that's lisa murkowski's view. >> i was a little surprised at that one. more than a little surprised. >> i didn't like the way he handled the squabble with speaker mccarthy. i think it was -- that was unnecessary. i thought it was divisive. i think that the conference suffered. >> you're accusing matt of doing the very thing that you did. matt gaetz didn't lie under oath. matt gaetz did not sign fisa warrants based on russian disinformation. so we're going to give the president a chance to put his people forward, to every republican, give matt a chance. >> it is amazing to me that people are reacting the way they are, what you just showed, because there has been no one better at channeling the american public's frustration with weaponization of the department of justice than matt gaetz. >> i like matt a lot, i know him very well. and i'm confident that if the senate confirms him, he will do a good job. >> do you think he's qualified to be attorney general, though? >> yes, i mean, he's an accomplished attorney. clearly his intention and president trump's i

this is all about the thing that lisa murkowski put her finger on. she understands donald trump wants the senate to be the douma, a rubber stamp institution that will give him what he wants whenever he wants it and that is what this is about. >> totally. >> this has been about humiliating the senate and forcing it to do things he doesn't want to do so he can openly say you're now mine. >> it matters who is our attorney general. >> of course. of course. >> it matters about the ethics, but really this is a bellwether for the rest of the trump administration and the degree to which the legislative branch -- it is a low key constitutional crisis. can we take irresponsibility to advice and consent, senate? give it to me. that's what trump's saying. >> keep in mind there are all kinds of lawyers who share the deconstruct the administrative state view, that if matt gaetz were to go down, you will get a less morally repugnant version of matt gaetz, but someone with the same goal to be the same instrument of donald trump, to weaponize the justice department,

the other thing is this is all about the thing lisa murkowski put her finger on. she understands, donald trump wants the senate to be a duma, a rubberstamp institution that will give him whatever he wants, when he wants it. that is what it this is about. humiliating the senate, forcing it to do things he does not want to do, so he can say, you are mine. >> that is why it matters who is our attorney general, in matters about the ethics, but really, what this is, a bellwether for the rest of the trump administration, a degree to which the legislative branch, a low-key constitutional crisis. can we take the responsibility to advise and consent senate, give it to me for me that is what trump is saying. >> and keep in mind, there are all kinds of lawyers who share the administrative state view. if it were to go down, you would get eight less objection, less heinous, less grotesque, less repugnant version of matt gaetz. someone with the same goal would be the same instrument of donald trump, to open at the justice department and tear down the rule of law. that will be t

and he stood up since susan collins and lisa murkowski. we've seen people stand up on the republican side here and there. i don't think it's going to be a bulwark. let me be clear, i'm not naive about this in any way against some of the really bad things contained in project 2025 or some of the nominees we're going to have to stand up against. but i do think you have to find those moments of common ground because basically messaged received from the american people. they want us to get things done, not talk about bills from the past, not talk about things that happen that somehow aren't relevant to their lives. they people to stand with them. >> i'm interested in what you're saying here about the message received because obviously democrats are going to look for republicans who may want to move a few paces towards the center. it sounds like the mood among democrats is it is incumbent upon us to look for and seek common ground, that is not about a wagon circling at this hour, but looking across the aisle to say, okay, the american public sa

you have somebody like in rfk junior where you can see some moderate senate republicans like lisa murkowski, susan collins, people who voted against their own party in the past. they might object to an rfk junior in the cabinet. that's that the senate's job to confirm that those people. but if you've got a margin of 54 votes, all of the sudden you can lose susan collins, you can lose lisa murkowski and still confirm those people. so that's why balance of power in congress is incredibly important as well. and donald trump may have that flexibility to get his people approve. and from there, you know, these are people who haven't been in government. so it will be very interesting to watch what that that dynamic looks like. joe, we so appreciate your insight. and we hope that we have opportunity to chat with you again. >> anytime i'm happy to do it. i joe khalil, our news nation, washington correspondent. there will stay in washington and we're seeing >> another. >> potential power shift here certainly in the senate. as joe mentioned, theepublicans in the house are still holding majority, altho

