nd easier than ever. that's what i do. is that love island? thank you for letting us into your homes during these extraordinary days. we are grateful, the beat with ari melber starts right now.

we begin by covering these catastrophic wildfires that are raging across southern california. officials say these wildfires are at this hour, still growing. when you look at measuring the containment of these very tragic and horrific scenes, you see people's homes burning to the ground, they are at 0% containment right now, so this is a very active and dangerous situation for people. the death toll has hit five. thousands of structures have been destroyed, the firefighters bravely trying to deal with the emergency are facing brutal conditions. these are basically what they call hurricane force winds, so it's a 100 miles per hour in some of these areas. there's a lack of water supply from the hydrants which have been basically bled dry at the firefighters try and contain some of the fires where they

can. the fires are growing so fast a resident told nbc he was caught here, fire! fire, and we jumped up, we weren't even asked to evacuate to get out of here. i told my wife, is this happening to us? we were watching it on the news ourselves, saying wow, what a tragedy, look at what's going on and boom, here we were. >> >> i saw you down see yourself with water, too, are you getting bird? >> all of the radiant heat catching off of there, i had to keep myself cool, i was freaking out. i didn't want to panic. >> across the news channels where we've been monitoring this

we have people taking videos across the internet where people have already been sharing, photos and videos, when they returned, people are seeing that many residents returned to find their homes damaged or completely destroyed, sometimes burnt to their foundation. others say they are just grateful to have survived. >> we did take all of our family pictures and a few valuable paintings out last night. so, all the stuff that is here is replaceable, people are not, so, family is the most important thing. >> many emotional moments like that for families, you can see here, this is basically homemade, a citizen generated video as someone drove through these areas. the pacific palisades, you have that, the rubble, the ash, and earlier today the ellie fire department did resume the air operations. the dangerous twins in some areas did start to abate. jacob, tell us about what you

are seeing? >> reporter: i been thinking about how do you describe watching your own community or and slowly over 24 going on to 36 hours, and i'm almost running out of the woods to do it, it's deflating, and i think a lot of people feel the same way. there are so many people who lived and walked the streets on a daily basis, this is a livable, walking community. different than most people think about los angeles. you can walk to or you could walk to the supermarket, you could walk to the restaurant in the middle of the village. you could walk to church or synagogue, the place that i was bar mitzvahed was around the corner from here. many of those places, are not what they once were if they are standing at all. and i think none of us here in los angeles expected what has

played out here, and what really can be described as a firestorm. you mentioned the hurricane force winds. it has been since i got out here last night, structure after structure, tree after tree, car after car, hillside after hillside, continuing to burn, and that is because the winds are whipping around with the hurricane ferocity, and actually the firefighting flames that you see on the left- hand side of your screen are few and far between in the areas that i've been because it's too dangerous to be flying there. and honestly, there's too much fire to be dousing, and so, there will be 24,000 people who was desperate return to the pacific palisades and it's not the place they once knew. what happens after this is the big question on everyone's mind, even as structures like the one behind me continue to burn, this block continues to

ignite, and people continue to grieve. >> jacob, people who aren't close to this, sometimes imagine a fire as something that hits a house and moves to another, and there's some sort of slow process, this seems like quite the opposite. can you tell people watching, more about just how quickly this played out and it spread? >> reporter: yeah, i described it as a tinderbox ready to go, we've had such a little rain over the course of the year, after to really amp, rainy seasons, which a lot of people think of california as drought prone but there was a lot of foliage all over the place. i went on a hike actually with my son and my daughter the other day and i remarked how dry everything looked but how much dry brush there was and that is a recipe for disaster when the santa ana winds which we been getting those winds that blow in from the east and go out to the coast, they call them the devils winds, mixed

