with the same amount of fiber as 2 cups of broccoli. metamucil gummies. the easy way to get your daily fiber. unitedhealthcare knows you've got your whole life ahead of you. ♪♪ ♪♪ it's nice to know you're free to focus on what matters, with reliable medicare coverage from unitedhealthcare. drop everything and get some magic of your own with reliable medicare coverage during the xfinity black friday sale. xfinity internet customers, our best deals of the year are back! switch to xfinity mobile and get your choice of a free 5g phone, plus your next unlimited line free for a year. get amazing savings and connect to wifi speeds up to a gig on the go with xfinity mobile. fly don't walk to get our best deals of the year. connect to the world of wicked this holiday, in theaters now.

how much you can save. the reaction now as a result of the presidential election reverberate throughout the country. >> president-elect's return to the white house has shaken nato allies. >> president-elect trump will likely inherit a chaotic situation in the middle east. >> firefighters on both coasts battling dangerous blazes. >> the federal reserve is

expected to lower interest rates. >> in israel. >> new hampshire. >> from msnbc world headquarters. ♪ ♪ good day, everyone. from here in new york, welcome to "alex witt reports." we begin with 57 days until trump's inauguration. trump has filled out his main cabinet picks. in new focus today on pam bondi, trump's second choice for new jersey. nbc news reporting about comments about prosecutors that have prosecuted trump. >> will pam bondi continue to tell the big lie, even under oath? will she continue to say that the justice department should be prosecuting prosecutors who brought valid evidence before a grand jury, a grand jury found probable cause to believe donald

trump committed crimes. that's not a basis to go after them. she's going to have to answer tough questions. >> republican senator eric schmitt says doj employees who investigated trump should be fired. >> i think accountability means first and foremost the people involved in this should be fired immediately. and anybody part of this effort to keep president trump off the ballot and to throw him in jail for the rest of his life because they didn't like his politics and to continue to cast him as a threat to democracy was wrong. you can't have the justice department abused in this way. pam bondi is a smart, capable person who will restore respect in that department. new today, more questions around the transition team skipping fbi background checks for trump's picks. here's senator amy klobuchar. >> our job is to look at the fbi background check and ask

questions to make sure they're fulfilling the mission of the department. in this case, i am concerned with all these nominees, and i'm not singling her out. if we do not have an agreement for fbi background checks. as far as i know, the transition committee has not made that agreement yet. if they keep delaying on these background checks, we will have a delay in getting these cabinet officials in, and i don't want to have a delay. more debate over pete hegseth, trump's choice for defense secretary. here's tammy duckworth and mark wayne mullen. >> he never commanded a company let alone a battalion. he served in a low level of the military, and this is a onization -- organization over $9 billion. he does not have the experience to run an organization of that size. just based on those requirements

alone, he is unqualified for the position. >> he's a civilian, which is the only qualification that the defense secretary has to have. if you want to go more than that, he served honorably in the service for 20 years and is a decorated combat veteran. he retired as a major. he's had a successful career since then. he can articulate what needs to be done, and he knows the system. >> we've got several reporters and analysts in place. we begin with erin gilchrist joining us from west palm beach, florida. with the latest round of picks, is the cabinet ready for confirmation, has it been filled out? >> reporter: yeah, alex, that is effectively where we are. president-elect trump has named all 15 cabinet cretary positions. these are folks who would be in the presidential line of succession. he's named people for each of those roles at this point. just a few weeks sense he won the election. so for all of them, the next step is going to be winning

confirmation in the senate. we know that at least a few of them, pete hegseth, for example, has already spent some time walking the halls of congress, talking to members of congress about his confirmation process. we know that tulsi gabbard will do the same thing after thanksgiving. each of these members of the pool of people the president-elect wants to put into these leadership roles will have to engage at some level with members of the senate in order to win confirmation. that process likely to happen or to begin in earnest after the new congress takes office a few weeks before donald trump is sworn in, in january of next year. there is -- there are several other people who have been nominated for positions or appointed to positions that will require confirmation, folks who won't require confirmation, mike waltz, who will be donald trump's national security adviser. he was on some of the shows this morning talking about the role that he believes he will play in the upcoming administration.

