there's always the possibility of more happening on the bridge. >> sure, and trump fires people all the time. maybe he'll need to replace somebody and call chris christie up. >> not even trump's going to have to reach that low. matt katz, thank you. msnbc's coverage continues now into "the 11th hour with brian williams." that's next. want to give up his business just yet. an exclusive interview with republican. and god speed john glenn. "the 11th hour" begins now. >> good evening again. a lot to get to tonight, including a farewell to the man

who has been called the last american hero. but first up here this evening, for those looking for firsts in terms of the incoming trump administration, mgm and hollywood announced today that donald trump will remain as executive producer of "celebrity apprentice" in its new season. that will be a first for a sitting u.s. president, including the tumult that will happen to all his businesses around the world. now tonight trump tend on his thank you tour. products made in america by americans, as he put it. he introduced iowa governor tear ear branstad who is chosen as ambassador to china. but before bringing him out, trump got tough on china again in tonight's speech.

>> you have the massive theft of intellectual property, putting unfair taxes on our companies, not helping with the menace of north korea, like they should and the massive devaluation of their currency and product dumping. other than that they've been wonderful, right? >> nbc news is reporting trump will nominate andy puzder for labor secretary. >> if the president asked me to serve, i would serve. >> give me a more real answer. >> what else are you going to say i? got to tell you, i think it would be the most fun could you have with your clothes on to be in this cabinet and get things going. it would be an amazing experience. >> "new york times" also notes "pudzer has argued that

significant minimum wage increases would hurt small businesses and lead to job losses. we should quickly point out that view is shared by many in the business community. back in march pudzer talked about replaing humans with robots. his nomination adds to a cabinet heavily populated by the healthy and retired generals thus far. the net personal worth of the cabinet thus far is $14.5 billion, with a "b." >> one newspaper criticized me.

why can't they have people of modest means? because i want people who made a fortune. now that are negotiating for you. it's no different than a great baseball player or a great golfer. we want the people that are going to bring -- they're so proud to do it. these people have given up fortunes income in order to make $1 a year. and they're so proud to do it. and you watch. you watch what's going to happen. it's going to happen fast, too. >> donald trump in des moines, iowa, which brings us to our panel this evening and it's old home week here in new york. our friend eugene robinson is here and nicole wallace, both of course our regular msnbc -- i don't know how regular political analysts. nicole, i'm going to start with you and i might surprise you by asking you about, yes, celebrity apprentice. but i heard it proffered tonight

on cable television how is this different from ronald reagan getting residual checks for "king's row" and "bedtime for bonzo" all his life. and he is co-creator of "celebrity apprentice" with mark burnett. >> and that is the argument that political defenders will make. he views his brand as being one that encompasses both. he's going to do both. he's going to sit atop his family brand. even if he divests himself of everything, he's not taking his name off everything. he will sit atop the family brand and remain as executive producer of the show that made him famous and a household name. the conversation will fast turn to that which is presidential and i think this will fall into the bucket of -- >> a taste issue. >> yes.

i know i planned to give this up for new year's, being the producer of a reality tv show, but you can argue if you're trump it's part of what people know him for so why should he give it up? i think the debate will turn to that which is presidential and this may fall into the bucket of things. >> i think we're now going to be concerned with his approval ratings and his nielsen ratings. >> we know he's always been more concerned with the second. >> some have raised a complication with -- the show is an nbc show. >> it's weird that the president is going to be concerned at least with part of his brain concerned with how "celebrity apprentice" is doing. >> is that a problem? >> who knows. it not going to be like prior administrations, like any of

them, i think, and you can see the potential pitfalls and potential problems and distractions and looniness that could -- obviously we'll have to wait and see. maybe it's not going to be a big deal but it's weird. >> interesting speech tonight, nicole. interesting promises to the crowd, as i said, starting with american goods made by americans. that could be a tough one to deliver on. the campaign commercial reminds us it was david letterman who had donald trump's merchandise on the show, shirts, ties, what have you, all of them from overseas. >> and ivanka trump has a fashion line, many of her products also made overseas. this is where the brand gets entangled with the realities of presidential policy making, which are so dramatically different from presidential politics.

