tom: hungarian prime minister viktor orban speaking at the eu because summit yesterday. oomberg understands orban has told eu leaders he wants to wait until the inauguration of his ally donald before deciding whether to extend sanctions against russia. let's get more with oliver crook . how have eu leaders been r eacting to comments from orban who has become a thorn in the side to some of their ambitions? >> this is his favorite role in the eu as being a sort of contrarian and going against the eu, but it is a serious issue when it comes to things like ukraine. the overall message from the eu is one we have heard for many years. we heard from ursula von der leyen saying them a message his full support for ukraine as long as it takes. this means getting more arms shipments, but there is not a great deal of optimism that they will bring a lot more to ukraine given how long this has been going on and how long they've been trying to mobilize some of these things. the concern is the focus on losing things and potentially losing the ability to continue to roll on these sanction

xi jinping and viktor orban. we told you about a report that trump had allegedly invited them to the inauguration. this morning, incoming white house press secretary caroline levett confirmed that an invitation had been extended to xi jinping. >> reportedly, and you can confirm this, sounds like donald trump has invited president xi to the inauguration. >> that is true. yes. and this is an example of president trump creating an open dialogue with leaders of countries that are not just our allies but our adversaries an our competitors too. >> has he rsvped? >> to be determined. >> i'm not really sure what to be determined means there. either he has or he has not. but anyway, cbs says that xi has declined the invitation but will send a high level official. the fox news hosts are trying to put a positive spin on the fact that the man who spent the last four years accusing joe biden of being too soft on china is using the very first moment of his presidency to cozy up to china's dictator and they are not the only fox

and you certainly have very close allies in europe like viktor orban.s a political landscape that may be more suited to those issues. but those same allies what a strong america engaged in security and growing trade and investment. they do not want to see a isolationist america. they do not want to see the u.s. imposing tariffs and harming both of our economies on both sides of the atlantic. >> thank you very much. >> thank you. >> elsewhere, in the middle east, as pressure mounts on israel and hamas to reach a cease-fire deal, hamas released a new video of a young israeli hostage. he said he has been held in captivity for more than 420 days. he blamed the israeli government for neglecting the hostages. his mother spoke at a protest in tel aviv to urge a cease-fire. he said while his -- her son is held captive, she is living in hell. >> my life, i miss you so much and i worry about you. if you can hear me, holland. know that we are not stopping for a moment and we will continue to fight. >> the video comes as trump's middle east envoy traveled to qatar

point we told you last night about a report that trump had allegedly invited president xi and viktor orban to the inaugoration, and what has press secretary caroline leavitt had confirmed that an invitation had been extended to xi jinping. >> reportedly, and you can confirm this, it sounds like donald trump has invited president xi to the inaugoration, so what can you tell us about that? >> that is true, yes, this is an example of president trump creating an open dialogue with leaders of countries that are not just our allies, our adversaries and our competitors, too. >> has he rsvped? >> to be determined. x i am not really sure what to be determined there me and sprint either he has agreed to attend or he has not. but anyway, for what it is worth, cbs news is now reporting that president xi has declined trump's invitation, but that china will send a high- level official. you can see through the forced smiles of those fox news hosts that they are trying very hard to put a positive spin on the fact that the man who spent the last four years accusing joe biden of being too soft on china is u

and in particular, it's interesting to see what viktor orban, one of those, is the head of one of thosemer eastern bloc countries, said on twitter. he said the memory of president jimmy carter will always be cherished in hungary by returning the holy crown. this is a crown that was spirited to the u.s. at the end of the second world war, to the people of hungary at the end of the 70s. he gave freedom loving hungarians hope in a hopeless time, he says. i would like to express my deepest condolences to the carter family and the american people. interesting that he would hark back to that event. it was a controversial decision at the time, but it was part of that policy of fostering those liberal leanings. and he made it clear at the time that he was returning it, not to the hungarian regime, but to the hungarian people. i think, of course, the irony now is that hungary is hungary is now sort of moving back into russia's orbit, a russia that is sort of bringing back elements of what viktor orban called that hopeless time. >> i mean, he was a liberal, wasn't he? he became, you know, he wasn

