brad. toddwhen the rubber meets the road here, the politics of this are incredibly complicated, and there are differences between the house and the senate in getting this done. and my understanding is that there's not insignificant pressure around the immigration piece from trump's own circle about trying to do something on that first. what do you think is next here? >> well, i think a lot of things on immigration can be done in executive order. part of that is because a lot of the bad policy joe biden put in place was done by executive order can be reversed. and so i think that the white house should declare victory with a lot of executive orders on immigration first and then move into reconciliation and get serious about the tax cuts while they have momentum. you know, and if republicans don't keep the current tax rates in every american who pays taxes is going to pay more. that's a very easy message to sell. it's a very easy message to deliver. and i think that that we need to get on that bus

so i'm not opposed to tiktok. >> brad todd, how did we get here? >> well, donald trump is a creature of pop culture, and nothing is more pop culture than tiktok. and i think he's also attracted. >> that was true in 2020, and it is true. it is true, but it is still it's still a villain on the right. >> and so he has torn between this desire to please the right, which definitely sees tiktok as a legitimate national security risk and villain, and something that's cool. and i think he's also a little bit attracted to the fact that it's an outcast among social media platforms. it's the black sheep. it may be the only platform. he's not been banned or suspended on to. or for that matter, that he may like that about it. i do think in the end, republicans on capitol hill still have great concerns. we don't let government devices use tiktok for a reason. it's because the chinese communist party sucks in all the data and does. who knows what with it. so i think that donald trump has a tough road with republicans in congress on this. >> and i'll just add to t

. >> brad todd, reason we're talking about one bill and why one matters is because in the senate, they want to do two. it's down in the weeds, but the weeds actually mask important differences between the chambers that could determine whether or not this actually happens. it seems like they've convinced trump to do one, big reconciliation package. is that how it'll go down? >> i think it will. passing anything in the house is really hard. you have people like tom massie and chip roy who want to vote no, even on love and puppies. therefore, i think that attempting to do as much as you can in one bill, and a bill, by the way, that some democrats who are on the margin say it'll be a hard thing to vote no on, it's something we're not talking enough about. there are a dozen democrats in districts where trump won, and they have to vote to not secure the border. they'll have to vote for unpopular things if they oppose it. if mike johnson is able to do everything popular, love and puppies in one bill, and pull even a handful of democrats over, then chip roy and tom massie and the other clowns

i trust roger wicker, and i think most republican senators are going to, too. >> all right, brad todd, gretchen carlson, ashley allison, thanks very much. coming up next, what president trump has now ended secret service protection for two of his former top officials. the question tonight, did he do it because they've spoken up against him or for other reasons keeping them honest. later you'll meet a remarkable woman and mom still searching for answers and her missing son. austin tice 12.5 years since he disappeared in syria. >> i still. >> love. >> to surf, snowboard and of course, skate. so i take magnesium to support my muscle and bone health. kunal's high absorption magnesium glycinate helps me get the full benefits of magnesium. kunal, the brand i trust. >> they are trying to shut down this legal loophole to get 100 milligram generic viagra or 20mg generic cialis delivered to your door for just $0.87 in less than two minutes. do this first, scan the qr code to go to get friday plans. com then you select if you need generic viagra or cialis. the quantity you need and the dosage. i

brad. todd. what should the supreme court do here? >> well, tiktok is a very serious national security risk. we've already decided that you can't have tiktok on government devices. and so there's this first amendment tension that the supreme court is going to have to deal with. but it also with the federal government's right to engage in national security protections. i hope they decide to hold let the let the law stand and let see if i don't think that we need the chinese government having access to everybody in america's phone, i don't think that the tiktok has proven it's willing to put in place any other security measures or cooperate with the u.s. government at all, but there is now doesn't want to ban it. today. we might next week. he doesn't like he's decided maybe to move on the tiktok ban because he thinks it's a competitor to other social media platforms that he maybe likes less when he becomes commander in chief again and is getting access to daily intelligence reports. >> he might have a very different take on this. >> yea