with fire, and while fire season is not supposed to last as long as it has, as governor newsom described, we are in almost a permanent state of fire season at this point in southern california and when you combine that with the winds that we been feeling, we are in this rare moment of the winds dying down, sitting in this cloud of heavy smoke and ash, but when they pick up, they are whipping, we were driving last night after our live coverage and it felt as strong as any hurricane, it rocked the car, side to side, ripping tree branches off, the set of circumstances that have played out here, have been the perfect storm, perfect firestorm to literally wipe what most people knew of this once vibrant community in the center of los angeles, it is a neighborhood of the city of los angeles, this is an urban neighborhood,

wiped it almost off the map almost entirely. >> when we hear 0% contained, what does that mean for what lies ahead? >> it means a lot more work for the extraordinary first responders who have been out on the streets, some without sleep for the last 24 hours. i was mentioning to nicole in the previous broadcast about having been a firefighter who hadn't slept for 24 hours, his face was caked insert, his eyes were the only thing they didn't have any because he had been wearing goggles for the last day. they are doing literally the lord's work going door to door, attempting to save every structure and life that they can and i just want to use this opportunity to thank them again because when we talk about what's next, it's really in their hands and there are thousands of first responders from all over southern california and i would imagine from even beyond who are here doing the work on behalf of this community.

>> jacob soboroff, you and your team stay safe. thank you for your reporting on all of this. that's the news out of california and we will keep an eye on that. there's also brand-new developments, a blow to donald trump as he appears to lose to jack smith in the final piece over the fight about whether or not the coup report will be released. also joining us, geraldo rivera and by the end of the r, hollywood icon jeff daniels makes his beat debut. as of right now, i will be back with you in just 90 seconds. 90. when you're a small-business owner, your to-do list can be...a lot. ♪♪

super helpful. ♪♪ [ cheering ] what are invoices? progressive makes it easy to see if you can save money with a commercial auto quote online so you can get back to all your other to-dos. absolutely not. get a quote at progressivecommercial.com. ♪♪ amazing. jerry, you've got to see this. i've seen it. trust me, after 15 walks, it gets a little old. ugh. stop waiting. start investing. e*trade ® from morgan stanley. [coughing] hi susan, honey? yea. i respect that, but that cough looks pretty bad. try this robitussin honey. the real honey you love, plus the powerful cough relief you need. mind if i root through your trash? robitussin, with real honey & elderberry. upset stomach iberogast indigestion iberogast bloating iberogast thanks to a unique combination of herbs,

iberogast helps relieve six digestive symptoms to help you feel better. six digestive symptoms. the power of nature. iberogast. news out of washington, where all the preparations are towards trump's incoming administration but today was a reminder, he is not president yet and he's losing to president biden's justice department and the attorney general. there are reports now that donald trump's potentially criminal behavior including the effort to steal the election on january 6th, and the failed coup, will be documented in a publicly released report. this has been a class but the doj says it's going to release jack smith report on trump's coup efforts. that basically rejects what had

been in and out of bounds or unusual effort by a judge in florida who didn't have jurisdiction over the january 6th case to try and intervene, these reports can matter a lot. i bet your member when special counsel mueller release that report during the first demonstration, it had a big impact even though just like now, it didn't ultimately lead to and wasn't expected to lead to at the time prosecution or conviction of donald trump, so it was report that matter, now he's president elect and so while many have followed these cases and the delays, this report is something that could matter a lot and jack smith has laid out why this work he says, matters. >> our nation's commitment to the rule of law, it sets an example for the world. we have one set of laws in this country and they apply to everyone. >> that was what he said as a prosecutor and laying out the case. fast forward to today, the case itself after the delays in the supreme court will not proceed but the report doj says and

this is new today, will come out, that is unless a supreme court or a higher court intervenes. trump's attorneys oppose this and they say the report which they've had some access to although it's not public, documents the unprecedented criminal effort to steal the election they say the report is wrong about the claims. and just yesterday, trump was attacking the report as fake and saying smith shouldn't even be allowed to release it, that's his quote, during a press conference. the attorney general's plan is a sickly rebuking and rejecting what president-elect trump, what he wants on that right now, and we know it's been well documented. people have been investigated, some have been sentenced for those four

