good morning, everyone. i'm betty nguyen in new york at msnbc world headquarters. it is 9:00 a.m. in the east. 6:00 a.m. out west. here's what's happening. a big announcement could be coming from the trump camp today, after what appeared to be a cordial meeting with one of his biggest critics. staying in the game, a new report suggests president obama's plans to keep out of politics may be changing. dramatically. the flint water crisis still a crisis. i'll talk to a congressman who wonders what will happen to the people of that city after donald trump becomes president. and a wintry blast parts of the northeast now getting hit with an early snowfall. the latest on the forecast ahead. let's begin with politics

and another set of high profile meetings at the new jersey weekend home of president elect donald trump. this after sitting down with former rival mitt romney, a meeting that lasted 80 minutes. here is what the former presidential nominee told reporters on his way out. >> very thorough and in depth discussion in the time we had. and appreciated the chance to speak with the president elect. >> now later today, rudy giuliani and governor chris christie are among those stopping by for meetings with the president elect. it comes more than a week after the vice president elect took over the duties as head of the transition team. no indication whether that particular controversy matters amid reports that trump is considering governor christie for an administration post. here is the president elect after he wrapped up meetings last night. >> we're seeing tremendous talent, people that as i say we

will make america great again. these are really great people. these are really, really talented people. >> does bridgegate disqualify governor christie from being in your cabinet, sir? >> we like chris a lot. >> president obama is in peru where he's wrapping up his last foreign trip as president, while trying to calm global anxieties about a trump administration. here is what he said during a town hall at a university in the country's capital yesterday. >> how you campaign isn't always the same as how you govern. sometimes when you're campaigning, you're trying to stir up passions. when you govern, you have reality in front of you. my main message to you, though, and the message i delivered in europe is don't just assume the worst, wait until the administration is in place, it is actually putting its policies together, and then you can make your judgments.

>> let's go now to bridgewater, new jersey. kelly o'donnell is there with the latest on trump's transition to the white house. kelly what are the headlines out of trump's busy saturday? >> well, i can already tell you that this morning donald trump is issuing some additional tweets and one of them confirmed some reporting that we have been talking about at nbc news, and that is that general james mattous is under consideration for secretary of defense, something that we have been writing about and talk ing about and now we hear from the president elect directly that that is in fact the job he's being considered for. what we expect today is another round of these interviews, several prominent people came through at his weekend home on saturday. today, more of that to come. it is a behind the scenes series of meetings between donald trump and his future vp mike pence as they are working to try to fill some very high profile administration jobs.

the most anticipated guest to arrive saturday at donald trump's golf resort. mitt romney, the insult war between him and trump now over, they met for more than an hour and when they emerged, handshakes, smiles and some clues. >> went great. >> the topics romney told reporters about seemed to fit the coveted department of state. >> had a far reaching conversation with regards to the various theaters in the world. >> whether romney is offered a role or not is unclear. but he appeared to be on good terms. >> and look forward to the coming administration and the things -- >> trump advisers pointed to the importance of another meeting. >> great man. >> retired marine general james mattous, who wore the uniform 44 years. sources say he is under serious consideration for a senior role

including defense secretary. >> will he have a place in your administration? >> going to see. brilliant, wonderful man, what a career and we'll see what happens. but he is the real deal. >> the stage craft of the day led to a series of front step greetings for the cameras. intended to show a range of potential cabinet picks, including former d.c. schools chief and democrat michelle ree. robert woodson under consideration for housing and urban development. >> nine different meetings during a busy day, trump also found time for a war of words on twit we are tter twitter. >> we are a diverse america who are alarmed and anxious. >> his last tweet calling the actor very rude, saying he couldn't even memorize lines. that tweet was quickly deleted. but to the press, trump sounded more presidential. >> tremendous talent, we're

seeing tremendous talent. >> and we have got quite a wind advisory going on here, so forgive me, the hair is going to be in my face. it was very pleasant and it was lovely at bed minister. conditions have changed here. but there is still important work to be done and among those meeting with the president elect and vice president elect today will be new jersey governor chris christie, former new york city mayor rudy giuliani, the founder of bet robert johnson and several other notable people who are subject matter experts from economics and so forth that will be helping the president elect try to asellabsemble his . so perhaps he needs to consider who he's going to appoint to the noaa organization that handles weather. >> we'll work on that for you today. i don't know if it will be done in time. thank you so much. for more analysis, let's

