the last thing he needs is obstruction from senate republicans. s a large part of why we just won the senate and a lot of these people got reelected. 76 million americans decisively chose president trump and his america first agenda -- 76 million. this is a record for any republican president in our nation's history. let that sink in. this is not because of any of us. this is because of president trump, who is the most effective communicator and leader in modern history. it's because he's a successful businessman, not a career politician. and now elected republicans are expressing frustrations with his cabinet picks. who do republican senators think they represent? they are representing the voters in their states. i remember when 20 -- that's i remember when 20 -- that's 20 senate republicans voted to confirm employer rick garland for the top law enforcement spot four years s ago for the biden administration. as attorney general, merrick garland turned the doj into a weapon against president donald trump. republicans and law abiding u.s. citizens.

he just needed to convince 50 of next year's 53 republican senators to vote for matt gaetz. and here is how he lobbied those senate republicans. matt gaetz has three critical assets that are needed for the ag role, a big brain, a spine of steel, and an axe to grind. he is the judge dreadamerica needs to clean up corrupt system and put powerful bad actors in prison. i promise you 82-year-old-year- old mitch mcconnell does not know who judge dredd is. as for these accusations against him i considered them worth less than nothing under our laws, a man is considered innocent until proven guilty. if ag garland could have secured a conviction against gaetz he would have, but he knew he could not, case close. elon musk thought the case was closed. elon musk told republican senators the case was closed and republican senators said hell no to elon musk. and to donald trump at the same time. elon musk struck out with republican senators. and his striking out with republican senators may be the most important longer-term story to e emergency from the gaetz nomination. elon musk tested h

on wednesday, senate republicans elected john in a decisive second round ballot. rick scott, the choice of several trump loyalists in the senate, was knocked out of the race. first round voting. he will take over. >> we have a mandate. but also to deliver on president trump. we will enforce border security laws and remove the violent criminals who are wreaking havoc in every one of our states paid we will work to make america process again -- states. we will work to make america prosperous again by turning over the bureaucratic machine. katrina: republicans will do. >> what i think he has been pretty on the -- pretty on the record saying that he is going to carry the administration. the incoming trump -- former leader or the outgoing leader, senator mitch mcconnell, but in the end, he did eke by without about four extra senators voting for him over senator cornyn but i think they are going to have their -- it's going to be a lot of work ahead, especially as the administration starts to name that. katrina: republican senators voted against senator scott. he was knoc

and i think essentially trump challenging the republican senate to a crawl moment. and the stakes are getting higher and higher as more and more bad information comes out about these nominees. >> well, i mean, gaetz, as you know, met with several senators on capitol hill today. i mean, it seems like so far republican senators seem mostly to be on the same page, at least publicly, which is that gates has some serious allegations to address. but he deserves a hearing. do you think there are enough republican senators who would say no to him as attorney general i think it's too early to tell that. >> as i said, i think this is the crawl test for senators. i think there are some republican senators who are eager to crawl. i think there are others who are trying to keep their powder dry and stay out of trouble with trump for as long as they can, but when it's game day and this information about gates and all of his sexual misbehavior and his payments for things, in addition to his complete lack of qualification, i mean we're focusing on the sex part, but this is a guy who

it comes as nbc news has learned that five republican senators were planning to vote against gaetz. do you believe it was a mistake by president-elect trump to pick gaetz in the first place, senator? >> well i think matt gaetz made a decision and i respect that decision. we're moving on now to the nominee he's chosen pam bondi who i know very well. come from state attorney general world. pam has taken on the tough fights. she took on drug trafficking. she's a tough career prosecutor. she's smart. she's tough. it's a great pick. and the justice department is ripe for reform. i think president trump is picking reformers. he campaigned on that and he's delivering on that promise. >> we are going to delve into that in a moment. just to stay on this issue of matt gaetz for a moment. given the severity of allegations he was facing, allegations of sexual misconduct including that he had sex with a minor at a party in 2017, which he denies. but do you think that he should have been picked in the first place? >> i think president trump deserves the ability to put people in positions who are g

