not the president. >> and the difference between todd blanche and matt gaetz is blanche actually doesexperience as a prosecutor. so, if blanche's nomination is confirmed before gaetz's, which is possible, given the controversy surrounding matt gaetz, he could serve as acting attorney general. how with that work? >> that's right. so under federal statute, there is a specific statute that talks about the succession plan at the department of justice. and so if the attorney general position is open, by virtue of resignation or death or removal of somebody, the person who sits as deputy attorney general gets to be the acting attorney general. and here you can envision the scenario where it behooves the trump administration to try and confirm todd blanche as soon as possible so that he can start the department on the foot that donald trump wants it to start on, even if matt gaetz lingers for some period of time. the other thing that i think people need to know is there is something called the federal vacancies reform act that says anybody serving in an acting capacity has 210 days and then

todd blanche, if this matt gaetz thing goes south, todd blanche gets the nomination?> i'm not sure he gets the nomination. if i were the trump team, i would think about how to get confirmation hearings for todd blanche as soon as possible and have a vote on him. there is a federal statute that provides that the dag, the deputy attorney general, has the right to act as attorney general once confirmed for what could be an unlimited period of time. it is not time delimited as it is in the federal vacancies reform act and there are some people who believe if the two statutes are interpreted together, it means that doj's person is not subject to the same restrictions as other acting secretaries who have to stay in for 210 days and then out of there. the thought is if todd blanche is confirmed, right at the start of the trump administration, he can hit the ground running as the acting ag and do that for as long as they like. >> if he's going to get to be confirmed to be acting ag, what is the difference. >> between matt gaetz and -- >> between the confirmation hearings? >>

there are hopes that trump defense lawyers, somebody like todd blanche might be that person. as someone who speaks fluent trump. many people don't know what that is, but he . nbc news reports people close to blanch says his past work gives him an understanding of the doj's traditions and barring presidents and politicians from influencing individual criminal investigations. joining me to discuss this, hayes brown, writer and editor for msnbc daily, molly fast and host of the fast politics podcast and special correspondent for "vanity fair." great to have you with us. what do you make of this reporting that somehow todd blanche is expected to be the adult in the room and maybe because he is familiar with the doj may be able to, as i said, speak trump and tell him lay off going after these people? >> that's a very nice idea. i do appreciate the fact that he was a federal prosecutor, has experience in the doj, he knows what the rules and regulations are and should be. the problem with that theory is that he did just spend the last several years as one of trump's key attorneys. a

but i know that todd blanche, not as defense attorney, which was a different role, but todd blanche asce department knows what the justice department is supposed to be, that it is supposed to be the prosecutor of the people, it is supposed to prosecute violent crime, fraud, political corruption, and i worked with todd on those cases, i know that he likes those cases, that he believes in the mission of the department of justice to do the right thing in the right way for the right reasons. and i do hope and believe that he knows that, and that he will continue that once he rises to the occasion in that role. i know i'm going to get a lot of blowback on that, because there are a lot of people understandably who have no faith anymore in our institutions, or in the guardrails holding. but i think if there is someone who can be that person in this time, and i don't mean resist everything that donald trump wants him to do, that won't be his job, and that's not what we're here to ask for, we're here to ask for someone to hold on to the justice department as it is meant to be doing the right th

what a blanche or a.g. acting blanche mean for that department? >> that is a really interesting question, peter. it depends on who you ask. if you ask people who served with todd blanche in the u.s. attorney's office for the district attorney district of new york you'll find people who are largely comfort that todd blanche, who enjoyed a sterling reputation when he was in the office is joining a department of justice that might be headed by matt gaetz in whom they don't have confidence to say the least. on the other hand, if this matter is not resolved, you will also have a deputy attorney general who was involved in litigating not only this case, but the federal election interference case that led to that presidential immunity decision, and a department of justice have an interest in entering this litigation for example, if the new york city's d.a.'s office want to sentence trump or uphold the conviction the department of judge has an interest as lawyers for the executive office of the president in that litigation. you can expect todd blanche to

when whatever that is tells todd blanche do you really think he's going to say no thanks, i'm going toign and i'm going to throw all of it away immediately the second that i give it an order that is wrong. >> we have said that trump has learned from 2016 he now knows a little bit more about the leaders of power he knows who does what, you probably didn't know any of this in 2016 he came up against people who said no mr. president, you can do that. >> i would say that trump is trump. yes there are a lot of republican think tanks that are very excited about this, they still don't have a ronald reagan. they have someone who considers cannot be a part of the republican brand. there going to come up against a lot. weaving solid with the mac gates apartment. >> everything i was going to flag was this reporting from the washington post the donald trump is playing, looking in battle ground states that there was fraud in the 2020 election. not the 24, but the 2021. >> that would be hilarious the best case scenario as he gives the order, they find exactly the same as everybody else which is noth

