good evening, and welcome to "politics nation." tonight's lead, toxic transition.

the trump transition team is wasting no time in breaking rules. it is already threatening to undermine a smooth transfer of power. according to "the new york times," the transition is running on possibly unlimited secret money it refuses to disclose, raising questions about where the money's coming from, and its lack of cooperation with the biden administration is holding up background checks on trump's cabinet picks, as they await senate confirmation. as of this weekend, the trump 2.0 team is nearly complete, with right wingers and maga loyalists put forward to head every major federal agency. some of them returning from trump's first term, and in the case of the many business executives he nominated, now poised to oversee the very

industries the government is supposed to regulate. joining me now, congressman fumi, democrat of maryland, and former president of the naacp. congressman, thank you for your time. i want to start tonight with donald trump completing his perspective cabinet this weekend, including leaders for all 15 executive agencies. the nominees are overwhelmingly anti-establishment types and loyal to trump, who stacked a few key posts with holdovers from his first administration. which of these picks should the democrats, in your judgment, be most fiercely resisting? >> first, thanking for having me on, reverend sharpsharpton. i hope nobody is shocked watching these picks. most offis figured that donald trump would do what he's doing now, to a large extent, stack his administration with people

from the project 2025 group. there are five of them out of that group right now. not the least of which is the director of the cia. so, i think first and foremost, the first thing is to make sure to the extent we can get the nominee for attorney general on the record through senate confirmation hearings, where they are going to be asked, and should be asked tough questions, that's the first thing. we don't want the justice department to turn into the just i.c.e. department when it comes to black and brown people and women in this country. beyond that, it's very important without telling the senate how to do their job, that they do their job, and not just accept what the president sends over. he's refused to sign the agreement on background checks, which is a violation of federal law. the fbi can't do their background checks, and therefore, you can have senate conferrees coming before the senate for confirmation that have serious issues in their back ground that we are unaware

of. so it's good to keep our eye on all of this. the main thing is not to give up. we have seen this play out before. there were many people who stuck their head under a rock when tricky dick, richard nixon was elected, thinking that would be the end of everything. it happened again with nald reagan in 1980. so this is something we have to build coalitions around. work step by step, one goal after another, to get straight for the elections coming up 24 months from now. >> the trump transition team has failed to sign a number of documents designed to expedite the transfer of power. as a result, his cabinet picks are not getting their backgrounds checked by the fbi, which the senate has traditionally required before confirmation. this weekend, we also learned from the new york times that trump is refusing to disclose the donors funding his transition, rejecting an

agreement with the biden administration that would provide federal money for the effort. but with strict fund-raising limits. instead, trump can raise all the money he wants, including from foreign donors, with no public disclosure. is there anything democrats can do and should be doing or can be doing to force trump to follow the rules during this transition, especially on basic things like background checks and for cabinet -- possible cabinet members? >> i think the first thing we can do and ought to do is to scream out the truth and make sure people know what's going on here. trump's transition seem stands to lose $7 million in transition money under the presidential transitional act. they don't care. they can easily make that money up somewhere else, if no place other than elon musk, as long as

they can keep secret the information of who is pulling the strings. so i think we've got to talk about that, talk about it loudly. i hope that the larger press in this country starts doing real stories on that and turning a real light on it, simply for the fact that we need transparency in this transition. and it's really important to look at also what legally can be done. we're in this situation obviously now where the justice department is going through its own transition. the question becomes, who will bring charges? i don't know. but i know if we are not loud about this, pointing out the truth, pointing out the law and making sure other people know, it will be just one more thing that gets glossed over. in this instance, it runs the risk of having people be in key positions without even having a background check, like is happening now. >> and that's dangerous, but staying with trump's appointments, you sit on the house oversight committee, where republicans have announced a new

subcommittee to work with elon musk and vivek ramaswamy, as they launch this department of government efficiency to cut what they see as federal waste of all people. maga congresswoman of all people, margorie taylor greene has been named chair of the new subcommittee, and she's pledged this morning to include sanctuary cities in this new department's mandate. take a listen. >> are you saying that sanctuary states and cities will lose their federal funding? >> if they use their police officers and their resources to harbor and protect illegal criminal aliens, then absolutely. those sanctuary states and cities are in danger of losing their federal funding, and rightfully so. >> congressman, what is that going to look like?

