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where he'll meet next hour with president biden, a symbolic display of the peaceful transfer of power and one that trump disregarded four years ago. also ahead, picking a pundit. surprise in washington as trump taps a fox news host to be defense secretary. but could his past statements prove problematic? and later, senate republicans choosing a new leader for the first time in 16 years. the maga shadow over the race to replace mitch mcconnell. good morning. it's 10:00 eastern, 7:00 a.m. pacific, i'm ana cabrera reporting from new york. let's get to the breaking news. donald trump returning to washington as president-elect and beginning his day with house republicans at the hyatt regency on capitol hill, where we hear elon musk will be in tow as gop lawmakers from that chamber gather to hold leadership

elections. and next hour, president biden will host president-elect trump at the white house. that meeting, a symbolic display of the transfer of power and a gesture that trump did not extend to biden back in 2020. nbc's vaughn hillyard is tracking the latest with trump. ali vitali standing by on capitol hill. gabe gutierrez at the white house. also joining us, april ryan, white house correspondent for the grio, who has covered multiple administrations. vaughn, kick us off here, trump returning to the capital, where is he right now what is the latest? >> reporter: right, he's just a few blocks away from the u.s. capitol building. this for donald trump is his first flight and first trip outside of palm beach since his election night victory over one week ago. this is a notable visit, not only to the white house to meet with president biden to really begin formally this transition process for the current administration to the next incoming trump administration, but also we are told that his

motorcade has now arrived here to this location where the house republican conference is meeting. of course, speaker johnson is looking at having a narrow majority here in this next session of congress, and donald trump has not been one who is quiet during his first four years to throw his weight around over what legislation, when it came to the budgets, to other pieces of legislation that he wanted to see go forward. even in the four years since, over who the speaker of the house would be, over, again, budgets, over immigration type bills. this for donald trump is his return to washington with what could be expected to be republican majorities here. and donald trump is going to address the house republican conference before making his way to the white house. there is a lot of outstanding questions as to exactly what donald trump is going to ask of this next u.s. congress. but, for now, this is a notable first step, just two months out from when he's slated to be sworn in.

>> ali, trump will meet with the gop conference. what can you tell us about this meeting with house republicans? >> reporter: this is likely to be a rally the troops style moment for the former president, now president-elect as he makes his return back to washington. you can see some of the key figures within the house conference already seated there on the stage. trump, of course, will join this group in just a few minutes as his motorcade makes its way through the streets of washington. but i think it is instructive, first, that we saw trump meet with these same elected leaders over the summer, after clinching the nomination, obviously well before americans went to the polls to vote for him, and he really did at that moment have a rallying cry with these people, policy commonality, talking about the border, talking about energy. this is going to likely be a much more specific meeting and we can see there that the camera seems to be panning as i look down at my screen to the former

president getting on stage, shaking hands with speaker johnson, patting him on the back. and, look, as we heard from the speaker yesterday, he told us that he's going to spend this weekend at mar-a-lago, in addition to this meeting with trump, to try to hammer out what the immediate path looks like when republicans assume control of both sides of pennsylvania avenue here. you see trump shaking hands with not just the speaker, but also steve scalise, the number two, congressman hudson, elise stefanik who right now serves as the conference chair for the republican party, but who will serve as his u.n. ambassador, one of the earliest announcements that he made. and as you see him there, clearly he's come with some prepared remarks, but a raucous applause from the house republican majority that really has made his image here. >> let's listen in to the remarks right now. >> a lot of good friends in this room. so, you know we had, like, historic kind of numbers. especially for the president,

but we won't get into that. but the house did very well. and i think we're responsible for 31, helping you with 31, meaning we could have lost by quite a bit, and we ended up, i guess you'll be five up. are you looking at five or four? five or four, right? doesn't matter. we get used to one for a little while. when you can get used to one, you can get used to anything. i want to thank everybody. you've been incredible. we worked with a lot of you to get you in and you helped me and you helped me too. and my numbers were, so they say -- 129 years the most important election in 129 years. that's pretty good. i said who is 129 years? what was that? who was 129 years ago? i never looked because it started being 100, and then they upped it to that, but it is a great compliment. we won the majority by 7.1 million, we won, which is great,

