"this week with george stephanopoulos" starts right now. extraordinary circumstances. >> appointing a special counsel at this time is the right thing to do. >> just days after donald trump announces his latest bid for president, the justice department names a special counsel to oversee multiple

investigations into the former president. is the possibility of an indictment looming larger? >> they probably have the basis for legitimately indicting the president. i don't know. i'm speculating. they probably have the evidence that would check the box. >> this morning, january 6 committee member adam schiff joins us live. plus, pierre thomas with late reporting on the new special counsel. end of an era -- >> i will not seek re-election to democratic leadership in the next congress. >> speaker nancy pelosi passes the torch as republicans take control of the house. >> the era of one party democrat rule in washington is over. >> can kevin mccarthy get the votes to become speaker, and what lessons did republicans learn after a disappointing midterm result? >> it's pretty clear with trump we lose. we get past trump, we start winning elections. >> former speaker of the house, paul ryan, on the future of the gop. a "this week" exclusive.

and inside ukraine. president zelenskyy and the u.s. at odds following a fatal blast that killed two in poland. >> the russians have been targeting infrastructure here in ukraine especially critical during these winter months. >> martha raddatz reports from the war zone. plus, elon musk brings donald trump back on twitter. that and all the week's politics on our powerhouse roundtable. good morning and welcome to "this week. as we come on the air it's becoming clear american politics and american justice are on a collision course. first, the moment many republican leaders had hoped to avoid. the former president announced he is running for president yet again. second, attorney general merrick garland appointed as special

counsel to oversee two separate and unrelated cases that have one thing in common -- both could lead to indictments of donald trump. looking at the political calendar and the legal calendar it's not inconceivable the trial of a former president and a campaign by that former president could be happening at the very same time. we have used words unprecedented and extraordinary a lot over the past six years or so but we've never seen anything remotely like that in all of american history. it's all happening against the backdrop of midterm election that is have brought a divided congress and uncertainty about what republicans can accomplish with their radar thin majority in the house or even whether their leader, kevin mccarthy, can get the 218 votes he needs to become speaker of the house. to discuss it all with house intelligence adam schiff and paul ryan in a moment.

we begin with new reporting on the investigations now being overseen by a special counsel. abc news chief justice correspondent pierre thomas joins us now. good morning, pierre. what do we know? how did we get to this extraordinary moment? >> reporter: you're right, extraordinary. that's how the situation was described. the situation we find ourselves in is severe. the former president of the united states is now the target of two criminal investigations. there's no guessing. the justice department believes there was a conspiracy to block the peaceful transfer of presidential power to joe biden after tlectheion that culminated in the vicious attack on the capitol january 6th. if so, was donald trump a willing participant? second, did donald trump direct the unlawful removal of records and classified documents from the white house as he was leaving power? was national security compromised and did trump try to

obstruct the investigation. >> pierre, merrick garland wouldn't be doing this if indictments of donald trump weren't a real possibility? >> reporter: these investigations have been going on for weeks. this is not a surprise to anything. clearly they suspect an indictment could come. no final decision has been made but he wants this done by the books so one who is independent can look at this evidence and oversee the investigations and make one of the most controversial calls in anybody's memory. >> let me turn to the news overnight, a mass shooting at an lbgtq nightclub in colorado springs. what more do you know about what happened? >> reporter: another mass shooting. the suspect is in custody in the hospital.

the fbi is assisting. this is the 601st shooting. there's been a dramatic surge when there were only 417. that's a stunning 400% increase. it has become routine. >> peter thomas, thank you for joining us. >> reporter: pleasure. >> we're joined by adam schiff, a member of the january 6 committee. congressman schiff, thank you for joining us. i want to begin with the news overnight that donald trump has been reinstated by elon musk on twitter. the january 6th committee hearings trump's tweets were a big part of the story to be told. what do you think of him being back on twitter? >> i think it's a terrible mistake and you're right as we showed in the january 6th

hearings the president used that platform to incite that attack on the capitol. his comments about the vice president, his own vice president, put mike pence's life in danger. he showed no remorse about that. he continues to lie about his actions on that day. he talks about pardon onning the pe people that day and countradict what he said and further contradicts musk and his claim concern about bots on his own platform to subject the decision to uphold the platform that could be easily abused that way. it just underscores the erratic leadership of twitter under musk and the security concerns with security people fleeing twitter and what that means for the protection of americans' private data. >> he did it with that snap poll and it was 58 to 42. close. the merrick garland decision to