but now, because of this situation, you know, todd blanche gets put up.you think that there would be pushback to that? i mean, obviously there's different you know, levels of qualifications seems to be a prosecutor with you at s.d.n.y but what do you think? what's your view on all that? >> that would be night and day to go from matt gaetz as a nominee potentially to todd blanche as a nominee, you would be going from someone who's completely unqualified to someone who is eminently qualified in todd blanche as you said, i worked with him for several years at the southern district of new york as for the correct point that todd blanche and emil bove and and other john sauer who are all now in line to be top doj officials, all of them have represented donald trump? that is true but that is not out of line with historical precedent. george w. bush nominated alberto gonzales, who was a good ag, who had been his lawyer in the past. ronald reagan nominated edwin meese, jimmy carter nominated griffin bell, john f kennedy nominated his own brother, rfk senior. the f

taught blanche to serve as the next deputy attorney general. note tonight, nothing has been finalized. legal sources are here , a pair of formal federal prosecutors in l.a. nick and ellie williams, and also a conservative attorney who was once actually, if you can remember that far back, considered by trump to be his solicitor general, the number three at the justice department, now outspoken trump critic, george conway. that was a very long introduction. george ? >> yes. >> your thoughts? >> i-- you know, everybody is like shocked, surprised , there is nothing surprising about this. this is -- matt gaetz in a lot of ways is the perfect attorney general for donald trump. right? i mean, we have a criminal -- convicted criminal who is a president, who has been adjudicated to engage in sexual abuse, so why not? select a guy who has been loyal to him, who wants to seek revenge in the same way donald trump does, and who is, you know, was accused of -- of sex traffic. he is the perfect choice. so i don't know why everyone is surprised. >> the other t

the pick of todd blanche, emil bove and john sauer, all have solid credentials, are designed to calmaetz and say this is the department of justice that's about to go off the rails. i would say to folks if matt gaetz is still in control of the department of justice, you should not be calmed by the presence of these three people. they may understand the apparatus itself in the department of justice, but they will be subject to direction of one matt gaetz. >> but would a todd blanche be acting attorney general if there is no one already filling that role, if gaetz, again, confirmation process is moving slowly, who takes up that space as the head honcho? >> oftentimes it is the deputy attorney general, but usually not the newly confirmed deputy attorney general that acts as the attorney general. you'll remember that, for example, during the first trump presidency, the first acting attorney general was sally yates, who was president obama's deputy attorney general. she served in that capacity for ten days until rodgers- rosen s came in. you want to have your deputy and ag confirmed simult

todd blanche would kind of assumed the role of attorney general.now him, kayla, very well from the trump trial in new york and everywhere else, because he is, of course, one of donald trump's main lawyers. todd blanche getting nominated for that role was slightly less controversial, especially among lawyers that i talked to. he actually was a former federal prosecutor here in new york before he went into a private firm and then went to work for trump. and that's a really managerial job, like he's somebody who's run a department before. and so people weren't surprised to see him be put in as the number two at the justice department if trump's confirmation goes through. but a lot of people are wondering what that dynamic would be like between matt gaetz at the top and a todd blanche sort of, you know, a more, uh, you know, a more traditionalfigure right underneath him regardless. blanche is going to be doing a lot of day to day work running that agency. so he's still going to have a lot of power no matter who's above him. and it's curious when you lo

is it a todd blanche? because todd blanche and matt gaetz are not the same.t least not, at least from the experience that we've so far had with todd blanche. >> and todd blanche and emil bove, let's be very clear, before they defended donald trump, they both did work as top prosecutors in the southern district of new york's district attorney's office. these men both have experience in the top attorney's office of the doj. and so both of these men, if they were to get confirmed by the senate for todd blanche, that would be in the number two role as deputy attorney general, he would all but be in a position, in short order, in a week's time, to serve in the role of acting attorney general. and acting attorney general has just as much power as the attorney general, but depending on where these republican senators indicate that they're willing to go on this matt gaetz vote, you very well could see a confirmation process for attorney general for todd blanche instead of deputy attorney general. and these are two individuals who, i think, have less of a public recor

should gaetz falter, could be todd blanche. who is trump's personal lawyer and the choice for deputy attorney general that looks like, i mean picking his personal attorneys to also go into the administration, he's now at four with picking will sharp over the weekend to to be staff secretary notable in and of itself. >> but but you know as we're triaging the headlines here the other pick here that seems to be pushing the boundaries of what the system is going to take is his pick for the pentagon chief obviously, pete hegseth has been part of this as well. what did you hear? what have you heard over the last 48 hours of how trump is viewing that, given we've learned he did pay money to the woman that's accusing him of sexual assault, which i should note. he and his attorney are denying there's more concern from some people around trump than there is from trump himself about this whole issue. trump has really dug in and has told advisers that he is going to stick with hegseth. now we'll see if if anything else emerges. they did do

