wine and sit there and think about steven. the pain phase and memories are sustained paand that's the part that you know i will keep with me forever. the only way i could deal with it is i knew he was eventually going to get on a boat and sail around the world. so i think of him out there, you know, he is out there somewhere. out there like the happy-go- lucky free spirit on the radio. >> that's a good one. >> the man they called stephen lee. >> have good weekend. bye. >> that's all for this edition of dateline. i am craig melvin. thank you for watching. i am craig melvin. thank you for watching. good morning and welcome to the sunday edition of morning joe weekend. there was a lot going on this week so let's catch up on some of the conversations you might have missed. after weeks of careful thought, i decided the right thing for the bureau is for me

to serve until the end of the current administration in january, and then step down. and in my view, this is the best way to avoid dragging the bureau deeper into the fray while reinforcing the values and principles that are so important in how we do our work. >> it comes at. >> it comes at. kash patel to tay wray's job. >> patel promised last december a year ago, that he would be part of the next trump administration and go out and arrest journalists and go after them civilly or go after them criminally. he also said he would shut down the fbi building on day one and turn it into a museum for the deep state. >> trump has signaled he would

likely fire wray upon taking office. allowing his roll role to be politically weaponized by the biden justice department. an official tells nbc news is for wray to stay on until january 20th when the new administration takes over. at that point, fbi deputy director paul ab bate will be acting director and stay in the position until a new director is confirmed. wray's resignation moons he will not serve out the ten-year term to which he was nominated by then president trump in 2017. >> all right. today we have ten-year terms or we don't. and we don't have ten-year terms. are you priced at wray backed down and didn't make it more difficult for donald trump? >> ken heard from a source that

wray thinks it's better for the fbi and there's a chance trump will attack the fbi less if he steps away. some might say that's naive but that show it's a pattern of trying to keep a low profile and not get in public fights with people and we will see the danger on the main thing i want to talk about is i talked to a half dozen current former fbi officials, and they are vastly more worried about kash patel as a director than pam bondi as attorney general. it's the most powerful law be forcement department in the country. the question is competence in terms of protecting the country and they see him as one of the most dangerous cabinet picks that trump has picked. >> well, yeah, we say this about pete hegseth the dod being the most important bureaucracy as far as america's national security. as mike said this the premier

law enforcement agency in the world. put somebody up there not prepared to did it even putting aside the fact he says he will shut down the fbi building and arrest journalists, that's, i mean it's hard to say oh, let's put that to the side he said he is going to shut down journalists. let's bring in nbc news and intelligence correspondent ken delaneian and congressional investigations reporter for the washington post, and so tell me, tell me, ken, why did he quit? why did he announce his resignation instead of staying in there.

>> at the end of the day they came down on the side it would be more traumatic and painful for the fbi and worse for the country if rain did what you suggested and forced donald trump to fire him because, look, folks for example, chars grassley issued a letter a few days ago accusing rey of all manor of crimes and sins and saying the fbi was a disaster and made charges the fbi sat on bribery allegations against joe and hunter bidean. it's one thing for charles grassley to say that and another for president trump to

do it a letter announcing -- as you said and dade explained there's a lot that think it's strategic mistake and keeping with chris wrayofile ov the years of trying to avoid these fights of trying to keep the bureau out of the partisan battles and but the result of that has been, the republicans relentlessly pummeled the fbi for seven years when wray is on the hill and other times, made baseless charges the fbi is politicized and the fbi has done little to push back against that. and as a result, you have only 40% of americans of recent proprossals and 23% of republicans. fbi believes they couldn't win the fight. there was no winning in getting up there and wray tried to push back occasionally and hearings when they said one point it was insane to assume that he was biased against republicans given he is a lifelong republican appointed by donald trump. but at the end of the day, he decided that staying in and

making donald trump fire him would be painful for the work force which many have not gotten over the traumatic firing of james comey in 2017. what it would have done it would have underscored to the country that this was yet another norm shattering moment that this is the second fbi director donald trump pushed out short of a ten-year term making a mockery of the idea that the fbi director should be independent and should serve independent of presidential cycles. >> so, director wray, as ken reminded us, was appointed by donald trump in 2017. when they fired jim comey he is a lifelong republican lauded by donald trump at the time. accusation donald trump makes and made again in response to the news is chris wray is responsible for the weaponization of the fbi and justice department was weaponnize chief among those they he can he is sized a lawful search warrant to get classified documents hoarded at the beach club after months and

months of attempts by the national air cavs to politely get them back. that's the argument for weaponization. now what's coming in is explicit weaponization if it is in fact kash patel. no wink and nod just saying i am coming in and i am loyal to go after his opponents on capitol hill. and across washington. so, this is a case where the guy who is coming in next potentially, if he gets confirmed, will actually use that department as a weapon. >> yes, ants ten-year term is a reflection of history to get away from j edgar hoover for nearly 50 years fed dirt to different presidents for republicans for democrats and weaponized the department. so in 1970s that end and we have had a good 40, 50 year stretch where it stopped kash patel will go back to the book gangsters. 60 people that are part of the deep state and they are republicans pat sip loany, trump' white house council as

part of a deep state plot with hillary clinton. and jim comey. so he is coming in and. >> i mean, it's so absurd. it's just so preposterous and you have christopher wray backing out to make it easier. >> this is the fear is that it's a conspiratorial world view throughout the book and exaggerate his achievements and experience and it's -- it serves the political messaging that trump likes to hear and part of it is performative, does he believe it or not is this how you get ahead in that inner circle. but he is now going to be possibly the head of the most powerful law enforcement agency in the country. and has access to tremendous amounts of secrets, that americans have again hoover abused that,. >> yeah. >> and so it's -- that's what surprised me in my conversations was much, much fear about what kash patel will do with the fbi than what pam

bondi will do at doj. >> i am curious what we heard here is reflected in the thoughts on capitol hill. you've got another of different nominees like pete who pete hegseth who he is unqualified, these are just facts, and he's behaved in ways that may disqualify him. and there are just questions in terms of his basic ability to do a job. then, there are nominees who or ideas for kash patel or tulsi gabbard has engaged or spoken in ways that are dangerous to american democracy. if i said that right, are republicans showing they are aware of this distinction and they are aware of the dangers at stake? >> yeah, mika there's two tracks of minds according to the number of people i spoke to after the news of wray's resignation. one of them being the

nominations and the fact that this news comes the tails of justice department inspector general announcing the trump administration previously used concerning tactsics to monitor congressional staffers, and two democratic law makeers a obtain communication. there is very clearly a precedent for trump abusing some of the vast powers of surveillance the justice department has and as kash patel has basically clearly stated that he plans on doing. we know that there were 43 congressional staffers whose communications were monitored into who was leaking to potentially to reporters during the justice department and fbi's investigation of russian interference in the 2016 election. and this is something that was top of mind for many of the staffers that i spoke with

