eans go! oh, yeah. start saying yes to your company's best ideas. we're gonna hit our launch date! (scream) thank you! goodbye! let us help with money and know-how, so you can get business done. american express open. morning glory, america. i'm hugh hewitt. what a week. the alabama senate race, tax reform, the previewing of a new national security challenge. we'll talk about these and other big stories of the week. i'm joined by four of the beltway's young gun's journalists. welcome to you all. biggest story of the week. tim, you actually broke one that had been making headlines since it appeared at politico on thursday. >> that's right. so speaker paul ryan is ready to hang it up after this congress. he has made it known to some of

his closest allies he is prepared to retire at the end of this congress. it makes perfect sense if you view this in the context of his career. he came close to retiring after 2012 when he was the losing vice presidential nominee. he comes back, assumes the chairmanship of the ways and means committee. i'm going to rewrite the tax code, hopefully get it passed into law and then go home. he has a young family. he wants to get home to wisconsin. this has been years in the making. it is is not surprising that he wants to do this. kevin mccarthy and steve ska is lease scalise. >> my biggest story was the previewing of the security by general mcmaster. you just got back from pakistan. what did you make of this rollout? do you agree not many many

people paid attention but it matters a lot. >> not many people paid attention. we didn't get the whole strategy. we got a preview of it. we know what the basic outlines were. peace through prosperity and enhancing the u.s. reputation abroad. and security for u.s. homeland and u.s. citizens here and abroad. what was a little bit surprising was there was not the president trump as candidate trump america first emphasis that could have potentially been in this. instead, it talked more about strategic engagement and maintaining a competitive advantage overseas without necessarily explaining what that meant. you know, the competitiveness to me always screams of economic competitiveness. or being on a level playing field with other countries around the world. so we're waiting for the actual rollout sometime next week. but this initial rollout, it didn't necessarily surprise me the points they made. >> in the travels back and forth

to pakistan, did you hear of the coalition between the uae, egyptians, israel and ourselves? >> when i was over there, it was right before president trump made his announcement of moving the embassy to jerusalem. so that was a huge part of all the conversations over there. there was a lot of concern about the potential for violence in the region, not just in jordan and israel but larger in the region how that would impact potential violence, protests and whatnot. pakistan, if there is a place you want to talk about transnational, transregional terrorism, it's there. they have the highest number of terrorist groups of anyplace in the world. the question is what we saw so far are they trying to export the terrorism to the united

states to the homeland. as of now it seems very regional. but that always has the potential to grow. that's one of the big concerns. that's why we saw is the president roll out south asia strategy that talks about the u.s. maintaining a presence there really with no end at this point. >> and we have ivanka in india. tprepb chess qaa, since we last saw you you have been to india. does your story relate back to india? >> no, it does not. that was an interesting trip for reasons we can get into later. my story of the week, which i -- the most important thing that was happening but another thing i broke was omarosa manigault was leaving the white house. when this story was first told to me, the white house seemed to want her to exit gratefully. she was a close friend of president trump's. they have known each other more than a decade because she was on the apprentice with him. they wanted to let her say good-bye and move on with her life. she resigned.

well then as the -- she started talking i think to some media. she was on good morning america and other programs. her friends started kheuter chattering saying it was because of some of the things that the president said that she's leaving. she was uncomfortable with charlottesville and with roy moore. others say this is not how it went down. she was definitely escorted off, definitely fired. she did not resign. i also have major black republicans celebrating the fact that she will no longer be there saying she froze them out, froze out other african-americans. if it was awe lonely place there, it was by design. >> james, it is up to you to save us to mention tax reform and roy moore. >> i mentioned roy moore.

it. >> it was a pivotal race for senate, tax, everything for 2018. it was close. i knew it was going to be close. there was this tension. i talked to more than 100 people while i was there between not wanting to be embarrassed and not wanting to be told what to do. i knew it would be a close election. there was this feeling in the suburbs around birmingham and montgomery they didn't want roy moore to be the face of alabama. you saw it with richard shelby going alabama's republican senator senator warning people not to vote for moore. it is an important moment in the civil war. there is a reckoning. >> is the bannon brand badly damaged? >> yes. traffic at breitbart is down dramatically. i think he's lost a lot of credibility. trump was frustrated.

he is still going to talk to him. it took a lot of the luster off. it showed this is the real risk of -- >> let me close the segment, tim, by many coming back to you. josh holly, martha mcsallys of arizona, the center right candidates came away from the wreckage tuesday happy, did they not? >> i would think so. what we have seen -- you and i discussed this on the radio earlier this week. trumpism doesn't work without trump. i think we have seen that so far in 2017. anybody running trying to channel trumpism on the republican side is probably in for a rude awakening. if you see a path to victory in swing districts around the country it will be more of a governing center right message of competent, reliability, responsible government much more so than the legislative arsonism

of bannon. >> i agree completely. coming up, the most important person of the week not named trump, moore, or jones. stay with us. t while some push h commission investment products, fisher investments avoids them. some advisers have hidden and layered fees. fisher investments never does. and while some advisers are happy to earn commissions from you whether you do well or not, fisher investments fees are structured so we do better when you do better. maybe that's why most of our clients come from other money managers. fisher investments. clearly better money management. fast like stop staring atcaps help youthe clock fast,st, like stop worrying about your boss fast, like wow, you're already asleep fast. when life keeps you up... zzzquil helps you fall asleep in as little as 20 minutes. ♪ ♪ it feels good to be back.