sources tell us, blanche is under consideration for a role in the new administration after he defended trump against criminal charges in new york and in two federal cases. the hacks, part of a sweeping chinese cyber-espionage campaign to collect the private communications of prominent american officials. abc news previously reported the chinese attempted to hack phones used by trump himself, vice president-elect j.d. vance, and people affiliated with the harris campaign, by infiltrating u.s. telecommunications firms like verizon, lumen, and at&t. the chinese clearly have the know-how to do this to anyone, david. but a senior u.s. intelligence official tells us they're really interested in people with access to america's secrets, to boost its military or crush its economy. david? >> david: aaron, thank you. >>> from china to russia now, and tonight, russian president vladimir putin congratulating president-elect donald trump, saying a new world order is forming. let's bring in our chief foreign correspondent, ian pannell. ian what do you make of this? >> reporter: yeah, david, i saw a c

todd blanche at least has a back ground as a prosecutor. he was a supervisor in that office. said, he just had a trial where he represented donald trump before judge mer chand and judge merclands said todd blanche lost credibility with the court after attacks on the judge, prosecutors, defending donald trump's completely improper attacks on jurors, on witnesses, in violation of a gag order. made improper arguments during jury addresses he knew he shouldn't have made. so, you know, it's a pick i think ultimately that signals where donald trump is. donald trump does not want public servants. donald trump wants soldiers. donald trump doesn't want people who are going to take an oath to uphold the constitution. he wants people who will be loyal to him. what we've seen with the picks are people he thinks who will be loyal to him, operate according to his whims, who will serve his personal interest rates -- interests and relationships. you would want somebody in this office in any of these positions at the department of justice or sdny who are going to push back and assert fierce i

todd blanche stood by trump's side almost every day in court, that to me is quite concerning that theyg to do that. >> so, that sunshine i mentioned a minute ago, that is now gone. so, one of the things when i saw those names, and especially when i saw that matt gaetz was trump's pick to be his ag, i immediately thought of the supreme court's immunity decision where they ruled that a president is immune from prosecution for things that he has done that have been deemed official acts. if you have got an attorney general matt gaetz who is taking orders from president trump, how does that not fall under the community -- the immunity ruling that the supreme court has given? am i wrong in being wildly alarmed? >> you should be, but there are guardrails. so, an attorney general cannot direct the fbi to search a person's home or office, a judge still has to approve a search warrant, so that is a good thing. >> for real? >> i just cannot go out here and say i'm going to indict x person, evidence still has to be presented. a grand jury of one's peers still has to improve that indictment before

now, nothing has been finalized or announced, i should note, blanche is a former federal prosecutor who is now representing trump over the last 18 months or so including during his criminal hush money trial earlier this year in new york. trump and blanche have grown close and in that time , because of trump's trust in him it was widely expected inside trump's inner circle that if he won, lynch would likely follow him into the federal government. if blanche is ultimately nominated here, he would need to be confirmed by the senate before running the department which is one of the most prioritized by donald trump, and tonight certainly, one of the most controversial. straits to capitol hill this hour, were cnn's congressional respondent money roger is working his sources. what are you hearing from people specifically going to need to confirm matt gaetz is the attorney general? >> matt gaetz has a tough road ahead of you wants to be confirmed by the senate. republicans in the new majority will have at most 53 seats, assuming the pennsylvania race recount is that way which means they can onl

important note, blanche is the first we know of who was actually compromised. the other names i just mentioned, we are told, were targeted but not clear if those targets were successful. my source tonight is the chief intelligence officer for sentinel one, chris krebs, who we all remember served as the nation's top cyber security official at the department of homeland security. it's great to have you here because this is the first time we know these hackers were actually successful in going after someone, obviously a key name in todd blanche. how damaging do you think this is? >> of course lawyers always have sensitive information. the attorney-client privilege allows and facilitates the transfer of sensitive information from the client to the attorney so it is quite possible that in his device or in the email app on his device there is attorney-client privilege protected sensitive information that ultimately could be embarrassing and undermine the legal strategy or a negotiation but it does seem that they got into an unencrypted messaging service. text message

