put you on a scholarship. >> reporter: college football players celebrating. >> what about a scholarship? >> reporter: getting surprise scholarships to finish school. >> you taught me so much stuff. >> reporter: teachers moved to tears. >> without you i would not be where you. me and my siblings are very appreciative of you. >> reporter: a double dose of pride for this maybe seal meeting his new baby and becoming a u.s. citizen all in one week. >> there is a joy i cannot describe. i don't cry easily, but this is part of me. becoming a u.s. citizen was like the cherry on the pie. i'm living the dream.

>> reporter: americans spreading joy, giving each other hope all year long. >> thank you for watching. have a good night. it is 4:00 and new york. i'm lucy menendez and for nicolle wallace. we begin with the tale of very different holiday messages. yesterday president joe biden writing, my hope for our nation today and always is that we continue to seek the light of liberty and love, highness and compassion, dignity and

decency. he also posted a picture of himself and the first lady dr. jill biden calling servicemembers around the world to thank them. then there was president-elect donald trump who while most of us were likely spending the holiday with their loved ones, families, he spent his day a little differently by posting more than 40 times on his social media platform including mocking former president barack obama. a number of articles in favor of cash patel and pete hegseth for fbi director and defense secretary. a picture of himself receiving the fox patriot of the year award as well as a post encouraging a former professional hockey star to run for prime minister of canada saying, quote, would be so much fun to watch. perhaps most disturbing of all was his link the christmas message where he double down on his suggestion that the u.s. should just take control of

canada, greenland, and the panama canal. he wishes a merry christmas to chinese soldiers who he claims are lovingly and illegally operating the panama canal as well as the canadian prime minister, who he once again mockingly refers to as governor. and the people of greenland who he says is needed by the united states for national security purposes and we want the u.s. to be there and we will. my friends, it did not in there. he goes on to extend his holiday wishes to the, quote, radical left lunatics mock the current president as sleet vigil. he calls a man who has absolutely no idea what he's doing and ends by telling 37 inmates on death row who had presidents commuted to, quote, go to . that is where we start today. joining me now david jolly from florida and medical analyst. the special correspondent for

vanity fair and host of the fast politics podcast and our political analyst and author of the forthcoming book a more perfect party the night shirley chisholm and diane carol reshipped politics. it's good to see you all. david, if you had someone at your family holiday who was sort of whipping through a grab bag of grievances, talking about a person who had not been president and eight years as though they were president today, you would say, i think it is time for you to head home. i think the party is wrapping up. instead, it turns out for the united states the party is just beginning. what you make of what we heard from the incoming president? >> welcome to the next four years. i will take your metaphor further. if this guy was at your party last year you would not have invited him back. this is a lot like what you did last year and on easter.

the more generous interpretation would be about donald trump's political strategy which is he can't be a hero if there's not a villain. at a time when jill biden is sending out messages of unity, donald trump can't have that because his rise to power came on injecting division. part of that is strategy. that would be a generous interpretation. i think the more likely one is just narcissism. we see him do this on holidays. man is jealous of jesus himself. we saw this last december. we saw it on easter. we sought male. i think this is one of those moments where you realize, the man is upset about all the attention baby jesus is getting so at some point he has to start rattling the cages and say look at me i'm over here.

the way he does it is to fall back on his strategy by saying we are not united. we are divided. this is the next four years. >> i watch the blush rise in your cheeks. let's just follow what david jolly is saying. the general interpretation of the nuttiness. if this is strategy. in order to be a hero there has to be a villain. he has not even settled on who the villain is. that would mean the current president is somehow a villain. the chinese soldiers who are lovingly but illegally in charge of the panama canal. i suppose those are villains. this is not what we expect in the way of presidential leadership.

it also is the suggestion of policy and imperial presidency. >> he does not want to be a president. these language and tactics are something that is perpetuated is something he looks to for examples like vladimir putin what i realized in reading it is that none of this is founded in reality or fact none of that seems to matter because they choose to reject reality on a regular basis.

