that does it for this hour. i'm sheinelle jones. "datelin "datelind "deadline with nicolle wallace" will be back monday. and it's a special end edition of "mtp daily," and it starts right now. good evening. and welcome to "mtp daily." i'm chuck todd here in washington, and on, oh, what a difference a year makes. 2017 began with the democratic party in tatters. now they're talking about taking back the house and senate in 2018. folks, if 2017 was all about donald trump in office, 2018 could very well be a referendum on getting him out of it. this was a wave year for democrats, and against president

trump. and that mini wave has been steadily building. look at the build special elections we've had this year all in red states or red congress' districts. kansas' fourth district, republican party won by 31 points 4r569 year. in april, that margin dropped to 7. in montana's at-large district, 27. 2016, dropped to 7. >> and the big one in december. alabama's special senate election. they lost to democrats this month by 2. don't forget, democrats ran up the score in virginia and new jersey, both not just in the goober n goob gubernatorial and all sum up the increasingly toxic political environment now for the gop under president trump.

the tweets, the petty fights, the controversial legislation, russia probe, foreign policy chaos. response to charlottesville, endorsement of an accused child molester and fellow republicas s and chaos led to top republicans saying, enough. >> whether or not we are of the same party, we are not the president's sboubordinatesubord. we are his equal. >> bigotry seems emboldened. more vulnerable to conspiracy theories and outright fabrication. >> you would think he would say pysay aspire to the president of the united states and the act like the president of the united states, but that's just not going to be the case apparently. >> mr. president, i rise today to say, enough. >> but the biggest challenge for is gop in 2018 is figuring ways to manage the leader of their

party, the president, the biggest for democrats, how to manage their own base. going into 2018, elected democrats are divided on that issue. >> impeaching donald john trump. >> we should be meevi inmoving impeachment. >> let of the party is annoyed with me for not impeaching the president for going into iraq. >> you don't think impeachment should be the cry of democrats in to 18? >> no, i do not. >> 15 backed the articles of impeachment, nancy pelosi opposed. a handful of democrats calling for the president to resign over sexual assault allegation. chuck schumer is not one of them. a few democrats are even talking about invoking the 25th amendment because they view the president as somehow unstable. no matter how you slice it, the 2017 democratic wave looks like it's going to turn into a 2018 referendum on the president. so if you thought 2017 was a crazy year, you ain't seen

nothing yet. here with us for the hour, expert panel. all friends of the show. jennifer palmierpalmieri, and h editor of the political report and msnbc contributor, and michael steele, msnbc political analyst and former rnc chairman. welcome all. all right. mr. steele -- you used to run this party. >> i used to have hair, too. [ laughter ] >> and here we are. it's the beginning of 2009 when you took over the republican party. looked like they were in tatters. by end of 2009 you were on the way to winning a massachusetts special senate election. feels like deja vu except the democrats are in the driver's seat. is that what you see? >> it is. and stark in respects how both parties react to the environment. democrats were incredulous to

you know what we were trying to do simply because barack obama had been elected president. they had all of this energy around this idea of doing health care and a bunch of other things. on our side, we were a little more cautious and a little bit more forward-thinking about how does this resonate with the american people. the key thing, where the democrats are falling down anden where the similarity ends, it's that we had to focus on what's going to be that thread? that common thread that's going to draw these disparate parts of our party together? those who were angry at the leadership, those tired as base republicans et cetera, the donor class was upset. how do you begin to bring all of those back together? of course, we rallied around the idea of firing nancy pelosi in 2010 and making health care among other things one of the core issues. the question for the democrats now, so what's your parallel universe in terms of that thread that you then bring all of these disparate part of the democratic party together to rally around the idea that, yeah.

