giving the panama canal to panama was a very big mistake. we lost 38,000 people. it cost us the equivalent of a trillion dollars, maybe more than that. probably the most expensive, they say it was the most expensive structure, if we call it a structure, which i guess you can, ever built. and giving that away was a horrible thing. and i believe that's why jimmy carter lost the election, even more so than the hostages. those two things. complicated now. >> much more complicated. because it never would have started. >> but it whas started. >> not only started, the cities are largely knocked down. >> at this point to hold onto the leverage with president- putin, would you make a

commitment to the ukrainians? >> i wouldn't tell you if that were the case? >> to provide a security guarantee if they do enter into an armistice or a ceasefire? along the lines of the french and the germans. >> before you could have nato involved in ukraine. they said that has been written in stone. biden said they should have someone join nato. there were a lot of mistakes made in that negotiation. when i heard the way that biden was negotiating i said you're going to end up in a war and it turned out to be a very bad war and it could escalate. that t war could escalate to be much worse. >> so they can never join nato? >> my view is it was always

understood. i believe they had a deal and biden broke it. biden said no, you have to be able to join nato. that has always been, and nobody knows more about nato than i. years ago i didn't know too much about it but i got it right. i'm the one that the secretary general was here as you know two weeks ago saying if it weren't for me, may know wouldn't exist. i raised from countries not paying their bills, 28 countries. 20 of them were not paying their bills. or they were paying a very small portion and i raised over $680 billion. that was the number edhe gave b saying if you don't pay, we're not going to protect you. as soon as i said it the money started pouring in.

they all could have said it. bush could have said it. obama could have said it. in a true sense i have saved nato. one of the problems that i have and i said it openly, i said it to president zelenskyy, europe is in for a tiny fraction of the money that we're in. whether you like that situation or not, europe is much more effective than the united e states. we have a thing called the ocean in between us. why are we in for billions and billions of dollars more money than europe? and you know there they are similar sized. a little smaller. similar sized economy as the united states when you add them up and yet europe is in for a small fraction of the number the united states is in. now biden could have called d them up during the term. that's whey did. i said you have to pay your bills. and one stood up. i won't say who.

you'll probably have it. because the media hated to report on it. prime minister from a country. he stood up, he said does that mean if we don't pay our bill, many people didn't pay. many people, including germany, was at less than 1%. i think nato should have 5%. every country. if you are going to have a country and a regular military, you're at 4%. they're in dangerous territory. they could all afford it but they should be at 5%. not 2%. i'm the one that got them to pay 2%. a gentleman stood up, a prime minister said sir, can i ask you a question? if we don't have to pay our bills will the united states protect us from russia? i said if you don't pay, you

mean you are delinquent? yes. if you are not delinquent, we a will not protect yo i took a lot of heat. although a somewhat closed door. i took a lot of heat from the media. and the money started pouring in. that's why nato has money. and the secretary general said it was the most incredible thing he had ever seen in a negotiation. now, if i would have said yes we will, nobody would have paid. i would have loved to have said yes, we'll protect you even if you don't pay, but that's not the way life works. >> mr. president, two questions related to each other. first you said on your first qu day of office, you are going to pardon january 6th defendants. are you planning to charge those who were charged with violent offenses? >> we are looking at it and we have other people in there. as you see, 24 or 28 people came now from the fbi that came out very quietly. nobody reported it. but they had people in some

form related to the fbi. we have to find out rabout tha about hezbollah, about who was in that whole thing. because people that did some bad things were not prosecuted n you know. i see it all the time. and you see it too. people who were doing some bad things that were not prosecuted and people who didn't walk into the building are in jail right now. so we'll be looking at the whole thing. but i'll be making major pardons yes. please. >> on jack smith's report. >> good afternoon mr. president. two questions about syria and the ongoing war in gaza. the pentagon disclosed last month, the u.s. has some 2,000 troops in syria. that's almost double the number initially we were told of 900. will you keep that troop capacity the same? >> i won't tell you that. because that's part of a military strategy. but i will say it was turkey. turkey has been after that b country in different names and

forms and shapes for 2,000 years, those people that went in are from turkey. president erdogan is a friend of mine. i like and respect. i think he respects me also. he's the one that didn't go after certain people that i requested that he not. the kurds. i don't know how long that is going to go because they are natural enemies. they hate each other. he didn't do that yet. and he didn't do it in the past also. he started and i said please don't do that and he didn't do it. if you look at what happened with syria, russia was weakened, iran was weakened. he is a very smart guy. they went in and took over and that's the way it is. >> do you have concerns about hts taking control? >> by the way, i have the envoy here. is that in the back, standing

