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news. the judge overseeing donald trump's hush money case has made a decision to indefinitely cancel next week's sentencing following trump's conviction in may on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records. joining us msnbc legal correspondent lisa rubin, also msnbc's vaughn hillyard from west palm beach, florida, and mimi rocah, district attorney for westchester county in new york and former federal prosecute early. lisa, what do we know about how judge merchan reached the decision? >> we don't know that much about what factors went into the decision because he left us only a one page guide to his thinking. i can tell you substantively what he has decided. he will hear a motion to dismiss the entire indictment from trump's lawyers, and he will receive that brief on december 2nd. that's 18 days before todd blanche and his colleagues proposed submitting a brief to judge merchan.

they wanted this briefing schedule on the motion to dismiss potentially to bleed into former president and president-elect trump's new term in the oval office because at that point he would be sitting president trump and the constitutional issues that could underlie their being an existing case against him might be very different in terms of how courts weigh those factors once he is pack in the oval office. here judge merchan telling trump's lawyers put in the brief by december 2nd. he is telling the d.a. i will take your opposition on december 9th. that's the same day that the d.a.'s office originally proposed to po toes it. he is not allowing reply briefs, which means he is seemingly preparing to issue a decision perhaps sometime before the holidays and in calling off the sentencing, jose, the other thing that comes to my attention he is saying i am calling off of the sentencing only to the extent it was scheduled for next week. what he is not doing is saying the sentencing is postponed indefinitely. only i am calling off the

november 26th date. what does that mean to me? that means we could get a ruling from judge merchan both on the motion to dismiss and the underlying motion to set aside the verdict. i can see a world in which judge merchan says not only am i not dismissing the indictment, i believe the conviction should stand and i am either prepared to postpone the sentencing until trump is no longer president after his next term or i may be prepared to sentence him now to something like time served and excuse him from having to attend in person, jose. >> mimi, what's your reaction to this? lisa said it's a one-page statement, but what does that statement tell you? >> well, i think lisa's got to exactly right. there is the -- the judge is doing exactly, frankly, what one would expect a reasonable judge to do in this situation, which is to say we have to go forward

with briefing on this very important legal issue about, you know, whether or not he can proceed with the sentencing and whether, you know, the verdict should stand. i think the judge, you know, then, as lisa laid out so thoughtfully, has options in terms of going -- look, i am assuming the judge will find that the verdict will stand and that sentencing should be proceeded with either after trump is done being president again or immediately and it will be some sentence that is able to be reconciled with him being president. i say that not because i'm, you know, predicting what the judge would do, but just that seems like the reasonable outcome in this case. and so, you know, i think once

again it's a small step, but it is a step of the system continuing to function and work as best it can under these extraordinary circumstances. and we can't lose sight of the fact that whatever happens, he was found guilty by a jury of essentially his peers, of regular people, and at the end of the day, as a prosecutor, i look at that as the most important part of this process. >> i want to bring in catherine christian, former manhattan district attorney. good morning. so your thoughts first on what this is and, you know, mimi and lisa were talking about the possible outcomes or decisions that merchan could make. what do you see here? >> i think, and this is reading tea leaves, if judge merchan was going to set aside the verdict, he would have done so already. that he is allowing the defense to file a motion to dismiss and

under new york law that's called a clayton motion, motion to dismiss in the interest of justice because the facts and circumstances cry out that this case should be dismiss. i don't think judge merchan will do that. i think he is being courteous and careful in allowing the defense to file their motion, allowing the prosecutors, the people, in the state we are called the people, not the government, to respond. it was noted he said no replease will be allowed after. so defense files. prosecution files. that's it. he will make a decision. as lisa said, and his decision could be not dismissing the indictment, not set aside the verdict. i am going to sentence president-elect trump, time served, which means no jail, no probation, and then goodbye, go talk to the appellate courts. >> so, i'm just wondering, catherine, what were his options

before donald trump became president-elect and will in january be president in the sense of what are the possible things that merchan could have sentenced trump to if it weren't such an unusual case? >> if donald trump did not win, he would just be citizen trump, and the sentencing would go on next week. and the judge could sentence him anywhere from nothing up to four years. there are 34 counts. they are all the same count, falsifying business records in the first-degree. it can't be consecutive, can't be four years plus four years plus four years. those would be the options. probation, a conditional discharge, the condition being you have to pay a fine, or a sentence of imprisonment. that is off the table now because we now have president-elect trump.