i trust roger wicker, and i think most republican senators are going to, too. >> all right, brad todd, gretchen carlson, ashley allison, thanks very much. coming up next, president trump has now ended secret service protection for two of his former top officials. the question tonight, did he do it because they've spoken up against him or for other reasons keeping them honest. later you'll meet a remarkable woman and mom still searching for answers and her missing son. austin tice 12.5 years since he disappeared in syria. >> it's time. yes, but time has come for a fresh approach to dog food. every day, more dog people are deciding it's time to quit the kibble and feed their dogs. fresh food from the farmers dog made by vets and delivered right to your door. precisely portioned for your dog's needs. it's an idea whose time has come. >> the time has come. >> covid 19. i'm not waiting if it's covid. paxlovid. >> paxlovid is an oral treatment for adults with mild to moderate covid 19 and a high risk factor for becoming severe. it does not prevent covid 19. >> my symptoms are mild now, but

state department spokesperson for the obama administration, neera hawk and republican strategist brad todd, who has done some work for hostage families and aipac. thank you all for being here tonight. it is a very momentous occasion. it is in progress. people are hopeful that this will be the change, and people will actually be able to go home. at the very least. biden, though zolan, was warning americans about an oligarchy and the power or the concentration of power, this is his last farewell address for the nation. were you surprised that he was focused on that in part yeah, i was. >> this speech, in a way, was a departure from other major speeches that we've seen the president give, which recently have really been focused on sort of describing his legislative achievements that he has long felt he has not gotten credit for. that wasn't the case with this speech. it wasn't just tacking through the different things that he did in his presidency. it wasn't just an effort to define his legacy as a president. it really was more so a warning to defend the democratic institutions that he's spen

brad. todd i'm going to put kate bedingfield on the spot on biden in a second. so i just would like to kind of i understand that there's some ties to these. these things are going to end up being tied together. but i really am interested in your assessment. i mean, you work with candidates, you know, across the ballot, right up and down republicans. is there going to be a price, a political price to pay for the sweeping nature of what trump did, pardoning violent offenders, as well as the leaders of some of these groups that were convicted of seditious conspiracy? >> i think the 14 commutations and maybe a couple dozen others are going to be controversial. and i think that you may see republican elected officials. you will see a lot of republican officials come out against those. cnn's own reporting says that the majority of these people were peaceful. they were they were just wandering around the capitol, sucked up in the mob. most of them have already served their jail time. and this this is really a formality for those people. but i do think there will be abo

brad todd, gretchen carlson, ashley allison, thanks very much. coming up next, president trump has now ended secret service protection for two of his former top officials. the question tonight, did he do it because they've spoken up against him or for other reasons keeping them honest. later you'll meet a remarkable woman and mom still searching for answers and her missing son. austin tice 12.5 years since he disappeared in syria. >> kobe believed in himself at the youngest possible age. >> people who may never even know what a basketball looks like felt his presence. >> he wants the opportunity to make his own mistakes. he's going to end up making them. >> that's when the black mamba was born. >> it's one of the most remarkable stories in sports history. >> i don't want to be remembered as just a basketball player. >> kobe the making of a legend premieres saturday at nine on cnn. >> covid 19 i'm not waiting. if it's covid. paxlovid. >> paxlovid is an oral treatment for adults with mild to moderate covid 19 and a high risk factor for becoming sev

also here, harry litman, former federal prosecutor and deputy attorney general, and also brad todd is back with us as well. all right. let me begin with you here, harry, on this point, because she didn't want she did not give a yes or no answer to the question of who won the election. that ruffled some feathers in that room. why did she go that route? >> well, we know why she went that route. she was a noncontroversial nominee, and she's going to get by anyway. but, look, she wants to be the top federal law enforcement officer in the country. this is a factual question. it's said that really, it's not a stray question. it goes directly to her qualifications. it still matters for the cases she'll have. this is the senate. and besides being snarky on a lot of occasions, you understood some of her answers. but this, i think, is really disqualifying. you have to be able to answer yes or no questions. do you think about previous controversial nominees? they answer the questions. they don't. they don't try to evade them from the senate. and of course this matters. it's not the stray thing.