patients in the crimes and trump was of course indicted and we've shown you these different plots, where he or others have been indicted for those efforts leading up to january 6th, it was just this week we have the first january 6th since trump staged the two. how did we get here? take a look. >> the attack on our nations capital on january 6th, was fueled by lies. lies by the defendant, targeted at obstructing a bedrock function of the u.s. government. >> i would have declined to represent trump in these challenges. i look back on this whole experience with deep remorse. >> the supreme court just ruled a president has absolute immunity for core constitutional powers but not for unofficial acts. >> special counsel smith said he is ending both the january 6th election case and the classified documents case.

>> i'm joined by john flannery. happy new year. >> john, we can talk about what wasn't and what didn't happen let's get to that in your second answer. for your first answer i'm curious, what you think about the attorney general appearing to have jack smith act and moving forward even at a time when some people in the country are saying hey, give the new incoming president a chance and move forward. today in the filing, the attorney general through the justice department they are saying no, they will come out with this report. >> that's a welcome surprise, given that the tough issues have not always been fought so cleanly. it's a thing that is necessary to remind the nation of the kind of person that is going to become president on january 20th. a man who sought to usurp our method of transition, trying to declare himself the winner when he lost to biden, and it also says something about bringing

to test those people who violated the law, the reckoning. is is the reckoning i would want? no, but it's not enough, that's my objection, not that the report shouldn't be out. it should be compared to the january 6th report and we should look for new things that we were not aware of before the report is released and i also think the document issue is a stunning question, how can we have the top secrets of america trusted to bathroom locations, conversations with stray people and perhaps for all we know, sold for value? >> i haven't seen reports of anything being sold, but on the january 6th report, john, we could learn things i mean, many followed the molar report closely and the whole reason it was controversial and why there was such a big deal about what it said in the accusations against bill barr, it was all

about the facts and the evidence meeting the criminal process, it seems trump's lawyers don't want this evidence out. and is that a bad sign because if there was some great explanation for hey, you weren't involved in the bad stuff for you didn't want the violence, then wouldn't you want the evidence to help make your case? >> it's because the evidence doesn't make their case. the tradition here that i endorse, and i know you endorsed by a personality and everything you ever said about this matter, is, let the people know what the facts are, what the evidence is and let them draw the conclusions, that's what the first amendment is about, something that is close to your heart and i'm not just talking about tonight, i'm talking about a long time ago. and so, if the first amendment

means everything, which is for us, to understand how we inform the actions of government, this is critical in that sense, just as the molar report was and we can't expect these things to go forward without there being combat but when the combat is not to answer it, then i think we are in a special place. i think it becomes even more important that we release the information to the public so they can know that the guy that's going into the white house is a felon whose a failure at running casinos, and has barely ever told a public statement that was true. >> john, we always appreciate you and i'll tell you tonight, i have a hunch that you would think atticus fish is an example of the right kind of justice and we have jeff daniels who played them by the end of the hour. >> his performance in the whole tradition is fabulous, he is an amazing actor and we are lucky to have his talent. >> there we go. sort of an overlap between some of our guests tonight. >> i'm always glad to serve.

hakeem jeffries says the democrats have a plan on how to deal with the trump sequel. geraldo rivera is here tonight and by the end of the hour, a man who has both embodied what it means to try and fix america's problems, jeff daniels, who's also embodied a newsroom figure, he will be here, we're talking art, politics and this -- >> you know why people don't like liberals? because they lose. with a straight face you're going to tell students that america is so star-spangled awesome that we are the only ones in the world who have freedom? there's no evidence to support the statement that we are the greatest country in the world. america is not the greatest country in the world anymore.

grease getter. upset stomach iberogast indigestion iberogast bloating iberogast thanks to a unique combination of herbs, iberogast helps relieve six digestive symptoms to help you feel better. six digestive symptoms. the power of nature. iberogast.