because republicans aren't supposed to be winning the majority, marjorie, we know that. we won all seven swing states by a lot and michigan was great, couldn't be better. i'll tell you, michigan was great. and we had a couple of people -- almost new jersey is right. just a few points. it has got them very worried. they say, next time, we go up even a fraction of what we went up, you're going to win new york, you're going to win new jersey, you're going to win places that weren't winnable. california too. [ applause ] i think without one speech, without campaigning at all in california -- in california, and it is very doable. it would be really doable if they change the election process -- >> okay, we're obviously having some technical difficulties

there, live remarks from president-elect trump, addressing house republicans that are meeting at the hyatt there in d.c. ahead of his meeting with president biden, which is expected in about an hour or so. so, gabe, let's talk about that. this will continue a long-running tradition that trump did not participate in when he was the outgoing president four years ago. what can we expect from the face to face between president biden and now president-elect trump? >> reporter: hi, ana, good morning. the president-elect is expected to continue his victory lap of sorts, just heard him there in front of house republicans. within the hour, he will be here at the west wing meeting with president biden. we don't have many details about how long their meeting is expected to last. you'll remember back in 2016, when donald trump met with former president obama back then, that meeting went longer than scheduled, went around 90 minutes. we have no indication how long this one will take, but we do

know, ana, that the biden administration and white house staffers here while it has been a somber mood since the election, they have really tried to emphasize what president biden has been saying, what he said in remarks last week in the rose garden that he is extremely focused on a peaceful transfer of power. and that is the symbolic nature of this meeting, that is why it is so important, the white house says, for the president-elect to come meet here and meet with president biden. the biden administration, in its last remaining weeks in office, has laid out several priorities that it has, we heard national security adviser jake sullivan say just a few days ago that it will try to make the case, administration will try to make the case that the incoming administration, how important it is to continue aid to ukraine. unclear if that might come up in a conversation between president biden and the president-elect today. but, again, we do expect the president, president biden to make the case in that private meeting, we expect to see some

of the beginning of the meeting, what we call a pool spray, where we get video from the two leaders shaking hands, but other than that, it will be a private meeting here in the oval office. and then the president-elect is expected to leave here again, unclear whether he might address reporters or not. and we do know that vice president harris will not be in attendance for this meeting. again, that's set to begin in a little over an hour or so, ana. >> okay, and we were just showing the images of the former president, now president-elect trump, talking with those house republicans. and we're learning that the reason why the camera got shaky was the press pool was all dismissed from there, or kicked out of the room, so that was a transition moment, we caught a few of his remarks there as he had this sort of victory lap he was taking with his own party and leaders there on the hill. april, how are you looking at this moment, trump returning to, you know, the nation's capitol, meeting with president biden today, returning his tradition

that trump himself scuttled four years ago? >> well, you know, first of all, walking in, ana, i thought about the moment, and the visuals, the optics just outside the gates, a few feet beyond where i stand right now. there were people who had signs saying welcome back, president trump again. the mood of those who support president trump is very victorious, welcome back. but here it is very serious at the white house. president biden is very serious abouthis move to transfer power to the 47th president, donald trump, who will be the 47th president on january 20th. but, ana, this president, president biden is serious about this because, one, he wants to try to set a tone for the nation, try to unite as there is a divide, a clear divide, and the question is, will donald trump take that and look and see how do we heal the divide? because you still have people who are very upset about the

election, you still have people who are questioning so many different things. but indeed, the race was fairly won by donald trump, electorally, as well as popular vote. and this president is recognizing that. compared to four years ago, when he did not welcome joe biden to the white house. in fact, the welcome for joe biden was fences around capitol hill and high security because of what happened with the insurrection on january 6th. and typically these meetings happen right after the election. and i can't help, i was in the room with then president obama, and then president-elect donald trump. donald trump was so grateful, he called it valuable information, he was so grateful, he even said obama would be a counsel to him, which that did not turn out to be the case. but that first time was so important to him. they went longer than 15 minutes to 90 minutes as gabe said. but i doubt it by this being a