brad. todd, how do you consider all of this? i mean, every time i go back to that day, that footage is incredibly jarring. and yet, here we are in six days, donald trump's going to be inaugurated. >> well, the way donald trump conducted himself in the aftermath of the 2020 election and particular on january 6th, made him rightfully less popular than he's ever been in his entire political career, which is saying something. it was an overhang in the republican primary. it's why ron desantis started out 20 points ahead of him is because a lot of republicans, a lot of trump's own supporters, did not approve of how he conducted himself in the wake of the 2020 election. however, the prosecutors overshot. and it's not just jack smith, it's also alvin bragg. they overshot, and the public made a decision on election day that perhaps donald trump was not near the threat that continued democratic governance was. some of that's on jack smith, some of that's on alvin bragg for biting off more than they could chew, for moving too slowly, for

cnn political commentators maria and brad todd. today's election certification comes four years to the day after trump supporters tried to overturn our democracy. steven collinson wrote, trump will send a message down through the ages that a president who refuses to accept the results of a fair and free election and incites danger on the capitol and regain power and get away with it. >> i think history will deem donald trump as one of the most violent presidents who allowed violence, who encouraged violence. and i don't think history will judge him well. i agree with steven that voters decided to prioritize the economy before the dangers of democracy. i also believe two things. first one is, i'm a huge believer in things happen for a reason. it might very well have been that if kamala harris had won, there could have been violence because donald trump would have promoted it. donald trump would have urged it. the second thing is i think americans trust democrats to be the ones to protect that democracy. we're going back to what a da

we've got brad todd, karen finney, lulu garcia-navarro, and doug heye. it is good to see all of you, some of you here in the studio with me, some of you remotely a lot to chew on. i just want to take us back 1st to 2017. the first time that trump went into office. and i want to take a clip from his first inauguration. let's listen to that. >> this american carnage stops right here and stops right now. >> and obviously, that moment really crystallized a lot and really stands out as a very memorable moment from his speech that day. doug, this is this is a different environment in a lot of ways it is. >> and if you remember, george bush summed up that speech in a quote that i can't say on air right now because it was some weird, weird stuff. um, this is not what donald trump, we expect is going to say this time it's a different world. and donald trump has now come. this is his second time at this. so he has a different perspective coming into this winning the popular vote. they're saying that he's going to talk about strength and unity. and okay, that means

made in a week we have a book event with selena zito and brad todd about their new book called the greatthreefold. we have fox news channels bret baier coming in to talk with his book, three days in moscow. we have jon meacham coming for a book event in june. we also have ceo of delta airlines and the commissioner of major league baseball. i hope you all consider coming to some of these events. take a look at our website. we have a lot of things there. and with that, luncheon today is adjourned. thank you for coming. [applause] .. welcome 20 the administrator of the united states small business administration, linda mcmahon back. [cheering] [cheering] hello, milwaukee. [cheering] america let me take a second to say hello to my delicate from connecticut my name is linda mcmahon and chair of the america first policy institute. [cheering] he is also a friend. let me share a story. i have little bit him marlo and he welcomed me, is 4-year-old granddaughter ran up to him give him up with delight and asked her, who's the most beautiful girl in the world she said. he asked who you love most in

commentator and former communications director for the biden white house and brad todd, cnn political commentator and republican strategist. great to have you all. we have so much to get to this morning. but i want to start with the purge of the doj. the doj prosecutors. you know, alex, you think about the fact that during trump's first term, he fired his fbi director for the russia investigation, and he was upset at his attorney general, jeff sessions, who had been the first member of congress to endorse him, all because sessions recused himself in that investigation. and so those were sort of lamp posts for what he could do with the department under a second term. and a lot of this was so well telegraphed. >> absolutely. i mean, as you showed that he ran on doing this, and i think it's a sign that he honestly wanted to fire jeff sessions the first time, and now he is really just taking control in a way in the guardrails are off now. donald trump also just believes that the civil service should be completely loyal to the president. in the executive branch. there should not be a profe