that and other news from trump's first network interview since the election with trump's niece, mary trumpgrapher, tim o'brien. im o'brien. incoming dishes. —ahhh! —duck! dawn powerwash flies through 99% of grease and grime in half the time. yeah, it absorbs grease five times faster. even replaces multiple cleaning products. ooh, those suds got game. dawn powerwash. the better grease getter. >>> welcome back. in an exclusive interview with donald trump that aired on "meet the press" earlier this morning, kristen welker asked the president-elect about nbc's news reporting that president biden is considering pre-emptive pardons for some of the people who have clashed with the former president. these people include senator-elect adam schiff, dr. anthony fauci and former congresswoman liz cheney. as part of his response, trump accused the january 6th committee of unfairly targeting him and even destroying their records, something the committee denies. >> and cheney was behind it, and so was benny thompson and everybody on that committee. >> we're going to -- >> for what tle did, honestly, they

mary said it perfectly. right? you listen to what mr. trump said. pay attention to his words. he said he would consider pardons for the january 6th rioters. i wouldn't be surprised to see that. i would be deeply disappointed to see that, but not surprised. and you know, so, to be on pardon watch at the end of biden's term and the beginning of trump's yes. >> mary, can we bring you back? >> sure. >> so, mary, you've heard what chuck had to say. do you find that case compelling on the fatherhood tip and less compelling as an exercise of presidential authority? how is this likely to play with the lay public who perhaps aren't as used to seeing pardons being dispatched this freely? >> i think this is such a difficult thing because i think even if this hadn't been the president's son as a, you know, the attorney for hunter biden, call him hunter smith, probably would have submitted a package to the pardon attorney making all the reasons, making all the arguments for leniency here and for granting a pardon. but you cannot, president biden is his father. he cannot separate within his

shout out to mary trump.rd to imagine there was a time not long ago when there were ideals the vast majorities vast deals of americans cree on, the easy stuff like country music and wrap shouldn't be conbind. kale is best left as a garnish and never throw a surprise party for a 90-year-old. and if you do. >> even greg gutfield didn't wear a white thong past labor day. remember boss taking all the clothes off at the beach doesn't make it a nude beach. then there were the important beliefs we shared that kept our culture from falling into chaos, belief and marr it okay rahsy a good link, censorship wrong and assassinating people you don't like is not okay. she is days our culture is fracturedment significant slices of the population abandoned bedrock belief in exchange for the notion any end can justify the mean. after health care ceo brian thompson was murdered in cold blood a stay say found many found it acceptable. those people co-signed judge jury and executioner, imagine the maxim that creates. murder is j

without a speaker, the house would likely be unable to certify trump's victory. here's abc's mary alice parks. >> reporter: tonight, president-elect donald trump throwing his support behind speaker of the house mike johnson, saying johnson has his complete and total endorsement in his fight to keep the gavel. speaking mike johnson is a good, hard-working, rmgs man, trump wrote on social media, urging fellow republicans to get in line, writing, let's not blow this great opportunity which we've been given. johnson has been facing push-back for weeks. earlier this month, steve bannon blasting the speaker for his willingness to work with democrats to pass a spending bill. >> johnson's not up to the task, he's got to go, right? he's got to go. >> should johnson be speaker of the house? >> reporter: the vote is going to be close. speaker johnson can likely only afford to lose one republic. and the stakes could not be higher for the incoming administration. the house will be at a standstill, likely unable to even certify trump's election, until a speaker is chosen. now, it's unclear whet

trump criticized the program and suspended it in 2020 during the pandemic. >> mary alice, trump's team making the news about tiktok, asking the supreme court to delay the law banning the app. >> >> reporter: that's right. the law to ban the app is set to go into affect on january 19th, the day before he is inaugurated. they have asked the court to delay that to try to give the incoming president to negotiate a resolution to save the platform and address national security concerns. >> something to watch in the weeks ahead. thank you. >>> next, a potentially troubling new development about the bird flu. the cdc reporting the virus mee ta mutated in a patient in the u.s. which could make it easier to spread. no transmissions to other people have been reported. the cdc says the risk to the public is low. >> reporter: the centers for disease control finding potentially concerning new mutations in the bird flu from a patient hospitalized with a serious case of the virus. >> the cdc found this version of the virus had mutations that made it attach to upper airway cells for easily, hinting at