i want you to hear a little of what he had to say. >> president trump has a mandate to execute these policies that he has outlined, and to continue the great policies he had in his first -- in his first term. i think in the past, too many people have tried or have tried to conform him to the system. i'm going to conform the system to the best i can to his style, to his decisions, and to his mandate. >> reporter: and so mike waltz will be in charge of the national security council. he will be one of the incoming president's closest advisers. we know that he was here in florida on friday. he met with mark root, the nato secretary-general. they talked about some of the global issues that are of concern to the united states and several countries around the world, obviously. we talk about ukraine and russia at war, we talk about the situation involving -- in the middle east. those are all topics that are of critical importance for the

incoming administration. mike waltz, it's worth pointing out in that interview went on to say that he has met with jake sullivan, joe biden's national security adviser, putting a warning out there to any adversaries to the united states, that there's no distance, that there's no air between the outgoing and incoming nsa, they are in lock step in terms of the united states able to stand up to any adversaries. >> aaron, thank you. now to julie sirken for more. pete hegseth met with lawmakers last week to shore up support for his defense secretary nomination. how successful has he been, do you have a sense of that? >> alex, remember, this is just the very first step. we'll see these potential cabinet secretaries around on capitol hill for the next several weeks. now they're on thanksgiving break, but that initial meeting that matt gaetz and hegseth made the day before with senators

that sit on the panel that will evaluate them. hegseth met with lawmakers, only republicans i should add, on thursday who came away from that meeting, feeling like hegseth does have what it takes to complete this job. senators are also evaluating these cabinet nominees not on their own but who will be around them. so in his case, he'll have mike waltz, somebody who has experience, who was a member of the house serving with him. so some of those allegations and some of the troubles that hegseth has, perhaps senators can look past it. you also have other nominees who will continue to come up on capitol hill to talk to senators for critical posts like attorney general, like health and human services, as well. and like secretary of state. take a look to senators on both sides of the aisle talking on the sunday shows today about these picks. >> is she qualified to be theernlg sp

-- to be attorney general? >> i think she might be, but i would like to have a conversation with her before i have that vote. >> all these are, as you said, are allegations. it's amazing how this somes out. pete is very talented. >> i think marco rubio is enormously well qualified for the job. i still want to ask questions, but he's unquestionably qualified. >> in terms of the incoming administration, i like what i see in terms of being a very, very strong pro israel. i fully support that. >> just very different opinions, because the picks that trump is putting forward are not cut from the same cloth, right? alex, we have talked about he has loyalists that he's picking, people that have not been in public service before. he has people that have been in public service before. the bottom line, senators on both sides know that the president should have who he wants to have, within reason, surrounding him. >> of course. julie, thank you so much and

happy thanksgiving. also to aaron who i forgot to wish that to. joining me now, molly john fast, host of "the fast politics" podcast. symbolic before we get to the cabinet picks. orie taylor greene is going to chair a committee to work with elon musk and vivek ramaswamy. take a listen. >> the only maybe positive moves of margery taylor green leading anything is she's the most unserious member of congress, and so she will be completely ineffective. i'm the only member of congress that sits on the exact same three es as her, so i

spend more time with her in committees than anybody else in congress. there couldn't be anybody worse. so putting her in charge of anything is such a joke. >> that was kind of funny, where is the positive? i was like, i didn't get much positive out of that. but to the question here, what qualifies her for this role? >> she likes to be on television. look, we saw aoc also said something to that effect. she said she never does the reading, and she rarely shows up at stuff. look, she's the perfect congresswoman for this, whatever it's going to be, the department that's volunteer based, that's based on a meme, that's soon going to discover that it's very hard to cut things from the federal budget, and that much of the budget is stuff that these guys can't actually cut or that is servicing the enormous debt that the country has, and that they can't stop paying. so i do think this will be a real interesting -- you know,

it's funny, because these two have had a lot of success in the private sector and somehow think that will make them able to run the government, but the government is a little bit different. i will wait with bated breath to see how this turns out. >> what about senator ernst, who shared this photo, after she announced a senate doge committee, how did this become a top priority? >> this is about cutting federal spending, cutting regulations. this has been something that has been one of donald trump's top priorities. he talks about disrupting the government, and it's not surprising to see him put elon musk and vivek ramaswamy, who campaigned with him throughout the campaign, and given this post, which doesn't need senate confirmation. but i think it's really important to point out here that not just the subcommittee that

margorie taylor greene is trying, but this project itself, they don't have the authority to just cut spending on their own. that requires congressional approval from the entire house. remember, you need 60 votes in the senate. and so i would pump the brakes on the idea that they're just going to run in here and slash federal spending. and to molly's point, the biggest drivers of the debt and the deficit and the budget are social security and medicare, which they said they are not going to touch. even if they're charging in there and cutting the federal workforce, that accounts for 4% of the federal budget. they're only nibbling around the edges. particularly in the house, this is just going to be a platform for margorie taylor greene to hold hearings and get attention. the only reason she got this gavel is mike johnson wanted to clench the speakership, so he said give margery something and give her a seat at the table.

