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 ally

pam bondi to run the justice department after his first choice matt gaetz withdrew amid growing controversy over sexual misconduct allegations. on capitol hill, the republican senate majority grows stronger after veteran democratic senator bob casey concedes to dave mccormick. that gives the president-elect 53 senate republicans and a better chance of getting his cabinet nominees across the finish line. of getting his cabinet nominees across the finish line. good day, everyone. i'm andrea mitchell in washington. we have breaking news on the president-elect's hush money case. new york judge juan merchan has indefinitely delayed the sentencing that was scheduled for next week while agreeing to hear defense motion to dismiss the case entirely now that he is the president-elect. all this as mr. trump has picked a long time loyalist, former

florida attorney general pam bondi to be attorney general now that matt gaetz has ithdrawn under fire. she was part of his defense team during his second impeachment trial. she also promoted his false claims about the 2020 election and insisting incorrectly that he won pennsylvania four years ago. >> we are not going anywhere until they declare that we won pennsylvania. >> they're trying to suppress our voices now and they will not do it. >> the announcement coming hours after gaetz withdrew from consideration amidst growing concerns among republican senators about sexual misconduct allegations including sex with a minor and threat of a house ethics committee report being released. he denies all allegations against him. nbc news learned that at least five republican senators were hard no against gaetz. one source saying as many as 30 senators were uncomfortable voting for gaetz. on capitol hill yesterday, there was swift reaction to gaetz

dropping out. >> the double standard is atrocious and it needs to stop. >> holy [ bleep ], i didn't see that coming. you better pace yourself though, because it is not even thanksgiving. >> joining us now, nbc news correspondent vaughn hillyard in west palm beach, and nbc news capitol hill correspondent ryan nobles, nbc senior executive editor for national security david rhode, and barry mccord, former acting assistant attorney general for national security. vaughn, what did the decision by judge merchan mean, the sentencing trump could have been facing next week, almost 34 convictions? >> reporter: right, andrea. it means that at least the sentencing isn't going to be taking place before thanksgiving. just a month ago that dependinging on the outcome of this presidential election, if donald trump lost, he could be looking at a sentence come just november and one that could even include a prison time. but suddenly with him declaring victory on election night, two

weeks ago, he now finds himself with judge merchan writing to his attorneys and district attorney bragg that his sentencing is postponed potentially after january 20th, which would most likely lead one to believe that sentencing wouldn't take place until after he left the white house, come 2029. and so at this point in time, the brief from judge merchan he requested that the motion to dismiss brief from both sides comes on december 2nd to december 9th. so the sentencing could still take place before inauguration day. of course, there will be an appeal you could expect to try to move this to the federal court still. so there is still a lot that could take place, but one question is whether judge merchan intends on his part to issue the sentencing before january 20th if he does not go forward with the motion to dismiss and toss this case altogether because if he were to push for the sentencing after

donald trump's term in the white house, of course, it would be quite the cloud throughout his presidency over what would be to come in lower manhattan upon his exit from washington, d.c. in 2029. >> it is such a good point. mary mccord, do you think there will ever be a sentencing in the hush money case and is it most likely the judge will postpone it if he's going to postpone it at all, not just dismiss the case until after his term is up? >> yes, i do not think we'll see a sentencing before donald trump takes office on january 20th. this stay of the sentencing is not a surprise. it is something both the district attorney alvin bragg and trump 's lawyers had agreed to. he made clear he understands the constitutional -- serious constitutional issues involved in this case, given that donald trump has won the presidency again. so i think -- and he also

indicated he would oppose any motion to dismiss outright. that's really what donald trump is trying to do right now. his attorneys have said in their correspondence that the reason they want a brief motion to dismiss is because they believe it shouldn't be postponed until after he's no longer president, the entire case should be dismissed and not just before he becomes the president on january 20th, but even now during the period of presidential transition, arguing that under the presidential transition act, he has responsibilities, donald trump has responsibilities right now that would be impeded by this case even remaining on the books. as a matter of constitutional law, it is certainly -- this immunity that trump has is a temporary immunity and there is no reason judge merchan could not stay the sentencing until after mr. trump's term. but whether he'll do that or be concerned about that specter hanging over mr. trump's head throughout his presidency, that

