have this kind of interesting situation in northern ireland, six six counties still part of the uk, still are today, and there was a lot of discrimination and oppression of catholics living there during the 1950s, 1960s. it all boiled over in the late '60s, early '70s. there is a huge amount of violence. some images would be familiar to us in america today. peaceful protests, you have tear gas, you have militarized police on the streets, and a lot of people asking themselves, what is the best way to kind of get from this place we are today to a better future for this country. sometimes making good decisions, sometimes making bad ones, what we wanted to do is tell a very dramatic story that looked at the whole kind of spectrum of choices that people made under that kind of pressure. >> that's it for us good morning. it is sunday, november 24th.

i'm alicia menendez with michael steele. symone is off. a trump pick with projects to a 2025-like group as they threaten to defund critical agencies and group. we will be joined by the american federation of teachers and head of planned parenthood. congressman collect sarah mcbride is the table. grab your coffee, settle in, and welcome to "the weekend." you heard it again and again during the campaign, folks. donald trump said he knew nothing, absolutely nothing about project 2025. >> i have nothing to do with project 2025. that is out there. i haven't read it. i don't want to read it,

purposefully. i don't want to read it. this is a group of people that got together and came up with some ideas. >> given he doesn't read, that's fine, but now it's a different story. trump is filling key roles with maga allies that worked on the far right blueprint to reshape the federal government. nbc news reports transition officials are combing through the project 2025 database of potential hires. think of it has a far right version of linkedin, built to fill government agencies. it's not just project 2025. just yesterday trump named brooke rollins for agriculture secretary. the president of the group that shares goals with 2025. his pick pam bondy led the legal arm for the group.

he also tapped the think tank's chair for legal secretary. joining us now columbia university professor, our friend basil spikel. >> i love the absolute shock in your voice as you learned the thing that you warned about for months would come to fruition. >> i'm stunned. speechless at this moment. it's absolutely crazy. >> basil, the thing that strikes me, i think an important aspect of this, and "the washington post" brought it up for us, regarding what is happening here, and a story that i'm surprised is not getting as much emphasis as i think it should regarding the lack of vetting regarding the individuals. the post notes as the team considers hundreds of appointees for key jobs, trump has declined to let the federal bureau of investigation check for red flags to guard against

espionage instead of relying on private campaign lawyers for some appointees and doing vetting for all of the others. trump's an transition team is considering blanket security clearance according to the people who spoke on anonymity for the private discussions. you see the combo meal effect here where it's leveling up the very thing they denied. excuse me, they had anything to do with, project 2025, in combination with the character and quality of the nominees, getting past the post of scrutiny and sort of the review, the fbi review, to see whether or not there's some bigger things we should be considered about. >> you know, we've talked before that project 2025 was not a five-year or one-year plan. it was a 180-day plan. which if you believe that,

which we did, you can imagine with intentionally the trump administration would bring people up, get them on board, and forgo the significant vetting process you just discussed the normal vetting for people to carry the plan out 180 days from his inauguration. going back to the statement, if people tell you who they are, you believe them, and one of the things that is also curious about this, is that if you're -- if he, donald trump, is using private investigators to do the background check and not the fbi, which it's clear he doesn't trust, what oversight opportunities will the house and senate have when these individuals come before them to testify if there is a hearing at all? it seems as though with the house and the senate firmly in

republican hands and donald trump given the kind of way that he would likely governor, there will be no checks and balances if you will. that's why i was also, i think, somewhat pleased the american enterprise institute posted an op-ed saying the senate should step up and do the job they are supposed to do with respect to advisory consent that may be a glimmer of hope, but i doubt it the way this is going, he's trying to ram these individuals through to make sure project 2025 gets off at the second it can. >> basil, michael, there's what you lay out, michael, the fbi vets to make sure that you don't have connections that will impede you from doing your job. you don't have people who have leverage over you that will impede you from doing your job. your first loyalty and priority is to the united states and the

