Meet the Press NOW — December 24

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BetMGM operates pursuant to an operating agreement with iGaming Ontario. If it's Tuesday, Tis the season for making wishes and making lists. President elect Donald Trump is ready his Day one list list as he looks to take immediate action on the border January 6th pardons, transgender rights and more. Plus, will the new year bring a new House Speaker, Congressman Mike Johnson Speakership is in peril as House Republicans race for what will likely be a messy fight to elect the next leader in a tightly divided Congress.

And Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says some progress has been made towards reaching a ceasefire and hostage deal as he again takes the stand in his ongoing corruption trial. Welcome to Meet the Press. Now I'm Yamiche Alexander in Washington, where the countdown is on and not just to Christmas Day, though NORAD's Santa Tracker is up and running, but also to Inauguration Day as the Trump administration in waiting is making a list and checking it twice for January 20th. Over the weekend, in front of a friendly crowd, the president elected his most immediate action on the border via executive action.

On my first day back in the Oval Office, I was signing historic slate of executive orders to close our border to illegal aliens and stop the invasion of our country. And on that same day, we will begin the largest deportation operation in American history, larger even than that of President Dwight D. Eisenhower. January 20th is shaping up to be a busy day.

Earlier this month, Trump confirms my colleague Kristen Walker that he plans to try ending birthright citizenship on his first day in office. It's a move that would likely be challenged in court because it's protected by the 14th amendment. He also told Chris he plans to part in January 6 riders on Sunday, Trump also said that folks should expect action on banning gender affirming care for minors and transgender officials and individuals serving in the military. Today he posted on social media that he would direct the government to seek the death penalty for violent criminals following his inauguration.

In the Financial Times reports he's looking into removing the US from the World Health Organization. For some of the president elect's plans beyond day one, he will need to go through Congress and the House has a countdown of its own to select a new speaker. That election is scheduled for January 3rd and nothing to get done in Congress until there's a speaker. Political Reports Some people around the president elect say he's unhappy with Speaker Mike Johnson's failure to deliver exactly what Trump wanted in last week's government funding negotiations.

And while Trump's power in the conference is not absolutely, it does seem certain that he could prevent Johnson from being elected speaker again if Trump chooses to do that. As for Johnson, last week he told us he's still up for the job after the holiday break. Being speaker of the House is a challenge. It is modern era, but it's challenge a week's time.

It's a great honor serving the position. I wouldn't say it's the most fun job in the world all the time, but it's an important one. It's a hugely consequential moment for the country. Everybody's gonna go home and get a little bit of revenue to come back fully prepared to do hours for their lives.

And we look forward to that in January. And joining me now on STAT is NBC News Capitol Hill correspondent Julie Sergeant. Also with us is NBC News White House correspondent Aaron Gilchrist. So Aaron, why don't you take us to January 20th.

What do we know about day one of the new Trump administration? Well, you laid out some of the things that we do expect to see happen fairly quickly after the Trump administration takes over. We heard the President elect himself say that he expects to have his team, his administration up and fully functional by mid afternoon on January 20th. This morning at no and he expects maybe perhaps before the parades are all over, that he'll be able to have his team at work generating some of these executive orders to do things that you talked about here.

You see on your screen you talked about obviously closing the border. That's something that was a key part of the campaign. And so you can expect that if the paperwork hasn't already been drawn up on that, it's something that will be in short order and could Be a part of the day one actions. Obviously it would take time to see some of these things actually come into fruition on the ground, physically happening.

But the executive order goes a long way to President Elect Trump fulfilling the promises that he made on the campaign trail. We know that he'll be doing. He'll be taking a look at things like tax cuts and wanting to get that off the ground fairly quickly. We heard him speak as well about signing some executive orders as it relates to who serves the military and members of the transgender community.

So those are all things promises have been made and we can expect, I think, to see the this new administration really tried to work very quickly to put those things into effect, at least certainly on paper. Aaron, we know that the border in particular is a priority for President Elect Trump, but how much can you really do from the White House? Yeah, I think that's a part of a big part of the question here. Right.

We know again, the idea of an executive order is something that we all come to understand and we can expect that those things will happen on the first day or very soon thereafter. How quickly you're able to actually functionalize that at the border, at the southern border in this case is still a question that's out there. It's something that would involve money and manpower and all these things. And so the question is still remains how quickly could we start to see some of the changes happen there and whether there would be challenges in court to some of the things that potentially could come down very quickly from the Trump administration.