shout out to mary trump. but these days, it's hard to imagine. there was a time not so long ago when there were ideals the vast majority of americans agreed on. there was the easy stuff like country music and rap shouldn't be combined. cal is best left as a garnish, and you should never throw a surprise party for a 90 year old. and if you do? put down a tarp first. heck, even greg gutfeld didn't wear a white thong past labor day. remember, boss, taking all your clothes off at the beach doesn't make it a nude beach. then there were the important beliefs we shared that that kept our culture from falling into chaos. belief in meritocracy being a good thing, censorship is wrong, and assassinating people you don't like is not okay. but these days our culture is fractured. significant slices of the population have abandoned bedrock beliefs in exchange for the notion that any end can justify any mean. for instance, after health care ceo brian thompson was murdered in cold blood, a survey found that 4 in 10 young people found the killing acceptable. so t

he will step down before donald trump takes off after the president elects announced he plans to replace him. good morning, mary reporter: this morning donald trump is celebrating christopher wray's resignation after he left him little choice. trump already announced plans to replace wray forcing him to resign or be fired. this morning fbi director christopher wray is stepping down before donald trump takes office. saying he's walking away for the good of the bureau. >> this is the best way to avoid dragging the bureau deeper into the fray while reinforcing the values and principles that are so important in how we do our work. >> reporter: trump himself named wray, a republican, to the job in 2017 saying he would be a fierce guardian of the law and model of integrity. but trump turned on him after the fbi launched investigations into his efforts to overturn the 2020 election and his handling of classified documents, furious that wray authorized a court approved search on his mar-a-lago resident after trump refused to comply with a subpoena. agents finding documents piled in a storage room, the ballroom, even a

tough new questions, and tonight, a key trump ally on the hill now acknowledging this will be a, quote, difficult path to confirmation for pete hegseth. here's abc's mary bruce. >> reporter: tonight, donald trump's embattled pick to lead the defense department, former fox news host pete hegseth, swarmed on capitol hill, as he faces a bruising confirmation process. >> how confident are you that you can get the votes to be confirmed? >> reporter: hegseth making the rounds hand-in-hand with his wife, trying to shore up support as he fends off allegations of financial mismanagement, and sexual misconduct, which he denies. >> what do you say to people who are troubled by some of these allegations, sir? >> reporter: "the new yorker" reporting hegseth was forced to step down from leading two conservative veterans groups in the face of accusations he mishandled funds and abused alcohol on the job. allegedly sexually pursuing female staffers and repeatedly being so drunk that he had to be cared for by employees, including once when he had to be held back "from joining the dancers on the stage of a louisiana strip club where he had brought his team," according t

but tonight, abc news has also learned that trump is now privately considering potential other choices to lead the pentagon. mary bruce with the list. >> reporter: tonight, donald trump's embattled pick for secretary of defense, former fox news host pete hegseth, says he will keep fighting. >> i spoke to the president-elect this morning. he said, keep going. keep fighting. i'm behind you all the way. >> so you're in this all the way? >> why would i back down? i've always been a fighter. >> reporter: hegseth back on capitol hill facing a barrage of new questions about troubling allegations involving alleged sexual misconduct, alcohol problems, and financial mismanagement. and tonight, multiple sources tell us trump is now considering other options to lead the pentagon. >> are you planning to drop out? >> reporter: today, hegseth calling those allegations "the art of the smear," adamantly denying a rape accusation, and saying he doesn't have a problem with alcohol. even promising not to drink if he gets the job. >> he offered up to me -- and i know he has with other senators too -- that he's not drinking, and that