mitch mcconnell, lisa murkowski and susan collins. susan collins will be the chair of the committee next year. elon musk lobbied them and lobbied hard to vote for matt gaetz. the richest person in the world who spends all day every day with donald trump lobbied both senators to vote for matt gaetz and they said no and they were not the only ones. >> i know enough people that said no that the path would have been very difficult. >> elon musk will be the best positioned lobbyist in washington while the rest of us will have to write letters to congress. elon musk it can get any republican member on the phone and the second and tell them what he wants them to do and he can public the issue his orders to congress as he has done repeatedly to the senate since he became donald trump's constant companion and the senate has ignored him each time. elon musk publicly urged senators to vote for rick scott as the senate majority leader. that was taken in secret and elon musk candidate came in third. that was strike 1. than elon musk lobbied donald

. >> two other senators were keeping an eye on our senator susan collins of maine and lisa murkowski of alaska. senator collins is up for reelection next year in a state that kamala harris won by seven points. senator murkowski has made a name for herself as an independently minded lawmaker who has already survived one election against a trumpet backed rival. and both of these senators were personally attacked by matt gaetz in 2020 over their refusal to rubberstamp amy coney barrett's nomination to the supreme court. >> here we have murkowski and collins rejecting the duties that they have a senators and if they do that their voters should reject them. if they are unwilling to do their job and take a vote on who the president nominates they should not have the privilege of continuing to serve in the senate. >> now lisa murkowski ended up voting for amy coney barrett's is anyone's guess how she is ultimately going to come down on matt gaetz but yesterday she continued to resist the idea of being a rubberstamp for donald trump. >> i would like to see our committees do their full job. i

myself in the make a difference crowd and to try to deal with this incredible conference from lisa murkowski to ted cruz and get some sense of harmony out of it. and that will be a challenge for my successor, because we'll have all three branches. it's harder than it looks, even when you have all three branches. >> so you raise the contest for your successor. you told me before we came out this evening that that will take place tomorrow in the old senate chamber, republican senators will go in, there will be some nominating speeches, and a ballot will be taken, and what's going to happen? [laughter] >> well, first, the nominees will have-- the candidates will have two nominating speeches and i think typically they think having the right people make the nominating speech is a good idea. this is-- this election has been going on for eight months. what i can tell you for sure, our members are tired of it and anxious to get it over in the morning. you've had an unusual development here right at the end that i've never seen in a leadership race before, which is outside groups trying to influence

we're going to be looking at people like susan collins and lisa murkowski and others.a huge question still. >> which raises the question, if you have 51 votes who are willing to go to that route to get gaetz into the attorney general position, why don't you have 51 votes to get her in? >> from everything i've heard, there aren't 51 votes to confirm him, but they're saying they want to wait to hear what happens in the process. i don't want the lose sight of another thing because this is coming at us fast and furious. welcome back to trump's washington. the fact that gaetz resigned yesterday and he resigned yesterday ahead of a house ethics committee report that was expected to come out from the last congress and when somebody is no longer a member of congress, for the most part, the ethics investigations go away. >> yeah, and this is pertaining to a sexual assault allegation and you're hearing from some democrats and some republicans that they want to review this report. they want to be able to see it and so the question is are they going to be able to release it? are t

senator lisa murkowski said that gaetz is a, quote, unserious candidate.nted to make a joke, i'd wait for george santos to be named. others who publicly clashed with congressman gaetz over the years were more sanguine. >> i completely trust president trump's decision making on this one, but at the same time he's got to come to congress and sell himself. -- the senate and sell himself. there are questions out there and he has to answer those questions and hopefully he's able to answer the questions right. >> so that's senator mark wayne mullen of oklahoma today. it's the same senator who once said this about congressman gaetz. >> he was accused of sleeping with an underaged girl. there's a reason why no one in the conference came and defended him because we had all seen the videos he was showing on the house floor and all of us walked away of the girls he slept with and he told us hoe how he crushed e.d. medicine and with an energy drink so he could go all night. let's just show what he said now about gaetz. >> i completely trust president trump's decision