remains to be seen and it remains to be seen, of course, how he'll rule on the motion to dismiss. >> do you think that given what he has indicated earlier that he would dismiss the case entirely before the president-elect takes office? >> well, i don't think the judge has indicated one way or the other. he has set a briefing schedule on that, right. with mr. trump's briefs due on december 2nd and alvin bragg's december 9th. that's an expedited briefing schedule and the judge specifically said no reply briefs. i suspect he'll rule on that relatively quickly and then depending on that ruling, it will determine whether he goes ahead and rules on the briefing that has already taken place about vacating the jury's verdict based on allegations that evidence of official acts for which a president is immune

were introduced into that trial. so, remember, there is that pending motion too, which would say the jury's verdict should be vacated, the case dismissed on those grounds, or at least a new trial granted to make sure that there would be no official acts evidence for which the president is immune that could be introduced in that trial. that also remains an outstanding motion. >> yeah, of course. that immunity, supreme court immunity decision hanging over everything, that's why jack smith is wrapping up his whole procedure as well. vaughn, turning to the transition, talk to us about pam bondi. you've been down there in florida and know how close she is to the president-elect. >> reporter: right, we have known pam bondi is a close ally to donald trump's all the way back in 2016 when she endorsed him over home state florida senator marco rubio ahead of the florida primary, a near constance presence over the last eight years on cable outlets, particularly fox and other right wing outlets defending him.

she was legal adviser to him during his 2019 impeachment on capitol hill, she is somebody in those clips that you played that are prudent, ones in which she was in pennsylvania, claiming he wrongfully that he won the 2020 election there. back on the campaign trail with him in 2024, but her name was not there at the forefront of the conversations over who would be tapped to be the attorney general and that's where his surprise announcement last night was a head turner, in large part pam bondi has not been as perhaps -- obviously as bombastic as matt gaetz has as a political figure, but even more so, there is a series of questions over how she will foresee her role at the department of justice in the ways and the extent to which she seeks to use her position as the top prosecutor in the doj to donald trump's desires and the way that matt gaetz was very outspoken about wanting to root out the so-called deep state,

and ensure that there are career prosecutors eliminated from the department. and so i think there are a lot of questions that undoubtedly she will still face through the confirmation hearings, but compared to matt gaetz, compared to pete hegseth and linda mcmahon, there is not a cloud of controversy related to sexual assaults or misconduct or cover-up allegations that she is facing with a republican senate majority, she should be a welcomed face coming to capitol hill. >> in fact there is none of that at all. so, ryan nobles up there on the hill, does she have a much better chance of confirmation in the senate than matt gaetz? doesn't have a whole lot of experience but she was, you know, florida's attorney general for eight years, so, that's something. >> reporter: i don't think there is much doubt at all that she has a much smoother path to confirmation than matt gaetz. but that bar is not very high. pam bondi, i think, will draw quite a bit of scrutiny from democrats.

she's going to have to sit on -- for a confirmation hearing where they will ask her pointed questions about her role in the 2020 election denialism, whether or not that loses her any republican votes, i think it is an open question. but i think, you know, the level and breadth of her experience far outweighs the level and breadth of matt gaetz's experience. serving as the attorney general of florida, which is one of the biggest states in the union, that's a significant job. it is the type of job that someone would have before they take on the roles being attorney general of the united states, and she is someone that has practiced law at various levels throughout her entire career. so, you know, it is kind of the foundation of her professional life. that makes her a much more legitimate candidate in that respect than matt gaetz. to a certain extent, the window has shifted in terms of what are acceptable cabinet nominees in this trump transition and matt

gaetz pushed that window pretty far to the right and so pam bondi tracks it back a little bit to the center and there is the likelihood she'll have a much easier time. with all of these nominees, outside of really marco rubio, there ist a single one i don't think is still going to have to do some convincing of the republican senators to be guaranteed that they'll get the confirmation they're looking for. >> and, ryan, we have got something that matt gaetz said to conservative talk show host on talking points today, about why he is not, in fact, going to use an option, which might be legally possible, to be sworn back into congress, he's retired from the 118th congress, in order to perhaps as some said get away from that ethics report, but he was legitimately re-elected for the 119th. this is what he had to say today. >> the things that the house ethics report were true, i would