blanch is set to be joined at doj by another veteran prosecutor who earned mr.mp's trust, successfully getting those federal charges wiped away very soon and possibly now on the verge of getting his pending sentencing here in new york in that hush money case also off the table, lester. >> laura, thank you. >>> now to the security threats to president-elect trump and our new reporting that iran has told the u.s. it will not try to assassinate him. andrea mitchell joins us. this came in a letter from iran. >> that's right, lester. in the message sent last month to the u.s. via swiss diplomat, iran said it would not try to kill president-elect trump, a u.s. official tells nbc news. that follows the biden administration's warning to iran it would consider any threat against trump an act of war. just last week the justice department charged iranian agents with plotting to kill trump before the election, even releasing photos of their weapons. iran has vowed to retaliate against trump and his national security officials for the assassination of iran's general soleiman

on todd blanche, i think you've got to remember there's no love lost sara lee between todd blanche inhaving to do trump's bidding at the justice department but it may be the case that todd is quite happy to do that bidding because he's got his own personal problems with the doj. during the classified documents case todd blanche and the prosecutors in jack smith's office regularly had big, heated arguments, whether over email, during their meetings or in the courtroom, for instance in the classified documents case before judge cannon. so i think it's more than possible that sort of animosity continues. >> i went back and read some of those transcripts from the classified documents case and it was spicy. you're right, hugo. thank you very much for your time and your insights. when we come back, folks, donald trump is raising money for his transition into office. like you know, candidates usually do. but a loophole means we have no idea who is funding it. we get into it after the break. many people were in remission at 12 weeks, at 1 year, and even at 2 years. don't use if allergic. seri

on todd blanche, i think you've got to remember that there's no love lost necessarily between todd blanche and the justice department. we talk about todd maybe having to do trump's bidding at the justice department, but it may be the case that he is quite happy to do the bidding. he has his own personal problems with the doj. during the classified document case, todd blanche and the prosecutors in jack smith's office had big heated arguments weather over email or even in the courtroom in the classified documents case before judge cannon. it's more than possible that that animosity continues. >> you know, i read some of those transcripts from the classified documents case, and it was spicy. you are right. thank you for your time and your insights. >>> when we come back, donald trump is raising money for his transition into office, like candidates usually do. but, a loophole means we have no idea who is funding it. we get into it after the break. >>> you are up late with us you know stephanie likes to follow money on the show. as far as funding for trump's transition goes, we can't because h

this includes todd blanche, his criminal defense attorney as his pick for deputy attorney general.t you to tell me how to pronounce his guys last name, he was also serving, and dean john sauer helped to win the presidential immunity case. joining me now, a former federal prosecutor and a senior writer with political magazine. and a former senior adviser for attorney general garland he is also an msnbc justice and legal affairs analyst. thank you so much for coming back, i have been making a big deal about transpersonal attorneys getting those top positions at doj, anthony, you work directly in main justice, can you please explain to viewers why they should be troubled that trumps three personal attorneys have the three top positions other than ag at the justice department. >> donald trump has learned the fundamental truth about washington which is that people are policy. i think back to the first two attorney general pics. they had legal and ethical lines that they would not cross. bill barr refused to go along with the 2020 election being stolen. overseeing the investigation into

todd blanche my get confirmed pretty easily. he's also picked his other attorney as the principal deputy attorney general. they do a lot of the work at the dlj. and also john sauer who you will remember argued his presidential amenity argument. he is going to be picked if he is confirmed as the solicitor general. the number three job at the justice department. it is three trump attorneys now being tapped . now they have much different qualifications and they may be just fine in their confirmation hearings. but it does speak to the moment that we are in that he picks his defense attorneys and a kind of goes over and no one really says anything. >> they do have experience as big-time prosecutors , something matt gaetz did not have. >> todd blanche worked as a federal prosecutor. >> katelyn collins, we will see at the top of the hour. thank you for being here. now to talk about this proposed nomination of robert f. kennedy jr. e -- dr. sanjay gupta. is robert kennedy qualify for this job? >> i would say no. he has no organizational

trump announced yesterday he selected todd blanche as secretary attorney general.anche could, in theory, serve as the acting attorney general of the united states while gaetz goes through the process. additionally, trump has chosen his attorney his the principal associate deputy attorney and d. john sauer as solicitsolicitor. one not named whose name was floated for a potential gig as press secretary but, yesterday, she denied she was in the running on social media. there is no word yet on where habba may end up. joining us is associate editor of "the washington post," eugene robinson. he is also an msnbc political analyst. eugene, i'm not speechless because, actually, in some respects, this is the most, to me at least the most quintessential trump thing to do, right? >> yeah. but your own attorney as deputy attorney general of the united states of america? >> of course. >> what is ironic is todd blanche didn't win the cases. he lost the cases. what do you make of this one? >> he is still looking for his roy cone, you know? that is what he has wanted all along and