second time that that will happen. but the question is, how will those two men handle being in the oval office after the cameras are gone. >> the tone will be something we'll be watching for and, of course, the remarks, if there are any, around this meeting, before, after. and this meeting coming as trump is still filling out his incoming cabinet. you have some new reporting on what has been happening behind the scenes as he's making the selections. what are you learning? >> reporter: right, number one, elon musk has not only been a consistent presence at mar-a-lago, ever since election day, but donald trump tapping him to be the head of what he's calling the department of government efficiency. this is not an actual government department. and the press release from the trump campaign announced he was going to be outside the government, meaning that he'll be an adviser, consultant, in an outside capacity. it is not clear the extent to which he's going to be required to turn over financial disclosures or potential

conflicts of interest, of course. elon musk has billions of dollars in federal contracts himself. elon musk has also promised that if he were to be placed in side of the federal government, he would seek to cut 2 trillion of the annual $6 trillion federal budget, which is just stark and consequential, not clear because elon musk has not provided details on if those are cuts to social security, medicaid, medicare, immigration enforcement, defense spending, that would be one-third of the federal budget. he's been tasked with vivek ramaswamy to oversee this proposal to cut down and downsizing, consolidate the federal government's departments and agencies. let's be very clear that congress would be required to grant the president of the united states the authority to do exactly that. so it is time to see exactly over the next 18 months the timeline that donald trump has provided over what that exactly will look like. the other big announcement

overnight was pete hegseth to be part of the pentagon, the secretary of defense. really a surprise announcement that pete hegseth has been the long time co-host of "fox & friends weekend," a decorated veteran himself, he served in afghanistan and iraq. he has no experience in pentagon leadership or within the department of defense. i want to let you listen directly to some of the surprise, even responses from republican senators up on capitol hill, to our nbc team. >> trump just announced that he's nominating pete hegseth, fox news host, as the secretary of defense. >> wow. >> what are your thoughts on that? >> i just said wow. >> pete hegseth was just nominated to be secretary of defense. >> who? >> pete hegseth of fox news. do you have any reaction? >> who. >> first of all, it surprised me, i didn't see it coming. i don't know who did. i don't know.

and i read, i mean, the thing i read the most every day are stories about the military. news stories. so i did not see it coming. >> reporter: and just in the last week, there is a podcast that was posted with pete hegseth in which he talked about how the secretary of defense for donald trump, who will now, if he is confirmed, would be him, what they should do upon coming into office in 2025. he made it very clear, in an effort to purge, what he described as wokeism inside of the military, inside of the pentagon, he said that, quote, you've got to fire the chairman of the joint chiefs and obviously you got to bring in a new secretary of defense, which would be him, but any general that was involved, general, admiral, whatever that was involved, in any of the i woke bleep has got to go. those are the words of pete hegseth one week ago. these are consequential decisions donald trump is making. hegseth would have to be confirmed by the republican

majority in the senate. >> you heard the surprise reactions from senate republicans, some of them, on the pick of pete hegseth for defense secretary. garrett haake has some reporting that trump's been very involved in some of the final interviews for these cabinet selections and that he's participating in what they have set up as a war room at mar-a-lago, where there are screens of televisions around, where, you know, his staff can show clips of how some of these potential choices are able to communicate on television and interviews. so that seems to be something that is important to him, the ability to defend him on tv and hegseth would appear to check that box as a fox news host. but what does this all tell you, the selection process tell you about trump's priorities? >> loyalty. it is about loyalty for donald trump. far beyond if you have the credentials. many of the people, like marco rubio, he has been in congress,

he's been on capitol hill. he understands the inner workings. to put someone like mike huckabee as the ambassador to israel, that's sending a resounding message as you have many people like marco rubio who are against hamas. this is loyalty, this is donald trump's thinking. and it wasn't just in this moment after he won the election, this former president, president-elect, has been thinking about who he was going to fill his cabinet with before he even won the election. so, this is not -- this is not new. this is something he's been thinking, but it is more in place now than he did the last time. he's put a lot more thought in this time and there are other names that could be coming. i understand ben carson is one person that he's got on his list as well to try to fill a position, so we'll see what happens. but this is about loyalty to donald trump and donald trump's ideas. and some espoused those project