obviously, that is something that a lot of senate republicans even would disagree with. anderson. >> yeah, i mean, that seems hard to believe. i mean, it seems like gates mostly held the line in his meetings with senate republicans. they're basically all saying he deserves a hearing, even if they're not saying they'd vote to confirm him. he benefits obviously, from the house ethics committee not releasing its report. um where does this go next? do you think the goal right now is just to get it to a hearing. >> what they are trying to stave off by having these meetings with these senators today for matt gaetz, tomorrow for pete hegseth. is that enough of them? don't come out because they can only lose a handful and say, i'm just not going to be able to get behind this person. they are asking them to have an open mind to go into this, to at least have a confirmation hearing where these nominees can then defend themselves and talk about this under oath in front of these senators at this hearing, and instead just get to that point. that is what they're trying to stave off tru

you've got a republican senator one of the no votes saying he would crush e.d.nd chase them with energy drinks so he could go all night long which is just a portrait of even in the trump era, an unbelievable lack of care. i don't even know what the word is, morals, character -- it seems like he was so bad that it wasn't even about the non-charged activity. >> well, i think you have a lot of this, as you said, which is known. it's been known for years that women have accused matt gaetz of paying them for sex and so now we have more meat on the bones where we have payments, mattgate making the payments one of them said for tuition reimbursement. showing consciousness of guilt and being looking to conceal what this was really for. the way they found these women was on a sugar daddies website. you have more information about the fact that they're travel across state lines. there are a multitude of federal crimes here that it seems like there is strong evidence, we don't know why doj didn't pursue it, but there's certainly strong evidence, just knowingly transporting

ethics committee to recommend the expulsion of that republican senator. no one in the senate was surprised when mitch mcconnell did that because mitch mcconnell was regarded then as an honorable senator who would approach the work with integrity and he did. because i had watched the way mitch mcconnell ran that senate ethics committee, i had high hopes for mitch mcconnell and donald trump became president. i had high hopes that he would be the one to say hell no to donald trump during the first presidency. he made another choice in order to hold onto his position in leadership. i was very wrong about having high hopes about him. now, now mitch mcconnell is just the senior senator from kentucky with no leadership burden at all. he is probably never going to run for reelection. his seat is up in 2026. for the next two years, and his position on the senate appropriations committee, mitch mcconnell will be in a position to say hell no to elon musk's proposals for cutting the budget. elon musk has to be very careful with mitch mcconnell because mitch mcconnel

is happening intensifying behind the scenes. >> matt gaetz, for one, has called a number of republican senators on the senate judiciary committee trying to ask them to essentially give him a shot. that was the words from senator josh hawley, who fielded one of those calls, as well as senator lindsey graham. now, in addition to jd vance coming to capitol hill, president elect donald trump himself making some calls and the the concern is that he may or may not he may not have the votes in order to get confirmed, because there are more than three republican senators who have concerns about jd vance's nomination. of course, it would require more than three to kill this nomination. during a vote next year. if and when this does come to pass, and there are a growing number of republican senators who say that the house ethics committee report that speaker johnson does not want release to the senate should be released to the senate and one key senator, chuck grassley, who will chair the senate judiciary committee, told me earlier today that he believes this report should be released in order for them t

there are 53 republican senators assuming the pennsylvania senate race goes their way. it's in a recount right now. if they have 53 votes, that means they can only lose three republicans. in talking to most republican senators over the past day, there are far more than three who have concern. now, does that mean they're all going to vote against gaetz? no, it doesn't. in fact, most of them ultimately would vote for him. but it would only take four senators on the republican side to scuttle this nomination. republicans concerns, too, not just about matt gaetz's role during the trump era as well as him pushing out kevin mccarthy, but this investigation in the house ethics committee. a probe into allegations of sexual misconduct that he's denied. that investigation is now done because gaetz abruptly resigned from the house yesterday. now, they don't have jurisdiction over him at this moment, but the question is will the committee release that information. here's the other big question. is gaetz does not get the votes in the senate, would donald trump move to install him via