>> vaughn, what are you hearing from president-elect trump's team this morning? >> so far, nothing in the first few minutes since the decision came down, but i think that this is, as catherine was suggesting, three weeks ago it was the stakes of this election were so high because instead of todd blanche being concerned or highly concerned about their client, the defendant trump, potentially being sentenced next week just before thanksgiving to jail time, they have been promised to be nominated to be the number two and number three position holders within the department of justice in his administration come january of 2025. and so i think there is a lot at stake still here as everybody was outlining nor donald trump and the legal team, especially with january 20th, inauguration on the horizon. of course, there is a question if judge merchan were to indefinitely postpone the sentencing after donald trump's prison -- or after his presidential term, meaning that

a sentence wouldn't take place more likely until 2029 or later, it would effectively leave a cloud over the course of his presidency. we should note two weeks ago he had seemingly suggested he would not run for president again, but i think for donald trump and his legal team effectively they were able to run out the clock, understanding that the supreme court's immunity decision was paramount to their ability to doing so and they are at a point in time they will have their motion to tis miss and the mow tension here that they could get a sentence that is time served and potentially donald trump enters the white house on january 20th with this case while still having been found guilty and being a convicted felon at least knowing that the case and the potential consequences and repercussions of the guilty conviction being behind him. >> i'm wondering, lisa, i mean, if that is, for example, the case, you know, if you were to

be found guilty, as he was, but he would be entering as vaughn says entering the white house as a convicted felon, that changes so many things. >> it certainly does, jose, in the public imagination. of course, trump had been convicted on 34 felony counts before the election. the fact that he hadn't been sentenced yet, that's the remaining step here, i am not sure how much that changes. the one thing i would caution everybody is that while merchan may be setting this up so that he can proceed to a sentencing, there is an argument that former and future president trump's lawyers have about how to avoid sentencing, and they still have an appeal. the federal appeals court with respect to their trying to move this case back to federal court on the ground that trump is a former federal officer. of course, he will be a federal officer again. and that they have federal defenses to articulate. they tried that a couple of

months ago and the federal courts in manhattan, they were rejected by a judge, but they have an appeal still pending. the d.a.'s brief in that appeal is due mid-january. and so if there are signs that judge merchan is going to proceed to sentencing, watch for them to rush to federal court and ask for immediate relief because the federal statute essentially says if you try to remove a state criminal case, you cannot proceed to sentencing and that is what former and future president trump's lawyers are counting on in terms of trying to make an argument up through the federal appeals system potentially up through the supreme court, jose. >> and you are saying mid-january by that decision? that would be -- you would know, before the 20th? >> not mid-january. before the decision, mid-january in terms of when the manhattan d.a.'s brief is due. if judge merchan is trying to move to a decision on sentencing or indicates he is willing to do so before the inauguration, before that brief, count on the trump lawyers to rush to the second circuit, that's the u.s. court of appeals that oversees manhattan and new york, vermont,

connecticut, and make an argument that he can't proceed to sentencing while that appeal is still pending because that federal statute says if you are trying to move it to federal court on the grounds that you are a former or future president and you have got some federal defenses in your back pocket, it's unlawful to proceed to sentencing. that's something that they are hoping to be able to articulate to a federal appeals court sometime soon, jose. >> as vaughn says, running out the clock is a specialty, and it seems in this case that clock is running out. lisa, catherine, if you would, appreciate your time with us. but vaughn and mimi, don't go far. we have got some more to ask you about. up next, trump transition. what we know about pam bondi, donald trump's new pick to be his attorney general after matt gaetz dropped out. plus, the latest reaction to trump's defense secretary pick, pete hegseth. whether sexual assault allegations against him will influence their vote. you are watching "jose diaz-balart reports" on msnbc. ee diaz-balart reports" on msnbc.