this is the next four years. >> this is the idea that goes back to his first term in office. i wonder what we make about the obsession, the fact that we are hearing quite a bit about it now. >> he loves the hits. we will see this again. he has a couple things he's really stuck on. buying greenland has been something. we thought it was a friend of his who had suggested it. the whole thing is that he ran on making things less expensive and ending wars. so how he is going to expand the american empire, what unquote. this is about the idea that somehow america is a sort of roman empire. i do not think there is any

path to that. as much as he's doing it for attention maybe he's doing it because he thinks it will get people on the defensive. whatever it is, it is functionally undoable which i think is an important data point when you are talking about that. >> david jolly, i want you to pick up where molly left off. if you buy the reason that american people voted him back was the price of eggs and a desire to see the cost come down and more affordable living, he's already admitted he may not actually be in control of that. instead, you see all of the promises he's made via social media. it's also a reminder that you will see a lot of diplomacy leadership over social media. the fact that you have him saying, canada should start a draft wayne gretzky movement. i understand the man thinks in terms of reality tv, but he does not seem to understand the

way any of this actually works. >> i do think, i will take the reality tv part of this. is ethos and brand strategy is to project strength. of his followers see him as strong they care less about a weakened economy. they care less about the weakened national security posture if they see their leader as strong. he wants to be a president that expands the continental united states, expands the territories of the united states because that happens so rarely historically. greenland is of strategic importance to the united states but it's not like it's controlled by an adversary. it's controlled by denmark and we have a cooperative agreement. we is it for national security posture right now but donald trump is fixated on getting it. so what does he do for those voters? i think ultimately if he has any economic strategy it is this.

he will try to bring the economy white-hot for 2 to 3 years and not care about the long-term consequences. he will try to crush the independence of the fed and see if congress will go along with that. if he approaches the independence of the fed. ultimately it is a weakness. it's a mixture of his toxic masculinity with ignorance and irresponsible decision-making. >> i just want to redo this little bit of reporting. denmark has announced a huge boost in defense spending it is described as an irony.

i was up late at night on christmas reading my advance copy of your book which was driving my husband bananas. part of the core argument is that shirley chisholm was ahead of the curve on everything. she sort of understood that you needed to have dynamic and radical change and be a party that actually offered something to people. that's where your argument dovetails with what david jolly was just saying. you see the shakeup. the shakeup people look it is not the shakeup the voted four. does speak to the desire of you can go back in history, it's

not necessarily a partisan idea, but there is an appetite for that type of delivery on the part of the american people. >> only if it benefits the people. nothing that donald trump is proposing realistically and if it's any of the people who voted for him. i do think one radical part that has emerged is these dynamic statements from world leaders. the prime minister of greenland saying again just like he did in 2019, greenland is not for sale. the president of p.m. in a -- panama saying the panama canal belongs to panamanians. i think what the world is primed for is a moment to push back against donald trump in unison in a way that diplomacy has not seen in a long time. i think there is an opportunity for all of us to learn from global leaders who coordinate and align against donald trump and all of these asinine efforts he is pushing for. >> i don't want to gloss over

it. the contrast between the current president's message at this time of year. the fact that he and the first lady are working the phones as they should, calling servicemembers around the world, thanking them for their service. showing gratitude, showing humility. when you have the incoming president posting photos of himself, it really cannot be a sharper contrast between the two. >> joe biden is a normal president who does this. by the way, there are kind of traditional almost nonpartisan christmas activities for presidents, calling servicemembers, doing this sort of very standard stuff. trump has never been interested in doing that. is people don't necessarily want him to do that. i think what is happening here

is that he has been elected by a really big tent that has a lot of different designers. we are already seeing that. there's the anti-immigration. then there's the tech who definitely want to have people come in with skilled visas. i do think some of what is happening here is that he sees these kind of fragments and the coalition. he thinks if he can get an enemy and keep going that will solve his problems. again, i am not so sure. really what we saw in congress with the almost shut down was, maga is many things. some of them contradictory to each other. >> i don't know if you caught this because it was news that came in right on the heels of the holiday. this week trump announced he will nominate stephen feinberg,

