and then lisa murkowski invited five democrats to join with five republicans in her home for takeout dinner. with covid then active, we were spaced far apart with windows open despite the winter cold. our conjecture on how to bridge the impasse between the president and congress on covid relief led us over the next several weeks to dig in, negotiate, draft, and eventually see our work become the basis of law. i was fortunate to also be a part of what this team worked on that followed -- the bipartisan infrastructure law, electoral count act reform, gun safety legislation, marriage legislation that included religious protections. our group was rob portman, s kirsten sinema, jon tester, bill cassidy, jeanne shaheen and lisa murkowski. we'd each come to washington to enact law that would help people, and that's just what we did. we accomplished together what we could have never done alone. so i will leave this chamber with a sense of achievement, but in truth i will also leave with the recognition that i have not achieved everything i had hoped. among other things, the scourge of partis

i appreciate senator murkowski's words and also her demand and other republicans.ing to be their decisions on these nominees. we may vote against them or for them, but in the end it's their decision. her demand for fbi reports and making sure these are not recess appointments and there must be open hearings. >> they have enough votes essentially to move on these on their own. i want to ask you about president biden. this past week he had this record number of commutations, 1500 americans, more than any other president in any single day. among them though there was a judge involved in a so-called cash for kids scheme. >> did not like that one. >> sent thousands of kids to jail for millions of dollars. a man who committed tax fraud at a cost of more than $1.6 billion. described as the most utterly unrepented tax cheat in u.s. history. a woman involved in a $26 million scheme to defraud medicare. are you comfortable with some of these decisions? >> no. there's also a man in duluth that was running a major drug house basically, had all of this money under his bathroom

murkowski and collins have notoriously been the ones who have broken away when they need to.avanaugh, back in 2018, to some degree. so it's difficult to predict, but i would think in a situation like this, it may be difficult for collins and murkowski to support a hegseth nomination like this, and they can afford, hegseth can afford to lose them. he can't afford to lose four. between those two and joni ernst who i know that the maga republicans are putting a big pressure campaign on her back in her home state of iowa, threatening to potentially primary her into 2026 if she doesn't support him, they're butting a lot of pressure on them, but, you know, the only hope can be that they stand up for the constitution and their role to advise and consent, not to pledge fealty to donald trump when they see a pick like hegseth who is wholly unqualified to be secretary of defense for a litany of reasons. >> and, tara, just using your experience on capitol hill, looking at all of the president-elect's picks so far, who do you think has a tough path to senate confirmation, and do you see

members of the alaska delegation, senator lisa murkowski, senator dan sullivan, governor mike dunleavy, representative mary stetler paul tulsa, chief randy moore of the u.s. foreign service, architect of the capital thomas austin, and the youth tree later, rose, a fourth-grade student from alaska. [applause] ladies and gentlemen, the honorable thomas austin, architect of the capitol. >> good evening and welcome to the 60th annual christmas tree lighting ceremony at the united states capital. i am the architect of the capitol and i am honored to be here this evening as speaker mike johnson lights the 2020 four o christmas tree with the help of our special guest, rose, this year's christmas tree lighter who came all the way from alaska. it is a pleasure to welcome all of our guest this evening along with our capitol hill neighbors and those who are visiting washington, d.c.. a lot of work goes into finding the perfect christmas tree and i am glad to say we have made a beautiful selection this year, a 80 foot spruce from the national forest in alaska. lighting the capital christmas tree h

fox host pete hegseth will meet with alaska republican senator lisa murkowski as past allegations of misconduct, including sexual assault, shadow him. at the moment, senator murkowski says she will absolutely address those allegations, but seth's chances got a boost from iowa gop senator joni ernst after the two met for the second time yesterday. here's what she told fox news. or he told fox news. >> you get you get into these meetings and you get you get to listen to senators is an amazing advise and consent process. and you hear how thoughtful, serious, substantive they are on these key issues as they pertain to our defense department. and joni ernst is front and center on that. so able to have phone calls and meetings. time and time again to talk over the issues is really, really important. and the fact that she's willing to support me through this process means a lot senator ernst served more than 20 years in the military and is the first female combat veteran elected to the chamber. >> she has not publicly endorsed hegseth, but said she liked what he had to say about women in th