be under indictment and probably in a prison cell, but, of course, they're false, but could have engaged in a months long fact battle, but we don't have months. >> there is a larger part of that tape, i'm sorry, i just read about, he said he's not going to use that option to come back to congress as they reorganize in the first week in january. david, let's talk about pam bondi. in 2023, she was on fox talking about going after the justice department prosecutors whom she called the bad ones. let's watch. >> when republicans take back the white house, you know what's going to happen, the department of justice, the prosecutors will be prosecuted, the bad ones. the investigators will be investigated, because the deep state, last term for president trump, they were hiding in the shadows, but now they have a spotlight on them, and they can all be investigated.

>> so, you wrote the book literally on the justice department and were over there just last week when gaetz was first nominated, not nominated, but named, and the shock and awe -- just shock that was felt among the professionals. how would they respond to someone who was as committed perhaps as matt gaetz to going after what she and president-elect called the deep state, whatever that is? >> so, she, i think she is a more polished, definitely more polished, more experienced as vaughn and ryan have said. she talks about the deep state, that's the idea of a cabal of justice department people who are, you know, prosecuting donald trump, making up evidence against him. there is no evidence of any of that. there was a big investigation of former special counsel that was conducted about jim comey and john brennan and was there a

cabal there? that wasn't found. that special prosecutor did not indict either jim comey, you know, or john brennan. so, bondi, you know, will be the attorney general. she has to have facts, she has to have evidence of a crime, we'll see if she can find them. there is still nervousness inside the doj, the former officials i've spoken to think she's very close to trump and she will launch investigations. will she find evidence of a crime? current doj officials say no. they did everything properly. we'll see what happens. this trump through bondi will continue to threaten to investigate the doj. >> and, mary, from you knowing the justice department so well, what kind of attorney general you imagine her being, especially with her attitude, her election denial, and also if you're hearing anything from former colleagues about people who might be taking retirement, resigning, in anticipation of

the trump administration. >> yeah, i mean, certainly she's a more qualified candidate than matt gaetz, but as you just indicated, and david and others have, i mean, she is very much a trump loyalist, she has said things about launching investigations against department of justice officials and investigators and as david said, that investigate the investigators thing, that happened under a different special counsel a few years ago and it turned up nothing. so i suspect that if she orders the launch of similar investigation it will likewise turn up nothing. it will cost a lot of money. it will be a big waste of time. i think one of the things to keep in mind when we talk and worry about the weaponization of the department of justice is the attorney general and even the political appointees themselves. they can't do this all on their own. in fact, when is the last time an attorney general put a case in the grand jury or tried a case or argued in court?

that's not what happens. they rely on the career women and men of the department of justice, and those lawyers, they have obligations to their bar, they have ethics obligations, and they have obligations to the constitution, not to take any types of investigatory actions or prosecution actions that would violate certainly that would violate the constitution, that would not be supported in facts, and that would be unethical. so i think that there will be pushback by those within the department if these kind of things are ordered without any basis. but to your last point, yes, there are people looking to leave the department in, you know, various different divisions of the department, who are worried about this transition and what it means for the priorities of the department of justice and worried about, you know, being asked to do things that they will not feel comfortable doing. >> and, ryan nobles, before i let you go, they're going on recess now, they will be back

until the new year, i don't think. and the new congress and senator schumer apparently cut a deal because his troops didn't want to stay and keep work around the clock. he's giving up the option on trying to confirm some of appeals court justices. >> well, they'll be back after thanksgiving. so they have the entire month of december to try and push through these final judicial nominees. so, you know, they cut a deal to get a couple through before they left for the thanksgiving holiday, so that they didn't have to be here through this weekend. but they'll be back december 3rd, 2nd, i think, december 2nd, and -- >> i stand corrected. >> reporter: what schumer said, he's willing to plow through the end of the year if that's what it takes to get nominations done. the other big thing is government spending, which we are staring down the barrel of another government shutdown if they can't figure out how to handle that. >> didn't the speaker indicate