constitution. that's the purpose of the vet. that's why it's part of the process. there's also, i would say, just the question of basic competence when it comes to this job, this from npr about rollins and the usda cope of the work. she would oversee nearly 100,000 employees making up ha nutrition budget and wic and school meal regulation. the department could be at the front lines of trump's efforts to trim what i had calls the deep state of federal bureaucracy and his efforts to implement tariffs on goods and provides assistance to farmers in rural farmers. she also will renegotiate the mexico-canada trade deal. this is a huge job. >> this is a huge job. what is interesting, when you talk about agriculture or the department of education that

trump and the republicans have talked about closing, so many of the policies coming through the agencies affect the voters in red states, affecting significant amounts of poor people, and for the administration, early on to not only appoint people who don't necessarily have the expertise, but also there is this cut, cut, cut sort of mantra, one wonders how quickly it's going to -- how fast a lot of the voters and his supporters will realize they are not getting anything out of the administration. kamala harris talked about policy. the administration did not, and all appointees are not policy- oriented people. they are loyalists. on one hand, you can understand that and want to be loyal to the president. on the other hand, you find people who can do the job. progressive politics in 1900s. why don't we get people to be in the agencies that have some understanding of the work they

do? >> the loyalty piece, though, basil, for me, it's an important ingredient, but the essential aspects of the job really do revolve around the world. >> that's right. >> and what goes into putting that work together as part of the administration is a level of cohesion, not just in the processes that you bring into the government, but the washington post is also reporting this week some great writing by ashley parker about the maga cliques. the transition has unfolded adds a rolling set of gala events and business meetings with clear cliques beginning to emerge. in one group unofficially held by donald trump jr., sits vance and maga warriors such as

tucker carlson. that's a party. then another group, unofficially held by incoming chief of staff susie wiles consists of her oil and disciplined aides. loyal to whom may i ask. the third group is connected to the american policy institute, the group meeting last week. how does it come together? >> i don't expect it to. i don't expect a lot of work from this administration. first, we have the first administration to go back to understanding it's just going to be a tremendous amount of chaos. in the first few days, as you talk about, there's all of these pockets, factions, that clearly have their own view of how to work in this administration, but worse than that, you do not have a

president who actually cares about policy. i mean, that's the biggest problem. at least you could say if he had a strong vision, the folks that he employs would actually kind of fall in line under that. he's as loyal to the last person who spoke to him. i imagine there's going to be so much chaos early on, and we saw that even with the quote, end quote, muslim ban early in the first administration, but there will be such significant chaos that, you know, it's going to force some members of the senate and maybe in the house to say, look, we were with you up to this point, but now you need to help us deliver. you will probably see them rise when that happens. >> the test of leadership will be how the senate responds and what they do. basil, stay with us. next we have frank joining us

to talk about tulsi gabbard under donald trump. you're watching "the weekend" on msnbc. watching "the w eeken on msnbc. i trouble gettin, but i want to live in my home where i'm comfortable and my friends are nearby. i can do it with the help of a barber, personal shopper and exercise buddy. someone who can help me live right at home. life's good. when you have a plan. ♪ ♪ [♪♪] did you know, how you feel can be affected by the bacteria in your gut? try new align yogurt coated probiotic fruit bites. with a delicious apple and blueberry-flavored fruit center and yogurt coating, each bite is infused with added probiotics, to help promote a healthy digestive system every day. plus, they're packaged in individually-wrapped pouches, for daily digestive support on the go. look for new align yogurt coated probiotic fruit bites

online and in the digestive care aisle of your local retailer. brand power, helping you buy better.

hi, i'm debra. i'm from colorado. my whole life, i've been proud of the fact that i could recall things, organize things, you know, was great with numbers. it was bothersome. i heard about prevagen and then i started taking it about two years now. i started noticing, seemed a little sharper, a little clearer. i feel like it's kept me on my game. i'm able to remember things. i'd say give it a try. prevagen. at stores everywhere without a prescription. do you have a life insurance policy you no longer need? now you can sell your policy - even a term policy - for an immediate cash payment. call coventry direct to learn more. we thought we had planned carefully for our retirement. but we quickly realized we needed a way to supplement our income. our friend sold their policy to help pay their medical bills, and that got me thinking. maybe selling our policy could help with our retirement. i'm skeptical, so i did some research and called coventry direct. they explained life insurance is a valuable asset

that can be sold. we learned we could sell all of our policy, or keep part of it with no future payments. who knew? we sold our policy. now we can relax and enjoy our retirement as we had planned. if you have $100,000 or more of life insurance, you may qualify to sell your policy. don't cancel or let your policy lapse without finding out what it's worth. visit coventrydirect.com to find out if your policy qualifies. or call the number on your screen. coventry direct, redefining insurance.