>> trump has filled out his list of cabinet picks. according to this report in "the new york times," maga donors were openly trading notes at a skraet secret gathering on what administration roles they might get. to what extent is trump obligated to billionaires and donors and how much are they influencing their decision? >> i think they're influencing his early decisions a lot. i think that's how they wanted it, right? and this is donald trump, and even his biggest supporters say he's very transactional. we saw -- look, i think a lot of these appointments are rewards for services rendered. rfk, jr. went along with trump, and now if he can make it through congressional appointments, which i'm not convinced he can, will head hhs. so i do think that's true. even some of his last -- it is more normal, how about more

normal appointments are still often tied to big republican donors like marco rubio. and so i do think there's quite a lot of this. but, again, this is how trump operates, right? quid pro quo. and, you know, this is not so complete think unusual, it's just that some of these appointments are, you know, ultimately feel that -- they do seem like they want to destroy the agencies they're tasked to run, which could be a problem. >> yeah. melanie, what are you hearing about the outsized role that elon musk appears to be playing in this transition? does he loom even larger than the vice president-elect? >> i saw somewhere online that people were referred to him as the first buddy instead -- in talking to republicans on capitol hill, there is some concern about the level, privately at least, about the level of influence that elon musk is going to have. he's not going to open up his

own personal life to scrutiny to be in this key position with his committee or whatever you want to call it, but he's going to have donald trump's ear. there is a potential conflict of interest. when he's talking about things, like regulations and taxes or how the federal government works that could benefit businesses, he could have a personal interest in what he's counseling donald trump on. again, i'm not surprised to see him have this prominent role post election, but there are some questions about how long this bromance is going to last. donald trump is known to chew people up and spit them out. doesn't like to be overshadowed. he does love billionaires, but something who ask actually a billionaire and getting a lot of attention, i'm curious to see how long this relationship lasts. >> molly, we had the trump former surgeon general on that reported this this morning -- advising the new trump

administration to have a strong response plan and higher vaccine confidence or risk dealing with outbreaks for four years this time. was this a message to trump or rfk, jr.? >> i mean, this is the thing that actually keeps me up at night, is the public health stuff. i feel like we have memory hold that donald trump was president during the worst of the coronavirus pandemic when hundreds of thousands later, almost a million people died, probably more. so in my mind, this strikes me as not a good thing, and that we should all be concerned with public health, especially in our rapidly changing ecosystem of the but putting rfk, jr., in that position is -- he is a known vaccine skeptic. look, this is a collision course to bad stuff. you know, i still think there is a world in which the senate is

able to use its advise and consent, and perhaps put the brakes on this one. >> and melanie, let me just get to this note. we were reporting, republican senators are privately saying they want to see tulsi gabbard's file for possible unknown information about her. talk about that, and the fact that the trump team is skipping the traditional fbi checks. >> yeah, she's a very controversial nomination. i feel like she really flew under the radar because of matt gaetz, that short-lived attorney general nominee. and now the spotlight is coming onto her. there are a lot of concerns from republicans, including james langford, someone who sits on this intelligence committee, that will be in charge of processing her nomination. there is a lot of concerns. she sited with assad, the president of syria. she's called for the u.s. to drop all charges against edward

snowden. she's railed against some of these key surveillance tools, and now being able to be in charge of the nation's secrets. she's going to have a lot of questions from senators on both sides about her views, about her foreign overseas trips. she was on a tsa watch list at some point. of course, what i'm looking out for as always, does that private concern from republicans traps late into a public show of opposition? >> absolutely. a lot of questions coming both your ways right after the thanksgiving break. so thank you so much. meantime, whether you're california dreaming or have a new york state in mind, you might have a nightmare on your hands at the airport this week. where and when things will be at their worst, in 90 seconds. thit their worst, in 90 seconds daws through 99% of grease and grime in half the time. yeah, it absorbs grease five times faster. even replaces multiple cleaning products. ooh, those suds got game.