there is no way donald trump will allow the perception that the senate somehow, that republicans in the senate somehow checked him. and so we need to be prepared for matt gaetz to show up again, without us having to in some ways subject him to the kind of critical scrutiny that i think he deserves to be subjected to. and so it follows very clearly. i think we need to understand what donald trump is, we can't forget who is, just because he got elected and the fact that he nominated gaetz in the first place, given all of these questions suggests who he is, let's be prepared to see gaetz show up in another life again in some form in the administration coming -- moving forward. >> well, vaughn, you're there, have you heard -- it is very early, this is only -- going to check my watch -- i think less than an hour or right around an hour that this happened. but what are the other possibilities? are there ssibilities there for matt gaetz? can you speak about the relationship he has with donald trump because donald trouble, a-wise he as we know, likes to reward loyalty. >> absolutely. there is a

thune: the newly elected senate republican conference vice chair, senator from oklahoma, senator james lankford. sen. lankford: congratulations to john thune. we're looking forward to his great leadership there republicans were asked a very simple thing. can you get us back on track. over 70% of the country right now believes the country is on the wrong track. our task is going to be very, very simple to defend our values. to be able to strengthen us as a nation. to be able to bring prosperity to people that are really struggling right now. that's a primary issue for us. those are things we'll get onto immediately. the american people have spoken and said we don't like the direction the country is going. let's get us back on a better direction. this leadership team, president trump, j.d. vance, we're headed in a direction to be able to get the country backen the track that she's looking for. sen. thune: and the newly elected chairman of the senate national republican senatorial committee chair is the senator from south carolina, and he's already planning on expanding our majority in 20

>> well, senate republicans and senate democrats have gone until tuesday.is afternoon for the week right as this news broke. so a lot of members have not reacted yet. senator john cornyn, a prominent republican who sits on the this nomination to the floor reacted cautiously when asked about this by our colleague. he said he wants to review list own personal views, he wants to hear more during the confirmation hearings. he didn't tip his hand one way or the other. democrats reacting much more sharply. i just caught up with katherine clark who reacted strongly about jfk jr. 's nomination. rfk jr. 's nomination. >> i have great concerns for someone who has shown complete disregard for public health. >> and i expect more democrats to echo that line. the senate majority leader chuck schumer, the outgoing majority leader as he was leading the senate, declined toto comment. when he was asked about it as he was leaving, we do expect fromfrom john thune as he leaves today. we'll get a sense on how he is assessing this. he has been handling all these nominations pret

he was noting about trump's win on election night and how many of the senate republicans he essentially was arguing, rode in on donald trump's coattails. there are several senate republicans that were explicitly picked and backed by donald trump, won their him and his backing and his influence jd vance was arguing, trump deserves to to have the cabinet that he wants in place. i this, anderson changes when the numbers start happening and the vote, they start counting the votes of what they do have going into this. and if there are enough senate republicans who come out and say, i just can't get there, my mind is not open on this. that's when the calculus mar-a-lago. as far as who is going to be the pick for these two key roles? >> all right kaitlan collins, thanks. i know you have a member of the house we'll see you on the source at nine. joining us right now, cnn senior political commentator scott jennings, former democratic congressman mondaire jones, who served on the ethics committee, cnn political commentator alyssa farah griffin and new york times national political reporter astead

but then when it comes to matt gaetz, a lot of republican senators could not believe — republican senatorsy learned _ believe their ears when they learned the news and were asked about— learned the news and were asked about it _ learned the news and were asked about it yesterday. someone who is going _ about it yesterday. someone who is going to — about it yesterday. someone who is going to face a large uphill battle — is going to face a large uphill battle to— is going to face a large uphill battle to get confirmed because he has — battle to get confirmed because he has made a lot of enemies even — he has made a lot of enemies even within his own party. you have written about what is happening. give us a look bit of an idea of where these appointments was about where president—elect trump is going to take america. he president-elect trump is going to take america.— to take america. he started off with a more — to take america. he started off with a more conventional- with a more conventional choices, _ with a more conventional choices, like marco rubio, broadly— choices, like marco rubio,

