♪♪ welcome back to the weekend, everybody. so donald trump isn't even in office yet, but his promises retribution against the news media are already becoming reality. trump is now suing iowa pollster ann celsiuser over the counter her poll showing vice president harris beating him in the hawkeye state. trump's lawyers have been warning for what they said or written before and after the election. so have two of trump's cabinet picks so have also, excuse me, two of trump's cabinet picks, pete hegseth and kash patel. as "the new york times" notes,

the small flurry of threatened defamation lawsuits is the latest sign that the incoming trump administration appears poised to do what it can to crack down on unfavorable media coverage now and after the election. so before and after the election mr. trump and his allies have discussed subpoenaing news organizations, prosecuting journalists and their sources, revoking networks' broadcast licenses and eliminating funding for public radio and twipgs. joining us now are conservative lawyer george conway and host of the fast politics podcast and a special correspondent for "vanity fair" our friend and fan favorite molly jong-fast. >> good morning to both of you. george, i am sure you were shocked, absolutely shocked by all of this. it is sort of amazing, right, that the length of the list of folks he is going after, pollsters, police, january 6th committee members, legacy media.

did the constitution imagine this, right? what guardrails are there constitutionally speaking to prevent a tyrant like this from a retribution tour? >> it's not just the constitution. it's the laws. you have to have laws that are violated to bring these actions whether they be brought in his personal capacity or by the government. this is all nonsense. especially the -- suing the pollster? there is no claim for suing a pollster, putting out a poll that doesn't predict the right result. and think about this. he is saying they lied about a poll. there is no person on this planet who has lied more about polls than donald trump. i mean, he is always saying he is ahead. he is never behind in the polls.

in 2019, tony's poll showing that he was in trouble were leaked to "the new york times" and other newspapers and trump denied that they even existed. he lied about that. he lied about actual election results and thereby caused an insurrection. so the absurdity of all of these things he is trying to do is -- it's all gas plighting and it's all intimidation and bullying. that's what narcissists do. and some people are being bullied. and he is trying to make everybody afraid of him. but what's going to happen is he is going to overreach in some of these lawsuit, like this des moines register lawsuit, the lawyers may be sanctioned. these lawsuits are going to go nowhere. and he is going to have egg on his face and look like the fool that he is. >> on monday, about a week ago, almost a week ago, donald trump actually spoke about the

lawsuits at mar-a-lago against the press. take a listen. >> i feel i have to do this. i shouldn't really be the one to do it. it should have been the justice department or somebody else. but i have to do it. it cost a lot of money to do it, but we have to straighten out the press. our press is very corrupt. almost as corrupt as our elections. >> i heard this and i think about the fact that we -- people often talk about there is guardrails and i'm, like, the guardrails are few and far between and few are ready to stand up and do due diligence. you have to actively protect democracy. it doesn't happen on its own. during the civil rights movement through 1964 news organizations were regularly sued for libel by governments, by local -- like, people were suing for libel. it was a supreme court case, "new york times" v sullivan that

protected the press saying protecting them from loose and reinforcing the freedom of the press to report vigorously. that supreme court precedent still stands today, yet civil lawsuits left and right are being brought. >> yeah. but most of these lawsuits never go anywhere. most don't go anywhere. they make a big splash and then they are ultimately dismissed or settled with an apology or something or they are just withdrawn. >> isn't that part of the chilling effect? >> yeah, no -- >> but if someone is -- someone pays money, like abc has a $15 million judgment -- >> that's ridiculous. >> they are paying it. george stephanopoulos $1 million of his own money. someone threatening a lawsuit. people think twice about if they want to be slightly critical of the folks in charge even if it's warranted. >> right. no. and i mean that is a problem, because, i mean this is how the intimidation works. they are trying to impose costs on people and, you know, this is one of the ways they trike to