here with senator lisa murkowski of alaska, a republican. >> i don't think it is a serious nomination for the attorney general. we need to have a serious attorney general, and i am looking forward to the opportunity to consider somebody that is serious. this one, this one was not on my bingo card. >> senators susan collins of maine, also a republican, said this. >> i was shocked that he has been nominated. if the nomination proceeds, i'm sure there will be an extensive background check by the fbi and public hearings and a lot of questions. >> now, there is very little reason to believe that republicans will stand up to this, or really anything else. but voting to confirm congressman gates as the attorney general as of the united states could be the biggest test of republican resolve that we have seen yet. for his part, gaetz seems confident in his chances . tonight, house speaker micah johnson announced that congressman gaetz has offered to resign from the house of representatives immediately so that he can be replaced in a special election before the next congress is seated, which, i

susan collins and lisa murkowski have signaled they plan to oppose matt gaetz's nomination for attorney general. house speaker mike johnson said he is strongly against the release of the house ethics report. you have been speaking to doj staff for both parties. give me a sense of the reaction to gaetz as potential ag. >> the term that comes to mind of my conversations is a train wreck. i would also add i have been a spokesman for three u.s. senators. the default position for most senators is to give incoming presidents the opportunity to make out their own batting order to allow a president to put his own team in place provided that those folks are qualified. that is the rub here with this attorney general nominee. as far as we can tell, matt gaetz has never even argued a case in court. he has scant management experience. the doj has 115,000 employees, multiple bureaus and components and matt gaetz has no national security experience, not anything meaningful. he certainly has no experience with criminal law except for being the target of a federal criminal investigation looking into ina

and you have already seen what lisa murkowski and collins, what those two senators had said and being very skeptical about his qualifications. can you get to three or four? >> yes, i mean listen, i talked to three senators in the last few minutes to said they want the information related to the ethics report, whether or not they get the report itself and it is a simple math equation right now for the trump administration, they can lose four votes if mccormick holds on in pennsylvania. it is not hard to get to those four votes when you start the head counting that there's going to be a ton of pressure put on these republican senators in the wake of trumps convincing win, and this is going to be the first test of just how much control donald trump has over the senate in this new administration.>> and let's talk about this because lindsey graham obviously is already signaling that he has so much to say about the judiciary committee, the functions, at least he did share that. so, and he's always going to end up in donald trump's campaign, he did on ukraine funding which was close to his h

that said, nothing is a foregone conclusion, republican senator lisa murkowski of alaska signaled she may oppose gaetz . >> i don't think it is a serious nomination for the attorney general. we need to have a serious attorney general and i'm looking forward to the opportunity to consider somebody that is serious. this one, this one was not on my bingo card. >> her opposition is not enough. congressional republicans have not shown a lot of backbone when it comes to opposing trump. senator toomey turberville of alabama is threatening colleagues to close ranks around matt gaetz.>> will matt gaetz get the vote in the senate?>> i don't know your fighting on the swamp two coming out right now. everybody has an opinion appear but at the end of the day, president trump was elected by an enormous vote and he deserves a team around him that he wants. it is not us to determine that. we got 53 votes in the senate. we can confirm with 51. by a party scene for a couple said i'm not voting for him. with a minute? you are not the united states of america. you have a boat in the u.s. senate and you di

lisa murkowski told me he is an unserious candidate. others are very much holding concerns like john cornyn in texas. john kennedy told me, happy thanksgiving when i asked him if he is going to support matt gaetz. it is very clear they are concerned about matt gaetz's role to out kevin oust kevin corke from the speakership's defense of donald trump on the mystery thing and this house ethics instigation, looking into him with sexual misconduct allegations he denies, that's what a lot of republicans are concerned or noncommittal. >> i didn't like the way that he handled the squabble with the speaker mccarthy. i think that was unnecessary, i thought it was divisive. >> i don't know yet. i'll think about that one. >> any concerns? >> we will see. >> i'm sure it will be an interesting confirmation hearing is most predictions. >> he was not in anyone's top five , or top 50 list of the spoke folk i was speaking to. >> is it appropriate to name some of the attorney general job was under instigation? >> a lot of people are eager to see the resul

