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good morning. saturday november 23. 58 days until donald trump's second inauguration. much to discuss this morning about how that administration is taking shape. we have nine new cabinet and administration picks. all of them announced just last night. among them scott bessent, a billionaire hedge fund manager and major trump campaign fund-raiser. he's been nominated for treasury secretary. dave weldon. a debunk idea vaccines can cause autism hends centers for disease control. scott turner former pro football player and motivational speaker heads hud. and conservative commentator, gorka, ties to a neo-nazi group,

forced out of the first administration a top counterterrorism official. the most troubles and consequential russell vote. co-author of project 2025. leading the office of management and budget. only a few months ago project presidential bid he and members of his campaign team were forced to deny any connection to it repeatedly. in july trump himself posted on truth social, "i know nothing about project 2025. knoll idea who's behind it and disagree what some of the things they saying and some things of abysmal. i have nothing to do with that." that expedient lie repeated by trump campaign officials so the deeply unpopular project 2025 wouldn't derail trump's presidential campaign. now that he's electing he's freely electing the ark

connects, already deep ties to trump top key cabinet posts. case in point., russell vought. a proponent of christian nationalism and leeder of project 2025 and how to enhance powers of executive office demantling xaud administrative state slashing budgets, limiting regulatory agencies and in charge of preparing a secretive playbook the first six months of trump's second term, overseeing executive orders the incoming administration is likely to implement beginning day one. all of those plans in service of making the powers of the presidency even stronger, and more centralized and earned vought backing of trump and

staunchest allies. stephen miller praised vought as a transformative pimm for omb director and the guy for the last four years who's been developing the plan to take down the deep state. miller, by the way, another supporter of project 2025 who is set to join the incoming administration. this time as deputy chief of staff for policy and as trump's homeland security adviser. a gruel miller founded served on project 2025's advisory board before jumping ship this summer when the public began closely scrutinizing project 2025. besides vought and miller, a handful of other key project 2025 figures chosen by trump to join his administration. there's brendan carr, trump's pick to be chairman of the fcc. wrote the chabter in project 2025 about the fcc. one of the first people trump appointed to his new administration also a project 2025 contribute perp tom homan serving so-called border czar

expected to lead the mass deportation effort. also acting director of i.c.e. helping carry out the family separation policy during the previous trump administration. john ratcliffe and pete hoekstra also listed tapped as cia director and ambassador to canada respectively. the incoming white house press secretary karoline leavitt appeared in a training video associated with project 2025 before she began working for trump's also reporting that trump's transition team is utilizing the extensive personnel data bait crazied and invented by project 2025 referred to as a conservative linkedinlook for potential hires to fill lower-level positions. plus, kege foundation, in charge of project 2025 has called vice president-elect j.d. vance, one of the leaders if not "the" leader of our movement. apparently project 2025 isn't so nuclear any more.

despite all the trump team's denials and attempts to distance himself from the architect of 2025 it will soon be inside the white house. joined by opinion writer for the "washington post" and msnbc political analyst also author of the book "resistance: how women saved democracy from donald trump." and a senior fellow emeritus at american enterprise int stus-of and author. "one nation amp trump." good morning to you both. norm, one of the most alarming aspects about a number of these picks so far is that some of themmer not qualified to lead large somebody like tulsi gabbard to be a national security risk. people associated with project 2025 who fundamentally don't respect the way our government works at the moment. seems to some to be a recipe for chaos. how do you see it up fonding? i?

>> three baskets of deplorables. thank you, hillary clinton. one of course project 2025 people and shame on every journalist during the campaign who took as fact donald trump's saying that project 2025 was something he knew nothing about. the second is billionaires. people who contributed a lot to his campaign, and are now given sincures in the administration and people from fox news, pete hegseth and a doctor, in charge of cdc. no experience or credentials much less the kind of character we want in these positions. tragedy at this point, ali, so many unqualified we know the senate will maybe reject one more. hope it's tulsi gabbard for the sake of national security. although pete hegseth is an