senate race remains too close to call. when that election is decided, the republicans will have 53 senators, if the republicans win in pennsylvania, to the democrats' 47. if democrat bob casey wins in pennsylvania, the republicans will have 52 senators to the democrats' 48. late last night, arizona democrat ruben gallego defeated republican senate candidate kari lake and it now seems the republicans are likely to control the house of representatives. as of this hour, republicans have 216 seats in the house and democrats have 207 seats in the house, according to nbc news, with 12 seats remaining to be decided. in the presidential election, the final national polls indicating that the race was a tie within a three point margin of error, are proven correct. donald trump currently has a 2% lead over kamala harris at 52- 48. anyone who understands what polling data actually means knows that that results in the election is within the three point margin of error of all of the credible national polls in the final days of the campaign. this afternoon, vice president harris returned to the white house for the first time since the election,

he learned there are limits to what senate republicans will go along with. ly in the week, a top trump lieutenant told me senate republicans would have no choice but to get in line or see their political careers go down. there's votes coming, and if you are on the wrong side of the vote, you're buying yourself a primary. a trump adviser told me, and there's a guy named elon musk, who is going to finance it. the president gets to decide his cabinet. no one else. that's just the way it is. as it turns out, that's not how it is. after just eight days as trump's nominee for attorney general, matt gaetz dropped out because more than four republican senators privately made it clear they just wouldn't vote for him, making his confirmation effectively impossible. and now there's intense scrutiny on trump's pick for defense secretary, pete hegseth who was selected with almost no voting. he previously faced allegations that he denies of sexual assault. some senators say he at the very least, should go through an fbi background check before any confirmation hearing. to

in the end, it's going to be the republicans in the u.s. senatehey want to put these people in place. >> jonathan: you know john thune well, and you're one of these -- a democrat who has had good relations and worked with republicans. do you think they would go along with this? i know thune has said everything is on the table, but do you really think republican senators would allow -- would fold and allow major cabinet secretaries to be confirmed without even the senate voting? >> i don't, and i think a number of them both publicly and privately have said that they will not go along with that. so i don't think that's going to happen. i also think you have senators such as lisa murkowski, susan collins, and a conservative senator from north dakota, senator kramer, making very clear that they believe they need the background checks to make decisions. so i mean, you add all that together, democrats aren't delaying anything here. we're not -- it's on them. they've got to get their background checks together. they've got to get qualified nominees and w

and so that is something that is weighing on these republican senators. do they want to start off this four year term that he's about to have by defying him and going against one of his picks to put in his cabinet? the question is whether or not there are other people waiting in the wings certainly with the pentagon, i've talked to two sources over the weekend after cnn reported and other outlets also reported that pete hegseth had paid a sum of money to the woman who accused him of sexual assault, something that he denies that his attorney says is not true. and was consensual. and what we've heard from them is that they're not bothered by that that they are still standing by pete hegseth and they're not making any kind of alternative plans when it comes to the pentagon. whether or not that holds anderson of course, you know, we're watching this all day by day here. >> and what's the latest on the treasury secretary nomination? the reports of you know, drama behind the scenes. there >> i mean, this is really actually the one thing that people are talking

nbc news learned that at least five republican senators were hard no against gaetz. one source saying as many as 30 senators were uncomfortable voting for gaetz. on capitol hill yesterday, there was swift reaction to gaetz dropping out. >> the double standard is atrocious and it needs to stop. >> holy [ bleep ], i didn't see that coming. you better pace yourself though, because it is not even thanksgiving. >> joining us now, nbc news correspondent vaughn hillyard in west palm beach, and nbc news capitol hill correspondent ryan nobles, nbc senior executive editor for national security david rhode, and barry mccord, former acting assistant attorney general for national security. vaughn, what did the decision by judge merchan mean, the sentencing trump could have been facing next week, almost 34 convictions? >> reporter: right, andrea. it means that at least the sentencing isn't going to be taking place before thanksgiving. just a month ago that dependinging on the outcome of this presidential election, if donald trump lost, he could be looking at a sentence come just no

[captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2024] >> republican senator john thune spoke with reporters after winning the election. he and other lawmakers discussed the priorities of the republican party and addressing the biggest issues for american in the 2024 election. at the start of congress he will replace mitch mcconnell, who was leader of the gop for 18 years, the longest in history. [applause] >> i have the team assembled. good afternoon, and thank you all for being here. it is a new day in the united states senate and in america. the american people have loudly rejected the failed policies of the biden-harris-schumer agenda. this republican team is united. we are on one team. we are excited to reclaim the majority and get to work with our colleagues in the house to enact president trump's agenda good we have a mandate for the american people. not only to clean up the mess left by the biden-harris-schumer agenda but also to deliver on president trump's priorities. we will make sure the president and his team have the tools and support they need to enforce or security l

and there is a new a majority of 53 republican senators in the senate. the question is, are we at the very outset of this administration going to see just republicans fall in line and give president elect trump the team that he wants irrespective of any of this or are we going to see these republican senators set at the outset, basically say to president-elect trump, we have a role to play here, too. and it doesn't mean as a co-equal branch that we are always going to be completely aligned with you and i think watching how that dynamic plays out is going to define sort of the republican party era of trump 2.0. >> what's the risk for these republican senators david? >> oh, it's such a good question, john, because, you know you see already on the right in some grassroots corners like charlie kirk, you know, of turning point, who was so consequential in helping to organize especially younger conservative voters for president elect trump. he's already threatening he says, we're going to organize primaries against republicans who don't support matt gaetz, but

senate. you've got hegseth, you know, had allegations against him, you know, for sexual misconduct, denies them, and at the same time, you know, there are republicaniowa comes to mind immediately. so, we'll have to see what happens with these nominees. i wouldn't put a number on it. i would hesitate to say, well, gaetz has gone, so that's it, or there is only one more they can get. they have learned the lesson that if they stick together behind the scenes, they don't have to vote on the floor. >> more of trump's picks during that blitz of announcements on friday. more conventional, perhaps some of the health choices raising eyebrows, but those are the ones we mentioned

republicans say the senate confirmation of his a.g. eopardy and here's what was happening outside the house ethics committee. late today, republicans struggling to face and release facts that they gathered about one of their own, attorney general nominee matt gaetz. republicans trying to see if they can get away with hiding their report regarding allegations against him. he's up for the most powerful law enforcement post in the country. you can see the press and the interest and the intrigue here today. the meeting was in secret. the republican chair then told reporters some of the details, and that, apparently, breaches the protocol when the process is supposed to be fully confidential until and unless these written materials about gaetz are themselves released. >> are you at least going to release it to the senate? >> there has been no agreement to release the report. >> but it has come to my attention that the chairman has since betrayed the process by disclosing our deliberations within moments after walking out of the committee. >>

and look, these are republican senators. this is all an admission to try to get republicans in line. we saw this happen with matt gaetz. the attorney general pick yesterday. now happening with the defense pick. pete hegseth a lot of republicans have questions. they don't know anything really about him, his worldview. and of course his reports about this 2017 police report and the sexual assault allegation. now we are learning that, in fact, hegseth has been talking to senators directly about this. in fact, in a meeting that he had with senator markwayne mullin, just moments ago, he brought up this police report in the beginning of the meeting that actually kicked off the meeting. he talked about it. and of course, hegseth has been denying an assault actually took place, noting that charges have now been filed and markwayne mullin went out and told reporters later, including our colleague kit maher, that he described it. mullin did as that these two individuals were flirting, that there was no actual assault. so he seems to h

house republicans know it, senator republicans know it. to make it is chilling at that guy is the guy that will be running the department of justice. to make the stunning lack of judgment character and integrity. >> i do know met gates because i worked with him my bipartisan legislation but i think the biggest story today is senator john doing is the senate majority leader and why is that important? because rick scott is not. that would have been all wheels off the rails so now that responsibility is on senator thune to lead the troops into making good decisions. up against recess appointments. trump earlier this week said to all three candidates who wanted to be senate majority leader, will you agree to do recess appointments and they all said yes. so will senator boone now backtracked on that with pete up for the fence were met gates up for attorney general? the other interesting thing, the house ethics committee two days away from releasing a report on met gates, then he resigns so the question in my mind is will the ethics committee gi