2025 ideas as well. >> everybody, thank you, please stand by. and i do want to note that president biden currently is meeting at a classroom to career summit, making some remarks ahead of his meeting with donald trump. president-elect coming up in the top of the hour will be watching both of their movements, bringing you every detail of trump's visit to washington as he prepares to meet with president biden at the white house. and more from capitol hill, where we are not only on the edge of knowing who controls the house, but senate republicans are choosing who will replace mitch mcconnell as senate leader. also, trump's ascendance means his legal cases will wind down. we have new reporting on special counsel jack smith's future. and the second trump administration is taking shape, with some eyebrow-raising staffing picks. why it is raising alarm about our national security apparatus. we're back in 90 seconds. secur. we're back in 90 seconds

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live moments ago. let's head to the hill now and nbc's ryan nobles standing by where that closed door senate meeting is under way. ryan, any hints about what is happening? >> reporter: none at all so far, ana. we know the senators gathered behind closed doors at around 9:30 this morning. each of the three candidates were nominated by two of their colleagues who each gave short speeches in support of their candidacy. that process is perhaps still ongoing, but then we know that there will be an initial round of voting. now, in order for a senator to be elected the next senate majority leader, they have to get half of the conference, plus one, in order to win that job. so, there is the real possibility, especially with three candidates on the ballot right now that this goes more than one round. and there is a chance that they stop and regroup after the first round if someone is not the clear winner after round one of voting to have another conversation about the path forward, but -- in other words, it could take some time before

we know who the ultimate winner is. now, this is a race and many believe between john thune and john cornyn, thune of south dakota, cornyn of texas, but rick scott of florida has run what could be described as an insurgent campaign here and doing it with conservative influences on the internet as he paints himself as the person most loyal to donald trump, the person best capable of making sure that the trump agenda sees its way through congress in this next congress. so, we'll have to see how this all plays out, no one's in the room, the other thing we need to keep in mind here, ana, is that this is a secret ballot. so, even what the senators tell us we may not be able to trust in terms of who the ultimate winner will be and who they voted for and it also frees them of the pressure campaign taking place outside of these walls. they can vote for whomever they like, without any real consequence. ana? >> ryan noble, keep us posted. thank you for that report from capitol hill. joining us now with more on

this, "new york times" congressional correspondent luke broadwater. in the past, trump has called both thune and cornyn weak and ineffective, he suggested they're both rinos, republican in name only, for refusing to join the ranks of election deniers. and some of his biggest allies, people like elon musk or tucker carlson, they have publicly backed scott, so is it surprising trump didn't weigh in on this leadership battle? >> well, what i'm told is that donald trump has declined to weigh in so far because he's worried about backing a potential loser. he wants to be seen as picking the winner and having strong influence on capitol hill. and all the indications so far is that rick scott is the underdog in this race. that's going on right now as we speak, just one floor below me, behind closed doors. john thune and john cornyn have better, longer standing relationships with the other

republican senators. most people believe it is going to be one of them who secures the majority of votes. and so even though i think scott probably is the favorite of donald trump, he has declined to endorse so far because he's worried scott won't be able to pull it off. >> we mentioned that there have been some public endorsements of rick scott, but not necessarily his peers there in the senate. but people like carlson, vivek ramaswamy, rfk jr., could this far right pressure to back scott backfire? >> yeah, i think so. senators do not like to be bullied, they don't like to be yelled at online, they don't like a bunch of people calling their offices and threatening them. we know that there are some scott supporters who have gone to the offices of some of these senators to try to demand they support rick scott. it is possible one or two senators will be persuaded that way. but i would bet, knowing the