make people obey in advance to use professor schneider's words. it can work because, like, it's worth it to any single individual to just say something if they are going to incur this cost and that's why you are absolutely right. people have to band together. we have to work and help defend -- first of all, media organizations can't cave the way abc did, which was outrageous. there has to be a lot -- lawyers need to step up now. lawyers need to volunteer their time, their services and learn new tricks and trades. i think that one of the things that i have been suggesting to people is that we have a continuing legal education program for litigators to learn new areas of law like defamation law, like privacy law, like whistleblower protection law. and it's really incumbent on people to stand up and do something because if you don't do that, then they win by

intimidation even if they don't actually win these lawsuits. >> molly, george said the thing to me that at the core of this is the heart of it when he said -- when he used the word, you know, the single, you know, acting in a singular fashion in response to all of this. no single entity, no single individual wants to go through this. and this goes to the heart of an nbc news op-ed by david bleier noting this argument is silly and scary. from my perspective as a pollster, not a lawyer, a flawed methodology not criminal intent likely led seltzer to the voters in iowa. the fact that trump brought the lawsuit is troubling. pollsters will stop publishing surprising results and the whole political system will suffer. this sort of -- this air, this

sense of, oh my gosh, there is nothing we can do, you know, this will have a chilling effect, to me misses the mark. where i think whether it's abc or anybody else who gets in those crosshairs, and we talked about this in the last segment about the house leadership, republicans in the house, the republicans in the senate, you know, when there is 170 members you now have to primary, you are not primarying anybody, all right? you are not going down that road because all of a sudden now the numbers change for you. to george's point about lawyers learning the updated craft that's required in order to defend against some of this, the same's got to be true, i think, for the media. i'm surprised that the media is not locking arms. i didn't see other networks and other outlets defend, come to

the defense of abc, standing, knowing that they could be next and likely are next. what's your thoughts there in terms of much more of a, hey, we're all in the crosshairs here as opposed to this sort of competitive kind of, oh, we got to get, you know, one more viewer than you, which then loses sight of the fact that you now possibly exposed yourself to the same thing that we see other outlets and networks and individuals exposed to? there is strength in numbers here, i think. >> so, i would say two things. one, george has -- i hate to agree with george, but he has a very good point here about lawyers needing to set up guardrails, right, to set up, you know, to protect these journalists because a lot of journalists, you know, need to know that there is someone -- i mean, they don't make millions of dollars, most journalists. especially people doing this reporting that's so important,

you know, the kind of stuff that really does shed those -- you know, sort of show light on things that's very important that we otherwise might not know about. so for sure lawyers donating their time is a big deal because it creates a kind of permission and a kind of ability of people to be brave. what george is talking about, which i think is so important, is this idea that be need to be brave, right? we need to be brave. liz cheney good statement, i don't agree with her politically about anything, but really good statement about how she doesn't want a pardon, she is going to stand up for this. george has been really brave about just saying, you know, i am gonna stand up for what's right and this is ridiculous. look, the mainstream media is not in the place it was in 2016. 2016 there were many more outlets, there was much more money, there was, you know, a sort of belief in the mainstream media from the right and the left. that is no longer true. there are many fewer outlets. there is much less money.

there is much less, you know, good will towards the mainstream media than there was eight years ago. this is just a sort of husk of a business, you know, anymore. and so, like, in my mind the goal has to be, because this is really, you know, protect norms and institutions, and that means the kind of journalism, the kind of reporting, that propublica does, very expensive, important, and hard to replicate anywhere else. >> george and molly, stick afternoon. after the break we will continue this retribution conversation. congressional republicans target liz chap any as molly just mentioned. you are watching the weekend. mot mentioned. you are watching the weekend woah, limu! we're in a parade. everyone customize and save hundreds on car insurance with liberty mutual. customize and sa— (balloon doug pops & deflates) and then i wake up. and you have this dream every night?

