♪♪ ♪ >> now today's other top stories. look at this video of a passenger train crashing into a fire truck. that happened saturday in florida. 15 people were injured including three firefighters. the faa is investigating a close call at lax involving an an atlanta charter jet, and it could be seen crossing the runway into the path of the delta flight as it took flight. it was yelling stop, stop, stop! and the faa certainly investigating. from seattle tacoma international airport, shows the moment a passenger opened the emergency and that woman was taken to the hospital for evaluation. his transition team now has an explanation.

only rosa newman will join us and the maga war and the tech pros. that's next. good day to all of you from msnbc world headquarters in new york and welcome to "alex witt reports," we have more from south korea after the devastating plane crash. 179 people killed when it crash landed. this video shows it skidding down the runway before crashing into a barrier and bursting into flames. two crew members in the rear of the plane were rescued and little relief to the hundreds of mourning families, many wailing while hearing an official read the names of their loved ones. many victims have yet to be identified. investigators have recovered the plane's cockpit voice and flight data recorders from the wreckage, but officials say it is too early to determine the exact cause of the deadliest air

disaster of this year and one of the worst ever on south korean soil. seoul, south korea, thomas, anything else we have learned in the last hour about the investigation. in which direction do you think this is going right off the bat? >> hi again, alex. it is still at this point the painstaking process at least on the ground of doing this identification and recovery of not just the remains, but the belongings of the victims and i haven't seen the number change from the last time i spoke to you. 178 have been identified and they're using dna and fingerprints on the site. this is obviously going to be a slow and painstaking process. one factor that may be of interest that people are waiting to find out more about are the two survivors as you mentioned. those were two flight attendants that had been seated all of the

way in the aft of the aircraft by the tail and you can see in the footage, the tail is the only part of the aircraft that maintained some of its structural integrity. so there are two. one is a male, 33, one is a woman, 25, and we haven't heard much about the woman, but she is in stable condition. the man, we heard, spoke to doctors in seoul and according to what the doctors said he doesn't remember exactly what happened. he kind of woke up in the hospital and remembered putting the seat belt on to prepare for landing is what he remembered. they're not pressing too hard and the doctors seem to think his memory and his faculties are still intact. it's hard to say whether they'll shed some light and certainly, it will be interesting to get to hear what the two survivors of the crash had to say. >> yeah. they certainly will want to know what they knew and when if they were told anything, but again,

being part of the flight crew they might have had access to certain information that the passengers did not. thomas, thank you so much for that. i want to let all of you know that we've received word from president biden on this, and i want to read what he said in a brief statement. jill and i are deeply saddened to learn of the loss of the jeju accident in the republic of korea. the american people share deep bonds of friendship with the south korean people and our thoughts and prayers are with those up pacted by impacted by. joining me is former faa and ntsb investigator and now an msnbc aviation analyst. jeff, welcome. glad to talk with you. i understand the ntsb is leading a team of u.s. investigators to assist on the ground in south korea. what are you learning are the next steps in the investigation? >> good afternoon, alex. this will proceed in accordance

with international protocol which is why the ntsb is leading a u.s. team to participate in the south korean investigations. the boeing 737-800 is a u.s.-designed and built aircraft which is why the ntsb is going to lead a team of boeing and faa investigators to assist the south koreans, and the first thing on the list is to see what the two black boxes say. the cockpit voice recorder and the flight data recorder and that is key in trying to determine what happened in this very mysterious accident. >> i'm curious. what goes through in your mind as you see that horrific video of that plane just racing down the runway seemingly unable to slow down and stop. my trajectory is not one that i can tell, but it just seemed like the plane's ability to brake and slow down and unfortunately, travel headlong into that wall. what goes through your mind