And Julie, before we even get to Inauguration Day and Trump enacting his agenda, we have to get to the speakership vote here. So what's Speaker Johnson's path to retaining control of the Speaker? If he loses more than one Republican, he's not gonna get the gavel. And that is a pretty key figure for him because he's operating with a slim majority now.

It's about to get even slimmer. And I keep saying this, but if he actually retains the gavel on January 3rd, I think that's actually gonna be the easiest thing he does over the next two years. It's why I asked him that question that you played at the top is even want to be speaker because of everything we saw that he went through with trying to get that government deal across the finish line, having those last minute demands from President Elect Trump and Elon Musk. He knows he's gonna have to operate with those two in his corner.

That again will even support him getting the gave on January 3rd. That's the big question. And we already heard from several Republicans. One de facto is saying he's not voting for Mike Johnson.

So he's in trouble. Yeah, a lot of key questions there. I also want to play for you something that Tennessee Republican Congressman Timbershette said over the weekend. Take a listen.

I think ultimately it's going to be decided who President Trump likes, because I believe that will weigh in heavily on the decision making of that, because currently President Trump works very well with Mike Johnson. They have a great relationship. So is he right? Currently is the key operating word here.

I would say he's absolutely right that whoever Trump backs will probably get the gavel. The thing that makes the situation very different than when Kevin McCarthy, we saw those 15 rounds of ballots on the House floor is that Trump wants Congress to start working as soon as possible to start doing all of those things that you and Aaron laid out. They have a lot of work to get done. Certainly Trump knows that he's been working well with Johnson.

Johnson's been going to Mar a Lago, he's been hanging out with msg, he's been going to UC fights with him. I mean, this is definitely a speaker who wants to stay on his speaker and wants to be in Trump's good corner. The way that the whole last week played out with the government funding deal, the ultimate one that passed and had the debt ceiling attached to it, a demand that Trump made. 11th hour.

Trump hasn't weighed in about that. He sort of stayed silent. So it's really unclear what the President likes thinking is, although he did want to tank Johnson, he would make it very clear publicly, if it's not a Speaker Mike Johnson, then who's the next possible person for the shot? Well, we reported even before the election that somebody like Jim Jordan, a firebrand from Ohio who sits at the Judiciary Committee, he.

Somebody was lying in wait. He wanted to challenge Johnson for the gavel. My sources told me before the election that if Republicans had the majority, he probably wouldn't make that kind of challenge to Johnson. But the majority is very slim.

And certainly I think he's playing his cards right. He's sort of waiting in the wings. He's not gonna go out there and say this publicly, but I think if Johnson fails to secure the vote on the floor, you could see some other guys start to pop up. And I want to go back to Aaron because he seems to reporting that President Elect Trump is preparing to remove the United States and the World Health Organization.

During the first term, he was very critical of the organization. So what more do we know about those plans and what kind of impact could that make? Well, the transition team hasn't said anything publicly about the idea of withdrawing from the World Health Organization, but we do know that in 2020, in fact, President Trump then did withdraw from the World Health Organization, really started the process of withdrawing that would have been completed in 2021, in the summer of that year. Of course, President Biden took office in January of 2021 and ended that effort to withdraw from the World Health Organization.

But does stand to reason, and our team has spoken with one official here in D.C. who's a part of the World Health Organization, said that he's been informed that there is a plan for the United States to withdraw from that organization fairly quickly after the new administration comes in. And this really does raise some concerns. While it does fit in in line with what President Elect Trump did last time around during his administration last time around, he raises concerns about influence in that organization.

There is some thinking here in the United States that it is an organization that needs some reforms. At the same time, the belief is that the US Pulls out instead of pushing those reforms, that it leaves a vacuum and that countries like China would step in to fill that vacuum and they would have an outsized influence on some of the global health policy decisions that are made within the World Health Organization and the United Nations. Yeah. One other question.

A lot of questions to go. So, Aaron, Julie, thank you so much. And joining me now is the lawmaker that we just heard from, Tennessee Republican Congressman Tim Burgett. So thank you so much, Congressman, for being here.

Merry Christmas Eve. We played what you said about the speaker vote next month. You said you think that President Elect Trump will ultimately decide who the next speaker will be. But I'm wondering, is that really how it's supposed to work?

Well, Washington, ma', am, is you see all these political scientists and there's a reason they're not in Congress because it's just all just theory and politics plays into it. And Donald J. Trump is the biggest dog in the pound right now. And I think he's going to make a huge decision in this and he will sway a lot of people.

