welcome back to "the weekend." if you were hoping for an end to the gridlock in the house of representatives, you might be waiting for another two years. house republicans are projected to keep their majority in the 119th congress, but that majority is razor thin. now, it takes 218 seats to have a majority, and republicans have just 219 seats as of this morning. three house races remain uncalled by nbc news. so, to make matters worse, trump's administration picks threaten to whittle that down even further. the 118th congress was defined by republican infighting, protracted leadership battles,

and has the distinction of being the least-productive in a century. but some freshman house members are determined to forge a new path towards productivity when they're sworn in next year. one of those members is democratic congresswoman elect, sarah mcbride of delaware. she joins us now. >> congresswoman-elect, good morning to you. good to see you. tell me about how you are thinking about the realities of governing in the minority? >> well, thank you so much for having me. and it is an honor to serve the greatest state in the union, delaware, in congress. it's wonderful to be back home after two weeks of orientation. and look, we've got our work cut out for us. but as you mentioned, in your opener, this small republican majority is going to have to keep their entire caucus together, and what we know is that the house republican caucus is not known for its unity. over the last two years, they

have been a caucus of chaos. and they've relied on democrats to be the responsible governing party. and i think moving forward, what we're going to see is, we're going to continue to see that chaos, even with donald trump trying to impose discipline, and time and time again, that will mean democrats will have to step up to keep the lights on and the government moving forward. but that also is going to increase our capacity to push back on the worst excesses of the trump/vance administration. when i ran, i said, i'll work with anyone who's willing to work with me to help delaware. but time and time again, that means working with our colleagues to stop the dangerous objectives of this administration as they staff up with their 2025 appointees. >> so congresswoman-elect, the reality of it is, and i do appreciate your point about what the democrats did in this congress, in terms of sort of leveling up against the work

excesses of the republican majority. but there's some thinking, from what i'm hearing on capitol hill, that maybe this time, you just let that play out, boo. y'all go ahead and do that. all day long. just go ahead. just bring it on. as opposed to saving the bacon, actually letting the country see what the lack of governing looks like. how do you -- how do you assess that fine line, particularly as you will find out, it is tough being in the minority. it's not like being in the minority in the senate, where you have some rules that you can play with. the house can be a little bit more difficult. how do the, you know, the freshman in your class, for example, coming with that energy, keep that energy going, but also, walk that fine line, but not helping the opposition too much. >> sure. well, look, i'm really proud to be part of this amazing freshman class, and i love getting to know all of my colleagues from both sides of the aisle, who are coming into the 119th congress over the last two years. and i'm sure there's diversity

of thought within the freshman class, just as i'm sure there's diversity of thought across the caucus. but i think moving forward, what's clear is that this incoming administration clearly can't help themselves. they are going to put on full display the chaos, the incompetence, and the cruelty of this administration. but i also think that we still have a responsibility to make sure that social security checks go out, we still have a responsibility to make sure that people can get their critical benefits that they rely on to get food or to keep their kids in school. and that doesn't mean that that absolves anyone else of their responsibility. at the end of the day, the republicans own all of this. but i think we also have to show that we are serious. that we are serious, mature adults. and let that maturity and that seriousness of purpose contrast with the immaturity and the frankly incompetence of not just the trump/vance administration, but republican leadership across the congress. >> well, part of that contrast,

the basic function of congress is, in fact, to fund the government, open question about whether or not that's going to get done under republican leadership this year. this from nbc news. congress faces a december 20th deadline to fund the government and avert a shutdown. and speaker mike johnson says house republicans will probably push the fight into early 2025, rather than reach a full-year funding deal this year. do you believe that will happen? your reservations about this potentially getting pushed into january. >> well, i think it's a sad reflection of the current caucus that they can't get their work done in a timely fashion. but i'll be ready, come january, to do this job, and to work with anyone, to deliver for my constituents. but it is a sad testament that this republican majority with what is potentially going to be a larger majority than what they have in the next congress, can't