we saw in president trump's first term susan collins and lisa murkowski were dissenting voices, does mitch mcconnell join that group? senate republicans can lose only three republican votes and get that majority for things donald trump wants to do. if mitch mcconnell sometimes joins the caucus of dissenters, there is very little they can do. host: taking your phone calls about a lot of issues in washington, the week ahead in washington. (202) 748-8000 for democrats to call in. republicans, (202) 748-8001. independents, (202) 748-8002. as folks are calling in, besides leadership elections, what else is on the agenda? guest: let's start with what happens late at ap of the house rules committee taking up this matter of whether to find, as a u.s. house of representatives, the secretary of state, and geneva -- antony blinken, in contempt of congress. the republican that has has -- there has been back and forth between the house foreign affairs committee and secretary blinken. it will culminate with some vote this week, likely to find him in contempt. when final days of this administration

specifically republican senator lisa murkowski of alaska questioned whether a private investigator could have a personal agenda in carrying out such a check. at the same time, republican senator bill haggerty of tennessee says americans don't care who conducts the background checks. >> i don't think the american people cares who does the background checks. what the american public cares about is to see the mandate they voted in delivered upon. making our military is stronger. we're looking at a chance to do this. >> speaking of the transition, it now has been weeks since donald trump won the presidential election, yet his team has still not signed transition agreement documents with the biden administration. the agreement states that trump's team will avoid conflicts of interest and impose limits on fund-raising, while also providing more than $7 million in federal funds for the transition. this is the very first time that a president-elect has ignored these these restrictions and by dodging the agreement, mr. trump can raise unlimited amounts of money from unknown donors to pay for the

that is lisa murkowski's view. he's got his work cut out for him, added a republican of iowa. senator john cornyn said the senate want to consider any nominee by the president seriously, but we also have a constitutional responsibility. there was a note of skepticism. obviously, the president has a right to nominate whatever he wishes, i am certain that there will be a lot of questions, she said. collins said the ethics probe will be one of the issues that is going to be raised because, as i understand it, there is an active investigation by the house ethics committee. well, there was an active investigation when the senator was saying that. but hours later, that investigation was ended by matt gaetz resignation. a year ago, matt gaetz said, the world is not ready for an attorney general matt gaetz. >> you never know, david. there may be an attorney general matt gaetz down the road. who will be there to actually enforce the law and provide the accountability. not just the vision, but the actual accountability, the people that are sending you those messages deserve that in a fr

. >> there are a number of people who have been reflecting what we heard from senator lisa murkowski who said, look, we know what our responsibility is as the senate going forward. let me play that for you. >> there needs to be legitimate vetting. when i say legitimate, i mean just thorough vetting that the committees do. this is our job. this is the role of advise and consent and i think we need to embrace advise and consent with full enthusiasm. we're a separate but equal, separate but equal branch. so let's not cede any of our constitutional authorities. >> is this an opportunity, do you think at what has been most people would accept a fairly fast-paced and chaotic time for senators, particularly senate republicans, to send a message, look, american people, you may have some concerns about what you're seeing, but don't worry, we're going to check the information, we're going to do our job, we're going to vet. and we're only going to let qualified people get through. what do you make of this kind of messaging? >> well, i think it is encouraging. that's nice sounding at least. for

>> yeah, and i don't know that lisa murkowski is much of a signal. lisa has never had any compunction about standing up to donald trump publicly. i think this is an early effort to force senate republicans into utter and complete submission. if they do something as farcical as putting matt gaetz in as the attorney general, then the game is over. there is nothing that they will not do. and so he's putting the test to senate republicans early on. are you going to be my agents? as i try toy could convert thi democracy from something very different than a democracy? are you going to exercise any independent judgment? we'll have a very early test of that. it is hard, when i think about it, to believe there aren't four or five senate republicans that will vote no on matt gaetz. i know these people personally. i know how they feel about him. time will tell. >> yeah. there is reporting today that one of the reasons he is trying to resign today is that there's scheduled to be an ethics vote, a report in the ethic committee about a report that was about him th