But it's interesting, you yourself have said that you're going to make the decision that you want to make. But do you think that President Electron has absolute control over the House conference to pick a Speaker Given that 38 House Republicans, including yourself, justified on the debt limit? No, ma'. Am.

Actually, with the debt limit, we were hoping we'd have Some expenditure reduction. So we can kind of meet in the middle on that. As far as that goes, President Trump, that there, I think he understands the Constitution very well and he understands he's elected president, not emperor. And he's a, he's a bargainer and a negotiator.

You know, when I raised the speed limit in Tennessee in the state legislature, I think I asked for 85 and I took 70. So he is literally the heart of the deal. He gets it. Yeah.

Well, as we've seen, everyone from President elect Trump to his son to Elon Musk threatens to primary challenge Republican lawmakers who don't fall in line behind Trump. You haven't taken your seats yet in the new Congress. Do you see these threats as empty? How worried are you yourself about maybe being primarily if you don't line up with everything that Donald Trump wants you to do?

Well, I'd be lying to you if that wasn't in the back of my mind. But the reality is I represent the hard working people of East Tennessee, the second Congressional District, and they, they're the ones who make those decisions for me, I guess you could say. But, but again, let's look at the reality. We're gonna have a three person majority or a five person Jordan, whatever.

A good, a good case of the flu and the Democrats are back in the majority. So I think the reality is he knows he's gonna have to work with us. And you know that. Well, there's not a Democrat out there that will work with President Trump unless they switch parties.

Yeah. Well, I also want to point out that in that CNN interview that you said that you want Speaker Johnson to prove that he is serious about cutting spending. We reported that there's a handshake agreement, gentleman's agreement, that Congress will raise the debt ceiling by $1.5 trillion and cut $2.5 trillion in spending in a reconciliation package next year. We've seen deals like this in the past, but how much do you trust and your actual colleagues to follow through on this?

Well, as I was quoted before, ma', am, they said actually about the gentleman's agreement, and I said, I've been in Washington six years and there's not very many gentlemen up here that's worth the papers written on. And obviously it wasn't written on any paper. So I think that's that answers itself. But again, I think we're in a bargaining stage in this thing.

I think we're $36 trillion in debt. Every hundred days we have another trillion dollars and we've got to get serious about it and we got to get serious about our economy because we will fall off that cliff. There's a reason that people this Christmas season are paying $600 or more dollars a month just to survive. That's not for anything extravagant.

So I think America understands it and they are currently watching our spending and as they should. And this bill that we passed, you know, it had, it had, let's see, what was it? $5 billion for submarines at 100 million in there, for the Coast Guard, money for other military groups? And we just passed the NDAA two weeks ago.

The National Defense Authorization act was 6 billion additional dollars more than was even originally asked for. And they haven't passed a. They have, their budgets have run over for the last eight years. So, you know, I just think that we, we are getting a little bit past our skis on this and we need to, need to pull back.

America's demanding that. Yeah. And you talk about, you know, your concern for the national debt. I want to put up some of the various tax cuts, Trump, Floyd on the campaign, show up a lot of lost revenue over the next decade.

Are you worried at all about the national debt going up if President Trump gets his way with all the things that he wants to do? Well, I found that when you give people more of their money back or don't steal more of it in the form of taxation, that they don't stick it under their bed or a fill them. They put it in the bank and the banks loan it back out. We grow the economy that way.

I've seen that time and time again. I just don't see cutting working people's taxes as a bad thing. I think that's a good thing. We need to get more of our money home.

And I think with Doge, if we can seriously follow through with that, not just the executive orders, but Congress gets legitimately gets some guts and starts doing some things that we said we're going to do. Not just moving, just shuffling the deck a little bit, but actually doing some things. Yeah. I also want to ask you another topic.

Yesterday, the House Ethics Committee released its report on that Gates, you backed his nomination for Attorney General, though Gates later withdrew from consideration. Having seen the context of this report. Now, would you have trusted him to lead the Justice Department? I haven't read the report, but it's just that, ma', am, it's just an investigation.

It's not an indictment. And if you remember the Biden Justice Department, you can't name any one person in Washington, D.C. or in this country, if they hate, they hate with incredible betrayal than Matt Gaetz. Yet they chose not to pursue prosecution against him.