>> well, i don't believe it's going to happen, let me start with that. that committee has a subcommittee, as you said, reverend of the full oversight committee of which i sit. when you take that and juxtapose it against the congress where the margin for republicans may be one or two votes, they're going to have to, if they get that out of committee, make sure that every republican in the congress votes for it, and i don't think that's going to happen. i think many are in districts where they do something like that, they will hear from their constituents in a very negative way. but it creates a sideshow, it creates a circus, much of like we've been doing in the oversight committee now. you go from one issue to another that has no meaning and no real oversight of the nation, and the nation's issues, but gives an opportunity for people to just come out, put on a clown's outfit, say outrageous things, besmirch the reputation of individuals and get press that way. we're just so driven by what we

can do to get on the news or what we can do to get a few more clicks. i don't think that it's going to pass. i think she will do all that she can to do what the president wants, and i think there will be some oversight of things that do make sense, but mostly, it's going to be issues like this. sanctuary cities is the one she seems to be most interested in, so we'll see. but those of us on that committee are going to fight day in and day out, like we do every day, and push back to make sure this does not happen. >> let's pivot while there's still time in this segment to the democratic leadership. new york congressman hakeem jefferies has been re-elected last week to lead the house democratic caucus, which will try to reclaim the majority in the house in 2026 in the midterm elections. in the meantime, one of the first tests will be some special elections for seats left by house republicans who joined the

trump administration. your thoughts on congressman jefferies leading house democrats for another two years, congressman? >> well, i think hakeem jefferies can clearly is the right person in the right place at the right time. it's not just my preponderance but every democrat in congress voted unanimously to have him lead us for the next two-year period, to get us to the 2016 elections. he's very talented and thoughtful. he tries as best he can to listen to the other side. but he's firm in the beliefs of the democratic party and is unwavering on that. more than anything else, the issue becomes what does speaker johnson do as a result of having three, maybe four vacancies on his side of the aisle. those persons have to be replaced by special elections. they're not going to happen in a month or two, but they will be happening. while they are happening, it will be very difficult to get a majority, on any issue on that side of the aisle.

but more importantly, it's always best to look at people who are from districts that were very competitive on the republican side. they're just not going to vote anything that has a stamp on it that says it's okay, because they run the risk of never coming back there again. they know that, and we know it. and our efforts in the district is to make sure that their constituents know it, so they vote the right way on the issues we need to get passed or on the things we need to protect. >> thank you for being with us, congressman. let's stay on the topic of the future of the democratic party. several prominent party members have thrown their hat in the ring to be the next chair of the democratic national committee. yesterday, we had on this show former governor of maryland, martin o'malley. now joining me is another candidate, ken motten, chair of the minnesota democratic party. welcome to the show, mr. martin,

and thank you for joining us. democrats have had great success in minnesota. you had a unified state government for two years, which just ended with this last election. still, you kept the state senate and both u.s. senators remain democrats. as minnesota stayed blue, despite republicans winning every state surrounding it. but democrats are about to -- they're about to be out of the white house and in the minority in both the house and the senate next year, taking minnesota as an example, should democrats be looking for ways to resist the incoming administration or looking for where bipartisan compromise is possible? >> well, thank you so much for having me, reverend. look, we can't discount the things that push voters to trump. some of is that voters don't believe we stand for the things they care about anymore, and that's just not true. the canary in the coal mine last

year -- last spring, some research came out that showed the perceptions of the two major political parties has completely changed. the majority of americans now believe that the republican party best represents the interest of the working class and the poor, and the democratic party represents the interest of the wealthy and the elites. that's got to change. but we know that our policies are not the problem. look at missouri as an example, where they passed a minimum wage increase, they passed a paid family leave act, they passed abortion protections, right? we know that our policies are popular, but they're not connecting those back to our candidates into our party. the thing is, we know that the trump agenda is going to be bad for evidence working families. he will spend four years focused on revenge, political retribution. and when that happens, no voter is going to want a lecture. no voter is going to hear, i told you so. what they'll want is leadership. i'll tell you, reverend, we have