about what was happening to that plane? >> well, i have several questions. first of all, the airplane is traveling at a very high rate of speed at the end of the runway where you would expect it to be slowing down. the airplane almost appears to be accelerating like it's attempting to take off. so that's a question i have is were they trying to take off after perhaps it touched down without its landing gear. why was the landing gear not extended? a bird strike or a hydraulic failure would not explain that because you could mechanically drop the landing gear if you have an emergency like that, and lastly on. >> hang on a second. if it was a bird strike, could that affect hydraulics? is there anything to suggest it could have gotten into an area of the plane that would control that? to your point, it just doesn't seem like a bird strike would affect hydraulics. what does get affecteded in a bird strike? >> alex, typically, bird strikes

which occur frequently not only in this country, but around the world, it does some structural damage to the outside of the airplane. it might take off the nose cone, it might put a dent in the wing, but the most hazardous thing a bird strike can do with airliners is take out engine power, get sucked into an engine or both engines like it did at sully sullenberger's miracle on the hudson. >> right. >> it doesn't allow you to generate thrust or engine, but still, the hydraulic system which might initially be affected by one or bothest engines going out there are redundancies and two a dishlg main hydraulic systems that would need to go out. i've never heard of a bird strike or many bird strikes taking out all of the hydraulics and even if it did, alex, the flight crew would have had the option of simply using the gravity emergency landing extension to remove the locks on the gear and just have gravity

drop the landing gear down. so again, right now it's just mysterious as to why a bird strike would cause things like no landing gear, no flaps and -- and a high-speed aircraft at the end of a runway. >> okay. let's just -- i'm just working through this with you. both engines. let's say they both were struck by birds and are rendered inoperable, is that why we're seeing that train -- that plane, rather, travel at such a fast rate of speed because every time i land in a plane i feel like the pilots immediately throw it into reverse or something that help slow that plane down, is that how it works? so if the ngines aren't working they can't reverse. >> exactly. putting it into thrust reverse wouldn't do anything. when you look at the video, it appears the engines are running.

however, i don't know -- in fact, you can see the right engine. the engine visible in the video here, you can see that part of the engine is released as if the thrust reverser is on, is engaged, but that could be because of simply because of ground impact not because the pilot elected to select that. we just don't know, but this was a very unusual landing. first of all, it was a belly landing which is extremely rare in commercial aviation, and then secondly why was it moving so fast? if it was a belly landing near the normal landing portion of the runway, it should have slowed down very quickly because of the friction of the engine themselves and the belly of the airplane dragging across that concrete runway, but here we hear the engine power and see the plane traveling very quickly. it's very mysterious at this point. >> there will be a heck of an investigation. let me ask you quickly about what happened with the faa

launching an investigation into a close call at the los angeles international airport friday. the charter flight carrying the gonzaga university men's basketball team crossed the runway into the path of a delta air lines plane took off. the team plane went past its intended holding point. does this kind of thing happen often? >> it happens occasionally. runway incursions actually happen every day, but most of them are minor. in other words, most of them are rate in the class c or d where there was very little sk of collision. i don't know how the faa might classify this one, it might classify it as a minor risk, but regardless, air traffic controllers and pilots need to be extremely vigilant when operating on airport runway surfaces. they need to make sure they hold short of the painted lines, the hold short lines and we don't know what happened in this case, but you can be sure the faa is

going to find out if there was any air traffic controller error or pilot issue. air traffic control was yelling stop! stop! stop and they did. jeff, good to see you. thank you so much. we have breaking news here at home help residents in several southern states are hunkering down amid dangerous weather that has spawned tornadoes. rain swamped parts of mississippi overnight. at one point 100,000 residents were left without power, but as some seek shelter others are heading home after the holidays and most making the trip by car, but many are facing more than 200 flight cancellations so far today and according to flight aware. joining me from brandon, mississippi is kathy park. how bad is the damage there? >> alex, good afternoon to you. well, as you can probably see and hear the the recovery and cleanup e fforts are well under way. for the last overnight hours we