absolute catastrophe, but they'll accept all the rest. that is going to create a hellscape for us in terms of what government is doing to us instead of what it is doing for us. >> and what was just said, unfortunately the process of the normalization of this. right? senate's has to say, pete hegseth more dangerous than tulsi gabbard? or gabbard more dangerous than hegseth? may reject two but not 10, 12 or 17. nobody seems to have the stomach for that fight with donald trump meaning a lot of people will get confirmed who actually shouldn't be confirmed. in a normal world this stuff disqualifying and -- these people would be dismissed before a korves, conversation. because of what norm just said a bunch will be confirmed? >> absolutely. the most encouraging thing i've heard and hope she has support is lisa murkowski who wasn't

going to continue to vet, consider, any of these people, until there was an fbi check on them. that's progress. that would be helpful. because many of these people including tulsi gabbard have backgrounds that would never make them eligible for any government post. let alone for secretaries of these important government agencies. but i do think there are a couple of things going on. first, i have to comment. when you put up all of those faces it was 1,000 shades of white. have you noticed that? >> actually thought i i was reading it, certainly circumstance al few to say, this is the one i'm talking about now. >> yes. exactly. here we have a little bit more diversity in the slide you're showing. first one. major characters, yes, 1,000 shades of white. secondly, there is a certain level of dysfunction and catastrophe that will sink these people. what happens if there t attack,? what happens if there is a

pandemic? the problem with being extreme, irresponsible, ignorant is when bad stuff happens, there's no one to blame but you. so the good news is that these people may not get everything they want. the bad news is, a lot of bad stuff may happen to a lot of innocent people, because of them. and this is kind of, touch the hot stove theory. people voted for him. we're about to find out what he's like. go back to one example and writing about this shameless plug next week. remember after 2004 george bush decided he would privatize social security? riding really high after the 2004 election. had a huge senate majority. it went nowhere. because there's a certain political reality out there that if you're proposed stuff that the vast majority of americans hate, and the vast majority of members of congress think is going to be toxic for them, you're going to run into some trouble. that's, i think, the leverage we

have. not that we'll convince republicans in the senate to vote down rfk jr. it's that when catastrophes happen, they'll be held accountable and when we ask that people look at the ramifications and take responsibility for their votes, a lot of people are going to get cold feet. >> who's job is that, norm? us? is that the media's main role for the next two years or four years? to sort of say, look. this is your government. you won the election. you have appointed the people appointed. senate approved them, but we have to make sure a bright light is shining on you all the time, pointing out where things went wrong and drawing speck lines. this went wrong because you put somebody in the job who wasn't qualified to do it? >> absolutely true, ali. and it means a media that does a better job than during the campaign where they washed trump and the potential policies we are now going to see enacted.

one of the things that concerns me, though, is what could be the orbanization of the media. what viktor orban has done. use the irs and justice department to intimidate owners of big media and very possibly to see some of our media outlets purchased by billionaires like elon musk to try and silence them. i want -- before we go beyond this, ali, one other thing we need to mention. as you talked about russell vought. one of the things i fear most and hope the media will start to cover this is that the trump people are going to immediately challenge the budget and impoundment control act of 1974, which was to give congress power over a president taking funds that were appropriated legally and misusing them or not using them. if that is thrown out, then russell vought is going to have the power to basically bypass congress and donald trump will

take money from different accounts and use it for his border or use it for his own purposes, and we will see the constitution completely blown up. we need this covered before it happens. >> thank you for that. we will do that and thank you, jennifer, as well. for doing the things we're supposed to do in the media holding this and other administrations to account. we have to do that no matter who's in power. kicking us kicked off. opinion writer at "washington post" and norm is a senior fellow emeritus at the american enterprise institute. still ahead on "velshi" matt gaetz is out of the running for attorney general and says he will not join the new congress next year. fret not if you think you'll miss the former congressman. he's joined the app cameo, where you can purchase a personalized message from gaetz to whomever you want for just $500. now that gaetz found his calming on cameo we'll tell you about

the woman trump picked to be the next attorney general. today in the "she vi banned book club" a cult classic. simon verses the homo sapien agenda. 16-year-old simon spear and journey of self-acceptance and first love. do not miss it. this bottle says i need to pretreat. that stuff has way more water. a little bit of tide goes a long way, so you can save your shirt and maybe even a little money. moat the... library.s right... for a better clean with less... it's got to be tide. ♪♪ vicks vapostick provides soothing non-medicated vicks vapors. easy to apply for the whole family. vicks vapostick. and try new vaposhower max for steamy vicks vapors.