senators, and the way they act at the capitol, that they don't like being told what to do or being pushed around. another thing to consider, this is a secret ballot, and so it is not like each senator has to come out and say i voted for thune or i voted for cornyn, and so that only increases the likelihood that it will be one of the two more establishment candidates and not necessarily the candidate who is favored by the maga wing of the party. >> thune and cornyn have made efforts to get back on trump's good side. can you talk to us about how all three candidates have been working to try to prove their maga credentials? >> yeah, absolutely. if there was any doubt that donald trump has complete control of the republican party, it is -- it exists no longer. all three of these men, even thune and cornyn were both critical of trump's actions over january 6th. but each is pitching himself as the candidate who is best

equipped to carry out donald trump's legislative agenda. that's been thune and cornyn's major pitch as we're more effective, we are more senior, we know how to get things done and what they want to get done is the trump agenda. and, you know, thune traveled to mar-a-lago to visit with trump. cornyn has met with him twice. each man said they talk regularly with donald trump. they're trying to stay on his good side, they do not want donald trump to come out in the middle of this vote and endorse rick scott because that could throw a huge monkey wrench in their plans. >> luke broadwater, we appreciate your reporting and insights into this leadership race. thanks for joining us. >> thank you. next on "ana cabrera reports," bringing back tradition. president-elect donald trump soon to meet with president biden at the white house. what we can expect from their first face to face since the election. and the new staffing announcements in last 24 hours from the pentagon, to the cia and something he's calling the department of government

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we have new reporting about president-elect trump's meeting with house republicans, happening right now. he apparently told them, quote, i suspect i won't be running again unless you say he's so good we have got to figure something else out. those comments ahead of his meeting with president biden at the white house next hour. let's bring in former trump

white house deputy press secretary sarah matthews and former special assistant to president biden megan hayes. first, your reaction to these new comments from trump. >> i would imagine he's making them in jest, but with donald trump, i think that nothing should be taken unseriously. so, maybe there is a chance that he means it. but i highly doubt it. but i do think that it is weird to joke about. >> yes, suggesting that there is a chance he wouldn't leave after this next term when he will have served two complete terms. megan, we did mention that president biden wasn't given the opportunity to have this meeting in 2020, you know, incoming president meeting with the sitting president. why has the white house, do you think, made such a point of returning to this tradition? >> because it is important to have traditions and to stick to them. the president is very firm on these -- he's been part of this institution and whether in the senate or the white house before, and it also signals to

this -- the country a sign of unity and sign of this is -- we want a peaceful transfer of power. this is what you do as the president. i don't think that just because it wasn't afforded to president biden doesn't mean the president is going to be petty and do the same thing to the president-elect. >> we have some live pictures outside of the hyatt regency where the president is meeting with house republicans and we'll be watching for any movement there as he will soon head to the white house for his meeting with president biden. "time" is dubbing this the most cringe meeting in politics. these meetings are always a little strange, trump and obama sat down together in 2016 after trump had fueled that birther conspiracy. sarah, what tone are you expecting today with the meeting between president-elect trump and president biden? >> i would imagine it is going to be a little cringe and awkward between the two of them. and donald trump, though, lacks the self-awareness to realize how embarrassing this meeting is for him. look, he's the first president

in modern day history to not go along with this meeting. in 2020, it did not take place because he was trying to overthrow the election at this point. and so he refused to sit down and meet with incoming president biden at that time. he refused to attend his inauguration, and obviously we all know what transpired on january 6th as well. so this is kind of awkward that they are going to be having this meeting, but i'm happy to see biden continue on with the norms and the traditions and showcase unity and civility in our politics, something that donald trump was incapable of doing and meeting the moment in 2020. >> megan, trump said in his 2016 meeting with then president obama that obama told him his biggest problem was north korea. so, what issues do you expect trump and biden to discuss today? >> i think north korea will be on the docket to discuss. i think of how we discuss aid for ukraine, i think they'll discuss china and other