senator lisa murkowski's reaction was just simply, "wow." what is your reaction to the nomination of pete hegseth to be the defense secretary? - well, i will acknowledge there's a lot of anxiety about whether a trump administration will seek to involve the military in political issues. you know, the 250 year unbroken record of the american military staying out of the politics of our governance in democracy is a really good thing, so i hope the administration will tread very lightly on pulling the military into political and cultural issues. - may i follow up there though? does this appointmen or does this selection of pete hegseth suggest to you that there is potentially a risk at the politicization of the defense department with pete hegseth at its head? - yeah, i certainly do think that's a risk, but i think the place to affix responsibility for politicization of the military is with the president, not with the secretary of defense, right? the president deserves to have cabinet officials who are committed to carrying out his policies and h

that's lisa murkowski's view. he has his work cut out for him. another said, the senate will have to consider any nominee by the president seriously but we also have a responsibility. susan collins said, obviously the president has the right to nominate whom ever he wishes. i'm certain there will be a lot of questions, she said. collins said the ethics probe will be one of the issues that will be raised because, as i understand it, there is an active investigation by the house ethics committee. well, there was an active investigation when the senator was saying that. hours later it was ended by matt gaetz's resignation. a year ago, matt gaetz said the world is not ready for an attorney general matt gaetz. >> you never know, david. it may be an attorney general matt gaetz down the road or someone of my liking who will be there to enforce the law and broi the accountability. not just the vision but the actual accountability. the people sending you those messages deserve that in a free and constitutional republic. >> i like that. attorney general ma

i get that, and the point you are making is valid, but at the end of the day, susan collins, lisa murkowskitch mcconnell, there are a lot of people you could vote against, those three that i mentioned would really suffer much from voting against trump on a whole range of issues, mitch mcconnell is probably not running again, lisa murkowski has already survived the trump primary, susan collins is going to have a tough general if she chooses to run again, so there is room for opposition without the threat of political downside. >> it also can depend on who wins that pennsylvania senate seat which is currently in a recount. chuck todd, i know you were trying to get in on this, what do you got? >> i don't think donald trump appreciates how quickly he's going to be a lame duck president and i don't think he fully appreciates the fact that members of congress, they may feel very low to him right now but as soon as the voters leave, they will leave ask joe biden. once it goes down, it goes down and this is so head scratching to backup what jake was saying, which is simply, he had acumen the politi

susan collins and lisa murkowski are still there but, they could not serve against trumps most extreme policies in the second term, so the question is, is the hope of a senate guardrail entirely lost? or might there be mostly normal republicans are just not entirely bonkers conservatives somewhere in the upper chamber? has donald trump shifted the republican party so far right that the people used to think of as conservative republicans might actually become party moderates in a second trump administration. remember, if you will, at one point in time, that romney was the republican nominee for president and now meant not -- mitt romney is so centrist, things have really changed in the maga years, is there anyone else who might reveal themselves to be actually interested in a functioning government? remember oklahoma senator, james lankford, who offered the bipartisan immigration bill that trump ultimately killed, or what about john cornyn who negotiated the most significant gun safety bill in a generation over the protests of many in his party which was passed into law by the democrat

the hectic part is people like lisa murkowski saying wow when she hears the secretary of defense name or adam smith, the chairman of armed services not being quite sure -- being concerned about the nominee. that's where it gets hectic when people dive into whether people should be in these positions. >> garrett haake, jen psaki, mark short, thank you. >>> we'll continue to keep an eye on the white house, where president biden is still meeting with president-elect donald trump. plus, what we know about what special counsel jack smith is going to do right before trump takes office. >>> and later, an nbc news exclusive, new details about trump's plan to carry out mass deportations. you're watching "jose diaz-balart reports" on msnbc. is you're watching "jose diaz-balart reports" on msnbc. >>> 47 past the hour of the now to breaking news in the legal drama surrounding president-elect donald trump. nbc news confirmed special counsel jack smith and his team plan to resign before trump takes office in january. "the new york times" first to break the news. smith oversaw cases against trump re