appoint a special counsel. is this the right move? >> i think it is the right move. you make a decision not because you think you're going to persuade the former president you are doing the right thing or his moment extreme supporters. >> they're still going to say it's political. >> they're still going to say it but it's the right thing to do and most particularly if you ensure that it won't cause any delay. so if the same prosecutors that have been investigating the former president and others can be moved onto the special prosecutor's team, then there's every reason to do it. no reason not to do it. and i think the person he's chosen seems to be capable and qualified. my concern, frankly, has been leading up to this point. they were very slow at the department to work up the multiple lines of effort to overturn the election. it took them a long time to get started. and the delay has already been baked in. i hope that the special

prosecutor will move with alacrity and fulfill the commitment merrick garland made at the outset which is everyone will be treated equally under the law and that includes the former president. >> the timing is extraordinary. you really could have, if he gets indicted, a trial and a presidential campaign happening at the same time. >> you could. for four years when he was president the position you can't indict a sitting president. you can't now take the position, well, you also can't indict a former president who wants to run again, otherwise that president becomes above the law and the founders would have never subscribed to that idea. >> what does this mean about the january 6 committee on a criminal referral? will you be making a referral or referrals? >> we are reaching a conclusion on that. should we make referrals, what kind should we make? i don't want to get ahead of the decision. i can say judge carter in california who analyzed one

small piece of this concluded that the former president and others were engaged or there was evidence they were engaged in a criminal conspiracy, evidence they were engaged in an effort to stop an official proceeding, the joint session. i think the evidence is there to make a referral and we just have to decide whether that's the course we're going to take. >> trump has said he won't partake in the investigation. i don't really know what that means but he's already defied the january 6th committee in your subpoenas. will he, before this lame duck is done, be held in contempt of congress before that? >> we're discussing that. we have very limited options and even where we have held people in contempt we're only batting 50% with the justice department and a willingness to enforce it. once again, donald trump took the cowardly way out. unlike other presidents that have fulfilled their duty even after office and testified before congress, not surprising with the former president it was

disappointing with the former vice president who, like others before him, sadly said i can't share this information with the american people and congress but i can write a book about it. that's very disappointing. >> so obviously we have the republicans winning back control, barely, of the house. one of the things kevin mccarthy has said, he's going to strip you of your position on the house intelligence committee. >> well, i suspect he will do whatever marjorie taylor greene wants him to do. he is a very weak leader of his conference, meaning he will adhere to the wishes of the lowest common denominator, and if that wants to remove people from committees, that's what they'll do. it's going to be chaos with the republican leadership and, sadly, the kind of crazy caucus has grown among the republicans. many republicans who won primaries in deeply red districts are coming to congress like the marjorie taylor greene

and paul -- >> too much in one direction, he will have to worry about the other direction. one of the other things that republicans are saying they're going to launch all matter of investigations, hunter biden, anthony fauci, the border, et cetera, et cetera, et ceteraly you critical of the trump white house and donald trump himself for defying congressional subpoenas, not cooperating with congressional oversight. what's your advice to the biden administration? should they comply and cooperate with oversight from this congress? >> they should cooperate with appropriate oversight. they should follow the law, and that means complying with subpoenas. they're going to need to analyze whether the republicans are following appropriate procedures and whether they're doing this for vexacious -- >> but they should cooperate? >> i think they will cooperate with appropriate oversight. we continually face a variation

of the same question which is should the democrats do the appropriate thing when republicans have consistently refused to? i think we maintain the high ground. we follow the law, we follow our responsibilities under the separation of powers, but that doesn't detract at all from the abuse that we saw during the republican administration. >> i want to ask you, you are on the intel committee, you've spoken out strongly against saudi arabia and their leader, mohammed bin salman's claims involving khashoggi and the implications in the murder. now we've seen the biden administration say he has immunity while he is effectively the head of state for saudi arabia. i want to read something that fred ryan of "the washington post" said. in granting legal immunity to

saudi crown prince know hammed bin salman, president biden is failing to uphold america's most cherished values. he is granting a license to kill to one of the world's most egregious human rights abusers who is responsible for the cold-blooded murder of jamal khashoggi. what do you think of that move? >> i don't support the granting of immunity. this is a guy who was involved in the murder and dismemberment of a person residing in the united states of america, a journalist, and, you know, we ought to put our value on life not oil, and i think this is a tragic decision. i don't think it was a necessary decision. they clearly contrived to put him in the position of prime minister days before this decision. we didn't have to go along with it. >> and finally, before you go, today is joe biden's 80th birthday. do you think he should run for re-election? >> i think he should. i think he's extremely capable. what he's been able to do in the