lisa murkowski said this about the pressure campaign she and some of her colleagues are facing. >> the approach is going to be everybody tow the line. everybody line up. we got you here and if you want to survive, you better be good. don't get on santa's naughty list here because we will primary you. we are seeing that play out in realtime right now with the nominees. my friend joni ernst who is probably one of the more conservative principled republican leaders in the senate right now is being hung out to dry for not being good enough. we're getting a little bit of a preview now of what it's going to mean to be allegiant to party and i don't think that that's going to help us as a republican party. >> with that let's bring in our leadoff panel this evening, nbc capitol hill correspondent ali vitali, peter baker, chief white house correspondent for "the new york times" and eric cordalessa, national political correspondent for time. eric, what was your main takeaway from your conversation with trump? >> i think donald trump is right now operating with a large sense of vindication having

murkowski, collins, ernst. these are women. so, you know, you can't weasel your way out of certain things that you've said. >> that wasn't ten years ago. >> that comment was on november 7th. we're talking a month ago, so hardly, you know, a long time to have a change of heart. obviously having a change of heart because to your point, senator ernst and other women senators and others disagree with him on this, so he will have to change his tune a bit. and he clearly did last night on hannity. >> i do like to remind people of, you know, the reality of what dying as a service member was in the iraq and afghanistan wars. a lot of it was carrying fuel and other supplies to the front lines in a convoy. so just this idea of what combat is, who is in danger, he can't get away. he's sort of trying to say women in the military. and then but you hold your hand to defend. but there are so many people when they are in a situation serving that they are going to be in danger without question. >> i mean, after america's longest wars, i mean, t

i just want to echo what senator murkowski said about our teaching to technology students. i am so proud of them. i see a couple of them and e front row. for creating the first ever come to bring this tree all across the country to be an wonderful shape that it is in today. our culture is about balance, reciprocity and respect. thank you for allowing us to share part of ourselves come bringing this bounce can love and respect to the nation's capitall by sharing our life giver with you. [speaking in native tongue] we're going to succeed with love. [speaking in native tongue] and i'll handle the mic over and he's going to explain more. [speaking in native tongue] it's an honor for all of us to be and we're just so thankful we get to be part of this process and you seen this every step of the way. something very think is common throughout all of alaska and the alaskan native culture whether it's up north or the southwest, theiv interior, but in the islas and, of course, in southeast is just a respect and honor for the world that takes care of us and an acknowledgment that life

murkowski, yesterday, very careful wording. trust the process.he will get a fair hearing. it's this thing that we heard from john yesterday, yes, they are not outright saying no. but they are also not saying yes. they are not there yet. they are going to let this play out and see what the revelations may come up at this point. also, the people that i talked to on the last 24 hours say that numbers about the same. still about six republicans who aren't there yet to vote yes. also, center richard blumenthal doing public service. seemingly, this is the third or fourth time where he has gone before cameras and said, no, i have been talking to republican colleagues. he doesn't have the votes just yet. so far the trump team think they will keep him. >> was not get numb to the reality here. the people that we are looking at right now is woefully ill- equipped to become secretary of defense. does not have any managerial experience that would allow him to run the largest and most complex, the most important, critically important bureaucracy in the united

eyes will be on, you mentioned two, murkowski, mcconnell, susan collins.course it would just take one more. and let's be clear here, hugo. kash patel, yes, your right, he's been deliberate, clever about the approach to his confirmation so far. but he is a deeply controversial choice. you know, there's no suggestion that he's fully qualified for the job in terms of experience. he has written in his book, he has said aloud repeatedly that he has an enemies list that he wants to go after including journalists. so talk to us about what a kash patel fbi would look like. >> yeah. and i should just say on that note someone told me yesterday that it appeared as though maga was growing a brain. it wasn't just let's throw everything against the wall. it wasn't just trump threatening senators, they are being more methodical. you're right with kash. he is deeply polarizing and has been deeply critical of the fbi. the enemies list is quite interesting because actually the names from that is who is who from 2016 as people like john brennan, former sigh director, sally y