adversaries and where we are with them, and i think the president will share some domestic policies he's been working on and some of the things that -- where the economy is moving forward. i think the pictures that will come out of this and i just don't suspect this meeting is going to be particularly long, i think they will be gracious and the president will be very gracious and then they will probably try to move him along back out the door until january 20th. >> president biden made a lot of stark warnings about trump returning to the white house. here is some of what president biden has said for the past year or so that he expects in a second trump term. >> at the top of the list and he means it is the deportation of over 11 million people. they want to have a -- trump is going to sign a bill if he gets elected that's going to say, no exceptions, nothing, done.

100 million people. i spent four years putting nato back together, with kamala. he wants to get out of nato. he's a genuine threat to our democracy. and that's not hyperbole. that is the god's truth. >> sarah, he made a lot of predictions. do you see these two men putting all that behind them today? >> i would imagine that these are some of the concerns that president biden might raise to incoming president trump. i think something particularly that has always concerned me about a second trump term is trump wanting to withdraw us from nato, something like he wanted to do during the first term, but was persuaded against and so now i do see that as something that he will probably pursue. and so i'm hopeful that biden will have conversations with him about some of these more extreme radical policies, and obviously even if biden raises these issues to trump, it might not make a difference at all because donald trump, i think, a second

term, feels emboldened and he is going to try to pursue all these things that he feels like he didn't get away with during the first term because now, second term, i don't believe there is going to be many guardrails holding him back. >> if biden were to raise these issues, could that actually backfire and have trump dig in deeper on his positions? >> there is definitely a chance of that. i think if biden does raise these things, then trump will feel like, oh, that is the path then that i should pursue. and so i imagine that biden is going to be very careful with what he chooses to raise to trump and what their conversation looks like, and but i do imagine, like, megan's point, it probably will be a short conversation. >> sarah matthews and megan hayes, thank you very much for the conversation. we'll keep an eye on the movements of donald trump and president biden as they get ready for their meeting today. and we also have a major development in the federal criminal cases against donald trump, although maybe not a surprising development.

special counsel jack smith and his team will resign before trump takes office. trump said he would fire smith as president, and after trump's victory last week, smith started winding down the 2020 election interference case since the justice department does not prosecute sitting presidents. joining us now, nbc news justice reporter ryan reilly. ryan, what more do we know about smith's decision to resign instead of waiting for trump to, you know, pull a comey and fire him? >> we knew he was going to be leave ing at the beginning of t new administration. this isn't something that is really immediately imminent. it is something that i think closer to the day where donald trump actually takes office is when this is actually going to take place. if you step back here, there is two questions, whether or not the people who have -- who are mentioned in trump's previous indictment, the unindicted co-conspirators will be charged before donald trump takes office. and the second question is what exactly that final report from

jack smith's office is going to look like. take the first question, in terms of what is going to happen to those unindicted co-conspirators, that's a big question, because there is a norm in the justice department that you don't prosecute a sitting president. what there isn't is a norm that says hey, he's probably going to pardon these folks anyway, so why even bother? that's not how the criminal justice system is supposed to work. i heard from people inside the justice department, one source said who quoted a recent book by timothy snyder that says you don't comply in advance. the book on tyranny. and i think that's what we're looking for here. whether or not there is going to be people who are going to comply in advance, or whether you're going to stick with a course, what would happen in normal course, the justice department believes that there are individuals who are unindicted co-conspirators with donald trump in his effort to overturn the election who committed crimes. you say it with your gut. you go forward and charge those cases as one way of going forward. and if you want to make it the football metaphor, you don't say that you're in your own zone and you're fourth and 26 and you don't take a knee, you kick the

ball down the court or go for a hail mary. those are the sort of options that jack smith's office is looking at, at this moment. >> ryan reilly, thanks for that update. and we're going to keep our eyes on the white house, where president biden and president-elect donald trump will meet next hour. but, first, stacking loyalists, combatting the quote woke military, a potential board to purge generals, what donald trump might have planned for america's national security apparatus. america's national security apparatus. st-acting, sky-high sales stacking champion of checkouts. businesses that want to win, win with shopify.