johnson, but the speaker was so grateful for support, writing he's ready to deliver on trump's america first agenda. mary. >> mary: a critical test for the speaker and the incoming president. thank you. >>> the stock market is limping its way into the new year. the dow losing 418 points today, closing at 42,573. that so-called santa claus rally after christmas so far failing to emerge. >>> and when we come back, remembering linda lavin, the award-winning star best known as "alice" from mel's diner, and the tense moments during takeoff at one of the busiest airports. air traffic controllers preventing what could have been a disaster. at the disneyland resort the happiest place on earth you'll find all kinds of happy you can find the my-dream-is-finally-coming-true kind of happy the i-just-found-my- new-favorite-treat kind of happy you can also find that woo-hooooo! (shouting) kind of happy there's the teaming-up-with-my-hero type of happy ... and the we're-never-going-to-forget-this kind of happy come find your happy today ... only at the disneyland resort. i tried to quit smoking cigarettes probably hund

it was a hail mary pass and they got it. and then president trumped on the tariffs with china and so forth and so on. so all was well. i mean it's an important thing i think the tariffs i agree with john. the tariffs are coming. i don't think mr. trump's going to wait long for them. you know you've seen with canada had already started. that's right with canada and mexico. you're exactly right. i think that the chinese and the foreigners will get hurt more. you do too. absolutely right. they'll have to slash their prices and profits if they expect to sell here. but there are. there may be one off hits to prices and profits, and it would be better to have the tax cut already in place. is that. that's that's what you're saying. absolutely. do you agree with that? >> yeah. i mean the corporate tax cuts. but all >> this is what was done tax cut bill passed in 2017, second half, the last third, the last month, it was hail mary pass. then president trump started on. >> energy border thing gets messy you lose that coalition that gets that second bill done.

mary bruce. >> reporter: donald trump coming to the defense of his embattled pick to lead the p posting that peteseth is doing well and his support is strong and deep. pete is a winner and there's nothing that can be done to change that. trump's team adamant that he can survive despite being dogged by allegation of sexual misconduct, excessive drinking and financial mismanagement. >> we are not abandoning the nomination. with are behind him. >> reporter: hegseth will get an fbi background check. the process underway. his attorneys saying they received the forms this week. >> as long as donald trump wants me in this fight, i'm going to stand right here in this fight. >> reporter: his path to confirmation is unclear. tonight, he is not the only trump cabinet pick facie iing pushback. serious concerns about tuesdaysy gabbard, trump's choice for national intelligence. >> i'm proud to stand here with you today, president trump. >> reporter: the former officials writing in a letter to leaders that they are alarmed by her nomination, saying gabbard would be the least experienced person to ever hold the

it was a hail mary and president trump got started on the tariffs with china and all is well.thing. tariffs, i agree with john, the tariffs are coming. i don't think mr. trump will wait long for him and you've seen with canada and mexico, you're exactly right. i think that the chinese and foreigners get hurt more and have to slash prices and profits to sell here and there's one off hits to prices and profits and better to have the tax cut already in place. that's what you're saying >> you want to go to china with the tariff saying we're going to put this on you but we're at the same time going to make america much more competitive and a double whammy if you're not getting on board and negotiating with us. wesley hunt is a persuasive guy, larry. i didn't think he'd buckle to the parallel reconciliation bill and makes me nervous. does that thing happen in april any don't know if it happens in april. if the defense energy border thing gets messy, trump has a formula. larry: i'm in favor of one large big bang reconciliation bill. there's some wining it's too complicated and takes

trump is not working the phones on his behalf now. and who's now on the short list of potential replacements? again tonight, mary bruce. >> reporter: tonight, donald trump heading to new york as he weighs whether to keep up the fight for his controversial pick to lead the pentagon, pete hegseth. >> do you feel confident that you'll be confirmed? >> reporter: the former fox news host on the hill defiant, in the face of persistent questions about his past behavior. >> i don't answer to anyone in this group. none of you. not to that camera at all. i answer to president trump. >> reporter: but tonight, we've learned trump has expressed to those close to him that hegseth should have been more forthcoming about the challenges he could face in the confirmation process, as he is dogged by allegations of sexual misconduct, excessive drinking, and financial mismanagement. >> i am a different man than i was years ago and that's a redemption story that i think a lot of americans appreciate. >> reporter: behind the scenes, trump's team particularly concerned about whether hegseth can win over female senators, given those all

