you're on with marc caputo. caller: good morning. i would like to ask you, i hear all of these politics on tv and you hear first black president and you hear this person. why isn't halsey gabbard, -- why isn't tulsi gabbard, her record, not being pushed like every other thing that is going on in our country? why is that? guest: i cannot answer for why the rest of the mainstream media is not talking about how she would be a historic first, a woman from hawaii, a woman of color. i guess what the caller is getting at is the perception widely held, and i'm not saying it is wrong, of media bias, where a lot of the mainstream media will spend time touting someone is a historic first because of their race or gender they are not doing this with tulsi gabbard. i think it is a fair criticism. it is a good question for nbc, abc, cbs, new york times, washington post. host: another media question for you from x, saying are any of the nominees not qualified to fill their positions and why are so many in the media upset the nominees are not members

you're on with marc caputo. caller: good morning.ould like to ask you, i hear all of these politics on tv and you hear first black president and you hear this person. why isn't halsey gabbard, -- why isn't tulsi gabbard, her record, not being pushed like every other thing that is going on in our country? why is that? guest: i cannot answer for why the rest of the mainstream media is not talking about how she would be a historic first, a woman from hawaii, a woman of color. i guess what the caller is getting at is the perception widely held, and i'm not saying it is wrong, of media bias, where a lot of the mainstream media will spend time touting someone is a historic first because of their race or gender they are not doing this with tulsi gabbard. i think it is a fair criticism. it is a good question for nbc, abc, cbs, new york times, washington post. host: another media question for you from x, saying are any of the nominees not qualified to fill their positions and why are so many in the media upset the nominees are not members of

coming up monday morning, marc caputo, the bulwark national political reporter, talks about president elect trump's cabinet fix. and then washington director of the ronald reagan is a dude, fighting a record high number of americans in favor of more u.s. engagement and leadership in international affairs. c-span is "washington journal," join in the conversation live monday morning at 7:00 a.m. on c-span, c-span now, or online at c-span.org. on monday, the american enterprise institute hosts a discussion on the benefits of protecting personal data by claiming it as private property. that is live at 9:30 a.m. eastern on c-span2, c-span now, our free mobile app, or online at c-span.org. >> c-span is your unfiltered view of government. we are funded by these television companies and more, including buckeye broadband. ♪ buckeye broadband supports c-span as a public service, along with these other television providers, giving you a front row seat to democracy. >> next, oral argument in the case iolving the food and drug administration's rejection of applications from two companies amid conc

host: c-span viewers are familiar with marc caputo, current bulwark national political reporter.

marc caputo, the bulwark national political reporter, caught -- talks about president elect trump's cabinet and their path to confirmation. then roger zakheim, washington director at the ronald reagan presidential foundation and institute, discusses his organizations survey finding a record high number of americans favor more u.s. engagement and leadership in international affairs. "washington journal" is next. join the conversation. ♪ host: good morning, monday, december 9, 2024. the house returns at

my panel is here to discuss marc caputo. let me start with you. what's your reaction to what you just heard from tim parlatore pete hegseth attorney? he's arguing that his client still has trump's attention, still has the commitment to have him committed or what's the word to have him confirmed rather, as secretary of defense. well, i guess dc is sometimes a lunatic asylum, so it can be the same word that can be used in both contexts but the reality is, is that it really only matters what the 53 republican senators think at this point. >> trump is going to stand by his nominee as long as his nominee can stand up and get the votes. that was the lesson of matt gaetz. that's going to be the lesson of pete hegseth. and that's going to be the lesson of the others. now, at a certain point donald trump is going to decide to really start to fight and really start to bend arms, twist arms and perhaps break them. the question we have here is not only can hegseth get the votes, but if he falls short to what degree is donald trump going to spend political cap

marc caputo writes this in the bulwark. shortly after ernst offered a chilly reception to pete hegseth nomination to head the department of defense. she recognized she was in trouble politically, with grassroots republicans calling for her head. quote, how do i make this go away? a flabbergasted ernst said to an intermediary, according to a top donald trump adviser who received the message. ernst buckling underscored the choice facing 53 republican senators in the weeks ahead. board the trump train or get tied to the tracks. now, another gop senator who's seen as a potential obstacle for his confirmation, lisa murkowski, met with the former fox news host. she's not a yes. publicly, but perhaps just as importantly, she's not a no. either. >> i had a good exchange with mr. hegseth. >> are you ready to support him? >> i had a good exchange, and we'll see what the process bears while the senate works through trump's cabinet nominees, it will be up to house speaker mike johnson to push trump's agenda through what will be one of

joining us now, the reporter on the story, the bullwork's marc caputo, mark barnacle back with us ass to joanie ernst plays a big role in this discussion. as she started to appear to oppose pete hegseth, the maga base came out strongly in opposition to her. they called for a primary really not donald trump's transition team. and suddenly she started to look around and realized, oh my, this might be a mistake. and started to, let's say, thaw her opinion or warm toward pete hegseth for defense secretary. at the same time, tom cotton, the arkansas senator took a different approach and essentially told the conference, look, i expect everyone in our conference to support the republican president's nominees and confirm them. so, those two separate senators tell the story of what the senators in the body politic face, which is get on the trump train or get tied to the tracks. and all indications right now from a lot of the senators there are that they're on the trump train. to tom cotton's point, by the way, he researched this and said that since clinton's presidency, there were only two no