last two years is an unprecedented level of accomplishment. if he wants to continue, i'm for him. >> adam schiff, thank you for joining us here on "this week." on friday i sat down with former speaker of the house and former vice presidential candidate paul ryan for his first sunday show interview since leaving office. ryan is now out with a new book "american renewal: a conservative plan to strengthen the social contract and save the country's finances." he also happens to be the last republican to serve as speaker of the house. we began by discussing the legacy of his successor, nancy pelosi. >> it's an impressive legacy. obviously she and i usually disagree on things, but, the first woman speaker, a career to be proud of and, frankly, i think about her husband, paul, a lot these days. i feel so awful about what happened to them. she has an incredible legacy and career to look back on. >> the midterms, i think i saw

you had predicted that at least 15 seats, republicans would pick up at least 15. what happened? >> a couple of factors. i personally think the evidence is really clear, it was the trump factor. look at new hampshire. look at where kemp ran ahead of walker. i think we would have won the senate had we had traditional republicans in the general election like these governors did. i think we would have won places like arizona, places like pennsylvania, new hampshire, had we had a typical conservative republican, not a trump republican. it's pretty clear with trump we lose. we lost the house in '18. we lost the senate in '20. we have a much lower majority in

the house because of the trump factor. we stick with trump, we keep losing elections. that's how i see it. >> his candidates won almost across the board. i don't think he ends up winning the nomination he at the end of the day. i think we have a great stable in winning the election and republican voters know that. so that's why i think our voters ultimately who really want to win are going to give us candidates who can win. >> what will it mean to the republican party if he actually wins the nomination? >> we probably would likely lose the white house. we just did in '20. i think we probably lose the white house with trump and if there's someone not named trump, my guess is we win the white house. >> i'm saying if he wins the

general election, if he becomes president -- the way liz chainy h cheney has put it. >> that suburban voter -- do you think he's more popular with the swing voter or less? >> no evidence of that at all. he does seem to have a hold on a good chunk of the republican party whether or not it's a majority, we'll see. >> that's right. but i think he's going to continue to lose altitude because we want to win, and we know we lose. we have a strong of losses to prove the point and there are a lot of really good, capable conservatives who i think people like that are more than capable of not only being good conservatives in office but can win elections. >> as you know the fear republicans have had, and this goes back to 2015 when he first announced, the fears they have is donald trump loses the primary but marches across the street and declares he's an independent candidate. >> and then he gives the left to the country and would not want to be blamed for doing that.

>> you think he has the ability -- >> i don't talk to him so i don't know what's going on in his mind. i was not an avid trumper. i governed with him and i'm proud of those days. i'm proud of the accomplishments of the tax reform. i'm excited about the judges we got on the bench, not just the supreme court but throughout the judiciary, but i am a never again trumper. why? i want to win, and we lose with trump. it was really clear to us in '18, in '20 and now in '22. >> a few weeks before the election you said that a single digit majority in the house would be inoperational. as speaker, you couldn't lead. >> you couldn't run the place with just your party. you couldn't run the place with your votes. >> now mccarthy will have a three or four -- >> you always have leakage. no matter what bill you bring to the floor, it is almost impossible that tight a majority

to have just only your party passing legislation. when i was speaker, we had better majorities. we could pass bills on our own. but if you have such a narrow majority it will be really hard. having said that, there's nothing as unifying as a really razor thin majority. that is a unifying thing in and of itself. i've been in the house where we've had tight majorities. not this tight. >> it wasn't this tight. you had double digits. >> i had double digits when i was there. we had a couple really thin majorities, and it does bring people together. it makes people realize i can't get everything i want. i have to be a part of a team, but having said that it will be really hard on day in, day out to consistently have only your party bringing votes. >> mccarthy is not elected speaker, yet you have two members that have come out and said, no, never, we'll never vote for him. he may have a three seat majority. >> i think i lost eight votes and one my second time.

>> you had 236 votes -- >> i had a pretty good cushion. that's to be expected. >> what happens if he can't get to 1218. >> what happens if he can't? >> there isn't anybody better suited to running this conference than kevin mccarthy. he's been good for conservatives, frankly, but he's a person who understands how to manage a conference. >> adam kinzinger said if he becomes speaker he will be, quote, led around on a leash by marjorie taylor greene and members of the freedom caucus. i mean, that's a vivid analogy, but it will be tough. he's not going to be able to -- he needs to have them onboard. >> you need to run a coalition government as speaker of the house within your own party. we elected people from new york and california from what i would call more moderate leaning districts. kevin understands that. so you have to run a coalition. >> you see marjorie taylor greene over his shoulder when he was announcing the commitment to