do the basic functions of their job. and i think this incompetence, you know, over the last two years, it's been isolated to the house side. where the republicans had control. but now, with full republican control, i think it is going to be on full display for everyone, and i think it's going to have serious consequences for republicans in two years. >> how -- you know, the -- you make history, you come in the room, in a way that no one else has, being the first transgender member of congress. and there's something about being the first in anything, you know, you just -- it's a weight that you carry, but it's weight you try to quickly off-load, because you want to get to work. you also have those around you who, quite honestly, have been shameful in their behavior towards you, including the

speaker of the house and in sort of leveling up stupid around bathrooms. your approach was, i thought, a very smart one. that showed that you're about the business of why you were elected to represent the people of delaware. you don't give a damn about a bathroom. i'll work that out. if y'all are worried about where i go to the bathroom, y'all got bigger problems than me, right? and i appreciate that. i really appreciate that. talk a little bit about, not so much that moment, because that's just immaturity, i mean, even on playgrounds, they don't get that stupid. but talk about what it means for you in this moment to walk into that hall, to be in that chamber, and to sit at that desk, to represent the people of delaware. >> well, i didn't run to be a first. i didn't run to make history. i ran to serve the state that i love and to deliver for

delawareans. i ran to continue the work that i've done in the delaware state senate where i passed paid family and medical leave and secured the largest investment in our state's medicaid program since the affordable care act passed and i did that by bringing democrats and republicans together. i'm in congress to deliver for my constituents, to make health care, housing, and child care more affordable. i'm so grateful to have this opportunity. i think on november 5th, delawareans showed the country where i've known throughout my life, that in our state of neighbors, we judge candidates based on their ideas and not their identities. and over the last two years -- or over the last two weeks, there's certainly been a lot of noise around me, but i've remained focus. during the course of the last two weeks, i met with colleagues, i attended orientation, we found our office. we are setting up our office to do the business of delawareans in d.c. and i have to be honest, this week, this week was

awe-inspiring, being at orientation, despite all of the noise. because as you were there, you realized, you are in the body that abraham lincoln served in. we walked on to the house floor, and we're in the space where they passed the 13th amendment and the 14th amendment, where women got the right to vote. you're sitting in the chairs, in the job where people passed the voting rights act and the civil rights act. and you feel that responsibility, but also, you feel that you are part of a tradition, because every single one of your predecessors served in incredibly tumultuous, challenging times. and enough of them fulfilled their responsibilities to be stewards of our democracy and that is our calling in this moment. and i feel it very deeply. >> i want to pick up on two of the things you said about health care and the forthcoming challenges to health care in this country. this from bloomberg. slashing medicaid for trump's

tax cuts would hurt millions. you also have aca subsidies set to expire in 2025 with millions of americans standing to lose health insurance. huge, tremendous challenges. those are the reasons that you were sent to washington, to work on behalf of your constituents. i do want to ask you, we had one of our producers who found a piece that you had written while at american university back in 2013. and i want to read to you just a little bit of what you had to say a decade ago and get your thoughts about it on the other side. you wrote, today is the next day of the life i've already had, but at the same time, the first day of the life i always knew i wanted to lead. i am now blessed with the opportunity to live my dream and fulfill a truth i have known since childhood. my gratitude is great to my family, friends, and this university for accepting me as the person who they now know me to be, and for letting me show them the possibilities of a life well lived. i know now that my dreams and my identity are only mutually exclusive if i don't try.

how has your thinking on this evolved in the past decade? >> you know, when i wrote that note, i had faced throughout my life a crisis of hope. i worried that the heart of this country wasn't big enough to love someone like me and over the last decade, i have been able to bear witness to change that once seemed to impossible to me as a kid, that was almost incomprehensible. and i have seen it not only become possible, but become a reality. and i carry that with me in this moment, because i think in so many ways, this country, on both sides of the political divide, this country is facing its own . and i know, i know we still have both the individual and the collective capacity be the scope and the scale of the challenges that we face. and i know, because i have seen it, that nothing is truly impossible. impossible. >> so, it's hard to even ask a