but today's most consequential meeting was with alaska's lisa murkowski. she's one of the senators who has expressed concerns about the allegations against hegseth related to drinking and to sexual assault allegations that hegseth firmly denies. cnn's manu raju is live for us on capitol hill. manu, first, let's start with the fact that republican leader mitch mcconnell suffered a fall at the capitol today. how is he doing? what exactly happened? >> yeah, he's back to work, but he is wearing a bandage under his left eye and also wearing a brace on his left wrist. as you can see there from the picture on your screen, he was walking out of a republican lunch and tripped, and he fell. and that's what led to some paramedics coming to his office. they ultimately said he was fine and sustained those minor injuries. his office says he is back at work. this comes, of course, mcconnell, who's 82 years old. he's a childhood survivor of polio. he walks with a slight limp and has a weak leg. so sometimes he trips and falls. it's happened more recently. as of late last

. >> what are you expecting with your meeting from senator murkowski today?great conversation. >> reporter: alaska's lisa murkowski tight lipped after the meeting. 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 hard core 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 you. will you go after january 6th committee members? tonight, donald trump is looking to jump-start investment in the u.s., promising to sweep aside permits and regulations, including environmental ones, for companies that invest at least a billion dollars in the u.s. whit? >> whit: mary bruce, thank you. >>> when we come back here, president biden now briefed about those mystery drone siktings in the northeast, including 11 confirmed reports over an army base. >>> for the first time, jamie foxx speaks out about his mystery health scare. coming in..

you heard lisa murkowski there at the top, tom tillis, saying it feels like there's a pressure campaigngainst them to get on board with president- elect trump's picks. >> yeah. that's true of everything we do up here. you have a right to petition your government. i get pressured all the time to do this or do that. i'm pretty consistent. i vote for almost every nominee. i think i voted against one or two presidential cabinet picks since i've been up here, because i believe every president deserves a right to pick their cabinet. the people have to be qualified. they have to have good character. those things are all part of the process, but my predisposition is, to support presidential nominations, just not for republicans, but for democrats. so at the end of the day, people will push you to do things up here. it's up to you to resist. i feel very comfortable in the way i do my job. you can have your say with me and i will listen. but i will do what i think is best for the country. that's have a process that works. >> let me ask you about the fbi. picked kash patel to lead the fbi. christo

murkowski we saw yesterday and i hope everybody has a merry christmas. and a prosperous new year. appreciate it.[c [ applause ] [ cheering ] >> welcome, everybody. glad you're all here today. thep highlight of the trip is show and tell but driving the truck was just plain work. it's a happy way to make a trip. >> how long have you been drive ago j truck? >> 71 years. >> how long have you been drive ago truck? >> in march of this coming year, i'll be doing any 50th year with lynden transport. [ cheering ] so 10 years combined. >>-- 120 years combined. >> my name is john, j-o-h-n, s-. >> the other gentleman? >> fred, f-r-e-d, a-u-f-t-i-n. same as texas. >> topping things off, me and fred combined, we have 10 million miles driving in alaska. >> that's a lot of miles. >> i hear they h have their own social media influencers here today. they're quite the instagram stars i hear. >> talk about the calll sweetheart in echoes that the capitol christmas tree is from the mighty and no issues left ear. >> so we have we go through and our systems be able to anchor it in. and you see the crane

ryan, those are really interesting comments from senator murkowski, pulling back the curtain on whating on. the advertisements against joni ernst last weekend in iowa who joni ernst being up in 2026 and the changing joni ernst tone from friday to monday, after all of that had happened. it's interesting, murkowski, who has, you know, proved that she can withstand pressure and primary challenges in a write-in vote the last time, right? >> reporter: yeah, and i do think this pressure campaign is going to be more effective on some members than it will be on other members. and you do have to imagine that joni ernst is somebody who would be the biggest target given the fact that she is up for reelection in a state where donald trump is very popular and where a primary challenge could be something that could be problematic for her. but that being said, i think that there is a real test that this group of senators is undertaking right now about their willingness to exert their possibility as a coequal group of government, and serve in this advise and consent role, and whether or not they're