and todd blanche worked at the justice department. he's a real lawyer. he understands that the wild charges that people like matt gaetz have been making about the justice department being corrupt and the fbi being politicized, that that fundamentally is not true. he may have his criticisms of how the investigations were handled, but he understands the justice department upholds the rule of law. the question is what kind of nominee will we see next to be his boss. another conspiracy theorist, a person who says the place needs to be blown up and sent to jail or someone like todd blanche, someone with experience who may be republican and may want to change priorities, but who fundamentally believes in the justice department. and that's a big question for not only the justice department, but for the future of the rule of law over the next four years. >> i want to bring in nbc's vaughn hillyard, in west palm beach. and, vaughn, just yesterday, ais you know, gaetz was asked about his prospects as weighs going around on the hill and meeting with senators. i wan

the hackers were able to obtain voice recordings from todd blanche.l remember him, the attorney that defended trump during his hush money trial. the sources are telling us none of the material is related to trump himself. but, there is a moment in which blanche is just the latest target going after republicans and democrats. it is a list so far that we reported on that includes trump himself, j.d. vance, kutchner, trump, harris campaign, senior biden administration officials as well. important note, blanche is the first that we know of that was compromised. the other names they mentioned there we are told were targeted but not clear if the targets were successful. ply source tonight is the chief intelligence officer chris crabs who served as the top cybersecurity official at the department of homeland security. great to have you here chris. this is the first time we know the hackers were successful in going after someone, obviously a key maim in todd blanche. how damaging do you think this is? >> reporter: of course lawyers always have sensitive infor

i can't get upset about it because todd blanche is a reasonably good lawyer.n court i did not think was that great , but he is not a terrible lawyer. there are three other cabinet level positions that trump has filled. >> we will get to that . let's talk about the selection of a fierce ally, matt gaetz, to become the next attorney general. what concerns do you have of him wielding the power of the u.s. justice department? >> first of all, he is a bad guy and he is completely unqualified for the job. his own experience with the criminal justice system, likely he only has experience in a small law firm in florida for a year . it is his investigation for sex trafficking. that, to me, is not a good qualification. it is not good for the rest of us, it makes no sense. >> you called the selections of robert f kennedy jr., matt gaetz, tulsi gabbard, potentially, the worst in american history. do you think the republicans will defy him on any of these picks ? >> i cannot say that with confidence. i would not that that all three would go through but i don't think you ca

todd blanche my get confirmed easily. he's also picked his other attorney as the principal deputy attorney general. they do a lot of work at the dlj. and also john sauer who you will remember argue trump's presidential immunity. if he is confirmed he will be picked as the solicitor general. it is not just one or two, it is three trump attorneys now being tapped. they have much different qualifications and they may be just fine in confirmation hearings. but it does speak to the moment that we are in that he picks his defense attorneys and it goes over and no one really says anything. >> they do have experience as big-time prosecutors. >> top lands work that the southern district of new york and obviously john sauer has deep litigation experience as well. >> caitlin, thank you for being here tonight. >>> now to talk about this proposed nomination of robert f. kennedy jr. peer -- and also with us dr. sanjay gupta . is robert kennedy qualified for this job? >> i would say no. organizational management experience. over 83,000

trump announced todd blanche as his pick for deputy attorney general and emil, to serve as principle deputy. both played a central role in defending trump in the losing new york hush money case, and john sauer who won the presidential immunity case at the u.s. supreme court. he has been picked for u.s. solicitor general. let's discuss these picks with one of trump's former attorneys who was once part of trump's defense team in the new york hush money cover up case. joe opina. do you think all of the individuals from the defense team now ask to serve in the justice department in one way or another, do you think they're all qualified to serve in the justice department or do you think this as his critics would have it, is more about serving donald trump's interests? >> no, i mean, listen, i mean, i would like to break that down by individual instead of painting with a broad brush because they're different individuals, and certainly have different qualifications, jake. if we're talking about someone like todd blanche, in the position of deputy attorney general, i couldn't really think of

blanche and mr. saur happen to be two of donald trump's personal defense attorneys in the actions taken against him and they now would be poised to be his attorneys at the justice department. mr. -- mr. gaetz would be a disaster as the next attorney general. i am committed to ensuring my colleagues of both parties have every fact at hand to understand his danger. i will do everything i can to ensure that donald trump cannot turn the department of justice into his personal law firm and i'll defend the career public servants who work at the justice department and have dedicated their lives to defending the rule of law. president-elect trump won the election fair and square, but that doesn't mean he's entitled to choose extreme, unqualified loyalists to fill his cabinet. the senate must fulfill its constitutional responsibility to advise and consent. madam president, i yield the floor.