tulsi gabbard, donald trump's pick for director of national intelligence will kick off meeting with senators just after the thanksgiving break. the former congresswoman has faced scrutiny for her support for edward snowden. in 2020 she pushed for all charges against him to be dropped. some senators are asking to review her fbi file to see if it could review unknown previous contacts. joining us the former assistance director of counterintelligence at the fbi, and basil is still with us. >> frank, welcome to the table, my friend. this tulsi gabbard pick has

stirred concerns not just on capitol hill but throughout the intelligence community. you have the former u.n. ambassador and presidential candidate nikki haley herself referring to tulsi as someone who has defended russia, iran, and china. it's not a place for the sympathizer running our department -- director of national intelligence. how do you see the concerns to the fact that she got pulled from the tsa, you can't get on this plane. is this a problem? making more of this than we should? >> this is a grave problem because the role of dni is the overseer of all of the agencies in the u.s. intelligence community. they set the collection shopping list, so to speak, for the year, saying this is what we need to gather as a u.s.

intel community, and here's what we are not going to spend our resources on. because of that, that position has every clearance in the u.s. government, can see, or ask to see everything that is going on in all corners of the government. here's the thing, she appears to be holy unqualified. there's a person who has no experience with intelligence or the intel community, and coupled with this really troubling background of travel. you mentioned she was put on the quiet skies algorithm watch list at tsa because of her suspicious travel patterns and her connections, and even a.i. is telling us that she may pose a problem. when you add to that, assuming a misunderstanding of who our adversaries are, and then a

blind loyalty to trump, we have a recipe for not just a disruption of the position, but the destruction of the position. >> before she is confirmed, frank, i wonder if you're our allies how you're thinking about what intel you do and do not share with the united states. >> well, the first thing that, from my experience as assistant director, the first thing that may be happening soon, if not already, our allies are likely quietly approaching their counterparts in the u.s. intelligence community and saying what is going on? and then on a classified level, they may be sharing what they know and what they have as a means of expressing their concern saying do you think your incoming president has this or this or has seen this meeting or this intercept? here's the oddity about that, we should be doing that, but

trump appears to be bypassing the fbi background investigations. the irony, the u.s. intel community may have to sit back and receive allied intelligence. >> that's the scary part about this. the work is going to be done by third parties, our allies and friends around the globe to tell us about the dangers in some of the appointments, basil, and to that point, you have the new jersey elect senator andy kim introducing legislation require the director of national intelligence and other national security positions to disclose any financial transactions with governments. writing we wrote the bill well before november 5th. it's not about politics. it's about our security. how aggressive do you think democrats need to be in light

of what we have just talked in the last two segments about the nature of our national security interest being run by individuals who conceivably could be perceived as a threat to the national security? how aggressive should democrats be in pushing those points for confirmation? >> very aggressive. look, if there's not a tion? >> very aggressive. look, if there's not a grownup in the white house, there has to be one in the capitol, in both chambers there are. democrats, are the republicans are going to do it, no mitch mcconnell saying we will put the brakes on this, someone has to step up and say we need a thorough investigation. tulsi gabbard, even according to newsweek two days ago, is part of the organization called the science of identity foundation, reportedly some kind of cult. seems to me that american

security is with her and picks trump has put forward so far. that's not a place that any democrat or republican wants to be, even if you don't vote on foreign policy. you vote on safety and security. you want to make sure you can go to bed at night, wake up in the morning feeling that somebody is watching over you, and i just don't know that you would ever get that kind of feeling with tulsi gabbard in that position. if you're hakeem jeffries, and certainly chuck schumer, if your republican counterparts are not going to lead the charge, you need to be clear with the american people what the concerns and dangers are with that pick, and perhaps force the senate, somebody to be able to put the brakes on it. >> frank, that's what is happening at dni. let's talk about the fbi. vance in a deleted post saying trump was interviewing