america -- >> look, he's running a coalition government. >> he needs -- >> he needs the entire conference to work with him and to motivate that entire conference. >> so you do have this book out which looks at the financial issues facing the country which are immense, obviously. they were not part of this campaign. when i see what republicans have done so far they prepare to take mat jort is talk about investigations. they've talked about hunter biden, a number of impeachment resolutions already filed even before the election not just biden but members of his cabinet. would it be a mistake instead of getting to the ideas you're talking about, getting into heavy investigation? >> no, they need to do oversight. what happens when you have one party rule throughout washington between the white house and congress is there isn't enough sufficient oversight and accountability. >> oversight but dragging in hunter biden, fauci -- >> no, i think -- i think there

is some stuff there at doj and hunter they probably should have some accountability and investigations but that's not a substitute for an agenda. the purpose of putting out an idea -- and i'm glad you brought the book up. >> we do have the book. >> the purpose of this is to offer a conservative plan to help this country get over its enormous challenges in the 21st century. we have an unsustainable debt and we're on an unsustainable debt trajectory but we have to make the programs work better, reform the programs, so you and i and the next generation on down have something. that's the conversation we have to elevate our debate to in our federal national politics and i think we can because america has always gotten it right at the end of the process. >> you're ever optimistic. >> i'm an optimistic person. >> for the ideas you've talked about the direction of the party, will you be back in

politics? >> i like the way i'm doing it now. >> will you run for president again? >> i am definitely not running in 2024. i have presidential sized policy ambition but not personal ambition. i don't see myself doing that. >> we can take that as a maybe? >> no. >> all right, paul ryan, thank you very much. appreciate it. thank you for taking the time. >> good to be with you, man. >> our thanks again to paul ryan. martha raddatz reports live from ukraine as tensions rise over the missiles that hit poland. and later after a week of erratic moves from twitter, owner elon musk a late night decision to reinstate donald trump. the fallout and re. (fisher investments) it's easy to think that all money managers are pretty much the same, but at fisher investments we're clearly different. (other money manager) different how? you sell high commission investment products, right? (fisher investments) nope. fisher avoids them. (other money manager) well, you must earn commissions on trades.

(fisher investments) never at fisher. (other money manager) ok, then you probably sneak in some hidden and layered fees. (fisher investments) no. we structure our fees so we do better when our clients do better. that might be why most of our clients come from other money managers. at fisher investments, we're clearly different. do you struggle with occasional nerve aches in your hands or feet? try nervivenerve relief from the world's #1 selling nerve care company. nervive contains alpha lipoic acid to relieve occasional nerve aches, weakness and discomfort. try nervivenerve relief. ♪♪ hmmm. tryna catch me ridin' ...thirty. ♪ they see me rollin' they hatin' ♪ ♪ patrollin' and tryna catch me ridin' thirty ♪ the 30-day money back guarantee. that's car buying reimagined. only from carmax. ♪ ridin' thirty ♪ russia's invasion offers a preview of tyranny and turmoil none of us want to live in.

it's an invitation to an increasingly insecure world haunted by the shadow of nuclear proliferation. because putin's fellow autocrats are watching. >> a stark warning from defense secretary lloyd austin days after a massive wave of missile strikes hit ukraine this week. with a stray missile hitting poland for the first time. abc news chief global affairs correspondent and "this week" co-anchor martha raddatz is in kyiv. good morning, martha. >> reporter: good morning. we drove across ukraine and you can see the destruction from missile strikes everywhere, but there was nothing in scope like this week's attacks. it was the largest wave of missile attacks in a single day since the war began. nearly 100 missiles pummeling ukraine's residential areas, infrastructure and power grids. and just across the border a

missile landing in poland killing two civilians, prompting fears with a nato ally now hit the war with russia would soon spread. president biden with world leaders at the g20 summit holding an emergency meeting but u.s. military leaders and our allies soon determining that the missile was not launched by russia but was likely an errant ukrainian missile trying to defend from russian missiles. >> this explosion was most likely the result of a ukrainian air defense missile. >> reporter: but ukraine did not buy it. in a rare clash with the west, president zelenskyy still convinced russia was to blame. zelenskyy's secretary of national security showing us this week the scope of the russian attacks and, like zelenskyy, not believing the missile that hit poland was

ukrainian. do you still believe the missile that hit in poland, just over the border, was a russian missile? "i have my own opinion," he tells me. president biden says the evidence does not show it was russia. danilov saying he disagrees but in spite of the disagreement what's important, he said, the allies continue to work together to defeat russia. and the u.s. and allies believing that even though russia may not have launched the missile that hit poland, they are to blame for everything that has happened since they invaded ukraine nearly nine months ago. defense secretary austin reiterated that by saying russia chose aggression. russia chose war. ukraine chose only to fight back. >> martha this is the third visit for you since the invasion, the third visit to ukraine. how have things changed?