with my son eric is steve, just got back from the middle east ro and he has done a fantastic as job. he's a great deal maker. i said we need people who make deals. we understand where people where but they can't make deals. steve, i just want to thank you, you have been working endlessly for months. working specifically on the hostages to get them back. steve, come up for a second. i didn't know steve was going to be here actually. he has done a fantastic job. it is a dangerous job too and i appreciate it. he didn't know about this danger and the other deal making he does. >> one second. i have to give you a little

report on the hostages if i can, steve. >> wow. um. i think we are making a lot of progress. and i don't want to say too much because i think they are doing a really good job in doha. i'm leaving tomorrow back to go to doha but i think we have had some really great progress. i'm hopeful by the inaugust inaugural, we'll have some good things to announce. it is the president, his reputation, the things that he has said that are driving this negotiation. and so hopefully, it will all work out and we will save some lives. [ inaudible question ] >> i believe we have been on

the verge of it. no point to be negative in any way. it is his president, his stature, what he expects, the red lines he puts out there. that is driving this negotiation. i'm going back this evening or tomorrow night. >> is it something that will, if there is a deal even at all, we have been hearing this now for the better part. >> they better be. >> i would say the president is exasperated. i don't want to talk for him. but, look. i don't know anyone who delegates better than president trump. he gives us a lot of authority to speak on his behalf. and he exhorts us to speak emphatically. and emphatically means you better do this. because the alternative.

>> do i have to define it for you? all hell will break out. if those hostages are not back by the time i get into office, all hell will break out in the middle east. all hell will break out. they should have never taken them. people forget. there was. many people are killed. they are no longer hostages. i have people from israel and others calling, begging me to get, you know, we had also people there from the united states. they are holding some so-called hostages from the u.s. but i have had mothers come to me and

fathers crying, can i get the body of their son back? can i get the body of their daughter back? that beautiful girl where they threw her in the car, pulled ar her by her ponytail and threw her in the car like a sack of potatoes. i said what happened to her? sir, she's dead. like a 19, 20-year-old, beautiful girl. and the way they treated her. i just say this very simply. steve's got a job to do. he is a great guy. great negotiator. it's what we needed over there. we have people who knew everything about the middle east but can't speak properly. he is a great negotiator. that's what i needed. i could have sent that gentleman right over there. we have the right person. if the deal wasn't done before i take office which will be two

weeks, all hell will break out in the middle east. >> thank you mr. president. >> you have done a great job. >> more than 140 police officers were injured on january 26th. will you pardon anyone who attacked a police officer? >> the only one that was killed was a beautiful young lady named ashley babbitt. she was killed and there was actually somebody else that wasa killed also. a maga person. but people don't give it 100% credibility. i'm going to find out about it. we'll find out. but ashley babbitt was killed. she was shot. she should have never been shot. she was shot for no reason whatsoever. in fact, they say she was trying to hold back the crowd. and the crowd was made up of a lot of different people so we'll see. but i'll tell you this. the person that was killed was

ashley babbitt. when they talk. there were never charges of insurrection or anything like that. but if there were, this would be the only insurrection in history where people went in as insurrectionists with not one gun. okay? the people that you are talking about have a lot of guns in their home for hunting and shooting and entertainment. a lot of good reasons. but there wasn't one gun that they found why didn't they find the pipe bomber? the status of the fbi has got down so far and the status of the doj or as i call it the department of justice. it is the department of injustice being laughed at all over the world. with kash patel. and pam bondi, all that will come back. if you do a poll, i'm at 90% with the agents of the fbi.

but they have hurt that incredible place, law enforcement. you think of the fbi, they raided this house. by the way, they could have told me, could i see this guy? i would have given him. i actually told him. come in any time you want. you can see anything. they raided the house and the case was dismissed. now i'm in litigation. i'm suing them for doing that. and i feel so badly doing it. i'm the president of the united' states and i'm suing the united states. i'm suing them for other things, too. the fbi has gone so, it's reputation has been so horribly hurt between comey who was the worst and all of the others. what's happened to the fbi. we'll make it great again. we will make the fbi great again. we will make the department of justice fair and strong. but fair again. because all they did was attack me because i'm their political

opponent including local judges like marchan. why do i have a gag order where i'm not allowed to speak in i'm the president of the united states. and i'm not allowed to speak. why? because if i did speak, people would understand the scam. it's a scam and we have very dishonest judges. new york judges. very bad. one that valued this house at $18 million because it was good at their case. that hand chandelier is worth more than $18 million. we had another one so nasty, so horrible. such a brute. a most vicious, vile person.