candidates for the fbi chief. he had picked director rey after the firing. what are you hearing? >> some senior talented people saying it's time to leave. there will be a brain drain that occurs, and that's first and foremost. the other thing, the rumors are rampant, but they are not entirely rumors. coming out of project 2025 and statements trump aides have made. they will not only replace the director, making trump the only president in history to fire two fbi directors before their terms are up, but the intent is to just level the top echelons of the fbi and strangely possibly including the special agents in charge of field offices in your cities and towns and replacing them with

nonprofessional, nonbadge and gun people who are political appointees, not law enforcement professionals. >> basil, i want to pick up on that point before we let you scoot out of here. the brain drain is a feature of the deconstructed state. what better way to do it than to have people leave. we will make it so toxic for you anyway. the impact of the moral on those who remain, and the impact it has on the work that they do. talk a little bit about what that brain drain actually translates to for the everyday -- not just in the fbi, but other agencies as well. >> i will add layer to that, the project 2025 and the new omb pick is focused on removing civil service protections and making sure they can fire people who don't decide to leave. the brain drain is quite significant. you have checks that need to go

out with respect to vendors that work for the federal government. you have programs that need financing, like title i, head start, all coming out of the federal government. there's so much institutional history that is there, that means the wheels of the bureaucracy grind to a halt, and a lot of the work of the federal government, again, moneys going to the states and local governments in everything from schools to s.n.a.p., it just slows down and puts people at risk. again, if you're a red state voter or poor in the country, you do hang on a lot of what the federal government is providing for you, and it looks like that thought process isn't even inherent in the picks from the incoming administration. >> yes, in deed.

it's going to be interesting. basil, always a pleasure to have you at the table. frank, we want you to stick around because we want to talk about trump's dangerous plans for the justice department. this is "the weekend." weekend" ♪♪ good to go binge-watch. ♪♪ good to go out even later. ♪♪ with cabenuva, there's no pausing for daily hiv pills. for adults who are undetectable, cabenuva is the only complete, long-acting hiv treatment you can get every other month. it's two injections from a healthcare provider, as few as 6 times a year. don't take cabenuva if you're allergic to its ingredients, or taking certain medicines, that may interact. serious side effects include allergic reactions or rash, post-injection reactions, liver problems, and depression.

if these occur, get medical help right away. tell your doctor about your medicines or supplements, medical conditions, liver or kidney problems, mental health, pregnancy, and breastfeeding. the most common side effect is injection site reaction ♪♪ with cabenuva, you're good to go. without daily hiv pills. talk to your doctor about switching. sounds like you need to vaporize that cold. dayquil vapocool? it's dayquil plus a rush of vicks vapors. ♪ vapocooooool ♪ woah. dayquil vapocool. the vaporizing daytime, coughing, aching, stuffy head, power through your day, medicine. molly leaving was one thing. but then i thought mom's osteoporosis might keep us stuck on the couch. no way. ♪♪ if you have postmenopausal osteoporosis, and are at high risk for fracture, you can do more than just slow bone loss. you can build new bone in 12 months with evenity®. evenity® is proven to significantly reduce spine fracture risk. she said the evenity® she's taking builds new bone.