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it is not just donald trump seeking retribution. it's his lackeys in congress, too. their first target, former congresswoman liz cheney.

last woke they released a report claiming she, quote, tampered with a witness working on the january 6th committee. the report called for cheney to be criminally investigated. chaen any refuted the republicans' findings saying, quote, the allegations don't reflect a review of the actual evidence and are malicious and cowardly assaults on the truth. no lawyer or judge would take this seriously. >> molly, i think that is the crux of the sort of the legal part of this, you know, and she will have to go probably deal with some of that. but i do want to play up for you her response on blue sky to donald trump's face forward attacks on her noting january 6th showed donald trump for who he really is. a cruel and vindictive man who allowed violent attacks to continue against our capitol law enforcement officers while he watched television and refused

for hours to inl instruct his supporters to stand down and leave. that's the hallmark of a coward. the hallmark of someone who is petulant and is not getting his way, and she called him out for it, and i think that has been the consistent part that has drawn democrats like yourself and others to her irrespective of their views, your views and her views on policy, this idea that she was standing in the crucible and confront the bully, confront the individual who is antithetical to the values of our country. that still resonates in this -- and likely will even more so in a second trump administration. how do you see these storylines playing out from your perch as a

national reporter who is covering these stories and contextualize them, what does that aspect of it -- because i don't want that to get lost on folks because a lot of folks get up into who is ahead, who is hit, who is not. that thread of decembersy of standing in the face of a bully and saying, you are not going to get away with it, to me needs to be leveled up nor. kind of goes back to you are conversation the press, to be honest. standing up a little bit more in the face of the bully. >> so i would say, yes, it is very weird in the world when liz cheney is an ally of, you know, and look, i would say -- i come from a family of liberal rioters. my grandfather was jailed, right, by the house on un-american activities held in contempt of congress, was put in jail for three months. so i do -- i have seen republic

administrations target journalists, creatives, people with different political views. again, all of this has happened in american history pretty recently, and actually i wrote about this. trump is using a lot of laws that are still on the books, right. so there is a long history in this country and i think we forget it because we are in such a modern era. but there is a long history in this country of republican administrations and some democratic administrations, too, if you go back far enough, doing a lot of anti-democratic things and using sort of, you know, using laws that are already on the books. so i would say that. i do think not to take away from this liz cheney has been incredibly brave. we have seen a lot of republicans not be brave. a lot. and we have seen them go along with a lot of the things that many of us think are really not okay, you know, trump's anti-democratic rhetoric, trump's, you know, pushing the -- a lot of cabinet nominees

that are unqualified or have these, you know, very scary partisan plans. so i agree, and i think bravery, we should celebrate bravery and we should certainly celebrate, you know, standing up for the rule of law and democratic norms and institutions. >> it is not just donald trump, you know, for people say, this is hyperbole, donald trump just says these things. this report came out of the house of representatives and it is a referral to the department of justice. no one expects merrick garland to take up this referral. this is going to be sitting there for the next department of justice, and that fbi director, and kash patel has been put up there. george, i just want to -- is what kash patel said on a radio show in march about criminally probing police, lawmakers involved in january 6th committee. he said members of congress can't hide behind the laws for committing felonies when it comes to destroying and suppressing evidence to law

enforcement agencies. he said in march on the joe pag show, a conservative news radio show, the january 6th committee is legit? if you are legit you are somebody jekted the federal statutes and let's see who broke the law. this is how they are going to do it. steve bannon, you know, i don't know i don't regularly consume his content. i hike to check it, keep my finger on the pulse of the maga -- >> do it on an empty stomach. >> sometimes i have a beverage with me. he said they could use the 15th and 14 amendment to go after people. >> what? >> the 15th and 14th amendment. i mean, george, help the people understand here what's going on. >> 15th -- >> that's what he said, honey. >> yeah. all right. i mean, this is -- that's all insane, okay? and, you know, this wholening about liz cheney, is the felony? even apart from speech and debate clause, what's the felony? the only thing they make noise is about they claim that she

suborned perjury by persuading -- >> tennessee -- >> cassidy hutchinson to tell more of the story. that's not what happened. cassidy hutchinson got rid of her old lawyer, found a new lawyer and went the committee. and because she felt that her prior lawyer, put it in her book -- >> was being -- >> was saying, you know, if you don't -- if -- that you can say that you don't recall something that you actually recall. that's what she said that her lawyer did. what if i recall it? and that -- you can't do that. that's what she says about that lawyer and she went and got another lawyer and then said, here's the stuff i didn't tell you the first time around. there was no -- you know, was no perjury. it's absurd they think they can make this stuff up and throw these allegations of criminal -- of criminality around when the crimes happened right on tv.