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welcome back. it has been a busy 24 hours for the trump transition team. in addition to prepping for his white house meeting with president biden next hour, the president-elect has announced a handful of key picks for his new administration. the latest batch focuses on national security. trump has tapped fox news host pete hag egseth to be his defen secretary. he also announced john ratcliffe will be returning to his administration, this time as cia director. he served as director of national intelligence in the final months of trump's first term. also i want to bring in now a pair of former national security officials. former trump pence homeland security staffer olivia troye and michael alan. so, michael, this incoming defense secretary pick, pete hegseth, combat veteran, fox news host, here's what he said

about how he wants to reshape the department of defense. listen. >> got to fire, you know, got to fire the chairman of joint chiefs and fire the -- going to bring in the secretary of defense, but any general that was involved, general admiral, whatever, that was involved in any of the dei woke [ bleep ] has got to go. women in combat and quotas, the way they pushed ed ed that und bahama in obama in a way that had nothing to do we have ca e with efficacy and lethality. >> the culture war at the department, what kind of message does that send to allies and adversaries? >> the message they should receive is that trump, of course, is an unconventional president, and he's gone for an unconventional pick. trump purposefully wants someone that is disruptive, he doesn't want to draw on someone from the defense establishment, and his

experience, right or wrong, in the first term, was that his first national security cabinet had their own policy preferences in mind rather than trump's priorities. so, i think this is something pete hegseth is going to have to stand in front of the congress, stand in front of the media, explain himself right now. we know he's a decorated veteran. and he's ivy educated, ivy league pedigreed person and, look, the way our congress works, all of these issues that may arise about his -- what he said in the past will be surface the and thoroughly audited. >> and we just had some news in right now, the transition team confirming that steven miller and dan scavino will return to the white house with trump. he spoke earlier about how border czar tom homan had concerns of yours. what is your reaction to miller's official return? >> well, i think we are very clear on who is going to be running policy across the board,

and in that role, i have no doubt that he will be overseeing the entire policy apparatus, whether it is the national security council and throughout the federal government. this is something that he really aspired to do, this is something he worked very hard to do during the first trump administration and so he's been granted the official reins and role. >> and nbc's reporting that trump is planning to purge top pentagon officers in "the wall street journal" is now reporting that trump's team is considering a plan to create a board of retired service members who could recommend the firing of generals. michael, what do you think about this idea of a review board and what would the dismantling of people in the military currently, especially in the leadership positions, mean? >> well, my first reaction is as the commander in chief, he, of course, has the plenary authority to do whatever he wants within the confines of the u.s. military and, of course, within the executive branch. but, this is a hangover from

what president trump feels like he experienced in his first term where he faulted chairman milley and others for seeming to work outside of his chain of command and there is a broad view, i think, among trump folks coming into the government, that the chairman of the joint chiefs and others in the general officer's corps may not feel like trump and feel like they're independent. i feel like they will salute and execute lawful orders. we have to work through a process in the intelligence community and the department of defense officer corps so that the president has restored trust in them. i think there is going to be transparency, and there is going to be accountability, there is going to be disruption, but at the end of the day, i think the president will find these are loyal americans who are doing their best for american national security. >> i can't help but wonder if a purge as we have used that word, if that could put america in a vulnerable position.

