I was never directly or indirectly pressured by any executive branch official, including those that work at the white house or gsa with regard to the substance or timing of my decision. Carefully worded and with good reason. You know why . She was just doing her job. She was refusing to do her job. And on what basis . There was no legitimate basis. There were no facts she could draw on to question the results or the apparent winner. So what did she base it on . She was never pressured. Then how about this tweet that followed right after her transition . Trump tweeted, i told her to do this. Im not going to read it. Its no need to anymore. Lie, defy, deny. That is why he lost. And get this, hes worried that this tantrum that has kept us from dealing with a pandemic in our duly elected president elect, it may hurt his brand. Know this. This is your brand, mr. Trump. You will forever be remembered as viciously divisive and a demagogue. A man that died about a pandemic to suit his own interests, period, amen. And here is another nail in this coffin. The city of detroit probably had more voters than it had citizens. Im a im exaggerating a bit. You think . He literally had b. S. Coming out of his ears, literally. But, look, the cast of fulls is not just the lawyers. Come on. It is about the man who lost and all those who sat idle. Not a single goper has called out trumps savaging of our democracy. Know that. Now the election is released from the grip of this gripe that trumpers hold. Now we can get to the real fight for relief for all of those suffering and literally going hungry in the richest country in the world. Maybe some plans, resources in fighting the pandemic and figuring out our panic approach to school. Look, a president who cares about the problems will admit them and give you the truth about them is already a positive step. Our job here is to hold this administration to doing exactly that and we will. But it is also the job not to be so focussed on the desperate need to move forward that we forget how we got here. If we dont expose and hold those who allowed this travesty to happen, if we dont hold them to account, they will just keep doing what trump demands. Not with chuckles. Thats not going to be me. Oh, come on, senator. Isnt that too cute by half, congressman . No. What happened here was ugly and intentional. And the response must be served directly and cold. All those who stood silent and pretended this was just about style and things they wouldnt say but he can and that there were legitimate issues to litigate, they knew better. They never offered you a piece of proof and they never asked for any either. 16 days were stolen. How many of you paid the price of this inaction . Of this cowardess . Of this economic pain that they did nothing about. And now they say, oh, the kind of scrutiny cuomo is talking about, it makes us victims once and for all. Shut up. Remember what your job is. Do it or get out. And you must remember who failed to do their jobs but just importantly why. A reminder of our politics at its worst. Demand better from those in power, yes, every day. And those who may do nothing but oppose even in a pandemic. Also, remember what worked best for us here, okay . It was not our politicians. Law and order. Not trumps perverse laying down the law that keeps his lackeys in order, no not that. Real justice made his claims the mockery that cowards in congress hid from at every turn. Never forget when we argue that the courts matter. They literally saved this transition. One thing, though, that i believe doesnt deserve a word more and i dont get it when my brothers and sisters in the media keep playing to this. Who cares if trump concedes . Its not in the law. It is a tradition that gives a nod to decency and disagreement. Hes never been about that. You know it. Why give him another chance to lie about the election or anything else or Everything Else . He isnt going to tell his followers to do anything but give him more money for a lost cause and use it maybe even on Something Else. Less is more from trump, and i hope you all know that. Now tonight we start. We have a much clearer picture of the direction our country is going to take in the next 58 days, assuming trump doesnt do anything to screw it up further. We know our president elects Incoming Administration is speedily taking formation. Hes announcing new and historic cabinet picks on some levels as well as appointments to other top tier positions. So lets figure out all that has us at this moment. This is a historic night. Lets bring in Kaitlyn Collins and joe lockhart. Before we even begin, if i dont get to see you guys this week, im thankful for you both. Kaitlyn, you are a star. And, joe, you keep us following the right star when it talks to the democrats about what theyre supposed to be. That will be ever more valuable even now. Im thankful for you. Kaitlyn, what i am hearing was that trump was getting worried about his brand and that maybe it was time to do Something Different. What are you hearing about how we got here . I think thats certainly the concern with people around the president and thats why you saw them going to the president urging him to move forward with this sascertainment because you were starting to see a crack in gop support here. Its not big steps from republican lawmakers. Its small steps. You started to see more and more people come forward saying that this is something that needed to happen. So of course the way the president framed it in his tweet shortly after this letter was sent to the biden team by gsa saying this is actually going to happen, the president makes it sound like he is allowing it to happen, like he is authorizing it. But if you read the text of the letter, you see the gsa administrator is saying i made this decision