going tone doris in 2020. i think it s early to make that decision and i want to see what the alternatives are. as trump prepares for what could be some monumental changes in the second half of his first term, he s also juggling transitions within his inner circle. acting chief of staff mick mulvaney has newly taken over for john kelly. there s also the brand new acting defense secretary, patrick shanahan. and tonight we learned that william barr, trump s choice for attorney general, who s been critical of the mueller investigation, will begin his confirmation hearings in the senate on january 15th. let s bring in our lead-off panel for a wednesday night. robert costa, national political reporter for the washington post and moderator of washington week on pbs. a.b. stoddard, column exist associate editor at real clear politics. and nancy cook, white house reporter for politico. thanks to all of you for being with us. nancy, you splenty of time at the white house today. let me lea
a.b. stoddard, columnist and associate editor at real clear politics. and nancy cook, white house reporter for politico. thanks to all of you for being with us. nancy, you spent plenty of time at the white house today. let me lead off with you. the world changes in washington a couple hours from now. democrats for the first time in eight years will again be the majority party in the house. they say one of the first things they ll do is pass legislation to reopen the government. mitch mcconnell, the republican leader in the senate, the majority leader, says that s dead on arrival in the senate. so if that s what plays out tomorrow, what would then happen after that? well, i think what s going to happen is we re going to see republicans at least go back to the white house on friday. you know, republican congressional leadership will go back and try to come up with some deal. it was so interesting being at the white house today because i don t think it s entirely sunk in that the democr
appointment. let s see where this goes if anywhere. the president you would agree has the right to appoint an attorney general. and then the process takes whatever form it takes. yes. bill: based on what you know about whitaker why would the president choose him for this job? i think he likes him and holy spirit confidence -has confidence in him. a private citizen. he served ablely in the role under general sessions. so there is no question that the president would like what then private commentator, private citizen whitaker had to say including about the mueller investigation. once you take the oath to become that officer, the attorney general of the united states, the world changes and you now have a new fidelity. you are to set your personal opinions aside for one thing and to listen to law officers. you assess, not blindly follow
room when it is clear how that is going to play on a national stage? think about it, you have young people in the room, and there were whites there as well, white students. it s as though the republican extremists, i can no longer say republican party, don t want certain people in their rallies, don t want immigrants in the country and they don t want black people to vote. why? because now we are seeing the possibility of this new moral fusion in the south. you and i have been talking about it for years, it was time. the south is not the old south. the demographics have shifted. you register 30% of african-american voters, connect them with progressive whites and the world changes, the politics of the nation changes. so people are afraid that their world is changing. and it is. and so what s happening is people are going back to an old playbook. that s why we saw voter suppression starting in 2010. not when trump that s why we see him playing to this race. that s why we see peopl
the world changes. circumstances change, we should adapt with it. brian brenberg. send his birthday messages. senator elizabeth warren apologizing for america s foreign policy. bracing for impact, a chinese aircraft hurling towards earth today. our next guest says those in the path should get a spectacular show in the sky. we ll be watching.