that may have been a failsafe to now elevate todd blanche., there are any number of people qualified and not, who he has considered to be attorney general. don't really know who they are at this point and how much that list has changed. he does have todd blanche waiting in the ring -- waiting in the wings. the doj is hugely important to the trump agenda because he has a lot of things he wants to do when it comes to immigration policing and hot button social issues and is looking for the doj to help carry that out. wendi, really appreciate you being with us there from washington. all right, let's transition to real estate markets. a key issue for the incoming administration. for more on that, i want to bring in picasso spencer and abigail doolittle. can you kick off with a brief discussion on what it does and how you plan to move it forward? >> we take luxury vacation homes like the one behind me and we fractionalize them. you can purchase 1/8 of this home for $1 million and we do property management. we have closets on the outside to keep you

trump has selected his personal defense attorney, todd blanche, to be the deputy attorney general. two job at the justice department. he is someone who defended trump during his criminal hush money trial. he also represented him in the classified documents and election interference cases. trump also named another of his attorneys as the principal associate deputy attorney general. don sauer is the solicitor general. of course the one that made this argument during trump's immunity case. >> had a president who ordered seal team six to assassinate a political rival , who was not as -- impeached, he would be subject to prosecution. >> if he were impeached and convicted first. >>'s your answer is no. >> my answer is a qualified yes. >> you went on to make the argument in front of the supreme court and we saw how that decision has reshaped the presidency. he could soon be back in front of the supreme court. this time he would be arguing for the federal government. cnn legal analyst and former prosecutor elliot williams. elliott, on the todd blanche of it all, it's kind of the rebuke of

>> blanche. >> blanche also is very competent.ink i lost my audio. >> she's got no ifb. we'll get you back. >> let me ask you about that, that early selection is okay, some of these people okay, if he in fact selects them, but there are still -- these four picks that "the new york post" editorial page, "the wall street journal" editorial page is saying, are no-goes. >> we heard from trey gowdy, fox news host, say, look, matt gaetz, you can't do this. there are some of the trump selections, you mentioned a few who received relatively warmly even democrats saying, hey, we can live with that, marco rubio, for secretary of state. but there is an inflammatory four, five if you add dr. oz, where there is real concern. and i think that for trump, his top qualification as we know is often who can present my case on television, who can argue for me on tv with perhaps the actual work in the agency being done in -- at the deputy level, carrying out his agenda. the question now is he dug in on some of the picks, despite resistance from fellow

blanche is now tapped for deputy attorney general. in washington, alice barr, nbc news president biden is in peru today for the asia pacific economic cooperation, or apec forum. the meeting is made up of leaders from 21 members representing the pacific rim. they include china's president, japan's prime minister and australia's pm. now these countries account for about two thirds of the global gdp and half the world's trade. the biden administration says the president will focus on climate issues, global infrastructure and counter-narcotic efforts, as well as encourage allies to continue to support ukraine and to end wars going on in israel. now, this is likely one of the president's last major summits before president elect trump takes over. elon musk's ai company raising billions in an effort to buy nvidia chips. the company, dubbed x ai, is in the middle of a funding round. musk opened the startup last year. it is now working to raise about $6 billion, and it expects to get a large portion of those funds from state owned investments

this will be todd blanch, respected criminal defense attorney, but would he just go along with all of he stand up to his former client? >> well, good questions, andrea. so the deputy attorney general of the united states is the number two official in the department. he or she and right now it is a she, lisa monaco, serves as the chief operating officer. but whether you are the deputy attorney general or the attorney general or a line prosecutor, in some u.s. district offices in the country, you still need facts. again, we have to draw a line between charging and convicting someone on one hand and making their life miserable, simply by investigating them on the other. the most important question you are asking is whether mr. blanch, if he is confirmed as deputy attorney general has the integrity and adjustment to serve in the role which may mean standing up to the attorney general or president under certain circumstances. the answer to that question and it is an important one, we'll see. >> and also, the prosecutors in forecast on the manhattan d.a., alvin brag's team, they have until

the president-elect said he will install his criminal defense lawyers todd blanche as the justice department's number two and number three under matt gaetz, this confirmation for attorney general is for many people questionable. trump also lost the lawyer who won his presidential immunity case at the supreme court to serve as u.s. solicitor general, and doug collins who led the defense in the first house impeachment has been selected to lead veterans affairs, collins is an air force reserves chaplain and iraq war veteran. kristin, it is always great seeing you, thank you for being with us, so trump has now selected 21 picks, how fast do you think the team hopes to have them all confirmed?>> it is great to be with you, thank you for having me on this friday, in talking to both those with the trump transition and senators on capitol hill, i can tell you that their focus is trying to get the picks confirmed as quickly as possible. we are going to have the rings -- hearings and votes on day one, when the president takes over, he's going to have as much of the cabinet in place as we can, so that wo