marc caputo wrote this about joni ernst because she obviously was kind of the focus of a lot of this. he was meeting with her. she was doing interviews on fox, almost seeming to look for other allies who might oppose him. and they wrote this shortly. ernst after ernst offered a chilly reception to pete hegseth nomination to head the department of defense, she recognized she was in trouble politically with grassroots republicans calling for her head. how do i make this go away? a flabbergasted ernst said to an intermediary, according to a top donald trump adviser who received the message. ernst, chuckling, underscored the choice facing 53 republican senators in the weeks ahead. board the trump train or get tied to the tracks. how do you read all that? >> yeah, ernst was an interesting situation because she did have an early meeting with hegseth. she made some comments that were negative about it, and then there was a huge pushback. i'm not sure i would go as far as like, you know, there were threats to her or anything. i mean, ernst has been very loyal to trump. she's been very she spe

cnn's isaac dovere, marc caputo of the bulwark, stephanie lee of bloomberg and cnn's steve contorno. it is great to have all of you here with us. isaac, i want to start first with you, because you've done a lot of reporting on the democrats, as they do try to find a way out of kind of this existential crisis that they're having. where do they go from here? >> well, where they go, it seems like necessarily is to the states and to the democratic governors who are in power, obviously in the house and the senate, they do not have the majorities come january. they will not have the white house. and so it's these democratic governors who have been trying to figure out how they will navigate their relationships with donald trump. they want to push back on some of the things that he is going to do that they disagree with. they want to work with some of the things that they do agree that, at least for political reasons, they need to find common ground on, but they also don't want to spark donald trump's ire. we know from his first term in the white house that he was vengeful when he when it c

here's one example from marc caputo of the bulwark. let me put it up on the screen.rtly after, joni ernst offered a chilling reception to pete hegseth nomination to head the department of defense. she recognized she was in trouble politically with grassroots republicans calling for her head, how do i make this go away? a flabbergasted ernst said to an intermediary. and listen to what senator lisa murkowski said about this pressure campaign against senator ernst earlier today. listen to this. >> my friend joni ernst. >> ernst, who is probably one of the more conservative, principled republican leaders in the in the senate right now, is being hung out to dry for not being good enough. >> and you're going to get primaried. >> so what does this tell you about trump? how trump is likely to behave during this next term? >> yeah, i mean, he's going to call in the maga dogs. i mean the maga mob. and remember, the maga mob are the folks who descended on the capitol on january 6th and behaved in a very violent way. so if you're somebody like joni ernst, there is, of course, th

. >> host: as we stand out the claimants left with marc caputo. want to join the conversation, phone lines 202-748-8000. republicans 202-748-8001. independence 202-748-8002. you can see his work at the bulwark.com. maga bill is name of the substack. one of the recent pieces the nominees from donald trump is prepared to go to war for includes tulsi gabbard and rfk jr. explain. >> guest: those other two, gabbard and kennedy, who were a feature of the trump campaign. they traveled the swing states, the two of them together, , they appeared in these joint events where they drew 1000, 2000 people thousand people in places like dearborn, michigan, and las vegas, nevada, and trump feature them as being part of his new coalition, his new political coalition. and now implicitly in that is his new governing coalition. they are both former democratic candidates for president, both of them, at the both left the democratic party. they are representing the axis of the canceled so to speak. more to the point, they are the at the establishment figures whom trump

national political reporter for the bulwark marc caputo.nk you very much for your reporting this morning. >>> still ahead on "morning joe," we're going to get to the unrest in south korea this morning. here is a live look at protests taking place right now in seoul where demonstrators are calling for the president's resignation after he abruptly declared martial law, and then backtracked hours later. we're back in 90 seconds with the very latest. we're back in 90 seconds with the very latt.es growing your business is easy once you know the moves. with godaddy websites plus marketing, you can quickly create a website, and ai will customize it for you. get your business out there and get more customers in here. no sweat... for you anyway. create a beautiful website in minutes with godaddy. >>> the president of south korea facing calls for impeachment after he declared martial law there. president yoon suk-yeol abruptly imposed the emergency law yesterday, claiming the opposition was, quote, trying to overthrow the free democracy. yoon accused

host: c-span viewers are familiar with marc caputo, current bulwark national political reporter. your take away from president elect trump's meet the press interview yesterday. what stood out to you? guest: not a lot of surprises. what stands out to me is lot of surprise from the news media that he is planning to be serious about mass deportation. callers seem surprised now that that could include families of legal immigrants. i do not think the united states has the power to deport legal immigrants but he is saying there will be a family separation policy. host: what reaction outside of the political media -- has there been reaction from congress? guest: i have not paid attention to that to be honest. congress has its own fiscal deadlines it has to meet and it is tied up on the senate side and what to do about trump's nominations or his nominees to be in his cabinet. guest: let's go to the -- host: let's go to the nominees. p tag seth. what is -- pete hegseth. what is the latest on his nomination? guest: the last few days of the week he closed strong. no new allegations of wrong