a billionaire that supported his campaign for defense secretary. he has picked an unprecedented number of billionaires for his administration. as we talked about, it's not that on his face. it is this preference for someone with that background over somebody who necessarily has experience that matches the role he is casting. i wonder what you make of it. >> he sees wealth as a sign of strength. even if it's wealth you inherited and lost some of that like donald trump himself did. i think the issue we should be concerned about maybe the lack of experience particularly when it comes to national security. the founders of the constitution intended for the united states not to be estate run by the military. we have the joint chiefs, we have the general officers, the operational force, but they ultimately report to civilian

secretary staff structure and those two donald trump. he's putting an experienced leadership in the national security secretary positions as a go-between between the nation's top generals and admirals and officers and the president of south. that is the danger. donald trump with a truth social tweet could ignite a bomb somewhere in the world in terms of national security posture. he surrounded himself with civilian leadership completely inexperienced. >> immediately we come back and congress gets sworn in. they will have to choose a leader. we are bracing for whether or not that will be a fight and then we roll into these confirmation hearings. i think there is still an open question about whether or not

republican senators will go along with these nominees. >> right now they have been saying, at least give them a hearing. we are getting to the point where they set the new threshold but they are also the ones requesting access to fbi records to review them behind closed doors. i am curious to see when they find out these things about these highly on all of five nominees to leave the fbi, dod, dni, i think that is the question. are they actually going to stand on principle in terms of protecting the nation from these highly unqualified individuals or will they just fall in line. we saw with the government shutdown push the weight donald trump and elon musk attempted to leverage power, money, and threats against members of congress within the republican party. i do not doubt that will show itself again in january. that

is the question that i think senate republicans will immediately be up against when they consider these nominees. >> david jolly, michael steele this past week with saying everybody go home. enjoy yourself. there's a little part of it, if your family includes a republican senator who may be on the fence, you guys knock yourselves out. if you are a constituent and you see one of these folks at the diner go up to them and let them know how you feel because the decisions that they make are setting a new threshold. it all slowly get them closer to getting these nominees over the finish line. >> that is right. i think the struggle of engaging politically and covering if you are in the media, there are the daily distractions but also real questions about his fitness. today is a perfect example. the broader story is are we a

nation that is sliding into liberalism. are we a nation that is essentially a lobster in a boiling pot? if we stop engaging and don't approach our senators and members of congress, if we do not engage with our representatives we will complete the slide and not recognize the country when we come out of it. my hope for coming out of the holidays into the new year, i know a lot of people were dispirited. i think this is fatigue and not defeat. i think the same convictions people had before the election they have today. sure they are tired and but that does not mean the fight is not there once they see donald trump and the people he is asking to leave the nation leading the way we know he will . it might be a restful time during the holidays but it's not defeated. i think the contest will start again. >> stay with us. we will have a lot more to say. on the unhinged messages over

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we are back with david, molly, and juanita. i'm not sure if you saw this but today former candidate for president marianne williamson announced she is launching a campaign to become the next dnc chair. she joins a guild of candidates running for that seat. i wonder what you make of that choice and the timing? >> i have some personal history with self-help author marianne williamson. my mother was a second wave feminist, friendly with her, long felt wounded by my criticism of her. dnc chair is an organizational job about holding the party structure. you have a couple people in the

race who are known for building party structure. i am thinking of the chair of the wisconsin democratic party. he has done a really great job of building a structure. even said he thinks the dnc chair should be focused on state parties which seems like a winning message to me, but there are quite a lot of people who have jumped into the race. they will have a bunch of forms and there will be a vote, but the people who are voting on this are democratic voters that are part of the infrastructure. they are likely going to vote for people who they know and like. i think that is not necessarily a bad thing. >> i think there are 440 of them. i wonder what you make both of