impeeaching the president sound good in a sound bite and clip. the reality trying to fire pelosi at the ballot box versus impeaching the president, very different. >> from our last poll of 2017. should congress hold impeachment hearings? majority said no. 41% said, yes. that's a large number before there's even been a case really made. that shows you, that's -- that's your base energy of anger at the president. that's where the democrats begin. 41%. >> the thread the democrats is, president trump. they might not be able to agree whether to impeach him but whether or not they want to put a big check on him. whether or not they want to push back on all of his policies, push back on the general decorum people feel are lost in this country. when you have a president even his own party says isn't acting presidential, that's what democrats will rally around. i don't think it's that big of a deal whether or not nancy pelosi and chuck schumer say we want

him impeached. you say donald trump's flamname putting him in commercials, the first president unstable, the argument you make that will rally people, if they want to impeach him or have di poems ff policies. >> about a check. 1994. 1998, whether to stay in office. that backfired. >> but he was not a threat to the republic and donald trump is. you have to look, helpful to look at history and how politics played out. there's a pendulum that swings in midterms but this is very different. something we haven't seen. democrats turned 0 ut in alabama and virginia really believe that the health, the state of our democracy sat threat here and that is going to i think -- democrats have to be a check on trump. i don't think they have to say they'll impeach him and need to have each individual candidate, they have to have a platform

they are running on and do it locally the way doug jones did. you can't just rely on trump. but i think the combination of the two is going to be enough, but it is -- this is a very -- he is not abided by the rule of law, arguably not abiding by the constitution. a very differ situation than we faced in '98. i don't worry as much about that backlash. >> seems like some senate democrats are trying to find middle ground? go with resignation. a mashup of senators and the resign idea of avoiding the i word. take a listen. >> i am leaving while a man who has bragged on tape about his history of sexual assault sits in the oval office. >> al franken felt it improper for -- proper for him to resign. you have a president recused by many women of assault, who says on a tape he assaulted women. he might want to think about doing the same. >> president trump should

resign. >> he's a misogynist and admitted sexual predator and liar. the only thing that will keep him from attacking us is his resignation. >> i believe the president is unfit for office and i would -- love to see the president resign. >> if you recall, immediately after that, i don't want impeachment to be the lead. right? >> all of this conversation is meaningless until democrats actually have real power. if the midterms are a referendum on president trump, you have a president in the mid-30s, approval. 20 points under water. democrats win that mid-term. win that referendum. suddenly, make it a referendum on impeachment, a closer argument. >> clearly, even polling shows it. another step. right? if you make this a check. that's why i ask this. won't donald trump realize this? doesn't he want it, oddly enough, come to a moment, make it a referendum on impeachment.

let's go? >> i don't think so. i think donald trump is about avoiding as much taint on donald trump as possible. he doesn't want that stigma or that conversation. >> doesn't that fire up his base, to "save the president"? >> yeah, but that's an argument to be made, if they lose the house. it's kind of weird. i mean, making that argument beforehand seems a little, why are you worried about impeachment? why are you talking about impeachment, mr. president? is there something we should be concerned about? so i don't see him going and leading with that particular argument, because while it may rile the base a little, it doesn't advance his ultimate agenda. >> i can see him loving the democrats in with mueller and saying this is all, all part of a conspiracy. >> deep state. >> to bring him down and we're all in cahoots together, very likely. >> advancing the impeachment argument. lumping it together. a great cabal against me. democrats and mueller and comey, all of these guys combined.

>> i don't think they will talk about impeachment but i think that they do need to be more vocal about calling li ing him the discrediting of mueller. that is setting in and like i talk to -- that makes it seem political. well, you're a politician. and, b., it's your job. this is, you're supposed to be the constitution says so. a check and balance on the president. this is what is happening now, it's corrosive and they have to be more, even though they don't want to be, the burden falls on them and they it try to more on not they find mueller credible. >> talking to democrats they are talking almost 99% about trump. beginning the year, only talk about trump. a whole message. 18 different hash tags rolled out. no one could figure out the slogan. kid rock stole one of them. all of this stuff. what are the democrats about? then you see doug jones, who

black people looked at in alabama and said, that's the prosecutor who prosecuted the person who killed those four girls in the churn. we know and trust him. we're going to leave our house for him. democrats should take that message and say we'll find candidates who are diversity. not just talk about that. >> wait a minute. three candidates, funny you bring it up that way. i look at doug jones anden ralph northam, put john in there and say, they were -- not the most charismatic nominees. leave it at that. i don't think they would take that -- hope they don't take it personally. that worked, because they were just, not them. >> yeah. >> two days in october when i sat down with 16 democratic congressional candidates. the number of times trump came up out of those 16 conversations, probably twice. number of times russia came up, zero. and so democratic consultants and democrats in d.c. may be talking about trump. i don't hear that so much from candidates. in fact, i hear them talking more about the tax bill, paul ryan, mitch mcconnell, because that's the wedge democrats can