i mean, senator mitch mcconnell, lisa murkowski, susan collins, these were people who even publicly werey were very skeptical of the fact that they could even get there they were just trying to hope to get to a hearing. so i think the writing was really just on the wall and they were doing the math. john. >> well someone who may have put some of that writing on the wall. paula reid you had this reporting which broke, right all at the same time. walk us through the tiktok of your outreach to the gates team. >> yeah, lest anyone in trump world think that the bondi announcement would distract from this, earlier today, our colleague sarah ferris and i reported that the woman who was just 17 years old when she says she had sex with gates, told the house ethics committee that she had a second, previously unreported sexual encounter with gates that also involved another adult woman. so we're talking about allegations about a threesome with a minor now, our sources tell us that this woman told the ethics committee that this occurred at a party in 2017, in florida, the same party where she had th

if you're asking for my analysis, which you are, i cannot see lisa murkowski or susan collins or toml tillis voting for him. i don't know how any of these people vote for kbaets gaetz. they will give trump wide berth. they say generally speaking, senators say the president deserves the advisors that he wants. but -- and the people in his administration that he wants. i just think matt gaetz might be a bridge too pharrell. i thought that about tulsi gabbard. if i had to guess pete hegseth gets confirmed, tulsi gabbard is probably going to be very difficult. i just don't know how matt gaetz gets confirmed in any senate configuration that is short of 65 votes. i mean, i am flabbergasted by this. >> i wonder what tucker carlson is going to be named to, whether we will hear his name in the coming minutes or house or days. lisa rubin, talk to me more about matt gaetz in the doj position. you heard me ask andrew whether you might see resignations in the doj. suspect that a crazy thing to ask? >> no, because it's more than just a policy difference when coming to matt gaetz. inmates e matt ga

i also think you have senators such as lisa murkowski, susan collins, and a conservative senator fromaking very clear that they believe they need the background checks to make decisions. so i mean, you add all that together, democrats aren't delaying anything here. we're not -- it's on them. they've got to get their background checks together. they've got to get qualified nominees and we're interested in doing the work of the american people. we want to continue the work of president biden to bring down drug costs and that includes on the insulin cap, negotiating the medicare prices. that's a big, big job that's coming up because we have a number of drugs that are going to be under negotiation next year. we want to continue the work of bringing in more affordable housing and doing something more on child care. these are basic bread and butter issues, but if things get delayed because they're not getting their background checks or they don't have the votes for certain nominees, that just mucks up things, and so i hope that they will put in qualified nominees, and we will get these back

so if you take susan collins and lisa murkowski and alaska, so those are two that are not probably going to go for these maga people. if mitch mcconnell does not vote for these, then they have only one. then it's 5050. they have no margin for error. and he's going to be a really critical vote yeah, isaac um, democrats really there's not a lot they can do about any of this, right? >> i mean, how how do they how are they viewing what is playing out right now with his picks? because i mean, honestly, to alex's point, there is this question of whether, like the country, we we often find is pretty run, you know, center of the road. there's often a correction after an election like this, if the incoming administration overplays their hand, a lot of people would argue that the biden administration overplayed their hand in the beginning. and that's part of why we've ended up here. and what's your sense of how they view it? >> well, they don't have much to do right they are in the minority in the senate they've got to watch these these nominees come forward and if they're against them, hope the w

but what we now are seeing on capitol hill was clearly a republican senator from lisa murkowski, susan collins, todd young, bill cassidy, it only takes four republican senators to block the confirmation of any of these nominees. and it was going to be an outstanding question of whether the republican party on capitol hill, which donald trump is effectively reshaped greater into his image over the course of these last eight years, whether it would still stand as a barrier to essentially ultimate unilateral executive authority and declaration over governance in washington, d.c. and this is the first pin to drop in which the -- clearly indicated he's not ultimately going to get his way every single time and even with the threats of recess appointments, there is a clerical ar calculat to why they decided for matt gaetz to ultimately step aside because i think this is a big indication that the republican senators up on capitol hill are not a sure bet to sign off on everything that donald trump sends their way. >> so, is it your sense this had been building? we have this new reporting, i mea