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matt gaetz decision to withdraw his name from consideration to be the next attorney general caught some by surprise. the person donald trump chose to replace him is rather unsurprising. pam bondi, former attorney general for the state of florida with long ties to trump. part of his defense team during

this first impeachment trial and involved in efforts to overturn the 2020 election results. bondi becomes now the fourth trump lawyer to be chosen for a top position in the next administration's justice department. for more joined by our residential expert on all things doj. nbc news justice reporter ryan reilly. good to see you. thank you for being with us. talk to me about pam bondi. how is it received in and around the doj and the senate? >> reporter: well, got to look how far the window shifted with matt gaetz as nominee and so all of the reactions in comparisons to matt gaetz are certainly a little sigh of relief, but if it's started up front with pam bondi i don't think people within doj would be too psyched. this is someone who has been at donald trump's side a very long time. certainly on paper her qualifications weigh outpace matt gaetz. someone who's, the attorney general of a major state for several years, experience in the

law. also just side note. hasn't been investigated federally for having sex with a 17-year-old for money. so there's that benefit, which a lot of folks inside of doj have referenced, just that notion he could have been head of the justice department so shocking to a lot of people. pam bondi is certainly someone with that baggage and one of the big concerns is what she did after donald trump lost the 2020 election and joined in efforts and had a press conference in philadelphia just before the four seasons total landscaping conference to spread lies claiming falsely donald trump had won an election he lost. certainly a major concern for people. i think policing that line between the justice department and the white house, those postwatergate norms we talk a lot about is really going to be an issue to look at going into trump 2.0. >> thank you. appreciate it. stay close to you on this. nbc news justice reporter ryan reilly. we'll be right back. 'll be rig. ♪

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when it coto, you know, getting in the heads of my teenage characters and i'm definitely tapping into a lot of the feelings that were very present even defining for me when i was in middle school, even high school. even college. even adulthood, really. you know, and there is this kind of distance that you can feel sometimes between, like, the chaos of what's happening inside your own head and this perception that you have of

other people who i think are probably inside their own heads, maybe just as chaotic as you are. >> i like that idea. tumbler, which is a very popular 2000 blogging site, where they meet and simon is outed. talk about the significance of secrets tumbler and what it represents? >> creek secrets tumbler fun to write. so funny. feels like a historical fiction novel in that way right now, but is it its own very specific culture as a , too, is they cal tumbler." i promise i know it's just called tumbler. referring to the specific tumbler for their school and why

they call it that. i am not -- not the -- i am an old millennial and elderly millennial but i don't call it like, you would call it like the facebook.com or something. it's just like -- it's such an interesting site, because, you know, it is more anonymous, i think, than a bunch of other platforms even of its time, and there's this kind of language that if you scroll through tumbler a lot, you get the sense of, it's almost its own kind of -- just tumble are dialect? i find it so poetic. something that really intrigued me at the time. i find it really intriguing, at the time, about other platforms. reddit has its own cultural norms and nuances the way they talk, but, you know, simon is such a tumbler kid.

that entire universe exists within, you know, a particular moment in recent history. so, yeah. i get a little nostalgic for the hating of tumbler. >> i want to read a passage that encapsulates between parents and teenagers from the teenager's perspective. "pour myself a mug of coffee add an avalanche of sugar. my mom watches me stir. i didn't know you drink corr. okay. she does this every freakin' time. puts me in a box. i try to nudge the lid open they slam it back down. nothing about me is allowed to change." "what do i do" okay, she says, putting up her hands like, whoa, there, buck. sign, sy, just different. trying to keep up with you, quote/unquote. an exchange that would sound familiar to a lot of people.