that were being investigated. we know who did them. >> that's important -- >> and didn't get this trouble -- >> a lot of people went to jail, and look, this goes to the conversation we have had over the past year -- >> say it, michael it. >> preach it. >> the judicial system and others protected him and made excuses for him instead of doing what they would do with any other citizen in the united states. >> that's right. that's the whole thing. that goes to the whole fundamental problem here is, is all this bull about lawfare, okay? that somehow donald trump was treated unfairly and differently than anyone else. >> no. >> well, he was. he got a free ride. >> he it did, yes. >> you, i, anybody at this table had taken dlooids -- >> honey, they would have came at me a week later. >> they would have gotten me 24 hours later.

>> then he hides them. he tries to get somebody to destroy the video of him having those documents hidden. okay? and they -- the government screwed around with this because he a former president. the archives said, please, come on, give us the documents. come on. it's like, we would have -- the fbi would have knocked down our doors on day one. >> yeah. >> seems liker we are not prepared for this moment -- not we the people at the tables, people in the streets that are supposed to stand to the last pieces of the guardrails of our democracy. >> george conway, molly jong-fast, i love bringing your real-life and online friendship to our television show. thank you so much for being with us. stick with us just a little bit longer because there has been a couple of big developments in donald trump's legal cases that we have got to discuss. you are watching "the weekend." . your body's giving you signs. it's time to try align. align probiotic was specifically designed by gastroenterologists to help relieve your occasional bloating and gas.

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donald trump cannot escape his felony conviction at least

for now. the judge denied his bid to toss out his guilty verdict in the hush-money trial. they argue they should be dismissed. trump and his team are fighting that decision. now saying they received evidence of, quote, grave juror misconduct in the case. the details of that alleged misconduct remain unclear. if the decision with stands an appeal, trump would become the first president convicted of a felony. pack with us george and molly jong-fast. >> so? >> yes? michael, please. because i am able to. >> i know. so now all of a sudden there is, george, there is jury misconduct that suddenly now at this point, given the whole trial and all of the eyes inside and outside of that courtroom, all of the reporters trying to find out everything they can about these jurors and all of the

storylines, now there is suddenly juror misconduct? i mean, this -- judge merchan's ruling basically says to me, come and get it. >> come and get it. show us the beef. >> right. >> i mean, and but they throw this stuff around all the time. they threw this stuff around about the judge's daughter, they threw around -- they will pick anything and try to make a big deal out of it. we don't know what they have here, but if their track record -- >> they don't know what they had. >> we would have heard more about it, okay? >> right. >> so i -- i'll hold my breath here, okay? all right? >> reliably. molly, that is the -- that is this case, right? donald trump has been -- he is trying to get this thrown out and if you go to the appellate court, could survive, go to the supreme court, you know, we don't know what the supreme court would do but i have a well educated guess. that's that case. fani willis' case was the one --

was, in my opinion, the case outside of the documents case in florida which was very, again, if it were me or michael they would have been done got us, right? they would have not fwn asking nicely get the documents back, all right. and fani willis, an appeals court disqualified her from prosecuting donald trump's georgia case. they have talked about misconduct. she -- she -- this is just personally disconcerting for me because what fani willis did in her personal time had nothing to do with the case. now we are discussing fani willis and a relationship and not donald trump and the fake electors, not donald trump and the co-conspirators. what about the other co-conspirators in georgia? i would love your take on the unraveling of the cases against the crimes that were committed. we saw the crimes. the crimes have been done. crimes have been done, okay? crimes were done.

things were happening. >> crimes were done. >> they tried to steal an election. >> yes. i shouldn't laugh because unbelievably serious and important. i would say that the case that i think is the most -- i mean, look, he got away with it. he is the world's luckiest guy when it comes to the law. and even like the documents case, which was a cut-and-dry case and george conway and i talked about this a lot because we are so nerdy, that's what we talk about, and that was a case where, you know, you just can't do that. it's illegal. and there is no other, you know, but that went to judge cannon and judge cannon, a trump appointee, who is hoping to someday become a trump supreme court justice was like, no, you know, we are not going to do this. so i do think, look, he has gotten away it. again the guardrails were in the set up for someone who had -- who just had no sense of, you know shame and just kept going no matter what happened, and i think, you know, like even nixon resigned.