i saw something that frank lentz tonight about the carrier deal that was popular. the truest thing donald trump said during the campaign is that he could walk out on to 5th avenue and shoot us, probably aim for one of the three of us, probably me, his supporters wouldn't care. i think that's true. i think that's the capital he knows he has banked. and he can say these things. the question is how long can they not be true? how long can we go before they realize, hmm, that is a much more expensive iphone. if these are suddenly $4,000, how will people feel about the fact that they're made in america? he's not the first person who is going to test this. others have toasted american made. there are all sorts of kids brand you can buy that are eco

this and made in a tent in a crib with lamas singing. there are all sorts of products for mothers that you can buy if you want to buy. he's going to test america's tolerance for paying more for america's stuff. >> at a time when wages for americans have been stagnant. so the idea of everything costing a whole lot more because it has to be made in america is not going to be popular. there's no reservoir of political goodwill that is -- >> or timewise. >> it may be very deep and long lasting, but it's not infinite. and the other question is of course how do you affect this change? how do you make it so that people even are able to buy an iphone that's made in america as opposed to one that's made where iphones are made?

and i don't think there's an answer to that question. i mean, the legislation, you're going to get congress to pass a law that apple has to build iphones, you you're going to use the bully pulpit and try to strong arm -- >> he's asked for a list of ten companies planning to outsource. that doesn't seem to be his strategy out of the game. >> i want to get you both on the record about the cabinet. thus far, plusses, minuses and the secretary of state selection, which continues to loom so big but continues to seemingly expand. >> yeah. it's my understanding that he -- i talked to someone today who's a named person on the list, who said he felt the process to go in any direction. i also happen to know they're still hading names to the list that haven't been made public. i think this is something that he's approaching very like an

extechnical executive producer and i think he has in his head what the secretary of state looks like and sound like from central casting and it's my sense that person hasn't walked into the room yet. i think the cabinet reinforces what people in politics say all the time when they lose. well, elections have consequences. that's what you say when you lose and you don't like the outcome. as a republican, it's sort of a strange thing to say but this is the most conservative -- joe scarborough said this morning and i think he's right, this the most conservative cabinet i think ever assembled. on the reassuring side, in my real life i'm asked what is reassuring to people? i think the appointment of general mattis -- he is known for who he is and he is the real deal and he is an man of exceptional intellect and integrity and character and experience. so i think that's -- if you look at the way trump looks at this, the ratings, i think that is his highest rated pick so far. >> i would certainly agree with

that. i think mattis was well received across the political spectrum. it's a very conservative cabinet with not a lot of experience in government. so who knows how effective they will be in getting anything done. we have a sense of what their views are. i think it's a good thing that the president-elect is taking time with the secretary of state because as people come in and he talks to them, presumably he talks to them about their vision of foreign policy and i think he ought to do that. i mean, i think he ought to take all the time he wants and needs to hear these different perspectives on the challenges that face the united states. i don't think anyone could go through that sort of process without learning -- >> i'm not sure that's what he's doing. you think he's going around like how do you feel about putin? i'm just not sure that's what the conversations are.

>> you may be right, nicole. i'm being pollyannaish tonight but -- >> he wants personal chemistry, he wants them to the complement the other -- i really think he views this like a casting director and he hasn't found the right. i hope i'm wrong as often as my parents tell me i'm wrong about donald trump but i don't think these are deep conversations. petraeus came out and said he went around the world, which supports your theory. i think he's looking for people with whom he'll have a gut connection and maybe ask questions that another president -- i think he's looking for a personal connection. >> i'm not asking for a lot. this is someone with no foreign policy, who frankly doesn't sit down and read books on the history of u.s. diplomacy in the 20th century. he doesn't. so to the extent that these people come in and they talk to him about the balkans and the middle east and about asia and about china.

you know, meet with jon huntsman. let him tell you about china. some of it we hope rubs off. >> on that note, speaking of chemistry, so nice to have you both back at our table. thank you very much. >> thank you. good to be here. >> when we come back, donald trump nominates an epa critic as the new head of the epa. coming up, we will ask george w. bush's choice for the epa to weigh in. this is president-elect donald lilly. she pretty much lives in her favorite princess dress. but once a week i let her play sheriff so i can wash it. i use tide to get out those week old stains and downy to get it fresh and soft. you are free to go. tide and downy together.

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this is president-elect donald trump's choice to head up the environmental protection agency started with word of the announcement. scott pruitt, a friend of the fossil fuel industry has sued the agencies about to run about half a dozen time as recently as four months ago. he's questioned the impact of climate change, has tried to block protections against toxic pollutants and standards for air quality. our next guest was appointed by president george w. bush, originally a supporter of john kasich. during the gop primary, she was a hillary clinton supporter in the general election. she joins us by telephone. governor, what is your opinion of the epa candidate?