do you think there's any chance at all that senate republicans will stand up probably with all of theratic senators, to reject this nomination? >> well, again, you already see the excuses being made. if ten years ago you said matt gaetz is going to be attorney general, we would have laughed. what most republicans do around here is to accommodate and rationalize. you played the clip of a republican member of congress saying when donald trump tells us to jump, we ask how high. we do one thing around here, which is to pledge to uphold the constitution, which says we are in opposition to the executive branch and the president of the united states. so you already see the excuses and the rationalization s being made. here's another way of thinking about it. i think that the president- elect has already pulled more people from the house of representatives than the republicans have as a majority. so there's some possibility here that there will be a conversation between the speaker and trump and maybe this matt gaetz nomination gets rescinded. if they take stefanic, waltz, and gaetz, they're

have we heard from any more republican senators today yeah, one key republican senator, chuck grassley, who will chair the senate judiciary committee next year. >> i asked him whether or not he wants to see that report. he said it would be actually speed up consideration of this critical nomination if the house ethics committee were to release this report because, he said, a lot of republican senators actually want them did side on that, saying that they prefer to see it or that they expect to see it in some way, even as the speaker of the house mike johnson, contends that it should not be released because gaetz, he says, is a former member, and he says it would open up a pandora's box, even though there have been instances in the past in which former members have seen their ethics reports released after they left congress. now there's also a question about what would happen down the road and how committed donald trump is to getting this nomination in, and if he would actually resort to short circuiting the senate confirmation process and installing him via a recess appointment, someth

most democratic senators would prefer john thune as a republican leader. here's democratic senator mark warner today. >> i worked with john thune on a lot of things. again, i don't agree with john thune on everything, and he's going to have to work, he's got a challenge to work with the president-elect and his caucus. the thing about john thune is, he is part of somebody's -- he is always a decent guy. and that, i think, kind of basic decency is something that i imagine will be tested. but i am looking forward to working with him. >> so elon musk, the senate lobbyist, lost big-time today. elon musk lobbied republicans in the senate on majority leader , and elon musk lost. his candidate came in last out of the three candidates. in matt gaetz chance of getting a recess appointment to attorney general just fell from 100% with rick scott to know better than 50% with john thune as senate majority leader. john thune might turn out to be as weak as rick scott, and bend to every trump demand. but as of tonight, we know two things about the senate majority leader, j

this is partially donald trump's attempt to break the will and the resistance of senate republicans to prove that he can get anything through, although i don't think he's going to get this one through. but this is again, you kind of if you're a senate republican, you can oppose this one, and then you're scared to oppose anything else. and that's where you have like tulsi gabbard and some of the others that actually would, should deserve opposition as well. >> yeah, it's a very good point. >> former congressman adam kinzinger, marc lotter, appreciate the conversation. thank you so much. we actually want to get out to manu raju, who's been standing by on capitol hill for a long time now waiting outside. this closed door. and manu, a short time ago we saw some lawmakers emerge. they didn't seem eager to speak with you. what can you tell us about what you're seeing there now yeah. >> that's right. boris in this meeting that has gone on for about two hours and multiple members have come out refusing to comment about anything that went on there, including we have seen susan wild, who is the

and i say that because you still have, in the senate, by the way, at least three individuals on the republican side who voted to convict donald trump. cecil have senators cassidy and collins. you have senator tillis in north carolina who just saw his state become a little bit blue. although kamala harris did not win there. we elected a statewide governor and attorney general. in the former governor, roy cooper, may be running against him. see have a lease for reasonable people who are not, i don't think i'm going to be inclined to move on this. and then john soon just beat donald trump's choice to be majority leader of the senate. everyone from the trump camp was projected this week that they wanted rick scott. and john soon creams rick scott. so i don't see this. >> the irony of that, under secret ballot, republicans chose the kennett -- candidate the trump didn't want pick out the irony is not lost on anyone there. you see what you say about john. but trump has said that he wants whatever is the majority leader, and of course it's john thin, it's unclear what john will do, but trump basicall