were tracking severe weather, and it left a path of destruction. we don't have confirmation a tornado touched down, but this was the damage that we found this morning in one of the communities here in brandon and listen to this. we were speaking to our climate unit and we've been tracking this multi-weather outbreak of severe weather tornadoes since thursday and saturday. yesterday was probably one of the more active days with more than 36 reported tornadoes across several states including louisiana, texas, mississippi, alabama, and speaking of the damage here, there are two homes that are badly damaged and we spoke with one woman, wendy freeman saying she is lucky to be alive today. she was about to go to bed when she heard something a little off. her dog alerted her, and in a matter of minutes, a tree crushed her home. take a listen. >> right before sleep, that

area, and the dog was kind of aking acting strange, and i could hear a weird wind. i said what is that? generally my kids tell me to go to the bathroom and not to stay in bed. if d wants me he'll take me wherever i'm at and that's where the tree landed. >> alex, one of our colleagues in texas spoke with one family and they were celebrating a belated christmas just outside of houston, and they were opening christmas presents when a tornado blew through it. it actually ripped the roof off of their home. obviously, a scary moment, but the danger isn't over yet. the severe weather continues to head east. in fact, more than 20 million people are in the path of severe weather today stretching from the florida panhandle to southern virginia. we are already seeing reports of large hail in florida and strong

winds in the carolinas. so the danger certainly isn't over yet. we should point out the death toll is climbs from the storms at least three reported so far, one in texas and two here in mississippi. alex? >> a sobering report from you. thank you very much, my friend. kathy park. new insight into the regrets of president joe biden. we're back in 90 seconds. we're s . with the money i saved i thought i'd get a wax figure of myself. oh! right in the temporal lobe! beat it, punks! only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty, liberty, liberty, liberty ♪ prilosec knows, for a fire... one fire extinguisher beats 10 buckets of water, and for zero heartburn 1 prilosec a day... beats taking up to 10 antacids a day. it's that simple, for 24 hour heartburn relief... one beats ten. prilosec otc. what causes a curve down there? who can treat this? stop typing, and start talking. it could be a medical condition called peyronie's disease, or pd.

you're not alone, there is hope. find a specialized urologist who can diagnose and treat pd. visit makeapdplan.com today. when you really need to sleep. find a specialized urologist who cayou reach for theeat pd. really good stuff. zzzquil ultra helps you sleep better and longer when you need it most. its non-habit forming and powered by the makers of nyquil.

>> new today, "the washington post" revealing president biden is privately assessing how he approached some aspects of his time in office. joining us with more is mike memoli from st. croix where he is traveling with the president who is on vacation. is this what you heard from the president's inner circle post-election. what has he publicly said that he would have done differently? >> well, alex, as i was reporting this report from tyler pager from "the washington post" a few things stuck out with me from my own conversations with the president's team. the question of phasis as farra the campaign message. i sat down with someone right before he announced he would run for a second term and the economic case he would be making to the american people of accomplishments, but what the official stressed back then was because this was the first national election after the january 6th insurrection, the

election in so many ways would be in their view a refer end up referendum, the threats to demg democrat see being posed bay a second trump term front and center with the economic messaging and this is one of the things that the post is looking back on it. something they should have focused differently. another is the questions that they raise in this piece about the media environment. the president has very publicly criticized the role of the press in terms of the focus not necessarily on the issues that are most important to the american people, but the inside baseball and obsession over polls as the president likes to say there are no editors anymore. the changing of the environment and the fact that so many people are getting their news from non-traditional sources and perhaps that should have been something the team should have looked more closely at. one of the more interesting notions in the piece is that some biden advisors think he would have won a second term. he would have beaten trump had

he stayed in the race. this is something, alex, i've heard, as well, about the fact that he would have had to have a second debate with donald trump, that he wouldn't have had to survive the rigor of a final stretch in the campaign. >> they acknowledge that it's more a question of had the party stayed unified by, and they think he could have weathered that first debate storm in waging the ultimate campaign. but there are so many regrets as the president looks at the final three weeks in office and the word from the white house is he wants to finish strong and we'll see him with a number of key moments including a trip to rome to meet with government leaders and pope francis and he wants to meet about his foreign policy and his farewell address that i'm told the president is spending time on during his time in st. croix and to think what