drive between republicans and the trump base. >> they do, but i think what the voters hear -- even at the national level don't talk about trump except in the context of the tax bill. >> that's the background music. orchestr orchestral. pause here. a lot of time to talk. trust me. i promise. you guys are sticking around for the hour. coming up, as we've said, in this new political environment everyone with an r. next to their name has a reason to worry. does that mean democrats can actually take back the house? how about the senate? dive sfwhinto that next, and throughout the hour, show are you the most important and impactful moments of 2016, starting with the beginning, inauguration day. >> mothers and children trapped in poverty in our inner cities. rusted out factories, scattered like tombstones across the

landscape of our nation. and's the crime, and the gangs. and the drugs. this american carnage stops right here and stops right now.

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welcome back. looking ahead to 2018, democrats are seriously thinking about something that seemed unthinkable at the start of 2017. taking back both the house and senate. our nbc news/"wall street journal" poll found democrats had the big effort advantage in the congressional preference question in nine years. 50 percent pr

50% democrats control congress and if you know the history, you hit 50 in our poll, that's a big, big deal. the poll shows democrats have an intensity advantage with 59% of democrats having a high level of interest in the elections next year versus 49% of republican voters saying the same. it's not that simple. democrats currently have 193 seats in congress and republicans have 239. so democrats need at least 24 seats to retake the house and then there's the senate. democrats have an even tougher climb. defending 25 seats including 2 held by independents including 10 in states that went for donald trump in 2016 and republicans are defending just 8 overall. bring back the panel. jennifer, and aneesh and michael, what you get paid to do. so here we are. the proverbial election held today, in a dip in the gop. aren't we? >> i think 2018 is on track to be the year of the angry white college graduate and specifically the angry female

college graduate. look, we're on track for 2018 to be the highest most educated electorate in the history of the country. and that's half the equation. the other half, that the trump base is not turning out. they tend to be whites without college degrees. so, look, the house, i think favors democrats at the moment. not by much, but if the election were held in a week from now, i think democrats would win if by a narrow margin. the senate is leaning republican still, but it's got -- it's got a tight, a tight margin. >> jennifer, the most amazing thing to me on the senate map for the democrats, not a single retirement. if you think of that, that is the remarkable thing. they might lose one or two, but have all incumbents. >> yeah. >> that's -- it says a lot. >> yes. people are, they're not afraid, and as we saw, in that really difficult states. i think after the -- >> and some aren't the profiles

encouraging of political campaigns if you think about it. >> right. we could name the states, and not the senators, but -- they're tough states in the middle of the country. but i think after -- i felt after northam won, with such a big margin and it wasn't -- wasn't the great effort candidate we've ever put forward, you just felt like this year was going to be different, and if i were a republican senator, incumbent, i would be concerned. everything has to be considered in play. arizona and texas. both seem very possible to me. >> what i thought was interesting, when we looked at the highlights, playing things of people that were criticizing president trump and talking -- there was bob corker, jeff flake. running down the hallway with them this month, chasing them as per usual and while they are the most vocal people, also people choosing to bow out and leave. then having only a few women thinking of susan collins. i'm staying. where i freneed to be and republicans are leaving in disgust at the president and

that's another reason why republicans are in this weird place. >> and michael, the key to 2018 being manageable versus disastrous is going to be this fight with steve bannon. let me -- this bannon versus the establishment. here's our montage here. >> we are declaring war on the republican establishment that does not back the agenda that donald trump ran on. >> mitch mcconnell and this permanent political class is the most corrupt and incompetent group of individuals in this country. >> there's a time and season for everything. and right now it's a season of war against a gop establishment. >> there's a special place in hell -- for republican whose should no better. >> what's interesting here, michael. two ways to look at what bannon is doing. one hand, the same fight taking operation with the establishment, before a steve bannon. >> exactly.