or that might just be how republicans in the senate feel today. who can say how they might feel a few weeks from now? how much are republicans in the senate underestimating the weight of donald trump's thumb on the scale here? mike johnson wanted no part in the gaetz ethics committee two days ago. and now he's leading the campaign to make sure it never sees the light of day. as one house republican told the "washington post" today, it's a given. trump will beat us into submission. trump has already even floated a back-up plan. a plan for how he could still get the senate to allow him whoever he wants in his cabinet, even if he doesn't have the votes. recess appointments. essentially, trump would just tell the senate to take an extended vacation allowing him to bypass the confirmation process on the premise that the senate is out of town. and according to the incoming republican senate majority leader, john thune, that option is very much alive. >> so what you have said that you would do recess appointments if it came to that. what's the threshold f

he said, quote, republican senators seeking the coveted leadership position in the united states senate must agree to recessed appointments in the senate without which we will not be able to get people confirmed in a timely manner. he said, sometimes, those can take two years or more, calling for his cabinet officials and other nominees to be confirmed immediately. he went on to say some other things. look, this is a very big deal. i know you know this. the two of us have covered capitol hill in the past. this would be breaking if this actually were to come to pass and what donald trump is asking for is to have these recess appointments. that would be breaking with norms that have been in place now for several, several years. and part of it to boil it down for you, jessica, is essentially what donald trump is asking for is to avoid and bypass the confirmation process for his key nominees. now, we know when a president or a president-elect, i should say, goes through this process, we know donald trump is back on the island behind me. he is hunkered down with his transition team going thr

didn't pay for sex well you just heard marc caputo reporting that that what gaetz is pitching to republican senators from your from the senate judiciary committee with you today was that they're not actually going to weaponize the justice department. >> that that is not his agenda going in there to go after doctor fauci or these other people that that trump has, has threatened. what do you what do you make of that i wouldn't believe it, frankly. >> i think it would be a huge relief if, in fact, president elect trump abandons what has been an agenda that he's talked about over and over in his campaign. he said hundreds of times i am your retribution and he has talked about putting former republican congresswoman liz cheney in front of a tribunal about charging those who testified against him in a variety of different settings on trial for treason. i don't think it's healthy. i think that violates some of the foundational rules of our system. and frankly, i think a lot of the folks who voted for president-elect trump were voting for him to lower prices to strengthen the economy and to move forward, ra

so they're republican senators, correct? republicans and they're sort of hardwired to say, well, of course we're going to give him a fair hearing and there is one aspect that gaetz is counting on, which is republican mistrust of the media and the way it's been reported. >> well, mark caputo, great reporting. thank you for that. thank you for sharing that with us. my other republican source here tonight is cnn political commentator and former congressman adam kinzinger, who was the first congressional republican to call on gaetz to resign in 2021, when federal officials were first initially investigating sex trafficking allegations, which, as mark noted, did not ultimately result in any charges from the justice department. but congressman, it's great to have you here because when you hear mark's reporting about the pitch that they are making to senators behind closed doors, how do you how do you think something like that's going over i mean, it's hard to tell. >> i you know, i think there's a lot of republican senators that a

i'm watching frankly for how republican senators continued to die just republican senators continued republican senators continued to die just some of these mob boundary pushing and unconventional pics of donald trump. trump is really testing his party and it is a reasonable but they will fall in line, i think because some of these pics are unconventional there is the assumption they might not get through but trump is coming in with clear majorities and a lot of people in the party willing to give him the benefit of the doubt so quite a surprise perhaps for the reception that someone even like matt gaetz might get. someone even like matt gaetz might get-— someone even like matt gaetz miuahtet. ., , . large parts of spain are being hit with more torrential rain, just two weeks after more than 220 people died in flash flooding in valencia. it's the same weather system that is affecting malaga and other parts of southern and eastern spain. 3,000 people were told to leave their homes in malaga. this map shows the areas worst affected. valencia which is still recovering from a year's wort