bring in david nakamora and jane newton small. thank you for being with us today. >> good morning. >> so, david, let me start with you, will trump's meeting with romney end up being more than a photo-op? could romney end up in trump's cabinet after their intense rivalry? >> it is hard to say. mitt romney criticized donald trump harshly last spring, became the face of the never trump movement, even polls that suggest trump could lose utah where romney lives. didn't happen. trump carried the state. you're seeing the gop establishment getting in line, falling behind the trump administration and to some degree it makes sense, people want the administration to succeed for the good of the country. the people want to know whether it is romney or someone else, will trump broaden his cabinet picks to sort of bring in some establishment figures? that would probably send a calming signal not just to washington, perhaps to those around -- leaders around the world watching and maybe know that a gop establishment position is a little better on world affairs, but there are

some who say it is unlikely that romney would have a fit in this. but it is -- maybe too difficult to tell right now, maybe get some more signals today after rudy giuliani has been mentioned for secretary of state, you know, pays a visit. we'll see what trump says about that. >> so much speculation out there. what are your take aways from all the meetings this weekend? getting signals, any kind of signal on how trump's administration is shaping up, especially after all the scrutiny over his three picks on friday? >> i think it is a real balancing act between the alt-right and the base that elected him and this sort of fired up republican crowd who really wants to see change come to washington and so to some degree a lot of the picks this week have pleased that base. jeff sessions who is a senator from alabama, a huge favorite among the alt-right, who is now going to head the justice department, and you've got mike pompeo, representative, also a big tea party advocate, huge trump supporter, who is also really popular with the conservative base and so those picks have really gemmed them up

. but then you also need to branch back to the republican base, branch back to the establishment and that's always going to be trump's kind of line to tread, his branch -- not branching but balancing between these two arms of the republican party that have been in so much tension and so much discord throughout his entire election and the question is can he bring them together now and unite them and that's what they're looking to see this week with these picks, is he going to go more moderate with the chief of staff, reince priebus, that's a more establishment pick and then paired that with steve bannon who is his political adviser, former chairman of breitbart news. so it is like pairing back and forth, seeing if he can marry this party together and do something. >> marrying the establishment to the bomb throwers. david, a source told our pentagon reporter that rudy giuliani's fate is up in the air when it comes to a cabinet post. you mentioned meeting today. has he had a falling out of favor with trump? >> well, there have been a lot

of reporting about giuliani and other potential cabinet picks, which makes sense. and giuliani has the consulting firm and a lot of dealings with foreign entities and that's raised a lot of concerns. i think it led to pushback among some trump advisers about whether that makes sense for him to be in such a prominent role as secretary of state. we have to unwind your dealings with foreign leaders. it is interesting because just yesterday came reports that donald trump himself has business dealings around the world, met with three indian business men who are building a trump branded hotel in india. the president elect himself is facing questions about whether he can unwind some of these business propositions, you know, in a way that makes sense for someone who now -- the top elected leader of the country. the question, we'll see what trump says not just about giuliani, but chris christie, whose fate also is somewhat up in the air after being a very close surrogate during the campaign. i think trump rewards loyalty

but doesn't want to get distracted by some of the outside controversies, especially for those under his own administration. >> jay, as david just mentioned, we're now learning from the trump organization that he did meet with three indian business partners at trump tower last week and a spokesman for the president elect tells the new york times that the meeting was nothing more than a courtesy call. that's what they call it. are you getting a sense they're trying to erase the blurred lines? >> they're tritrying to say it no big deal, this is very normal, he was just -- of course he can't just completely walk away from his former life and he has friends, he has a social life, he can meet with people. one of those business leaders tweeted out a photo of the meeting and it looked like a business meeting and was -- they also tweeted out photos of them meeting with ivanka trump, his daughter, and his sons who are supposedly going to run his business interests. at the same time, you had ivanka trump sit in with her father and his first meeting with head of

state, who is shinzo abe, the prime minister of japan. there is a question, if you're going to have your business -- your children who are running your business sitting in with leaders of heads of state, and then have business men who you're doing business deals with sitting in with the president elect, where are the lines? where -- and there is really no guidance to this except to say the constitution is very clear there should not be any conflict. but there is -- sort of unprecedented and we don't really know how we're going to -- how they're going to untangle these things and very scrutinized by the opposition, by democrats, to see if he's going to cross any lines and enrich himself from this office. >> it is all kinds of complicated. to that meeting with the japanese prime minister and trump's daughter, ivanka, sitting in on that, a source close to the family tells nbc, quote, mr. trump has always encouraged ivanka and his children to attend meetings with him, this meeting in question was very informal but they need to adjust the new realities at hand which they will. david, what are lawmakers saying