question -- >> yeah, she just mic dropped. so that's why you feel like we're supposed to wrap it here. >> i've got nothing, i'm good. but the first day, what do you want -- what have you set as a goal for this year, this first day, first step, first year, as a member to really kind of drive home what you just talked about? >> well, i am so excited to take the oath of office on january 3rd, alongside this amazing freshman class. i've been working over the last few weeks to figure out committee assignments, to set up our offices, to make sure that we are delivering the quality constituent services that delawareans have come to know and expect. i'm ready to lend my name to critical legislation that will advance, policies that will uplit and empower workers in

this country, like the pro act. i'm a former union member myself. i believe deeply in the power of unions. i'm ready to lend my name to legislation providing paid leave for all and affordable child care for every family. and i'm going to hit the ground running, fighting for those policies. but i'm also going to look for the policies that may be fall outside of the headlines, where democrats and republicans are able to find common ground, just like i've done in delaware, where i expanded access to oral health care by teaming up with our conservative senate republican leader to bring more dentists to rural communities. i'm going to look for those opportunities over the next year to prove to my constituents and to this country that we can still work together, and even outside of the headlines, we can still deliver real and tangible life-saving results for people. >> all right. representative-elect sarah mcbride, thank for joining us and all the best in the new congress. still ahead, the dangers of

rfk jr. at the lm of our nation's health care. and later, we'll talk to congressman jeff jackson who was just elected north carolina's next attorney general. you're watching right here on "the weekend." atching right her "the weekend." everyday, more dog people are deciding it's time to quit the kibble and feed their dogs fresh food from the farmer's dog. made by vets and delivered right to your door precisely portioned for your dog's needs. it's an idea whose time has come. ♪♪ oh, we got a weathertech gift card! weathertech is the perfect gift for everyone. may i? (laughs) laser measured floorliners protect carpet in the front and second row. cargo liner protects the rear. the side window deflector offers more protection. my turn! the sinkmat contains spills in cabinets. something for you too, buddy! pets eat safely with the non-toxic pet feeding system. find these american made gifts or get a gift card

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i'm struck by so many pieces of the conversation we just had with congresswoman-elect mcbride. i'm struck by the seriousness with which she is approaching this job and this office, talking about the history of the people who have sat in these desks, the legislative actions that have been taken in that body, the way that those actions have propelled this country forward, the sense of purpose, right, like, what are you there to do? what is the reasons that constituents, the concern in their life that propel themed to vote? right, that's the job. that is the work. not a fund-raising email. not shenanigans, not making people feel unwelcome. it is supposed to be about going

to washington, d.c. and delivering for your constituents. and if you don't want to do that, if you can't do that, then you should not be there. >> well, that's not woke. that's work. and far too much of our politics is about, you know, other things than the work. that's why this congress is considered the least productive, in fact, the worst in 100 years. it has not been about the work. that's why there are concerns about both the senate and the house in the next congress being so, so tagged to donald trump's agenda, his personal agenda, the look at me, save me, love me agenda that the work will fail. and what was refreshing to hear, and i got to understand and appreciate just in that little bit of time why the people of delaware are sending her to congress. because she's about the work. and you know, like i said, you

can get all worked. every day about where she goes to the bathroom. but if that's what your focus is, then you clearly aren't about the work. you're about other things. so this leveling up of culture wars into the work has been a distraction in a way, alicia, that undermines why people have trust in the 've been distracte by things other than their work. and i think, we'll see how successful she is. i wish her the best. i wish all new members the best, but stay focused on the work. and i think we'll get a lot accomplished. >> and i want to underline something that you said, too, which is, any of us who have been first, only, different know the tremendous grace she is being asked to draw upon in this moment. yes, she represents the people of delaware, but she also represents a community that is being absolutely devastated right now and is scared.

and she knows that she becomes an avatar for that community in a way that she, herself, may not have chosen. and i think she's doing it with tremendous grace and dignity. next, a big conversation for us. planned parenthood president alexis mcgill johnson and rfk jr.'s dark plans for american health care. stay with us. s dark plans for a health care. stay with us philip: when your kid is hurting and there's nothing you can do about it, that's the worst feeling in the world. kristen: i don't think anybody ever expects to hear that their child has cancer. it's always one of those things that happens to somebody else, but it's definitely feels like your soul is sucked out of your body when they tell you that it's your baby. and you would do anything to get them to the best place