>> i have a question for you that really sort of is about the retribution tour. we can bring it together here, which is what do you think about this idea of president biden issuing preemptive pardons? >> i am deeply ambivalent about that. i do not -- i do not think it's a good idea in the sense that i think it sends the wrong message. it sends the message people may have done something wrong when the people who are being targeted did nothing wrong. on the other hand, you know, we have some very, you know, faithful government servants, people who worked for jack smith, people who work on the hill for the january 6th committee, who, you know, because they made the sacrifice of going into the government service shouldn't be -- shouldn't have the legal costs even frivolous, you know, of a frivolous investigation or frivolous lawsuit imposed upon them, and i sympathize very much

with that. on the other hand, i do think it sends the wrong message. i think a lot of people -- i think a lot of the people who could be offered pardons would refuse them. i think, for example, liz cheney would. but she has the wherewithal to defend herself. i feel bad for the smaller fry witnesses who may be subject to b.s. investigations. and again i think the answer is people need to step up. lawyers need to provide pro bono services and people need to make contributions to legal defense funds. i think that's the answer at the end of the day. >> george conway, molly jong-fast, thank you both so much for being with us. up next, we will be joined by an incoming member of congress who flipped her district blue, laura gillen of new york. you are watching "the weekend." . legs? it's olay body wash with skin care ingredients and 10x more vitamin b3 complex. so, in 14 days see visibly better skin. olay body wash. discover yours. okay everyone, our mission is to provide complete,

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members of the 119th congress will be sworn if after new year's. for the incoming freshmen, this week's republican led dysfunction might be a good indicator what they can expect in office for the in ex two years. one of those freshmen is democratic congresswoman-elect laura gillen of new york. she defeated republican incumbents in the state last month. she pete anthony d'esposito to represent new york's fourth congressional district and the congresswoman-elect joins us now. >> good morning to you. any part of you that watched what transpired this past week

and thought, what have i gotten myself into? >> i was watching for sure, and, you know, thinking about how that will impact the new incoming congress and certainly hoping that there is less chaos when we come into office in january. >> congresswoman-elect, you had hakeem jefferies noting that, you know, democrats were out there fighting for families. let's take a listen to what he had to say. >> house democrats have successfully stopped the billionaire boys club, which wanted a $4 trillion blank check by suspending the debt ceiling in order to enable them to cut social security, cut medicare, and cut nutritional assistance

while providing massive tax breaks for the wealthy, the well off and well connected. >> as a newly minted member coming into the congress, how does that resonate with you, and how do you think it will resonate with your constituency as the next administration comes in to starker focus? democrats position themselves along the narratives regarding working families, working mom and dads, and particularly those who are in the social security and medicare, medicaid networks. how do you see that language working and helping make the case for democrats? >> well, look, i think a lot of what we saw in this election cycle is that families are still hurting. the congratulations of living is a really top concern it was a top concern in my district, a

top concern across the country, and the idea that we are going to give tax breaks to the wealthiest people while not helping folks that are struggling to make ends meet while we are talking about cutting social security, that is not tenable and it's going to be disastrous for a lot of americans. so i think that that is something we will continue to be as issue as we go forward. i ran on a campaign of reaching across the aisle and looking to find bipartisan solutions. i think that what we saw with the original deal was good democracy in action where there was a negotiated deal, both sides came together. there was give and take. and then when the republicans published the deal, all of a sudden an unelected person blew up the teal with tweets on a social media. that is really disturbing and not good governance. when you make a deal you need to have trust in your partners that they will honor the deal.