about his family's involvement? >> it makes sense to some degree if he's grooming ivanka and other children to take over his business and be part of his business which he did. they're not elected officials. and there is reports that jared kushner has been a close adviser during the campaign would maybe want to have white house clearances, this is unprecedented and doesn't make any sense, you know. they're not part of his administration in an elected manner, and whether he can try to appoint them to some sort of formal position, hasn't really been something like this, and -- >> how does that get regulated. we have all these questions, but once it is -- how does it get regulated, congress, the people? how do we monitor this if you will? >> it depends what kind of role they're trying to get into. a confirmed role would be one thing. if it is not, it is an informal adviser inside the west wing, we haven't seen this -- the previous presidents have not done this, hillary clinton took a role on health care back on a policy level, but back in the

'90s, but having them sort of running something or sitting in on high level meetings or security meetings, national security briefings, this is something that has not been tried before and i think is going to raise a lot of questions about ethics and appropriate credentialing. >> it is already raising a lot of questions indeed. >> if i can -- i was going to say, if i can add one of the big dangers here is they're being opaque with the press, not giving press access, sitting in the lobby watching people go in and out of the building, that's the only way we know some meetings are taking place there is a pack of reporters sitting out there doing that. if they're not going to give press access and not going to allow us some sort of sense of transparency, then that is -- that's very dangerous, we're not going to know what is happening here. >> only adds to the mystery and, indeed, causes more questions. david, jane, thank you for joining us today. blocks from the white house, donald trump's newest hotel. how could it become a conflict of interest when heads of state visit.

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i appreciate the chance to speak with the president elect and look forward to the coming administration. >> that's mitt romney after his saturday meeting with donald trump. meanwhile, though, this morning rnc chair and incoming chief of staff reince priebus is defending trump's choice for attorney general jeff sessions. joining me to talk about this is steve cortez, a member of donald trump's national hispanic advisory council and republican strategist. steve, priebus is defending trump's picks, but so far his picks and those under consideration seem to lack diversity. how does that square with mr. trump saying he's going to be president for all and does he not care about diversity in his cabinet? >> this is important to me as a

latino and prominent latino supporter of his on the airwa airwaves. i'm confident by the time his cabinet is don't and major picks outside the cabinet are finished we'll see a diverse group of people. i'm not part of transition, but i can tell you this from the campaign, we have a very diverse campaign and i suspect his administration, i expect that his administration is going to look very much like america, in terms of diversity. >> but, steve, how can you say that? even his insiders, those around him, those directly involved, don't seem that diverse? >> well, i mean, i guess i would hope myself if i would say i'm not in his inner circle, but one example of his diversity. what donald trump -- i believe he's truly color blind, sexual orientation blind. i think what he wants is talent. he did that as a business manager and delegated.

one example, grenel rumored to be a pick store ambassador. i think he's looking for talent. again, we are going to make sure we look a lot like america. we only have a few picks in, but talent is the number one key, i think, when it comes to building this team. >> are you pushing for diversity. you're not part of transition, but as someone close to this, are you pushing for it? >> sure, i think it is important. look, one of the great surprises of this election is how well we did relative to expectations, among minority voters. particularly mongla tino voters. we were expecting based on the polls to get in the teens. we need to build on that, i'm not happy with 30%. i'm very happy relative to where most people thought we would end

up, we can't hold a parade for winning a third of the latino vote. i want to win majority. one way to do that is to empower latinos in his administration. i have no doubt that is in the plans. >> mitt romney, another multimillionaireman in the mix for secretary of state. how does that reflect america? >> listen, i think what it does reflect is it may not be a diversity issue, but it reflects what a patriot what mr. romney and president drtrump, they're acting like. they were at each other throats. but now that the campaign is over, we don't want to keep replaying the campaign, we're grateful we won, this is not time to gloat, time to move forward toward growth and security. both men love america far more and in a manner far more important than any differences they may have had individually. what they did is come together and meet. i'm sure i wasn't privy to it but i'm sure they talked substantive policy.