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now >> good to see you, again, alexis. moretz peel lets peel that back a little bit more. they're talking specifically about $300 million across the board to progressive groups, including planned parenthood. a few days after that, they were looking for calling -- for an investigation into funding specifically to organizations like planned parenthood, so you clearly are in those crosshairs. planned parenthood, obviously, is not just about abortions, although that's sort of the public perception that keeps pushed continuously. there's a great deal more with respect to the work regarding women's health care, writ large, that is also in that crosshairs. talk about what that may mean, should these plans to not only target, but to eliminate funding for planned parenthood translate to for women. >> yeah, well, thank you,

michael. i mean, look, to wake up to see an op-ed like that talking about the resources that planned parenthood gets as a critical part of the public health infrastructure in the united states. one out of three women has been to a planned parenthood in lifetime. and just the day after the election, we saw at planned parenthood health centers, a 1,200% increase in vasectomies for men. planned parenthood sees people in all communities. rural communities, urban communities, red communities, blue communities. and the idea that an attack on, you know, the work that planned parenthood does to fill the gap in this moment, when sexual and reproductive health care has been threatened and we are under attack makes no sense. that number, i have no idea where it comes from, but can i tell you the resources that planned parenthood gets from the federal and state governments

has to do with reimbursing, just like every other health care provider, reimbursing for provider, reimbursing for services provided to provide life-saving care. sti testing, family planning, you know, access to, you know, well breast exams. and you know, of course, abortions where we can provide it, but federal resources don't pay for that because of the hyde amendment. i just think that it is a gratuitous attack on a critical public health infrastructure that this nation needs right now. >> so, you referenced vasectomies. you also this this reporting from "the new york times," orders for morning-after pills and abortion bills rise after trump's election. wisp, a telehealth provider for medications for reproductive health, said that during the five days after the election, it sold more than 10,000 plan "b" pills that do not require a prescription, it sold fewer than 5,000 in the same wednesday-through-sunday span in the weeks before the election. so american consumers know what's forthcoming for you as an

organization. how do you begin to buffer and prepare for these attacks from ramaswamy and from musk? >> well, yeah, i mean, again, people have been deeply concerned. we've seen this movie before, right? we saw this movie in 2016, the attacks, the immediate attacks on title x, the nation's largest sexual and reproductive health care funding program of the federal government. we saw people worried about the increase in iuds, long-term-acting birth control, because people need to wait out this administration, honestly, to see the conversations that they're having about when and if and how they are going to plan for their families. and i think that, you know, as an organization, our planned parenthood affiliates have been thinking about this for many years. they have been kind of putting plans into place to ensure they can meet the needs of patients, just as they have been doing so in these last two years,

post-dobbs, ensuring that the patients that come to planned parenthood can be navigated out of state to get the care that they need. >> waiting out this administration, alexis, as you know, is going to be a very problematic thing to do, because the approach of this administration is everything, everywhere, all at once. and so, this deconstruction of the administrative state specifically in the health care space will have an immediate impact when you consider, for example, rfk jr. as the head of hhs, "new york" magazine noted some of the things he liked to do. re-examine and possibly discredit vaccine safety and effectiveness, suspend nih drug development and infectious disease research. fire career staff and eliminate entire departments at the fda. encourage state and local authorities to stop adding fluoride to drinking water. increase access to raw milk, meaning unpasteurized milk. attempt to overall medicare

payment formula. how do you address that? how do you deal with that? what is the impact on health care-focused organizations, regardless of whether or not they are in the abortion space. just providing general health care, what does that landscape look like once these efforts and policies are put in place? >> my biggest concern, michael, is that we are putting or the president-elect trump is putting up for nomination someone who has a spotty at best record on understanding science and health care. he has had dangerous rhetoric and misinformation about vaccines alone. and this job, right, this job, the head of health and human services, is supposed to instill trust. you know, for the american public to believe in the health care system. and when you have someone, you know, who himself doesn't trust science or research, building the public's trust around things like the cdc or nih or the fda,