>> yeah. it's like a direct callout of my parents. both of them. yeah. there's extreme self-consciousness, i think. you know that comes from trying on new aspects of your identity, of yourself, but having to do this within the compliance of just the same context that you've always been in. you know, when you are a teenager living at home with your parents, they know every version of you. they know the baby version of you, the little kid version of you, and, like -- you know, your identity's a moving target especially at that point. it's mortifying to have to do that kind of -- it was like -- something i felt viscerally and sometimes -- like my mom the other day, we were sitting at

dinner, she's like. oh, are those white hairs? mom, that's -- >> allowed to have white hairs at some point. >> i am allowed. i'm so allowed. >> one last thing i want to the ask about quickly. music. plays a major role in the book. a play list. simon has a play list call it's "the great depression" groups and references from fleet foxes to elliott smith. tell me why music played such a big role in this? >> you know, i think for me it always comes back to the characters. simon, who he is, he's like absolutely somebody who no matter what would have very strong opinions about music and just in general the media he consumes. that's, like -- that more than any particular reference, but just the fact that he has such strong opinions about it. such a central aspect of, his

character and who his character is, too, at that moment in his life. and -- i feel like -- kind of flushing out his taste in music was one way i really got to know him and, you know, a lot of that was definitely influenced by, like, my favorite music. i wasn't cool enough to know about elliott smith in high school. definitely it was in my 20s. but it is, like, maybe the biggest honor to have heard from teens who read simon and that's the first time they've ever heard of elliott smith and then they have, like, gotten into elliott smith's music. >> yep. >> what a -- a legacy for them. it's like -- if i've done one good thing, like -- >> becky, a great book. thank you for being with us. appreciate it.

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for easier heartburn relief, one beats ten. prilosec otc. one pill. 24 hours. zero heartburn. several countries vowed to abide by the international criminal court's guidance to arrest israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu over alleged crimes against humanity and war crimes. this week the icc issued arrest warrants for netanyahu and his former defense minister yoav gallant accusing them of crimes in gaza. icc also issued a warrant for hamas military chief deif for his role in the attack on israel on october 7th. deif is believed to have been killed in an israeli airstrike but the icc said it could not determine if he was dead. the court withdrew requests for warrants for two other senior hamas figures. former political head haniyeh

and former military head sinwar because they are believed to be dead. for context the international criminal court was established guy the rome statute adopted in 1998, a treaty, in force in 2002. establishing the icc structure and jurisdiction over four core international crimes. genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and the crime of aggression. however, there is no icc police force. so enforcing the consequences of violating the rome statute is up to the 124 signatories of that treaty. they cannot physically arrest netanyahu or the others, but if any of them step within the borders of an icc-member state, that country is required to arrest them. however, the icc has little recourse if a country doesn't comply. neither the united states nor israel are signatories to the icc. u.s. signed the rome statute but

never ratified it. the u.s. doesn't recognize the jurisdiction of the icc. so it's unlikely that the u.s. would arrest netanyahu or gallant. and close european allies might. a growing lichte pledged to make arrests if presented with the opportunity. so far austria, belgium, canada, ireland, italy, lithuania, neverlands, slovenia, spain and switzerland signaled they will carry out the icc arrest warrants. netanyahu and gallant free to visit hungary, an icc member when the prime minister, orban will divide the court and wants to invade netanyahu to budapest. russian president vladimir putin has one too. all of this is playing out on the global stage as israel continues its attacks on gaza and lebanon. overnight israeli airstrikes

killed at least 11 people in central beirut according to lebanon's civil defense. this week in congress the senate held a vote on a series of bills proposed by vermont senator bernie sanders meant to limit weapons transfers to israel and to curtail america's support of the war. the senate ultimately voted against the bills but 17 democrats and 2 independents voted for at least one of the measures signaling a growing resistance to american support for the war in gaza. here's what some of those in favor of >> the united states government cannot provide weapons to countries that violate internationally recognized human rights or block u.s. humanitarian aid. that is not my opinion. that is what the law says. >> a partnership should about two-way street. not a one-way blank check and at a minimum, the netanyahu

government should comply with american law. >> we must not continue to provide offensive weapons that make the united states complacent in deaths of tense of thousands of palestinians and injury of 100,000 incidents. >> joining me senior fellow for carnegie endowment of a state craft program and former senior adviser forearab-israeli negotiations at the u.s. state department. good to see you. thank you for being here. the incoming senate majority leader john thune has said something completely different than we just played. he said in fact, paraphrasing, put in a tweet, basically the calf calf -- calvary is coming. what's your sense how this will play out?