to me that's real leadership and that shows president elect trump is far above what are sometimes the petty realities of a campaign. >> yeah, and spoke for 80 minutes. a lot to be discussed there. i want to move on to this. let me ask you about this new report from the washington post about foreign diplomats who see staying at the trump hotel during their visit to d.c. as the polite thing to do. and one of the diplomats said and i'm quoting for you, isn't it rude to come to his city and say, i'm staying at your competitor? you're a business man, steve. is this evidence that his business is already creating a conflict of interest? >> right, well, i say a couple of things. to my knowledge we have never had an entrepreneur take the office of the presidency. so there is a lot of firsts here. and how we figure this out, how the trump administration, incoming administration figures out make sure there is not even the appearance of impropriety. but we can't expect him -- we can't penalize him for being successful and can't expect that the snap of a finger he can

unloou unload all of his business holdings. i think that this is business as usual. this is how d.c. has operated for decades. pay to play. if you want a seat at the table, you got to pony up the cash first. i'm not surprised they think that will be the mo under the trump administration but i got news for them, we have a new sheriff in town, we're going to drain the swamp and stay in a trump hotel, i don't care how much money you spent, which suite you occupy, it won't get you a seat at the table because donald trump is in washington for the common forgotten worker. >> we're watching to see how he drains that swamp. steve, thank you for joining us today. >> thank you for having me. there is new reaction on "meet the press" from bernie sanders on what the democratic party needs to do to rebuild and recover.

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you want the whole thing? yes, yes! live whole. not part. aleve. welcome back. i'm betty nguyen in new york. at the half hour, here's what we're monitoring for you. the first major winter storm of the season is now dumping heavy snow in the interior northeast and the eastern great lakes. lake-effect snow could amount to two feet in some parts to go with all that snow, strong gusty winds. also happening now, president obama spending the final moments of his last foreign trip assuring allies from around the world that a donald trump presidency won't lead them abandoned. his message at a town hall with young people in lima, peru. today he'll meet with the leaders of canada and australia on the sidelines of the major asian economic summit. ron allen is there and he joins us now live. what is the president doing to temper all these fears?

>> as you say, he's trying to be as reassuring as possible and trying to put the american election into a context and trying to put governing into context. he's telling people here, for example, as he has elsewhere that campaigning is one thing and governing is another. he said donald trump will hit a lot of realities once he steps into office that will temper some things he said on the campaign trail, especially this part of the world when it comes to matter of trade. donald trump has been very anti-trade, protectionist. here is what president obama said at that town hall about that issue specifically to a group of young leaders. >> with respect to latin america, i don't anticipate major changes in policy from the new administration. there are going to be tensions that arise, probably around trade more than anything else. because the president elect campaigned on a looking at every

trade policy and potentially reversing some of those policies. but once they look at how it is working, i think they'll determine that it is actually good both for the united states and our trading partners. >> that issue of trade, the transpacific partnership deal is the big issue at this summit. president obama's basic message about that and everything else is don't fear the worst, give president trump, president elect trump a chance to see what he's going to do because it is very different from campaigning to governing. that's the message trying to reassure leaders that essentially things are not as bad as they may seem, but that remains to be seen going forward. betty? >> all right, nbc's ron allen in lima, pre. thank you for that. there is new reaction from vice president pence, just moments ago on the chances mitt romney will be our country's next secretary of state. >> the president elect was very grateful that governor mitt romney came in, they had a good

meeting, it was a warm and substantive exchange and i know he's under active consideration to be the secretary of state of the united states along with some other very distinguished americans. >> also, new this morning, trump's chief of staff reince prepare ous priebus is addressing concerns of michael flynn for security adviser. >> can you rule out a registry for muslims? >> look, i'm not going to rule out anything, but i wouldn't -- we're not going to have a registry based on a religion. but what i think what we're trying to do is say there are some people, certainly not all people, chuck, there are some people that are radicalized and there are some people that have to be prevented from coming into the country. >> and newly elected senate minority leader chuck schumer on why he thinks trump was able to crack the democrats' blue wall. >> we did not have the kind of