the agencies that we most need to protect and regulate, the health care for everyone in this country, is really alarming. you know, we have seen the uptick in misinformation around birth control, around abortion, around, you know, just basic, basic medicines that we use every single day and have proven effective. and so, you know, it is important for us at planned parenthood, as a trusted messenger around sexual and reproductive health care to continue to stand in the breach and correct the misinformation so that patients can get the care that they need. >> so, alexis, we've talked a lot on this show, in the last two days about what these senate confirmation hearings are going to look like, and to role that democratic senators and some republican senators are going to be able to play when it comes to really stress testing these nominees. i expected to talk with you about rfk jr. i'm not sure i expected to talk

to you about elon musk and vivek ramaswamy, understanding they're not going to go through the same confirmation hearings, but what are the questions you want to see senators bring foord a variety of these nominees as it relates to the work you do at planned parenthood? >> look, i'm clear that the abortion won this election cycle, right? 40% of trump's voters supported access to abortion and the broad measures that we've seen voted in, in states, has varied, right, as arizona and nevada and new york. you can see that the majority of americans support access to abortion and supporting sexual and reproductive health care. so we believe that abortion rights has a mandate here. and that if anything, that the president or his cabinet intends to do in terms of trying to reduce that access, whether trying to misinterpret the come sea-tac act, to get rid of or reduce access to mifepristone,

defunding planned parenthood, you know, finding ways to really find a backdoor loop into eliminating and reducing access to reproductive health care. we will be on watch. because the president himself said that he was not going to enforce a national ban or sign legislation around a national ban on abortion rights and we are going to hold him accountable and to that. and any of those efforts, with, whether it be to try to defund planned parenthood or enforce the come sea-tac act through executive order, we will interpret that as the president going back on his promise to the american people. those are the kind of questions that democratic senators should be asking. they should be asking about these agencies and their intention to attack on a variety of ways, access to sexual and reproductive health care in all of those various ways. >> alexis mcgill johnson, as always, thank you for being with us. next, next north carolina's incoming attorney general joins to us discuss a last-minute power grabby republicans in his

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north carolina was a bright spot for democrats down-ballot on election night. and that has state republicans angry. so angry that they're using a playbook they tried back in 2016 to strip key powers from incoming democratic leaders. this week, republicans in the

legislature voted to weaken governor elect josh stein's authority on a range of matters, including his ability to appoint members to the state's election board, shifting that power to the incoming state auditor, who coincidentally happens to be a republican. the new legislation also prohibits the incoming attorney general, democrat jeff jackson, from refusing to defend laws the legislature has passed. north carolina attorney general-elect jeff jackson joins us now. welcome, general-elect. >> i've got to tell you, michael, i love whenever our viewers are like, why are you guys not talking about this? this was the thing our viewers wanted us talking about. guys, two days, four hours, there are lots of times. so thank you so much for being here. it is top of mind and i think this is where we're going to see a lot of these civil rights of our democracy to begin to wage at the state level. break it down for us. what is it going to mean for folks in north carolina? >> well, it could be potentially

really significant. one of the essential elements of being attorney general is independence. and that's how i campaigned. i said, look, if elected,ly treat this job in an independent, non-partisan way. and what we see from the general assembly, to your point, an earlier play we saw from them a few years ago after our current attorney general was elected is a last-minute effort to try to strip away some of that independence. in this case, it's to make it more difficult for the attorney general, if need be, to stand up to the state legislature. that is a pretty rare thing that occurs. it has not occurred that many times in the tenure of the current attorney general, who served for eight years. but it's important that the attorney general have the authority to do that for extreme situations. >> so, the reality is in this election, 5.7 million ballots were cast under a new voter republican i.d. law.