he wants to be the final major address to the american people to sum up his half century in public service, alex. >> that will be something to tune into for sure. mike memoli, thank you so much. >> joining us now we have michigan congresswoman debbie dingle. hello, my friend. good to see you during this holiday season. i do want your reaction on this washington post report. are there certain parts of president biden's presidency that likely left him wanting more? does it surprise you, with trump's inauguration looming that he still believes he would have beaten him? >> you know, alex, look, i'm a person at this point that is looking forward. i think they all have to take a lesson from what happened in the last election. the president -- look, he did a good job in the four years. i don't think the white house did a good job, i don't think members of congress did a good job talking about the bipartisan

bill, the infrastructure bill or the ira bill or how it helped people. i don't think any of us listened to how people were hurting. i did, i knew. i go to the grocery store on sundays and hear people talking about the cost of eggs. how much of this is speculation? how much of it is real? joe biden's a human being. he wanted to do a good job as president and he looked at money again and no one person is responsible for what happens. we all are, and we've got to look forward to what's going to happen in the next four years. >> all right. let's look forward together because it appears the u.s. allies should be ready for another roller coaster period after trump took to social media on christmas with an exception to canada, greenland and panama. is trump's bluster, is it one of his negotiation tactics? >> okay.

so i do not ever try to be a mind reader on president trump. i've predictioned things very accurately like he was going to win r in 2016 and he could win this time. you've heard how foreign countries have reacted to what he said and he warned of the war that it would cost. there are issues with the panama canal. north of canada and parts of my district, but i don't think it's something that is probably realistic or something that would happen peacefully and you know, we'll see where this discussion goes, this debate goes, but i do think he'd have to consult congress, as well. >> let me compare to his first term because trump says these kinds of things on a whim, but he knows more now about how things really work and with greenland, he's approaching buying it and framing it as a

national security issue. will framings like this give trump more legitimacy in congress or do even your republican colleagues balk at this? >> you know, it's very interesting to watch my republican colleagues right now who most of them go along with what he says and are trying to decide about how they're going to react to what he says. i think that many of them are going to care about what the international consequences are, what other foreign countries are going to say. i don't think any of them wants to see a war. i think -- i actually think that trump has picked someone who would be a strong secretary of state. i hope he's going to listen to maybe what his advice is going to be, but you know, predicting donald trump is not something that anybody's really developed in part of, to be perfectly frank.

>> yeah, well, you're right. i do want to touch on how things are shaping up for the next congress. yesterday your democratic colleague democratic congresswoman ckett had this to say. >> i think both are absolutely qualified. i do think that within the democratic caucus we are really stuck in our old ways of doing thing which is you get your best seniority. if you've been there longer then you get the post and i don't think we fully sit there and say who may be best equipped for this moment? >> virginia representative jerry conley beat out alexandria ocasio-cortez who is one of the more high democratic profiles and media savvy. is there reluctance in the party to embrace generational changes in congress? >> so, alex, i'm going to be really blunt about this because this is one of the bugaboos that

i have right now. i think we need to look at each race. i respect alex a great deal. she is my friend. i asked her to come to michigan to campaign with her. i think representative government means that you have representative government. you need young people and you need senior people with seasoning. i think people -- i think alex has an outstanding future. the way she handled running, the way that she lost and her graciousness, her civility and her seasoning is showing, and i want to say that. she has a future. there were two other races that seniority did not win in. actually, three, if you look at the fact that jamie raskin will be chair of the judiciary committee. natural resources was won by jared huffman, so there were legitimate races and i think people vote on the person. i think we have to make sure

that people that are qualified and can do the job are electioned and we have to stop bashing people because they're old or young. everybody should be junged dged who they are, and the job they canew year. omarosa, and how he wound up between the battle of the tech pros and the maga faithful. that's next.