>> reporter: we visited bucha where the russians slaughtered hundreds of ukrainian civilians who were then buried in a mass grave. the town is bustling in the determination of the people to win this war seems stronger than ever. >> incredible. thank you, martha. we'll have more of martha's reporting next sunday on "this week" as she continues to travel the region. up next, rachel scott is live in las vegas where the 2024 gop hopefuls are making their case and breaking with trump. that's next.

coming up, rachel scott is on the ground in las vegas where we're hearing something we haven't heard in a long time, a gathering of high-profile

republicans, some of them saying it's time for donald trump to go. my a1c stayed here, it needed to be here. ray's a1c is down with rybelsus®. i'm down with rybelsus®. my a1c is down with rybelsus®. in a clinical study, once-daily rybelsus® significantly lowered a1c better than a leading branded pill. in the same study, people taking rybelsus® lost more weight. rybelsus® isn't for people with type 1 diabetes. don't take rybelsus® if you or your family ever had medullary thyroid cancer, or have multiple endocrine neoplasia syndrome type 2, or if allergic to it. stop rybelsus® and get medical help right away if you get a lump or swelling in your neck, severe stomach pain, or an allergic reaction. serious side effects may include pancreatitis. gallbladder problems may occur. tell your provider about vision problems or changes. taking rybelsus® with a sulfonylurea or insulin increases low blood sugar risk. side effects like nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea

may lead to dehydration, which may worsen kidney problems. need to get your a1c down? you may pay as little as $10 per prescription. ♪♪ this... is the planning effect. this is how it feels to know you have a wealth plan that covers everything that's important to you. this is what it's like to have a dedicated fidelity advisor looking at your full financial picture. making sure you have the right balance of risk and reward. and helping you plan for future generations. this is "the planning effect" from fidelity. when cold symptoms keep you up, try vicks nyquil severe. just one dose starts to relieve 9 of your worst

cold and flu symptoms, to help take you from 9 to none. for max-strength nighttime relief, nyquil severe.

we just lived through a disheartening election. it should be a wake-up call for all of us. we have to stop losing and start winning. >> let's stop supporting crazy, unelectable candidates in our primaries and start getting behind winners that can close the deal in november. >> we spend far too much time preaching to the choir, the same people watching fox news every day. we need to talk to young people and hispanics and african americans and suburban moms. >> republican leaders in las vegas last night as the 2024 presidential cycle begins. congressional correspondent rachel scott is there covering it all for us this morning. rachel? >> reporter: hey, john, good morning. i can tell you that early announcement by former president donald trump has done little to clear the field. in fact, many republicans largely shrugging it off as they lay the groundwork for their own possible bid for the white house

in 2024. gop heavyweights descending on las vegas this weekend. for the republican jewish coalition's annual meeting. much of the focus on how to move forward from what many considered a disappointing finish in the midterm election and how to win back the white house in 2024. and what was evidence is a growing number of republicans are showing signs of wanting to move on from donald trump, even questioning his hold on the party. his former secretary of state, mike pompeo, saying that celebrity and personality cannot win elections. republican governor larry hogan of the former president told me more republicans are speaking out. he's calling for a course correction. mike pence says he believes voters will have better choices than trump in 2024. and closing out this weekend's event was ron desantis riding high from that decisive victory in florida. he received a standing ovation. he made no mention of 2024.

he did close out his remarks by saying that he still has more work to do and that he's just getting started, john. >> it's certainly not a warm welcome for the trump presidential campaign. rachel scott, thank you very much. back in 2016 donald trump led a crowded gop field through most of the republican presidential primaries, but is trump the front-runner in 2024? here is nate silver. >> reporter: the 2016 predictions including by yours truly that donald trump wouldn't win a gop nomination were off the mark. this time does look different. trump led nearly wire to wire in polls of republican voters from july 2015 until he clinched the nomination. but this year trump's position is already in doubt. three national polls after the midterm show trump trailing florida governor ron desantis. so did a series of polls in states, a gop super pac critical of trump.