there would be an extension to march or -- >> reporter: that's what he wants to do. the four corners of the appropriations committee has a different view of how to handle this. there could be an omnibus that could get them more time. but, yeah, there is still some negotiating to do, andrea, put it that way. >> don't tell me a christmas eve or new year's eve showdown. >> reporter: my family is hoping that's not the case, for sure. >> i was going to say. i'm rooting for your family, ryan nobles. and all the rest of our teams. david rhode, ryan and mary mccord, thank you so much and, of course, vaughn hillyard. vaughn will see us later in the show. in 90 seconds. a live report from israel and assessment of u.s. foreign policy ahead of this big transition to president-elect trump. you're watching "andrea mitchell reports" on msnbc. you're watching "andrea mitchell reports" on msnbc. boring does. boring makes vacations happen, early retirements possible, and startups start up. because it's smart, dependable, and steady.

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leaving you lost. you need to hire. i need indeed. indeed you do. sponsored jobs on indeed are two and a half times faster to first hire. visit indeed.com/hire to send an ominous warning to the west, vladimir putin says he launched that new intermediate range ballistic missile against ukraine, a missile the u.s. officials say would be capable of carrying a nuclear warhead, but it was not -- did not. he did it in response to ukraine firing american long range missiles into russia this week. joining me now is michael froman, president of the council on foreign relations and former u.s. trade representative. great to see you. thank you for being with us. it seems to be saber-rattling

since the u.s. assessment is that he's not going to carry out a nuclear threat. nuclear posture was long planned, they just formalized it and announced it this week. especially not in anticipation of a more accommodating american president about to take office in the person of donald trump. >> i think that's right, andrea. i think clearly he wanted to do something in response to president biden's decision to allow atacms to be used to target territory within russia. but he is saber-rattled before and one thing the ukrainians have done by going into kursk is to demonstrate that in fact you can attack a nuclear power and they will still be constrained by the pressure of the world not to escalate to use nuclear weapons. >> so, his tactics, the fear tactics, though, going to rattle the nato allies, the balkan states in nato, or designed to improve his leverage against ukraine and what is now expected by most people to be a

negotiation that is going to take place next year? >> i think both sides, russia and ukraine are using this time to try to create the best possible situation on the ground before as you alluded to the upcoming likely negotiations. so, ukraine using the atacms, and taking action that they can take right now to hold and hold territory within ukraine, and perhaps push the russians back are possible. russia trying to make incremental improvements in eastern ukraine and to repel the ukrainians from the kursk region, using north korean troops as well. there is an escalation including around attacking ukraine's energy infrastructure. and all in anticipation of the negotiation. i don't think this is game changing. i don't think the atacms change the situation on the ground. nor do putin's attacks on ukraine and the energy infrastructure, this will continue to be damage done until both sides can sit down and

reach a negotiated solution. >> what could be game changing are 10,000 north korean troops. should the u.s. and nato be concerned about the first introduction of asian troops on european battlefield and the degree that kim jong-un is helping his ally putin and replenish his troops and also, you know, fears of a two-way street here, the degree to which putin is helping kim jong-un transform or modernize his missile -- >> that's exactly right. the combination of iran, north korea and china coming to the aid of russia in its attack on ukraine really demonstrates a new dynamic that links together the indo-pacific theat and the european theater when it comes to security. i think in europe, i just came back from a trip to nato, the europeans are increasingly viewing china and its actions as well as north korea and iran as

being a security threat to europe and that's changing their perspective on how to deal with china going forward. we don't know yet what the north korean troops really mean for the battlefield, whether they are very good and effective troops or whether they are not. we'll have to see what happens when they are in combat. the potential, of course, some suggested the 10,000 is a down payment. possibly 100,000 troops coming from north korea, which would avoid putin having to draft and run into political opposition. that's a very disturbing potential new fact in this conflict. but we have to see how the north korean troops perform, and in the meantime, i think this is all having the effect of strengthening nato, strengthening european resolve, and strengthening the transatlantic effort to try and support ukraine to bring this to