marianne williamson's candidacy and the decision to announce it in the week of christmas. >> i don't know if she's competing with religion as david said about donald trump, but she is a woman. while i agree with her on her statement that the democratic party does require transformational change, i do note that she did not make any statements of substance of what the change should be and how she will drive it. she said she has expert experience. i only see a couple of failed presidential campaigns. she has sold a lot of books. when i think about the field i fear that a lot of these recommendations nibble around the edges instead of driving that transformational change that is needed. they say, let's go on right wing airwaves and talk shows. take it further. make sure the dnc chair never

sets a flood in d.c. spend all your time in the states. spend all your time with state leaders and organizers and volunteers on the ground engaging with people. when it comes to differentiating with the republican party, we mentioned how trump is stacking his cabinet with billionaires. reject all billionaires and ultra wealthy individuals. start there. talk through these big things that recent her power with the people. i think another thing that would be very impactful is not just doing a postmortem on 2024, but making sure that you are filling the vacuum in terms of what people need. if trump is focused on greenland talk about all the things impacting individuals on the ground level. on top of that, lawyer up. what donald trump and republicans have shown is any election that democrats win will be contested in the state, federal and supreme court level.

make sure you are developing a deep bench of legal minds to help you navigate this because that is what is coming in the future. so plan for the future with three big goals. any of the candidates are welcome to take that in their platforms. >> i would never be so foolish as to question the premise of someone as smart as my friend juanita's argument, but for the sake of conversation let me ask you this. we talk about transformational change. do you think that comes from inside the party structure? is it actually coming from the dnc, the rnc, or does it come from somewhere else? >> i think the responsibility of the parties is to build the infrastructure. really that means you have to invest in state party infrastructure. there are a lot of state parties that need some help.

it gets harder for democrats given the senses in 2031 likely more electoral votes go to texas and florida and other states get harder to win so where are we investing in infrastructure in the state party committees to be sure we can win back the white house and prepare for the 2030 census. i think the messaging will come down to very talented politicians and the party. we see the postmortems after the election, how do you communicate better. i think it is very simple for democrats. you can ban assault weapons, safe public schools, pay teachers more, and get corporate money out of politics. start talking about those policy issues while you are building state parties. you have a competitive party. this was not the mandate or landslide donald trump says it is. democrats are right on the precipice of regaining power.

the importance of the dnc, rnc and other national parties are to build it and win in future cycles. >> i was going to ask what you do to create and sharpen the contrast between the parties if you are democrats. i think david hit the nail on the head which is you actually have to deliver some of these more populist policies and show that you are the ones getting it done while he's off talking about the panama canal. >> one of the things i have really seen is that i think one of the big problems in the biden admin was not so much the policy but the messaging. they were not forward facing the way donald trump was. for four years he basically ran for president again whereas biden was not doing interviews. was very careful about what he

did. you did not do a lot of media. i think that was a really big mistake. trump really took all the oxygen out of the room. even though democrats were passing a lot of policy. the chips and sciences act is an incredibly piece of policy that has revived the economy. i don't know that you could have asked for policy. people really did not know about it. they were not affronted facing white house. that really got them behind. they were not able to catch the populist wave. the truth is a lot of this policy is very populist. you had joe biden marching on

union. he was the first president to ever march with them. that is populism. that is pro-worker. for whatever reason it was not translated. some of the unions did not even endorse harris. this is more for messaging than a policy problem. democrats really need to be front facing. we see this again and again. you have to go where the media is. that means going on things like joe rogan. otherwise these people will never see a democratic petition. >> i really feel like the gift of your time was one of the greatest i got this holiday season. david, molly, juanita, thank you so much for being with us today of all days. coming up we have the latest on that azerbaijan

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we turn to the latest on the deadly azerbaijan plane crash on wednesday. video capture the final moments before the flight went up in flames and split in two.