jen b asks, "how can i get fast download speeds while out and about?" jen, we've engineered xfinity mobile with wifi speeds up to a gig, so you can download and do much more all at once. it's an idea that's quite attractive. or... another word... -fashionable? i was gonna say- "popular! you're gonna be pop-uuuu-larrr!" can you do defying gravity?! yeah, get my harness. buy one line of unlimited, get one free for a year with xfinity mobile. and see “wicked,” in theaters now.

new today, donald trump's transition team says his christmas day musings about buying greenland, seizing the panama canal and making canada the 51st state are pat of a broader strategy to gain respect for the united states and make the world safer. joining me now is our friend omarosa manigault newman former contestant on "the apprentice" and the public liaison in the first trump administration and author of "unhinged" an insider's account of the trump white house. obviously, you've known president-elect for a long time. what do you think his strategy is here? >> really, donald trump is really looking at his legacy. this is season 2 of the trump white house and if you know anything about television in

season 2 you really have to intensify the drama. you have to keep the audience entertained and interested and this is really what this is about. this is not a policy battle. this is about donald trump making sure that his base is engaged, interested and they don't have regrets and donald trump likes a good battle. he likes to find a way to identify somebody that he can fight with, create drama and tension and then ultimately he tries to resolve it at the end of the episode. >> yeah. you know what? to that point with these 22 days to inauguration, trump finds himself kind of rfrying a vitriolic fight between his maga supporters and his new tech bro benefactors and trump sided with the tech bros in an interview with "the new york post." are you surprised he picked tech bros over longtime maga supporters? >> i'm not surprised, alex

because donald himself has used a lot of h-1b visas, but what's confusing is during the time that i was in the white house donald put some restrictions on these visas. he was opposed to them. he made sure there was more scrutiny to the h-1b visa process and he wanted to limit them because at the time he was promoting his america first agenda. for him to support what elon is doing and going against his base really will cause a lot of problems. now we see that the maga movement is about to turn ten years old. in 2025 they will be ten and we'll see they're maturing now and they have to hold donald trump's feet to the fire on things that he promised, and he promised that he would put america's workers first and that does not appear to be what he's doing now. >> so we have this new warning today that the next trump white house is in danger of turning into a snake pit, much like the first, when factions are

competing for his attention and trump can return to making decisions based on the last person he hears on an issue. you have been there, omarosa. do you see this happening and if so what's your biggest concern about it? >> yes. it happens, and it's true. i mean, i often would wait outside of the oval office to see who he was talking to, what the last thing they would talk about to make sure that i timed exactly when i put something in front of the president. if you are the last person to talk with donald trump then you are likely to succeed at whatever it is that you're trying to get accomplished. the white house is a crazy place. i serveded there during the clinton administration. i served during the trump administration and a lot of these players know how to navigate. donald is wiser now this time, as well, and i think that you'll see a lot of what he'll do this time will follow his gut as opposed to listening to his advisers which may or may not turn out well for the country. >> well, you have billionaire

businessmen. you know they've been making the trek to mar-a-lago to visit with trump, and he may have shared inadvertently on social media, bill gates also wants an audience with him. do you get the sense that trump is persuadable if they show deference and make their case? i mean, is he? is he persuadable? >> he is, if you come to donald trump and say very nice things to him and compliment him, then he will be open to listening to any of your proposals or your ideas, but these folks are coming because they know they have to. donald trump keeps a list. he checks to see who has congratulated him, who has contributed to his inauguration, who contributed to his campaign? who is on his side particularly if there are policies that impact their particular industry. so it is wise for them to go to mar-a-lago, hain hand and have a conversation with donald trump before he takes office. >> and then, i'll ask, is it wise, i'm curious the way you

interpretty interpret the huge donations to his fund. >> donald does pay attention. he's looking at the list and he's checking it twice. he pays attention, and he knows how much they donated and he knows who has and has not contributed. so the inauguration is a way to support him if, for instance, you sat out the campaign to see what was going to happen. he's expecting those folks to make it up by coming and contributing to his inauguration and numbers matter to him just as much as crowd size. >> trump was out for his branded merchandise including so-called fight, fight, fight cologne described as a rallying cry in a bottle. what do you make of trump going all in on branded merch after his victory. >> alex, he can't really help it. this say guy who was selling trump steaks and trump water and