you don't stop being you just because the power of nature. you turn 65. but, you do face more risk from flu and covid. last year alone, those viruses hospitalized nearly 1 million people 65 and older. 1 million. vaccines lower your risk of getting really sick, so you can keep doing you.

at harbor freight, we do business differently from the other guys. we design and test our own tools and sell them directly to you. no middleman. no folks in suits telling us to raise prices for the heck of it. just quality tools you can trust, at prices you'll love, every aisle every day. that's how we like to do business any way. whatever you do, do it for less at harbor freight. (♪♪) z's bakery is looking to add a pizza oven, arissa's hair salon wants to expand their space, and steve's t-shirt shop wants to bring on more help. with the comcast business 5-year price lock guarantee, they can think more about possibilities

for their business and not the cost of their internet. it's five years of gig-speeds and advanced security. all from the company with 99.9% network reliability. get the 5-year price lock guarantee, now back for a limited time. powering five years of savings. the future of cool, comfortable sleep is here. powering possibilities™. introducing the new sleep number climate cool smart bed. the only smart bed in the world that actively cools and effortlessly adjusts to both of you. sleep up to 15 degrees cooler on each side. it actively cools by drawing warm air away from your body, to keep you cool and comfortable throughout the night. our smart sleepers get 28 minutes more restful sleep per night. it's our lowest price of the season on our most popular smart bed. save $1,000 plus 0% interest for 48 months. shop a sleep number store near you. republican conference is

filled with marauding bands of individuals who can't stand each other. and democrats as far as i can tell are unified. >> hakeem jeffries have that message, we are going to get into that with longtime journalist, legendary tv personality, someone who's been around and dealt with donald trump in many capacities, welcome back. geraldo rivera. >> nice to see you, happy new year. >> what easy going into the new year? there's been a lot of energy and a lot of tension through the election, that's over, we come back, the president-elect has picked his team, they picked the speakers and hakeem jeffries says he doesn't seem shook, it's a close margin in the house, they will need republican unity to get much of anything done. your thoughts on heading into january 20th. >> that's a big question, but i

think that first of all, let me say the reality of governing and passing laws is going to meet the harshness of the divided government in washington. i mean, it is, to me, inconceivable to think that the president is going to get tax policy, he's going to get immigration, he's going to get energy, all done, tariffs, all done, in one massive bill, they barely got the speaker of the house elected the other day, and that was only because president trump personally lobbied a half a dozen or eight holdouts -- >> i'll let you finish but it's interesting because you've been around and you've covered it and you say as a matter of legislative planning, if this were a restaurant, his eyes might be bigger than his stomach? >> i definitely believe that is the case. you know, i'm not an expert in how washington operates other

than the fact that i've been in the news business for half a century. i've never seen them able to really do big stuff, unless they focus. obamacare as broad as it was, was about one thing, so he was a president who promised on day one to change the world, but the world is going to resist being changed. denmark is not going to want to yield agreement, panama is not going to want to give up the canal. canada will not give up its sovereignty, you know, people who are going to be paying shopkeepers, who now have to sell more expensive chinese goods because of tariffs will not want to sit idly by and they will be demanding their own tax breaks, the dreamers, the immigration -- it's an impossibly complex and very, very difficult machine, washington is, and the president, for all his bravado and all of his bluster and his

huge charisma, in any way, i don't cut him short, but it's not going to be enough it seems to me to get some of these real stick in the months to move in his direction when they see the world in totally different ways. >> and that's where the government comes in, if you had a larger mandate, a 30 seat majority in the house, that would be different, and you have to price it out based on what you have. i want to show you this reporting that the trump transition team, they want to do a d.c. area showcase immigration raid in the first days. that this would be a quote high profile raid targeting undocumented immigrants, i'm curious what you think of this because i've covered this, i've had stephen miller on the show, i think we can stipulate that there are debates about immigration in this country and there's a question about how to deal with this in a holistic