strong, bold and pointed economic message that appealed to these people. and a message that talked about how rigged the system was in washington. >> a new article in the new york times suggests president obama may stay in the political arena after leaving office and not withdraw as he had planned. let's talk about this. joining me now, former new york congresswoman nan hayworth and jonathan altar, author of "the center holds". i want to quote from this article, where it says that in his remarks to activists, mr. obama urged them to stop moping and to ratchet up their opposition to mr. trump by thanksgiving. there is a deadline there. he promised to join their cause soon after telling them, quote, you're going to see me early next year and we're going to be in a position where we can start cook up all kinds of great stuff to do. are you surprised, jonathan, by this 180 we're seeing from the current president? >> well, you know, it is a 180

in terms of personal life. he was looking forward to playing golf and working on his memoirs. he's going to be living in washington, d.c. because sasha obama is still in school there for a couple of years. so i can envision him playing a very, very interesting and unusual role for an ex-president. on the one hand, providing some confidential advice to his successor who has shown a willingness to listen to president obama and learn about how to be president, which he doesn't know anything about right now. and on the other hand, to break with former president bush's policy of not criticizing the successor. remember, president -- former president bush never took shots at barack obama. barack obama is not going to be like that. he's not going to take crass shots at him. but he will criticize president trump when he believes he's wrong and he will lead democrats in doing that.

and he has enormous popularity coming out of his presidency, almost record popularity. it will go up even more if history is any indication after he leaves office so he'll have a lot of political capital to work with in helping democrats. >> and also from this article, it says dozens of liberal advocacy groups which have received a flood of donations and new members in the chaotic days are gearing up for years of clashes with mr. trump. mr. trump seems a bit combative by nature, right? we have seen some of the tweets, we have seen some of the way he's reacted to things. you know, is he prepared for years of this? >> well, i think -- what we're seeing actually in the transition process is that president elect trump and as president obama said and quite accurately, campaigning is different from governing. president obama should take his own advice. now we're going into a governing phase. and president elect trump in his

selection of guests, if you will, to -- with whom to speak of colleagues, with whom to speak about the new administration has shown already that he's quite capable of being ecumenical, of being thoughtful, of being inclusive. he is not indicating at all that he's out to polarize us. he wants to bring people together. as we can see, look, jonathan, look at his -- >> you're laughing here, jonathan. >> look at the department of education. who are at the top of the list, a couple of prominent democrats, michelle ree, eva moskowitz. the president-elect has to govern. it would be great to get productive council from his -- >> does he have an appetite for this rolling and social political unrest. >> they don't. and president obama has a key role to play in calming the waters. >> but doesn't president-elect

trump also? >> he's a drama king. all drama, all the time, reality show presidency. we'll see how long it takes the american public to get tired of this. my prediction is it will be pretty early into his term. but had when he does something appoint a guy who had once praised the kkk to be his attorney general, and he's got a guy who -- dthat was hearsay. >> he was rejected -- jeff sessions was rejected, second time in 100 years that the federal judge -- it was controlled by a republican. the senate at that time was controlled by republicans, they rejected jeff sessions for a judgeship in the 1980s because of his racism. >> he prosecuted to the death penalty a kkk -- the son of a kkk leader who had murdered a young black man. jeff sessions did that. >> you can tell by this conversation that, you know,

jeff sessions is a very controversial appointment to be attorney general. i think what president obama is indicating is if he does things that are not in the spirit of where this country has come, in terms of our attitude toward race relations, if he does things to turn back the clock, president obama will be very strong as a former president in resisting that and other things that create hate in our country. >> it seems like the people will hold his feet to the fire as well. we're seeing the protests and the unrest. let me ask you this, does he deserve as president elect a little bit of a honeymoon period from all of this so he can get things in order? >> he deserves a thoughtful hearing. he's giving a thoughtful hearing to a wide range of people as he starts his administration. and he deserves a thoughtful hearing as well. i would add that president obama, who was elected initially in 2008, with an enormous amount of national goodwill, and was extended, i would say,

tremendous grace by most americans, as they should have done, has actually -- we oppose policies, i was one of the republicans who was in the house opposing policies, not the man, the policies, that's part of the problem, jonathan. that opposition was framed as somehow being directed toward the president's race. it had nothing to do with that. the president has actively helped to frame arguments in this country in terms of identity. and that is just the kind of framing that leads to discourse. >> how much worse, though, does president elect trump make things when -- there is this apparent cultural divide, beyond political and social, but he goes on, he tweets angrily about the cast of hamilton. how does that serve the public? you say there is a balance, you know, he's going to govern with balance, did this though a balance? >> the cast of hamilton has shown complete lack of balance.