dawn powerwash. the better grease getter. ♪ it wasn't hard with cologuard®, ♪ ♪ i did it my way! ♪ colo-huh? ♪ cologuard! ♪ cologuard is for people 45+ at average risk, not high risk. false positive and negative results may occur. screen for colon cancer in your home, your way. ask your provider for, ♪ cologuard ♪ ♪ (vo) living with your albuterol asthma rescue inhaler? it's a bit of a dinosaur. albuterol only treats your symptoms, is supported by asthma experts. finally, there's a modern way to treat symptoms and asthma attacks. airsupra is the first and only dual-action asthma rescue inhaler fda-approved to treat symptoms and help prevent asthma attacks. airsupra should not be used as a maintenance treatment for asthma. get medical help right away if your breathing doesn't improve or worsens or for serious allergic reactions, like rash, mouth or tongue swelling, trouble breathing or swallowing, or chest pain. using airsupra more than prescribed could be life-threatening. serious side effects include increased risk of thrush

or infections, or heart problems like faster heart rate and higher blood pressure. welcome to the modern age of dual-action asthma rescue. right now, millions of americans are preparing for traveling on thanksgiving or just before aaa expects nearly 80 million travelers, and airports are bracing for higher than normal rushes, and likely to break prepandemic numbers. but winter storms all over the country are putting a damper on festivities, with various cities under a winter alert, snow and rain are expected to impact travel in bigger cities like d.c., philadelphia, and here in new york. joining me once again with nbc's pria. so are you seeing the big crowds there today?

>> reporter: absolutely, alex. this is the world's busiest airport, so there always are a lot of crowds here. since the last time we spoke, atlanta has emerged in the top three as the most delayed. so if you happen to be passing through this airport, check on your flight status. what's interesting is i'm looking outside right now, the weather is perfect, but that's not the case for folks across the country. we're seeing massive amounts of snow and rainfall on the west coast. in california, they got months' worth of rain in days, flooding out parts of northern california. on the east coast, expecting major rains to impact some travel hubs like new york city, d.c., and boston. so this is all colliding, that severe weather with what is expected to be record breaking travel numbers. aaa projecting 80 million people will be traveling 50 miles or more away from home. 5.8 million will be traveling by air.

i did get a chance to speak with some passengers here in the atlanta airport about the holiday rush plus the weather. let's take a listen to what they had to say. >> atlanta itself is very busy, just coming into the airport, it took us half an hour to get through. but our uber driver said it was normal. >> it took me 12 hours to get from peoria to atlanta this past thursday by plane. so i got to the airport at 10:00 in the morning, and then it got delayed, delayed, delayed, because of the ice and snow going on in chicago. >> reporter: now, the busiest days at the airport are expected to be tuesday, wednesday, and sunday. that sunday after thanksgiving is always the busiest travel day. but tsa said they're ready, because the top ten busiest days ever recorded for them have all happened since may 24th of this year. so if you happen to be flying on tuesday, wednesday or sunday, make sure you're ready and

you're patient for all those lines. >> pack your patience. prir yarvegs, thank you so much. coming up, president-elect donald trump and european allies. -elect donald trump and european allies and to fight heartburn, why take 10 antacids throughout the day when you can take 1 prilosec. for easier heartburn relief, one beats ten. prilosec otc. one pill. 24 hours. zero heartburn.

a new report in the atlantic details the uncertainty and fears felt by european allies

over president-elect trump's return to power, on edge about the threat his foreign policy decisions could pose to europe's security and the future of nato. in view of trump's past attacks on the organization and his cozying up with russian president vladamir putin. joining me now is the writer f that article. good to see you, mckay. when you spoke with european leaders and diplomats earlier this year, you say almost all of them expressed dread at the prospect of trump's return to power, even though they've been planning this as a possibility for years. but while speaking with someone recently, several are expressing optimism about the trump administration maintaining strong relations with its allies, what's changed? or is that what they say in public or in private they are still worried? >> yeah, i think you got it there, alex. i think the reality is that not much has changed in terms of their thinking. they know who they're dealing with in the next american