>> ali, thanks for having me. everything described from the icc still has to be approved by the three-judge panel. countries that, 124-plus countries in the icc, most have not spoken on whether they'll enforce the warrants, but some of the ones identified have. senate resolutions, bernie sanders, chris murphy, chris van hollen, all of it would suggest in a galaxy far, far away that this sort of pressure and the undermining of israel's image and its brand is a consequence of the last year would have impact on israeli or u.s. policy. but the reality's back here on planet earth to just, it's a much different outcome. the biden administration, over the course of last year, has yet to impose a single consequence that normal humans, including me and you, would regard as under

serious pressure. i think john thune's comments reflect the incoming administration -- for sure, is going to be reluctant to do that. the only good news in this situation, ali, there is a reasonable chance and negotiations two speeds. slow and slower. by year's end you may actually get, the next five and six weeks, cease-fire and differentmatic offering in lebanon. >> interesting. in your world you look for little clues, developments and they may mean something. there's talk of a real cease-fire deal between israel and hezbollah. the lebanese military and hezbollah. both soon onboard with that framework. israelis are speaking positively about it. tell me about the likelihood and impact of that? when we started, when october 7th started people weren't

thinking much about lebanon. for israel's purposes a much more serious war because hezbollah and its backers are better armed, better trained and have more weaponry? >> yeah. the most lethal non-state actor in the world. at least several monthsation. look, i think what ultimately produces a successful negotiation is one basic feature. that's urgency. are advantage of doing a deal outweigh the risks and downsize of not doing one? in the case of israel 70,000-plus residents dislocated from their homes on october 8, and in the days and weeking that followed, hezbollah has take an huge beating in terms of their command and control. destruction of their financial assets. their weaponry. all of this suggests to me -- iranians by the way, also seem to be supportive, that the parties are in a relative fur toy complete the deal. i'd say a reasonable chance. we've seen so many times, close.

going to get there. we're this close to a deal when in fact it all falls apart. it's reasonable to assume in the next four, five weeks you could actually see agreement. >>fingered crossed. and deif, can't confirm he is dead. warrant out. the other who, they are dead. where is hamas in this whole thing? cutteries y qataris are tired of helping them with a settlement. in conversation at all? >> lebanon and gaza, there, no urgency. and starts with an israeli prime minister who's organizing principle is maintaining himself in power and right in coalition and a deal with hamas would mean

exchange, a change and a brother in control. may well be hamas is in fact interested but i think it's extremely difficult in the time remaining between now and end of the year in order to do a serious deal to free hostages. 101 alive and dead, israelis estimate that perhaps only 50 or 51 are still alive. incoming trump administration, a punitive president considers himself the best negotiator in the universe seems unlikely to me that he's going to press the israelis. certainly press netanyahu for any serious concessions in gaza. >> always smarter talking with you. good to see you. aaron davis miller, senior fellow for the american state craft program at the carnegie endowment for international peace and former senior adviser

for arab-israeli negotiations at the state department. and simon spier has a few secrets. no one knows that simon is gay. don't miss the meeting of the "velshi banned book club," "simon versus the homo sapiens agenda." ." 't help due to burning and stabbing pain in my hands, so i use nervive. nervive's clinical dose of ala reduces nerve discomfort in as little as seven days. now i can help again feel the difference with nervive. 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 how easy it can be to find your medicare match. this is pretty amazing. i can go on a vacation with this money. i have quite a few prescriptions. that's why people call us. we're going to compare plans, and i'm gonna try to get you

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so in mobster movies throughout pop culture history you might hear tone ip going up the riv meaning up to prison. coined by prisoners sent from new york city up the hudson river to ossining, new york and the sing sing correctional facility. sing sing is one of the most notorious maximum security prisons in the country. a new msnbc documentary build on two decades of original investigative reporting exposing injustices of wrongful convictions at the prison. the first two episodes premiere tonight at 9:00 p.m. eastern here on msnbc. tonight's episode you'll learn about two men who sat behind bars for a murder at the palladium nightclub in new york city. >> eventually in a hearing testifying that he and spanky were the shooters. but the judge -- found the plot to be not credible and deny as

motion for a new trial. and david and the others, still sitting in jail for a crime they did not commit. >> four-part documentary series "the sing sing chronicles" premieres with episodes one and two. catch it right here on msnbc. still ahead, "the velshi banned book club" a novel poignantly explores identity, family dynamics, adolescent isolation and self-acceptance called "simon spier versus the homo sapien." >> most part of my life is normal. i have a family i actually like and i have friends. do everything friends do. drink way too much coffee and i'm just like you except one huge-ass secret. >> hey! i like your -- your boots.

i said, i like your boots. good-bye. >> nobody knows i'm gay.