desantis clearly has momentum. florida's governor is another problem for trump, a clear alternative trump was lacking in 2016. in 2016 trump won early primaries with a small share of the vote because he faced a crowded feel. he won new hampshire with 35% of the vote, not nearly enough to win in a head-to-head race. while other candidates like mike pence or mike pompeo could run, they don't have desantis' electability argument. desantis won re-election in florida by a whopping 19%. plus, no party has nominate add previous presidential election loser since republicans tapped ricks ard nixon in 1968. many gop voters don't accept trump lost and believe his false claims about the last election. trump has a lot going for him including the loyalty of republican voters. is he the front-runner? i don't quite buy it. i would say he and desantis are like co-favorites. >> thank you, nate silver.

the roundtable is next. ack. aah, it's a good day to cough. oh, no! bye, bye cough. later chest congestion. hello 12 hours of relief. 12 hours!! hmmm, ok. not coughing at yoga? antiquing not coughing? not coughing at the movies?! hashtag still not coughing?! aaah. oww! mucinex dm gives you 12 hours of relief from chest congestion and any type of cough, day or night. it's not cough season. it's always comeback season. i remember when i first started flying, and we would experience turbulence. i would watch the flight attendants. if they're not nervous, then i'm not going to be nervous. financially, i'm the flight attendant in that situation.

the relief that comes over people once they know they've got a guide to help them through, i definitely feel privileged to be in that position. ♪♪ do you struggle with occasional nerve aches in your hands or feet? i definitely feel privileged to be in that position. try nervivenerve relief from the world's #1 selling nerve care company. nervive contains alpha lipoic acid to relieve occasional nerve aches, weakness and discomfort. try nervivenerve relief. carmax is reimagining car buying for you. so you can buy online... or on the lot. then get it delivered right to your door. that's car buying reimagined. carmax. with golo, i've lost 13 inches in my waist. they're outta here. that's car buying reimagined. you eat normal food. you're not eating diet food. i'm doing something good for me finally. (announcer) go to golo.com to lose weight and get healthier.

you founded your kayak company because you love the ocean- not spreadsheets. you need to hire. i need indeed. indeed you do. indeed instant match instantly delivers quality candidates matching your job description. visit indeed.com/hire are you feeling sluggish or weighed down? matcmetamucil's new fibertion. plus collagen can help. when taken daily, it supports your health, starting with your digestive system. metamucil's plant-based fiber forms a gel to trap and remove the waste that weighs you down,

helps lower cholesterol and promotes healthy blood sugar levels. while its collagen peptides help support your joint structures. so, start feeling lighter and more energetic by taking metamucil every day. try metamucil fiber gummies made with a prebiotic, plant-based fiber blend that helps promote digestive health. donald trump for the nominee if donald trump were the nominee again, would you support him? >> well, i'm just hoping it never comes to that because i think it would be a tragedy if he's our nominee, if he's the republican nominee. >> could you vote not for the republican if he were the nominee? >> it gets down to what i said. would i have to make a judgment at that point the impact on the

country. >> former attorney general bill barr not exactly looking forward to trump's third presidential bid. let's bring in the roundtable, bloomberg opinion columnist ramesh ponnaru, former north dakota senator and abc news contributor heidi heitkamp, senior white house correspondent mary bruce, rachel bade, co-author of the excellent book "unchecked: the untold story behind congress' botched impemts of donald trump." ramesh, is the party moving on? is the trump era over? >> i think it would be premature to say that. i think trump has a very strong base of support in the republican party. that doesn't mean it's a majority base of support and i believe a lackluster launch. he attacks "national review," my magazine, a couple days ago, and i haven't been hearing much about it. and what i have been hearing are people saying congratulations and sending money to "national

review." >> it's been extraordinary, heidi, to hear the lack of endorsements coming. he's pleading for these endorsements practically and, you know, i don't know if it matters. he didn't have many when he launched in 2015. >> john, you wrote the book, betrayal. can you imagine how angry he is with all these people on the stage and in las vegas basically saying move over when he thinks he made the party, that he was the deal maker that gave them the platform. and so he's calling not just these folks but he's calling the two senators in north dakota who sought and got his endorsement. he's calling party leadership. he's calling all over to try and solidify what he thinks is making them take the loyalty oath. >> and letting them go to voice mail. mike pompeo who was out there in vegas had this tweet, which seemed to be a reaction to trump announcer. he didn't mention his name.

he said we were told we'd get tired of winning, but i'm tired of losing and so are most republicans. rachel, that's the attitude. chris christie made a point, say his name. >> the fact he won't even say his name is telling, still clearly afraid of trump. obviously the partyf soul-searc moment. the problem here is trump is actually so weak right now that we could conceivably see a repeat of 2016. you have a lot of republicans saying he's weak. i'm going to jump the 2024 field and if there's a ton of candidates out there, trump still has his core base and he could very easily run away with this nomination and we could see him be the person that's running again in 2024. it's tough. >> mary, biden was right, while the announcement was still under way, at least on the pso account. >> which is a big deal for joe biden who treads very cautiously when it comes to donald trump and him running again.