president. this is a man who has, you know, been pretty upfront about his hostility towards -- skepticism of nato, and his nato, and his n for vladamir putin. you put those two things together, and it leaves question marks about ukraine, about the future of the alliance, about the security in europe, which has, for 75 years, relied on the u.s. as a steadfast ally in maintaining peace and prosperity on the continent. that said, in public, there's not really much they can do besides say we're ready for president trump, we're going to work for him. we're excited to, you know, develop a deeper partnership and friendship with the incoming administration. but what's interesting is that when i would talk to these officials, that's what they would say on the record. then they would say, can i talk on background? i would say sure. that's when they would say, a million things could go wrong, and the overall level of anxiety

is fairly high among our allies. >> are they preparing for a post world war ii europe now, where they can no longer rely on u.s. support? are they preparing to make their own weapons to defend themselves? >> yeah, there's kind of two things going on. in the short term, the plan behind the scenes is to try to cozy up to trump. what that means is that they realize they have in the incoming president, a man who has been pretty susceptible to flattery. there's talk of organizing a big state visit to europe for him, rolling out the red carpet in a place like berlin. >> if that happened, would you expect demonstrations? the european citizenry, they've been appalled tat prospect, angry in fact, that he's returned to power. >> and this would be exactly the problem. i talked to one veteran german diplomat who said the problem with all this planning is that

the second donald trump's plane touches down in one of these european capitals, there will be massive anti-trump and anti-american demonstrations, possibly violent. and if he sees those demonstrations, this whole strategy could backfire for us. >> so trump's picks, they include senator marco rubio for secretary of state. of course, he has more traditional views of nato and russia. he's also picked tulsi gabbard for national security adviser. what are you hearing from foreign leaders about these specific picks and how they might impact relations with our allies? >> yeah, you know, rubio is somebody who i think reassured a lot of european officials, because he has professed pretty standard opinions about things like nato and the alliance. same with russia. he has tried to walk this tight rope, a lot of republicans have

tried to walk it recently and being on trump's good side, while maintaining an old school philosophy with foreign policy. tulsi gabbard is a huge red flag. several people i spoke to say we don't know whether she has connections in russia or the kremlin, but he has repeatedly used her platform to parrot kremlin talking points. that is enormously concerning, giving her incoming position as somebody who is going to be coordinating intelligence gathering efforts. until now, the u.s. has shared pretty much all of their intelligence with our european allies. the intelligence gathering that happens there is interwoven. if our allies question whether they can actually trust america with the intelligence that they find, that completely up-ends this partnership that's worked pretty well for many, many decades. >> point well taken, and they have shared with us, but there

you have it. mckay, great writing and great article. happy thanksgiving. thanks. so it's the one thing you probably weren't thinking about when you cast your vote earlier this month. why can't one congresswoman stop talking about it? nda sluggish t. things aren't really movin'. you could use some metamucil. metamucil's psyllium fiber helps keep your digestive system moving so you can feel lighter and more energetic. metamucil keeps you movin'. and try fizzing fiber plus vitamins. to buy, or not to buy? that is their question. and nobody knows shoppers better than shopify. the undisputed, undefeated, checkout champion of the world. this living legend can boost conversions up to 50%. which means way

less of these - and way more of that. so if your business is in it to win it, win with shopify. speaker: who's coming in the driveway? speaker: dad. dad, we missed you. daddy, hi. speaker: goodness. my daughter is being treated for leukemia. [music playing] i hope that she lives a long, great, happy life and that she will never forget how mom and daddy love her. saint jude-- maybe this is what's keeping my baby girl alive. [music playing] narrator: you can join the battle to save lives by supporting st. jude children's research hospital. for just $19 a month, you'll help us continue the life-saving research and treatment these kids need now and in the future. speaker: cancer makes me feel angry,

like not in the feel on the outside, just the inside. i'm angry at it. speaker: when your kid is hurting and there's nothing you can do about it, that's the worst feeling in the world. [music playing] narrator: 1 in 5 children diagnosed with cancer in the us will not survive. speaker: those that donate to st. jude, i hope that you will continue to give. they have done so much for me and my family. [music playing] narrator: join with your credit or debit card for only $19 a month, and we'll send you this st. jude t-shirt, or, for a limited time only, join for $39 a month to receive this exclusive st. jude jacket you can proudly wear to show your support. speaker: are you ready to go have some fun? speaker: yeah. speaker: when we came here, we didn't know what tomorrow would hold. st. jude showed us that tomorrow,