mary is calling from there, independent caller. >> hello. i am calling to say that donald trump added the most to the national debt. he -- when he -- in his first term. today he is strangling the life out of the republican party. >> mary, let's take the first part of what you had to say there. we were talking to gwen moore. the 2017 taxes and the republicans spending in the first term of the trump administration. how do you reverse course here in the second trump administration? >> well, i think it's important to note that what happened is that we had an economy that was losing jobs, that faced high taxation rates. asyou know, they were -- corporate tax rate was 36%, almost 37%. american business found themselves at the back end of becoming not just efficient but adding jobs because they were making those payments to government. so republicans are not for higher taxes, republicans are for more people having jobs. once we immediately cut those taxes, which could be a claim -- well, not as -- not as -- you don't have a -- as high a rate. more money came into the treasury. $100 bil

trump on republicans not to support a bipartisan deal. now the new vote tonight with their demands. will it pass? mary bruce with late reporting from the hill tonight. >> reporter: tonight, 24 hours after billionaire elon musk and president-elect donald trump blew up a bipartisan plan to avoid a government shutdown, musk threatening any lawmaker who backed it deserves to be voted out, house republicans say they would come up with a new plan. >> we have agreement. >> reporter: hours later that plan failed. dozens of republicans voting against it, which means the government is again barreling towards a shutdown late tomorrow night which could leave millions of federal workers, including military families, without their paychecks heading into christmas. in the middle of it all, house speaker mike johnson, who had been preparing to pass a temporary spending bill with democrats to keep the government running. but when musk got wind of that, he launched a relentless attack on his social media network x, calling the bill a crime. trump then followed musk's lead and upped the ante, ordering republicans to add

trump's political opponents. here's abc's chief white house correspondent mary bruce. >> reporter: after a bruising few weeks, tonightesident-elect donald trump's controversial pick to lead the pentagon seems to be gaining some momentum. >> he's much better off this week than he was last week. >> reporter: pete hegseth, a former fox news host and veteran, fighting to win over republican skeptics has he faces allegations of sexual misconduct, excessive drinking, and financial mismanagement, all of which he has denied. >> what are you expecting with your meeting with senator murkowski today? >> looking forward to a great conversation. >> reporter: after their meeting, alaska's lisa murkowski tight-lipped. >> did you learn anything that swayed you at all? >> i had a good exchange with mr. hegseth. >> reporter: also on the hill today, trump's pick for fbi director, a hardcore loyalist, kash patel has vowed to go after trump's political opponents. today, i asked him if that's still his plan. >> donald trump says he's going to leave political prosecutions up to your discretion. how aggressive are you going to be, mr. patel

wray was actually appointed by trump, and what he said today. here's mary bruce. >> reporter: tonight, under pressure from president-elect donald trump, fbi director christopher wray announcing he will resign in january. more than two years before his term was set to end. >> i've decided the right thing for the bureau is for me to serve until the end of the current administration in january and then step down. this is the best way to avoid dragging the bureau deeper into the fray. >> reporter: trump himself appointed wray in 2017, saying he would be a fierce guardian of the law and a model of integrity. but trump soured on his pick after the fbi launched investigations into his efforts to overturn the 2020 election. and alleged mishandling of classified information. agents discovering documents at his florida home in a storage room, in the ballroom, even a bathroom. just days ago, saying this -- >> well, i can't say i'm thrilled with him. he invaded my home. >> reporter: trump had already announced plans to replace wray with his loyal defender, kash patel.

trump dismissed claims that elon musk is actually the one in charge after the billionaire put pressure on congressional republicans to reject a recent spending deal. here's mary alice parks. >> reporter: president-elect trump detechbdfending his relatp with elon musk after they nearly derailed the deal to fund the government. >> he's not taking the president. i like having smart people. >> reporter: the president-elect telling arizona today that musk cannot be president. >> you know why? he can't be. he wasn't born in this country. ha, ha, ha. >> reporter: democrats accusing republicans of letting musk set their agenda. >> at the behest of the world's richest man, who no one voted for, the united states congress has been thrown into pandemonium. >> reporter: musk leading trump's new government efficiency task force torched an agreement democrats and republicans spent months putting together. instead, congress passed a skeleton deal to fund the government until march. it did include billions in disaster aid and direct assistance to farmers. but it left out dozens of bipartisan health care and economic policies, as well as trump's demand to raise the government