yesterday who flagged this inspector general's report. in terms of the nominations, the things feed into one another kash patel as is tulsi gabbard on the radar and sailed through the process so far as a result of all the scrutiny on pete hegseth whose nomination for now has been relatively stable. we saw a number of noncommittal statements about the candidates meeting with republican senators throughout the week this week. for one-on-one meetings. but right now, other than the usual suspects, susan collins, lisa murkowski and mcconnell there are not a lot of opposition. there's milk toast concerns especially about tulsi gabored but not patel for the reasons that we are talking about. so, you know, i talked to trump administration -- a trump transition official last night that they are not concerned

with many of the nominees at the moment. and feel like their approach especially with hegseth of fighting detractors has been effective. >> well, it depends on who you talk to in trump world. the ones that, you know, are leaking reporters we got this, we are going to reduce their political bones to dust if they -- you knows, those people are saying we got this. you talk to senators and people close to them, they will tell you there's five, six, seven, eight that are hard noseed. >> we have got a lot more of morning joe weekend coming up right after the break. ming up right after the break. i saved i thought i'd get a wax figure of myself. cool right? look at this craftmanship. i mean they even got my nostrils right. it's just nice to know that years after i'm gone this guy will be standing the test of ti... he's melting! oh jeez... nooo... oh gaa...

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new reaction now as a result of the presidential election reverberate. >> president-elect trump return to the white house shaken nato allies. white house shaken nato allies. welcome back to morning joe weekend and let's pick up with the conversation we were having before the break. >> it depends on who you talk to in trump world.

the ones that, you know, are leaking to reporters we got this, we are going to reduce their political bones to dust if they stay, you know those people are saying we got this. you talk to actual senators and people close to them, they will tell you there's five, six, seven eight that are pretty hard noseed. there's interesting there's a focus on gaetz and now focus on hegseth. susan collins they didn't sit around and hold hands and sing yesterday. susan collins let everybody know where she stood. she is going to go through the process but she very pointedly says i want to look at fbi background check before making any decision. that's not a whim. maybe they can say it was a whim today and scream and yell and flex their muscles. but i will tell you there's another problem. and that is "the new york times" is talking about it right now. the land of sand and death. the disruptions in syria puts

tulsi gabbard in the center of the spotlight. hard for me to believe even in this cynical age that republicans who spent their entire life concerned about the intelligence community and building the intelligence community and giving a dam about the-tell generals community like fbi, are going to appoint -- are going to go ahead and vote for somebody like tulsi gabbard who they openly said we are very concerned about her statements that sounded supportive of assad and very concerned that even russian media considers her to be a close ally of putin and again, just repeating russian talking points. i find it hard -- i find that hard to believe that they are not going to be four republican senators to vote no with her, with hegseth and yes, with kash patel, a guy who said he is going to close the fbi on day one and that he is going to run

around arresting journalists or charging. >> for tulsi gabbard the spotlight on syria not helpful for her chances. over the weekend she was featured on the russia propaganda tv network in a support of way. as far as patel i was talking to someone in trump world yesterday who was gleeful about wray stepping down this is a time we intimidated washington and we are breaking the process, and this case they are right. we don't know that will be case for all of their nominees. but they have managed to avoid this fight with wray. though i do think that now wray is stepping aside there's more scrutiny on kash patel going forward. he avoided the spotlight to this point ken, but that's going to shift now with more focus on him. my question to you as someone who covers this day in and day out. we know joe within the through

it. we know what kash patel promised to do. will there be people in the fbi that will carry out his orders? will there be regular nation or loyalist who is say i will do that even if it is moralely or legally questionable? >> i don't think they will be very many people inside the fbi willing to carry out illegal orders when you put it that starkly, jonathan. and i should say that taking wray's place as acting director on january 20th is paul abbate who trump world doesn't love he is key to the decision to search mar-a-lago. it's in at win in terms of paul abbate in order to replace him as acting director before patel is confirmed, they would have to find another senate confirmed figure or someone within the fbi so putting that out there. but back to the question, look, look, dave is right. current and former fbi officials are very, very concerned about patel, and in

part because he lacks the qualifications in the history of people who ran the fbi to lead the nation's premier law enforcement agency. he doesn't know how it works. he doesn't know how the place functions. the fbi is a rule of law after i abusesch hoover safeguards and guardrails were put in place around the awesome surveillance powers of the fbi. and to get around them you have to do a lot of suspect things that are flagged along the way. i mean, the reason fbi lawyer went to jail for lying on a form in a carter situation is because there was a paper trail and layers and layers of oversight and review of surveillance applications. so, look, there are maga fbi agents and people inside the fbi many who support donald trump but there are not a lot of people, i would argue, willing to do things that are outside of the oath of office to fulfill some political agenda and if kash patel tries to order people to do that he

will find out very quickly. does that mean can't make mischief absolutely not. there's a lot that can happen behind the scenes but i am more optimistic the guardrails will hold in a institution like that. >> ken thank so much for your reporting. this is another thing to explain to politicians especially those going into the without house or people going knot white house, the intel community will get you coming and going. and you can talk to george w. bush during the iraq war, you know people that it was split half of the ci agents against it yeah the yellow cake stuff is and leaked to the "new york times." you know, barack obama targeting people like himself, personally, that gets leaked to the "new york times." like there's a split in the 2016 campaign, and this is what's so wild about the idea oh izmitized it's for this side or -- no, the new york office they were against hillary

clinton. they didn't like hillary clinton. we knew that during the 2016 campaign, the d.c. office didn't like donald trump. and donald trump got elected the first time because james comey after not-dieting hillary clinton decides he will hold a press conference and say yeah, yeah for the first time, by the way, yeah, yeah, she is not guilty. but oh, she is politically guilty which was outrageous norm. and then ten days before the election the fbi is politicized on both side. look at james comey and ask clintons today about what he did and how he elected donald trump. you look at what after wards and the steel dossier which we said was nonsense. they are doing the steel dossier and carter page oops, they screw up they are human, but there are people like republicans in the fb it and

who like democrats in the fbi and trump world, running around saying what they are saying is just absolutely ridiculous, willie, because they have short- term or long-term memory loss. they don't know what it is now. it was the fbi this gave donald trump a life raft in a paddle to shore and win the election ten days before. it was over. until james comey did what he did. up next, democratic congressman robert garcia will be our guest to talk about donald trump's comments about ending birth right citizenship and much more. that's straight ahead on morning joe weekend. straight n morning joe weekend. safari? hot air balloon ride? swim with elephants? wait, can we afford a safari? great question. like everything, it takes a little planning. or, put the money towards a down-payment... ...on a ranch ...in montana ...with horses let's take a look at those scenarios. j.p. morgan wealth management has advisors in chase branches and tools,