trump perfumes and trump jewelry. he cannot help himself. he is interested in making money. he wants to make sure that people are buying not only what he's selling in the white house as a policy position, but the merchandising that he's selling and he wants to make sure that he continues to fill his coffers as he's serving which traditionally most president-elects would step back and focus on rung ning the country, but donald trump is always paying attention to the bottom line, alex. >> here is one last question for you. were you surprised that trump would pick former apprentice producer mark burnett to be special uk envoy. he wasn't a supporter when trump ran for president. >> i'm not really surprised. i have to say, just being fully transparent, mark burnett is a friend, obviously, he cast me on the show and he saw something in me to be a part of "the apprentice."

one thing i will tell you about mark burnett, he's always been candid and honest with donald. when he's for him, he'll tell him. when he's against it he'll tell it and he's come out against positions donald has taken and supported him when he is right. he's smart. he is equipped and served in the british military, but more importantly, he has the ear and loyalty of donald trump and i think every coach should be allowed to choose their own team. this is one pick that i actually support for donald trump's team. >> okay. >> i support having you back on the show any time. so i look forward to seeing you when you're able. thanks, omarosa. good to see you. >> appreciate it. meantime, the preparation for the biggest party of the season and the important test to make sure everything goes right as planned. sure

new today, times square looking pretty festive with the countdown to new year's eve under way. preparations are in full swing with a confetti test today before the big event. already people are crowding into streets to claim a coveted view of the ball drop and nbc's george solis also in times square right now. how's the mood there on the ground, george? >> yeah, alex. the energy is electric. a lot of people are hoping the weather stays exactly as it's been today. we've seen some sun which is something we haven't seen for the last few days and that made the confetti test all the more remarkable and a lot of those

revelers upon anying a prime viewing spot behind me. we caught up with the times square alliance as they were testing out the confetti to talk about the pageantry and what makes this event such a wonderful thing to witness year over year. >> it's a great day. the confetti test went well. we like to test everything involved in the show so we make sure on the big day there are no surprises, everything goes off without a hitch. >> being in times square around new year's is just a little bit more magical, a little bit more energetic. the fact that people come from all over the world for that moment in time when that ball drops in times square, it never gets old. >> yeah. alex, if i had a hat i would tip it to new york's finest working around the clock to make sure this event goes off without a hitch. we see the security prep already in place and the only piece of advice for anyone who wants to make it down here for the prime viewing spot, plan accordingly. alex?

>> good advice as always, george. thank you much. the republican party faithful and its new complaints about elon musk on x. ut elon musk on x that's why new chapter vitamins... ...follows her example. ♪♪ transforming nature's 4 billion years of wisdom... ♪♪ ...into supplements. with key vitamins, minerals, and herbs, sourced from whole food ingredients... ♪♪ ...all crafted to work with your body. ♪♪ bringing the power of nature... ...into your new chapter. i need to get me a new phone. you need to trade-in that busted up phone and get you a brand new iphone 16 pro at t-mobile. it's on them. families save 20% every month. what a deal! new and existing customers, trade in your busted old phone, and we'll give you a new iphone 16 pro with apple intelligence on us.

what causes a curve down there? is it peyronie's disease? will it get worse? how common is it? who can i talk to? can this be treated? stop typing. start talking to a specialized urologist. because it could be peyronie's disease, or pd. it's a medical condition where there is a curve in the erection, caused by a formation of scar tissue. and an estimated 1 in 10 men may have it. but pd can be treated even without surgery. say goodbye to searching online. find a specialized urologist who can diagnose pd and build a treatment plan with you. visit makeapdplan.com today.