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14 past the hour. president-elect trump is moving forward quickly after his failed cabinet pick. trump choosing former florida attorney general pam bondi to be his attorney general after matt gaetz withdraw his name from consideration. gaetz writing on social media it is clear my confirmation was unfairly becoming a distraction. nbc news learned five senate

republicans were hard-nosed on gaetz's nomination according to multiple people with direct knowledge. gaetz was dogged by allegations he paid women for sex and that he had sex with a 17-year-old girl at a party in 2017. he has denied the accusations. the justice department investigated the allegations but no charges were filed. pam bondi is a trump loyalist who served two terms as florida's top prosecutor. she was also on his defense team during his first impeachment trial. vaughn hillyard and mimi are still with us and joining us now marc short, former chief of staff to former vice president mike pence. vaughn, in a matter of hours gaetz was out and bondi was in. what do we know how this pick came about? >> reporter: it was rather quick. hours after matt gaetz dropped his bid to be the nominee to be attorney general, pam bondi per donald trump's social media feed last night was the new selection. surprising how quickly he turned to her. of course, matt gaetz's amount

of attention on the allegations levied against him i think led this to be an opportunity to turn to somebody who was not only much more of a known entity, attorney general in florida from 2011 to 2019, she has been a near constant presence on cable television, particularly fox and other right-wing outlets over the years defending donald trump during his impeachment proceedings as a legal advisor in 2019, but also in the aftermath of the 2020 election out on the campaign trail with him in 2020, was out there with him again in 2024. somebody who is clearly a trusted, loyal donald trump supporter dating back to 2016 when she endorsed him over florida, the senator marco rubio. and so i think the part about this for the confirmation aspect of this is that pam bondi is unlike matt gaetz because she doesn't have any allegations of having had sexual relations with a minor. and so this is going to be a

moment compared to others who faced scrutiny for other sexual misconduct allegations that i think pam bondi with the republican majority could be seeing a much more welcoming mat among republican senators on capitol hill than matt gaetz over the course of his aide days as donald trump's nominee. >> yeah, mimi, she has over 20 years experience in the prosecutor's office and different in the state of florida. what's your reaction to her being chosen? >> so i think vaughn said it in a very succinct way. i'll expand a little bit. he said she a very different candidate because she hasn't been accused credibly accused of having sex with minors. that is the starting point. but beyond that, look, she has, you know, matt gaetz was categorically unqualified. he didn't have any relevant experience, and he didn't have any ethical, you know, points to

go for him, both the sex scandals, showing videos on the floor of the, you know, to his colleagues apparently. so that was categorical. i think pam bondi falls in the category, given where we are, of she deserves process and she deserves a real hearing. and i am a big believer in process. she doesn't -- she has qualifications, she has experience. there have been attorney generals far more experienced than her in this area and there have been some that are less experienced. but i don't think that the fact that she was part of his impeachment team or is a loyalist in the world that we're in now, if we are being realistic, is, in and of itself, disqualifying. the question is, how will she answer the questions at a hearing about whether she is willing to put the constitution first and foremost, which is what any attorney general should do and any prosecutor in the

department of justice should do. it doesn't mean that we will like everything she does, if she is attorney general for those of us who are not trump fans, and it doesn't mean that she will say no to everything that trump zs her to do. that can't be the test here. the test is will her guiding principle be doing the right thing under the law and the facts and following the constitution, or will it be allowing him to use the department of justice as his own personal tool. i think she needs to be asked those questions in not in a sham proceeding but real proceeding with real meaning behind them. >> those are questions that every single attorney general in our country should have been asked and must be asked. mark, i'm wondering what your reaction is of the bondi pick. >> i think pam's a great pick. i think a lot of people are scratching their heads wondering with why we didn't start with