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donald trump immigration and border policy plans continue to come as a piece of

the campaign was his vow to carry out mass deportations while in office. during his interview on nbc meet the press, the president- elect said his administration would first focus on convicted criminals, but he did not rule out that american citizens would be caught up in the sweep. deported with family members here illegally. >> well, i don't want to be breaking up families. so the only way you don't break up family is keep them together and you have to send them all back. we don't have to separate families. we will send the whole family very humane lay back to the country where they came. that way the family is not separated. illegally but the family is here legally the family has a choice. the person that came in illegally can go out, or they can all go out together. >> trump's pick to lead ice is an agency veteran who will be able to start the deportation effort on day one. one official told nbc news that

caleb grew up in the enforcement and removal operations division. he even received praise from the chief of staff that ice during the first two years of the biden administration who called him "a thoughtful, good leader. the president-elect also said on sunday he would be willing to work with congress to protect dreamers, those who were brought to the country illegally as children despite -- during his first term. >> the dreamers are going to come later. and we have to do something about the dreamers. because those are people that have been brought here at at very young age and many of these are middle aged people now. they don't even speak the language of their country. and yes, we are going to do something about. >> what choose mean? what are you going to do. >> i will work with democrats on a plan, and if we come up with a plan. but democrats made it difficult to do anything. republicans are very open to

the dreamers. >> so, it's very interesting, jonathan, i wonder about your reporting, what we are hearing from people in the trump team is he wants to focus on the criminal violent criminals, basically, the ones that 80% of americans would agree need to go out. he talks about wanting to do deal with democrats, i am also hearing that behind the scenes, that the trump team thinks this is actually a deal they can make with democrats, but then, of course, as we heard last time, from last administration, he will talk about this deal and then when you get close to the deal, he pulls back because the base gets angry. what are you hearing about what they want to do? >> there's at least some appetite in the trump team for a deal. thinking there can be but there's an opening for something. now, we have to keep a couple things in mind. as discuss there had are other times he was close to a deal

and pulled back, sometimes simply because he was criticized on fox news by a host and suddenly changed his mind didn't want to see him as selling out the base. there are some voices in the trump team stephen miller chief among them who don't want to deal. they want to go forward with a full on mass deportation plan. now were they to do that, think that's when we would see protests from not just citizen in the street but potential business leaders that would say this will destroy the economy you can't do this. but this is a typical trump move where he welds the worst case scenario with overheated rhetoric and creating an opening for a deal but so many times in the past that deal didn't get struck. >> right. >> the issue now will be is there with, you know now he doesn't face voters again, will he be willing to make a deal? you know at the same time, we have said on the show for months, we have take him at his word and he is talking about mass deportation. democrats are trying to figure out what his appetite is. >> the interview said he would enterbirth right is the zenship

you are born here a sit when he gets into office. democratic kron gresman robert garcia a member of the house homeland security program. thanks for being with us. a lot to shift through as we talked about proposed immigration policy but let's start with birth right citizenship. president-elect trump says he will get rid of it the day he gets into office what's your reaction. >> the new ideas trump is coming out with, and his probablelymation is unconstitutional i am an immigrant and came part of the time he was not documented. and this idea we are not contributing to the country is really sad to see and quite frankly, most of his ideas are out of step with most americans want. he claims he will separate families. police officers have a job to do. we have a police shortage across the country. they don't want to spend their time separating families.

so, whether it's birth right citizenship or mass deportations, separating families, we have to be principled and oppose this not only is it not good for the economy, it's actually unamerican and quite frankly, democrats are going to strongly oppose every single step of the way. >> and birth right citizenship has been enshrined in the constitution in the 14th amendment for a long time anyway. so obviously, it would take a major actp. he can't wave a magic wand and get rid of that. that's good news for those who enjoy the citizenship. how arey approaching as you think about the trump administration more broadly, this sort of -- the things he may say at a rally during the campaign or interview, or to talk to his base and keep them on board versus what you actually believe he is going to do? where does that middle ground live for you? >> look, i think a couple things. obviously, one is that trump is going to try to do the absolute worst and he tried to do that

obviously in the first term. take him seriously when he says he wants to separate families. families that are here working contributing to the country. so we have to take him at his word. we also know he has a hard time putting together a competent government. both things can be true but we have to be prepared. we have to call out all the ideas particularly on immigration, are unconstitutional. he does not have the authority or the power to make it happen. what he does have unfortunately, is people that follow his every word so we have got to be very realistic here. that he is going to have a lot of americans agreeing with the issues. we have got to call the unconstitutionality and remind people this is talking about real kids and families. >> there's no question congressman a lot of people are living in fear because of promises. let me ask you. he obviously won on the basis in part this issue and there are polls suggest a lot of

americans democrats included, have concerns about immigration issues in the country. you know, beyond resisting what trump wants to do, what are efforts that democrats can put forth to actually put solutions to the problems? >> well, i will start with something that republicans and democrats agree on and that's border security. we had a bill that had bipartisan support in the senate. we could have got it done and understand and want to secure border. we don't want people to create causing crimes here that if they are undocumented or causing crimes, of course they shouldn't be here. we want to support border patrol agents and make sure there's guest worker programs. these are sensible bipartisan solutions that we can come to. beyond a border security plan, we should be very clear that yes, we need a comprehensive immigration reform package in the country. look, the president is talking about dreamers. we would welcome a plan on dreamers. do i believe he is going to follow through with it? absolutely not. we would welcome a plan on dreamers. those are the types of issues

we are ready and at the table on. but what we are not going to do is stand by and have him separate families and put kids in detention camps. coming up, new reporting in the work. the growing sense of confidence within the gop and trump's team about the confirmation chances for donald trump's most controversial cabinet picks. for donald trump's most controversial cabinet picks. type 2 diabetes? discover the ozempic® tri-zone. i got the power of 3. i lowered my a1c, cv risk, and lost some weight. in studies, the majority of people reached an a1c under 7 and maintained it. i'm under 7. ozempic® lowers the risk of major cardiovascular events such as stroke, heart attack, or death in adults also with known heart disease. i'm lowering my risk. and adults lost up to 14 pounds. i lost some weight. ozempic® isn't for type 1 diabetes or children.

