tried with trump airline or the plaza hotel or the casinos, he failed. so she knows how to herd cats. he doesn t. i think she knows how to stay calm. he doesn t. so she really does have his number. gwenda, it s also she has a lot of experience in washington and knows how the place works, which he really doesn t, and it s not clear that there is a lot of great people around him who, you know, play the game as well as nancy pelosi does. no. there were all these other all these other so-called adults, a lot of military that he appointed that were going to, you know, rein him in and show him the rules and keep him on the rails. they all fell like tin pins. she hasn t. i think michael made a really good point. she s got all those kids and all those grandchildren. she haesd to herd cats in the capitol for decades. she knows how to do it.
and i think he respects that. i think he is also i think there is also i ve been thinking about this. maybe an echo of his dad. his dad was very competent too. and his dad really did it. his dad didn t have his own dad bailing him out. konld h donald had fred bailing him out. but nancy, i think maybe there is an echo of that. that s interesting. gwenda blair, i appreciate you being with us. we just got notice of a shutdown on a prorated payment of a border wall. chuck schumer said, and i m quoting now, senator schumer and senate democrats have made clear to senator mcconnell and republicans that they will not support funding for the wall, prorated or otherwise. up next, the president s former fixer canceled an appearance before congress before he reports to prison because he says of threats by the president. now michael cohen has been subpoenaed by one committee with the possibility of more on the way. i ll talk to congressman eric swalwell about the testimony, next. (baby crying
she is not playing that sort of macho game that he plays with most of the men that he has to deal with. she s not doing it. he challenges her masculinity. what is he going to challenge with her? michael, do you agree with that? i do agree with what gwenda is saying, and i sometimes can imagine nancy pelosi in a house full of kids, and that s chaos if there ever is chaos. so she s someone who can keep her head about her and knows how to impose order on a chaotic situation. i also think that there is this element of respect of what gwenda mentioned not only for the state of the union, but for the speaker herself. she is competent in a way that trump isn t. she has actually led a very broad organization with disparate interests in ways the president never had to when he
seen, you can get a deal signed, sealed and delivered, except when it comes to it, donald trump won t sign it. and so, why should they put something out and then have the rug pulled out from under them? and that s going to be the question for democrats. plus, the wall is really a stupid idea, and you just have to, let s deal with reality for a second. it s really a dumb idea, and that ought to count, too. well, gwenda blair, you know how the president thinks and approaches situations like this, negotiations, stalemates, public posturing, all of the elements we re seeing right here. so, if you ve got democrats who want to pass something when they get control of the house that s going to have no wall money, you ve seen before this shutdown and certainly on the senate side, it seemed a willingness on the part of republicans to come to some accommodations, some deal here. the wild card, gene was just saying, becomes the president. if there s a willingness on the part of republicans to co
how far apart both parties remain on this standoff. illinois s dick durbin, the number two democrat in the senate, he wrote, no end in sight to the president s government shutdown. now, technically, both houses of congress were in session today, although both the house and the senate convened for only a few minutes. both took no steps to end the partial shutdown. house members were advised there would be no more votes this week while the senate adjourned until monday at 4:00 p.m. effectively ensuring the shutdown continues through the weekend and at least to the brink of the new year. i m joined now by yamiche alcindor, correspondent for the pbs news hour, eugene robinson with the washington post and gwenda blair, author of the trumps: three generations of builders and a president. thanks to all of you for being with us. yamiche, let me just start with you. trying to get to sort of the bottom line, the key players in this. you ve got the president, you ve got the republicans on c