pam. the extraordinary collapse of matt gaetz has created a collective sigh of relief among senate republicans. i think it's already been discussed, she has a long public record, and i think that she will be a great candidate, great nominee, and i think that she will probably be confirmed unless there is something that comes unearthed that we are unaware of at this point, jose. >> what do you think the lesson learned is or should be for team trump from what happened with gaetz, do you think? >> well, i mean, i think gaetz is such an extraordinary case what when you are trafficking teenage minors for sex and drug parties, that's a disqualifier i hope for any appointment. and i think it was, obviously, a terrible pick. >> right. he hasn't been found guilty of that. i think -- >> i think that there is a lot of discussion about where the counts were in the senate. and i think for president trump, he is actually less worried

about that. i think he likes fights. when it gets to the point it's embarrassing for him, he wants the candidate to withdraw. i think a lot of those venmo payments that became public was a he said/she said. he is like, let's move on. i think that's why you saw him move so quickly with pam bondi as well. as far as his other nominations, he tests the system a lot. i think it's often going to be what is the reaction to this and he can pivot and move in a different direction when he so to chooses. but it's not good to start a transition with a defeat that way. so i think he will probably be a little bit more selective moving ahead. >> yeah, i mean, vaughn, do you think there is any lesson learned? maybe a lesson that should be learned, but lesson learned from team trump to what happened here? >> reporter: i think to mark's point here, is that mar-a-lago is not the operating center of

the federal government, that washington, d.c., and its checks and balances is still going to be relevant in 2025 and that the u.s. senate despite a republican majority, there are still some republican senators that are not going to be simply rubber stamped to every nomination that donald trump puts forward, but also potentially legislation or budget that there are people, a wade cast of people from mitch mcconnell, todd young, lisa murkowski, susan collins, to mark wayne collins who have their own ideas upon being elected as representatives of their respective states what the makeup of the executive branch should look like and through the rules that they are constitutionally provided they will use that. there were serious questions about the extent to which republican senators would push back against some of donald trump's picks or whether they would -- the idea that there was

a mandate provided by the voters to donald trump, give him the cabinet that he wants. and matt gaetz was that first test, and it was rather swift and quick, eight days. a clear message was sent that there are other individuals that should be everybody is in those capacities. that was before a confirmation hearing ever took place. >> yeah. mimi, there were a lot of people at the doj unhappy, fearful about the possibility of gaetz being attorney general. what do you think and what are you hearing from your former colleagues about the possibility of having pam bondi as the head of the doj? >> look, this news is still very fresh, but i will actually pivot that question if it's okay to somebody i know we talked about earlier in the show to todd blanche, who was and remains president-elect trump's choice for deputy attorney general. and i have heard a lot of people, you know, i think there are people in doj who are

comforted by that pick because todd is a veteran of the department of justice, of the sdny. you know, a lot of people, both at justice and sdny and outside of it worked with him. this isn't to vouch for him. but rather, to say that people -- and i'm one of them -- are hardened by the fact that it's someone who knows how the department of justice is supposed to work, what the priority of the department of justice is, which, you know, we spend so much time talking about the politicalization of doj. the real mission of the department of justice is to help victims and fight crime. and that means gang crime. that means child pornography, child enticement, financial frauds. i mean, there is so much day-to-day work that goes on there that i feel like has lost its focus here and it's important to refocus. and todd is, you know, he is

qualified to lead the -- help lead the department in that respect, which is its main mission that i think most prosecutors there really want to do their cases and to their work and help protect our citizens, our country, and help victims most of all. >> vaughn hillyard, mimi rocah, marc short, thank you for being with us this morning. even as matt gaetz dropped his bid for attorney general, pete hegseth, who trump tapped to be the defense secretary, met senators on capitol hill thursday to shore up support. it comes after a newly unveiled police report revealing graphic details of a sexual assault accusation against hegseth. no criminal charges were filed as a result of the 2017 claim. hegseth denies any wrongdoing. according to hegseth's attorney, he entered into a settlement with his accusers, including making a payment as part of a