builds new bone! evenity® can increase risk of heart attack, stroke, or death from a heart problem. tell your doctor if you have had a heart attack or stroke. do not take evenity® if you have low blood calcium or are allergic to it, as serious events have occurred with evenity®. signs include rash, hives, swelling of the face or throat, which may cause difficulty in swallowing or breathing, muscle spasms or cramps, numbness, or tingling. tell your doctor about severe jaw bone problems, as they have been reported with evenity®. report hip, groin, or thigh pain. unusual thigh bone fractures have occurred with evenity®. building bone? we dig it. want stronger bones? ask your doctor about evenity ® . sometimes jonah wrestles with falling asleep... ...so he takes zzzquil. the world's #1 sleep aid brand. and wakes up feeling like himself. get the rest to be your best with non-habit forming zzzquil. ♪ ♪

he views the justice department not as a department representing the american people or interest, but representing trump, his criminal liability, civil liability, to be his shield and go after his enemies. that was not what the department is for. we will find out through the confirmation process if that's what the department becomes. >> trump didn't pick one of his

personal lawyers for attorney general, but he may have the next best thing, former florida attorney general pam bondi is a fierce ally promising the prosecutors will be prosecuted, and the investigators will be investigated, but only, quote, the bad ones who prosecuted, you guessed it, donald trump. frank flagusi is back with us. >> take it in two parts, you have the ways pam bondi could potentially shield president trump and then the retribution. you're talking about what you heard from folks at the fbi, possible brain drain from leadership, and then the question, how concerned are folked about the promise that pam bondi has made on national television to go after out of control federal prosecutors and fbi agents? >> i don't know if it gets much more disturbing than this talking about the role of

attorney general. if you're a lawyer been the department of justice, you have one client, and that is the american people. it is not the guy occupying the oval office, and so, for her to come out of the chute immediately and say i will be pursuing president trump's enemies and prosecuting prosecutors and investigating investigators tells us where she is coming from. she had a crack here, a window of saying i'm a serious attorney, and i'm going to take the job seriously, and she wiped out the possibility. add to that while the two attorneys that trump has named so far that would be under pam bondi, the deputy attorney general, associate attorney general, are serious attorneys. let's not forget now the top three people at the justice department are criminal defense attorneys for donald trump. so already their mindset is i have a client. my client is the guy in the

white house, and not necessarily the american people. >> and that client in the white house is the dangerous, crazy part of all of this. it leads to behavior that is inconsistent with the function of the department as a whole, and a lot of backward-looking thinking of the things the president is fixated on. i give you what "the washington post" noted on friday. trump plans to fire jack smith's team using the doj to probe the 2020 election, and to hunt for evidence in battleground states that fraud tainted the 2020 election one of the people said. to your point, frank, his lawyers are there to validate for him his deranged thinking of the 2020 election that the

entire system was put upon against him, and the fraud was right, and of all of the people on the ballot in 2020, he was the only one who was targeted. that use of the department is also something that is going to be very, very problematic, because it's going to distract from the december work he has to do real time otherwise. >> yeah, the first thing that comes to mind here, two things. one, talking about weaponizing the government and the doj. they are going to devote resources to pursuing people who he disagrees with politically? career investigators at the fbi and prosecutors at the doj who simply did their job and have spouses and kids and just want to have a normal life and not get pursued possibly having to flee the country? i'm telling you, i'm talking to former colleagues who are wondering if they need to move out of the country because

there are going to be cases made up against them, fabricated, and talk about civil staff, you have to get away. that means lawsuit after lawsuit after lawsuit. what can the fbi and doj really be doing? chasing pedophile rings, taking down violent gangs in your city, but no, we are going to dedicate a workforce to pursuing trump's enemies. it's going to come to an impasse and be in the courts forever. hypocrisy stark for those who campaigned on public safety. frank, thank you for taking the time to be with us. trump named his pick for the education department. the head of one of the biggest teachers unions is joining us

next. you're watching "the weekend." you' re watching "the weekend." i' grant, and i want to talk to you from my heart about the heart. i would have been the last person on the list to say this woman has a problem with her heart. so, no, there was nothing about my life that said, you have a ticking time bomb in your chest. but i did. i wound up in the office of a cardiologist because i was there with my husband, and at the tail end of that, the cardiologist looked at me and said, i want to see you. no one was more surprised than i was to learn i was living with a rare heart condition. he said, amy, this condition, you'll be fine, fine, fine, and then catastrophic. a few months later, i had open heart surgery that saved my life. and i owe it to the research and lifesaving medical breakthroughs developed by the american heart association®. that's why i'm asking you to join me and become a monthly donor