he just popped out of a meeting with senator murkowski who is a very important vote for him.e called that morning excellent and said that he appreciated her input a great deal. he is meeting with senator susan collins tomorrow. these two senators, murkowski and collins, elizabeth, are pretty moderate republicans who have a streak of an independent streak when it comes to president trump. collins tells fox news that she is going to ask hegseth tomorrow about ukraine, sexual assault in the military, combat, women in combat and the allegations that have been lodged against him again, murkowski and collins are two votes that he really is trying to ensure that he has. hegseth is making progress as well with senator joni ernst, a combat veteran and a sexual assault survivor herself. ernst is facing backlash though and threats of being primaried if she votes no to which one of her colleagues says that is just not right. watch. >> do you think joni should be pri married if she says no at the end of the day? >> no. i think joni's going through the process because it's very important t

you mentioned his meeting with senator lisa murkowski yesterday.re saying is what they truly believe and how they will act going forward. it's telling that press repeatedly by my colleagues, all she said was that it was a good meeting with mr. hegseth. in a couple of minutes from now, he's set to meet with susan collins of maine. she is somebody who's very close to lisa murkowski, the two have broken before, but often they kind of go in the grain together. they often cast similar votes. they sit next to each other on the senate chamber floor. this is going to be really telling. collins is somebody who was telling reporters up here, local reporters in maine that she does find the sexual misconduct and assault allegations very troubling, also of course his potential drinking, his alcoholism, so all of this is just still the very beginning of the process for hegseth, just about how much he's going to get from president-elect trump in terms of an endorsement telling him to keep going. the rest of the work is cut out for hegseth alone. >> let's talk abo

he will sit down with senator lisa murkowski, the alaska republican has said she, quote absolutely plans to speak to hegseth about the misconduct allegations against him, as well as his views on women in combat. hegseth is now trying to clarify those remarks, which he says were misconstrued. let's get right to cnn's lauren fox on capitol hill. so where do things stand this morning lauren? >> well pete hegseth just arrived on capitol hill, and we know that he is set to meet today with senator lisa murkowski, a republican from alaska. tomorrow, he is going to vote with he's going to join senator susan collins, a republican from maine. but this all comes as there has been renewed focus on from hegseth team on trying to court and win over some of these republican women senators. yesterday he met once again with senator joni ernst, a republican from iowa who he met with last week. and the two of them had described their meeting as a frank and thorough discussion. here's what they said after the meeting yesterday he is very supportive of women in the military. it is one thing that we discussed

and lisa murkowski and susan collins ended up voting against her. now, look, i think to the point in the opening, there are different kind of tranches to this. i expect lisa murkowski and susan collins to vote against at least one of these nominees. that doesn't mean they don't get confirmed. but let's also face that susan collins is up next year. or excuse me, two years in maine. she needs to have a little separation. so it's when you start getting into the joni ernst and the other people where this bleeds past that three vote threshold, that it becomes a problem. we're not there yet on anyone as of right now. >> kendra, let me show you what senator lindsey graham had to say, because, again, there are different pieces in terms of the hegseth nomination specifically, there was my sources have told me that the new yorker piece about his management of veterans groups, some republicans found, you know, got their backs up over it. but there is this sexual assault allegation that he paid a settlement for. and here's what lindsey graham had to say about t

he's set to meet with alaska's lisa murkowski soon. she's one of those republican senators who has raised questions about allegations against hegseth related to drinking and sexual misconduct. he's also facing scrutiny over past comments about women serving in combat roles. listen to what he said about a month ago. and then last night i'm straight up just saying we should not have women in combat roles. >> it hasn't made us more effective, hasn't made us more lethal, has made fighting more complicated. i also want an opportunity here to clarify comments that have been misconstrued that i somehow don't support women in the military. some of our greatest warriors, our best warriors out there are women who serve raise their right hand to defend this country and love our nation. want to defend that flag? >> so there you hear it. hegseth saying he supports women being in the military, not addressing what he said in the past about women not being fit for combat. some pretty clear comments that he is now saying were misconstrued. cnn's lauren