an acceptable end. >> acceptable end that would be a negotiated end it seems. volodymyr zelenskyy is getting a very careful balancing act and very aware of what he faces, what he could face with donald trump coming into office. and for the first time he's actually backed up, there is public polling that, you know, large numbers of clear majority, maybe two-thirds of ukrainians support a negotiated solution. they are obviously war weary. and seems to be the reality has set in that there is going to have to be some trade-offs. >> i think that's right. they are war weary. they are prepared, or preparing themselves to accept the fact that they're not going to achieve their territorial objectives at this time through military means alone. and that leaves the fundamental question of what their security situation is going forward. zelenskyy and ukrainians would say it has to be nato

membership. anything short of nato membership, any other crimes of security guarantees, russians will just poke their way through and when the west is preoccupied else why, will it launch a third offensive into ukraine? i think on the west side, there is discussion of how do we make a security -- set of security guarantees short of nato membership as muscular and as credible as possible. and that i think is where the negotiation will really come down to because ukrainians are skeptical given previous security guarantees they received, including back in 1994, they gave up the nuclear weapons and those security guarantees have not, in fact, provided sufficient security for them. >> michael froman, thank you so much. appreciate your being here. >> thank you for having me. and israel's prime minister benjamin netanyahu is condemning the international criminal court of united nations institution after it issued an arrest

warrant against him and yoav gallant and a hamas leader who is reportedly been killed by israel for war crimes, crimes against humanity in gaza. >> it is falsely accusing me, the democratically elected prime minister of the state of israel, and israel's former defense minister yoav gallant of deliberately targeting civilians. this when we do everything in our power to avoid civilian casualties. >> the death toll, of course in the gaza strip is now -- it is now more than 44,000 people, many of them children, according to the palestinian health ministry, which is run by hamas. the u.s. does not recognize the authority of the icc, president joe biden has called the arrest warrants against israel's leaders outrageous. joining us from tel aviv is nbc international correspondent raf sanchez. this will mean that, you know, literally netanyahu, gallant and

the two of them cannot go to certain european countries. how is the international community reacting to the icc's decision? >> reporter: so, andrea, as you point out, the united states is really an outlier among the world's major democracies in that it is not a member of the international criminal courts. you're seeing both the white house and the incoming trump administration united in rejecting these arrest warrants. but it is a very different atmosphere all around the rest of the world, 124 countries are members of the court. and what we have seen over the last 24 hours is countries putting out statements basically saying that they will carry out their obligations under the international criminal courts' membership. very few governments are explicitly saying if netanyahu steps down at london heathrow or charles de gaulle that they will arrest him, the moment he

arrives. what they are not saying is that he is welcome in their countries and that he would be free to travel. so that is a pretty extraordinary situation for the prime minister of israel to be in, feeling that he cannot travel to basically all of western europe, to canada, without fear of arrest. there is one glaring exception, which is interesting. victor orban, the authoritarian prime minister of hungary sent netanyahu a letter earlier today saying he's welcome in hungary, and that orban guarantees his freedom of movement, that he will not be arrested if he comes there. he's something of a gadfly among nato members, among members of the european union, and now breaking with the international criminal court, even though hungary is fully signed up to that. we are seeing netanyahu always thought of himself as you know as israel's best diplomat and his ability to travel around the world now and make the case for

israel very, very limited. we're seeing israel's diplomatic horizon narrowing. the israeli government canceled a trip by the dutch foreign minister here next week in protest of the dutch saying they will abide by the arrest warrants. >> raf sanchez, all extraordinary. thank you. and next, the state of the trump transition after that big shake-up and the reality for democrats after another election loss in the senate. you're watching "andrea mitchell reports" on msnbc. you're watching "andrea mitchell reports" on msnbc. what is — wow! sinex. breathe. ahhhhhh! when i hear cancer, i hear death sentence. at that moment, it was sadness, scared, surprised, worry... everything. every 15 seconds someone will hear the words, “you have cancer.” at the american cancer society,