alaska republican lisa murkowski said gaetz should not be pushed through. >> let's take it seriously and let's give it the time. >> reporter: he was under investigation for allegations of sexual misconduct, including attending sex parties and having sex with a minor. >> we are creating a false crisis because the reality is all that information is going to be on display at the hearing. the to nearly 100 house democrats demanded the ethics panel release it's report. >> they should have a chance to look at the evidence and make a decision for themselves. >> reporter: speaker mike johnson -- >> matt gaetz is not a member of the body anymore. >> reporter: other materials tied to separate investigations were hacked by an unknown party that includes the deposition from a minor. >> norah: thank you both for your reporting. let's bring in chief political analyst don dickerson. it's been exactly two weeks selection day. what is the pace of this transition? tell us about how donald trump plans to carry out his agenda. >> he's been moving lickety-split. he's done what previous administrations ha

lisa murkowski said he should not be pushed through. >> let's take it seriously and let's give at the time. >> he was under investigation for sexual misconduct including attending sex parties and having sex with a minor. the florida republican has denied any wrongdoing. >> the reality is all that information is going to be on% display at the hearing. >> reporter: nearly 100 house democrats demanded he released the report. >> to make a decision for themselves. >> speaker mice johnson has insisted that -- >> reporter: the house ethics -- has learned other materials tied to separate investigations into him were hacked by an unknown party that includes a deposition from a minor who allegedly had sex with him. norah. >> norah: nikole killion and caitlin huey-burns, thank you. let's bring in chief political analyst john dickerson. it's been exactly two weeks since election day. what is the pace of this transition, tell us about how donald trump plans to carry out his agenda. >> reporter: in 14 days he's done what previous administrations have taken roughly 50-70 days to do and what it tells

. >> reporter: senator lisa murkowski says, quote, i don't think it's a serious nomination for the attorney general. sources tell us trump's decision to nominate gaetz came together within just 24 hours. but the 42-year-old congressman has talked himself up for the job before. >> maybe i should serve as attorney general of the united states. i'd fire every little [ bleep ] kicker at the j. edgar hoover building and send them all packing. if you really want to drain the swamp, hire a florida man. >> reporter: threatening to take an ax to the justice department. >> we either get this government back on our side, or we defund and get rid of, abolish, the fbi, cdc, atf, doj -- every last one of them, if they do not come to heel. >> reporter: but for years, the justice department gaetz could soon lead was actually investigating him for obstruction of justice and sex trafficking, allegations that gaetz denies. the department eventually closed the investigation without bringing charges. but the bipartisan house ethics committee launched its own independent probe of gaetz for alleged "sexual miscon

additionally to the for the legislation, senators kamala harris, lisa murkowski and shelley moore capito and congressman frank lucas. the women we honored today made it possible. earthlings to live beyond the of earth and for general oceans of trailblazers follow. we did not come far only to come this far. we continue this legacy as one member of the audience with us today does single day the remarkable andrea mosie andrea, who has worked for nasa's for nearly 50 years, is the lead for the apollo sample program. she oversees the moon rocks in lunar samples that enhance are brought back from apollo. 842 pounds of celestial science. these samples are national treasures, and so is andrea andrea. the pioneer that we honor today. these hidden figures shows their courage and imagination brought us to the moon and their lessons, their legacy will send us back to the moon. and then imagine, just imagine. we leave our footprints on the red sands of mars. thanks to these who are part of our massive family, we will continue to sail on the cosmic sea to far off cosmic shores. thank you and god bless