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gnaw reporting in the work details growing sense of confidence within the gop and trump's team that not just some of the president-elect's most controversial picks will be confirmed, but all of them will be. senior aid tow republican senator told the bowl work trump has all these guys. it's all over but the shouting. joining us now the reporter on the story mark barnacle is back with us. tell us more about what you are hearing? >> well, depart from remarks is joani appears to oppose pete hegseth the maga base came out strongly in opposition and called for a primary not donald trump's transition team. and suddenly, she started to look around and realized like oh my, this might be a mistake

and started to let's say warm towards pete hegseth for defense secretary. at the same time tom cotton the arkansas senator, took a different approach and essentially told the conference look i expect everyone in our conference to support the republican president's nominees and confirm them. so, those two tell the story of what the senators in the body politic face which is get on the trump train or get tied to the tracks. and all indications right now from a lot of the senators are that they are on the trump train to tom cotton's . by the way, he released clinton's presidency there were two no votes from a president's members of his own party against his own nominees. making both the trump transition team and the republicans who support him is that you must vote along the

lines of what the president wants what donald trump wants, because that is history and that's when we do. >> so. >> wow. >> a broader question about all of this very few people can read the mar-a-lago tea leaves better than you can. doubled trump has instinctive and dark genius why he is president of the united states again. but do you think within the trump circle, and with trump himself, has anyone realized a couple things the past is past. and is it going to be revenge will it be all about? will it be about hurting people or helping people? what's his instinct in all of this do you think? >> i don't know. what i would do is to go to the recent past in the way in which he has campaign was run.

and his campaign he had professional people in charge who gave donald trump sort of the room to be donald trump and do what he wanted to do. i called it the maga serenity prayer which is they accepted the things they could not change and senority of what they couldn't change and the nature of donald trump and they did try to change all the other things to sort of let's say minimize the damage of some of his bad decisions. but, what they didn't do is leak, they didn't undermine him or counter man him and there was gentle persuasions and discussions we never heard. if that structure holds true and this is an if the white house will look like the campaign where you had the professionals in charge who did professional things to help win. and it will look less like the house of horrors that a lot of critics see. those are ifs, and in trump's favor and the favor of people who hope the white house won't

be dysfunctional, the person who masterminded that maga serenity prayer fueled campaign who was the campaign comanager susie wild is the chief of staff but we will have to wait and see. >> back to the picks for a minute. a senior aide to he republican senator saying trump has all the guys. it's all over with the shouting. unless unexpected happens he is getting his picks. my boss this seen year aide is very popular in the state but knows if it is choice between him and trump, he is going to lose. and he is going to lose badly. so, does someone like senator ernst hear the footsteps of a potential primary challenge someone who won a couple times and popular there, lisa murkowski, susan collins they are popular senators who won many times in the state. do they fear a primary enough to vote for people they know are holely unqualified for the jobs? >> good question. joani in the story i reported

according to a trump senior adviser involved from an intermediary told by her when this blow back started and apparently was organic, how do i make this stop? basically she was already in the sort of roberto duran no mas mode and collins occupies -- the trump transition team is not interested in bipartisanship. he won they feel. they feel it's mandate, yes, that can certainly be disputed but, there are 53 republican senators and so, the way they look at it is they just need to get 50 votes because jd vance will be the vice president and that gets to 51 and they win. what does that mean? they can only lose four. they are trying to get 50 plus one and if anyone stands in the way and can may them pay, they will but ultimately, this is a

team that's focused with eyes on the prize and the picks are confirmed. rfk starts next week his touring his meeting with senators on the hill. that's going to be quite a scene politico is reporting he will have trouble there. the people i spoke to in the senate think he is going to make it, but, you know, we have a lot of ball to play and a lot of time until january 20th when the new president takes office. up next , a now documentary is shedding light how the criminal justice system impact children. codirectors of the film daughters will join us straight ahead on morning joe weekend. ahead on morning joe weekend. we start by getting to know each other. so i can learn about your family, lifestyle, goals and needs, allowing us to tailor your portfolio. (wife) what about commission- based products? (fisher investments) we don't sell those. we're a fiduciary, obligated to act in your best interest. (husband) so how do your management fees work? (fisher investments) we have a transparent fee,

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my daughter was born when i was in prison. i had to see her through a glass and couldn't kiss her or hold her. >> my mother was incarcerated ten years and it's like my daughter is going to do the

same thing that i been through. >> it's not okay. it's affecting me. >> just getting older and won't be here to see the memories. >> one girl said my dad can't come to the dance. because he is in jail. and one girl suggested why doesn't we take the dance to the jail. >> you have a golden opportunity to see your daughters and spend time with them. >> i am going to be very honest with you. this is going to be emotional roller coaster for you. >> i like it. >> the award winning netflix documentary daughters. the emotional film follows four daughters of men incarcerated in a washington, d.c. jail who, through the date with dad program, are able to spend quality time with their daughters at a dance put on

inside the detention center. the document spans over several years. capturing the burdens each family must carry while they navigate the criminal justice system. and joining us now the codirectors of daughters angela patton and natalie rae. this looks so powerful, angela, i will start with you. >> yes. >> just how did you all come to this project? how did the idea happen? >> yes, he was able to do a ted women talk about the experience that i was able to have with girls in my program in richmond, virginia. girls for at that change where they are part of social change projects. thinking about ways they can tackle issues in their community. and this particular project was about the narrative of black fatherhood. and these girls decided that they needed to really celebrate their fathers by creating a dance of their own. and doing this event planning, they discovered that one of their friends had a father that

was incarcerated. and they really wanted him to attend. and when they found out justice system he could not come out they asked the sheriff in our community could they come inside. and had a special dance that would be rare, but would be necessary to connect girls to their fathers in spite of their incarceration. >> two things comes to mind hearing about the film. one, i think people do not understand when someone goes to jail, their family also does the time. >> yes. >> ants family may not have committed any crime. i am not making excuses for people that should go to jail. but the kids grow up during the same time they are out on the other side of the bars. talk about, though, how this kind of bringing the kids in that you and angela are doing in this documentary, also helps to reform some of the inmates because they start feeling the love and the bonding that maybe

they should have felt more of before they did whatever crime, if they were guilty, some weren't. but many were. that it helps to reform and redirect them. >> right. so, the core of the program and of this dance is really about bringing families together. and building a connection back that was -- that's gone. and we see throughout the film and through our experience with the girls, that the system is set up really to divide families, visitation is largely shut down. now families are charged money to do video conference calls. so, within a matter of months in a child's life, that can be devastating. and the impacts are so deep in terms of how their mental health, school, and it goes on and on what that does even in a short amount of time. so this is a place where touch, celebration, love, connection is really nurtured and incredible to see what just those five, six hours can do for a long time. and we are seeing the fathers,

95% of fathers that have gone through program have not returned to jail. >> don't go away, we have a second hour of morning joe weekend on this sunday morning. coming up right after the break. ning. coming up right after the break. i started noticing there was this wall up that i couldn't push through. and that was frustrating. that's when i decided to try prevagen. i'd seen the commercials and the people seemed really authentic and it seemed to really help them. after taking prevagen, i could say unequivocally, it has made a huge difference in my life. prevagen. at stores everywhere without a prescription. meet the traveling trio. the thrill seeker. the soul searcher. and - ahoy! it's the explorer! each helping to protect their money with chase. woah, a lost card isn't keeping this thrill seeker down. lost her card, not the vibe. the soul searcher, is finding his identity, and helping to protect it. hey! oh yeah, the explorer! she's looking to dive deeper... all while chase looks out for her. because these friends have chase. alerts that help check.