nondisclosure agreement in 2023. his attorney accused the woman of taking advantage of his public profile in the height of the "me too" movement. should her is how hegseth responded to a question about the allegation yesterday. >> as far as the media's concerned, the matter was fully investigated. i was completely cleared. that's where i'm going to leave it. >> joining us from capitol hill nbc's ryan nobles. good morning. how was hegseth received by republicans on capitol hill? >> reporter: well, he had a pretty good day yesterday, jose. it's worth pointing out most if not all of the senators that he met with were the type of senators that would be inclined to support whomever donald trump picks as the nominee for the department of defense. he didn't meet with some of the senators that we might think would be a little bit more skeptical of his nomination and maybe the senators that would stand in the way of him being appointed to lead the pentagon. remember, it would only take four republicans to break ranks if all the democrats vote

against him to sink his nomination. but it was notable that the chair of the armed services committee felt that he was in a position to ultimately get confirmed. here is a little run down of what the senators had to say about hegseth's nomination yesterday. >> it's a big problem given that we have, you know, we have a sexual assault problem in our military. >> i don't know the young lady, the situation. i believe he is going to be just fine. >> do you have a nominee that wants to? let him testify and let's not make judgments and reach conclusions until he had a chance to testify. >> so, obviously, the sexual assault allegations are a major concern for senators. they want as much information as possible. that's part. problem for hegseth of the other part of the problem for him he doesn't have the experience that

a normal defense secretary would have to take on a role like this. yes, he is a decorated combat veteran, but he doesn't have the management experience that you would expect to be in a job like that. it is the largest federal budget. there are 1.3 million active duty service members that would be under his charge if he became the defense secretary. so there is no doubt he is going to get the opportunity here to make the case that he should be confirmed. but it is by no means a guarantee, jose. >> ryan nobles on capitol hill. thank you very much. up next, music mogul sean "diddy" combs accused of sex trafficking and racketeering heading back to court today. we'll tell you why. plus, will bible lessons come to a public school classroom near? what texas is doing that could have a ripple affect across the country. you are watching "jose diaz-balart reports" on msnbc. -. s d i thought i'd get a wax figure of myself. oh! right in the temporal lobe! beat it, punks! only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty, liberty, liberty, liberty ♪

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♪♪ 31 past the hour. the texas board of education is voting on adding bible infused lessons to the state's public school curriculum, putting the boundaries between religion and public education to the test. in a preliminary vote on tuesday, a narrow majority of the state's board showed their support for including religious teachings with an emphasis on christianity. joining us msnbc's antonio hilton. how is this vote expected to go today and what could happen this morning? >> good morning, jose. this meeting is underway right now, but there is lots of

testimony and presentations that will happen first. and look, what we've seen this week, it's really looking very likely that the same narrow majority is going to vote along those lines, and that this new curriculum, this new sort of educational process is going to be pushed through. but in the opposition there are actual lay group of democrats and republicans who have kind of raised their concerns about what's in this new curriculum. they are concerned about the infusion of christian lessons, christian parables, and say it comes at the expense of students lerpgs about other faiths and religions. people who fought for the changes say it puts christianity in historical context, moral lessons are great for students to learn. the critics say in addition to christian storylines, there is also some pullback or reduction of some of the lessons about, say, slavery in their proper historical context. what's important to know is that school districts will ultimately have a choice.

do we want to adopt this or not. if you do, it comes with a care automotive and stick. the schools that adopt it get additional money. texas public schools in many cases need a lot of money. that's both in cities like houston and then in small rural communities. so administrators might find themselves under pressure whether or not their teachers and parents and students are actually comfortable with this, may feel pressure to get the funds just to keep their schools afloat right now, jose. but we will learn more in the next few minutes or hour. >> antonio hilton, thank you. later today, music mogul sean "diddy" combs will be in a new york city courtroom for a bail hearing. he was indicted on federal charges of sex trafficking and racketeering in september. he has pleaded not guilty. today's hearing comes days after a judge told prosecutors to get rid of handwritten notes taken from combs' jail cell with the defense arguing they were unlawfully seized. chloe, good morning.