they don't assail prominent democratic politicians who have come to visit their audience about the lack of support for better education in the kind of urban areas that i'm sure members of the cast would like to see better advocacy for. they don't approach -- didn't approach hillary clinton and say secretary clinton, why are you so opposed to having charter schools that would actually help to increase the chances that youth in these disadvantaged communities would actually be able to succeed and thrive. why would you leave them in the position -- >> should the cast have called out the vice president in that -- was it the right forum? >> i think it was absolutely fine for them to do so. he claims that he believes in free speech. if you believe in free speech, why would you object to people in a very polite way this is something that people who are not following the hamilton story closely -- >> it wasn't harassment as donald trump claimed. >> nothing close to being that kind of harassment, for trump to

say in his tweet, apologize, when he's never apologized for anything in his entire life as if arefar as i know. there are some trump appointees who will be fine. elections have consequences and he should be aloued to appoint conservatives to office. liberals should not object to every trump appointee. we need to draw distinctions. the whole country needs to draw distinctions between those who are out of bounds, and those who are very much within, you know, the mainstream of american political life. as long as we do that, and we call him out appropriately when it is necessary, and that we understand that this is a reckless man who we elected president and needs to be watched very, very closely. >> i'll have to let that be the last word. thank you, we appreciate you both joining us today.

donald trump's infrastructure plan and what it can mean for the people of flint, michigan. that's next. and coming up at the top of the hour on am joy, the humiliation bernie sanders says he feels after the stunning presidential election. when you have a cold, you just want powerful relief. only new alka-seltzer plus free of artificial dyes and preservatives liquid gels delivers the powerful cold symptom relief you need without the unnecessary additives you don't. store manager: clean up, aisle 4. alka-seltzer plus liquid gels.

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[beeping] take on any galaxy with a car that could stop for you. simulation complete. the new nissan rogue. rogue one: a star wars story. in theaters december 16th. a debate is under way in the democratic party over how to rebuild itself. and the question revolves around whether to become more aggressive to attract working class voters that they lost 12 days ago. joining me is democrat and michigan congressman dan kildee. thank you for being with us today. >> thank you very much. >> before we get to your party's future, i would like to start with the water situation in flint. bring us up to speed. two years now, residents still drinking and cleaning and bathing with bottled water? >> they are. the water from the tap is still not safe to drink. one of the frustrations that many of us have is what was once

a big national story, getting a lot of attention, and a lot of focus, obviously doesn't get the attention it should. even though the crisis continues. we're pushing for more federal help. in fact, when we get back in session, the next couple of weeks, we expect to get some support from the federal government, for flint's rebuilding flint's water infrastructure. speaker ryan committed to me personally he will help make that happen. so we have a long way to go. >> exactly. i think a lot of people watching and myself included listening to this are a little surprised still because it has been two years, flint's city's website shows, what, 346 homes have lead sainted service lines replaced. after two years that number sounds pretty low for a city of more than 100,000. don't you agree. >> part of the problem is the state government has choked the city to a point where it has virtually no capacity. the state of michigan did this to flint. so while the federal government,

we continue to push for more help, the state has done almost nothing to make sure that flint is -- >> why is that? >> they continue to treat this problem as a public relations problem for themselve and not as a real public health crisis for this really poor city. it is -- there is no excuse for what the state has done. frankly, i think the federal government should be acting more quickly, not because it bears the same responsibility, but because the people of flint just like everyone else in this country are citizens of this nation or people who live in our communities ought to be able to get help wherever they can get it. it is a national interest, and the federal government should be held -- >> let's talk about the federal government. donald trump has discussed ways to invest in america's infrastructure. any word on whether he'll help solve the flint water crisis and are you concerned? >> well, i mean, we will take help wherever we can get it. i think if president elect trump is serious and does launch a

major infrastructure initiative, he may find significant support among democrats. he may have some problems within the republican party, because once it comes to the point of actually having to figure out how we pay for this, they're going to, i think, have to come to grips with the fact that if we're going to rebuild, we have got to figure out how we're going to pay for it. i want to see mr. trump's details, one thing to tweet out that you're going to build infrastructure, something else to actually put together a plan that will get the job done. and so far what we have seen from him is not very much detail. but he may get a lot of support from democrats, we're willing to, look, we want to get things done, we didn't support him, but we want to get things done. we want him to succeed. >> mr. trump, he flipped a lot of towns in crucial battleground states that voted for owe palm kwa twice including your home state. what can democrats do to bring those voters back? >> i think the mistake of the 2016 election is that we were not singularly focused on the