so the fact that biden's personal account had this video ready to go calling out trump's record, that he's not the right choice for this country, in his opinion, that is a big deal and sets up this rematch we may be heading towards. joe biden doesn't like to weigh in and get into a tit for tat with donald trump but is laying the groundwork for what could come and the white house continues to insist, yes, joe biden is likely to run and that they think he is essentially the only one in the democratic party who could stand a chance of beating donald trump because he's done it before. >> and happy birthday, joe biden. his 80th birthday. in terms of the republicans, i mean, rachel, we've been here before. we've been here before many times actually. and you're like the house expert on mitch mcconnell. mitch mcconnell, who ultimately did not vote to convict donald trump in the second impeachment trial but basically said he's done. does mcconnell regret that vote,

do you think? >> you have to wonder. as i reported in my book "unchecked" mcconnell thought he would be fading into the backgrounds, one of the reasons he thought if he did so trump e- would become a martyr and stick around longer and try to dominate the party and come back in 2024. that calculation clearly proved wrong because trump is still around even though he was acquitted and so you have to wonder, yes, if he's regret that go choice because he's still haunting mcconnell and will continue to do so. >> that choice could have come with a prohibition on running again. >> exactly. they could have barred him from office. in the book we talk about these impeachments and how, we use the word botched, the reality is democrats, not just republicans, have turned a blind eye. democrats never went all in in terms of going after trump to lay out the case this man is dangerous and shouldn't be president again and so pick up the book. you'll read a lot of stuff in there about how they didn't go

all the way and because that have he's coming back. >> i think you make a compelling case. heidi, is there a part of the democratic pure politics you're glad to see donald trump still around? >> mary, biden comes out, we saw all across the country in the last midterm democrats going all in on more conservative, more trump candidates. there's a little bit that have at play here because trump is the candidate that keeps losing. if you're going to pick someone to run against, why wouldn't you pick donald trump? he's the gift that keeps on giving to democrats. >> the problem with that strategy, i think, is also the problem with the prevailing republican anti-trump strategy which is to say he's a sure loser. he's not a sure loser. if there's a recession, you will have head-to-head polls probably showing him ahead of biden next year and then, a, what happens to that anti-trump strategy if he no longer looks like a sure loser and have the democrats ended up again playing with fire? >> if he gets the nomination, he

may have bill barr's vote even after barr said it would be a tragedy. >> well, there's huge trump fatigue in the elector. it swirls around here but i know trump voters who are tired. i have tons of texts from friends who are republicans saying, ugh, when trump announced. i disagree. i think trump clearly the republicans are reading the tea leaves, he can't win election f. you're going to pick a candidate right now to run against in 2024, you pick donald trump if you're a democrat. >> all right, the other drama, there are many simultaneously happening here, the republican takeover of the house, does mccarthy actually have the votes to become 1350speaker? >> he will get them a few minutes before hand. i don't think he has them right now. >> so what happens? >> i think you have the potential for prolonged chaos where the opponents of mccarthy inside the republican caucus show that they've got him where

they want him and then allow him to take the speakership. >> prolonged chaos? >> you talk to mccarthy's camp, they think he's going to do that and the question is what does he have to give these conservatives in order to get there? >> they're going to have to vet over and possibly over and over again. >> potentially. the issue here is you now have a number of conservative who is say there's nothing that mccarthy could give them that would make them vote for him for speaker and we've seen something like this before, speaker pelosi had this problem in 2018 where there were rebels who wanted her out, but she was able to pick them off one at a time. the issue is mccarthy is no pelosi when it comes to the iron grip she had over the democratic caucus. if he gets there, he's going to have to really give some serious con kegs that is are going to make him potentially the weakest speaker we have seen in modern history because he will be giving up a lot of authority to these conservatives. >> mary, you've spent a lot of time around mccarthy.

he does have really strong relationships. that's what -- he's been campaigning for 218 votes for a long time. you have a guy like matt gates come out and said he would rather be water boarded by liz cheney, i think was the quote. >> subtle. >> than to vote for mccarthy. >> given the razor thin majority it will be really hard for mccarthy and even if he is speaker, is it governable the majority he does have because he will have to give so many concessions? how do you appease the different factions and what does that mean with the white house? mccarthy and joe biden not exactly friends. >> they've barely spoken. >> they had that one phone call. even joe biden has been frank saying i don't really know the guy. he will meet with republican leaders possibly once some of this gets sorted out. look, the idea they're going to get anything done, i think, is beyond optimistic.