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welcome back. i'm hugh hewitt. you can hear me monday through friday on the salem radio network 6:00 to 9:00 a.m. eastern standard. saturday mornings, though, i'm here on msnbc. i'm joined this morning by tim alberta, francesca chambers,

james holman and courtney, our own nbc news. i ask who is the most important person not named trump. my question is who is the person not named trump. i always declare my son works with epa. when the weekly standard puts you on the cover and says here's the most courageous in town. >> i will pick ivanka so we can talk about her trip to india. the president's daughter, also a senior adviser to the president went to india to represent the united states at the global entrepreneurship summit. she was invited by the prime minister of that country. however, it smoke volumes that it was the first daughter who went on that. in the past you had secretary of state rex tillerson, former

president barack obama who started the summit, go to that in the past as well. just her presence there show you really how she's perceived within the administration has having a certain amount of power but also the global stage. amount of people told me after they heard her speak they weren't sure what to think about her when she came in because she is the president's daughter. that's how she got that job. and other opportunities in life when other entrepreneurs are pulling yourself up by the boot straps living in impoverished cups. she came out of this and i had so many people, american and otherwise, telling me they were really impressed with what she had to say and she came out not being the president's daughter but ivanka trump her own person. >> james? >> washington state just took over the democratic governors

association. 36 governors races. a bunch of those states, he has significant control over redistricting. whoever wins 2018, that will control the house in 2020. >> realistically how many are up for play? >> twenty. i really think. a lot of states where you could see -- i think democrats, there's a couple gimmes they will get. republicans have a couple they will probably pick up. republicans have had the most governorships. if it's a bad environment. it may be. a year is a long time. but he wants to run for president in 2020. he spent a long time in the house. he got full control of the state legislature, liberal agenda. mitt romney used it. >> bill clinton. >> bill clinton with the dga. didn't work out so well for martin o'malley. butte but he is an interesting guy.

i had lunch with him until his wife came and forced him to leave because he had to go to rehearsal dinner. i think if democrats have a good year he is someone to watch in 2020. below the radar right now. he is building up his fund-raising network. >> courtney, who is yours? >> so the person i was watching the most this week is nikki haley. we put out a story on tuesday saying she was going to be putting out this new evidence against iran on thursday, which she did, yesterday. she went to southwest d.c. and laid out all of this evidence of iran's malign activities, they are providing weapons to -- by transferring weapons to others. in this case, specifically the hut huthy. a missile was fired that landed right outside the airport in riyadh.

and they had reconstituted part of this missile and had it on display yesterday at bowling or this week at bowling with very specific markings they indicated were -- indicated it was an iranian-made missile. they had other things there. a drone packed with explosives they said was made by iran and provided by iran. >> she was touted to replace rex tillerson whose exit is coming. mike pompeo has the inside track. there are skeptics that the president doesn't want to give up his daily briefing. nixon met with kissinger every day. she may have hurt herself with the comments with the president and his accusers. >> they said it seemed to be defender the accuser saying they deserve to be heard. this is clear. so we don't know exactly why nikki haley was the one who rolled this out. when i first heard about it on monday, it surprised me she was

the one doing it. she still has a lot of credibility in the administration. it could be because they want her to be the face of iran. part of this was talking about violationins of u.s. regulation. i don't know why. she has been the face of a strong foreign policy for this administration on two major issues, north korea and iran. >> tim alberta, is it kevin mccarthy or steve scalise? >> it is mitch mcconnell. tax are form is on the one yard line here. it's not going to be the house that holds it up. the only way this thing falls apart at the last minute is if the senate cannot get to 50. mitch mcconnell is already in the dog house -- in the president's dog house because he can't get repeal and replace across the finish line. if mitch mcconnell finds a way to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat here -- excuse me, defeat from the jaws of victory, i should say i don't know how he survives. i don't think it's likely.