it was disturbing to me to watch that unfold and i hope that won't be continued in the next congress. it will be incredibly hard to get things done. there is narrow majority for the republicans. they need democratic support to get a lot of important legislation passed. and certainly when you make a deal and then you back out of a deal, it doesn't build a lot of trust with the other side that there is any value in compromise because it could be blown up at the next second when you are about to vote on it with a tweet. so, hopefully, that was just a bad moment and going forward we can work to reestablish those bonds of trust between the republican and democratic caucus and get things done because there are things that we have to address right away and we need to do it in a bipartisan fashion. >> you know, congresswoman-elect knows how to make a deal. in the aftermath of the election, "the new york times" did a profile about you and your race. they noted by all accounts should not have won this race if you looked at the district and

the data that the congressman that sat if the seat before you and got elected when democrats lost the house two years ago, the area, the nassau county republican party machine was strong, you were the only democratic in like, what, 112 to be the hempstead town supervisor. you had to work across the lyle to keep the last job you have. to get this job now, you went to the various constituencies, stood on the border of the auto county line and talk about how what is happening at the -- while you were 2,000 miles from the u.s./mexico border what is happening there will affect what is happening here. you talked about medicare and medicaid and insulin prices. you met the people where you were. and i think that there are more members like you in the united states congress than folks like the matt gaetz and the marjorie taylor greenes of the world. >> i agree. we just had new member

orientation and then there is a program for new members at harvard that's bipartisan. so you go to seminars together about the economy, about taxes. then you break and you eat lunch together, eat dinner together, have coffee together. it's really a wonderful thing. i will say these republican colleagues that i met at harvard and at new member orientation, we might be idealogically on the same page about everything, but there was a genuine desire to work together and tackle important problems. i am hoping that cooperation, i was looking to make allies on the other side so when i bring something to the floor when i want to go to the other side to try to get support, i have developed friendships through new member orientation and the program at harvard and we have another program come u coming up where we go to williamsburg together. so i think that is good to develop that kind of camaraderie on the other side. so i think we have to break through the rhetoric on both extremes and try to get to just governance, which is what we are

sent to congress to do. i was sent there by my constituents, not just democrats vote for me, some independents and republicans voted for me, they want problems fixed. they want congress to go to washington and make their lives better, don't lose their social security, make sure we are taking care of immigration reform. that's something we needed to take care of for a long time. i am going to protect reproductive freedom. we saw a lot of republicans in the campaign walk away from a national abortion ban, no, i support a woman's right to choose. hold their feet to the fire and let's protect reproductive freedom for women in the country. so i think there is a lot of room for compromise. we just can't have twitter culture make us afraid to do what's right for the american people. >> well, twitter culture is definitely on the mind of one speaker mike johnson. he was asked this past week whether or not he still even wants to be speaker. take a listen to what he said. >> do you still want to be speaker after this experience?

>> look, being speaker of the house is a challenge in in modern era, it's a challenge we accept. it's an honor to serve in the position. i wouldn't say it's the most fun job in the world all the time but it's an important one. >> in this modern era is defied as an era elon musk an unelected person is somehow getting a say in what happens in congress in the u.s. government. do you think when you are sworn in, into congress, that it is, in fact, going to be a speaker mike johnson you are working with? >> you know, i was -- i was wondering about this pause we wonder when we are going to get sworn in. we saw the last swearing in, it took 15 rounds before we could swear in members. so i was kind of getting a sense if my colleagues is mike johnson going to make it, will it be one vet and we will all get sworn

in. it look like yes until the past couple of days. so now i honestly can't say, you have to ask someone on the other side what's going to happen january 3rd. >> look at that discipline. congresswoman-elect laura gillen, thank you so much for being with us. there is much more of "the weekend" straight ahead. f "the weekend" straight ahead. provides soothing non-medicated vicks vapors. easy to apply for the whole family. vicks vapostick. and try new vaposhower max for steamy vicks vapors. have you always had trouble with your weight? same. discover the power of wegovy®. with wegovy®, i lost 35 pounds. and some lost over 46 pounds. and i'm keeping the weight off. i'm reducing my risk. wegovy® is the only weight-management medicine proven to reduce risk of major cardiovascular events such as death, heart attack, or stroke in adults with known heart disease and obesity. don't use wegovy® with semaglutide or glp-1 medicines,