>> you didn't rule out military coercion. >> we need green land for national security purposes. i have been told that for a long time. long before i even ran. people have been talking about it for a long time. you have approximately 45,000 people there. people really don't even know if denmark has any legal right to it. but if they do, they should t give it up because we need it for national security. i'm talking about protecting the free world. you look at, you don't even need binoculars. you have china ships all over the place. you have russianships all over the place. we're not letting that happen. if denmark wants to get to a conclusion but nobody knows if they have any right title or interest. the people will probably vote for independence or to come into the united states. if they did that, i would tariff denmark at a high level.

>> are you actually going to draw plans? >> no, we're not at that stage. i haven't even entered office yet. >> elon musk is drawing criticism for some of his actions about foreign affairs in europe. is that appropriate? >> you mean where he likes people that tended to be conservative? i don't know the people. i don't know the people you are talking about. i know he said some negative things about a couple of people that are running for office. but that's not so unusual. yes please? >> i wanted to ask you about ukraine and putin. how soon do you anticipate going to meet with putin to discuss the ukraine situation? >> i can't tell you that. by know that putin would like to meet. i don't think it is appropriate that i meet until after the 20th. every day, many young people

are being killed. the land is very flat. they are laying in fields all over the place. nobody even collect. there's land mines all over. the human body is stopping a lot of bullets. it should have never been started. that's a war that should have never happened. i guarantee you, if i were president, that war would never have happened. >> who would you like to nominate to replace michael

barr? >> i'll be announcing. >> the leader of the conservative party of canada said under no circumstances canada will be the 51st state. >> maybe he won't win. i don't care. >> are you considering military force to annex and acquire? >> economic force. because canada and the united states, that would really be something. you get rid of that artificially drawn line, and you take a look at what that looks like. and it would also be much better for national security. we basically protect canada. but here's the problem with canada. so many friends up there. i love the canadian people. we are spending hundreds of billions a year to protect it and take care of canada.

we lose in trade deficits we are losing, we need their cars. they make 20% of our cars. we don't need their lumber. we have to unrestrict them because stupid people put restrictions on. i can do that with an executive order. why are we losing $200 billion a year or more to protect canada and i said that to as i called them, governor trudeau. what would happen if we didn't subsidize you? we give them a lot of money. canada wants to join us in the buying of ice breakers. we don't want to have a partner in the buying of ice breakers. >> does the u.s. have right to

lay claim? >> no right. here's what we have. we have a right not to help them with their financial difficulties. we are going to be able to doubt because of energy and other things. no, no, no right. but why are we supporting a country. 200billion plus a year. our military is at their disposal. they should be a state. that's what i told trudeau. what would happen if we didn't do it? he said canada would dissolve. canada wouldn't be able to function if we didn't take their 20% of our car market. again, they send us hundreds of thousands of cars. a lot of other things. we don't need their cars. their products, their milk. we get a lot of milk. we get a lot of everything. and we don't need any of it.

so i said to him, he was unable to answer the question. we are doing it because of habit. we have been good neighbors. i think that is okay to have. if you are a state. we are not going to have it with european union. we have a trade deficit of $350 billion with the european union. they don't take our cars or farm product or anything. and so we'll not have it with them either. >> happy new year by the way. >> thank you. >> breaking news. looks like cannon has blocked the doj from releasing the report until further court rt

proceedings. >> that's a big story. so, if i get it right, the fake witch hunt started by the doj having to do with books and records. he wasn't protected by the presidential records act. i was. but all of that fake stuff that took the lives of people, people are droid because of what they did. destroyed. but we got to be president. but, biden did it for 40 years. he did it when he was a senator. that was illegal. and they ruled it was illegal. how about that? they said it's illegal but he is unfit to stand trial. so he can stand and be president of the united states of the prosecutor found he was unfit for trial. i was going to use that as a major talking point but i never got to use it because all of a sudden i had a new candidate who was also sort of unfit to

stand trial. right? so what you are saying is the judge just blocked, so, cannon was thrown off the case. they dropped their appeal because he had no case. they lost the lawsuit. so this is jack smith. he dropped the tlawsuit. they lost in court. in front of a very strong and as very brilliant judge. they lost in court. that pertained to other cases in other courts. so he will do a 500 page report and it will be a fake report like the investigation was fake. this guy was thrown off in disgrace. he went back to wherever they send him in disgrace. because he failed.