economy. on what it takes to rebuild this economy, to make sure that we have jobs in this country. obviously he spoke to that, no detail, we have detaileddetaile. we should have been just singularly focused on economic issues on what it's going to take to make shower that everybody in this country has the ability to pursue their dreams, to be the best that they can be, to send their kids to good schools and to have jobs waiting for them when they graduate that can help them raise a family. the fact that we were focusing on donald trump i think turned out to be a mistake. donald trump did enough to call attention to himself. we should have focused on those factors that unify both our traditional base and those working class voters that we lost, and that unifying message -- >> very quickly though -- >> is the economy. >> minority leader nancy pelosi is being challenged by ohio congressman tim ryan. whom will you support? >> well, until i see someone articulate a plan that is more aggressive than what nancy

pelosi has put forward, i'll -- i'll continue to support her. i think it's a good thing, however, that tim ryan offered himself and challenged the process, the democratic process works. i think it will make both leader pelosi and if he is successful more effective if we have this debate, and i look forward to it. >> okay. thank you so much. michigan congress dan kildene, thank you very much. >> you bet. >> up next what, to expect from melania trump as first lady? ♪ is it a force of nature? or a sales event? the season of audi sales event is here. audi will cover your first month's lease payment on select models during the season of audi sales event. (bing)

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now to the expectations surrounding the future first lady. melania trump get a low profile during the campaign and little is known about her and that may change. joining us now is lauren gambino of "the guardian." lauren, you recently wrote about her. what did you learn in. >> melania trump, she kept a low profile on the campaign trail, but she actually i think has done in retrospect a little bit more for trump's campaign.

he ended up winning women, white women in the end, so i think she has been actually behind the scenes a player in his campaign. >> how so? >> so we saw her give a speech, a rare appearance was a speech in -- out in the suburbs of philadelphia right about a week before election day. she spoke there. she kind of, you know, in an effort to soften his image with women. what she said in that speech, she outlined how she was going to be a first lady. first and foremost she's a mother, a mother to their 10-year-old son barron and explained that's why i haven't been on the campaign trail and sort of an outreach to sxwush eastern women, it appears that that sort of discussion of what she would like to do in her personal role with -- as a mother. >> she talks about working to combat online bullying and harassment. >> right. >> but, you know, lauren, her husband is really known for his aggressive tweeting. i think we've all heard about that by now. >> right. >> is there some irony to this? >> well, i think so and she was

derided online pretty quickly after making those statements because she said them without a hint of irony and really said i want to combat online bullying and -- you know in, other interviews she has said i wish my husband wouldn't tweet so much. i wish he would, you know, scale back on the late night tweet storms that he's known for now. >> and you write how an opinion poll taken after the republican convention found pledgia trump was less popular than michelle obama and that 20% had no opinion or didn't know who she was, so how would you expect those numbers to change after her husband assumes the presidency? >> well, a lot will depend on how she inserts herself. we're already seeing reports possibly she will stay in new york for a while and maybe it will take a while for the unknown numbers to climb. she is part of what will now be the first family so we expect her to be a much more recognizable figure. so that will definitely change, but i think she has a lot to do. i mean, she is tied to someone who is historically unpopular so she will have to work very hard

to raise her -- her unlikable numbers. >> it's going to be interesting to learn more about the future first lady, and i know a lot of people really want to know information about it, and we'll see as time goes by. lauren gambino, thanks for joining us today, and that is going to wrap up this hour of live coverage. ahead though on "a.m. joy," how democrats are already eyeing the mid-term elections. i'm betty nguyen. have a great day. for christmas ♪ ♪ only a hippopotamus will do at the united states postal service, we deliver more online purchases to homes than anyone else in the country. and more hippopotamuses, too. ♪ so whatever your holiday priority, our priority is you.

we're seeing tremendous talent and people that i know as i say we will make america great again. these are really great people. these are really, really talented people. >> good morning from london, and welcome to "a.m. joy." well, much of the media has been focused on the revolving door of donald trump's potential cabinet members and tweets about "hamilton" don't let america's newest theater in chief distract you from the real show that's going on. let's not forget