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welcome back to a second hour of morning joe weekend. let's get to some of the most important conversations we had this week. >> and his interview with time magazine, conducted late last

month for the times person of the year which he was named yesterday, donald trump did not give a clear answer on whether he would allow his pick for secretary of health and human services, robert f kennedy junior, to end childhood vaccine programs. he also appeared to draw a false link between vaccines and autism, one that has been debunked many times over the years telling time "we are going to have a big discussion. the autism rate is at a level that nobody believed possible. if you look at things that are happening, there is something causing it. >> when asked directly if he believes vaccines are linked to autism, trump answered in part, "i'm going to be listening to bobby" referring to rfk. he went on to say that he would be willing to get rid of some vaccines if he thinks that they are unsafe. when pressed again on whether he agreed with rfk jr.'s discredited belief that vaccines are linked to autism, trump answered in part, "i want to see the numbers. it is going to be the numbers."

he claimed his administration will conduct studies adding, "we will know for sure what is good and what is not good." let's bring in the former chairman of the republican national committee, cohost of "the weekend" on msnbc michael steele and msnbc correspondent vaughn hillyard. i want to start with you. you conducted a memorable interview with bobby kennedy junior a couple weeks ago where you asked many of the same questions about his plans for vaccines and his plans for fluoride in the water. just to remind viewers where he stands on that stuff, and that it won't be a waving of a wand if he does become secretary of hhs to just get rid of these vaccines. >> yes. there will be a lot of layers of bureaucracy for him to wave to pull that off. one interesting thing about bobby kennedy is the fact that donald trump is usually not deferential to others. usually is pretty convinced about knowing the answers

himself. over the course of the last month, we have consistently scene, from donald trump, and saying he will leave it into the hands of bobby kennedy, to essentially tell him what to do, in which direction to go. and since bobby kennedy was nominated to be hhs secretary, we have to pay attention to dave weldon nominated by trump to take over the cdc. kennedy and weldon go back to the two thousands when they would reference each other's words pointing out that the idea that there are preservatives in vaccines that were the cause and link to autism and the scientific research has consistently shown the inability to find such a link. at the same time, kennedy is being put atop and within proximity of the next president of the united states your yesterday on the floor of the stock exchange. as he rang and the bell. he was there with him, bobby kennedy. so there is an access to donald trump and an openness that i think is particularly unusual from the incoming presidentand

an openness to someone else's opinion and ultimate word on a policy that should be enacted and that is a lot of power that bobby kennedy could be potentially yielding in the days ahead. >> some of the stuff being said now overseas and on the campaign trail and is perfectly normal that people have to modify their language. when republican senators who seemed to be under a huge amount of pressure to confirm these nominees, actually start going into the process, i have heard that bobby kennedy may be fine because he has democratic support. want to leave these more controversial candidates being put forward, do you think when we get into the nomination process, we are going to see republican senators pushed back a little harder against donald trump then we are seeing them push back now? >> no. no. we won't.

>> you think you will get everybody through? >> there may be one sacrificial lamb out of the trifecta. >> who do you think it will be ? >> i don't know. probably tulsi gabbard. it is something that strikes a little bit closer to republicans in the national security, national defense side. the dod and hegseth, you have heard some warming as he talked about in the last hour, to him. certainly bobby kennedy. that is more about, for trump, his time now to the kennedy legacy more than anything else. so that probably won't get touched even though i would let him within a 10-foot poll of the child with an illness. but here we are. the reality for republicans does kind of boil down to, how much moxie are we going to show

that we are willing to assert against a president that is putting up wholly incompetent individuals to serve in the capacities for which they are being asked to serve. the advice and consent portion of this is, instead of advising the president, could you send is somebody better so we can consent to that? there will be the typical hemming and hawing but ultimately bending the knee to his choice. they will pick one and everybody will pat themselves on the back and pretend that they did the right thing and meanwhile, you will have hegseth probably over at defense and someone like kennedy running the nation's health system and everybody will turn to blind eye and wait until the chandelier crashes to the floor or a table gets knocked over and people start complaining about, what the

hell are these folks doing? so that is the reality. i think everybody wants to play the typical washington game in the lead up to the inauguration that you know, we are going to look closely at the president's choice. no, you are not. and you know you are not. and these are some holy defecated -- incompetent people. we see that in front of us. and yet we pretend it is going to turn out to be something completely different. and yet, we know it is not true either. >> so many of these candidates have deeply questionable qualifications. we should know the lead story in the new york times right now is about how robert kennedy jr., his aide, has asked the fda to revoke the approval of the polio vaccine. so that is something that we could perhaps be looking forward to if rfk jr. is to be confirmed.

so vaughn, kennedy has stayed out of the radar a little bit. you have been covering all of this, all these efforts to get the cabinet members confirmed. the trump team out of mar-a- lago has really changed tactics in the last 10 days or so and have really gone more on offense. being aggressive and badgering and mobilizing their minions to go after the republican senators who they think are deemed insufficiently loyal. give us the report on how that is taking place and whether or not you think it is effective. we heard from both. some republican senators saying, yes. we are acknowledging the pressure. others behind the scenes feel like, this might backfire. >> i think it is a difference of power and donald trump from 2020 side -- 2025 compared to 2017, and 2018. a lot of it is complacent power. donald trump does not have to be the one on fox going on and saying it. he has built a grassroots

coalition over the years that has audibly made these threats. there are individuals looking at these primary challenges. bill cassidy has a challenger in 2026. he voted to convict donald trump after the january 6th attack. and it is one of those, you can expect the challenger to get the endorsement of donald trump because donald trump has a history going back to 2022 on his revenge tour. and effectively ousting most of the republican house members that voted to impeach him from office. for donald trump, he has part of the republican party that knows that they come to the defense against those that are not loyal to him. and in the case of joni ernst, i was talking with someone familiar with the trump transition view of her role in all of this this. we don't have the reporting that donald trump is directly sending a message to her saying, we are going to primary you but joni ernst is well aware that she is no longer going to be the natural replacement to pete hegseth if his nomination were to fail. effectively, if you stand in

the way of these efforts, don't expect you will have a willing partner at the white house when it comes time to press legislation or parts of the budget that you want to see in your term in office. >> michael, just to go back to some of these nominees, you mentioned you think tulsi gabbard is the most likely to get shot down. she does so have a cult following of sorts and that is kind of what trump has pulled into by picking rfk jr. who also has his own following. to republican senators take that calculus into their decision when they decide whether or not to vote for her? >> i think some do. this cuts at the heart stirring of what this form of the republican party and its leadership look at that they still hold on to. this whole sense of our nation's national security, despite the fact that they sort of warm up to vladimir putin and they want to hand ukraine

to him, to putin. that part is out of the equation. and they look at these other aspects of the national security conversation in which her name comes up in a very difficult way. there are reports on her contacts and her behavior and the things that she says that make a lot of these folks nervous and uncomfortable. and so there is one thing to be sort of forward facing and panting putin on the back of the head and saying, he is kind of a nice guy and we have a different view of him now than, let's say reagan would have had. and something else to say on the inside game, that our nation's secrets could be, and some level of jeopardy with this person sitting there. we don't know the full extent and the depth to which he has these relationships or what information she has shared in the past, et cetera.