trump. tara paul mary was first to get the information that people applying under trump for the department ofand human services under robert f. kennedy jr. are given this personality characteristics quiz as an intake form for getting a job with rfk. does this personality characteristic apply to you, "i tend to have unstable and intense personal relationships, where i alternate between extremes of idealizing and devaluing others?" what? does this personality characteristic apply to you, "i don't have much interest in having sexual experiences with another person"? seriously. this intake form to get to go work with donald trump's choice for u.s. health secretary, answer the question about how much interest you have in sex in order to get your job with the secretary of the u.s. department of health and human services. the intake form appears to be a product produced by a far right canadian podcaster. while we're on the subject of health, he famously says he flew himself to russia and serbia for what he described as emergency drug detox that included putting himself into a coma. he also famously

mary, in a statement today from donald trump's team, they have vowed to continue appealing this case.se can happen here? >> so there are two options. i would say the odds of either of them resulting in a further appeal are quite slim. one is to seek what's called en banc review. that means to go back to the second circuit and ask for the court to rehear the case. that's an extraordinary thing, and a full court will only agree to rehear a case if they think a panel made a significant mistake in an important case. and the other option is to seek certiorari in a supreme court. there's a split between the circuits or between the circuits and state courts over important federal issue, issue of federal law like federal constitutional law or in exceptionally important cases involving federal law. here we are talking about not state court rulings but evidentiary rulings in a case, and the supreme court rules actually say rarely will they grant sergs certiorari. they are errors donald trump's team argued unsuccessfully to the circuit that things drug kaplan had allowed into evidence that they

i would like to say to mary and rhonda, who badmouthed president trump, i want to let them know that president trump is the greatest president we ever had. all he's trying to do is reform the government. keep the crooked politicians from taking over. i just wanted to let you know that rhonda is way out of line and she should keep her mouth shut about president trump. what he went through to become president is unprecedented. thank you. host: john in falls church, virginia. democrat. hi. caller: hi. representative green left a bad impression at the end of his discussion. he said he was talking about social security checks wouldn't go out if the federal government is shut down. but that's not really true because there is a category of employee called critical. and they are going to be working and the people sitting -- sending out the checks are those people. host: those checks -- that is my understanding. those checks do go out, but those people don't get paid during that time. correct. until the government reopens. then they would get -- then they would be paid. bill in? gone. ok. thi

that was mary daly, the san francisco fed president. donald trumpntrue social, if there was going to be shut down, let it begin now. that is the message from the incoming president. also joining us coming up on the program in the third hour of "surveillance," we speak to matt miskin, of john hancock, zachary warring, cfra, and kathy bos tjancic. the third hour up next. ♪ to go further, you need to be ready for what's down the road. as energy demand continues to rise, we're harnessing breakthrough innovations to increase production in the u.s. gulf of mexico. our latest deepwater development, anchor, produces previously inaccessible oil and natural gas, allowing us to deliver the energy we all need today so everyone can follow their own road. that's energy in progress. ♪ ♪ ♪ something has changed within me ♪ ♪ it's time to try defying gravity ♪ ♪ ♪ >> the fed has to reiterate its commitment to its emplacement -- inflation target. >> is going to be a tumultuous 2025 if we continue down this path. >> the fed has done a lot of work getting us off of gro

mary bruce. >> reporter: tonight, president-elect donald trump basking in the glow on wall street, ringing the bell at the new york stock exchange for the first time. >> usa! usa! >> reporter: surrounded by his wife, daughters, vice president-elect jd vance, celebrating being named "time's" person of the year. >> it's an honor. and thank you very much for doing it. >> reporter: on wall street, trump pledging his commitment to main street, promising to deliver on his campaign promise to bring down prices fast. >> prices are going to start coming down, because people can't afford their groceries and they're going to be affording their groceries very soon. >> reporter: but in his interview with "time", trump was asked if his presidency would be a failure if prices don't go down. on capitol hill today, trump's no, ma'am kneel for defense secretary pete hegseth meeting for the first time with a democratic senator. john fetterman of pennsylvania. >> it was a wonderful meeting. he's thoughtful, he's independent-minded. >> reporter: fetterman tight lipped. >> are you considering voting for him? >> it'