to reach out and find common ground of the voters we lost. this is a party that always stands for the oppressed, the marginalized, and those who feel voiceless, including the working class. we are not going to abandon the people we have been fighting for. >> i want to stay with that for a second. as a part of this post election analysis, the topic of race has, of course, come up and whether identity politics was overemphasized over kitchen table issues. but much was written during the election about the harris campaign's de-emphasis on her identity versus combatting trump. abortion rights and the economy. and frankly, i wanted to raise an identity that would de-emphasize to democrats' peril. as the party tries to retain voters of color and other groups, during the past election cycle, what are your thoughts on

that? >> well, i've always said this conversation we need to have is not about moving left or right. it's not about identity politics or just focusing on economic populism, but centering and agenda focused on the working class, which includes black, brown, and white folks, and their struggles to get ahead. their feelings of being forgotten and left behind, and frankly their hopes to build a better life for themselves and family. that's what this is about. that's what connects all of us across race and this country is the fact that people are working harder than they've ever worked before. and feeling like they can't get ahead, feeling like the american dream is not within reach, feeling like they can't save enough money to save a vacation or put their kids through college or even retire with dignity. people are feeling a lot of economic anxiety, and that's people across all classes, across all parts of this country. we need to get back to focusing right now on the things that connect all of us, and that is

really the hope and the dreams of actually achieving the american dream, which seem so out of reach for most americans. >> if anyone know where is the democratic party's llenges are right now, it's you. you've been chair of the minnesota state party for 13 years and vice chair of the national party for seven years. you also led the association of state democratic chairs. now you're running to succeed jaime harrison as national chair, and you have the endorsement of 83 dnc members. a pretty good chunk of the party. what do you see as the party's chair role over the next few years? >> well, first off, i'm honored to be able to run after jaime harrison. he's been a fantastic chair. what we need to do is build this party in every community and every zip code. we need to be making sure that we're working with our 57 state parties and contesting races up and down the ballot.

it is critical that our party is not just a party focused on federal races. we have to win back the congress and the presidency in four years, but we also have to make sure we're contesting races, not the state legislative races, but races deep down ballot, including city council, school boards, county boards. we've seen the results of indifference of focusing on school boards, that the moms for liberty group have taken over and pushed a far-right agenda, including whitewashing history and banning books. we know as a party, we have to be organizing in every zip code and contesting every race. that's what i'll do as the next dnc chair. >> while there's time, i want to ask you whether criminal justice reform, specifically policing reform, should be a prominent part of the democrats' agenda moving forward. i spent a lot of time in your state of minnesota when dealing with the police killing of

george floyd. i remember when i gave the eulogy of george floyd, the first of three fun funerals, th called governor walz and asked him to appoint the prosecutor. is police reform, criminal justice reform, things you think should still be at the top of the party's concerns? >> absolutely it should be. i'll tell you, we had a rough conversation in minnesota around policing and violence after george floyd was murdered. we've worked to heal our community since then, and we have a long way to go. every family and neighborhood wants to feel safe and wants policing that helping them feel safe rather than targeted. the democratic party has always been a party that stands for the on ppressed and those who feel voilless.

i'm proud to have the support of attorney general keith ellison. he was front and center of this important conversation about police violence in our state. we have a long ways to go, as i said. but, you know, i think the minnesota dfl what we have done serves as a model centering those who feel voiceless in our community. yes, it should be, and as long as i'm the chair here and if i'm the chair of the dnc, it will continue to be part of the conversation. >> i might add police reform is not anti-police. it makes it fair for everyone and does not make all policemen look what happened they approve of what happened to george floyd. after the break, how to rise above the political pitfalls you may encounter during this year's thanksgiving dinner. we'll be right back. thanksgiving dinner. we'll be right bac speaker: who's coming in the driveway? k.