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all right. 16-year-old simon spier couldn't wait until after school to continue his email correspondence with the mysterious blue. the two classmates exchanging emails using pseudonyms since begins of the school year. connecting after a message board post he's gay. secret emails are a safe haven. the only play to fully express hopes, confide and explore their sexuality, even if they don't know each other's true identity, which they don't. simon is certain his warm and well-meaning parents will accept him if and when, when he comes out but not so sure how blue's family will react or not sure who blue truly is.

when another student discovers emails on a school computer, simon's world is turned upside doud. blackmailed and blackmailer threatening to release the messages outing them both explodesing their relationship. hon nempty, isolation, identity, acceptens and love. that's the plot of today's "velshi banned book club feature." best-selling award-winning young adult novel by this author. chapters that switch between simon's perspectives and email correspondence, simon versus the homo sapien's agenda is a master class in writing feels endearing and incredibly real. the author pays close attention to secondary characters allowing simon's friends and family to shine as some of the brightest spots in the book. even simon's blackmailer martin is given opportunity to redeem himself and apologize. simon versus the homo sapien's agenda is also funny.

her writing particularly the dialogue, it's quick, witty, laden with cultural references firmly establishes the story in the early to mid-2010s. rings true to teenagers of any contemporary time period. even the title is a small joke. a play on the pejorative phrase, the homosexual agenda often used by anti-gay organizations. at its core like so many of the best young adult novels we featured on the book club simon versus the homo sapien's agenda is a coming of age story. simon navigates subtle changes in loyalty within his friend group and turns to music to work through the feelings he can't properly express through words. embraces and rejects, and again embraces his family and experiences his first love in ways we all have read about before. by grounding simon versus the homo sapien's agenda in these familiar motifs she is able to tell a much more nuanced and

complex story grappling with identity and sexuality. depicted using first-person narration and carely laid character, simon is a typical protagonist happen to be gay. side note, don't you think everyone should have to come out? why is straight the default? everyone should have to declay one way or another and a big, awkward thing whether straight, gay, bi or whatever. just saying. the only people who have to think about their identity are the ones who don't fit that mold. this frank normalcy makes simon versus the homo sapien's agenda radical, powerful and pioneering. members of the velshi banned book club are already familiar with the disproportionate number of novels removed or banned because they fell lgbtq+ stories or written from authors from that community. this book is no exception. banned removed and challenged in numerous states across the

country including florida, texas, michigan and utah there's a message in this book. everyone deserves a love story. i believe that's true especially for readers in states like florida, texas, michigan and utah. so right after the break i'll be joined by the author of today's "velshi banned book club feature." "simon versus the homo sapien agenda." ." and brought alongw new exciting additions. and they discovered that when they mixed their scents. ♪♪ they were more than just soulmates. ♪♪ they were scentmates. ♪♪ ♪♪ mix match more happy with gain.

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today's meeting of "the alvey banned book club" officially under way. joined by becky al ber tell pip thank you for being with us. welcome. the book is fantastic. simon vs. the homo sapiens agenda. listed for the award for young people's lis chercher -- litera. >> thank you for having me. i'm not excited about the banning and circumstances but really glad to be here. >> the silver lining on the program. talking to a lot of authors and viewers hearing from a lot of authors about a lot of books they wouldn't otherwise necessarily choose or encounter and loving them. thanks, banners. one of the main themes of the book, simon vs.'s homo sapiens agenda. introduced early on. still is relevant as when you

wrote about it. adolescent loneliness. blue writes in an email, you can't imagine how much i hated middle school. remember the way people look at you blankley and say, um, okay. after you machined talking. everybody had to maybe it clear you were totally alone. worst part, of course, was that i did the same thing to other people. talk about that. what's that idea and what are you trying to get at? >> you know, i think -- you know