president-elect trump saying the pardon itself is an abuse and miscarriage of justice. abc's chief white house correspondent mary bruce leading us off tonight. >> reporter: tonight, the fallout from president biden's stunning reversal, issuing a full and unconditional pardon of his son, hunter, something for months the president insisted he would not do, empathic when david pressed him in june. >> david: will you accept the jury's outcome, their verdict, no matter what it is? >> yes. >> david: and have you ruled out a pardon for your son? >> yes. >> reporter: but now, just weeks before president-elect donald trump is set to return to the white house, the president saying hunter was "selectively and unfairly prosecuted." the biden family, we've learned, discussed the possibility of a pardon while spending the thanksgiving holiday together in nantucket. the president reaching his final decision sunday, making it official just hours later. writing in a statement, "it is clear that hunter was treated differently. no reasonable person who looks at the facts of hunter's cases can reach any other conclusion than hunter

all you illegals, you will not have a merry christmas that mary deportation christmas. >> many donald trumped to start voting different in cities like new york and chicago. you have 14% approval rating so the people is looking like they are telling you you were fired, man! >> can you do the job mr. brandon johnson? >> laura: how did mayor brandon johnson respond to his constituents? he threw them out of the mee meeting. >> thank you, please, restore order. may i have your attention, please, ladies and gentlemen, please go to your closest exit! >> laura: joining me now, chicago resident fish on tinsel at the city council meeting. what is the biggest problem you are seeing with illegals in chicago right now? >> well, they are getting the resources all the american people in chicago and brandon johnson has given illegal immigrants over a half a billion dollars while people struggle in the street that not only that, he wants to protect the illegals chicago, illinois, illegally, and i don't believe that is the right thing to do as a mayor when you have 14% approval rating and then the people rea

on the hill, donald trump's pick to run the department of health and human services and what he said today about the polio vaccine. mary bruce on the hill again tonight. >> reporter: tonight, one of president-elect donald trump's most controversial cabinet picks, robert f. kennedy jr., arriving on capitol hill to try and win over the republican senators who will be key to his confirmation to lead the department of health and human services. >> mr. kennedy, do you stand by your comments that vaccines are linked to autism? >> reporter: kennedy now forced to defend himself after spending years spreading false theories about vaccines. >> there's no vaccine that is safe and effective. >> reporter: but most of the vaccines used today have been used safely for decades, credited with saving lives and even eliminating some diseases. today, trump was asked what his message is to some parents worried kennedy's views on vaccines will make their kids less safe. >> i think he's going to be much less radical than you would think. i think he has a open mind. he's going to be very much less radical. >> reporter: kennedy's views facing

trump himself saying that he will vigorously pursue the death penalty when he takes office. whit? >> whit: mary alice parks for us tonight, thank you. >>> now, to that emotional and personal christmas message from king charles, reflecting on a year marked by medical challenges for the royal family, thanking the health care workers who cared for him and princess kate, after they were both diagnosed with cancer. here's abc's lama hasan. ♪ >> reporter: the king's christmas day address. >> i wish you and all those you love a most joyful and peaceful christmas. >> reporter: reflecting on a difficult year for the royals, with both the king and princess kate diagnosed with cancer. this year, the monarch's message is a personal one. >> i offer special heartfelt thanks to the selfless doctors and nurses who this year have supported me and other members of my family through the uncertainties and anxieties of illness. >> reporter: king charles announcing his cancer back in february, saying it was discovered during an operation on his prostate. the palace not revealing the type or stage of cancer for eithe