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on thursday, americans will celebrate thanksgiving. it's been a tumultuous year, but i would urge all of you to approach this holiday with a spirit of generosity. generosity first and foremost toward those in need, which is the true meaning of thanksgiving in the first place. as always, and my compassion as head of the national action network, i'll be handing out turkey dinners at the house of justice in harlem. and for the first time this year, we'll be serving meals in brooklyn as well, and we should extend that same generosity to family members and friends. many of us will no doubt break bread with loved ones who voted differently than we did, and espouse opposing political views. some of you are apprehensive

about conversations that could spiral into arguments and hurt feelings. i would urge you to take the time to not only speak but to listen. hearing someone out does not mean you have to agree with them, but it can be the first step towards mutual respect and understanding. if we want to rise up and heal our nation and its politics, we can start by setting an example in our own home. keeping things civil at the thanksgiving dinner table isn't always easy, but at least at the end, there's pie. we'll be right back.

welcome back to "politics nation." with a flurry of picks in the past few days, president-elect donald trump has now named his selections for all 15 cabinet positions to start his second term. joining me now is my political

panel, brendan buck, msnbc political analyst, and former press secretary to former house speaker john boehner. and michael hardaway, founder and former communications director for congressman hakeem jefferies. brendan, let's begin with you. all the president's men and women have been chosen, who is likely to sail through the confirmation process easily, and do you think any others are likely to go down in flames as we saw with matt gaetz? >> it's still very possible. i think what people should appreciate is it's very early. trump picked these people much earlier than incoming presidents typically do, and the vetting is just beginning. there are some people with serious questions about. pete hegseth, the d.o.d. nominee, both as matters of his

personal behavior, as well as his qualifications. i think that we should appreciate that there are a handful of republican senators that have already shown they're not just going to go along with everything. hegseth is going to have to answer tough questions about his behavior with women. but this is about our largest department, responsible for the safety and security of the american people, and people like mitch mcconnell, who is now overseeing the subcommittee that funds the department of defense, is going to want to know whether this person is qualified to run that agency. so i think with matt gaetz out of the way, there's real questions about whether or not he's going to be able to get through, as well as others. tulsi gabbard, i think is a real question mark, as well. >> now, michael, the same question to you. how do you expect trump's choices to fair in the senate? >> yeah, i agree. it's very early in this process. i think there are a number of candidates we have that have questionable backgrounds. obviously, tulsi gabbard, that could be a problematic situation

in terms of the national security implications, hegseth, as well. but i think some of these people are fox news analysts. the guy from the real world. does that make them qualified to be cabinet officials of the united states of america? we'll see. i think it's early. there are many senate republicans that have concerns with some of these candidates. so it's just too early to tell. >> brendan, there aren't many unity picks on team trump's 2.0. even the ex-democrats like rfk, jr., and tulsi gabbard have fallen out with their former party. will this have any impact on donald trump's ability to govern, given the narrow majority the gop holds in both chambers of congress? >> yeah, it's funny. he has more members from the other party than usual, but i don't think anybody is going to be surprised. donald trump doesn't do olive branches, and donald trump 2.0

is determined that he's going to do things his own way. he has no interest in washington norms or signaling to anybody that he's going to be centrist. he's going to have his people do the things he wants to do, and that will be a very different flavor. that is going to run into some political realities. donald trump and a lot of republicans are very excited about all the big things they want to do. there is a tiny house majority, and there's a lot of things they won't be able to. and we have seen evidence of that. every time republicans have need to pay for any type of spending, increase the debt limit, a number of things they will have to do, they have had to have hakeem jefferies bail them out. so i understand the enthusiasm of doing big, conservative things, but there's just some realities that they can't pass things on their own. >> michael, let me give you the chance to respond to this question, as well. >> yeah, i agree. the reality is that donald trump really has two good years to try

to enact this litany of policies he has. i think realistically, you have immigration, you have tax cuts probably at the top of that list. but i don't see how any of the other things get done because of the slim majority in the house. in the senate, you have a number of moderate senate republicans who may not agree with some of the things that donald trump agrees in. now with these project 2025 advocates, he's trying to wrest some of the power away from congress in terms of spending and budgeting, but i think he only has two good years to enact these policies and probably moves towards tax cuts and immigration. >> michael, some of the project 2025 people appointed to key positions in his cabinet, but i want to bring this to you. i mentioned this yesterday on this show, that once again, the only black in a second trump