They ruled that the witnesses that I believe mentioned in this report were not legitimate. So I would say, I would say just that. And I would say too, you know, sometimes it's better to leave lying dogs lying, man, because they're sleeping dogs. Let them lie.

Because I think what you're going to see now is we're going to. And I'm going to be one of those demanding every report they have to be released. I want to know what hush money was paid out by the taxpayers and what else is going on. And I think about who's you all in the legacy media to start foia, those things.

Find out how many millions were paid out by very powerful, influential members of Congress. Do you trust the work of the House Ethics Committee? I mean, the chairman of the Republican. Yes, ma', am.

But if you remember, it was leaked by apparently we were told by the Democrat ranking member and there were actually talks of charges being brought up against that person. They're not coming back to Congress from what I understand. But still, it was just that. It was just an investigation.

And when the Justice Department, the most powerful legal entity in the world, in the entire world, decided not to pursue a case against Matt Yates, that should tell you something. That's right. But I should just note that the committee, which is bipartisan, again chaired by Republic, did put out the report. But Congressman, purchase it.

I really appreciate you coming on this Christmas Eve. I hope you have a really happy holiday season, ma'. Am. I hope you have a very merry Christmas.

And all my Jewish friends out there, hope you have a wonderful Hanukkah. Thank you. And coming up, a shocking assassination attempt. One of the most consequential presidential debates in U.S.

history and an unprecedented last minute change at the top of the Democratic ticket. We're looking at an extraordinary year in US Politics. Looking forward to what comes next. But first, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu testifies in his corruption trial as Cesar.

Negotiations work to get a hostage deal across the village line. We have the ladies from Jerusalem. You're watching me the press now. Welcome back.

Turning now to the Middle east, where some hope remains that the season, the holiday celebration could bring with it and end some of the region's hostilities. Earlier this week, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu indicated that progress was being made towards a deal with Hamas to release hostages held captive in Gaza. But he added that he doesn't know how long it will take. Cease Fire.

Talks are continuing this week in Qatar. Israeli officials say gaps are closed, but whether a deal can be met is still uncertain. Back in Israel, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appeared in a Tel Aviv courtroom for the fifth day of testimony in his corruption trial. NBC News correspondent Ralph Sanchez has the latest from Jerusalem.

Yimish. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu back in court once again as part of his ongoing testimony in this criminal corruption trial. You remember he is accused of illegally accepting lavish gifts from businessmen. We're talking champagne, cigars in return for political favors.

Prosecutors also say that he changed media regulations to try to get more favorable press coverage from powerful media barons here in Israel. Netanyahu denies those charges. He is currently under direct examination by his own defense attorney. So this is really his chance to tell his version of the story.

And one of the things he has been saying is that when it comes to these media regulations, yes, he signs the changes, but he, he says he signs thousands of documents every year that these changes were cleared by Israeli civil servants, by government lawyers. And he is saying the idea that he somehow was deliberately making these changes in pursuit of better media coverage is absurd. Now, what's so striking is Netanyahu is spending hours and hours several times a week in this secure courtroom in Tel Aviv as events in the Middle east continue to move extremely quickly. He managed to get out of a day of testimony last week saying that he had national security issues to deal with.

And it turned out he was actually inside of Syria with Israeli forces who are occupying a buffer zone and other positions inside Syria since the fall of the Assad regime. Now the ceasefire, hostage negotiations in Qatar are continuing. Israeli officials say the gaps are being closed, but it remains unclear at this point whether a final deal can be got over the line. And so Netanyahu is really balancing his personal legal problems with these unbelievably high stakes foreign policy and national security issues.

I'll send it back to you. Thanks so much for that reporting. And up next, President Elect Trump's reporting plans for the World Health Organization and the federal death penalty, the panels next. You're watching MEET THE PRESS now.

Welcome back. Every election year is momentous, but consider just how historic 2024 has been. There's a criminal trial and conviction of Donald Trump, two attempted assassinations of Trump, President Biden dropping out of the election after a disastrous debate with Donald Trump and the presidential campaign of Vice President Kamala Harris that began in earnest just 107 days before election Day. NBC News case no has more on this year.

Politics. It May be the biggest political comeback in modern American history. This was, I believe, the greatest political movement of all time. Donald Trump heading back to the White House after a year of dramatic highs and lows.

The former president locking up the Republican nomination with ease back in March. Then along the way to election Day, battling two federal legal cases and a conviction in New York for falsifying business records in an attempt to cover up a hush money payment. That is 34 felony counts here, all guilty verdicts. Trump supporters undeterred, believing he could best tackle the economy and immigration.

