't have to be a conflict unless that's what trump wants. >> the governor has called a

special session that will convene this week to set aside money to battle the trump administration. will some of that money also be set aside to protect migrants and undocumented immigrants in california as they seek either legal advice or continued legal financial backing to support their efforts to stay within california and the united states? >> again, if the first trump administration is any indicator, we know there will continue to be a lot of fear in communities, and communities that deserve to know what their rights are and what their rights are not. so if it's legal assistance, legal advice, legal support, that's just the california way. we embrace our diversity, our diversity is what's made our communities thrive and our economy thrive. so we will assist families against the threats of the trump administration. if we want to sort of cut to the chase, you know, we're hearing a lot of bombast from trump and

his allies about the biggest deportation operation in our country's history on the one hand, versus maybe a focus on violent criminals on the other. nobody disagrees with a focus on violent criminals. democrats, republicans agree. but that's very different than millions and millions of people being deported indiscriminately, not just tearing families apart, tearing communities apart. but tremendous damage to our economy that would create. >> senator alex padilla, democrat from california, we thank you for your time. we'll be back right away with a lot more "face the nation." invite you to please stay with us.

be sure to tune in to cbs news on january 20th for full coverage of donald trump's inauguration here in washington, d.c. you can watch live on cbs, on paramount plus, or on our cbs news app.

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