>> it would depend on how broad it would be and under what grounds people were being purged for. but i think when they look at the general officer corps, they're going to find that an entire generations were not sort of spiked with dei and are not working for a sort of climate agenda. some would have been, some of that is honestly from the biden political appointees, not so much the general officer corps. so i think once they look into this, once they get more comfortable and that's why pete hegseth, he has the president's trust. and if he looks at it and says it is going fine or we have to take the following actions, that might be good enough and we have to get to the business of securing country from national security threats. >> olivia, i want to ask about another pick, john ratcliffe as cia director, he was the director of national intelligence in 2020. and january 6th witnessed cassidy hutchinson testified as dni, he wanted nothing to do

with trump's post election scheme and advised white house staff not to go along with that. does it surprise you trump would bring him back after that and does it give you any reassurance? >> well, i think that of all the picks, i think that one certainly could have been worse. so at least i was sort of relieved to see that it was him. i do think that this group will operate together regardless, however, and i do think these are true loyalists to the donald trump agenda. i will go back to something, though, about following the rule of law here. and the pentagon. what really concerns me about that is the fact that this is someone who is going to be at the helm of people who serve in a nonpartisan way. this is someone who has personally chosen to go on talk radio and on podcasts that are with right wing conspiracy theorist people that are completely out there in the right wing agenda, and so, i question that type of personality and their loyalty to the constitution when they decide to go on fearmongering channels like that and the type

of leadership they're going to consistent before the world. >> michael lan and olivia troye, thank you very much. i value your expertise. thank you for being here. up next on "ana cabrera reports," president to president, the first meeting between joe biden and donald trump since trump's election happening soon at the white house. why it's important. at the whit house. why it's important hew! or, hitting that win with your crew. ohhh! yes, see defense! or way up here with a same game parlay. yaw! betmgm's got your back. get your welcome offer. and play with the sportsbook born in vegas. all these seats. really? get up to a $1500 new customer offer in bonus bets when you sign up now. betmgm. download and bet today.

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we're back and moments away from president biden welcoming president-elect trump to the white house. he had a meeting with gop lawmakers to head toward the white house. this meeting a symbolic transfer of power that nearly every outgoing president performs with the incoming administration. nearly every president, except trump himself four years ago. let's check in with nbc news white house correspondent monica alba. what are you going to be

watching for with this meeting? >> reporter: a lot, ana. you referenced what we saw in 2016, the last time we saw this happen with then president obama, and then president-elect trump eight years ago. and that same courtesy was not extended in 2020. so it will be pretty remarkable and noteworthy to see donald trump and joe biden come face to face after what we saw during the general election debate earlier this year. of course, that bruising campaign season before the president decided to step aside from the 2024 race and everything that has happened since then. and there will be a lot to watch for here, just in terms of the length of how long these two men decide to sit down for, back when it was then president obama, that meeting lasted around 90 minutes, with then president obama calling it an excellent discussion that was wide ranging. the two men spoke at the end of that meeting, and were very polite, very cordial, pledging that if he needed it, obama said he would offer donald trump any

help and advice along the years of his presidency, that, of course, we then know how that went and that was not necessarily something that took place with the relationship between those two men becoming quite strained in everything that happened after that. but we'll also be watching to really see what kind of a tone president-elect trump takes coming back to washington, having not been here for years since he really directed that capitol riot on january 6th, 2021 and decided not to attend joe biden's inauguration, going to florida, and, of course, now he's coming back just 60 odd days away from retaking the white house. and something else, ana, that is notable, is to see who is going to be meeting in terms of the counterparts and who may accompany donald trump to this meeting at the white house, and whether they will be meeting with the biden administration officials. they have pledged to have a smooth transition of power, and so that is what likely comes next in terms of some of these handoffs that we'll see at a

government level, but this will be really historic for all of those reasons and then just the fact that former first lady melania trump did not accompany her husband is interesting to us as well. we know the white house extended an invitation to her to attend, which she has declined for today. >> monica alba, you'll be watching. we'll all be watching. thank you for your reporting as we anticipate this meeting any moment now between president-elect trump and president biden at the white house. that will do it for me today. i'll be back tomorrow same time, same place, thank you for being here. i'm ana cabrera reporting from new york. i'll hand it off to jose diaz-balart picking up our breaking news coverage right now. now. president-elect trump and president bide reason n are set face to face for the first time, signaling peaceful transfer of power, president biden will host his soon to be succ