i don't know lisa murkowski. i do know susan collins. and i actually got a lot of time to spend with her. and she was beyond reasonable. but she is the only republican from new england. have you had a chance to speak with them up to this point? >> we will be meeting with senator collins on wednesday and senator murkowski on tuesday. and let me tell you, sean, the founders got this right. this is this is not a trivial process. this is a real thing. advise and consent of a nominee who the president has chosen and i'm so grateful that president trump would have the faith in me to lead the defense department or to choose me to do that. but this advise and consent process, meeting with all the members of the senate armed services committee, and they all have great questions. and my answers are for them. sean, the left is trying to turn this into a trial in the media. a show trial, and we're not going to let that happen. i'm going to walk into the door of every one of these senators with, just as an open book, willing to answer their questions

pete hegseth is going to be sitting down with alaska senator lisa murkowski. murkowski has said that she absolutely is going to raise the question of the allegations against him in their meeting, as well as asking him about his views on women in combat. it comes also as other republicans are offering up some indication that they may be coming around to hegseth. you be the judge, iowa senator joni ernst said yesterday she will support hegseth, quote through this process. read into that what you will. but those two women are definitely critical in the question of what will happen with this confirmation. let's get the very latest. cnn's alayna treene is tracking all of this for us. what are you hearing this morning, elena? >> well, i do think kate you're absolutely right that i think hegseth faces another big test today when he meets with senator lisa murkowski. she is someone who has never been afraid to buck her party, to buck republican leadership. and so she's going to be a key meeting for him as will also senator susan collins, who we're told he's expected t

i mean, he can lose three senators so he can lose murkowski. he can lose collins.could lose a third and still get his nominees across the finish line. and a lot of the votes he will need are from republican senators who need the maga base in their states. so, you know, i think the reality is, i think the reality is that this will be a this will be very challenging for some of these senators to stand up to this really muscular maga campaign. and i think what we saw from senator ernst around pete hegseth is, is the perfect illustration of that. >> all right, guys, thank you very, very much. coming up. we're getting new details tonight on mysterious drone sightings in the skies over new jersey. officials addressing a potential national security risk as key lawmakers push for answers. can't fool myself. it was the most exciting time in the world. >> his life extremely joyful moments and some really difficult moments. >> you only come across an artist like luther vandross once in a lifetime. >> luther. >> never too much new year's day on cnn someone need a hug? >> sing

our bipartisan group of ten, including the wonder women of the senate, senator susan collins, lisa murkowski, jalen sha -- gjeanne shaheen an bill cassidy, mark warner, and joe manchin, we painstakingly crafted a historic infrastructure law, delivering americas better broad bands, new roads and bridges, cleaner air and water, and more job opportunities. later, working with senators mitt romney, tammy baldwin, giving all americans peace of mind protecting marriages and religious freedoms and teaming up with todd young, we saved the chips and science law, spearheaded by maria cantwell and roger wicker, and now america and arizona can lead the way in semiconductor manufacturing and our country is safer and more secure. bringing senators john cornyn, chris murphy, and tom tillis together to tackle the int intractable issue of gun violence, we not only saved lives, we improved our country's mental health care. as everyone involved in each of those deals know, it wasn't easy. there were hard conversations, many tough decisions, many tradeoffs, back and forth that pushed us towards that solution an

pete hegseth met with lisa murkowski of alaska. >> i had a good exchange and we will see what processffairs. he has got probably at least half the senate that he's going to visit with. he has a process that will involve full vetting through the administration. >> reporter: murkowski and collins are key swing vote on controversial nominations. still potholes remain with some nominees that include cash patel for fbi and robert f kennedy junior to become secretary of health and human services. john thune is confident the gop will confirm members of the new cabinet. >> making sure donald trump's nominee's are put in place and ready to roll up their sleeves and go to work and we also are prepared to take care of the people's business in this country and look forward with any -- and agenda. >> they worry republicans manifold under threat from donald trump. >> low-pressure is overwhelming on most beyond words. a bully, tyrant, someone who needs every political leverage to uphold his own you go and invest it in this potential nomination. >> reporter: secretary of state nominee marco rubio met