67 people were on board, 38 racquel. 29 others including two children survived. russian authorities say preliminary information suggested a bird strike. the kremlin said it would be incorrect to make any hypotheses before the investigation is over. a u.s. official echoed findings today that it suggest a russian antiaircraft system may have struck the flight, adding that if that proves to be the case it would be more evidence of russia's recklessness in its war with ukraine. more now with our correspondent and luncheon at in london. what is russia saying about this? >> reporter: russia saying don't jump to conclusions, the investigation is underway. as you said, the spokesperson for the kremlin was asked this question today. he said it would be incorrect to make any hypotheses before the investigation is complete. azerbaijan has established a commission, sent delegates to

catholic stand to start gathering element -- to paint the full picture of what happened. they will be looking at a number of things. why did this aircraft have to be diverted all the way on the other side to the caspian sea, flying hundreds of miles of course, the subject has been -- the speculation has been swirling online for 24 hours. the russian state media initially suggested it was caused by a bird strike. as video emerged online, independent and industry experts started to look at the video. they have seen what appears to be holes and damage caused potentially by shrapnel. they looked at the wreckage on the video posted online shop by some of the passengers while the plane was still up in the air. they examined the airspace at the time of the event. they also critically listened

to the testimony of the survivors who managed to literally stumble away from the crash site, because some did manage to survive walking away from it. they reported seeing, hearing an explosion while they were still up in the air. they saw shrapnel passing through the cabin area. all this combined led them to believe it was not caused by bad weather and not caused by a bird strike as had been suggested by russian state media immediately following the crash. >> when you talk about those passengers, the survivors, what more do we know about them specifically the status of the survivors? >> a number of them were taken to a local hospital. 11 of them according to the latest official figures remain in intensive care, two of them in critical condition.

somewhere expected to be flown back to azerbaijan. it is still pretty incredible. it's worth noting two of the survivors were children. >> thank you so much. i want to bring in david, columnist for the daily beast and host of the deep state podcast. the kremlin said it is waiting for the investigation the layout. u.s. official said it was likely a russian air defense system. ukraine also believes russia is to blame. you have nato calling for a full investigation. >> i think it is always prudent to wait for the investigation. i also think we need to understand it's very likely that the russian conclusions and the facts may not line up. this is one of the things that

illustrate some of the issues we will face going into the trump administration. one, the recklessness of the russians. the dangers that they pose and the fact that we don't control what happens here. if trump is trying to present a more pro-russian face and you encounter things like this that is difficult. i think the other thing that is even more relevant in the near- term is when you have something -- somebody like tulsi gabbard up for director of national intelligence who has historic the accepted russian conspiracy theories, russian lies and promoted them as the truth. in a situation like this you wonder what you will get from her. will she present the kremlin story or the real story that our leaders need to have. >> we had russia launching attacks on ukraine energy infrastructure. ukrainian forces shot down more than 50 missiles.

the ukrainian president denouncing putin for, quote, deliberately choosing christmas day adding, what can be more inhumane. when you talk about tulsi gabbard and the choice republican senators will have to make about the extent to which they confront her nomination. wonder if what we are watching play on on the world stage adds an urgency or complication to what would have otherwise been there posture? >> it certainly does. i think tulsi gabbard was hoping to slide in under the radar without her history been exposed. of course the events in syria and her close association with the government, her defense of them brought her past behavior and to focus. this does as well and the same brothers who are in the trumpeter circle. is not going to dance to trump

'stance. he will make it difficult. i think there is a practical consequence of that which is there are some people in the republican party, the senate and the house that are not sympathetic and with the margins being so tight it will be very difficult to force down the throats of the united states congress of you that is defensive of the kremlin in light of events like this because it was inhumane and it continues 10 years of inhumane behavior in ukraine. >> i want to talk a little bit about keith kellogg. he made a point to add, quote, the world is closely watching

actions on both sides. the world is more resolve than ever to bring peace. do you have a sense of the role that somebody like keith kellogg is playing now and poised to play moving forward? what does that both sides indicate to you? >> it is troubling. there are people around him that have an historically pro- russian. there are people that are clearly not going to stand up to him in ways you might want them to like pete hegseth if he ends up being the secretary of defense. the united states is not the puppetmaster here. the ukrainian people have a say in this. our nato allies have a say in this. putin has a say in this. his statements thus far, he