I'm the only one in history who got indicted and my numbers went up. Initially set for a rematch against President Joe Biden. I'm still the only person ever beat Tom Chopped. They made history as the oldest major party presidential candidates ever in an American election.

A concern for voters as whispers about Biden's mental fitness grew louder. The special counsel referred to the president as a, quote, sympathetic, well meaning and elderly man with a poor memory. My memory's fine. That first debate in June setting off three weeks of unprecedented political upheaval.

Look, if we finally beat Medicare, this night got off to a tough start for President Biden. I think it's a legitimate question to say, is this an episode or is this a condition? Calls for Biden to end his re election campaign sidelined by an unthinkable twist. Take a look what happened.

The 45th President of the United States injured but alive. All of this unfolding with Republicans now gathering to officially nominate Donald Trump at their convention with his ear bandaged. The former president accepting the nomination two days after the attempt on his life. I stand before you in this arena only by the grace of Almighty God.

That same week, Biden testing positive for Covid news spoke of different Democratic leaders calling for the president to step aside. My fellow Americans. Days later, the president ending his re election bid. I'm your view of this office.

I love my country more. Endorsing his vice president, Kamala Harris and upending the race with just over 100 days until the election bleaches. Freedom. Freedom.

Freedom. Freedom. Harris campaigning on the issues of abortion rights and protecting democracy. Ours is a fight for the future.

Trump pivoting to his new opponent. I didn't know she was black until a number of years ago when she happened to turn black. A convention coronation in August. I accept your nomination to be President of the United States of America.

Trump and Harris meeting for the first time in their only debate. I've never seen a worse period of time. People can't go out of My cereal or bacon or eggs or anything else. The government and Donald Trump certainly should not be telling a woman what to do with her body.

The dangers of our nation's divisiveness still on display. The FBI says there has been another possible attempt on former President Trump's life by following the critical battleground blitz. I did not know that if anybody breaks out my house again shot. I think the bigger problem is the enemy from within.

Polls suggesting a razor thin margin. The candidates bringing out big names. Podcast interviews taking center stage. With both Harris and Trump taking to the mics.

And on election night. These aren't the trend lines that Democrats are going to want to see a decisive victory. We are now projecting that the next President of the United States is Donald Trump. The 45th President of the United States will become the 47th President of the United States.

The electoral map a sea of red. The President elect sweeping every battleground state. Trump is overperforming. Harris is underperforming.

The Khalid sheets to win Trump's win. Fueled by increased support from women, independents, Latino and black voters. Becoming the first Republican to win the popular vote since 2004. The New York City Trump has posted a 15 point gain from the last time around.

The GOP taking total control of Washington, ousting Democrats to secure a three seat majority in the Senate and keeping control of the House. An election year like no other and one we won't soon forget. Hate snow me seniors. And for a look at where politics is going in the new year, I'm joined by Democratic pollster Fernanda Randy and former Republican Congressman Carlos Carbolo.

Thank you both for being here. Both, of course, Emmy seniors, political analysts. So, Carlos, I want to start with you. What will President Elect Donald Trump's first month in office tells about what to expect for the first year of his presidency?

Well, I think the number one issue is going to be immigration. That is the one issue where Republicans seem to have a lot of public support. And it's the one issue where I think Republicans are united and will be able to do something together despite having such slim margins in Congress, particularly in the House. So I think the way Trump addresses this issue, whether he makes any major mistakes, if he comes across as too aggressive, too excessive, cruel, it could really set him back.

But if they do handle the immigration issue competently in a way that's consistent with what the American people expect, I really think that can give them some momentum as they look into tax reform and other big policy priorities for Trump and Republicans. Yeah, there's also multiple Reports that President Trump will seek to pull out of the World Health Organization on day one of his presidency. Now, for immigration, rightly gets a lot of attention, but there's also this issue of public health because we know a few years in this COVID pandemic during the first administration, proud world war health Organization. Do you think this time will be different?

No, I think we have to take all of Donald Trump's threats now much more seriously than during his first term, precisely because this time around, there will not be the guardrails, even within the Republican Party, even within the Trump administration that existed last time. So whether it's threats to pull out of the World Health Organization, threats to pull out of NATO, threats made in the past week, credible threats to take over Greenland, resize the Panama Canal, impose tariffs, debilitating economic tariffs on our neighbors and trading partners in Mexico and Canada, you know, people like to dismiss that as Donald Trump, quote, joking and playing around or at best, a negotiation strategy. I don't think we can do that anymore. I think you have to take, unfortunately, Donald Trump now his word as he begins what I think will be an imperial presidency that will remake America's image around the world, that will cause a host of problems for our multilateral alliances and allies around the world.

