I appreciate the chance to speak with the president elect and look forward to the coming administration. Now, trumps entire weekend is jampacked with meetings for potential cabinet picks. Watching all of that. Nbcs Kelly Odonnell live in bedminster, new jersey, where the comings and goings have been fast and furious today. Kelly, last we spoke, about 40 minutes ago. What have you seen happening there . Reporter well, i think one of the things were waiting for now, richard, is for general jim mattis, retired marine general, who is in meeting with president elect donald trump and Vice President elect mike pence. That meeting is under way. Theyve been through a series of meetings earlier today, but general mattis is a strong contender, i am told from a variety of sources, for Donald Trumps consideration for a job in the administration. So we have talked about some of the people who have come today for various positions, possible, but im getting a stronger indication from sources that matt
I think the russians have participated in helping this man get elected. And they have destroyed the candidacy of Hillary Clinton. I dont plan to attend the inaugurati inauguration. It will be the first one that i miss since ive been in congress. You cannot be at home with something that you feel is wrong. Trump began to respond on twitter moments ago saying congressman john lewis should spend more time on fixing and helping his district. Late friday the Senate Intelligence committee announced it would investigate trumps possible links to russia. The bipartisan effort will also look more broadly at any russian intelligence activity impacting the United States. In a ne interview with the wall street journal, trump says he will likely keep some of president obamas recent russian sanctions in place unless russia cooperates on fighting terror and other key issues. His reasoning, if russia is really helping us, why would anybody have sanctions . Also friday, the house took a First Step Towar
Running the president s campaign five months. Paul manafort and his righthand staffer just pleaded not guilty to being a Foreign Agent among a dozen other charges. The white house is not saying much about this bombshell indictment. How did the president respond to this news about two people who did work for his campaign, was he disappointed that Paul Manafort received this news today he was being charged on these counts . He responded the same way the rest of us in the white house have. Thats without a lot of reaction, because he doesnt have anything to do, it doesnt have anything to do with us. At the same time this is going on we learned another member of the president s campaign is also facing charges. George papadopolos, pleading guilty to lying to the fbi about contact with the kremlin. While this might seem insignificant, documents show that he was talking to a professor linked to the russian government who had told him they had dirt on Hillary Clinton, including emails. The whit
Your land like you do. Trump is the first president since Franklin Roosevelt to shrink a National Monument. Reportedly the largest reduction of a National Monument in history. Todays event sets the stage also for a battle in the courts and larger fight over opening up other protected lands to drilling, mining, logging, you name it. Trite utah where the president just wrapped up his speech. Nbcs jeff bennett is in salt lake city. Tell us the story. Reporter well, the president came here to tell utahens what they wanted to hear for a decade or longer, ali. That the federal government would relinquish at least some, in this case, roughly 2 million acres of federally controlled land giving it back to utahens to control as they see fit. The president framed it a as a states rights case, because the federal government controls all but onethird of the public land here in utah. The president , the delegation from utah, all the folks exiting the room have been waiting for this for quite a long
Thats complete fantasy and just full of tabloid gossip, because its sad, pathetic and our administration and our focus is going to be on moving the country forward. So lets get right to nbc news chief White House Correspondent Hallie Jackson following the latest from the white house this afternoon. Hallie, as is usual, a lively set of exchanges with the press secretary. What else did we hear from Sarah Huckabee sanders today . Whats your headline . Reporter a lot there, chris. The headline, the news coming out of the Briefing Regarding the fire and fury book, continued pushback on this and frankly, the second day in a row about the president s Mental Fitness after wolff in his Hollywood Reporter excerpt seemed to imply some inside the administration has concerns about that given the president s, for example, repetitiveness. Sarah Huckabee Sanders could not have pushed back more fiercely saying it was disgraceful, laughable that anybody would raise questions about that, but there is Som