here was the republican senator from alaska lisa murkowski describing what the message from trump felled like. >> we got you here. and if you want to survive, you better be good. don't get on santa's naughty list here because we will primary you. >> don't get on santa's naughty list because we will primary you. those are fighting words. because this is still a fight. joining me now is eric, staff writer at time. covering congress and national politics. he is the person who wrote the person of the year profile. and also with us is tara palmeri. host of the somebody's got to win podcast. thank you both for being here. i want to start with you tara. some republican senators are experiencing especially the iowa senator to confirm pete hegseth for the pentagon chief. donald trump does not have a history of putting out a ton of political capital with respect to any of his allies bu this instance with hegseth, it seems like he is putting out quite a bit. is that the case and if so, why is he willing to spend that on hegseth when he wasn't on matt gaetz? >> it does seem like he is willing to put

the only holdout on the republican side could be collins and lisa murkowski who said this yesterday.here. >> i had a good exchange with mr. pete hegseth. >> are you ready to support him? >> i had a good exchange and we will see what the process bearers. >> what do we need to learn? >> well, he's got probably half of the senate that he will visit with. he has a process that is going to involve full vetting through the administration and ultimately a community. >> john: she is not a know that doesn't appear to be a "yes" at this point neither. >> we are hearing from senate context pete hegseth is looking much more secure than last week. part of when joni ernst started speaking against pete hegseth she got so much blowback and a lot of people in the home state, we will be happy to challenge you the next primary coming up soon. that is the bigger picture here. when joe biden took office, we had a narrow control over senate and got all nominees and not just every democrat voting for quite a few republicans as well. you see republicans say they will not vote for this or that trump nominee,

. >> reporter: others, like lisa murkowski remain skeptical and have suggested they're being pressuredget in line. >> don't get on santa's naughty list here, because we were primary you. >> reporter: sparking concern from the other side of the aisle. >> she believes her job is to do what our constitution tells us, advice and consent. >> reporter: tonight the president-elect turns his attention to foreign diplomacy. he's hosting a dinner at mar-a-lago for the widow of the slain japanese prime minister, shinzo abe. he maintained a close relationship since her husband was assassinated two years ago. nancy? >> nicole, thank you. >>> today in syria, students returned to classrooms after the country's new rulers ordered schools to reopen. also, israel escalated attacks on its neighbor, aiming to keep weapons away from extremists. >> reporter: good evening. secretary of state antony blinken has confirmed that the u.s. has made direct contact with rebels as they move from armed insurgents to a governing authority, while stressing the need for hts to respect syria's minorities. for the first ti

murkowski. mr. murphy. mrs. murray. mr. ossoff. mr. padilla. mr. paul. mr. peters. mr. reed. mr. ricketts. mr. risch. mr. romney. ms. rosen. the clerk: mr. rounds. mr. rubio. mr. sanders. mr. schatz. mr. schmitt. mr. schumer. mr. scott of florida. mr. scott of south carolina. mrs. shaheen. ms. sinema. ms. smith. ms. stabenow. mr. sullivan. mr. tester. mr. thune. mr. tillis. mr. tuberville. mr. van hollen. mr. vance. mr. warner. mr. warnock. ms. warren. mr. welch. mr. whitehouse. mr. wicker. mr. wyden. n.l. the clerk: mr. young. senators voting in the affirmative -- coons, gillibrand, manchin, rosen, shaheen, tester, warner, and wyden. senators voting in the negative -- capito, cotton, fischer, lankford, lummis, marshall, paul, ricketts, rubio, sullivan, tuberville, and young. >> it seems fitting to end with someone whose retirement is a departure not from just from the senate but from a long and honorable career on the national political stage. on the bingo cards of american politics, the governor of massachusetts, senator from utah, combination, -- his repeated success in public