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with matt gaetz no longer under consideration for attorney general, the focus is shifting to several other controversial picks, including the secretary of defense, pete hegseth, who faceed an allegation of sexual assault from 2017 which he denies. he was not charged but paid his accuser a civil nondisclosure settlement in 2023. vaughn hillyard joins us now with the latest on pete hegseth. in the wake of the gaetz fallout, is trump's team worried about hegseth's chances or think having given up one sacrificial lamb electronic lamb, it will be easier to get hegseth and tulsi gabbard and rfk jr. through? >> reporter: i think this is also part of the helpful aspect

of the transition by nominating these individuals so promptly after his election victory and not waiting to get to december and allowing these individuals to go up to capitol hill this week, now reporting that tulsi gabbard is going to be making her way up to capitol hill to visit with senators. it is a clear recognition that there is going to have to be some convincing to do, it is not a clear rubber stamp that the senate republican majority will give to every nominee. pete hegseth will face questions and scrutiny of -- well, coming on to be potentially the head of the pentagon, he's going to not only face these questions in private conversations, but also in front of cameras, up on capitol hill, from the judiciary committee and from the u.s. senate, is going to face a series of questions about the allegations presented, and also about his capacity and ability to go and serve in that top capacity at the defense department and people like linda mcmahon who faces scrutiny as

well. matt gaetz going down is a blow to this trump transition, because matt gaetz especially was so confident he would be able to effectively not only bulldoze, but also convince republican senators to get on board. >> and they still have not signed the memorandum of understanding to permit more communication, more briefings, fbi screenings. they're not taking advantage of the professional fbi screenings, donald trump's suspicion of the fbi, his own interactions with them in mar-a-lago, so resentful of that search of the home. >> reporter: they still haven't come to this agreement with gsa, gao, to allow the fbi to do the screenings of these potential cabinet picks and other political appointees and go through the security clearances and if that had happened, matt gaetz and pete hegseth perhaps

there would be advisers able to convince donald trump that it may be risky to pick these individuals for these top cabinet posts, and yet what you see is donald trump just hours after matt gaetz dropped out, he named pam bondi to be the next attorney general. bondi does not apparently have anything in her background, publicly at this time, that would raise big alarm bells in terms of her credibility and ability to be confirmed, but at the same time, the fbi would be able to help out the transition and vet these individuals on the front end instead of leaving them to be publicly vetted by the u.s. senators. >> vaughn hillyard, thanks again. thanks for all your help. and joining us now, doug hai, former communications director for the republican national committee, and former democratic congressman from new york steve israel. welcome, both. how big of a political

miscalculation was this by trump, to select someone as controversial as matt gaetz right out of the block for attorney general? >> i'm a big steve israel fan. i wish we had more steve israels in congress. he was a great member of congress. i wish he were still there. i don't think this was a miscalculation. this was intentional. donald trump knew that matt gaetz was not going to be confirmed by senate republicans. he would lose enough of them that there was no chance of this going through. this was a guided missile of donald trump -- >> did he know before he named him? >> absolutely. there were enough republicans -- matt gaetz was a house member and a lot of senate republicans who served with matt gaetz in the house and what happens then -- >> he talked about them and they despised him. >> if you're markwayne mullin or another house member who served with gaetz, you're telling your colleagues, let me tell you about this guy, you know the headlines that are bad, i can tell you the real stories. what it did because it was the first of the nominations, it sent a clear message to senate republicans, and to the country

at large, this is the direction i'm going. >> and so it was symbolic in a way? >> absolutely. and what it did was it frsforce lot of conversation away from hegseth, gabbard, rfk jr., now they're at the front of the line and two months to go. a long confirmation process, but this was intentional. not a miscalculation at all. it was strategic. maybe bad strategy, but strategic. >> steve israel, as we were talking about with vaughn, some of the other nominees -- potential nominees, the choices, are facing a range of serious allegations that could trip up the confirmation. here's what republican north dakota senator kevin cramer had to say about pete hegseth's chances. >> does the allegation give you any pause? >> it ecomes a problem.

