Irons in the Fire: Crises at Home and Abroad Complicate Biden-Trump Transition

The Briefing with Jen Psaki

NBC News

News, Politics

4.5 • 664 Ratings

🗓️ 14 January 2025

⏱️ 41 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Jen Psaki points out the signs that are showing why the upcoming presidential transition may be much different than transitions of power throughout history. Jen is joined by National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan to discuss the White House's efforts to ensure that aid reaches those impacted by the LA wildfires, where U.S.-led ceasefire negotiations stand between Israel and Hamas, and more. Next, Jen is joined by Representative Dan Goldman to discuss what the American public stands to learn from Special Counsel Jack Smith's report on Trump's January 6th case which will likely be released in the coming days. Then, Jen is joined by reporter Jane Mayer to preview the confirmation hearing for Pete Hegseth, Trump's pick to lead the DOD, and to discuss her reporting that the FBI's background check on Hegseth is lacking testimony from key sources. Later, Jen outlines the clear conflicts of interest that lie in the efforts of tech billionaires, like Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos, to align themselves, and their companies, with incoming President Trump. Finally, Jen is joined by Jennifer Rubin and Norm Eisen to discuss why they left their jobs to found a media outlet, The Contrarian, focused on combating authoritarian threats while maintaining independence and integrity amidst a media market saturated with billionaire owners.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Okay. So just one week from today, there will be a transfer of power in this country. And right now, there is a lot going on here in the United States and also across the world. That will all be in the hands of the next
0:21.3	administration next time next week. That's how a transfer of power works, happens. In California,
0:27.3	firefighters are continuing to fight the flames that have leveled parts of Los Angeles. More than
0:32.1	90,000 people remain under evacuation orders. More than 12,000 structures have been destroyed, and at least 24 people have been killed.
0:41.3	The National Weather Service is warning the coming days could become particularly dangerous as powerful winds are set to pick up and cause critical fire conditions,
0:49.1	which could potentially set back some of the progress that has been made to date. And even if the fire is contained in the
0:56.6	next seven days, the road to recovery after that is going to take years. In other words, most of it
1:04.1	is going to fall into the lap of the Trump administration. And there is real concern about whether
1:09.1	or not they will give California the aid that it desperately
1:12.2	needs. Trump himself has threatened to withhold aid in the past. The governor of California has
1:17.2	expressed concern that he might follow through on that threat. And then just today, House Speaker
1:22.2	Mike Johnson said he thinks there could be, there should be conditions on that aid. That is not how it typically works, by the way, with this type of aid.
1:30.9	So there are very big, very real questions about what happens to California in just seven days.
1:36.2	And then there's the matter of the conditions that led to the worst wildfires in American history,
1:40.7	and that will lead to more wildfires in the future.
1:43.9	Here's what President Biden had to say about that during his final foreign policy speech
1:47.6	earlier today.
1:49.7	I know some incoming administration, some in the incoming administration, are skeptical about
1:57.6	the need for clean energy.
1:59.9	They don't even believe climate change is real.
2:02.6	I think they come from a different century.
2:05.6	They're wrong. They are dead wrong.
	...

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