to the american heart association®. please call now or go to helpheart.org for only $19 a month, just $0.63 a day. you can help fund the next medical breakthrough. get the next person trained in cpr and get the next hospital certified in high quality cardiovascular care. if this could happen to me, it could happen to anybody. heart disease is america's number one killer. but your support can save your life or the life of someone you love. give $19 a month with your credit card, and we'll send you the special t-shirt you can wear to show you're part of a community of monthly donors working to help save more lives like mine. i'm grateful for the american heart association®. their research gave me more time to do the things i love with the people i love. so listen to your heart. i'm here today because i did. call the number on your screen or go to help helpheart.org now to become a monthly donor. give this holiday season and your

first months gift will be matched. thank you. sounds like you need to vaporize that cold. nyquil vapocool? it's nyquil plus a rush of vicks vapors. ♪ vapocooooool ♪ nyquil vapocool. the vaporizing night time, sniffling, sneezing, coughing, best sleep with a cold, medicine.

all aboard! best sleep with a cold, come with me to meet the wizard. why couldn't possibly. this is your moment. i'm coming. if you think that's something to see, wait til you see this. ♪ ♪ you're good. -very good. you'll be hard pressed to find a trump cabinet pick without a scandal. his pick for education secretary is linda mcmahon, recently accused in a lawsuit of failing to stop a wwe employee of grooming and sexually abusing children in the '80s. an attorney for mcmahon recently told cnn the allegations are false. she is being tapped to run a

department that donald trump and others are trying to get rid of. a bill was introduced on thursday to eliminate the department of education all together. joining us is randy winegarten. >> good to see you as always. this has been a 40-year battle to eliminate the department of education, and for some reason it hasn't happened because you can't do it. it's just hard to do. you have got this, you know, effort underway, and you have this choice in linda mcmahon for education secretary, no background in education. no background as an educator. no background working with teachers or grassroots organizations related to education. what's your take on how this comes together in the next term of the trump administration?

particularly with respect to the work out there in the space for a lot of folks who need a solid pathway to education? >> so do we have about an hour? do we have about two minutes? so look. i think that people were surprised they am taking a reserve judgment wait and see attitude. i mean, clearly, i mean she wanted to be a teacher once, and she was on the connecticut board of education for a year, but the thing -- the reason we said wait and see, even though we are very concerned about the sexual abuse allegations and that is starting to come out in terms of what she protected verses not is that the tweet she did right before she was announced was about switzerland's career pathways

program, and one of the things, i think we don't do well enough, and look, it's because education is controlled by localities and states is that high school has become college prep, which is very important to make sure that kids are ready for college, but high school, think about all the kids that either don't go to college, 60% of them, think about so many disaffected young men right now. we need to really transform high schools to be about career and college, to actually prepare kids for the good union jobs of today and tomorrow, like my union is trying to do with micron in new york state. when i saw she was really thinking about this, this is actually why you need a federal department of education, why you need a federal department of labor to work with the federal department of commerce so that we can actually create

these pipelines to make sure kids, not schools, but kids have choices in terms of what they want to do in the future. and so that was interesting to us, but the bottom line is this. anyone who is in this position, and whether you have this department or some other department, the question is, who is going to help with the aspiration of children, of families, of workers, and of communities? and that means strengthening public schools, not getting rid of them. that gives me one more point. senator rounds' bill, this is what we are worried about. my members don't really care about if they have a bureaucracy at the department of education or not. al shanker and the aft in the 1970s were opposed to its creation. we thought it should stay in hew because of the whole child. he gets rid of the money for poor kids. how do you do that?