so the voters clearly still turned out and supported the electoral process. what's been the reaction of voters now? i mean, here's the rub of all of this. we lost, we don't like that. so we're going to change the rules and make it harder for you to govern or force you to you know, cede power to the elected statewide republican as opposed to keeping that power with the governor's office or keeping your independence in tact. how do voters see this now? has there been any concern raised by either interest groups or just everyday citizens, like, okay, guys, fair and square, they beat you . so why now are you changing the rules? >> to be clear, the voters who know that this is happening, whether they're republican, democrat, or independent are strongly opposed. my inbox is flooded with people, some of those people saying, i didn't vote for you, but, this n't happen, especially the

way that it's happening. but here's the thing. most voters in north carolina don't know that this is happening, because of the way that it's happening. it's happening in the lame duck session, at lightning speed. the the bill really had absolutely no time for any input, no committee process. just brought straight to the floor, in a session that was designated as hurricane relief. they attached all of these power-stripping bills to the helene hurricane disaster relief bill. we had a horrible hurricane, an enormous amount of damage to western north carolina. we did need to act very quickly on that matter, which, by the way, was the bipartisan, huge consensus, but they stapled this to it, as what a way to, one, m sure that democrats were on record, and two, make sure that most voters didn't even see that it was happening, because it was happening so quickly under a cloud of this hurricane relief. >> i do want to ask, because we talk about how elections have consequences. in this case, it's having some consequences for republicans, this from axios. north carolina democrats break

gop legislative supermajority. come january, republicans will no longer hold the power to override gubernatorial vetoes, which could force them to negotiate with governor-elect josh stein in order to pass their biggest priorities. there could be an opportunity there, both for democrats, for republicans, for a legislative body that actually wants to get things done. what do you see as the potential areas of compromise if republicans do come to the table, ready to negotiate with governor stein. >> paying teachers more, has been a erennial issue in north carolina for the last several issue. early childhood education being inherently underfunded. we could see an agreement there that's helpful. hurricane relief, as we just discussed, that is not going to be a one-off matter in north carolina. there is some inherent bipartisanship. hopefully support for the attorney general's office and making sure that the folks that are doing the good work there

are fully funded. what we have now that we have broken the super major is a chance of bipartisanship. i served in the state legislature when there was and there was ant super majority. and when there wasn't, what we saw was a real conversation and better policy as a result. >> how do you, in your job now see the landscape unfolding in a number of areas that your office will have to contend with, not just in terms of, you know, the critical justice system, for example, in the stays, but other aspects of your duties being impacted by efforts in the legislature, as well as how do you carve out that lane to avoid falling into those traps, as you try to do your job? >> my starting position is looking for ways to cooperate with the legislature. i didn't campaign on any stylistic thing. i campaigned on a very practical set of agenda items. i said, look, fentanyl is still

a major problem. we're losing an average of nine people a day in north carolina. the next generation of scammers will have artificial intelligence. i need to go to the state legislature and ask them to give me some new tools to keep people in the state safe. i want my early conversations with the general assembly to be about practical things that we can do to keep people safe. >> i'm so struck, michael. because this is something that we talked about in the run-up to the election, right? the fact that if they couldn't win, then what they would do is they would change the rules. and that was, as it was related to elections. but now you're also seeing it play out in a variety of ways. and i think there is a question of, sure, what republicans are doing, but also how democrats are going to fight back, michael. this is a fight, michael, that is not ending. >> no, it's not. and i think it's an important aspect of this, not to get the general caught up in the politics, because he's -- i don't want to -- look -- >> he's doing a good job, staying in the lines, sir. >> right, he's like, no, i'm not

going that way. i'm staying in my lane. but i'll drive in that lane for you, because, you know, the tactician in my says, if this is how republicans want to play. then we've got to have something for you. we've got to play a little bit more aggressively. and you're hearing this sort of narrative emerge nationally among democrats about how to stand up in congress. how to stand up against the trump administration, in the face of its intentions to deconstruct our government. the same is true at the state level. how does the loyal opposition position itself against, you know, the egregious take of grabbing of power, and ceding it to itself. and making sure that in the next fight, you're better positioned. because here's the rub. you broke the stranglehold of a supermajority, right? so democrats have been able to do that.