his visit follows the example of hungary's example, viktor orban to isolate primitive -- he has shifted political opposition is slovakia called his visit a disgrace. mark, this paymaster has always been warmer to putin then most so perhaps not surprising but it still places a new strain on these united eu as we head towards january 20th when suddenly the united states is commitment to ukraine will come very much into question. >> that's right, so, you know if you're sitting in kyiv if you are the leadership, you are of course worried about what president trump is going to do. it still remains to be seen, we have a new u.s. ally who's going to be sent to do these peace talks, but we don't know what the trump administration's policy will be other than ending the war but that shifts of course to what happens in europe and it will be critical to allow ukraine to survive in this war, so, what happened with the slovakian visit is something to really be cautious and be wary about of course, on top of viktor orban and his support, but we are going to see some strains in that alliance and that s

reporter: another world leader came bighted viktor orban of hungary posting photos of president trump and elon musk. president-elect hoping to get more mileage out of that now infamous dinner he had with justin t trudeau, he joked in private. canada should become a state, here we have from trump, a pleasure to have dinner the other night with governor justin trudeau of the great state of canada. we are confident that president was kidding there. as far as we know, canada still not a state, trudeau is still the prime minister we can check on that, if it changes by 5 we'll get back to you. >> peter, anyone say anything in white house press room about why joe biden's tea secret l ly gave iran $10 billion, i am saying in cash because it was convertible. 10 billion big ones after the election. just came out. one of the conservative wire services got it anyone talking about that 10 billion smackers to our friend iran? >> no, and it feels like the out going biden white house just wants to get out with no runs, no hits and no errors, they are there. if something big pops up, otherwise transit

framework of authoritarianism, he is already coming in, yes he was elected but he is coming in the way viktor orban was elected too. so how do we cover them? the reason kash patel said he is going after the media is that, whatever -- however we do it, if we are in the media and commentators or analysts, we expose the corruption and the wrongdoing. and we say that it is not normal. it is not democratic. >> where the people in this? we just went through an election. we have to go. i know. where do people stand in this equation? >> it is one of those things that timothy schneider has written about that every person can make a big difference pick that is why we need to not give up hope and we need to talk to these republican senators who can pretty norms and institutions and the goal is to protect norms and institutions. >> a treat to have you both with us at the table. quick programming note. next saturday, check out the msnbc new documentary "separated" based on the book by our colleague that examines trump's border separation policy as he begins to assume power again. separated is this coming saturd

and so what you have playing out in croatia, viktor orban in hungary and he was in moscow meeting withe this national liberal movement, many times these leaders do not support democracy, and it is a growing trend that i think we are not focused on especially in that part of the world, especially in the balkans and eastern europe. >> and i want to ask you about georgia where a pro-russian president was just sworn in. seems to be a lot of -- a lot of unease in georgia, almost reminiscent of 2013, 2014 ukraine. >> it's the same trend exactly right. the parliamentary, last elections there were deemed by observers and ngos as unfair. there's been massive demonstrations on the streets of georgia, reminds me going all the way back to 2003, by the way, when you had the rose revolution, but this time there's one big difference. there's little support coming from president-elect trump. in many of these places the incoming president of the united states is closer ideologically to the illiberal anti-democratic leaders in all these countries we're talking about than in support of the pro-liberal de

ruth, to give you a sense of who donald trump is chatting with, viktor orban tweeted about his visit with trump, saying the future has begun. donald trump hosting tucker carlson, kid rock and mike flynn, general mike flynn, who previously lied to the fbi. mel gibson, russell brown, roger stone, giving awards at mar-a-lago. he is gathering people who are qanon affiliated. people, they are going to be able to also continue to grift to make money and as long as they stay associated with the leader. >> and these are very radical people. i mean, you know, general flynn is a hub of qanon and christian nationalism. roger stone has decades of -- he used to work as a lobbyist nor dictators these are people who have long experienced with destroying the truth, destroying professionalism, and any kind of boundaries between public and private for the leader, any kind of democratic notions of accountabilitiability and transparency. some have been working on this project a long time. i am not surprised they are celebrating now. >> they will be feasting on the american economy and ordinary people i