this is why you have background checks and hearings and go through the scrutiny. i'm not going to prejudge him. but, yeah, it is a pretty concerning accusation. >> so, you can see his reputation precedes him. >> yeah. you know, first of all, let me thank doug for his kind words. i know he wishes i was back in congress, my family is quite happy i'm not. >> and you're writing novels and having so much fun. >> i think he's on to something actually. i think this was a rather clever almost diabolical strategy by donald trump. we have been so focused on matt gaetz that we have lost focus on a nomination, several nominations that are just as concerning if not more so. the one that concerns me the most is my former colleague in the house, tulsi gabbard. she is nominated to be the director of national intelligence. as doug knows, as you know, that oversees about 20 of our intel agencies. that's the one position in the

federal government that requires absolute objectivity, sterile analysis, no political agenda. you have to meet with the president on most mornings and tell the president not what you think he wants to hear, but what you believe is a series of credible threats, based on the streaming intelligence coming in. tulsi is entitled to her opinions on things like putin, who she coddled, on iran, china, other threats, but i am very concerned that she is going to allow those extreme and unorthodox views permeate the intel stream she is sharing with the president, tell them what he thinks he wants to hear and that will weaken our allies, embolden our adversaries and make our national security position at greater risk. >> i hear that a lot from national security officials as well. republican national security officials.

one concern really about her having this role with her lack of experience and her previous positions, controversial positions, putin, the secret visits to syria, bashar al assad, there is oversight. the intelligence committees have the oversight, but it is all classified. there is less transparency, public transparency about the goings on. and the public, unlike a lot of things that happened at the pentagon, won't know she made a decision, when she altered an assessment. and edited the presidential daily brief and what she says in the oval office. there is no way that will be known to the public. >> may i say that oversight is confined to what is called the gang of eight. it is the leaders of the majority and minority leaders of the house, the senate and the intel subcommittees. that's the entirety of real oversight at that level of classification. so the decision she makes, the

information that she provides won't be shared. not only with the public, but with most members of congress. >> not even the gang of eight. they won't see the raw material. they'll see the edited assessments and she'll be in charge of those. the bias can be built in. doug, let's turn to the 53rd republican senator, senator-elect doug mccormick, former treasury official, dave mccormick, sorry, i'm looking at you. >> i thought you were talking about mastriano for a second. >> mccormick, you know him well, very experienced, but he's defeated a veteran democrat, his father was the governor and auditor general who i covered years ago in pennsylvania, he was outmatched. the elon musk factor as well.

pennsylvania was just a boiler room for the republicans. >> yeah, so full disclosure, i was with senator elect mccormick last weekend. his wife is a friend. >> state department official. >> and either case, either of them would be a terrific senator. it took way too long for this to happen. republicans felt lectured for the better part of two years about small d democracy. we saw every machination of how can we stall this result in pennsylvania, defying court orders. >> let me push back a bit. there are plenty of legal opinions that the -- whether the signature is on the outer envelope or inner is not a machination. it is a very controversial decision. eighth & >> today, in 2000, i would politely say republicans don't always get the benefit of the

doubt. but when we file some kind of injunction or a claim, it is antidemocracy, very clearly senator-elect had been in the lead, was going to lead this and basically chuck schumer's hand had to be forced because if you're going to allow ruben gallego to go in, won fair and square, you have to let senator mccormick in as well. this took too long to happen. this is a result of the surge that donald trump has, when he's on the ballot, senator-elect mccormick lost last time, to dr. oz, whole other conversation about the -- >> terrible candidate. >> terrible candidate. in an general election and didn't win because donald trump wasn't on the -- we see democratic senate nominees overperform on kamala harris, but donald trump being on the ballot pushed a lot of these republicans forward. >> let me just say, the nbc

decision desk, the gold standard and very cautious, did not call this race. and they did call gallego's race and it was for a reason, there were enough outstanding votes out there that couldn't have made a difference and we have to be 99.5% sure before we call a race. >> of course. >> that's the way these things work. no question that dave mccormick is qualified, a great candidate and -- >> he'll be a fantastic senator for pennsylvania. the statements were normal gracious statements we should see more of. >> they're normal people. >> we need more of those. >> and more steve israels. >> more steve israels. >> okay. we'll all be happy. and thanks to you, steve israel and doug high and church and state next. you're ing "andrea mitchell reports" on msnbc. you're ing "andrea mitchell reports" on msnbc.