here was a republican senator from alaska, lisa murkowski yesterday, ascribing with the message from trump basically felt like. >> we got you here, and if you want to survive, you had better be good. don't get on santa's naughty list here, because we will primary you. >> don't get on santa's naughty list, because we will primary you. those are fighting words, because this is still a fight. join me now, stuff writer at time covering congress and national politics, he is the person who wrote the person of the year profile of donald trump as we mentioned, and also with us, tara senior political correspondent and host of somebody has got to win the podcast. thank you both for being with us tonight. tara, i want to start with you on the pressure campaign. senators are experiencing, especially senator joni ernst, to confirm pete hegseth for pentagon chief. donald trump is not someone who has a history of putting out a ton of political capital with respect to any of his allies, but, in this instance with hegseth it seems like he's putting out quite a bit. is that the case? and if so, why is

it is tough to see that some of these republican senators like lisa murkowski and susan collins signing on to cash patel, but it is a question of, pete hegseth is still an open- ended question for the pentagon chief, so this is going to be really a battle and a test to see how much of a resistance some of these republicans and the u.s. senate that are reticent to donald trump's loyalists coming in with the very overt intent to be institutionalized, to stop law enforcement agencies and what extent they are willing to stand up to him. i think it's a real test of what we can expect over the next four years in terms of the relationship between senate republicans and donald trump. >> yeah, we are in uncharted territories here. thank you so much, really appreciate it. >>> tonight donald trump called his next pick for the director of the fbi, kash patel, a quote brilliant lawyer, investigator, and an america first fighter. but patel's record tells a different story. last year patel pledged to quote go out and find the conspirators, not just in government, but in the media, accusing them of hel

it is expected right now that susan collins of maine and lisa murkowski of alaska and senator mitch mcconnell, the former leader are no votes. that is expected. that is enough with three no votes to get confirmed. they feel relatively good about it. the trump transition team does. they believe time is in their favor as long as they can keep grinding the clock. on december 20 republican senators leave town for winter break or holiday break. if there is one thing senators hate it is republicans -- asking about controversial nominations and whether they will confirm them and that goes away december 20. that span of time with pete hegseth does not withdraw and there are four no votes in the republican conference, then the chances increase closer and closer. the bottom line is the trump transition team, the trump base believes he has a mandate, he won the popular vote for the first time for republican since 2004. he won a majority of the electoral college vote. there republican majorities in the senate and house and they expect his nominees get confirmed by the republican senate. it is an understa

maybe they'll pull a susan collins or lisa murkowski in the cabinet hearings and we'll see them publiclyw angst but ultimately fall in line. i just think donald trump's second administration reflects the true ethos of trump and the maga movement. the 1 opportunity to stand up to donald trump is what united states senators do in these confirmation hearings and unfortunately i think we're seeing the trend to fall in line. >> when you look at what's been coming around like pete hegseth and some of the threats coming out from people like elon musk and the warning signs from thom tillis, joni ernst, do you have any confidence that the senate might do the right thing even if they do end up confirming them, that a few of them might stand up and have some backbone and speak up for the interest of these positions or no? >> i don't know. this is a cross your fingers moment i think. >> right. >> i don't have a lot of hope. what i do see, though, i think if donald trump and his allies continue to bully senators, i could see how that might actually backfire against somebody like a murkowski or collin

if lisa murkowski, i think joe's analysis is spot on. they tried before to take her out. susan collins can't win in may, even if she were to run again. mitch mcconnell is not running again. so for the controversial nominees, you just need one more. they can spread it around. it could be thom tillis on tulsi gabbard. these hearings will be important. it will set a more strong narrative for the american people about the shortcomings of these nominees. and by the way, i would be curious about what jay thinks, but i don't think it is curious that tulsi gabbard is running again. you know, you've got players, and then there are others. joni ernst may have unfolded on hegseth, but there are other people that may not. we don't know. >> she backed off and said, i'm going to let this go through the process, but as you and i both know, you can say stuff like that to buy some political space and hope that gravity stops you from having to take the vote that you will end up taking at the end. >> correct. and by the way, furiously behind the scenes, republican senators are working to tr