I don't expect it to be necessarily good times ahead. And, Carlos, when you think about sort of the times ahead, a priority for Donald Trump is definitely, of course, immigration. He's vowed to sign at least five executive orders on mass importation as soon as he's sworn in. What do you think those executive orders will look like and what will be their effect?

Well, Yamiche, I think they're going to move to aggressively remove criminal aliens from the country. I think that will have broad public support. And then I do think that congressional Republicans definitely in the Senate are going to try to get an immigration package across the finish line with Democrats. And I think that's probably a smart move.

I think they'll be able to find a good number of Democrats will be willing to work with them. Of course, we already know that a lot of Democrats endorsed the Langford Cinema Murphy bill. This Congress, which is fairly conservative. So I think the way Republicans handle immigration could really set the tone, at least for the first two years of the Trump presidency.

While Republicans have unified control. If they get it right, that can help them build momentum. If they get it wrong, it could make the rest of these two years very difficult. As we've already seen, some Republicans, both in the Senate and the House, have already demonstrated A willingness to confront Donald Trump, to not meet all of his demands.

Yeah. And of course, Donald Trump is making headlines. So is President Biden. Even in the last few months here of his presidency, President Biden created some controversy by commuting the sentences of federal death row inmates.

Today, Donald Trump responded by posting on social media. He said, as soon as I'm inaugurated, I will direct the Justice Department to vigorously pursue the death penalty to protect American families and children from violent rapists, murders and monsters. We will be a nation of law and order again. Do you think President Biden's decision to grant these communications will backfire?

And if so, House of divorce, he's leaving office. Maybe. That might easily for the Democrats. Yeah, I think President Biden's legacy has changed somewhat, especially on this issue of pardon, simply because of how he handled the pardon with his son under Biden, which he promised over and over again he would not do it.

You know, as a father, one can understand the reason, but it doesn't change the impact as president to do such a thing, reverse himself, and in the process, give Donald Trump now the ability to go and point always to the 100 Biden, Biden, 100 Biden pardon as justification. Although, having said that, I think this is ground where Trump's rhetoric will find a strong audience with the American public. Talking about reinstituting the death penalty to go after violent rapist murderers, you know, that's going to have, I think, traction with the American people. But I do think Biden's legacy on the subject has been tinged because of his actions over the last period since the election.

Yeah. And, Carlos, there was also, of course, last week's chaos on Capitol Hill. So another topic we got to talk about, what do you think that says this budget funding fight that we saw play out with some Republicans, of course, defying President, President Elect Trump, what do you think that says about the next two years, four years of the new Trump administration? I think it's going to be more of the same from House Republicans.

I mean, this Congress that is coming to a close your has been one of the most turbulent, chaotic in history. It was very difficult to elect a speaker for Republicans. This Congress, they elected a speaker that lasted about eight, and then he was ousted. Of course, I was Kevin McCarthy.

Now you have a Speaker, Mike Johnson, who's getting accused by some Republicans of being traitorous of kind of doing the same things Kevin McCarthy used to do to get things done. At the end of the day, Republicans are going to continue needing Democrats for big votes, such as a debt ceiling, funding the government and other major national priorities. So I think it's incumbent upon Donald Trump to try, even though it's not in his nature, to foster some bipartisan cooperation on the Hill, because I think that's really the only way that he's going to be able to move legislation, except for maybe one or two issues like immigration and tax reform. But that is a big if.

I think it's unclear that Republicans will be able to move a tax policy without any Democratic support. And for that briefly, Republican disunction last week, did it give you confidence that the GOP will not be able to accomplish something at least? So Donald Trump's agenda? Oh, no, no.

I mean, there will be the big ticket items. I think Trump, through either intimidation or force of his will, will be able to get across the finish line. I think probably the tax cut and extending some of the existing tax cuts of the Trump administration. We'll have an audience.

I think we'll be able to get done. Having said that, I think there is also an opportunity for Minority Leader Jeffries to use really the only leverage point that Democrats have with unified Republican government, and it is to keep that House caucus together. If he can do that without any splintering of the caucus, then as Carlos Corbella says, he might be able to use that for negotiations on bills and votes that come down to a handful of votes, which I anticipate most of these will, especially for party line votes. Yeah, definitely a lot to look at next year as we think about all that's going on.