we know that viktor orban was in mar-a-lago, and, you know, there's a lot of speculation about whether he was or was not carrying messages. you would know better than i would. >> yeah, i mean,ening in terms of just practicalities and reality checks, it's really hard to imagine that that war would come to an end between now and january 20th. but the point is sort of similar to the discussion we were just having about the middle east. this is a shared objective between the outgoing and the incoming administration. they see it a little bit differently in terms of how peace could be achieved. i think president-elect trump has indicated more willingness to maybe have ukraine make some concessions than the biden administration has suggested. but if it leads to something, whether it be by inauguration or afterwards or even shortly there afterwards, that would be a huge win. certainly for the incoming president but also for this outgoing administration. i think it's important to recognize the challenges. they are not all on the same page about territory, about what peace even means. president

not be filled with a bunch of authoritarian dictators like xi jinping or an authoritarian like viktor orbanwere the president of the nato parliamentary assembly and the secretary-general just this past week called the global security situation "the worst in my lifetime." what do you make of his comments? >> well, i think he is looking especially to the european prison. remember, he was the prime minister of the netherlands, and he is watching russia and ukraine and he is watching the turn toward russia and authoritarianism in georgia, he is worried about russian interference and the elections, so i think he is really bringing a particularly european perspective right now that is kind of optimistic, and obviously the election of donald trump doesn't make anything better from the european point of view, so i can understand why he believes that. but i think there are also lots of reasons for hope. nato for example is stronger than ever. and there is a lot of solidarity, and i think we are going to do everything we can to make sure that ukraine prevails in its war with russia, and that peace an

the king of bahrain and staged a glamor gilded event at mar-a-lago with hungarian prime minister viktor orbanban's autocratic style, he said this is the way it's going to be and that's the end of it, right? >> he's the boss and you know he's a great leader. fantastic leader. >> analysts say the scramble of world leaders clamoring to meet with trump may only intensify. >> the trump administration is making a list and checking it twice. they want to know who's on board and who's not on board, no matter what country you're from. a dictatorship, a democracy. >> this is just the beginning of what will be four years of people traveling to mar-a-lago and washington to kiss the ring, and the reelected president may rekindle his kinships with strongmen. >> former german chancellor angela merkel said this to cnn's christiane amanpour about her impressions of trump during his first term. >> we air well in the way that he spoke about putin the way that he spoke about the north korean president. >> obviously, apart from critical remarks he made there was always a kind of fascination at the sheer power of

mj viktor orban brynn gingras. >> thank you. >> a new film examines the amazing career of one of the most influential artists of all time, luther vandross, from his early years in harlem and performing at the apollo theater. the first episodes of sesame street. did you know that to his rise to the king of love songs using a wealth of archives, vandross tells his own story along with the voices of his closest musical collaborators and friends. >> here is a preview you only come across an artist like luther vandross once in a lifetime luther said. >> i have a sound in my head. i got to get it out. so we went in the studio, says, okay, it goes boom, boom, boom, boom, boom. i said, this is a quirky little bass line i can't fool myself. >> i don't want nobody else to ever love me. >> it was the most exciting time in the world. my head, my heart was immersed in this business. >> his life had some extremely joyful moments. >> four albums and all of them platinum. >> it's a really difficult moments. >> he would say god has given me everything i ask for except one person who loves me. >> i ke

that, you know, critics have compared trump's actions to those of hungary's authoritarian leader, viktor orbano has passed laws severely restricting the freedom of the press. they've gone after the press in that country. we've seen that take place in other authoritarian countries around the world. and it sounds like maybe one is being hyperbolic, i suppose, to to make that kind of comparison. but if you just look at the facts and what the track record is here, it sounds like it's an apt comparison. what do you think? >> well, it sure does. and it's important to be aware of that and to try to do something to prevent it while we still can, while we still have all of our rights. look, orban and the other dictators around the world are in a mutual admiration society. and they long ago admitted donald trump. he admires them, he loves them. and as a result, we are absolutely justified in believing that if donald trump had his way, he would do some of the same things in the united states. whatever the constitution says, whatever the first amendment says, if he has a chance. and this was brought up pr