cabinet is awarded to the hud secretary. hand's an important position, but it clearly is the same position he gave the only black in the first trump presidency, like blacks only know about housing, public housing. very important, but we certainly know about more than that. the nominee in this case this time is former nfl quarterback texas state rep scott turner. it seems to me that trump may view this there post as his so-called black job. but how will this be viewed by the small cohort of black trumpers that weren't for trump, buying into these claims about special things he would do to raise blacks economically. >> you know, it will be interesting to see. most of us are not surprised by that decision in terms of having the only black candidate oversee hud. for some reason, that seems to be something that happens in

every administration, which is a sad thing. but i will say this, housing and affordable housing is the issue of our time. we're in new york city, a one bedroom apartment is $5,000. that is insane. so this hud secretary has a real job in front of him in terms of fixing the housing affordability crisis in this country. so it will be interesting to see how that works, because as you know again, black americans are adversary affected by the lack of affordable housing in this country. and so that will be interesting to see. >> and i might add, and we're out of time, but don't forget that he's put only one black up and we complained about that, i certainly did. and then he's succeeding a man that put a black in there as the first black woman vice president, put a black woman on the supreme court, had a black the head of the pentagon, had a black u.n. ambassador. i mean, to go from all of that

to one black in the same slot he gave before is something i can't ignore. brendan buck and michael hardaway, thank you both for being with us. still to come, tales of injustice in one of new york's most notorious prisons. >> in prison, you're just a number. they can tell you when to eat, when to sleep, when to shower. but they can't take away your hope. >> this msnbc documentary tells the story of inmates wrongfully convicted and forced to spend years at the correctional facility. the director of the series joins me next. es joins me next.

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welcome book "politics nation." a new msnbc documentary out this weekend tells the stories of

inmates who were wrongfully convicted, forced into years of hard time at the sing sing correctional facility north of new york city. joining me is the director of the sing sing chronicles, dawn porter. thank you for joining us. for starters, how did the idea for this story come about? i understand it's the product of several decades of reporting and research. >> yeah, thanks for having me, rev, i appreciate it. this is one of the most spectacular feats of journalism that i've ever seen. nbc reporter dan slepian followed these people for two decades, more than two decades. reinvestigating their cases, doing work that the police and the courts should have done at the time that these people were arrested. and through his reporting, and with the help of some really

dedicated lawyers, all of whom worked pro-bono, he, through his work, got six men out of prison. but not before they had served decades behind bars in one of the most notorious prisons in the united states. >> several of the wrongful conviction cases you cover in the series, the evidence justifying their exoneration was significant. and yet, the inmates struggled to get anyone to pay attention to them. i want to play this clip for our audience. >> it's pathetic. i believed a month ago that they were operating in good faith. i want to believe it now. if this is a crock, if there's nothing there, why is the district attorney's office investigating anything, and why is it going to take months? it's about whether the district attorney's office, in obtaining those convictions, complied with their legal duties.

did they violate the law? at the end of the day, if i am able to prove that we are right and they are wrong, what conclusion are you going to draw about them? this whole case seems so obvious to me. but after hearing that message, it started to give me a real education about how the system really works. >> do you feel that for many of these prisoners, the legal system has been stacked against them? >> oh, undoubtedly. i'm so glad you played that clip. that's dave shapiro, who used to be a prosecutor. and when he left the prosecutor's office and started doing defense work, he took on the case of these two men and represented them pro-bono

without charge. and he was investigating them because two new york city police officers brought the case to him and said, you have the wrong people in prison. please reinvestigate this case. so that's the opening case of our series. there were two episodes last night. the two concluding episodes are tonight. i encourage everyone to watch. i think it's hard for people to believe that innocent people are in jail, but the estimates are that roughly 5% of people who are in prison are innocent of the crimes that they are accused of. and that's not just bad for our justice system, that's bad for the victims. we want the right people to be in prison. we want the right people to be brought to justice. we do not want innocent people languishing in our nation's jails and prisons. >> now, the documentary not only looks at these wrongful convection cases, but gives

viewers a look at the lives inmates live in sing sing, as well as the connections they make and the ways they express themselves behind bars. what more can you tell us about that? >> that's one of the most unique things about this series. i've done a number of films about people incarcerated, wrongfully or not. but what dan was able to do was film in the prison and film with the prisoners. we filmed with the warden. he filmed in court. it's really a remarkable look at how the criminal justice system, the criminal legal system i should say, because there's not a lot of justice for far too many people, but how things work. and one of the remarkable things about this series is that the prisoners -- so as one was exonerated, that prisoner would introduce dan, the reporter, to the next person. and dan would investigate that with the help of lawyers.