way that is humane but protects national security. i'm curious what you think of something that's already being billed as a quote show or advertisement, isn't this issue more important than making a d.c. show for the d.c. media market? >> i'm an old man now, i've been a boxer all my life, but because of my frailty, but i would come back to punch stephen miller in the nose, because he is the most hideous in terms of his policy, i don't know the guy personally, in terms of this policy, he is absolutely draconian, he's the definition of it. he doesn't want to resolve the issue, he wants to scapegoat certain people that where in his mind, it would resound favorably to president trump. i think this is a horrible idea, a showcase of raids in

the d.c. area, you know what that's going to do? it will heighten uncertainty in the immigration world, it'll infuriate the democrats and it'll motivate that base and it will absolutely garner him no additional points. he needs now to use this bluster and use this moment and use these first 100 days to make deals. he prides himself on being a dealmaker, he did it in his other life when i knew him better. make a deal. >> i've got something else to show you and i know you are passionate on the issue. we oppose all types of violence, you might be using some political rhetoric, i know the president-elect uses rhetoric this time, but i will

take us beyond american politics because i told you this before, it's interesting to connect with you given the news career that you had, and i want to show you something we dug up as we look, let's look beyond our american divisions for a second, this is all the way back, you mentioned the years that you've lived, this is from 1977, take a look. >> good morning and welcome to havana harbor where a soviet freighter waits its turn to come into this busy port. a couple of hundred yards away from that ship is this bordered up and melancholic building, this ladies and gentlemen used to be the american embassy. you look around and the thing that occurs to you is funny, they don't look like communists. >> there you are reporting in castro's cuba, meeting with fidel castro this is your very newsworthy interview, castro used his style, he was controversial for many reasons,

but he had his own leadership style, a joking charisma as well as the interview he did with barbara walters, take a look. [ speaking in a global language ] >> actually castro wasn't correct, in checkbook journalism, abc did in fact, pay him, he received a $20 fee. >> your reflections i don't know how much you remember that trip, that era, informed policy in the cold war and the type of reporting you were doing. >> i loved barbara walters, we became friends as soon as we were paired together at abc in the 1970s, i think it was at

the son of sam, that was the first story that we did together and i left her her whole life, we had a wonderful friendship. i jumped out of her birthday cake for her 75th birthday, you know, castro was one of the greats, all-time greats, and i know a lot of people hated him as he came to symbolize you know communism and its grip on latin america, and you know, anti-americanism, and all the rest, defeating our friends at the bay of pigs and so forth, but he was like trump, and i don't mean politically, of course not. but in terms of larger than life, in terms of that kind of ability to project and control a room, and to make people listen where they might ordinarily not listen.

so, i enjoyed that enormously, what he said in the interview was, he wanted some talks with the united states but he really didn't. he prospered personally and i don't mean financially, he prospered in terms of his image by his opposition to the united states and by cracking the hold that the united states had on latin america, but he was an historic figure in many ways and it was a wonderful experience for me, i was on at 8:15 every morning on good morning america for i don't know, for 10 years, and i was someplace else every week and it was a wonderful growing experience for me and to be representing that network. we also did the panama come out together, the 70s where latin america was really front and center. it was really a wonderful

growing experience. >> i'll make you a deal, you keep coming back and talking to us about the news of the day and some of the characters that you've come to know and we will sprinkle in some of the hits from the vault. >> it has been a pleasure, my prayers to the people in california >> thank you, geraldo. we will fit in a break but as i mentioned, we have an update on these terrible fires in southern california, what you need to know, next. the right money moves aren't as far-fetched as you think. there it is. see? told you it was going to all work out. thanks, future me. for more than a decade farxiga has been trusted again and again, and again.