so badly. because it was a fake case against a political opponent. they thought they were going to use this to beat me. they are not allow today issue the report. so if they are not allowed to issue the report, that's the way it should be. because he was thrown off the case in disgrace. why should he be allowed to write a fake report? that's great news. >> if i could follow up quickly. you want to comment, many americans are angry that we are sending millions of dollars every month to the taliban. >> it's not even believable. billions of dollars. that is given by biden. the same man who took away 50 to $60 trillion worth of value from the united states. this can't be allowed to

happen. we are now a nation of common sense. when he does that 625 million acres, this can't be allowed to happen. thank you for the information. most people probably knew about it but wouldn't have told me. >> on hathe campaign trail, you vowed to bring down the prices at grocery stores very fast. you told time magazine that bringing down prices would be very hard. so what can the american people expect when you get into office? >> it is always hard to bring down prices when somebody else screwed them up. energy will bring down prices. we'll have a lot of energy. and, energy is what brought it up. energy and their bad spending is what brought it up. we'll have prices down. will see drastic price reductions. food, bacon. ham. apples, everything has gone through the roof. it's one of the reasons i won. as you know, inflation is one

of the reasons i won but the biggest reason is the fact they are allowing prisoner to come to into our country. they release their prisoners, their murderers, thousands of murderers are now walking around the streets of our cities and farmland. all over. murders. people who have killed. 32% have killed more than one person. they release them from their jails, their prisons and their mental institutions and insane asylum into our country. i believe that's the reason we got a large vote. >> president carter is laying in state today. you had harsh words for him about the panama canal. is there any disconnect there about doing that on this day? >> i liked him as a man. i disagreed with his policy. that or the hostages. it's a deal that just should

not have been made. this was a question asked of me. i didn't bring it up. i didn't want to bring up the panama canal because of his death. but people don't bring it up. no, it's a deal i was strongly against. i was a young guy when this took place. but just, why would we spend all of that money, lose 38,000 people to malaria, the mosquito, they were dying, it was horrible, they died in the jungles of malaria. there was smog we could do. and we gave it away for one dollar. >> you appear to open the door in your radio interview for two bill approaches. one big beautiful bill as you said. >> i like one big beautiful bill and i always have and always will.

but if two is more certain, it does go a little bit quicker. for immigration and for the wall, we won the case on the wall. you know, they tried to sell the wall for five sents oen the dollar by the way. we had a judge that stopped that. they were already discarding the wall. five cents on the dollar. they were calling us up. we will sell it back double what we paid for it so they were going to buy it for this guy for five cents on the dollar. we had a smart judge that stopped it cold. but think of it. they were selling the wall that the border patrol wanted. steel, concrete, rebar. exactly as they wanted. very heavy powerful steel, hard

to cut. everything was top of the line. let me ttell you, they were selling it for five cents on the dollar and those people were asking us to pay them 200 cents because it's a good deal. we can have it immediately. just leave it in place. no, no. the papers haven't written that. that deal is like all the other things these people do. they either hate our country or they are very stupid. and i don't believe they are stupid because nobody can cheat on elections like they cheated and be stupid. so remember what i said. >> good day everyone. i'm andrea mitchell in washington. the last hour, you have been listening and watching donald trump in mar-a-lago at a wide w

ranging statement news conference. the president-elect speaking tot the press as his legal team has been trying to block several pending developments in the cases against him. some successfully. they have filed last minute attempts to stop his scheduled felony sentencing. that is still pending. new york appeals court will hear that. trump's team has been trying to prevent the release of the special prosecutor of jack smith's report on the evidence that the prosecutor says justifies the classified documents and election interference prosecutions. both case haves been dismissed but the report was still legally mandated. well, the attorney general merrick garland was to make the final call. but today, we are hearing that judge cannon in florida based on her throwing that classified documents cases out claiming the special prosecutor is not