>> it's troubling. he's been saying he's going to dismantle the epa, he wants to get us out of the paris accord. he does not believe that climate change is real. this is entirely consistent and would hardly be a surprise. >> your job got very serious on 9/11. you've since apologized with the assurances that the air around lower manhattan was safe. you resigned -- would a nominee antagonistic toward the epa actually be able to be antagonistic toward the epa on the inside, to run an epa that's friendlier to the fossil fuel industry, for example? >> there are things they can do. first of all, let me say what i said about 9/11 is if we missed

something we could not have known at the time, of course i apologize. what we said was based on everything the scientists told us. we were increasing standards, doing a definition under the clean air act and the administration wanted them looser than i thought was justifiable. but putting that aside, yes, of course. what you could probably do, probably that will be the most likely thing is stop enforcing the current regulations that are in pla have been litigated because you usually get sued with a regulation so they're legally binding. you can't just do away with them. you can make it difficult to enforce them, slow down any new regulations coming. >> we cited last night here on the broadcast in our memory, secretary bennett in the reagan era as not being a fan of his agency when he was education secretary, but can you recall an

agency or cabinet department head as openly antagonistic to the role of the agency he or she is named to run? >> i can't think of one. and it doesn't set up for a good dynamic. obviously the people at the agency, the career staff, are very nervous about this. for the most part you have some that are the tree huggers and want to stop all types of fossil few but they're few and far between. most of the people there want to just protect human health and the environment. regulation should be looked on as protection. can they go too far and be too intrusive? yes. but unfortunately when congress set up the legislation, there are certain things they have to consider and have to regulate and do it within a certain time frame. i think they he will be surprised when he walks into the office at how constrained he is on what he can do.

he'll be carrying out the president's policy. it's not going to be his policy, it's the president's policy. >> governor, do you think this furthers an unfair notion that republicans are anti-environment, anti-climate change generally? >> well, there's certainly a very strong group of republicans that are dead set against walking away from any environmental regulation since the agency was started by a democratic president working with a republican congress. this is about keeping people healthy and keeping the environment healthy. and to think you can't have a green environment and a thriving economy is just wrong. since the clean act amendment, we've seen our use of electricity grow, the gdp almost double in reterm and yet we've been able to reduce over 65% the six criteria pollutants, worst

air pollutants. you just have to do it sensibly. >> thank you very much for joining us tonight by telephone. >> my pleasure. >> coming up, when we continue, remembering an astronaut, a senator, a hero, john glenn of ohio when the 11th hour continues.

we found this picture today

of john and annie glenn out back here behind our building at the skating rink outside of 30 rockefeller plaza circa 1960s. he might have been the last hero of his kind. they really, truly don't make them like john glenn anymore. he was a modest man from ohio who left to join the military after pearl harbor. he became an aviator and flew 59 combat missions in world war ii, he fought in korea where he flew 90 combat missions, he set the record at the time for the fastest coast-to-coast flight and was selected as one of the seven mercury astronauts and while glenn was the third american in space, he was the first to orbit and it cheered our nation. only 533 souls have ever orbitted the earth to this day.

nasa had warned him he faced a one in six chance of not surviving. he almost burned up on reentry and he later told me that his combat flight experience came in handy. >> you look to the space flight, the early space flights as almost being like you're going on a combat mission. you're representing your country against something out here that's very important. >> he came back from orbit and he received the greatest welcome home from lindbergh. kennedy wouldn't let him go back into space. he was too valuable here as a hero. along the way there was the other john glenn, the poll signatures, the public servant, a four-term senator from ohio, a one-time presidential candidate. john glenn's wife, annie, survives him. they were married for 73 years. glenn was the last survivor of original mercury 7. they're all gone now.

nbc's own jay barbury covered them all. he, too, came to know john glenn. >> john always felt like he was sort of shorted out of going to the moon. he wanted to go to the moon badly. i just would like to set here and think tonight knowing john as i did, he's on the moon tonight. and if we'll look up there, it's in the western sky, brian, we probably could wave at him. he finally got to the moon. >> hear hear, jay barbury in john glenn was a lovely man. for as the late scott carpenter was the first to say, "god speed, john glenn." thank you for being here with us. "hardball with chris matthews" begins right now.

the right stuff, let's play "hardball." >> today the united states begins paying tribute to colonel john h. glenn jr., the first american to ride a spacecraft around the world. >> good evening, i'm chris matthews. today we pay tribute to john glenn, known as an american hero, john glenn died today. he was an astronaut, a u.s. senator, a statesman, and an american hero. he died at the age of 85.