if they pick at that particular scab in the confirmation process, it will be interesting to hear how she addresses that. there has already been a little bit of her back stepping some of those, leanings toward assad or some of the things that she said about russia, et cetera. that is somewhat to be expected. how much the senators buy that to get past their inherent sort of knee-jerk objection, that will be the test of the confirmation process for them. >> we have a lot more of morning joe weekend coming up right after the break. the bre an add-on treatment for eosinophilic asthma taken once every 8 weeks. fasenra is not for sudden breathing problems. serious allergic reactions may occur. get help for swelling of your face, mouth, tongue, or trouble breathing. don't stop your asthma treatments without talking with your doctor.

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one of donald trump's often repeated campaign promises this year was to bring down the price of groceries very quickly . >> people can't afford groceries and they will be

affording groceries very soon. groceries. it is a very simple word. i started using the word groceries. >> a vote for trump means your groceries will be cheaper. >> we will bring the grocery bill down. i have more complaints on groceries. it is a simple word but it means everything you eat. the stomach is speaking. it always does. i have more complaints about that. bacon and things going up double, triple, quadruple. >> i don't like the tags. up, eggs. school lunches up 65%. how can a family of for that? i have not seen cheerios and a long time. bacon is through the roof. they are all through the roof.

the milk. everything. we are going to straighten it out. we are going to bring prices down and get it done fast. >> marveling his own discovery of the word groceries. but in his time magazine person of the year interview conducted late last month announced yesterday, he acknowledged lowering the price of groceries will not be that easy saying, "it is hard to bring things down when they are up. you know, it is very hard but i think that they will." >> there is so much to plow through and dig through and this time person of the year interview. all these admissions of, i set a lot on the campaign trail but it will be a little tougher when i'm in the white house. you talked about inflation and ukraine. i'm not sure if i can solve that on day one as i promised. we will dig into that as we go. but no president could come in day one and bring down the price of eggs, bacon and other groceries. it is as simple word that people are using now.

groceries. >> groceries, all the rage. it is such a toll and trump is reading something for the first time and reacts to it in realtime like he was with the price tags and when he saw the cheerios on the table and realized it might be his lunch at bedminster that day. and you, among all of us at the table, have been for months, singularly focused on the price of groceries. you got there before trump did. and particularly at the market basket franchise. >> he goes early morning on his days off. >> near and dear to our hearts . >> sunday morning at 6:30 a.m., i met market basket in waltham and doing the market shopping. it was amazing to me that the democrats did not focus more on the actual cost of groceries. they kept talking about the national economy in terms of the global economy and the strongest in the world. has. but the lived economy, the way people actually live and pay for things, nowhere does it occur

more in reality each and every day than in grocery stores and gas stations. and i'm wondering, what do you think, police? what do you think the over under is? and the last time donald trump was in the grocery store. 40 years, 50 years? >> does 7-eleven count may be on a campaign stop? maybe on a campaign trail, he wandered in. i doubt that even as a teenager he ever went to the grocery store. i would add fast food to your list of concerns too which kind of merges with groceries. it is in saying how expensive fast food has gotten. so much of the country relies on it. just the other day, getting a diet lemonade at chick-fil-a. >> mcdonald's has some light happy meals. >> he did do an event and a campaign stop in september and did appear mcdonald's that him and his team that was effective. this will be another moment where trump acknowledged, it

will be hard to bring prices down. do we think he faces or will face any backlash from supporters? will we see that reflected in his poll numbers? we know president biden, despite a robust legislative agenda, would drive down the high prices, the inflation, the fact that it cost so much more to go to the store, to mcdonald's or whatever it might be. in the past, his supporters have always stayed with trump and he made this a signature promise. one wonders if in six months from now, things are still high, what that does to his approval. >> it is a good question. it is the issue that cuts across every thing. all of these demographic groups. that democrats were trying to target and republicans were trying to win over. we talked about immigration and democracy and all those things that are so important. but at the end of the day, as mike has always said, it is the cost of groceries that is decisive. and there is nothing donald

trump can do. obviously, the prices have come down since the peak days a couple years ago when prices were so astronomically high. but not low enough. joe biden would be the first to tell you that he suffered because of that. kamala harris suffered because of the. they thought they did what they could do to strengthen the economy and bring the prices down. whatever those ground concerns were about other lofty issues during the campaign, at the end of the day, life was just too expensive and remains so for a lot of americans. >> all other governments and leaders around the world that got swept out of office in a year in which there were so many elections and people post covid suffering from supply chain shocks and inflation shocks, got thrown out of office. i think the democrats did suffer from the fact, on top of that, that they were out there trying to tell people that the economy was getting better. and by many metrics, the economy has been getting better , at a time when people didn't feel it was getting better. and that disconnect didn't help

them. saying to people, actually you shouldn't be feeling bad about the price of eggs because if you look at it, the inflation is slowing or employment is picking up again. you can't tell voters what they should be feeling. voters feel what they feel. that means that in four years time, if the economy is still not doing well and if we have a tariff war and which not only the price of imports goes up but the price of american exports go up, making it harder for americans to sell things abroad because of retributive tariffs. or tariffs opposed by retribution. do start then getting some added dissatisfaction? it is this cumulative feeling of unease, unhappiness, anger. if people are still feeling that in four years, sure. they will blame the party and government. whether it is donald trump or not donald trump. >> generally, i would have been to save you but i don't know

how to say that word either. may be punitive tariffs. next, we are joined by democratic congressman gave vasquez in new mexico who just won in a majority hispanic district that went to donald trump and last month's election. vin!!! and kevin - uh, i mean, macaulay - take a very special trip to the mall where anything... come and get your little kev! is... cashbackable!!! -really? -yeah. anything is cashbackable!!! chill. sorry! 'tis the season to cashback with chase freedom unlimited. how do you cashback? chase, make more of what's yours.