So Renan and Carlos, thank you both for having you on. Coming on on Christmas Eve. And after the break, meet the longtime trouble loyalists set to become the nation's top cop as the president elect dies in over Justice Department. The latest development of Art Meet the Cabinet series is next year.

Watching the press now. Welcome back. President Elect Trump will make history when he takes office next month after becoming the first former US President to be convicted of a crime. Trump's multiple legal battles over this past year played a big part in his campaign for president.

NBC News on Hillary has a look back at Trump's legal battles and what they meant for the 2024 race for defendant Donald Trump. Donald J. Trump is guilty. The fate of the 2024 presidential election could determine both his political and legal future.

They want to put me in jail. Trump using his own potential imprisonment to rally supporters around his defense. Our enemies want to take away my freedom because I will never let them take away your freedom. As a candidate arraigned on criminal charges in City, Washington, D.C.

florida, and Atlanta, where a local Fulton county jail formerly booked, fingerprinted and photographed him for a mug shot that Trump capitalized on. When I did the mug shot in Atlanta, you know, that mug shot is number one. Trump turned it into a symbol of his fight for freedom, using it for merchandise and fundraising. Every time the radical left, Democrats, Marxist communists and fascists indict me, I consider it a great badge of honor.

In 2023, the indictments coming in rapid succession, I got arrested four times in the list. It's almost like I wake up in the morning to think they'll arrest me today. I never got arrested before. Some of Trump's primary opponents trying to benefit themselves from the cases.

We can't keep living with indictments and court cases and vengeance of the past. We've got to start going forward. That conduct is indefensible in my view. But instead, as Trump made his way to New York to face criminal charges for falsifying business records to cover up hush money payments to Stormy Daniels and influence the 2016 presidential election, his narrow lead in the GOP primary began expanding it.

The sort of. The primary just crowded out, I think, so much other stuff. Special counsel Jack Smith brought two cases against Trump in D.C. charging him over his efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss and another for refusing to turn over classified documents and allegedly trying to hide them from the FBI, leading to federal agents executing a search warrant on his Florida estate.

They raided my house in Florida, Mar a Lago. No notice, no nothing. They raided it. In a separate civil case brought by New York Attorney General Letitia James, a New York judge found Trump and his family company to have engaged in repeated financial fraud, finding him $460 million.

Donald Trump may have authored the art of the deal, but he perfected the art of the steal. A jury in New York also finding him liable for sexually abusing Eugene Carroll and then defaming her. He's nothing. We don't need to be afraid of him.

Another jury months later, then ordering Trump to pay Carol more than $80 million after the judge overseeing the litigation determined that he had defamed her again. As Trump called the prosecutions in lawsuits politically targeted, the justice system continued to turn. Should be allowed to happen. So I'll stay around here.

Major witnesses taking the stand in the hush money trial. Stormy Daniels, Michael Cohen, the publisher of the National Enquirer, David Pecker, and his former White House close aide Hope Hicks. Meanwhile, his political allies, according public opinion, the judicial system in our country has been weaponized against President Trump. They're not prosecuting President Trump, they're persecuting him.

After seven weeks, the jury unanimously fel him guilty on all 34 felony counts. The judge scheduling a sentencing day for after the election. Raising the stakes of America's decision. We are now projecting that the next president of the United States is Donald Trump.

This was, I believe, the greatest political movement of all time. And with the result, concerns about immunity from prosecution and the ability and precedent of imposing a sentence on a sitting president. Leading special counsel Jack Smith to drop his two cases. Federal judges then agreeing to toss the indictment out, his Fulton county case indefinitely on hold and the judge in his New York trial now deciding whether to toss the verdict against Trump out altogether or suspend his sentencing day until he leaves office in 2029.

And now that Fulton county case indefinitely on hold is the Georgia court has determined whether District Attorney Fannie Willis should be disqualified for prosecuting the case against Donald Trump and the other defendants because of the relationship with her one time special prosecutor. The lead prosecutor on the case, Nathan Wade. Thanks so much, Vaughn Hilliard for that report. I want to turn now to someone who is said to be a key figure when it comes to the legal issues in the Trump administration since pick for attorney general Pam Bondi.