legally constituted, did not have the right to investigate. that has put a hold on the entire prosecution on both january 6th and the classified documents case. pending a decision on whether the prosecutor was legally mandated by the 11th circuit court of appeal. well, the 11th circuit would be hearing a case that had already been decided in many other districts. the special prosecutors are legal. but, this is a case that judge cannon and we know that she has done some very unusual decision to say the least that all favor, you know, donald trump in many controversial ways. has issued that order. temporarily blocking the portion of the report on classified documents. that is raising questions about the jurisdiction. it likely means the classified

documents portion cannot be med public the defense lawyers that had been issuing the legal briefs to try to block them, if they are confirmed moved over to the justice department. joining me now, lisa rubin. and ken dilanian. and msnbc legal analyst barbara mcquiaid and kimberly atkins. a lot of legal development ins the past hour. he attacked judge jack smith and judge merchan. can you explain the emergency hearing this hour? >> let's start with judge

cannon's ruling. she will impose a stay on the release of any special council report. that not only applies to the report itself but to any information contained in that report. in both instances she says jack smith, attorney general, merrick garland and the department of justice employees and agents and those of the special council's office are precluded from sharing either the report or any information th beyond the department of justice itself. that means that for example, when the 11th circuit decides they want to have a crack at this, that those actors would be precluded from sharing with the circuit itself. the information about the report or a draft report. it is not clear to folks like many whether she has jury diction. because earlier this year, she threw out the mar-a-lago documents case explaining that from her reasoning, jack smith

did not have constitutional authority to bring that prosecution under the appointments clause of the constitution. and so there is no basis here to block the report in part because it is not clear there is a case or controversy in front of her, but if there were, the argument that trump is making that presidential immunity also precludes the release of the report is a stretch of the supreme court's ruling. that a president hecannot be prosecuted for acts having to do with his presidency while he is a sitting president. but here they are trying to say that it has to do with the transition period. and therefore, during the transition period, he should h also be protected and that he should be protected because this would subject him to some

sort of peculiar public program. we have been discussing the hearts of this case since june of 2023. based on ken's reporting and others, our understanding is that this this report wouldn't contain any new information much less subject the president to a program publicly. for all of those reasons it is unclear why judge cannon has done what she has done. her stay of the release of the report extends beyond any decision by the 11th circuit. she says it will last three days longer. it is unclear why she has done that. one possibility is that the 11th circuit doesn't sit until next week. going through the 17th. could it be that she is trying to impose a stay that would last beyond the time at which

donald trump is inaugurated? that is one possibility. >> absolutely. the calendar is there. and right now, the president's defense lawyer is in the lobby of the appeals court looking over his documents because they are about to appeal the sentencing issue. if you could sort out being a professor, understanding the appellate situation. who has jury diction? the 11th circuit or what is a legally mandated report that is supposed to be shared with congress as i understand it. at the conclusion of a special prosecution. since the cases have been dismissed at his own direction, what would stop that report on january 6th from being released by judge cannon since she has

only jurisdiction over the classified documents case? >> you raise a good point. i don't think she has any jurisdiction. but delay is the name of the game. if they can stop the clock until january 20th then the department of justice will be a trump appointee and they will kill the whole thing. that's the goal here. i think it seems that judge cannon does not have jurisdiction over this case. i think she does not. they have to go to the 11th circuit to sort that out. they don't sit until next week. if they can just delay that long enough. the justice department would be in violation of a court order to release this. there are two volumes of this

report. judge chutkin has denied the motion to release this case. she also seems to be lacking in jurisdiction. at the end of the day, the most important thing that happens here is the executive barrage is permitted to share this with the legislative branch because courts should not be intervening there as a separation of powers. >> so if merrick garland, ken dilanian, wants to release this january 6th report, could he do that without being in violation of a court order? >> not right now. this is an order by a federal judge. they believe it is binding on them until they can get it lifted. it applies to both volumes of

the report. there is a legitimate issue at the heart of this. that is why the doj says it may not be able to release the classified documents at all. because there is a local rule in the southern district of florida, 77.2, that talks about releasing information pertaining to a pending criminal case outside of a trial. and doj lawyers looked at that. it was raised by the lawyers for donald trump's codefendants and say yeah. that seems to apply here. >> ken, can the prosecution drop the cases against those codefendants in order to lift that to make that rule not pertain? >> in theory, tthey could do that. they are appealing. the reason they haven't done that, they are appealing what they view as a bad order by