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let's bring an democratic congressman gabe vasquez of new mexico. he represents a majority hispanic district that trump carried this election. what are your concerns with the incoming administration as it pertains to mass deportations? >> thank you for having me on. as you mentioned, my district is a majority hispanic district. i represent 180 miles of the us- mexico border. i represent a landmass bigger than the state of pennsylvania. i think this fear-based

authoritarian approach to mass deportation is the wrong move for many different reasons. when you look at it district like mine that is one of the largest producers of our nation's onions, chili crops, pecans. and you also look at small businesses starting at the fastest rate, it is within the hispanic population. many of the families and my district are mixed status families. i think what folks really want is a humane, predictable approach to immigration reform that helps boost our economy and helps support international trade with our country's largest trading partner which is mexico and to normalize relations in a diplomatic way that also allow for immigration reform that has eluded congress for many years. that is one of the reasons that i ran for congress. i came from an immigrant family. my family contributed to this country greatly. i had the opportunity to come serve my community and congress. i think we need to change the conversation about the value

that migrants produce in this country and realize that districts like mine help put food on the table and lower the cost of goods and in particular, with trade with mexico, help us supply chain that lowers the cost for all americans. >> congressman, good morning. great to have you with us. you are a fascinating case because of what was laid out. in your district, you won where donald trump won and by a much bigger margin then you had the two years prior. i think you are someone democrats on the national level should be talking to. perhaps taking latino voters for granted or making assumptions about their views on immigration that proved not to be true. what should national democrats take away from your election and know about your district? >> look, i'm somebody that is more comfortable on horseback or on an atv then i am in a chevy suburban suburban. i have experienced border life pretty much my entire life. when i came to congress, i came

with a lived experience of what it means for folks both to be farmworkers and to be the farmers come to be the hospitality workers would also be the restaurant owners. i know how hard folks work in the community. when we talk about candidates that will represent their district, first and foremost, you have to show up. in my district, showing up often means driving nine hours. that is what it takes. if you put in the work and if democrats are willing to select candidates that reflect their districts, especially in places where they have significant latino populations, we will have much better success than looking at who has the credentials or the harvard credentials, to be able to self fund a campaign. you need to look more at the homegrown candidates that are able to build the trust and win the support of their communities just like i did here. >> congressman, picking up on that, a lot of the national,

democratic advisors and people that framed these campaigns do not understand that no community , and your district, the latino community, or in the black community, are monoliths. and they miss a lot that we may be more conservative on some issues and so-called progressive on others. talk about that. you have a lot of people that are talking for people that they never talk to and you obviously outlined that. that is one of the reasons you have been victorious. >> thank you for that question. i represent latino veterans that served in vietnam. i represent oilfield workers in the most productive area of the permian basin in the southeast. i represent cattle growers that have been here for 34 generations and are all latino. they all face different experiences and have different needs. they all need a representative that will support them.

often times, that means reaching across the aisle and understanding that rural lifestyles and communities in places like new mexico matter just as much to latinos as the inner cities. thinking about how we approach these communities that are not a monolith, i think it starts with choosing, first, a good candidate but also understanding that we have four, five or six generation latino families who are just like any americans. the truth is that if we are not native american, we all have an immigration story in our history. we all somehow came to this country and we have to realize that for latinos, especially in my district, the issues that apply to them, are the issues that apply to the general elector. pocketbook issues. lowering the price of gas. making sure people have good paying jobs and their kids can go to technical school or college. those are things that i think as americans we all want. we don't segregate latinos into a separate category. we just took care of the issues that we knew folks were thinking about. and at the

same time, making sure that we produce an economy that was built on international trade. in my district, and helping to support a new generation of workers coming to this country and contributing to our economy . >> democratic congressman gabe vasquez of new mexico, thank you very much for being on this morning. coming up, we have more on a new piece on artificial intelligence and its potential impact on the incoming trump administration and the future of geopolitics. (balloon doug) and then i wake up. is limu with you in all your dreams? oh, yeah. only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty, liberty, liberty, liberty. ♪ it's time to feed the dogs real food in the right amount. a healthy weight can help dogs live a longer and happier life. the farmer's dog makes weight management easy with fresh food pre-portioned for your dog's needs. it's an idea whose time has come.

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the latest behind the curse of curtain column from jim vandehei, the potential impact on the incoming trump administration and the future of geopolitics. let's bring in the cofounder of that peace, cofounder and ceo of jim vandehei, axios. and msnbc contributor mike barnicle joining us. thank you for showing up. >> axios, this a ikey thing scares me. this ai thing scares me. and it seems like we don't have an administration that is going to be actually bringing the

reigns in on the development of it. what are your concerns and what are you reporting this morning? >> i think it goes beyond ai. but ai sits at the center of it. most viewers probably feel disoriented, like there is a lot of change. there actually is because you simultaneously have massive change happening and how we get information and how we govern ourselves, businesses and geopolitical relationships. very rarely in history to those four plates shift simultaneously. and i think if you put your finger on it, ai sits at the center of a lot of this. given that almost every business, it is thinking about how to apply this. your biggest technology companies, some of which are the size of nationstates, are investing collectively hundreds of billions of dollars to will it into existence. and then you look at trump and the relationship with elon musk. they want this government and they want ai, to be an accelerant of

these technologies which will hit not just new like chatgpt but it will affect how you create data. that is why you see the data centers opening and a lot of cities and energy. they require an eat an astronomical of energy. you need to produce more of it domestically which i think will reorient the entire domestic energy system that we have today. and so that is huge. and i think the people at the table often stand to benefit from it. like elon musk has his own ai company that he is raising money for and helping fund. when you have the ear of the president and you have these really smart people that understand that technology. i think that they are gleefully and confidently feeling like, let's use this moment to make government an accelerant of all of this. and that is just a big shift from the biden administration.

>> gym, your piece is called the great of people, this ai question. it is one part of what is happening really fast right now. and as you say, people like elon musk and others using government to accelerate the pace of innovation and development. elon musk says, he saw a winner in donald trump and he wanted to get on board early. reports he doubled his wealth since election day and may go even further. how influential do you think he will be, not just on questions of ai work more broadly in this administration? >> astronomically influential. i don't think you could put words to it. i don't think you could think of a civilian and history that had more impact over an incoming administration and the transition of a presidency. what he tells trump privately as he believes that there could be more business change, more cultural change and more governance change than at any point since the founding of the country. and obviously, he is prone to

grandiosity. but he has been right on a lot of these technologies and in a lot of the areas where the country is going. and i do think, for people who fear it, and you say it worries you, joe, i do think taking a wrecking ball to how we have been doing business in washington, there is a real eloquence and logic to it and that you are going to have to change very fast to keep up with these technologies. most government agencies are so antiquated and so eroded that they are not necessarily set up for the next era. so if you get it right and you apply technology right, then you position us to hopefully prevail against china. and that is the reason they won't put the brakes on ai. every moment they think about putting the brakes on ai, they will have somebody whispering in your ear, do you want to give the chinese the advantage on a technology where we have a decisive head start? it is the reason biden didn't want to regulate it. when you hear that and see it and worry about it, you don't want to be the person to put the genie back in the bottle