Trump suggested to Christian Walker that he plans to give the former Florida general a lot of leeway in terms of how she runs the Department of Justice and whether she prosecutes his perceived political enemies. That brings us to the next installment of our series, Meet the Cabinet. Here's NBC News campaign event. Alex Tabitt.

Pam Bondi has been like a rocket ship. She's very popular and very good and very fair. President elect Donald Trump has chosen former Florida AG Pam Bondi as his pick for attorney general. Born in Tampa, Bondi studied criminal justice at the University of Florida and got her law degree from Stetson University.

Then she spent more than 18 years as a public prosecutor before diving into politics. And in 2010, Bondi was elected as Florida's first female attorney general. The next attorney general, Florida Pan Bondi. As Florida's ag, Bondi was a key figure in the fight against Obamacare.

She led a failed effort to overturn the Affordable Care act, which went before the Supreme Court in 2012. We still believe it's unconstitutional. In a session overreach by the federal government, she quit controversy, fighting and failing to Florida's constitutional ban on same sex marriage. When I was sworn in as attorney general, I put my hand on a Bible.

I raised the other Hand and I swore to uphold the constitution of the state of Florida. And for opting not to join New York's attorney general in an investigation into Trump University over allegations of fraud. At Trump University. We keep success.

That's what it's all about. That ultimately led to a $25 million settlement for Trump University students. A Trump loyalist from the start, Bonnie spoke at the 2016 Republican National Convention attacking Hillary Clinton. Lock her up.

I love that she was on Trump's transition team in 2016 as speculation SW she might be joining his first cabinet. I'm very happy being Attorney General of the state of Florida right now. She served as the chair of the America First Policy Institute, a conservative think tank that laid the groundwork for a second Trump administration and is one of Trump's defense lawyers during his first impeachment. This is all about one phone call the President Trump had with President Zelensky.

The transcript was released and they have not charged. I've got to be really clear, they have not charged the president with any crime. Bondi was among a group of Republicans who appeared at a Manhattan courthouse in solidarity with Trump during his hush money trial. I've never seen anything like this.

A judge is supposed to be a neutral arbiter of facts. If confirmed. One of the big questions surrounding Bondi is will she seek retribution for those who investigated and prosecuted President Elect Trump? The Department of Justice, the prosecutors will be prosecuted.

The bad ones, the investigators will be investigated. Something Trump himself says he won't be directing her to do him. Bondi talks about investigating the investigators. Do you want her to investigate Jackson to do what she wants to do?

You want to see Jackson? I think he's very corrupt, but I want her to do whatever she going to direct her prosecute. After the 2020 election, Bondi was one of the loudest Trump allies. And echoing the president elect's baseless claims of a stolen election, that might be something Democrats bring up during Bondi's confirmation hearing.

Certainly a key figure to watch. So thank you so much, Alex, for that reporting. And we'll be back with more Meet the Press now and look back at the people we lost in 2024. Welcome back.

Before we go today, we want to take a moment to remember some of the iconic people in politics, culture and the media when we lost this year. This is a day for every American, including those of us who are politicians, to drop the labels. We're not Republicans, we're not Democrats. We're Americans.

Sam. The overwhelming evidence in the case that we tried is that sexual Orientation is something that's an immutable characteristic of an individual. We thought justice because equal pay for equal work is an American barrier. You cannot be afraid and you cannot be worried about who doesn't, who doesn't like what you do because there's always somebody's not gonna like it if nobody doesn't like it, something's wrong with it.

I am the father. It's truly been 41 marvelous years. Do you have one memory of Meet the Press that you're gonna take with you? I think it's mainly the people that I've worked with behind the scenes as well as on the front.

The people are watching count always. May their souls rest in peace. And we'll be back next week with more MEET the PRESS now. And if it's Sunday, it's MEET the Press on your local NBC news station.

Kristen will have a special Meet the Moment edition of the show featuring interviews with R. Bridges, Michael Phelps, Sue Bird and Megano. And all of us with the MEET the Press family wish you and yours a very happy and healthy new year. Hey, it's Kate Snow, NBC News anchor and host of the Drink.

This month, Demi Lovato is my guest. The global superstar tells me that she is the happiest she's ever been right now. But getting there, it wasn't simple. Demi opens up about starting in Hollywood young and why she now thinks she may have started too soon.

She talks about recovery, her new marriage, and the deeply personal reason behind her new cookbook. The Drink is always about the journey to the top, and this was an honest conversation about what that takes. Hope you'll listen and follow the Drink wherever you get your podcast.