he's not old. >> this is not old. not new. >> right. >> exactly. but then a part of this says bannon has to keep doing this, because if somehow the mitch mcconnell view of the republican party wins then donald trump's in bigger trouble than we think. >> yeah. i think that's why steve is out here dropping these little turd bombs wherever he can, and that's what it is. from my perspective, that's what it is. >> proverbial punch bowl. >> they leave a trail. the fact of the matter is. >> you don't have to visualize. >> but the reality for the republican party is, what has been set up as a very vocal in your face civil war. notice what happened at the end of the race in alabama. what was the first thing mitch mcconnell did? he threw down against bannon. made it clear, you want to come play? go do this, let's do it, but i don't know if mcconnell really has the kind of stuff behind him when to your point, aneesh, members willing to stand on the

line and confront the president are leaving. he has to look at folks behind him and see how much they're ready to engage in this battle beyond just protecting their own seat but protecting the party, and bannon is ready to play. >> and the reason the senate's in play is not just because of roy moore. also there's five other races in the last six years that basically republicans have thrown away based on bad primary decisions. >> exactly. >> i'm looking at a map here. i know he's put fisher, incumbent in nebraska. how do you make that race competitive? get rid of deb fisher. mississippi. how do you make that race competitive? nominate a younger version of roy moore if they're not careful. i mean, does bannon care? >> look, republicans should be on offense. right? the irony is they ought to be spending all of their money going after the ten democrats in seats that donald trump carried. in fact, donald trump carried 60 senate seats out of 100 in the senate in 2016, and yet if republicans spend all of their money fighting each other in

these primaries in 2018, that's the second ingredient on top of alabama for democrats to have a plausible path to a majority. >> so is -- did the alabama race cost bannon money, though? you've got to think, you know -- do the big donors, even the -- mercer backed away. right? the, daddy mercer backed away because of the hedge fund. is that something that mcconnell thinks he can pull up? drying up bannon's funds? >> i don't know if it's doing that as much as drying up his brand of republican. an idea everyone was like, well donald trump got elected when he was accused of sexually inappropriate behavior. donald trump could chlthrow bom and still get elected but not everybody was donald trump. he had a reality tv show, in people's living rooms for years. roy moore could not follow the trump brand, and continue that into the senate. i think what donors are probably

figures out, other people can't just be mini donald trumps around the country. it won't fly. >> i think the most interesting primaries we'll see one for sure, in arizona. >> right. >> and the fight for sort of -- to me, haarizona's been emblematic. whether mccain and flake, the governor, seeing both wings of party seem to live and reside in the state of arizona. >> an emerging state for democrats, too. you have not just the drama playing out on the republican side but i think -- the clinton campaign, if we'd gone there earlier to play could have won that and we'll have a candidate on the democratic side. >> and ohio, florida, during presidential years. alternate. which states matters the most? is it fair to say arizona? i argue this year, arizona or florida. only in one state to cover midterms bun of those two? what say you? >> i'm not so sure. i think democrats may have a

better chance taking over arizona and nevada in the midterms. >> a toll western -- >> keep in mind, they have to hold all ten trump state seats and claire mccasking and joe donnelly are sitting in territory that's much less favorable to democrats than arizona or nevada. >> you put claire mccaskill and joe donnelly as the two most vulnerable? >> yeah, because those are small states. keep in mind, those senators know their voters personally. >> yeah. >> that's harder for claire mccaskill or joe donnelly to say. >> there you go. guys, pause it here. panelists sticking with us. up next, the russia investigation. it's the shadow hanging over the trump white house from -- actually negative day one, if you will. before the first day in office. be right back with that. you're watching a special edition of "mtp daily." the best of 2017. >> you're saying a salt fundamental and sean spicer our press secretary gave alternative facts to that. >> wait minute. alternative facts are not facts.

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welcome back. all year the russia

investigation has hung over the trump white house. here's a look back at some of the major moments in the investigation this year, even before they entered the white house, the trump team denied anybody in the campaign had any contact with russia. >> i'm just telling you. it's all phony baloney garbage. >> did any adviser or anybody in the trump campaign have any contact with the russians who were trying to meddle in the election? >> of course not. >> overnight, an abrupt and stunning resignation from national security advisers michael flynn. >> general flynn is a wonderful man. i think he's been treated very, very unfairly. >> i have nothing to do with russia. >> i have now decided to recuse myself. >> breaking news -- jim comey is out at the fbi. >> i was going to fire -- my decision. >> you made the decision before they came -- >> i was going to fire regardless of recommendation. >> the justice department announced a special counsel to lead a new investigation into