. >> reporter: -- others like alaska's lisa murkowski are skeptical and say they are being pressured. >> don't get on santa's naughty list here because we will primary you. >> reporter: sparking concerns from the other side of the aisle. >> she believes her job is to do what our constitution tells us, advise and consent. >> reporter: the president-elect is turning his attention to foreign diplomacy. he's hosting a dinner saturday night at mar-a-lago for the widow of slain japanese prime minister shinzo abe. they've maintained a close relationship since her husband was assassinated two years ago. nicole killian, cbs news, crest palm beach, florida. >>> turning to the middle east, israel continues attacking leftover syrian regime militlear sites ri. christians marked the first sunday service since the collapse of the government. they have sought to reassure minorities their way of life and right to worship won't be at risk. and students return to class for the first time since assad's ouster with teachers hoisting the three starred revolutionary flag. the u.n. envoy to syria called for

murkowski: mr. president, i want to thank and just a couple minutes of the way you will use will you know so global will you will and great you you all little was argues you. this will will will lucas all will is so sure news of dollars will lose out degrees of urgency to walk of minutes. cool so on illegal you all great of why is it will follow lisa's you great involved cells of the this really good is doing great you is some years ago you will partner on this legislation as well as on so many other matters that we've been able to advance successfully through the committee. my thanks to the chairman's team and to mine as the ranking member on the committee, we've done good work. it's been a successful year for the committee and i'm hoping -- hoping that there is a path somehow that this legislation will actually be able to be taken up by the house of representatives and signed into law. that with be a good and fitting end. mr. schatz: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from hawaii. m

you've got people like lisa murkowski, susan collins and mitch mcconnell, the new senator from utah, willing to tank those things. he's added another person, and i question why he's using so much political capital right now on these positions, and i think, you know, whatever happens kash patel will probably find a prominent position within the white house or the administration, even if it's not confirmable. this is going to be difficult to confirm, matt gaetz difficult. >> the thing to understand is that donald trump values political capital very differently than most folks in washington, d.c. it is a commodity that is highly fungible and in unlimited supply. but to that end, you've got the fbi trying to save face as much as possible, i guess, under the circumstances, issuing a statement saying, quote, every day the men and women of the fbi continue to work to protect americans from a growing array of threats. director wray's focus remains on the men and women of the fbi, the people we do the work with, and the people we do the work for. those growing array of threats happen to be th

ernst on monday, murkowski yesterday, and now today with susan collins. been given the space to go through the process, but ultimately a lot of time between now and january when they'll do these confirmation hearings, more information certainly to come to senators. both in the form of these meetings then also those fbi background checks and any other reporting that might come out in the coming weeks. all that is going to be pivotal to finding out whether all this amount to a confirmation battle that's successful or just bruising for pete hegseth. >> doug high, listen to what richard blumenthal said yesterday about what he's hearing privately from his republican colleagues. >> judging by what i've heard from my republican colleagues, i think the odds of his being approved are still less than 50-50. to be really blunt, if the fear of donald trump and his potential retribution for less, there's no question that this nomination would go down and go down heavily. >> and doug, i know i tried to promote you to chair. i know you work for the committee as a top sp

support meeting with lisa murkowski today. >> i had a good exchange.e will see what the process bears. >> and maine senator susan collins tomorrow. two moderate republicans with a streak of breaking president trump. hegseth made progress with iowa senator joni ernst this week though the combat veteran and sexual assault survivor faces maga backlash if she votes know. >> do you think johnny should be primaried if she says no at the end of the day. >> no. i think johnny is going through the process because it's very important to her. >> homeland security secretary nominee kristi noem makes her debut on the hill today with incoming homeland security chairman rand paul. also fbi director nominee kash patel returning to the hill for a second day of meetings. meanwhile trump, is focusing on trade policy. announcing on truth social any company investing a billion dollars in the u.s. will receive expedited permits. while once again mocking canadian prime minister justin trudeau as he threatens canada with tariffs. trudeau meets with canadian premiers tomorrow