we know where mccarthy is heading and this will be an pal. >> if he doesn't get 218 votes, it will be chaos. those who say hell no, i won't vote for kevin mccarthy, they like chaos. that's not an argument against it. they want chaos. >> yeah. >> ultimately you have to have a speaker, and i can't let this go by without drawing the contrast between what's happening in the republican conference and caucus and what nancy pelosi pulled off in this transition of leadership. the mark of a really great leader is a succession planning. she had this thing greased and now -- >> and there's no drama. >> think about the comparison. if it takes them two months to name a speaker and you say, well, the administration will they work with them? when the first thing they announce they will investigate your son. paul ryan was optimistic there will be an agenda.

>> will rodgers said i don't belong to an organized political party, i'm a democrat. >> the parties have traded places. >> let's go back to the other -- there's crazy news overnight. donald trump is back on twitter. elon musk did it with a poll. do we have the poll? i think we have it. a twitter poll. this monumental decision. it was 52% to 48%. that's not what musk said he was going to do. >> but there it is. donald trump suggested he may not return to twitter. he prefers his truth social. i don't know if donald trump can resist. the audience and the platform of twitter we know is a hard one for donald trump's thumbs not to just want to jump at. there is a question about what kind of twitter he will be participating in given what we've seen of the company in the last week given the massive exits and layoffs and sort of the problems that company may be encountering. there is a real risk here.

what can of megaphone will it give to donald trump, what kind of checks will there be? this was a man kicked off twitter for inciting violence and spreading blatant lies and what happens when he is given free rein again and does it become a hotbed for misinformation again? >> he has 83 million volumers restored on twitter. on truth social, and he owns the 34 platform, he has a fraction of that. he truths, or whatever they call it, and nobody hears it. >> that's why i think a lot of people expect him back on twitter. he loves the attention. talk about a gift to democrats. i remember covering paul ryan when trump would tweet all the time from the white house and we would chase paul ryan around the halls and ask for comment on this controversial comment trump

made and they would spend their days dodging these questions. for democrats, it's great. they can say look at the republican party. we are the adults at the table. >> if he goes on twitter again, his own company is effectively dead. >> and there is a discussion about an s.e.c. restriction that he has in his own company to not migrate all of his tweets over there. like a six-hour holdoff and not that donald trump has been worried about legal guardrails -- >> he is worried about money, though. >> he is. and the last thing he needs is an s.e.c. investigation. >> well, there's a big loophole in that contract which allows him to do things to get out the vote, for example, on other media including twitter and almost anything he says could be interpreted that way if he wants to. what needs to happen not just with trump but twitter in general, the press needs to cover twitter with an understanding that most people aren't on it and even most people who are on it aren't

obsessive about it the way we in the press tend to be. that i think is a dysfunction. >> i've watched them dodge reporters like you and that will make it miserable for all the people who don't want to be disloyal to donald trump but also don't want to own his crazy. >> we have to take a break. what's it like having xfinity internet with supersonic wifi?

it's fast like beyond-gig-speed fast. yeaaaaaaaaay!!! with three times the bandwidth, and the power to connect hundreds of devices at once. get the xfinity supersonic bundle with unlimited gig speed nternet, wifi equipment included and a free 4k streaming box. all for $50 a month with a 2 year internet rate guarantee and no annual contract when you add xfinity mobile with unlimited data. switch today! that's all for us today. thank you for sharing part of your sunday with us. check out "world news tonight" and tune in next week for more

of martha's special coverage of the war on ukraine. have a happy thanksgiving. hpyhv

i need someone here to be my eyes and ears. you want me to be a rat for internal affairs? -who the hell do you think you are? -your father. not the one that i thought you were. -we can cut him off in the plaza. -lopez: wait! -brake! -[ tires screech ] ♪ when i pushed to be something i'm not, i almost got someone killed. the least impressive thing about you is you're dating a 45-year-old rookie. jessica: what's wrong with that? until i administer the oral exam, get the hell out of my office. ♪ nolan: what's a 314? uh, indecent exposure. nice. a 273g? being intoxicated in the presence of a child. well done. reminds me of a funny story. -mm, mm-hmm, uh-huh. -which is for later. -how about a 237? -false imprisonment. nicely done, and a personal favorite of mine -- a 597h. both: unlawfully attaching a propeller to an animal