we need federal dollars to help level up opportunity for children. >> so here's my question about that, which is i think they are taking a wrecking ball to the department of education and driving the conversation about school choice, about vouchers, the de facto ends up debunking public education in the country. i want you to talk about that, but as the parent of two public school children, i want to ask you about the thing i'm hearing from other parents, the national teacher shortage, the big issue that public schools are facing. what do you want to hear from linda mcmahon on both issues? >> look, what you are seeing with linda mcmahon, betsy devos, donald trump, they don't care about public education. let's call it what it is. when you're talking about the voucher programs, by the way, defeated in three states at the same time down ballot, two of which voted overwhelmingly for

donald trump. one example, nebraska, where in some districts they voted 95 to 5 for donald trump, and they voted against the voucher bill rural nebraska 60-40. why? same reason as you. our kids need public schools. 90% of our kids are there. if you take all the money from public schools which is what vouchers are doing, you exacerbate the teacher shortage crisis. you exacerbate the crisis of kids in public schools having the means to climb up the ladder of opportunity. this is about the salvation, the saving of public schools, the strengthening of it and the saving of it. that we will fight in every place we can. parents are with us on that. that's why there's cultural wars and they are trying to create the distrust of public schools. >> randi, you will have to

fight on many fronts at the same time. >> many, michael. >> not only talking about leveling up resource in the poor kids in the school system when they want to strip out the department, but you have efforts as we have seen with a couple of states to require bibles, but not just any bible, no, no, no, the trump bible as part of the curriculum. you have, for example, republican senator mark wayne mullen of oklahoma saying this, i raised my kids in a very strong christian community and family. i wanted them to know the bible, but i want it to be taught by someone taught the bible themselves, too. i think it's a slippery slope when you put it in the hands of teachers that may not be believers. that's going to be teaching the word that can easily be taken out of context. so while there is this effort, there's also a genuine concern by some that this could be lead to bigger problems.

>> so -- >> how do you assess that particular front line in your fight? >> so, you know, yesterday afternoon was the jewish shabbot. we had the conversation with four rabbis. they like senator mullens. they are actually very concerned about what it means to violate the separation of church and state. if you think about, and let me put my a.p. history teacher hat on. the first amendment, which elon musk really loves about speech has two other pieces in it. several other pieces in it, but two of them are that there is a prohibition, that there is a separation of church and state

and the free exercise of religion. in doing that, we as a country starting with thomas jefferson did something really different. i'm proud to be an american about this. did something different from so many places with state religions. think of iran with a state religion and other countries like great britain with a state religion. what we did was promise the free exercise of religion from our founders, proud to do that. what has happened, we have religion in our country in a way that is really different from others. let's not violate that. we can teach about religion, but we should not be teaching religion. and so just like senator mullens, so many evangelical christians in oklahoma are pushing back on that. that is not something we should be doing as schoolteachers. we should not advance one religion over another.

we should not make kids in another religion uncomfortable. what do we do with jewish and muslim kids if we are teaching jesus is the savior? this is something we got right years and years and years ago. let's not violate this. >> randi, thank you again. always a pleasure to have you at the table. ahead sarah mcbride on her history making election in delaware. don't forget "the weekend" is on blue sky now. give us a follow. our handle there is the same as everywhere. @theweekendmsnbc. same as ever ywrehe. @theweekendmsnbc.

do you have high blood pressure? if so, you're at greater risk of developing afib, one of the leading causes of stroke. detect afib with kardiamobile, the world's most clinically- validated personal ekg. with kardiamobile, you can take a medical-grade ekg in just 30 seconds, from anywhere. and it's proven to detect three of the most common arrhythmias. yeah, before i had kardia i didn't know what my heart was doing, and now i do. it gives me great peace of mind. it's in my pocket all the time. it goes where i go. i never am away from it. it's like a virtual cardiologist. you can pull out the device, check your heart rhythm, and instantly know whether or not you're in atrial fibrillation. to have that device so handy, and be able to use it immediately, that's just very comforting to know. get kardiamobile today for just $79.

and check out our black friday deals which are here now, at kardia.com or amazon. don't wait! these offers won't last. ♪♪ ♪ these offers w♪n't last. ♪ (vo) whether your phone's broken or old, we've got you. with verizon, anyone can trade in any phone, any condition. and get iphone 16 pro with apple intelligence. get four on us. only on verizon. -bye honey. -(groans) morning breath, huh. dr. garcia? wooo. ♪♪ that's millions of bacteria growing overnight. crest pro-health helps prevent oral health issues before they start. i'm so much fresher. crest.