russian influence in the election and whether there was coordination with members of the trump campaign. >> it's my judgment that i was fired because of the russia investigation. i was fired in some way to change, or the endeavor to change the way the russia investigation was being conducted. >> i did not have any private meetings nor do i recall any conversations with any russian officials. >> in res troe spect, i probably would have done thingsty differently. for me opposition research. >> indicted. donald trump's former campaign manager paul manafort, and manafort's right-hand man, both charged by robert mueller. >> for the first time, someone a member of the trump administration's inner circle takes a stunning fall. >> as much as the trump administration wishes it weren't true, that russia investigation is going to be a big part of 2018 as well. we have a lot more on this special year-end edition of "mtp daily" coming up, including what our panelists say was the most

important moment of 2017. i'm richard lui in the msnbc newsroom. the 2017 stock market is on the books wrapping up their best year since 2013 with a light sell offin the closing hour. dow finishing the year with a staggering 25% gain. s&p shedding 14 points today. climbing 19% on the year. the nasdaq down 46 points but up 28% all said in 2017. boeing stocks, biggest gains this year climbing almost 90%. ge saw the largest decline falls 45% in 2017. for now, back to "mtp daily." it's your last chance of the year to get our best offer of the year: zero percent financing for seventy-two months, plus an extra one-thousand cash back across a full lineup of ford cars, trucks and suvs.

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i think there's blame on both sides. you look at -- you look at both sides. i think there's blame on both sides. and i have no doubt about it.

>> you had a group on one side that was bad and you had a group on the other side that was also very violent ant nobody wraunts to say that, but i'll say it right now. >> welcome back. that was president trump in august saying that the counterprotesters demonstrating against white nationalism waltz were also to blame. and our panel is back with us. we asked each to pick their most impactful moment of 2017 and, yes, made sure that some of you wanted to pick the same ones. e were made sure every pick add different one. you got in -- >> yeah. >> you went with charlottesville. why? >> i went with, first of all, my actual choice. what i got. i wasn't forced to do this and i think it's because it encompassed what a lot of people found really problematic with president trump. that he couldn't actually say white nationalists were a bad thing. it made, the night elected, so many people of color terrified for their communities because they felt as though even if he was not a white nationalist, he

emboldened this part of our country we thought we put away with the election of president trump, and his inability to say, this young woman died and this was a terrible thing that happened in charlottesville encompassed what was wrong with the presidency. he couldn't be decisive saying there are things in the country that are bad. couldn't slap down the people that support him that are also white nationalists couldn't do it and couldn't do it a whole week. continued to go back to that. >> ironically, for anybody that is working hard because they care about preserving confederate memorial, may have done more damage to their cause than anything else on that moment. michael steele, i know everybody wants to debate everything, but i'm going to michael steele. you picked the nfl and let me play that infamous nfl night. >> wouldn't you love to see one of these nfl owners when somebody disrespects our flag? to say, get that son of a bitch

off the field right now. out. he's fired. [ cheers ] he's fired! >> why did you pick it? >> because i thought it encapsulated a number of things at the same time. one, it was the president's way of saying, remember when i wanted to get a football team? 's y'all wouldn't let me? here's one for you. sort of dropped a little something there for that. then also sort of pivoting off of all of the angst and frustration growing out of charlottesville and taking something that, by the way, a lot of people don't remember. the incident with colin kaepernick happened 264 days before that sound bite. the presidents outrage and concern was fake, phony, fake news. fake news to generate for him a particular purpose, which was to shift the conversation away from him, away from russia, and away from some other things that were going on with the administration at the time, and sort of

encapsulated for me how the president knowing so well how to move those perceptions inside the public mind, drew something out there, everyone went running for it and there we were. >> amazing thing, he drops that bomb and somehow walks away while the nfl is a mess. >> and the nfl is a mess. >> a mess. >> they lost viewership. everything. >> a real problem. >> the real deal. >> mr. wasserman, you picked doug jones. obvious, but -- explain. >> democrats had come close in four special elections and lost all four of them and finally got a win in alabama. it would have been one thing if doug jones had simply made big strides in the suburbs with republicans who were disgusted with roy moore blaut ut we saw country did not turn out in alabama pap problem across the board for republicans. that is really ominous for their 2018 prospects. >> and you picked the other, probably the largest story of the year. >> right.