♪far-xi-ga♪ ask your doctor about farxiga. upset stomach iberogast indigestion iberogast bloating iberogast thanks to a unique combination of herbs, iberogast helps relieve six digestive symptoms to help you feel better. six digestive symptoms. the power of nature. iberogast. this land is your land. this land is my land. this land we love belongs to all of us. yet not everyone is treated equally. right now, millions of americans are fighting for the things promised to all by the constitution. freedom. justice. equality.

you can help by joining the american civil liberties union today. so please call now or go online to myaclu.org to become a guardian of liberty. your gift of just $19 a month, only $0.63 a day helps protect our democracy. this land is your land. this land is my land. from california to the new york island. with support from people just like you. the aclu is leading the fight to protect our civil liberties. will you join us? call or go to myaclu.org today. use your credit card and you'll receive this special we the people t shirt and more to show you're part of the movement to protect the rights of all people. nobody living can ever stop me as i go walking

that freedom highway. this land was made for you and me. together we can ensure that this land continues to belong to everyone. because we the people means all of us. so please join us. call or go online to myaclu.org today. we are people living with afib. ♪♪ and over half a million of us have left blood thinners behind. for life. ♪♪ we've cut our stroke risk... ...and said goodbye to our bleeding worry. with the watchman implant. we may be getting older, but we've never squeezed more out of life. ♪♪ and we are just getting started. join us at watchman.com watchman. it's one time, for a lifetime.

reporting on the deadly wildfires, at least five people are dead. 80,000 residents are under mandatory evacuation orders. this is all of course right around the los angeles area, the pacific palisades, the fire is moving too fast, residents forced to abandon their cars and flee for safety, the file the -- fire department bulldozing through some of those areas, in pasadena, nursing home residents were helped by neighbors and some residents are able to return discovering entire homes, gone, leveled. steve patterson spoke to a resident who just found out her home had burned down.

>> is this your home? i'm so sorry. when did you see this? >> 10 minutes ago. >> i'm so sorry. we watched neighbors try and put water on that. >> i know, everybody got out safe and that's all that matters. we can rebuild. >> we can rebuild, a spirit that we are hearing from many people that reporters have discussed and contacted sometimes on camera and sometimes off, these are tough scenes. a malibu resident becoming emotional discussing the loss of their home. >> our worst fear happened, that's all right, we are survivors, we will build another home. my partners photographs, my

grandpa's antique chest and all of that stuff. >> this is what we are hearing, the spirit of resilience over and over even as people simultaneously process the grief, the loss, items that are sentimental, sometimes when that goes, they can't be replaced, even as people continuously tell reporters what matters is the survival of humans, not the stuff, the water system pushed to the extreme, air quality at hazardous levels, the pacific palisades are saying that the water is tapped out now. >> we are fighting a wildfire with urban water systems and that is challenging. what happened in palisades, we have three large water tanks about 1 million gallons each. we ran out of water about 4:45 p.m. yesterday. we ran out of water in the

second one about 8:30 and the third tank about 3:00 a.m. this morning. >> officials warning extreme wildfire conditions will likely continue throughout tonight. so that's the story that again i mentioned we led the hour with and we heard from jacob on the ground. we've heard from a lot of people. and it's just something the country is dealing with so we will continue to cover that throughout the rest of the night. i want to tell you about the other sort of story or interview that i mentioned earlier, jeff daniels was known for his roles ranging from the serious like atticus finch, the newsroom, and also very funny stuff, this is his first time ever coming on the beat so we are going to talk about everything, the political roles, character roles and even the really funny roles. >> stop walking into the oval pinking you can outwit this guy. he's going to fire you. >> he can't fire me, that would look horrible. >> this is a $500 plate dinner.

>> no problem, put us down for four, in case we want seconds. i. i. ♪♪ patients who have sensitive teeth i. they have to make a choice one versus the other. sensodyne clinical white provides two shades whiter teeth as well as providing 24/7 sensitivity protection. patients are going to love to see sensodyne on the shelf. (vo) oof, stuck paying for that old phone? don't be. as well as providing 24/7 sensitivity protection. you know, at verizon, we'll pay off your phone. and you'll get iphone 16 pro with apple intelligence, on us. now with genmoji. that's a value of up to eighteen hundred dollars. only on verizon.

