be just fine we are talking chief executive transition with the retired 4 term vermont governor jim douglas one of the i think 2 states where the governor's term is 2 years jim how loud is that ticking sound in the background to the extent that you feel as though you're constantly running for reelection and do you think the sheer actuarial unlikeliness of a 2nd biden term could actually be an advantage. well 2 your terms are quite brief you're exactly right vermont and new hampshire are the only 2 that still have them believe it or not in vermont until 870 we had one year terms and when i proposed to the legislature that we go to 4 they said yeah well you keep talking about that we'll put your back in one but it's just it's a brief time we always have to think about the next election the good news is in vermont very few incumbents have been defeated for reelection only a couple in the last century so vermonters generally stick with the people they put in office our current governor phil scott one re-election this fall overwhelmingly without much of a campaign at all because of the outstandi

[chatter] jim huden and peggy thomas were charged with the murder of russel douglas in the summer of urder of russel douglas in the summer of 2011. from that moment, whidbey island prosecutor greg banks had been hoping they would turn on each other and spill the details of what had happened on the day russel was killed. >> that was the plan. >> but that didn't happen. >> did not happen. >> because why? they're still in love? they wouldn't rat on each other? >> you know, if you got a chance to interview them, you could ask them. >> because jean huden was still married to jim, the prosecutor decided to split the case and try jim and peggy separately. >> we needed jean to testify against peggy, but washington has a rule that says you can't call a spouse against a defendant. >> so if you try jean and peggy separately, jean couldn't testify against peggy. >> right. >> more than a year after his wife had given him up, jim huden went on trial for the murder of russel douglas. the opening statement of the island county prosecutor set the tone. >> ladies and gentlemen of the jury, this case is

douglas, massachusetts. beverly and jeff in ludlow, kentucky. rosemary in mountain home, arkansas. happy 85th birthday, rosemary. allison in omaha, nebraska. and jimth anniversary. you might see yourself next week. you can get the "sunday today" mug at the nbc online store. >>> thank you for spending part of your morning with us. we'll see you back here next week on "sun da >>> good morning. it is sunday, january 3rd. a live look outside. a foggy start to our morning. that is ft. point in san francisco. cold out there as well. thank you so much for starting your first sunday of 2021 with us. i'm kira klapper. meteorologist rob mayeda is in for vianey. in fact, he's been filling in a lot lately. so, rob, i want to remind you, it is sunday morning. and you have our microclimate forecast. >>> thank you. i need more coffee and to check the calendar, too. it's tough to see outside. it's not

jim, i appreciate it. we'll be checking in with you throughout the day. the music they're playing, it's classic. let's bring in presidential historian, douglas brinkley, timothy naftali. tim, you wrote a piece from the atlantic that came out yesterday entitled, the worst president in history. is that how this president is going to be remembered. >> well, you know, historians don't always agree. but for me, he crossed the rubicon into the bottom of the basement, if you will. with january 6th. the fact that he was, is the first president in our history to oppose a peaceful transfer of power puts him in a very special category. the fact that he has shown dereliction of duty with regard to the pandemic and of course, the reasons for his first impeachment, which had to do with really subverting u.s. foreign policy for his own political purposes, so for those reasons, i argue that he has surpassed an awfulness, presidents pierce, buchanan, johnson and richard nixon. >> doug brinkley, do you agree? >> yeah, i do agree with that. i think thehe is the bottom of barrel of american presidents. he will be known for the trump insurrection. he will be kno