Welcome to the beat. I'm Ari Melbert. And we are tracking several stories. I have a lot coming up by the end of the hour words from one of Obama's favorite historians. We're going to continue through these holiday season to bring you all the news and other interesting things. But we begin with what Nicole Wallace, my colleague there, has been covering for the past few hours, what she mentioned in our toss. Donald Trump's very controversial

and embattled pick for the big job of Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegsteth, is facing what you

might call friendly fire, pardon the analogy, but it's his own party now that is saying he might

not have the votes. And that is because of the underlying reporting allegations, accounts from people

who've worked with him, people who've had relations with him allegedly, misconduct, alleged

alcohol misuse, and sexual harassment. You can see the headlines and the documentation on this.

The new reporting, which we're going to get a reaction from James Carville about is NBC News, our own colleagues

here, saying as many as six Republican senators now uncomfortable with Heggseth, meaning they could

vote him down or, like Matt Gates, provide these kind of leaks and statements so that he doesn't

even get to hearings and a vote. Hegseth's lawyer has said the claims here that he's

been facing are outlandish. Trump's transition team continues to stand by the pick. The Wall Street

Journal, which is a conservative-leaning outlet, sister publication of Fox News, although it has its own

news reporting section, has this report, Pete Higgs' controversies, threatened to derail his entire bid.

There are also, I should mention, plenty of other Republican senators who publicly are standing

by.

And you don't have any concerns about the allegations against him in the New York or article, sir.

No, I've looked at all the personal stuff.

And, again, I've known him for a long time.

And I would, there's not going to be anything to this at the end of the day.

What did he tell you about that?

We didn't talk about it.

We didn't, no.

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