are you looking for a walk-in tub, for you, or someone you love? and build a treatment plan with you. well, look no further. january is bath safety month. and for a limited time, when you purchase your brand-new safe step walk-in tub you'll receive a free safety package. and if you call today, you'll also receive $1,500 off your entire order! yes! $1,500 off the price of our brand-new safe step walk-in tub. proudly made in tennessee,

a safe step walk-in tub is the best in its class. the ultra-low easy step helps keep you safe from having to climb over those high walled tubs, allowing you to age gracefully in the home you love. now you can enjoy the best of both worlds. the therapeutic benefits of a warm, soothing bath, that can help increase mobility, relieve pain, boost energy, and even improve sleep! or, if you prefer, you can take refreshing shower with our stand-up shower package remember, if you call during national bath safety month you'll receive a free safety package plus $1,500 off! dexcom g7 is one of the easiest ways to take better control of your diabetes. this small wearable replaces fingersticks, lowers a1c, and it's covered by medicare. not managing your diabetes really affects your health for the future. the older you get, the more complications you're gonna see. i knew i couldn't ignore my diabetes anymore because it was causing my eyesight to go bad.

for my patients, getting on dexcom g7 is the biggest eye opener they've ever had. i couldn't believe how easy it was. this small wearable sends my glucose numbers right to my phone or my receiver. with just a glance i can see if i'm going high, low, or steady. so, i can make quick decisions in the moment. now, i'm a superstar. my a1c is 5.7. my a1c has never been lower. no other cgm system is more affordable for medicare patients than dexcom g7. don't wait! call now, and talk to a real person. this year's presidential election was historic, filled with surprises including the emergence of an unexpected key voting bloc, black men. both campaigns worked to secure their support from heavily-tailored messaging on the economy and criminal justice to calling in high-profile

celebrities. msnbc's tremayne lee has ♪♪ ♪♪ >> the 2024 presidential election year was a roller coaster marked by politics, not as usual. >> turn out for what! >> the remarkable focus, black male voters. >> black male voters could be the key voting swing bloc. >> some were unenthused. >> what's missing from the election cycle? what is missing? >> a good candidate right now. >> what's the word that you think when you see these two candidates running for president. >> oh, hell, no! >> and democrats worried about their base. >> the president support among black voters is slipping. a recent nbc news poll shows just 61% would now choose him over a republican. >> he's about to lose me. >> former president donald trump eyed a potential opening. >> donald trump's campaign is targeting young black men

believing that this year the gop can win them over. >> i love the black population of this country. i've done so much for the black population of this country. >> has this long overlooked voting bloc made it clear what mattered most to them? >> anything that's going to directly affect my community. >> we are entrepreneurs. we are business persons and we are homeowners, and we want some real discussions around economic matters in the community. >> some felt ignored. >> we haven't heard anything from a democrat or a republican. >> some felt empowered. >> i want to make a decision that is going to be impactful. >> we need to save ourselves. if we're looking for someone to save us, it's not going to happen. >> a tug and pull between the status quo and the hope for something new. >> people come into our communities and pander for our votes. >> and then an 11th-hour candidate shake-up. >> it's not about me. it's about you. >> president biden bowed out of the race. >> are you ready to make your voices heard?

>> and vice president kamala harris became the nominee. >> and when we fight we win! >> and suddenly, was there something new along with new energy for candidate kamala harris, looking to make history as the country's first indian black and woman president. >> let's get out and make kamala harris the 47th president. >> a slew of black celebrities showing our support. >> our black men, we have to get them out to vote. >> while the trump campaign had theiren endorsements. >> let's vote for trump. make some noise for the president. >> his version of black voter outreach. >> they're taking black jobs. >> you see black people walking around with my mug shot. they say that's why they like me because they've been hurt so blackly and discriminated offense. >> for black men there was an appeal beyond trump being trump. >> he has good folks around him and good policy, and so that's all i'm looking for.