what more do we know about this hearing and what's this thing about the notes? >> hey, jose. i am going be head to the manhattan federal courthouse in a few minutes. the hearing is taking place at 2:00. so let's back off, you know, about those notes that you just mentioned. i was in court on wednesday, and one of the things that they were talking about mainly was the fact that his legal team claims that the government wrongly obtained 16 pages of notes that were marked legal in his jail cell at the metropolitan detention center in brooklyn. and as part of their bail hearing today his team is saying he can't properly prepare for his criminal trial on may 5th because the government is lurking over his shoulder, those notes had defense witnesses that they planned to call and it really laid out their plan. now, the government says this was part of a routine sweep, that this was not attorney-client privilege, but the judge ruled in combs' gafr saying they can't use that as

part of trial. he is trying to get out again. he doesn't want to be in jail because it's deplorable conditions, a notorious jail in brooklyn criticized for the conditions, and also he is saying, look, the government has not made a strong enough case against me. this surveillance footage of me beating up cass i at a hotel in los angeles several years ago, his ex-girlfriend cassie ventura that cnn originally broke, saying that that video was doctored. they have offered to bring in some sort of a forensic video expert today. and they are going to say, look, like, they have not made the case that i am a danger to society but i just want to point out the government says that he has been witness tampering and trying to taint the jury pool from behind bars and they are worried if he gets out he is going to threaten and intimidate potential government witnesses that could impact what they plan to bring to thinks criminal trial in may. >> thank you so very much. heading down to the trial at 2:00 today, right? >> yes.

the hearing, yes. >> thanks. up next, another escalation in russia's war with ukraine as putin confirms russia used a new type of weapon to attack ukraine. and back at home team trump calls his victory, quote, a landslide. one of our next guests says the data shows another story. you're watching "jose diaz-balart reports" on msnbc. p. and i use this. febreze has a microchip to control scent release so it smells first-day fresh for 50 days. 50 days!? and its refill reminder light means i'll never miss a day of freshness. ♪ (cough cough) (sneeze) (♪♪) new alka-seltzer plus cold or flu fizzy chews. chew. fizz. feel better fast. no water needed. new alka-seltzer plus fizzychews. have you compared your medicare plan recently? with ehealth, you can compare medicare plans side by side for free. so we invited people to give ehealth a try and discover

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40 past the hour.

after u.s. authorities say russia fired an experimental intercontinental ballistic missile, russia issued a new warning to western countries. putin said he ordered thursday's attack in response to ukraine firing u.s. and british provided long-range missiles inside russia. he also said he is reserving the right to strike countries that provided ukraine with weapons to attack his country. joining us from kyiv nbc's chief foreign correspondent richard engel. this seems like an escalation of things. how do you see it there? >> reporter: oh, it is absolutely an escalating. the question is, who started it? it's a situation where putin is escalating. he fired this new hypersonic ballistic missile. zelenskyy is escalating because he is firing the intermediate-range american weapons deeper into russia and president biden is escalating by finally giving at long request,

after long request from ukrainians, the authority to fire those american-made weapons. all three sides are escalating and there is a feeling here that everyone is trying to secure the best position they can before president trump takes office and he is promised to end the war in a day. what does that mean? there is an expectation that he will try to force some cease-fire deal so the two sides are getting their final rounds in now and they are extraordinarily bloody rounds with this missile escalation, the ukrainian intelligence service describing more details about what kind of missile it was today, and with heavy losses on the battlefield according to british diplomatic intelligence services. the russians, hose, have been losing about 1,500 soldiers, that's dead and injured, every day during the month of october. that would make it the bloodiest since the start of the war. imagine that casualty rate. 1,500 a day. so russia's escalating, putin is

escalating but also suffering heavy losses. >> and even these north korean troops that are there, richard, that's of concern, too. they are also in harm's way, but on purpose. >> reporter: so, yes, north korea has sent troops, and that's also another first for the war that a foreign country has allied with vladimir putin so much so that he is sending troops to fight and die in the country. that is the kursk region, an area that ukraine occupied, that zelenskyy tried to hold on to in a gamut in order to also secure his position potentially before a cease-fire talk. those north korean troops so far do not appear to be engaged if any intense combat, although the ukrainians i will say are using some psychological warfare, using speakers, broadcasting

messages in korean telling them this isn't their fight, they should defect or simply surrender. >> richard engel in kyiv. thank you. coming up, team trump is calling his election day win unprecedented and a landslide. why one of our next guests says neither is exactly true. url watching "jose diaz-balart reports" on msnbc. reports" on msnbc. hair trimmer from gillette. it's not junk, so treat it right with a gentle and easy shave from america's #1 trusted men's grooming brand. respect your pubic region with gillette intimate. ♪♪ they get it. they know how it works. wiand most importantly, it works for them. i don't have any anxiety about money anymore. i don't have to worry about a mortgage payment every month. it allowed me to live in my home and not have to make payments. if you're 62 or older and own your home, you could access a portion of your equity to improve your lifestyle. a reverse mortgage loan can eliminate your monthly mortgage payments