free from pressure from the executive branch she claims. Thats the question Going Forward, is what was the president s level of involvement here . I think the important thing to remember is just because the president signed off on this does not mean hes going to stop pushing disinformation about this election, stop with the lawsuits. Or do Something Else to hinder the transition at some point. Lets bring in joe. Joe, how do you play as democrats . I want to talk to you about how the president elect is populating this team and what it says about which way he wants to go. But what is the right play with all the trumpery and the people in congress who said nothing about what he was doing here when they knew there was no basis for it . What is the right play for biden . Well, you know, i think joe biden has played it perfectly up until now, which he hasnt taken the bait. He hasnt engaged trump and sunk to trumps level. You know, i think now hes doing what he should be doing, which is focussing on the future and making President Trump irrelevant. You know, thats what happens with lame duck president s. You know, the announcements of the appointments today, probably the most significant way you can underline the fact that you are taking over government and really kind of tuning out the noise that trump has thrived on and, you know, returning government to things like competence and american values. Kaitlyn, what is the word about what they expect from republicans in the house and the senate Going Forward . I think they still know that their political faith could be tied to donald trump. Thats why they have been navigating this so carefully, trying not to, of course, ruin their reputations by refusing to recognize a legitimate president but also not to anger donald trump who is still going to have a lot of sway in the Republican Party. One thing you have to look at is while he has been fighting this and pursuing all of this litigation in court is the president is also fundraising. That fundraising they say is going towards these election defense funds. But it is also going towards the president s new Political Action committee, which is going to help him have influence over the Republican PartyGoing Forward. So you cant ignore that. And republicans are certainly not and thats why they have been trying to straddle this line here of what exactly it is theyre going to do because they know donald trump will loom large over the gop for years to come. How do they gently get him to move to this spot here while also not angering him to where there is a chance he could affect their future. Any word about trump reaching out to president elect biden . No word yet. The last thing we heard is the president saying he is not going to concede this race ever. That was his latest thinking from what we heard from sources. While he may be edging closer to moving on with the logistical next steps, the idea hes going to come out and acknowledge he lost this election in a free and fair way does not seem realistic to the people who speak with him on a regular basis. Joe, lets look at the team. Do we have a graphic of the choices that have been made yet or should i just go through them . No . I didnt even hear what they said. Joe, lets talk about some of the names that have been offered up and what they mean to you. Secretary of state we dont know yet. But give us some of the different ones. Well, listen, i think it says a couple of things. If you look at the whole package, first, it is historic for women. Women taking over jobs that the women have never held. They have been male dominated. At treasury with janet yellen. The intelligence agencies and secretary of defense, those are all positions that have been dominated by men. It is shattering parts of the Glass Ceiling as we look at it. The second thing with, you know, with all of those that i have mentioned and people like tony blinken and ron klain at the white house, this is bidens team. These are no nonsense people who are not out with their own political agendas. This will be a team that joe biden knows and trusts and will hit the ground running. The last thing id say about tony blinken, the new secretary of state, is he is trusted around the world. And that, i think, as joe biden says, our First Priority is restoring trust with our allies. Kaitlyn, what is the word on the early rounds of population by biden . I think so far the question is, you know, they are so different than the people the president picked. A lot of people were people he felt pressured to pick by people who were advising him when he was new to washington. I think thats kind of the opposite of what you are seeing here with biden. These are people that of course hes known. He knowing washington incredibly well. The president s people use that as a criticism of him saying hes a creature of washington. But this could help joe biden because he has experience here. He knows these people. Theyre people hes familiar with. The president picked a lot of people he met and sometimes he had spoken with them for half an hour in trump tower during that transition period and they got the job. They said later they were surprised by that. Right. I think it is a much different transition process and it will be a different period going into this than it was at the beginning of Donald Trumps presidency. Biden cant pick better people than trump did, she should quit today. Joe, welcome to the new normal of a Bidenharris Administration and questions that will be coming to you on this show. This is not a group that is designed to work well with republicans. Joe biden said i want to bring in people where i can have voices that will be responded to on the other side. That means republicans. This is not voices outside the box. And this is not voices that republicans want