there's hope for our little girl to survive. narrator: let's cure childhood cancer together. please donate now. [music playing]

it's sad and surprising that, in 2024, i have to go on tv and on social media to

explain to the radical left that men should. be allowed in women's restrooms, that women should. be forced to undress in front of men. >> we have issues here in this country, and she's worried about one member of congress using the bathroom. i think it's disgusting and wrong, but i think we have a lot more to worry about than where somebody goes to pee. >> controversy there on capitol hill. congresswoman nancy mace selling t-shirts to fund-raise off her proposal to ban the first openly transgender member of congress, sarah mcbride, and other transgender women, from using the women's restroom in the u.s. capitol. in a statement, house speaker mike johnson agreeing saying -- >> joining me now is congresswoman barbara lee from california. my question to you, first off,

what is driving your colleague, congresswoman mace, who previously said she supported lbgtq rights, to lead this charge? >> well, nice being with you. it looks like she's being driven by money and popularity and trying to send a message out that ice discussing and just dangerous. also, i mean, come on, what does she want, to have a policeman or woman to police the bathrooms? it's really sickening, and i don't know what's driving her. because in the past, you know, she hasn't been that hostile. but i say we have to circle the wagons. congresswoman elect mcbride is coming to congress to do her job like every other congresswoman. so we have to call this out for what it is, disgusting, hateful and dangerous. she's promoting hate. it's more and likely probably for her own political fund raising. but whatever it's for, it's wrong. >> she's got the t-shirts going, that's for sure.

with regard to representative elect mcbride, she said in a social media post, i'm not here to fight about bathrooms but to fight for the people of delaware and bring down costs facing families. i will follow the rules as outlined, even if i disagree with them. do you think she should, or would anyone else take up this fight? >> you know what? i think congresswoman elect mcbride is focused on her district and why she was elected. so she makes her own decisions how she wants to approach this hate, and we would all, of course, circle the wagons and support her decision. but the bottom line is, it's wrong. you know, what mace is doing is perpetuating hate and raising money around that. again, it's disgusting, it's dangerous, and nobody cares about this except her and her right-leaning efforts, to try to

demonize transgender people, and i tell you, i'm disgusted with it. i helped found the equality caucus for the primary purpose of making sure everyone is treated justly and right. >> you issued a statement in support of senator bernie sanders' last-ditch efforts to block some arms sales to israel. the senate rejected the measures this week, signaling there is still widespread, bipartisan support for u.s. military assistance to israel. so as you get ready to leave the house, how do you expect the congress to handle the war that rages on under the trump administration? >> this was a very broad-based letter that included jewish-american, jewish members of congress. it involved a variety of members who really believe that we supported and continue to support weapons systems for defensive purposes, but not offensive weapons. and, in fact, when you look at

the 44, 45,000 people now who have been killed in gaza, look at the deaths in lebanon, we're on the brink of a regional war with a humanitarian catastrophe. we have to get the humanitarian supplies in. people are dying, people are starving, and it's time to have a cease-fire. i think what this letter demonstrated and what those 19 senators rightfully did was send a message that the tax dollars that we're spending for offensive weapons. once again, the iron dome i've supported, all of the defensive measures that prevent israelis from being killed and hurt from terrorists. that's something we've always supported. but not offensive weapons that are going to continue to kill innocent civilians, women and children, and prevent for a cease-fire and what has taken place i've always said is counterproductive to israel's security. so in order to develop peace in

the region, a path to peace, we have got to stop this. we have got to be -- the united states has to be that moral voice with clarity to the netanyahu government right now, while the biden-harris administration is in power, that we have to have a cease-fire. we have to prevent a regional war from taking place, because we are on the brink of that, and we have to stop the killing of innocent civilians and children, and men and women everywhere, in lebanon, in gaza, and have to call for a cease-fire and a path to peace. that's very difficult, but the united states needs to stand up and send that message very clearly. i think by signing this letter, we all said no more offensive, mind you, offensive weapons, with our tax dollars. >> let me get to the fact that you are a senior member of the house appropriations committee that controls the federal purse strings, and many are praising

president trump's department of governmental efficiency in a way to address government waste. here's senator tubberville. take a listen. >> i think this is the best thing that president trump has done to this point of putting these two in charge of going after fraud and overspending and oversight. just look at the military. seven audits that have not passed muster. we have to find out where all this money's going. >> look, you too have expressed frustration of accountability at the pentagon after it failed its seventh audit in a row. will this help? >> first of all, i think what their ultimate goal is of donald trump is what steve bannon came in on early during his first term saying they wanted to dismamt dismantle the federal government. so project 2025 is about