trump will be there. he's taking over. third hour of varney starts now. ♪ stuart: mary catherine with me this morning. has trump taken over as president already? what do you think? >> he has trudeau down at mar-a-lago and that's where things seem to get done. he's going to notre dame for this event where i guess the current sort of president dr. jill biden will be, but not the actual president. i think you're right, people have been lied to and can see with their eyes what's going on and watch an angola leader leading president biden around with the hand and democrats told people no, no, no, everything is fine and media said these are cheap fakes and you can't talk about this till the second it was approved information and too obvious to ignore anywhere. that served the democratic party very badly and continues to serve the united states of america very badly because i don't know who's making decisions, and it's one of the reasons that a lot of people voted not for kamala harris is because the democratic party was giving them an incapacitated president, lying to them about it and giving them un-impres

tonight, president-elect trump now weighing in, and here's mary bruce. >> reporter: tonight, after a relentless pressure campaign from billionaire elon musk, washington is now barrelling towards a possible government shutdown, just days before christmas. musk calling a shutdown infinite tibeter than passing a horrible bill, threatening any lawmaker that votes for it deserved to be voted out. the deal that would keep the government up and running for three months was brokers by republican house speaker mike johnson. >> we've got to get this done, because here's the key. by doing this, we are clearing the decks and we are setting up for trump to come in, roaring back, with the america first agenda. >> reporter: but this morning, musk, who president-elect trump has tapped to lead a new govern department on government efficiency, posted on x, "this spending bill is a crime." the bill includes billions in assistance for farmers. but musk says it's also bloated with wasteful spending. republican leaders today caught offguard by musk's pressure play. >> there would be a lot of hard votes in

mary vo. >> anita: plus president-elect trump is preparing to crack down on century city's. former acting dhs secretary chad wolf on what's at stake coming up next. ♪ ♪ >> bill: welcome back. a federal funding showdown is brewing be between the incoming trump administration and sanctuary cities. william la jeunesse live in los angeles with moore and william, some of these sanctuary dearest jurisdictions get a nice stack of cash from the feds. >> it doesn't mean you don't have to live in a sanctuary state or county, but you are paying places like california and new york and others to incarcerate their criminal aliens. so the program is called sc *scap,'s given to states and counties to cover the cost of incarcerating illegal immigrants bone it comes to deporting those same aliens come of jurisdictions refused to cooperate. the feds handing out more than $230 million a year to sanctuary states like new york, new jersey, colorado, not to mention a dozen counties within most jurisdictions getting more than a million each. >> it is hypocritical to them too, with one hand, hold ou

mary ellen o'toole, thank you. >>> if you don't succeed, try, try again. the latest effort by trump's legal team to sink his hush money conviction. also, what the president-elect is signaling on social media about liz chaney. plus, new reporting on the wife of trump's pentagon pick, pete hegseth, accused of retaliation tied to sexual harassment allegations at fox news. and the astronomical headache for two nasa astronauts who are seeing their return trip delayed again. we're back in 90 seconds. ♪ upbeat music ♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ (♪♪) (♪♪) (♪♪) start your day with nature made. and try new zero sugar gummies. start your day with speaker 1: at st. jude, there's one thing that makes us all family-- finding cures, saving children. speaker 2: in this family, families never receive a bill from st. jude for treatment, travel, housing, or food. speaker 3: one in five kids in the us still won't survive cancer. speaker 4: in this family, we won't stop until no child dies from cancer. speaker 2: this holiday season, join our st. jude family. we need you. please donate now. >>> welcome back. house republicans

be a democratic party in disarray with former trump white house assistant press secretary harrison fields and heritage foundation strategic mitigations vp mary vought. welcome to both of you. a former obama fund-raiser expressed to this concern about where the democrats are now. let's play it. >> i believe that there is a realignment. it used to be the democratic party, they were supporting the working class, a middle-class. it was the party of free-speech, no censorship and yet now the tables have turned. >> mike: mary, what to the democrats need to do? >> that's a great question. they need to figure out what time it is in the country and they need to do it quickly because the future of their party depends on it. we know why the trump won on november fifth, they seem to be completely confused by it. if iran a democrat party i would call a caucus meeting for 24 hours, i would say we are going to analyse all of the exit polls, all of the data. why did donald trump win, what issues resonate with the voters and i would then work to initiate policies that are aligned with that. it doesn't seem that's what they are doing which is awed because the