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so every now and then we are asked to do something by the social team that i am smart enough to not to. this year it was our spotify wrap list. >> so true. >> because i have children and i didn't need you to know the disneys descendants took over my musical stylings. michael, you let us in on your spotify list. take a listen. >> kaleidoscope under the surface. next life, okay. golden hour beats chill house. because i love house, that's my thing when i d.j. you y'all didn't know i did that. that's my boy, elder brook.

yeah! good man. >> that's my thing when i d.j. >> yeah. michael steele is a d.j. he does house music. >> a little thing in my house, we got a little something-something set up in the basement. >> a turntable? >> i got two. i have got a traditional one and a sort of, you know, technical one that you can just use and do crazy things with. >> you know how to make a beat? you can teach me how to make a beat? >> make a beat, baby, yes. yes, we can do that. >> here is the thing. there are renaissance men and then there is michael steele. because you can't be a failed seminarian and, an economist -- >> you never say a failed seminarian. >> a d.j. it's too many things for one person to be. >> i heard when i was off one of these weeks, a couple weeks ago, that alicia was like, we should have had an economist.

michael goes, i'm an economist. are you jamaican? because you can't possibly have had all of these jo jobs. >> i did tax law, one of my -- i like tax law. it was kinda cool. >> this is why you watch people. >> i was a corporate finance lawyer. >> going into the holiday, we are in the holiday season, but, you know, christmas, hanukkah, happy kwanzaa. >> they fall on the same day this year. >> they are? okay. i see what you are -- your inclusive sweater. >> ho ho ho. >> with your white santa and brown reindeer. i like that diversity. show the santa. yeah, yeah, yeah. >> we good. >> what is your hope for the holiday season? >> mine is that people get off the political crack and just sort of take a moment to move away from it. look at your family. love on your family. to be honest, they may not be

there next year, right? so you don't have time to waste on stupid people and stupid things. we can discourse some politics and we can express our views, but the level of ugliness, retribution, the vileness of treating each other inhumanely is to me somebody we should leave in 2024. >> i support that. i do. i think that's real. people allow folks like, i will have a -- i don't know how i sit with my trump family members. sit with the family members. don't allow the politics to create divisions that you can't come back from. michael is right. people were around the table at thanksgiving who are not there today. >> that's right. >> who will not be there on christmas. every day, no day is a given. every day is a gift. and i think we should cherish it and do our best to be good people. for the people that aren't good people, because there are bad people in the world, they will

get handled after christmas. >> alicia? >> i like the coal in the stocking. there is presents and then the new year and a chance to begin again. i always look forward to that. >> all right. well, we will wrap up the show after the break. at the top of the hour watch our manvel shi. he has congressman don bacon to talk the chaos within his own party. that's coming up next on msnbc. c ! i'm switching to iphone 16 pro at t-mobile! it's built for apple intelligence. that's like peanut butter on jelly... on gold. get four iphone 16 pro on us, plus four lines for $25 bucks. what a deal. ya'll giving it away too fast t-mobile, slow down.

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that does it for the weekend this sunday morning. we wish you all a happy holiday. he will see you back here next saturday at 8:00 a.m. eastern. los on social media at the weekend msnbc. the programming note, today on inside with jen psaki, hakeem jeffries will join her days after he helped avert a government shutdown. that is noon eastern today on msnbc. velshi continues our coverage now. good morning, ali. >> you guys keep upping the ante. >> i got these, too. >> yesterday i had chestnuts and now i've got the open fire. >> i love this. i'm dying -- >> i felt so much. >> don't let me outdo velshi. i can to do that. he wants it to be about his fire. >> the only thing i want to say.