judge cannon saying the way they selected the special council was unconstitutional. if they come in and drop these cases this report would be subject to the freedom of information about and you and i could sue to get it. what i was saying is the justice department has concluded they may not be able to release jack smith's report about the classified documents portion of this case. they do believe judge cannon has no jurisdiction as barbara said. was brought in washington dc. but right now, they have to get some courts to say that. to counter man judge cannon's order. >> could they release it to congress as is mandated? >> not according to this order they cannot talk about it or release it outside of the si justice department and the

judge made clear this order should be served on merrick garland. it is the order of a federal judge. how long it will be in place is another question. >> and lisa rubin raising a good question. that the 11th circuit doesn't come back until next week. it would bring it to january 20th and the inauguration of the president. let's move onto the other issues the president addressed in more than an hour including panama canal. saying he didn't want to bring it up. but was asked about it. didn't want to criticize it because it was a jimmy carter decision. talked about the 38,000 people e

he said died of malaria, the workers. and this has been litigated of course. it was major political issue when we were covering jimmy carter. ronald reagan was against it and it was one of the big issues in their campaign in th 1980. the fact it had been ratified. with a big fight in the senate. that the democrats won. the fact that treaty has been in place. the i haven't had a chance to fact check, that the u.s. has more ships going through the canal than anyone else. that sounds unlikely. can you give me anything more about what the president-elect said today about greenland? where his son is with the delegation? renaming the gulf of mexico as the gulf of america.

suggesting that canada should be a 51st state? >> yeah, this is something we have heard from the president for some time now. about his ambitious desire to take control of territory and property in countries that are not currently under u.s. jurisdiction. the biggest headline there was when he was asked if he would rule out military force to take control of the panama canal and greenland and the president did not rule that out. that is significant as it pertains to what his incoming administration might do. he did rule it out as his desire to incorporate canada into the united states saying he would not use military force, but did not rule out economic force in the sense of sanctions. he went through in a detailed manner the ways in which he

feels the united states is unfairly or unjustifiably paying for canada's security and canada is not offering the united states anything that the united states does not already have. and you know, calling trudeau governor trudeau which he had done on social media, part of this sort of effort where he wants to make clear that these are not just bits or jokes on social media. but part of a real desire to try to expand the united states. now that is all talk right now. we'll see once he takes the oath of office whether he pursues these plans. wanting to offer pardon to january 6th defendants. he has said that before. that is clearly top of mind for him as he takes office. we will have to see once he takes office what he decides to pursue it is clear, territorial expansion is a priority for the president. how realistic that is of

course, will depend on what happens once he arrives in the oval office. >> and another foreign policy issue was the whole question of ukraine saying that president biden made it impossible to have a deal that was possible to be made to end the war. that president biden was insisting on nato entry for ukraine. that is not the case. the position is that ukraine still has to qualify and it was a pathway to nato that all of the nato countries agreed to. so i'm not sure exactly what the president-elect meant by that. kimberly, jump t in here before we have to leave and talk about the web of information and some misinformation that came at us in this more than an hour

announcement and news conference. >> yeah, my thumbs are sore from fact checking along the way everything from the lie about none of the insurrectionists being armed. some of the convicted insurrectionallists were armed and had enhanced penalties because they were armed in that case. everything from that to the situation abroad to opening up this whole press conference basically endorsing an oligarch government where billionaires are making the decisions and controlling things. do we need better cyber infrastructure in our country? yes. should we be prepared for ai? yes. are there a lot of people besides billionaire businessmen that can bring that to the fore? yes. but this is what donald trump's view of what strength is and what the american people apparently want in his view. but it is dangerously similar to the kind of leadership we

see in places like russia or hungary or other places where y we have strong men and oligarchs making decisions as opposed to the american people. and often accompanied by oppression of people. so the entire news conference had a lot of red flags in it. it will take time so sort through them all. >> there's a lot to chew over. we will get to more in the coming hours as well. but let's also, thanks to all of you. and let's talk about right now, what's happens in a manhattan courtroom, lawyers for the president-elect are making their case for sentencing in the hush money case to be delayed. more of that coming up. we will take a quick break. but first, also, remembering former president carter. his casket is now en route to washington where he is going to lie in state in the u.s. capitol before his funeral at the national cathedral thursday. you're watching andrea mitchell reports on msnbc. andrea mitche reports on msnbc. shrimpin' ba!