senators kamala harris, lisa murkowski and shelly moore-capito and congressman frank lucas. [ applausesdlslings live beyond the generation of earth and trailblazers to follow. we did not come this far only to come this far. we continue this legacy as one member of the audience here with us today does every single day, the remarkable andrea mosey. andrea, who worked for nasa for nearly 50 years, is the lead processor for the apollo sample program. she oversees the moon rocks and lunar samples that nasa brought back from apollo. 842 pounds of celestial science. the samples are national treasures. so is andrea. [ applause ] >> the pioneers that we honor today, these hidden figures, their courage and imagination brought us to the moon and their lessons, their legacy will send us back to the moon and then, imagine, just imagine when we leave our footprints on the red sands of mars! thanks to these people who are part of our nasa family. we will continue to sail on the cosmic sea to far off cosmic shores. thank you and god bless all of the recipients. [ applause ] >> ladies and gentlemen, mi

there typically are two of them that have been in the senate, lisa murkowski, as well as susan collinsn some of the more swayable members of the republican senate delegation, but it looks like the senate is going to have enough folks in the republican party there that they may not need to have those two swayable stay with their side, which, again, just gives republicans and president elect trump that much more ability to get through some of his priorities. yeah. and in terms of appointments, how are the checks and balances going to work there? will he be able to pretty much get through whoever he wants? and obviously i bring a name up, which has been talked much about over the last 2a hours, and that's matt gaetz in terms of what we know about him and why potentially he might be a controversial pick for attorney general. yeah, i was going to say, sarah, who are you talking about? you were kind of coy there as you were asking. yes. matt gaetz is somebody that a lot of folks are raising eyebrows about on both sides of the political spectrum here because of the investigations that have be

but tonight, alaska's lisa murkowski says she won't be a rubber stamp. >> i'm not interested in a process that would say, well, because the president has named him and you have republican chairs coming into the new congress, we just move people out. there needs to be legitimate vetting. this is our job. >> reporter: tonight, trump standing by gaetz. >> mr. president, are you reconsidering the nomination of matt gaetz? >> no. >> reporter: gaetz just one of several controversial cabinet picks. trump tapping noted vaccine skeptic robert f. kennedy jr. as secretary of health and human services. and tonight, the president-elect announcing one of kennedy's top deputies will be tv personality, dr. mehmet oz. oz, who ran a failed senate campaign in pennsylvania, now picked to run the centers for medicare and medicaid services working closely with kennedy, though neither man has any government experience. now, tomorrow, the bipartisan house ethics committee will meet to decide whether to vote to decide to release its report on matt gaetz. the question is whether republicans will agree. meanwhile,

may have this majority, which is big compared to what we have, but you still have people like lisa murkowski, susan collins, the tom young's of the world. folks who are no big fans of trump have gone against them in the past and i don't think that was shy away from doing it again. while they have this majority there is a 60 vote threshold and you will need democrats to get a lot done, but you also have the small but loud contingent of senate republicans who may not want to careen into the president-elect's corner on every single matter. that is definitely a power bond to pay attention to. >> thank you for being with us. straight ahead, why the incoming trump administration's plans are causing concerns for some european leaders. plus an epic comeback win or the detroit lions in the bleacher report up next. let's go boys. the way that i approach work, post fatherhood, has really been trying to understand the generation that we're building devices for. here in the comcast family, we're building an integrated in-home wifi solution for millions of families, like my own. connectivity is a big part

lisa murkowski said gaetz should not be pushed through. >> let's take it seriously and let's give itlegations of sexual misconduct, including attending sex parties and having sex with a minor. the florida republican has denied any wrongdoing. nearly 100 house democrats demanded the ethics panel release its report on gaetz to the senate. >> have a chance to look at the evidence and make a decision for themselves. >> reporter: speaker mike johnson has insisted the report should stay under wraps given that gaetz resigned his seat last week. >> gaetz is not a member of the body anymore. >> reporter: the house ethics committee meets wednesday. meantime, cbs news has learned other materials tied to separate investigations into gaetz were hacked by an unknown party. that includes a depositon from a miner who allegedly had sex with him. nikole killion, cbs news, capitol hill. >>> overseas now, vladimir putin is rattling the nuclear saber after ukraine launched long-range american-made missiles into russia. cbs' holly williams has more from kyiv. >> reporter: u.s. officials say ukraine fired