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today, the texas state board of education is considering a measure to adopt the state authorized curriculum that would allow lessons from the bible starting next year. curriculum is supposed to be optional in k through 5 education, but schools that adopt the christian teachings based curriculum will receive additional funding. joining us with more, antonia hilten who spent so much time covering the texas school

decisions, the curriculum and a lot of the issues there. what concerns do some parents have about this? >> the concerns are from parents, from educators, and local organizations, but also from some members of this board. and the major top line concern is that this curriculum would overemphasize christianity at the expense of other faiths, and mingle and involve christianity in historical lessons or stories where religion may not be necessary. one example is that this curriculum would teach about juneteenth, a popular holiday now that celebrates slaves being freed in texas and would talk about former president abraham lincoln's christianity as playing a role in his decision to free the slaves. and then other people raised concerns that in addition to adding these references to christianity, they pull back on

other historical stories or context around things like slavery. something that is a controversial topic in texas and other states for years now. the opposition among the members is bipartisan. you may think this is democrats versus republicans thing, but there are republicans on this board who raised concerns about all this. the concern being that a lawsuit could come from this, tieing texas resources and educators and public servants in lawsuits as people raise concerns about the separation or understanding of what the separation of church and state in this country is supposed to look like. this is a texas issue today, but likely something we see happen in other states soon, andrea. >> antonia hylton, thank you so much. next, from snow to a bomb cyclone, we'll have a live report on the wild weather across the country. this is "andrea mitchell reports" on msnbc. ss the country this is "andrea mitchell reports" on msnbc. [children chanting] corndogs! corndogs! corndogs! ♪♪

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severe weather is being felt across the country today, 10 million people in the eastern u.s. are now under a winter alert with snow and rain blanketing parts of the northeast and mountains bringing much needed relief to drought stricken areas. parts of the west coast are under a flood alert after heavy rains. in the northwest, two people have died, more than 180,000 without power after a bomb cyclone hit washington state.

joining us from snowy scranton, pennsylvania, sam brock. sam, that's unbelievable, how are people dealing with it there? we saw the browns game last night and the snow there. boy, you're blanketed already. >> reporter: that's the perfect word. it is this drumbeat of snow we have seen that is totally blind sided people. this has been going on since last night when we were driving across the interstate to get to northeast pennsylvania, we saw snow begin about 6:00 or 7:00 at night. it is still going on afternoon, this morning. the accumulation totals in scranton, 6 1/2 inches. it is 19 1/2 inches 45 minutes away. new jersey closing in on two feet of snow. so the region has seen so much. we see folks like this over my shoulder all over the streets. trying to shovel the snow out of their driveway to get their cars

out. it may surprise you, pennsylvania is looking at 120,000 customers without power. these are the power lines over here. the weight of the snow and ice has been dangling in some cases and dangerous, it is not just power lines, trees. this one is in the middle of the street from the weight of six or seven inches of snow. had a conversation with a woman about 30 minutes ago who is just leaving her house for the first time this morning and pretty surprised at what she saw. listen. >> i'm, like, where did all this come from? i heard people speak the day before that it was going to snow but i didn't think it was going to be this serious. >> reporter: this exceeded your expectations? >> yes, it has. i don't know -- i'm asking my daughter what time is it supposed to end. but no response. she is still cuddled. >> reporter: there are ongoing weather advisories. it is not just pennsylvania

where we are, in new york, but also virginia, west virginia, ohio, kentucky, we're really talking about the regional event here and the snow right now shows no signs of letting up. back to you. >> yeah, i'm looking out the window, supposed to get a little bit of it here, but mostly rain. sam brock, thank you. not even thanksgiving yet. and that does it for this edition of "andrea mitchell reports." remember, follow us on social media at "andrea mitchell reports." you can watch the best parts of our show anytime on youtube. go to msnbc.com/andrea. chris sing reports starts after a short break. chris sing after a short break. a viking lo, you'll spend less time getting there and more time being there. viking. exploring the world in comfort. i'm not a doctor. i'm not even in a doctor's office.

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good day. i'm chris jansing live at msnbc headquarters in new york city. doj do over. with matt gaetz gone, will senate republicans be more inclined to back trump's new pick for attorney general? what we know about pam bondi and

her