hey, take a moment. do you know who we are? we are the kids you champion every day. we are the ones who dream big. and because of you, our dreams become a reality. these are more than just words. this is what we're all about. this is shriners children's™. because for more than 100 years now, shriners children's™ has been on a mission to provide the most amazing care anywhere. and guess what? it's working with more than 100 access points to care shriners children's™ able to reach more kids in even more places all around the world. when we need them the most their amazing doctors and nurses are treating kids in the u.s., canada, mexico, and latin america. and they're helping kids from more than 100 other countries too. and the best part? they're doing all of this regardless of a family's ability to pay. and someone else helps make it all possible.

you. tú. you. tú. you too. it's true. you're pretty awesome. when you go online to loveshriners.org or call this special number with your monthly gift, you'll make a difference too. your donation large or small helps shriners children's™ do new research creates life-changing treatments, and provide burn care to kids around the world. every day, people like you give families like ours the hope and healing we need. and when you give your monthly gift of $19 or more. we'll send you your very own love to the rescue® blanket. it's a warm reminder of the incredible things you're making possible, and that you're a part of something special. because no matter where we come from or what language we speak, every kid deserves the most amazing care anywhere. so how can you help? take a moment. call or go online to loveshriners.org right away and start filling our world with more hope, healing and possibilities.

upset stomach iberogast indigestion iberogast bloating iberogast thanks to a unique combination of herbs, iberogast helps relieve six digestive symptoms to help you feel better. six digestive symptoms. the power of nature. iberogast.

we are excited about this, we talk to people at the top of their fields and today we are joined by sad award nominee and emmy award-winning actor jeff daniels. the breakthrough character,

mcavoy, the physical comedy of dumb and dumber with jim carrey and he also has a new audio memoir and multiple installments reflecting on his light -- life work, it's available on audible now. jeff daniels, thanks for being here. it's really great, i'm excited, we are going to get into everything but let's start with the memoir, this is something you decided you wanted to do with your son, why? >> i didn't want to do it. my agent called and he said you know, you are the only actor in hollywood who doesn't have a podcast and i said, is that a problem and he goes well, and i said look i'll do it, if i can kind of do a one-man show. and the platform that audible originals gives me is i can ask, i can write, i can act, i play music, so i've got songs

from 40 to 50 years ago which is really a musical diary, i can make up, i can do anything i want. it allows me to do everything that i do, in one place, so that was attractive to me, and season one was kind of well, i hope it flies, and it did. so here is season two. >> i'm part of a generation that literally grew up on your movies and as these movies and the show and people in journalism, look at some of the newsroom and the political roles as well, did you like overcoming people's limitations or assumptions for you, you can't do serious, initially, oh you can't do goofy. >> when dumb and dumber came along, that was a direct, i want to change the course, i know i can do comedy. you don't know i can. i know i can. i want to work with jim carrey and put it on the line, and see

if i can't change things up, and dumb and dumber at the time, i mean we knew we had cornered the market on 12-year- old boys but we were not prepared for the demo from 8 to 80 on that. every actor wants something, and i've got a few, a movie or a play or a performance that outlives you. a speech, you know, the newsroom speech, dumb and dumber, it doesn't matter, and have things that will outlive you, that is the goal of every actor. they say if i can just get one thing that i could be remembered for, you know, and i've got several, i'm lucky. >> you are drawn to roles that deal with politics, the art of politics and what we might call the search for public ethics? >> i guess i am.

well, i've said yes to those, they come to me, when you sit down with aaron sorkin, you really don't care what it is, you are going, when do i start. when you're asked to do sorkin again, and play atticus fish -- finch on broadway, that qualifies yeah, yeah. maybe. i like those guys because they stood for something. they could be flawed, certainly mcavoy was, and we gave atticus a few weaknesses as well in the play version, anyway, but they all tend to stand for character, integrity, respect for others, do unto others,