state talk very up close and personal with vladimir putin with ideas that don't resonate as -- viktor orbanof course -- that doesn't resonate very much with a lot of other states who are alarmed and concerned by this. so i guess the question some people may be asking is how do we know europe is united, is europe united and is this a sign of a serious dissonance? does this break european unity in a serious way? stefano sannino: european union is a union of 27 sovereign states and this is something that we cannot forget, which means that essentially we have not giving, we are not a federation or a confederation, we are still a union of equals. but it is also true that when there are dissonant voices, and i'm not trying to hide it, there is one in this moment when it comes to the russian aggression against ukraine. this does not mean that the union is paralyzed or is not able to take decisions. over time, we have mobilized for ukraine, if i'm not wrong, 157 billion euro in terms of military and civilian assistance. we have agreed to open accession negotiations with ukraine and we have never st

this is a page out of the authoritarian playbook, because if you look at places like hungary's viktor orban this is what they've done. when they go after the media, they don't actually usually go for things like defamation and libel or things that might be more associated with media. they go after things like tax investigations, fraud investigations, and that can really drain an outlet and it can put a chill, because then people might be more wary of publishing, they're more careful, or they might even be more wary of publishing some sort of opinion polls. but what's most worrying about this, jim, is the fact that in that press conference, he said he thinks the justice department should be doing this and he shouldn't have to do this on a civil level, essentially saying it should be a criminal level, right? >> i mean, the point here is to it seems to be to suppress negative coverage. and i mean, to think that you're going to sue a newspaper over a bad poll in a state that he won anyway. i mean, it does beg the question, doesn't he have more important things to do? but, you know, we're just t

but they thrive in america and the party has fallen in love with this viktor orban.s out there that are at their core based on race and they are based upon sums sense of threatened national identity, by people who were born in another country. that is more understandable in europe than it is here in america. because the whole idea of what ronald reagan said in his last speech as president, that anyone could come to america and the american. that is what is completely being challenged. this group of south africans and president-elect donald trump are challenging that. >> let's weigh in on this from your incredible perspective in the study of how countries sort of careened toward autocracies. >> well, the geopolitical design is of both musk and trump, it is pretty clear. it is to align america with far- right and autocratic nations. now, the transactional comes in, where it is not about left and right because elon musk is very dependent on chinese largess. many of his cars are made in china, but in europe, he is going all out. he has been very close to the neofascist p

viktor orban, ursula von der leyen? is going to be the powerbroker in the new political architecture. that's the main question. lisa: when i read this from donald trump, i thought to myself, isn't this what everybody would like? when he put a pause on licensing for lng licensing? europe would like to export more, u.s. from producers would like to export more from them. does this have to be i will tariff you if you don't eat your candy? oliver: again, the way that will kennedy put it, this is pushing the open door. this is something that everybody is aligned on and everybody would like to do. from that perspective, there basically will be little resistance, an easy win for governments. they need to secure that energy. there's no way that they will continue to get this russian gas but basically, all of those concepts are dead, so you still have another deficit that needs to get plugged, and it is cap most conveniently from a geopolitical standpoint and you can gain favor from donald trump by buying more american. jonathan

this is viktor orban's plan to destroy democracy being implemented.e have the author of project 2025, going to head the office of budget management. elon musk is self-interested and becoming the first trillionaire, and he bought his way into government because his tesla, more than half of them, supposedly are built in china, and he is building a large battery in shanghai area that does not sound like america first to me. host: you are talking about one of the issues you believe to be is the news and not offering their viewpoint. if media outlets continue to do that, where do we go from there? caller: i think they're offering a viewpoint. i just don't think they are offering the entire viewpoint. host: if that is happening, how do we get past that? caller: i think people need to fact-check more what they're hearing from whoever they are listening to. maybe listen to historians and authorities. i do have a request of c-span, and i know you have had pete buttigieg on before, but my request specifically is if you could have a segment with him to discuss w

this is viktor orban's plan to destroy democracy being implemented.have the author of project 2025, going to head the office of budget management. elon musk is self-interested and becoming the first trillionaire, and he bought his way into government because his tesla, more than half of them, supposedly are built in china, and he is building a large battery in shanghai area that does not sound like america first to me. host: you are talking about one of the issues you believe to be is the news and not offering their viewpoint. if media outlets continue to do that, where do we go from there? caller: i think they're offering a viewpoint. i just don't think they are offering the entire viewpoint. host: if that is happening, how do we get past that? caller: i think people need to fact-check more what they're hearing from whoever they are listening to. maybe listen to historians and authorities. i do have a request of c-span, and i know you have had pete buttigieg on before, but my request specifically is if you could have a segment with him to discuss wha