that's how these men got exonerated, is the prisoners were helping dan to identify other innocent people. but it should not take a dogged reporter 20 years to give people justice. we should be doing that as, you know, the world's democracy. >> what are you hoping viewers will take away from the series? what can we do to make our criminal justice system more just, and especially to help wrongfully convicted people have their cases heard? >> you know, one of the most significant things is that these people were convicted after jury trials. so jury service is really important. it is the thing that can stand between an innocent person and years of incarceration. so i hope people see that jury service is really, really important. i also hope people think about the families of these people.

you know, j.j. velasquez, our last person to be exonerated, was in prison for more than 27 years. that ripped apart his family. he had two young children when he went away. there are real lives and real-life consequences. so we should not settle for only okay. we should not settle for maybe the person is guilty. we should be sure. we should ask more of our legal system. >> no doubt about it. and i -- i as you know, we do some work in that area. this is not to excuse people that are guilty of crimes or to be soft on crime. but it is not being hard on crime to put the wrong people in jail. one of the celebrated cases we fought was the central park five where these five young men went to jail, one for almost 14 years, for a crime that they finally were exonerated of. and what did they do with the rest of their life? thank god one is now in the city

council. another has worked in the national action network until they got their settlement. should we be looking at prison reform in terms of how they are treated in jail, the sing sing, and around legislation? should we be looking at all of this, dawn? >> i think we should, and you know, i really want to commend you for the work you have done. your efforts, other people's s, efforts, but the public demanding, you know, accountability. sing sing has, in recent years, been, you know, a leader in inviting people to go to school, to do things that are productive for their lives. we do not want people who are incarcerated for a long period of time to come out into society without an education, without skills. that is not being soft on crime. that is thinking about how people are going to reenter society. many people will reenter society after long periods of

incarceration. what kind of people do you want coming back into your communities? that's the question. we cannot just lock people up indefinitely without understanding that there is humanity there. so i think prison reform, legal system reform, and resourcing our legal system, our public dependers in particular, is all critical. >> all right. thank you to dawn porter and -- who is the director of the "sing sing chronicles." part three and four air tonight on msnbc. and you can stream it, the entire series you can even stream on peacock. some exciting news next month, listen to every episode of "politics nation" as a podcast for free. scan the qr code on your screen to follow now and listen to the trailer, then check back saturday, december 7th, to

listen to the first show. and if you want to listen to this and your other favorite msnbc podcasts, subscribe to msnbc premium on apple podcast. stay with me. my final thoughts are next. are t ♪ 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 ♪

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well, as i said earlier, it's been a tumultuous year. and many people stop me on the streets or airports and say reverend al, thanksgiving, what can we be thankful for after this election and after things go a way that they may not have wanted or i may not have wanted. i said no, we can still be thankful, because we live lives better than our parents and better than their parents. when we can see a woman of color, a black woman, become the vice president of the united

states, when just a few decades ago blacks didn't have voter protection, and women couldn't vote earlier than that, when we see the progress that was made because people didn't accept what was going on, people stood up and fought back. we can use this holiday to thank god for those that fought for us and to continue that fight. that is why it's not a time acrimony across the thanksgiving table. it's a time to remind us how far we have come, and how far we still need to go, and we need to go with the same kind of commitment and dedication. that does it for me. that does it for me. thanks for watching. i'll see you back here next weekend at 5:00 p.m. eastern. but first, you can catch me on the panel on tomorrow's "morning joe." i'll be there starting at 6:00 a.m. eastern right here on

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♪ ♪ ♪ something has changed within me ♪ ♪ it's time to try defying gravity ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪♪ house of pain. republican house speaker johnson hasn't been able to get anything done