consolidating and diminishing the role of the federal government to where there's no guard rails between the administration, the courts, and the white house. and so this is a move towards dismantling the administrative state. i led the effort for the pentagon to be audited. we need resourcing for housing, schools, health care, job creation. here we have a defense department that is up to nearly a trillion dollars, has never been audited until myself and a republican member put it in a bill to force them to be audited. they've failed seven audits. imagine the amount of waste, fraud, and abuse there is in the pentagon that can be used to invest in domestic spending. so i'm going to be fighting to reduce the defense budget, to make sure that the troops have the resources that they need, but waste, fraud, and abuse, we need to get to the bottom of wit the pentagon.

but bottom line, donald trump is trying to dismantle the administrative state, like steve bannon wants him to, to set up no more guard rails between the administration, between the legislative branch and the supreme court. and that's very dangerous. >> california congresswoman barbara lee, happy thanksgiving to you. thank you for joining me. payback or punishment. we have one senator's plan that is raising lots of questions. na is raising lots of queiostns how are folks 60 and older having fun these days? family cookouts! ♪♪ playing games! ♪♪ dancing in the par... (high pitched sound) (high pitched sound) (high pitched sound) at harbor freight, we do business differently from the other guys. we design and test our own tools

and sell them directly to you. no middleman. just quality tools you can trust at prices you'll love.

[clears throat] sounds like you need to vaporize that sore throat. vapocool drops? it's sore throat relief with a rush of vicks vapors. ♪ vapocooooool ♪ whoa. vaporize sore throat pain with vicks vapocool drops. you'll love this! centrum silver is clinically proven to support memory in older adults. so you can keep saying, you mastered it! you fixed it! you nailed it! you did it! with centrum silver, clinically proven to support memory in older adults.

new today, republican senator blocking the promotion of a general who oversaw troops in kabul during the u.s. withdrawal from afghanistan. this move from mark mullen to fire officials who oversaw the chaotic pullout in 2021. let's bring in mark polimoropoulos, former cia officer. welcome, my friend. how do you characterize this move and do you foresee more action against those in charge of the afghanistan withdrawal? >> well, it's a little perplexing. first and foremost, chris don hugh is someone who is beloved in the u.s. military and finest general officers and someone who has an immaculate reputation and seen as apolitical and was given the enviable task after the taliban overtook kabul to

unscrew which was a terrible situation. he was not involved in any of the planning. and so the idea that somehow this general is responsible for anything that happened is -- is a bit preposterous. look, i talked to current u.s. military officials and former senior officers and they were very angry about this and perhaps it's a harrebinger of things to come where trump will take the burn it all down in the pentagon. >> tulsi gabbard as former cia officer, what's your reaction to the prospect of her having that role and are democrats' concerns of her being a, quote, russian asset, are they really legitimate? >> i return from europe and i spoke to senior european security officials and they were aghast at this. look, the intelligence community needs reform, no doubt about it, but this is someone who doesn't have any qualifications and meaning is not suitable, the

pro-russian sentiments, her statements she's made in the past and her statement about syria, i don't think she would pass a background test in the intelligence community. our relationships with foreign allies are based on trust. they share a significant amount of intelligence. if they're going to risk passing intelligence from their human assets they wouldn't trust us, i know there are quietly on restricting that flow of critic cal intense jens lligence which keeps americans safe. >> one more question on the israel and hamas conflict which has issued arrest warrants with israeli pm netanyahu as well as a hamas military chief over alleged war crimes in gaza. how do you interpret this move? is it actionable, and if you can give it to me in 30 seconds? >> to me, this is something that's reality. look, we can complain about the icc, the international criminal

court that this was unjust, but the bottom line is israel has to face this. they are the strongest country militarily in the region and diplomatically, they're terribly isolated and this will cause trouble for netanyahu and other idf officials. if they had talked about a day-after plan and if the war had come to a conclusion we wouldn't have this. in some ways it's regrettable. >> happy thanksgiving, thanks, mark. and a happy thanksgiving to all of you. we will be back next saturday and sunday at 1:00 p.m. eastern. thanks so much for watching "prime weekend" is next.