at betmgm, everyone gets a welcome offer. so whether you're courtside trying to hit the over... i'm so much fresher. or up here trying to hit the under. whew! or, hitting that win with your crew. ohhh! yes, see defense! or way up here with a same game parlay. yaw! betmgm's got your back. get your welcome offer. and play with the sportsbook born in vegas. all these seats. really? get up to a $1500 new customer offer in bonus bets when you sign up now. betmgm. download and bet today.

you know it's interesting. i'm thinking about the fact that people voted for wanting lower costs, better education, safety, and what we have talked about over the course of the hour is the fact that that may

not be the primary focus of this administration and of the people they are putting in power. >> yeah, and you know, it's an interesting point. i was thinking of the same thing, actually, in the very segments that, you know, you are talking about standing up, you know, these agencies in a way that you don't vet the people that are going to be leading them and what that means, and do voters really want that? do they want people running these agencies that, you know, have criminal records and are problematic with foreign entanglements? i don't know how much people are really clued in to that. they are going to find out soon enough, though, because it's a harsh reality for them every day as they continue this deconstruction, but then you shift to the education narrative, and to listen to randy talk about trying to wait and let's see exactly because, you know, linda mcmahon has

kind of indicated an interest in going a direction that could be something that leads to some success in education, and then you have everybody wanting to tear up the department and throw it out with everything else, so voters are going to have to weigh very carefully how they assess what the administration does. i think there's going to be a lot of disappointment in what gets deliver, particularly in the snap programs, health care programs, and other programs that a lot of folks in red states rely on. they are being lied to by their members who are acting like, only blue states are the ones who are using these services. these socialists programs. >> also in the reporting you were reading from the washington post how the cliques have emerged in the transition. i never imagined it emerging like the scene of mean girls

and regina george is at one of the tables. because these people don't have policy expertise, or they are not legislators who have taken the series of votes, we don't know where they are on some of the issues, and i think the hope on the part of the people organizing the transition, you can transpose policies, like the policies laid out in project 2025 on to that void, and part of what we heard from randi winegarten is a different vision. if there's a void, you can transpose the things you believe are good policy. >> what is important about that, to understand that, you know, a lot of the folks are going to be figure heads leading the agencies because beneath them are going to be the folks to execute on the project 2025 mandates and requirements that they want to put in place. that's why they are trying to get a lot of it done. i said this yesterday on the show, watch the executive orders on january 20th and the 21st , because that's going to set in motion a lot of the

pieces for the figureheads to get the job done in those departments, and it doesn't matter what their records are on policy. that's not why they are there. >> michael, friends at home refill the mug. another hour of "the weekend" straight ahead. we will be joined by sara mcbride, jeff jackson, and alexis mcgill johnson. stay right here on "the weekend." stay right here on "t weeken d." they h ake a choice- one versus the other. new sensodyne clinical white, it provides 2 shades whiter teeth as well as providing 24/7 sensitivity protection. patients are going to love to see sensodyne on the shelf. right now across the u.s., people are trying to ban books from public schools and public libraries. yes, libraries. we all have a first amendment right to read and learn different viewpoints. that's why every book belongs on the shelf. yet book banning in the u.s.

is worse than i've ever seen. it's people in power who want to control everything. well, i say no to censorship. and i say yes to freedom of speech and expression. if you do too, please join us in supporting the american civil liberties union today. for over 100 years, the aclu has fought for your rights and mine. including the right to read all manner of books. so please call or go online to myaclu.org. for just $19 a month, only $0.63 a day. you can become a guardian of liberty and help protect all the rights promised to us by the u.s. constitution. make no mistake, this move to ban books is a coordinated attack on students right to learn. this is a clear violation of free speech. that's why the aclu is working to fight against censorship in all its forms. it is so important now more than ever.

so please call or go to myaclu.org and become an aclu guardian of liberty, for just $19 a month. use your credit card and you'll get this special we the people t-shirt and more to show you're helping to protect the rights of all people. the aclu is in all 50 states, d.c. and puerto rico defending our first amendment right of free speech and all of your constitutional rights. because we the people, means all of us. so please, call or, go online to myaclu.org today.