mary, i want to start with you because kash patel's rise in trump world is really on the back of trump's unwittingly being -- working in concert with the russians, collusion not an actual crime he was investigated for but whether his campaign and russia having a shared mission of his election 2016 was a national security risk and whether crimes were committed. that was sort of the origin story of trump's retribution, which would shape his entire presidency, his four years in exile and his entire campaign for reelection. it seems like a price has been paid by the men and women of the fbi and the department of justice that hasn't been paid as of yet by anyone else, for eight years of being smeared as part of a deep state. what is morale like inside the department eight years in? >> well i think, you know, with trump's reelection and in particular with some of the early announcements about appointments, first matt gaetz which, you know, has been pulled back, of course, in favor of pam bondi, now this announcement about kash patel, people are very worried. they're very concerned. there are s

here that the president was concerned that he wouldn't let up, that a trump administration would go after hunter. david? >> david: mary bruce leading us off from the white house. mary, thank you. >>> we're going to turn now to the awful scene on a michigan interstate, and the weather emergencies across several states at this hour. winter weather alerts from michigan to new york to pennsylvania. for man five feet of lake effect snow in parts of western new york. multiple accidents along lake erie. parts offiv i-94 in kalama one driver in critical condition tonight. and now, another system right behind it. trevor ault from adams, new york, south of watertown tonight. >> reporter: tonight, the massive winter blast causing chaos on the roads. call ma call ma sioux, michigan, a stretch of interstate 94 near hartford shut down after more than a dozen cars and three semi-trucks piled up. at least one driver in critical condition. near watertown, new york, whiteout conditions on interstate 81 sunday. families socked in. here in watertown, they are digging out. look at these giants piles of snow. some areas nearby had 58 inche

mary, in a statement from donald trump's team they have vowed to continue appealing this case.can happen here? >> there are two options. i would say the odds of either of them resulting in a further appeal are quite slim. one is to seek what's called ombonc review to go back to the circuit court and ask for the full court to rehear the case. that's an unusual thing. the full court will only agree to rehear a case if they think a panel made a mistake in a particularly important case. the other is to seek certiori in the u supreme court which is unlikely. they take important federal issues alaw or an exceptionally important case involving federal law. here we are talking about state court -- not state court rulings, but estuary evidence rulings to the case, were things that judge kaplan allowed into evidence, the standard of abuse of discretion. the second circuit found no abuse of discretion. there's no dispute over the law that applies. it's only on how that law was applied to the facts and that is not really reviewable at a higher level. >> tim, one of the interesting things,

mary katherine, great of to have you onboard this morning. trumpe know, is promising to hit the ground running. how hard will it be for him to to achieve his goals? >> he's a rot moretop lahr than -- a lot more popular than he was in 2016 and a lot more prepared. so in 2017, january, he came in not really knowing that they were going to win. they weren't really prepared for that, and the transition was rough as a result. democrats and people within the intel communities and law enforcement communities had already started this russia nonsense that they were ready on day one with that, and he was not ready with what he wanted to do. i think the roles have sort of to flipped this time. his approval ratings are higher than they have been in seven years, his transition approval ratings are quite high. and democrats, although they're going the fight him, of course, are going the to deal with that part. the public wants some of the things that he's doing. they must contend with that. and the other part is he has, i think, a lot of executive actions ready

mary, independent caller. caller: i am calling to say that donald trump did the most to the national debt. today he is strangling the life out of the republican party. host: the first part of what we were saying, we were talking to representative gwen moore and she was talking about the tax cuts adding to the deficit and then republicans spending during the first term of the trump administration. how do you reverse course in the second trump administration? guest: it is important to note that we had an economy that was losing jobs, that phased high tech station. as you know, the corporate tax rate was 36%, almost 30 7%. american business found themselves at the back end of becoming not just efficient but adding jobs because they were making the payments to the governments. republicans are not for higher taxes. republicans are for more people having jobs. once we immediately cut those taxes,, we don't have as high rates, more money came into the treasury. almost overnight there was 500 billion dollars that came from overseas investment into america, investing in jobs and opportunity. i will