source we are familiar with the intrusion said that blanche was informed last week by the fbi that hackers were able to obtain voice recordings and text messages. the source says that this information has no connected connection to the president-elect and no indication that anything was taken from the phone . they were able to obtain information, including communications with family. the second of donald trump's attorneys who have been confirmed hacked by foreign adversaries back in august. cnn reported that another one of the attorneys lindsay halligan was also hacked by iranian efforts. this is significant, because you think about what todd blanche may be doing in the upcoming administration and his voice name has been floated. the kind of information on his phone would be of interest to foreign adversaries. >> thank you so much for the update and a story that we will continue tracking. >>> donald trump could start naming some of his key white house staff any day and there are questions about whether vaccine skeptic and conspiracy theorist rfk jr. will be in charge of health policy. >> c

and president-elect trump announced last week, today blanch as deputy attorney general and mr. sar. happening to be two of mr. trump's two of his personal defense attorneys in the action against him and now poised to be his attorneys at the justice department. mr. gaetz would be a disaster as the next attorney general, as the chair of the senate judiciary committee i'm committed to ensuring my colleagues of both parties of every fact in hand to danger. and do everything in my power to assure that donald trump cannot turn the department of justice to his personal law firm and for those that work at the justice department and dedicated their lives to defending the rule of law. president-elect trump won the election fair and square, but that doesn't mean he's entitled to choose extreme unqualified loyalists to fill his cabinet. the senate must fulfill its constitutional opportunity to advise and consent. madam president, i yield the floor. >> c-span is your unfiltered view of government who are funded by these television companies and more, including charter communications. >> charter

donald trump's behavior as a client in these cases changed significantly when todd blanche became hisot of favorability being directed at this nomination. again, it's a crucial job. it's really running the nuts and bolts of the department. at the end of the day wgs that trump wants him to do that people won't like. but given his experience level, generally viewed positive inside the department. >> you have a new piece out making the case for president biden to commute or even, i guess, pardon, but not to pardon, but to commute any prison sentence for hunter biden. the president said he will not pardon or commute his sentence, sentences. what would a commutation look like and why do you think the president should do it? >> well, so you're right. there is a distinction between a pardon and commutation. what i'm suggesting is not a pardon, wiping the convictions clean. i am saying commuting any prison term he may receive in connection with the sentences on these cases, the convictions would stand but he wouldn't necessarily serve -- he wouldn't serve prison time under my approach. the re

and emil bove and todd blanche having represented the president in his personal capacity will have thatse themselves from the department's involvement in this case in the future. >> lisa rubin and chuck rosenberg, thank you, both, very much. >>> and now to breaking news we're following on capitol hill. you're seeing new images here of vice president-elect jd vance at the capitol with former congressman matt gaetz. the outgoing senator, the former congressman are there meeting with senators to try to push them to support gaetz's confirmation, in the face of a potentially damaging house ethics report that includes serious sexual misconduct allegations against gaetz, allegations he's denied and we should mention the justice department at one point did look into these as well and decided not to press criminal charges. now, moments ago, another development, trump has announced he will tap matthew whitaker you'll recall, matthew whitaker served as acting attorney general in his first term, he's now going to be tapped to be ambassador to nato. on the campaign trail, trump frequently criticized

so in that respect, it brings them closer to being someone like todd blanche.n terms of their willingness to use the justice department for the aims that matt gaetz would have been willing to go to, that brings them closer to matt gaetz. maybe someone in between is where you end up with mark paoletta. he's very close with both thomases, justice clarence thomas and ginni thomas who he represented in the january 6th investigation. he also served in the last trump administration and was general counsel at the office of management and budget. in so doing, he had some involvement in some of the allegations that led to the first trump impeachment. he's a trump loyalist, and yet he is much more familiar with how to use government and maybe how to navigate government than someone like matt gaetz. >> what do we know about what happened behind the scenes of matt gaetz. we know the names of those who weren't budging. do we know why? >> apparently the meetings on the hill didn't go well and people came out more concerned than reassured. gaetz told people according to my co

blanche and mr. saur happen to be two of donald trump's personal defense attorneys in the actions taken against him and they now would be poised to be his attorneys at the justice department. mr. -- mr. gaetz would be a disaster as the next attorney general. i am committed to ensuring my colleagues of both parties have every fact at hand to understand his danger. i will do everything i can to ensure that donald trump cannot turn the department of justice into his