>> in the end, the vast majority of black voters, including black men, stood by v.p. harris, many dreaming of a new way forward. >> i voted for kamala. i think it's time to try something new. >> there were unforecasted shifts and the surprising realignment of voters including growth with hispanic men and young people. among them young black men. >> the democratic party trying to understand shifts in its core coalition. >> american presidential politics. president-elect trump will be elected on martin luther king >> thanks to tremayne lee that. meantime, can the january 6th election victory be in peril? there may be a big hurdle. that's next. there may be a big hurdle. that's next. in. so, we switched to tide free & gentle. it cleans better,

and doesn't leave behind irritating residues. and it's gentle on her skin. tide free and gentle liquid is epa safer choice certified. it's gotta be tide. 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. ♪today my friend you did it, you did it♪ pursue a better you with centrum. ♪♪ it's a small win toward taking charge of your health. ♪♪ so, this year, you can say... ♪you did it!♪ my name is brayden. i was five years old when i came to st. jude.

i'll try and shorten down the story. so i've been having these headaches that wouldn't go away. my mom, she was just crying. what they said, your son has brain cancer. it was your worst fear coming to life. watching your child grow up is the dream of every parent. you can join the battle to save the lives of kids like brayden, by supporting st. jude children's research hospital . families never receive a bill from st. jude for treatment, travel, housing, or food, so they can focus on helping their child live . what they have done for me, my son, my family-- i'm sorry, yeah. life is a gift, especially for a child battling cancer. call or go online and help save another lives of children like brayden. now, i'm 11 years old.

we were actually doing the checkup for my brain. and they saw something in my throat. it's thyroid cancer. it was heartbreaking to find out that he has cancer again. but we knew who we had behind us. it just gives me hope. you can make a difference. join with your credit or debit card for only $19 a month. and we'll send you this st. jude t-shirt. without st. jude or its donors, we would have been in a bad place. these kids, they've done nothing wrong in the world. finding a cure for childhood cancer, it means everything. help st. jude give kids with cancer a chance. [audio logo]

republicans today coming to the defense of house speaker mike johnson as he faces an uncertain future in the battle to be re-election as speaker. president-elect trump has yet to publicly voice support for johnson. they want to quickly elect a speaker in time to certify trump's win. >> when matt gaetz and several of my colleagues teamed up with 208 democrats to remove kevin

mccarthy will go down as single stupidest thing i've ever seen in politic, with that said, removing mike johnson would equally be as stupid. the fact is that these folks are playing with fire, and if they think they're somehow going to get a more conservative speaker, they're kidding themselves. >> joining me now, carlos cabello, former republican representative from florida. good to see you. let's get into this. clearly republicans do not want the chaos we saw in 2023 with more than a dozen rounds of voting especially if it can endanger certifying trump on january 6th, are they united enough or disciplined enough to avoid it? >> well, they haven't been united or disciplined enough for quite a while, alex, and in this case, what congresswoman lawler said is absolutely correct because there is no one right now who could garner the totality of republicans which is what they need to elect a speaker. there is no alternative to mike

johnson, the men who would be alternatives like steve calise and these are all people who tried to become speaker during the current congress and failed. so mike johnson is really the only option for republicans at this point. >> do you think certification on january 6th could be in peril? >> oh, listen, if a few of these members get together and do what they did to kevin mccarthy, yes, it could be in danger. there could be a constitutional question that could come up. so definitely, that's something to look out for if johnson can't win the first vote, then anything can happen after that. >> yeah. go ahead and grab your phone and just tell them you're busy. just kidding. >> jennifer rubin wrote about democrats saying they would call for common ground with trump calling it produce itless and

instantly normalizes, she wrote, democrats should not propound the dubious assertion that trump can operate. how can they stand up to trump while doing their duty to the country? >> look, i think, alex, the democratic opposition has to be a loyal and sober opposition. the country is really tired of outrage politics on both sides. i mean, for a couple of decades now you've had warnings about the end of the world coming if the other party wins and americans are really tired of that, so i think democrats have to be principled. they have to stand up for what they believe in. they have to try to defend the center of the country's politics and they have to not intimidate or demean people, and in the senate for republicans, there's a number of swing state republican senators and others