what are you hearing from senate republicans on both hegseth and gaetz? >> so it's interesting on capitol hill right now. senate republicans, as mark mentioned, are very afraid of going against donald trump and the pressure campaign from donald trump and his allies haven't yet started. but i will say that matt gaetz is individually calling senators and asking them if he's going to get a fair shake in his confirmation hearings. we have -- i also have reporting that donald trump and people close to trump are also calling senators. instead of pressuring at this point, there asking questions. they are inquiring if the nominees are able to make it through the senate so i think there is a little bit of an assessment happening now but i don't expect donald trump to back down. he's likely to stand by his people. as far as senators are concerned, i see a major shift over the past week, since these nominees have been mentioned. first there was shock and then there was many outrage, and now as these senators are having these conversations with trump transition, with

there is growing senate republican opposition to this idea. one key senator, thom tillis, who sits on the senate judiciary committee, said he's okay. if donald trump were to go this route for lower level nominees as barack obama did for about 33 nominees during his term in office. but he said not for cabinet nominees like matt gaetz position that should be absolutely off the table. >> and quite honestly, any serious candidate for a cabinet level position, i would have to really wonder if they would want it or be willing to accept it under a recess appointment. these positions are too important and carry too much weight internationally to take a shortcut. however, i really do hope we get at least 33 recess appointments. what do you not know about that report already? i've been reporting it. >> yeah, but, you know, i mean, it's 45, 50 pages long. there's a lot of details in it. >> and do you honestly think that the people who testified willingly are not going to share that information and that last comment report the house ethics committee report

the senate -- republicans will control the senate.y could say this is donald trump's administration, he gets a chance to make these choices, and we will support all of them. it would feel like it's more responsible and more accountable to the american people to hold the hearings, have the questions asked that are necessary of gaetz, of gabbard, of pete hegseth and rfk, jr., so they can put it out to the american people. what do you gain, other than the erosion of more public trust, by skipping the hearings? >> right. i mean, you're raising a question question. donald trump walks into office having won the popular vote in the election, having a 53-47 senate, 53 republican senators who are with him, and i can tell you, republican senators who are very happy that they are now in power. so, he walks in with a strong tailwind. the fact that he has started out at the beginning of the process and said, i want to go to recess appointments indicates that not only that he wants to move quickly, but also that he wants to test the relationship th

gaetz himself has referred to senator tillis as an american left republican senator. here is what senator tillis had to say about gaetz's nomination a few hours ago. >> would you describe your posture on gaetz right now? >> my posture is that every nominee, whether they were biden's in the last administration, or whether they were president trump, deserve a process, every member should meet with them, regardless of if they are a no vote or a yes vote. i met with a supreme court nominee i had every intention of voting against, and i did. people should meet and go through a respectful, professional process. it is pretty straightforward. >> you are meeting with him today, just to clarify? >> i intend to meet with congressman gaetz. >> make of that what you will. two other senators were keeping an eye on our editor collins of maine and lisa mccroskey of alaska. senator is up against a state kamala harris won by seven points. senator murkowski has made a name for herself as an independently minded lawmaker who has already survived one election against a drop back arrival. b

they were listening to the reaction of those republican senators. mar-a-lago, trump did sit down one on one, i'm told, with pam bondi, they had a conversation. obviously, he knows her well. she represented him on his first impeachment defense team. she spoke there in the well of the senate we heard from her. and so she's no stranger to him. she's certainly a maga loyalist. i was talking to one republican tonight who was saying that she is more confirmable in their view, than matt gaetz was simply because, you know, she is maga aligned. she has experience as the attorney general of florida. she's a loyalist to donald trump. she's also, i should note, aligned with susie wiles. his very powerful incoming chief of staff. so she kind of checked all of those boxes that trump wanted. there of course, the question is, how do republican senators view pam bondi? it could be grading on a curve, john. now what they've gone through for the last several days. >> yeah, we'll talk much more about that coming up, caitlin, just very quickly. gates's decision to withd