whenever we were the ones that created the genie. >> new documentary looks at the corruption case against israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu, examining never before seen police interrogation videos. the creators of the film join us next on morning joe weekend. so you can be all in with clearer skin. ♪things are getting clearer♪ ♪yeah, i feel free to bare my skin♪ ♪yeah, that's all me.♪ ♪nothing is everything♪ with skyrizi, you can show up with 90% clearer skin. and if you have psoriatic arthritis, skyrizi can help you move with less joint pain, stiffness, swelling, and fatigue. skyrizi is just 4 doses a year after 2 starter doses. don't use if allergic. serious allergic reactions, increased infections, or lower ability to fight them may occur. before treatment, get checked for infections and tb. tell your doctor about any flu-like symptoms or vaccines. thanks to skyrizi, there's nothing like clearer skin and better movement, and that means everything.

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new reaction as a result of the presidential election reverberate president-elect trump's return to the white house. >> the federal reserve is why they expect it to lower interest rates. >> firefighters on both coasts battling dangerous blazes. >> when people serve for too long, it gets into their head. >> benjamin netanyahu is the architect of chaos. >> he survived the state of instability.

>> he tried to kill the system. nobody is above the law. >> that is a look at the new documentary entitled "the bb files. the film delves into the corruption charges brought in 2019 against israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu featuring exclusively obtained never before seen interrogation footage of benjamin netanyahu, his family and his closest associates. the documentary also analyzes how benjamin netanyahu's ongoing criminal pace may be impacting his decision-making in israel's military campaigns like its war against hamas in gaza. joining us as the film's academy award-winning lead producer and emmy nominated director and producer, alexis bloom. thank you both very much for joining us. this looks incredible. alex, first of all, tell us

about the interrogation videos and what they reveal that perhaps people didn't know before. >> the interrogation videos are police interrogation videos that lead to the indictment of benjamin netanyahu for corruption charges. they were conducted between 2016, and i believe 2018. what they reveal is the face behind the cultivated fagade that benjamin netanyahu in particular seems so good at projecting and what it shows is somebody who is more fearful and more scared and more desperate than he projects in the media. and also, it shows his wife and his son and shows in them and in their confrontations with police, a kind of fundamental content or contempt for the rule of law. >> i don't think it was meant to see the light of day. remind viewers who perhaps lost track, what is at stake.

>> i would say everything is at stake. benjamin netanyahu's predecessor went to jail on corruption charges that were much less then benjamin netanyahu's. so this trial is an incredibly important event for benjamin netanyahu. and he has been trying to avoid testifying.'s lawyers have been pushing it back and pushing it back and pushing it back, citing the war saying that a prime minister cannot testify in his own defense during a time of war. >> let's take a look at a clip that features some never before seen coverage on now. for the first time on morning joe, of a defensive benjamin netanyahu speaking with law enforcement officials. take a look. >> with benjamin netanyahu, nothing concentrates his mind more than the sound of the prison gate slammed behind his back.

>> so everything that he has done over the last five years was so focused on that sound of the gate potentially slamming behind his back. . >> alex, if you can put some context behind the one piece of the interrogation that we saw and tell us more about what is asked of him and what he revealed revealed. >> they are interrogation videos. they are essentially informing what

would ultimately be the indictment. i think what is important about the film and a number of the people that alexis interviewed when she went to israel, is that it is his attempt to avoid a legal reckoning that has caused damage in the middle east and many people in the security establishment argue, is prolonging unnecessarily, the devastating war in gaza. >> a new series features a renowned conservationist and guest celebrities performing acts of compassion from beaches in florida to supporting animal sanctuaries. we will hear all about it when morning joe weekend returns. have fun on land. i'll go tell the coast guard. yep. yeah, checking first is smart.

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a lot of folks could argue spending money on squirrels, why is that important? but it is important. >> every living creature deserves a chance to live and every living creature wants to live. >> she is ready to go. and that, my friends, is what it is all about. >> that was a look at the new program titled "extraordinary world" with jeff corwin debuting next month. the

series is produced in partnership with the brady hunter foundation. it will shine a spotlight on everyday heroes, making a difference their animal advocacy, land and resource conservation, youth empowerment and much more. joining us now, the host of the program, wildlife conservationist, jeff corwin. and the costar, john fox, the founder and executive director of the brady hunter foundation which focuses on both humanitarian and animal welfare efforts. thank you both for being here this morning. jeff, let's start with the message here. the origin, if you will, of your life's work. >> yes. i kind of joke. i started in this career as a brunette. and i find myself as the silverback still telling this powerful story of where we are on the planet when it comes to the protection of natural resources and endangered species and how that has an interconnection with the human experience.

and that is really the spirit of the series. it is a partnership with the brady hunter foundation which is a passion project for josh. essentially, every episode, we go on this incredible journey were in this world of challenges today and so many unknowns, we highlight those everyday people that are making our world a special and more stable place. from animals to people, that is the spirit of what this is. >> how do you choose which animals or people to highlight? >> we have met so many incredible organizations around the world. we usually ask the same question every time which is, how do we make an immediate impact? there are so many amazing organizations. there are 14 different countries and we have done 80 projects in the couple years we have been in existence. it is about people and animals working together. >> tell us more about these projects. where you go? >> i'm in florida. for example, we did a partnership with feeding south

florida, an incredible organization that feeds the needy. we have a huge truck that travels around south florida feeding people. we have had lines of cars, up to 500 cars, where we distribute food to them on a monthly basis. >> the clip we played there, and there are a lot of animals when we think of needing people's help and existence and fighting for their ability to live and need our protection, but you don't always think about squirrels which is highlighted there. talk about what some people might figure to be the more unorthodox or even monday and animals that you believe also have the right to live. >> essentially, everybody has a place at the table, this big conversation. squirrels, we see them every day. we consider them a new since. and many ecosystems, they are critical to the survival of that place. look at the forests. the nuts get distributed for germination but even other creatures, we just did this amazing story where we were rescuing sea turtles off of new

england, flying them to the hamptons to a sea turtle hospital where they get to survive. and we show how a whole community comes together to save the resource. that is really the mission of the series, to show how the human opportunity for a better life often connects to how we take care of the environment. and every creature, whether you are a keystone endangered species or a humbled squirrel, you have a place in the conversation. >> that is it for us this weekend. thank you so much for joining us. we are back here tomorrow morning for a brand-new week of morning joe. until then, we hope you have a great sunday! good morning. it is sunday, december 15th. i am here with michael steele.