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MSNBC's Joe Scarborough tapped the brakes on Donald Trump's defense nominee ahead of his confirmation hearing this week.

Pete Hegseth could face a contentious hearing Tuesday if Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA) voices her concerns about his views on women in the military, sexual assault prevention and waste and fraud at the Pentagon. The "Morning Joe" host doesn't expect the Iowa Republican to back down in the face of MAGA bullying to get the former Fox News host confirmed as defense secretary.

Former Republican National Committee chair and current MSNBC host Michael Steele used a segment on Judge Aileen Cannon's latest attempt to run interference for Donald Trump to veer off and lash out at Attorney General Merrick Garland for how he has run the DOJ which conducted multiple investigations of Donald Trump that have all been for naught.

With the DOJ forced to drop multiple investigations of Trump involving the Jan. 6 insurrection and stolen government documents being hoarded at Mar-a-Lago, Garland has received considerable criticism for dragging his feet until it was too late –– allowing the president-elect to avoid going to trial.

After criticizing Cannon for being "a stain on the entire judiciary," Steele turned his ire on Garland.

ALSO READ: Merrick Garland's last task and the explosive evidence that could save America

"I'm of the view I don't care how you release it, just get the damn thing [Jack Smith report] released because we have we have nickel and dimed around this. Merrick Garland has been wholly useless in this process, completely useless," he ranted to ex-prosecutor Kristy Greenberg. "The most timid person at Justice, period, in the history of the organization."

"Even in this hour, in the face of everything else, knowing what happens on January 20th: 'Well, I don't know if we should put this out because something may come," the MSNBC host mimicked the AG.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau revealed that President-elect Donald Trump lost interest in making Canada the 51st state when he suggested trading parts of the country for Vermont or California.

During a Sunday interview with MSNBC, Trudeau recalled a recent conversation with Trump.

During an appearance on MSNBC "The Weekend," legal analyst and former SDNY prosecutor Kristy Greenberg reported that District Court for the Southern District of Florida Judge Aileen Cannon once again tried to throw Donald Trump a lifeline late Saturday with another demand for the Department of Justice in an effort to keep a damaging Jack Smith report from being released.

Speaking with the hosts on MSNBC, Greenberg expressed exasperation with the Trump-appointed jurist and, along with the hosts, ripped into her with the prosecutor labeling her an attention seeker, and MSNBC's Michael Steele calling her "in the tank" for the man who handed her a lifetime appointment.

"So what is she doing?" Greenberg asked rhetorically. "She's doing what she needs to do like she's like a real housewife who got the assignment. She's trying to create a storyline for herself for this week, to be able to create drama, to be able to make sure to punt this until he [Trump] can come in and try and bury it –– hopefully the 11th circuit stops it."

Also read: 'Bring it on': Defiant Raskin responds to GOP threats of retaliation for J6 investigation

"Just yesterday she ordered DOJ to say, 'Tell me more about why the January 6th report has nothing to do with these defendants," she explained. "About half an hour ago, DOJ said, 'Has nothing to do with these defendants, and you don't have jurisdiction.'"

Asked about Cannon's future, the former prosecutor stated, "At least right now, there isn't anything at the end of the road for her because she's very useful to Donald Trump exactly where she is –– you know, where Mar-a-Lago is. She's pretty much the only game in town. The cases generally get wheeled out to her, there aren't that many other judges in that division, so I think for right now she will be where she is."

"I mean, again, I hate to say that about a judge, but we have seen this movie time and time again from her, where every time she goes wildly outside of the law," she added. "I mean, her rulings are lawless. She has defied 150 years of precedent in saying that the special counsel was improperly appointed. I mean all of her rulings in this case were so outside the bounds of law and always in Donald Trump's favor so at some point, you need to call a spade a spade and you need to say something else is afoot here."

Co-host Steele added, "She's in the tank and she has been from day one and it's unfortunate because she is a stain on the entire judiciary. She's not credible in the role that she plays, and it's unfortunate that we find ourselves subject to this neophyte judge who doesn't even know the rules of precedent and procedure. And so from, from that standpoint, I'm of the view I don't care how you release it, just get the damn thing released. because we have we have nickle and dimed around this. [Attorney General] Merrick Garland has been wholly useless in this process."

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CBS News host Margaret Brennan pressed Sen. John John Barrasso (R-WY) about whether he would vote to confirm former Fox News host Pete Hegseth as defense secretary in light of sexual assault allegations against him.

During a Sunday interview on Face the Nation, Brennan asked Barrasso if Hegseth had the qualities needed to run the Pentagon under President-elect Donald Trump.

Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY) lashed out at Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) because the federal government pays for 35% of his state's revenue, one of the highest rates in the nation.

According to an analysis from personal finance company WalletHub, "South Carolina residents receive a remarkable return on their taxes paid to the federal government."

Vice President-elect J.D. Vance reminded officials in Greenland that the U.S. military maintained troops in the autonomous territory of the Kingdom of Denmark.

During an interview on Fox News Sunday, host Shannon Bream asked Vance about Trump refusing to rule out the use of military force to take possession of Greenland.

Fox News host Shannon Bream challenged Vice President-elect J.D. Vance not to "be divisive" during an interview about the wildfires in California.

"I want to talk to you about the fire situation in California, because your administration will be coming in, taking over the reins as the feds are trying to meet that, along with many other emergency situations they have going on," Bream told Vance during an interview on Fox News Sunday.

During an appearance on MSNBC's "The Weekend," the chair of the CA Fire Foundation that provides support for the state's firefighters called out a Ohio Republican who has proposed defunding disaster relief.

On Friday Rep. Warren Davidson (R-OH) told Fox host Maria Bartiromo that Californians "... there should be consequences where they have to change their policies” when it comes to forestry management.

He then. added, "I mean, we support the people that are plagued by disaster, but we have to put pressure on the California government to change course here.”

Also read: 'Bring it on': Defiant Raskin responds to GOP threats of retaliation for J6 investigation

Appearing with the MSNBC hosts on Sunday morning, Brian Rice was speaking about misinformation about the devastating California fires when he brought up Davidson.

"I try to really stay away from the social media tweets, it does get very frustrating," he told the hosts. "I didn't follow the tweet on X, but it followed a newspaper article from a print media and they were quoting a congressman from Ohio who probably has little to no experience with a wildfire, and certainly not a California wildfire."

"But opining that the federal government should stop aid until we control the fire problem, people need to understand fire has been a part of the nature of California in this country since the beginning of time," he lectured. "When you add people, there's 40 million people in California, changes the fuel load. You can't manage every acre of forest land."

"And this is not a forest fire, this is a brush fire that transitions at the higher levels to more forested areas at the lower level, to urban areas and urban conflagration areas," he elaborated. "When the wind is blowing and the fire gets a head of steam, you are not going to stop it. California firefighters are the best in the world at fighting this type of a fire."

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Donald Trump's attorney is "taking heat" after saying she is a "big fan" of a right-wing internet influencer who has been accused of trafficking women.

Alina Habba represented Trump in court when the then-candidate was accused of and ultimately found liable for the sexual abuse of writer E. Jean Carroll. More recently, Trump announced a role for Habba in his upcoming administration.