>> in connection, or not -- whether with president trump or not, that is of course, the #metoo movement. a quick mash. >> fox news confirming that longtime host billowriley -- billow riley is out. >> harvey weinstein -- >> and nbc news political analyst mark halperin off the air accused of lewd conduct. >> lewis c.k. breaks silence admitting he acted inappropriately with several different women. >> the eye-opening list of powerful men outed for sexual misconduct includes a sitting u.s. senator. minnesota democrat al franken. >> charlie rose fired from all of his broadcast jobs. >> matt lauer terminated from nbc news. >> i'm told he will resign, congressman conyers. >> stunning. >> astonishing. >> astonishing it see it laid out like that. the biggest development not just

in politics but in society and i think there is -- i mean it has not just made i think men re-evaluate the workplace but i think that it's a game changer, it's upended for women the way they think about the power dynamic in the workplace. >> i think i know where you're going. sort of instead of competing with each other anymore? >> competing with each other anymore. you understand that there's not a limit to how many women can be at the table? >> don't fight each other for the one seat. fight for more seats. >> for more seats and there are things you don't have to accept. i feel that with the election of trump, i think for a lot of women, you feel like, we have plateaued. only gone so far abiding by a certain set of rules and have to reimagine what it means for a woman in a leadership wi shship. a conversation i had, didn't appreciate women felt scared a lot. i was like -- you didn't? that is a -- that's a big -- i think for women understanding,

you shouldn't feel that way is a game changer. >> would we have had this moment if hillary clinton had been elected? a lot of us wondered. do all of these women come forward on harvey weinstein, for some reason considered the imp 'tis and not bill o'reilly or roger ailes, we have have a conversation about that, but does it happen if hillary clinton's president? >> i think, yes, it does happen. i think mainly because there are women digging for these stories before the election. i think women, journalists at my paper, who were digging and knowing that they wanted to uncover this and women who were ready to tell they are stories. primed through the election, and "access hollywood" tape. all of that true. we would have had this moment. as a woman who thought more about this, an idea culturally harvey weinstein made books. made books, created movies. did all these things that impacted our society in the way we view women and think of women as crazy emotional, they couldn't be, ceos of companies.

we learned this through movies and be that's a problem to me and i think so many times we as women don't talk to member how you have to be so -- make men comfortable all the time. >> michael, that has made my stomach churn the most. when i've had that conversation. >> uh-huh. >> with, at home, and we fa-- is that point there. look how men were in charge of narratives about women's lives. that's where it's hit home. like, everybody has their own sort of, like, uh-huh moment. that one hit me hard. >> i understand it and know in my own home, of course i learned this lesson a long time ago after 33 years. no. it's a powerful one because for the first time many women through the story, the story of all of these other women, found a voice, and found a way. so whether hillary clinton is in the white house or donald trump, this story was going to happen, and it was going to happen on their terms, and i think that's

significant for this moment. it's happening on the terms that women want it to happen on. they don't have to go out and explain it. they don't have to go out and apologize for it. this is what happened to me. now let's deal with it. that's a powerful spot. >> interesting, david wasserman. look, is it -- are you seeing already the impact? you talk about how many candidates you interview. >> uh-huh. >> how many more women candidates are you interviewing this cycle? >> exactly. remember 1992? >> first year of the woman. >> the woman. 2018 could be an even bigger year of the woman. congress, face it, still a grossly unrepresentative institution when it comes to gender and if democrats retake the house i think they'll do so by the margin of the female candidates that they've run. >> and's that's the -- to me -- jen, you and i were in the town when there was a house bank scandal. sort of a '92, a wild, like a forest fire. it cleared the brush out of the blatantly corrupt. okay? >> yeah. >> feels like we're about to

head to another one. they just clean house. by the way, more in state capitols as much as congress. >> a whole other drum roll to come now. imagine that? that culture. >> and worse than we've ever imagined here. >> have had a lot more -- >> the quintessential. >> keep ap eye on it. i think surviving republicans in 2018 will be women. keep an eye on that. marcia blackburn in tennessee, that that may be important. >> yeah and also i say other sectors of our society will see women becoming influential. who will take over charlie rose's seat? taking over matt lauer's seat? take over restaurants? women will come into this moment you'll be able to have -- able to get your due in way you couldn't before, because so many men blocked you for so many reasons. not one of which that you didn't want to sleep with them. there's a new thing. especially younger women. saying, i'm going to open my mouth this time.

listen to what my mother's telling me and say, i do deserve this job. i am qualified. >> it's that generational difference, too, fascinating to watch. guys, pause it here. when we come back -- it's never too early to talk 2020. our vision is way focused there. right? we'll tell you who may be booking their trips to iowa and new hampshire. actually, the list of people not running is much smaller. stick around. the best of "mtp daily," the best of 2017. >> the only thing that hurts it is the fake news and there's plenty of that. >> look at all the fake news. >> fake news. fake news. >> affefake news. >> fake. >> fake. >> fake, fake, fake. >> fake news. >> fake news. >> such a fake. >> all i can say it's totally fake news. it's fake. it's made up stuff. we're facing 20 billion security events every day. ddos campaigns, ransomware, malware attacks... actually, we just handled all the priority threats. you did that? we did that.