they stand for those kinds of things. and, looking back, especially postelection, some of your favorite characters stood for things like that. where did that go? you know, and i think that's part of the problem, what we are going through now is we are at the mercy of not caring about things like that anymore, they don't matter. >> your dad was a small-town man. >> my dad was atticus finch. i grew up with atticus finch. small-town lumber man, school board president and have the principles of someone like atticus finch. you are in viewing these characters with something that -- it's fallen away from us in

america. >> i said november fifth we will find out who we really are and we did. but maybe, if you want to have some hope, maybe it's who we are now and let's see if that holds. yeah, whether it's social media or any of the number of reasons why they campaigned on fear, all of this stuff, you know, i just, we are supposed to, the idea, maybe it's naove, and maybe we found out on november 5th that it was naove, but hate is easy, love takes a little more effort. and maybe standing for things like character and integrity and respect for others is too hard, and we are not going to get what we want if we do that so let's flush that and do the

other, and go for it. okay, okay. i hope we return. my hope was that i hope the day comes when on either side of the aisle, that we are electing the best of us. not the worst of us. i just did an independent movie called reykjavmk, and it is the 1986 meeting between gorbachev and reagan, you know, and george schultz and it's them talking about lowering the nuclear weapons, this happened at a time when they were pointing nuclear weapons at each other and it was dangerous. >> let's take a look at the real reagan talking about those talks in iceland and i want to hear how you channel them. >> we will be taking the same balanced approach we took in geneva. on one hand we will make it clear we seek negotiations in a serious progress with the

soviets on a wide range of issues. on the other, we will make it clear that we will not sacrifice our values, principles or vital interest. we can view this whole process with a degree of optimism. >> the play was difficult because you are threading any -- to neil, you've got to get the voice, the hair, everything has got to kind of, and it's a little like comey but it's the voice and you got to land the voice and as the director said, we just need you to suggest it, and there are so many ways that you can do reagan, you can get a whole bunch of prosthetics and put plastic on you so that you don't really see me, or you can do nothing, you can do jimmy stewart playing charles lindbergh, or, you can suggest and the suggesting thing is interesting, it's like with timothy, you see that it's timothy, you see that it is me.

and reagan is in here. and so i approached it like maybe for actor speak, i'm channeling, and i'm pulling you in, in through me into him, in a way that doesn't push you away. sometimes the prosthetics and look at all the stuff, that makes the audience just sit back and not really feel it, and what you want is to pull them in and if they kind of see you but they hear him, there's a thing were actors say, you know, the best actor, the greatest acting is when you inhabit the character and with reagan, i was letting reagan inhabit me. >> jeff daniels, thank you very much. i appreciate it. there is a longer version of this interview that you just saw with a lot that you haven't seen, go to msnbc or search on

youtube for the full senate, we will be right back. over a decade. otezla is also approved to treat psoriatic arthritis. don't use otezla if you're allergic to it. get medical help right away if you have trouble breathing or swallowing, swelling of the face, lips, tongue, throat or arms. severe diarrhea, nausea or vomiting; depression, suicidal thoughts, or weight loss can happen. tell your doctor if any of these occur and if you have a history of depression or suicidal thoughts. with clearer skin, girls' day out is a good day out. live in the moment. ask your doctor about otezla.

my life is full of questions... how do i clean an aioli stain? use tide. do i need to pretreat guacamole? not with tide. why do we even buy napkins? thankfully, tide's the answer to almost all of them. —do crabs have eyebrows? —except that one. for all of life's laundry questions... it's got to be tide.

upset stomach iberogast indigestion iberogast bloating iberogast thanks to a unique combination of herbs, iberogast helps relieve six digestive symptoms to help you feel better. six digestive symptoms. the power of nature. iberogast. the power of nature. for all those making it big out there... ...shouldn't your mobile service be able to keep up with you? get wifi speeds up to a gig at home and on the go. introducing powerboost, only from xfinity mobile. now that's big.

>> that does it for me. the reid out with joy read is up next. >> tonight on the reid out -- i've been talking to friends, family. they've lost everything. homes, businesses. the whole city has just earned to the ground and there is