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♪ miebo ohh yeah ♪ ask your eye doctor about prescription miebo. 46 past the hour. president-elect trump prepares to return to the white house, "the new york times" is calling trump's electoral win the landslide that wasn't. "new york times" chief white house correspondent peter baker writing, by traditional measures, it was neither unprecedented nor a landslide. in fact, he prevailed with one of the smallest margins of victory and generated little of the coattails of a true landslide. "the new york times'" peter baker is with us and symone

sanders-townsend, she served as chief spokesperson for vice president harris and former ohio republican governor john kasich. peter, trump, however, did win every single battleground state, the electoral college, 312 voters of he is the first to win the popular vote since 2004. how was this the landslide that wasn't? >> yeah, look, president-elect trump has a lot to brag about. he won a convincing victory. he won the popular vote for the first time in three tries for him. he swept the battleground states and brought in, you know, a republican senate and they held the house. he has a lot to feel good about coming in. at the same time, of course good is never good enough with trump. everything has to be the best, most, biggest, all of that. that's not the case. they use words like landslide and resounding victory and historic and unprecedented. this is not the case.

he won -- at this point it looks like and the votes are still being counted, looks like he will get around not 49.9% of the vote. so just shy of a majority. he doesn't have the support of the majority of the voters it looks like at this point. his margin of victory over kamala harris 1.5 percentage points. the third lowest since 1888. he didn't have coattails, didn't bring in any new republicans into the house. in fact, they will probably end up being where they were right now, and in the five -- the battleground states where he was spending most of his time that had senate races he failed to bring in the republicans in four them. there are limits to his victory that he doesn't want to acknowledge. >> all right. symone, but that victory does include the executive and the legislative both branches of the legislative. what does this mean in real politic terms for president-elect trump?

>> well, look. in the aftermath of peter baker's very, very great reporting, and there are other outlets that have since matched that reporting and gone on and done additional stories, you have the incoming white house communications director for the president-elect sending out a statement saying the president-elect won in an historic fashion, so on and so forth. a lot of the same language we have heard from not just the trump campaign, but republicans at large. and, you know, sometimes you got to -- what do they say? fake it 'til you make it, project until it is actually there. the reason they are saying these types of things is because what donald trump, the president-elect, is planning to do and his agenda is going to shake things up for lack of a better term. tom homan and the deportation force, right. what they are talking about

doing in terms of another potential tax cut. maybe some of these executive orders we will see from the president-elect are not going to be things that necessarily are popular with the broad swath of the american people. if they say we have a mandate, that this is what the majority of people voted for, that they won it, quote, unquote, sweeping change, then maybe from their perspective it makes the pill little easier to swallow. i think democrats would be well served to be very clear. you have hakeem jefferies, the democratic leader of the house saying this was not a mandate. what the american people want is for republicans and democrats to work together, and that's what we, house democrats, plan to do. we plan to get things done. this is not a sweeping mandate for the most extreme things that. is the messaging and the, frankly, tact and posture that democrats at large, i believe, should take. >> and so, john, let's talk specifics for a bit.