so you've shown the capacity to weaken the hand that the republicans have. how do you see the democrats in the state more broadly standing up and addressing, beyond what you do in your job and the governor has to do in their job, but politically repositioning the landscape for future elections? >> politically, the democrats that did the best in statewide campaigns, and we had a number do very well, superintendents, secretary of state, lieutenant governor, we had down-ballot successes. they ran practical campaigns and they didn't meet their opponents where they were when it came to hyperpartisanship. now that we've had a major national political defeat, i understand the temptation to respond with a certain level of anger. it's the wrong way to go in terms of policy, but it's also the wrong way to go in terms of politics. voters just aren't going to respond to that. if being angry won us elections, we would be in a completely

different political situation. you have to respond with discipline, you have to respond with pragmatism. you have to respond with "here is what i'm oing to do to make your life better, and resist the temptation to get sbeez though hyperpartisan fights. >> the next attorney general of north carolina, jeff jackson, thank you so much for being with us. we have much more to discuss and a quick programming note, tonight the final two episodes of "the sing sing chronicles," all about wrongfully convicted criminals at the infamous new york prison. we'll be right back. at the infa york prison. we'll be right back.

so i'm hosting thanksgiving at my home, and there is such distrust in my cooking skills. >> geez! >> that another family member has been asked to just like bring a ham, just in case. like, just as like a backup plan. and the way it was -- it was sold to me was, we just want to take it off your plate.

you don't have to worry about it. >> don't worry about it, girl, we got you. >> that's what's happening. >> we'll bring the ham and the potato salad and the gravy -- >> and everything else. >> and everything else. well, yes, i will be hosting at our home as well and i'm really looking forward to it. i generally do the turkey, i get up early, get the turkey going, i brine it for a couple of days beforehand and then, you know, do my prep -- >> what is the prep? what is the prep? >> oh, the prep is the appropriate amount of seasonings and juices to sort of add flavor to your turkey. >> i desperately want to try this turkey now. >> it's really -- it's really good. >> i have to say, it is -- thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. and it is because it is about all of the things that i think holidays should be about. it's about bringing people together, bringing family together, a moment to pause and express gratitude for the things

we have, for those we love, for the things we don't get to say every day, that we appreciate and value. and the fact hat there are no presents just makes it to me, mucha much more low-key, low-stress holiday. >> it takes a little bit of the stress out of it. but it's a different kind of stress, because you've got to feed people. so -- a lot of folks sitting around that table, thank you, lord, for letting me survive this meal. but, it is a chance for us to be reflective of the blessings of family and friends and country and freedoms and an appreciation that even in the crazy times, we can find relative calm. and bring it down. so y'all enjoy your thanksgiving with family and friends. don't have stupid conversations about -- >> is that your advice? no stupid conversations? >> no stupid conversations. talk about the kids, talk about the growing up and the childhood

days. talk about, you know, the couple in the family that's about to get married or, you know, things that sort of connect us to people. because that's really what thanksgiving is about. the things that connect us and that we are thankful for. >> i'm smiling, because i am imagining my mom, who is a very loyal viewer of the show being, i don't know, michael, i don't know that i can do it. like, the first five minutes, real good. >> you can do it, mom! you can do it! >> got to get through a whole dinner, michael, when you don't talk about the state of the country. >> you can do it! you can do it! trust me, you don't need the noise. you just don't need it in your life, for one day. you don't need it in your life. talk about something other than donald trump. >> tell them michael steele told you that you were allowed to. >> coming up next, we have our friend, velshi. ali will be joined by washington governor jay inslee, who just attended the cop-29 climate conference, so you'll want to stick around for that. thank you.

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this sunday morning. we will see you back here next saturday at 8:00 a.m. eastern. be sure to follow us on social media at "the sky, as well. velshi continues our coverage. good morning, ali. >> i'm liking the blue sky thing. it harkens back to the old, early days of social media where people sort of said nice things and posted information you might like to talk about, maybe got into an argument or debate with you, but it's got a different flavor and may it stay that way.