wants a maximalist position. i think it will be very hard for even the pro-russia forces and the government to support that. you could end up with the standoff for some time. more killing, more violence and increasingly questions about whether the united states will let ukraine suffer, whether allies will let you suffer. i do not think this will be resolved quickly as president trump said it would be. >> i only have about 30 seconds left. talk to me about the timeline. you say it will not be resolved quickly. what are we realistically looking at? >> the first thing you have to do is set up negotiations. that will take time. they will go to the table. they will exchange views. the russian view is we keep everything. you can't be in nato. you can't be in europe. that will be a nonstarter.

it will go from there. i would expect this is something that will last well into next year if not beyond. >> thank you so much for being with us. it has been 20 years since the indian ocean tsunami. we will have more on that, next. that, next. p. with colon cancer rising in adults under 50, the american cancer society recommends starting to screen earlier, at age 45. i'm cologuard, a noninvasive way to screen at home, on your schedule. and i find 92% of colon cancers. i'm for people 45+ at average risk for colon cancer, not high risk. false positive and negative results may occur. ask your provider if cologuard is right for you. no matter who you are, where you live, or what you believe, there are things we all have in common for black americans and for all people.

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with tourists. >> it was a busy day. we had gone kayaking that morning. >> we walked up to the beach. it was a few steps up. >> reporter: by then, disaster had struck across the indian ocean. the magnitude 9.2 earthquake lasting 10 unrelenting minutes. the power of it felt hundreds of miles away. there are hotels and resorts all along here. people were doing what they do. at the beach or the swimming pool unaware one what was going to happen. >> reporter: first the ocean pulled back revealing the seabed. a mountain of waves came crashing in. captured on video by people who made it to higher ground.

two american survivors vacationing at different resorts that they can still recall every detail. >> it was squeezing me. i can't quite describe it. i heard after that the water was traveling 250 to 500 miles an hour. >> my body was being crushed and contorted. right hand was essentially amputated. it was an unbelievable moment to realize this is happening and you will die instantly. >> reporter: wave after wave. at times higher than 100 feet, demolished coastal areas in 14 countries. within hours, an estimated 230,000 lives were lost from indonesia to sri lanka, india and thailand. >> i was calling out for my good friend.

i did not hear anybody's voice. everything was silent. >> reporter: ables, from chicago, did not survive. 20 years on life has in many ways recovered. a shelter set up in its wake for orphaned children is now a permanent home for kids in need. this is a place that has given me everything. he was 12 years old when the tsunami changed the course of his life. now with two college degrees, he is running the orphanage where he grew up, raising 93 kids with help from donations and fundraising. >> i remember the goodness of the past. i always tell the children, if the tsunami did not happen we would not have this home to stay together. the worst tsunami in recorded history. survival brought unexpected second chances. >> i was 34.

i had a life to live. i did not want to be disabled in any way. >> i think one of the biggest things is to not blame yourself. we truly were allowed to survive for a reason. >> reporter: volunteers gather at the cemetery for victims who were never identified. they sweep, clean, and remember the day the water changed everything. janis mackey frayer, nbc news, thailand. we will sneak in a quick break. we will be right back. right b. means everything to me. ♪ ♪ control is everything to me.♪ and now i'm back in the picture.

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still to come, a look ahead to the second trump administration, including plans to increase capital punishment. plus his incoming borders are -- border czar tom homan said they will bring back detention. >> hate and extremism are on the rise. se. and extremist groups that spread dangerous conspiracies and encourage violent acts. this is a dark chapter in our history, but it can be rewritten. since 1971, the southern poverty law center has been fighting has been fighting hate

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at evening, i'm katie phang. if your new year's resolution is to save a bit of money, and who wouldn't, president biden is going to help you keep that cash. on january 1st, millions of