"the atlantic" called matt gaetz's withdrawal from his bid for a.g. trump's first defeat. how do you see that, john? >> well, jose, there is no surprise that gaetz did not get confirmed. i never thought he would. i said it on television that he wouldn't, and, you know, it definitely is a blow to trump any way they want to spin it. here's the thing. he followed up and replaced him with pam bondi, who i expect will have very little trouble being able to be confirmed. but what it does show is that, you know, the senate is advise and consent. they are not going to lay back regardless who the president is. it's sort of interesting. at a time in my life i was voting on governors appointments. so i had a chance to vote yes or no. as governor, i also had an opportunity to make appointments. so then i would lobby people to approve my appointments. sometimes you win. sometimes you lose. and i had a republican senate

that rejected my choice for the public utilities commission. so you have executive power. you have an opportunity to move, to act, to execute, but there is a balance. and i think what this shows with gaetz and perhaps even with the secretary of defense nominee that the senate is not going to just, you know, not going to fold. they will have their views and opinions. remember, a number of them are up in 2026. so, you know, it's -- let's see how this all goes. and my view on it all is, instead of reacting to rhetoric, let's wait and see what they actually begin to do. if we like it, we go with it. if we don't like it, we criticize them. i hope that's the way jeffries will work as a democratic leader in the house. >> peter, what does gaetz's withdrawal mean for thump's other controversial white house picks and john was just talking about one of those. >> it's an interesting question because it happened so fast. it now focuses attention on some

of these other picks that otherwise might have been dominated by gaetz. so leaving, i think, after just a week or so of having an announcement probably doesn't help the other ones because, you know, he was sort of a, you know, a heat-seeking missile that was attracting all of the attention. and the question whether senate republicans say, yeah, we can draw some lines here and this may be a line that is too far for us, whether it be on pete hegseth or rfk jr. or maybe even tulsi gabbard, some of these others. they want to show loyalty to trump, he has made clear he doesn't forget when you cross him. and i don't think they want to cross him. so they will be looking for ways to work together with him to get most of his people through. if there are some they feel like go too far they may sit down with him and ease them out without a direct confrontation if they can. >> symone, before we wrap it up,

one of the things, of the many things i love about you and your show on the weekend, of course, you and alicia and miguel or michael have the opportunity to bring up all kinds of issues in a very kind of, like, conversational way, right. i am wondering, what is the conversation that we should be listening to post-election. there has been so much talk back and forth of, you know, autopsies, like the republicans did after romney lost. what's the conversation you think is being lost? >> look, i think people have a lot of analysis and analysis is good. it's what we do all day long. we are doing it here. but what i love about your show and peter baker and the good governor, the analysis is informed by real conversation that has been had with real people. one of the conversations i think people need to go tout and seek and have are with folks that

voted for the president-elect, folks that sat out the election. democrats who decided to sit out the election. with some of the union voters. i read an article in "the enquirer"er the other day that nbc news hasn't confirmed, there were members of the teamsters and the voting union, the voting executive team, that said the culture war issues were the reason they didn't endorsed vice president, which flies in the face of some of analysis we heard, that it's just the economics, that there is other voters that i have, i know, spoken to specifically that said, well, it was just about the -- everything is too expensive and i don't know what the democrats are doing but seems like trump will bring the prices down. you have to talk to the people because i think the voters, whether you free with the voters or not one thing. you have to get their perspective because their perspective is their reality and their reality shapes what it is that they decide to do at the ballot box. >> i love it.

peter baker, symone sanders, jaung kasich, thank you so much. we will be watching for you, symone, weekend, all the time. i'm jose diaz-balart. that wraps up this edition. i'll see you tomorrow night on nbc "nightly news" saturday. reach me on social media and watch clips at youtube at msnbc.com/jdb. thanks. andrea mitchell picks up with more news after a quick break. most from medicare. if you're eligible for medicare, it's a good idea to have original medicare. it gives you coverage for doctor office visits and hospital stays. but if you want even more benefits, you can choose a medicare advantage plan like the ones offered at humana. our plans combine original medicare with extra benefits in a single, convenient plan with $0, or low monthly plan premiums. these plans could even include prescription drug coverage with $0 copays on hundreds of prescriptions. plus, there's a cap on your out-of-pocket costs. most plans include dental,

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right now on "andrea mitchell reports," new york judge juan merchan postpones next week's scheduled sentencing for donald trump, writing he's open to hearing arguments on trumps' lawyers request to dismiss the case entirely now that mr. trump has been elected. trump picks long time