that's 18 days before todd blanche and his colleagues proposed submitting a brief to judge merchan.y wanted this briefing schedule on the motion to dismiss potentially to bleed into former president and president-elect trump's new term in the oval office because at that point he would be sitting president trump and the constitutional issues that could underlie their being an existing case against him might be very different in terms of how courts weigh those factors once he is pack in the oval office. here judge merchan telling trump's lawyers put in the brief by december 2nd. he is telling the d.a. i will take your opposition on december 9th. that's the same day that the d.a.'s office originally proposed to po toes it. he is not allowing reply briefs, which means he is seemingly preparing to issue a decision perhaps sometime before the holidays and in calling off the sentencing, jose, the other thing that comes to my attention he is saying i am calling off of the sentencing only to the extent it was scheduled for next week. what he is not doing is saying the sentencing is postponed

they are obviously very sophisticated, but todd blanche is a high target. somebody with a lot of information about the president-elect and privileged information that we might not even know about his carnal cases. >> thanks to all of you, appreciate it. the future of donald trump's legal cases it may look less threatening, but that is not the case for some of his former advisers who are still very much dealing with legal woes, that includes rudy giuliani, back in court today in the defamation case against him, given an ultimatum by the judge. what did the judge decide today? >> reporter: well, the judge told giuliani that if he hasn't given ruby freeman and shannon moss the luxury items that really jolly omnia owns already, which he was supposed to do last week, he has got until the end of next week to do so. he has to get them exactly where the lawyers are telling him to send them. it is a joe dimaggio short that he has in storage in long island, it is a car in florida, the keys and the title have to be turned over to giuliani, and if he doesn't do these t

they were tapped as not only being the deputy attorney general for todd blanche, but the deputy associate principal day sorry, the visible associate deputy attorney general, would be a meal but a bit. -- coming out of the trial that we all went through back in the spring, was a confident that donald trump, despite them losing, the 34 felony convictions, and his two top lawyers from the team, who is now tapped and will have to go through the confirmation process, at least todd blanche will and having to go and fill those number two and number three positions in the doj. both of these men work as top prosecutors for the fdny, previously and the scenario that matt gaetz is not able to be confirmed it would elevate the role that todd blanche would play. and much of this is a waiting game at this point are donald trump and his legal team. but it is one that a couple of months ago they were able to stare down the very realization that if you are to lose this election, donald trump could be facing potential serious punishment even present time. but now instead, his legal team from that case, the

a going to deal with the is there any government because blanche to pursue with these flashes? oh, in that sense, i think that the change of the administration, if you're not good states, is particularly more influential on the domestic political issues of fees. but i live either then be a dimensional not once. i think china is going to be quite cautious in hensley relations, ways that you as a, because all 2 countries economies are into low button by nature. and yes, it's, it seems that it is, uh, it's a wide consensus in america that a toughest downs is going to be taken towards its handling of relationships with china. so, but the coupling is not the choice as we know. and so let's see, let's see, we're all have to be cautious about proactive. i think under the trunk administration, there's going to be a significant shift in global security, which is going to affect the middle east and trump has expired. express intention to read, negotiated rapid solutions to complex and gaza, which is extremely important. and though the feasibility of such outcomes remain uncertain. his ap

if he has his way blanche will join matt gaetz at the top of the justice department.tz of course resigned from congress after trump picked him to be attorney general. his resignation effectively ending a house ethics investigation into sexual misconduct allegations. some republican senators now saying they want to see that report. >> i think there should not be any limitation on the senate judiciary committee's investigation, including whatever the house ethics committee has escalated. >> i barely know gaetz. at the end of the day you have to have the votes and you had better have the resume. that is how this process works. >> joining us now to talk about all of this, kevin fry. the tone from thom tillis, said to be one of the people at the center of this really illustrates where this may be going. these confirmation fights are going to be quite something and in some ways the hits keep on coming out with robert f. kennedy jr. >> the question is what is the next shoe to fall in terms of the next choice and how that explodes on capitol hill. notably with tillis he is fa

todd blanch is the president's personal defense attorney in three of his most recent cases.going to be the deputy attorney general if confirmed, essentially running the department and blanch fought against jack smith and doj in court and will run day-to-day operations of the justice department as deputy attorney general. man behind him in the previous shot is imal bove and he's another trump defense attorney and that's him in the blue tie. he was chosen to be number three as doj. matt gaetz, allies of the former congressman continue to come to his defense and fights off attacks from both sides of the aisle. presidential adviser steven miller says if you're more upset about nominating a reformer to clean up doj than about doj orchestrated a hostile takeover of the democracy and third world coup and face evidence and show trials, you're pinch hitting for the bad guys. fox news told that gaetz was working the phones yesterday, stuart. expected to continue doing that today, over the weekend and next week to try and secure as many vote z as possible, but it seems to be an uphill