to hear. Is that the right first step . Well, i agree that there is probably no voice from the Democratic Party that republicans currently want to hear. But if you look at some of the picks, you may be surprised on their reputation and their ability to reach across the aisle. I mean, tony blinken was the staff director of the senator Foreign Relations committee which ran in a bipartisan way. Janet yellen is respected by republicans, democrats. She was chairman of the federal reserve, the council of economic at the white house under bill clinton. So there are picks here that michelle who is respected among republicans. It is going to be up to republicans, though. But do you think he will pick any republicans. Bernie is not for the republicans. But to andrew yang, to go to somebody who is outside the box and that may be able to resonate with republicans or republicans by party. Listen, i dont know definitively the answer. But biden is going to go with people he knows and biden knows a lot of republicans. Right. And, look, i know that joe biden, the president elect, would say, hey, dont sell me short, man. I get it. I get it. Im just saying that in populating the team, if there are no republicans among it, if there is nobody who they trust, you know, it is just going to be a consideration for sure. Kaitlyn collins, thank you very much. Joe lockhart, it is good to have your acumen. Best to you and your families for thanksgiving. Even with trump allowing a transition, he still is pretending he can reverse history. And heres my problem. Who is speaking out to say its wrong . Not that his lawyers stink. Not that sydney powell isnt part of the team. Why arent they saying the right thing . I have a former Trump White House lawyer here. What does he make of the state of play . And what it means for his party that he loves next. With new rewards from chase freedom unlimited, i now earn even more cash back . Oh i got to tell everyone. Hey, rita you now earn 3 on dining, including takeout bon appetit. Hey kim, you now earn 5 on travel purchased through chase way ahead of you hey, neal you can earn 3 at drugstores. Buddy, im right here. Why are you yelling . Because thats what i do youre always earning with 5 cash back on travel purchased through chase, 3 at drugstores, 3 on dining including takeout, and 1. 5 on Everything Else you buy. Chase. Make more of whats yours. 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The countrys next president not only has to play catchup but he has to do it during a pandemic when we dont have time to spare. Look whats happening to our holidays. Trying to get 70 million americans to buy into Something Different is not going to be easy, especially when republicans have done nothing but played to feelty. Service to trump. Not loyalty to country. This isnt patriotism. Now, where do we go from here . And how do the republicans reconcile what got us here . Lets discuss with a very, very interesting guest. Always but certainly tonight. Jim schultz served in the White House Council office under don mcgahn. Knows the players very well. First id like to stay in character but i cant. You know i wish you and the family the best for thanksgiving. I wish the family well. Thank you for being here tonight. The obvious question happy to be on. What are you doing here . You cant be on tv unless youre crazy enough to come on here. Always happy to be on your show. Your side is not coming. Why are you here . Why are you happy to be . Because you asked me on, chris, and i always give you the straight shot. But what about what it means to your party . Look, i think what we have seen play out over the last there was a lot of patience given to watch to allow this Legal Process to play out. But by the republican side and quite frankly by the democratic side. And its played out in a way thats been a train wreck. Its been a train wreck because not just bad lawyering but also because bad facts. And when you dont have the facts, you argue the law. When you dont have the law, you pound your fist and there has been a lot of fist pounding by Rudy Giuliani and that team and the fist pounding has to stop. We saw a case the other day here in pennsylvania. Judge bran i thought was generous in his decision. I think that there were some theories put before him. There was no evidence put before him and some theories there. When you have, you know, issues regarding, you know, distance and poll watchers not being close enough to view, thats something that should happen at the time, not a week before thanksgiving. You dont go to court a week before thanksgiving with that issue. Thats been the problem here all along, is that the timing, the arguments, the facts, they just dont allow for, you know, quite frankly, a Winning Strategy here. Well, thats because the country has been patient with it. Right. I agree with you. There are no facts here. The country has been confused and scared, anxious. The democrats, have they been patient with it . Yeah. But they didnt have any power, so they didnt have any chance but to be patient. The republicans have the power. And i have never seen anything like this. These men and women wouldnt call him president elect. Said there were real issues when they were asked for proof privately and publically theyd say i dont have it. I think the time to put up or shut up was about a week or so ago. 16 days ago. There has been nothing put up. The week of the election they made some allegations and they have to back up those allegations in court. Jimmy, in 2016 i appreciate you saying this and i know it is not easy for you to say. Not personally. No, its easy for me to say. Frankly, i think its good heat to get. Jimmy, people are going to be remembered for what they did and didnt do here. And we have never seen anything like this. They s