i think it gets to the president's desk next week. mcconnell is facing last minute fires that he has to put out as far as rubio, corner, collins, always a usual suspect. >> health insurance from cochran. >> health issues from two other senators. this is not a done deal yet. it is not a done deal. this is a legacy item for mitch mcconnell and more immediately a political imperative. >> this was the week that mcconnell shepherded through a federal appeals court judge breaking the old record by three for first year of a presidency. in addition to the neil gorsuch confirmation, the most productive appointments to the federal bench in my memory, in my lifetime. no one has done that much this fast than mitch mcconnell. big laurel wreath. all those 1 hyundai denigrations of donald trump's first year out the window, right? >> look, i think tax reform is

the linchpin. suddenly trump's first year looks very differently. >> it goes from desert to oasis. still ahead, what we are reading that could help you with a christmas gift in two weeks. remember how the economic crash

was supposed to be a wake up call for our government? people all across the country lost their savings, their pensions and their jobs. i'm tom steyer and it turned out that the system that had benefited people like me who are well off, was, in fact, stacked against everyone else. it's why i left my investment firm and resolved to use my savings for the public good. but here we are nine years later and this president and the republican congress are making a bad situation even worse. they won't tell you that their so called "tax reform" plan

is really for the wealthy and big corporations, while hurting the middle class. it blows up the deficit and that means fewer investments in education, health care and job creation. it's up to all of us to stand up to this president. not just for impeachable offenses, but also to demand a country where everyone has a real chance to succeed. join us. your voice matters. i'm the one clocking in when you're clocking out. sensing and automatically adjusting to your every move. does your bed do that? i'm the new sleep number 360 smart bed. let's meet at a sleep number store. we35 mules,ur doors with 70 mega-watts, and an ice plant. but we brought power to the people- redefining what that meant from one era to the next. over 90 years later, we continue to build as america's 3rd largest investor in infrastructure.

we don't just help power the american dream... we're part of it. most weeks i ask my panel what they are or should be reading. this week i'm asking them what christmas book are they gifting and to whom. i am giving myself to every member of the junior officers protection association. "the leader's bookshelf." it is the one stop shopping center for all the great books read by flag sisters, surveyed by anc he ell. it is an amazing thing to give to a young officer in any of the branches and indeed nip in the military or their families. tim alberta? >> i am gifting my wife a book

called "behave" by robert sapolsky. >> are you on thin ice? >> behave is not a v he erb in this context. i have not read it. apparently a fascinating book about human behavior at our best and worst and why we do things the way we do them, why we do them, specific incidents. my wife is a psychologist. so i thought she would get a kick out of it. >> is this a plea for help? >> yeah. i thought it would be -- she's kind of a nerd. i don't know if i could read a book like this. although there is quite a bit of humor. it is supposed to be terrific. >> francesca chambers? >> i hope you're also getting her jewelry after saying she's a nerd. >> a nerd in the best possible way. >> sorry. i just had to say that.

i got my grandmother "everything you need to know about social media without having to ask a kid." >> great choice. >> greta is a friend. this book is fantastic. not only am i getting it for my grandmother, i might get it for other on family members. i don't want to give that away. they might be watching. >> very well done. greta is a friend as well. she does know her social media. james homan? >> 1,000 pages but worth reading. "the republic for which it stands." a definitive story from 1865 to 1896. what's old is new. >> give me the dates? >> 1865 to 1896. >> those are all the ohio presidents. >> all the ohio presidents. there are so many parallels between then and now. america in a great period of unease, division, figuring it out, good leaders, bad leaders.

>> and electricity. the telephone comes along. it's a beautiful book. incredible narrative. it's thick. my dad is going to find out on your show. it will keep him busy during christmas. >> courtney kube, how about yourself? >> i could use help, especially that behave. and i feel like this would be an great bedside weapon. mine is a christmas story by gene shepherd. i got this copy when i was in second grade. my kids turned 3 earlier this month. you will shoot your eye out if you get a b.b. gun. >> and don't lick the -- >> yeah. it's been a long year. it's been a lot of unpleasant stories we had to cover from north korea to iraq and

afghanistan. it's the time of year where it would be nice to all have a laugh. >> maybe i don't want my grandmother on social media now that you mention all of that. >> a christmas story, always makes unfavorable comparisons to me. >> love actually or christmas story. >> love actually. >> love actually. >> love actually. >> "the santa clause" with tim allen. that's a third one. >> christmas vacation. >> i'm going with a christmas story. it is a tradition in the hewitt household. it runs pretty much 24/7 around the clock. merry, merry christmas. get all of your shopping done. thank you to the panel. for all of you at home, thank you. keep the conversation going on

ph msnbc.com/hugh-hewitt. more people shop online for the holidays than ever before. (clapping) and the united states postal service delivers more of those purchases to homes than anyone else in the country. ( ♪ ) because we know, even the smallest things are sometimes the biggest. just serve classy snacks and bew a gracious host,iday party. no matter who shows up. do you like nuts?

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good morning, everyone. i'm alex witt at msnbc world headquarters in new york. the tax bill is scheduled for vote on tuesday. it appears republicans do have the support to get it passed. in just a few minutes i will speak with congressman charlie dent of pennsylvania about the tax bill. a defiant roy moore is telling support issers the battle is not over. he's asking for contributions to a fund to help him possible contest his loss in tuesday's election. hollywood responding to a series of hig