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welcome back. we talked a lot about 2017 and a lot about 2018. i know you want some kentucky

gon 20g gov 2019 news. but i'm going to skip that. all right, jennifer, we asked you all to pick sort of -- a obvious potential front running candidate and somebody behind -- you know, somebody people aren't talking about that you think we will be talking about. >> so the person that i think is very obvious is bernie sanders. i've already been covering -- >> you have him as a front-runner? >> i tap him as a front-runner. there is already a line, he's going to be almost like nelson mandela. he's going to run in his 80s. >> you put bernie sanders and nelson mandela in the same sentence. >> that's what his supporters are doing. it's clear that he's very excited about it and he thinks he can beat donald trump. and the person that could run but i don't think will is oprah

winfr winfrey. >> in a few minutes i'll reveal another idea from my daughter but same idea with one candidate. mr. steele, the front-runner and -- >> a front-runner and who i think will be the democratic nominee is the governor of virginia, terry mccauliff. >> wow! you really think the democrats will go with a clinton democrat? >> it's not so much about the clinton brand so much as it is, what he's done as governor in -- >> do you think it's a good story? >> a good story in virginia. he's got a national network that we all know. jennifer is looking at me like i have four horns growing out of my head. >> i'm looking at you like, did terry put you up to this? >> no, he's not and he's probably surprised i'm saying this. but he's someone for all of us to watch. >> who aren't we talking about? >> governor martin o'malley. >> oh, you malander, you.

>> he's out and about right now, and he's making some interesting noise. i don't know if the seeds are germ rating and rooting for him, but he's back in the game and it will be interesting to watch. so i give him dark horse status. >> underrated, what i would call a hand-to-hand campaigner. mr. wasserman? >> i'm going to throw some cold water on his pick. i think era of generalist is over. if you're going to win the presidency, you need to be a specialist, and champion an issue. i think even before the metoo moment, kirsten gillibrand made sexual misconduct a signature issue. i think that's what has propelled her to front-runner status at this moment. now, bernie obvious ly has a hue following. however, as a dark horse, i'm

looking at someone else for the signature issue, the mayor of new orleans, who has tackled confederate money. >> jennifer? >> i picked gillibrand too as a front-runner. she's in primetime, so kirsten gillibrand -- >> she's in new york. that's a primetime state. >> and she did -- i think she's fearless and she stakes out a bold claim and doesn't let go, even when it gets uncomfortable. i think that that -- i think that it could be her moment. and then my dark horse is the governor of montana, who i think -- i don't think that people are going to want a celebrity candidate. i think you get the mirror opposite of donald trump. you could look at that and say that's kirsten gillibrand or say that's cory booker.

but i think people look at somebody who runs in a red state but isn't a moderate. he campaigns on medicaid. he got it done. by walking around the state, convincing them this is the right thing to do. and i think he's a unifier by nature, and a western state. i think he's very talented. >> it was an interesting thing that my daughter reminded me of. i had no idea that dwayne johnson had went on "ellen" and says he was seriously considering it. how likely do we get a celebrity? >> i think it's likely. if you're a celebrity and can fund your own campaign, you're looking at donald trump and saying i can do this. >> the country may have a different -- >> any way, all right, guys. thank you all. what an hour. hopefully we got people now

having their own conversations about this. that's all we have for this special year-end edition of "mtp daily." watch us every weekday at 5:00 right here on msnbc. happy holidays, happy new year from all of us here. been quite a ride. ♪ good evening. 201 2017 is wrapping up and this is the final edition of "the beat" for the year. cue the music. ♪ no, not that music. but we have a special fallback friday tonight. but we begin with a very special report on the one force that has boxed in donald trump's first year in office unlike any other administration in history. a report on bob mueller's russia probe. and in a