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president. air force one. the ceremony later today will be at the memorial in dc. he lie in state at at the capitol after the funeral at the national cathedral. on thursday, you will deliver the eulogy his father had written for his death. so, let me first ask ted mondell about what his father's relationship with jimmy carter was. this was a fact that jimmy carter asked ted mondell was his vice president of course.

ford had campaigned against him. but they became very close. the closest friends among the former presidents for jimmy carter who wasn't that close with some of his successors. but he had asked for them to write eulogies that would be delivered for him and those will be delivered on thursday by steve ford, one of gerald ford's sons and by you, ted, on behalf of your father. >> yes, they had a very long and fruitful relationship. they grew up in small towns. they were both, had very strong faith. and they really worked out, nice haircut. they really worked out a relationship where they could work together and trust each other and understand each other. and i think that the working

relationship as vice president helps us support the initiatives that the carter administration put through. my father was able to put through things the other vice president hadn't and they remained friends. they remained friends throughout their lives. carter was up here for my dad's 90th birthday. and, it really is the great story of a successful relationship and the beginning of the modern vice presidency. >> that was actually, ted, something i heard joe biden say at a ceremony in washington. that jimmy carter remade the vice presidency. i traveled with your father in 1980. i traveled with him on the reelection campaign and got to know him very well indeed. it was one of the great privileges of my young reporting life. jill, you knew the former president so well.

we talked about this before. you were with him and rosalyn so many years. sharing dinners, so many meals and thoughts. so our condolences to you. if you should share what you feel about the outpouring. >> it's been wonderful to see the thousands of people coming to plains for the sendoff. and the people streaming by the casket. the last couple of days. it is a celebration here. they packed so much into their lives. they ate right every day. they exercised every day so they could live as long as they possibly could to help as many people as they possibly did. and they did an incredible job. >> and, it is really striking how in all of my interview withs the former president, he

always referred to them as the partnership. they decided to build the carter center a year out of the white house and build on whatever unfinished business, human rights and health care, global health care and all of the other things they have wanted to do and they did it, the former president for 43 years. >> 77-and-a-half year partnership. and they were totally in step. people ask me about president carter and mrs. carder. and i can't talk about each one. i have to talk about them together. because that's the way they wanted it and that's the way things played out. >> former president carter didn't like the trappings of washington. he carried his own bags onto the plane on air force one and

he didn't like the pomp and circumstance, hail to the chief. all former presidents sign off on their funeral plans and the plans as we see them, personal moments like the visit on saturday to his boyhood farm which was so beautiful and some of the other remembrances and lying in repose as we watch the casket now earlier. this was at dobbins reserve air base. in marietta, georgia. beginning of the flight and the ceremonies to washington. but john, why do you think he signed off on the pageantry of coming back to washington, not a place he loved so much in the capitol which was always, not always so welcoming when he was president. but he is being remembers and

saluted as other previous presidents have been. >> there is a difference between pomp and circumstance and the symbols of state. and president carter was an officer of the united states navy. governor of georgia. commander-in-chief of the united states of america. and, he was both man and office. and i suspect, i can't read his mind obviously. i suspect that he would make a distinction between the emblems of power which to him were also manifestations of responsibility. right? it wasn't simply about the show for him. it was not about attention

only. it was about the work itself and i think presidents know. all great presidents are to some extent great actors. i don't mean that in a dismissive sense, but they are able to create an impression in order to move people in a direction they want to go. they are able to convince people of a reality that the people may not know exists and that's part of what commemorations do. that's part of what we saw in georgia there. he is coming to washington. he will be lying in the place where so many others have done so. i presume he is going to be on the lincoln piece of equipment of resting of the casket there. and it's a moment for the

country to remember that presidents are both makers of their era and mirrors of their era. and jimmy carter's america is pretty far away. and i think a lot of us will be thinking as we watch these events that we would like it to be a little closer. >> thank you all for these remembrances, john, jim, jill and ted. and we'll be seeing you in washington at the services. that does it for andrea mitchell reports on thursday. special coverage of president carter's funeral services. i'll be reporting live from outside the service all day. all morning. and, right now, chris reports is up next. , chris reports is up next. good day. i am chris jansing live in new york city.

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