hi there. i'm brianna keilar. wolf blitzer is on i assignment. 1:00 p.m. here and wherever you are watching from around the world, thank you so much for joining us. up first, the trump transition. president-elect donald trump is huddling with advisers as well as staff and kellyanne conway asked about the timeline for filling the cabinet, tump's campaign manager. >> we're not in a rush. took president jimmy carter five weeks to fill these positions. reagan three to four weeks. president obama two to three weeks.

really three weeks for some of the top spots. we knew facebook and twitter anxiety now. that wasn't always the case, and the fact is you have to take your time. this is serious business, and he just has all of these different people to interview and to consult with, and until that is done, he's not going to rush to make those announcements. >> now, one of these surprising meetings trump met today with hawaii democratic congressman tulsi gabbard to discuss, we are told, a possible job in the administration, or is it just get to her point of view? also on the visitors' list, former massachusetts senator scott brown, oklahoma governor mary fallin, former texas governor and former opponent rick perry and former labor secretary elaine chao. and met with trump at his new jersey golf retreat during the primaries, mitt romney. during the primaries romney called trump a fraud and trump calmed him a choke artist, but now considered for the top

diplomatic post in the trump white house, we are learning. here's how vice president-elect mike pence described the romney meeting. >> we spent the better part of an hour together with him, and then i know that the two of them actually had private time together. i would tell you that it was not only a cordial meeting, but also it was a very substantive meeting and i can say that governor romney is under active and serious consideration to serve at secretary of state of the united states. >> more details on the latest trump transition activitactivit. jason carroll is outside trump tower in new york. there's a lot to talk about today, jason. talk about some of these folks he's meeting with. some people are saying that might be odd, and some people say that is encouraging. let's talk about democratic congresswoman tulsi gabbard. what's the reasoning here? >> reporter: look, you hit the nail on the head there. talk about this meeting with

her, she a democrat, from hawaii. not perhaps a logical choice, especially considering donald trump said at one point whoa not consider a democrat for his cabinet, but also listen to what kellyanne conway was saying that not everyone that will be here at trump tower or over the weekend at his facility in new jersey, not everyone is a leading or top candidate. some people trump is meeting with just to take advice or listen to what they have to say. also, when you consider this about gabbard, she at times had been critical of hillary clinton. was a bernie sanders supporterer. and it might look good for appearance sake of him appearing to reach across the aisles, and take a meeting with the democrat. a democrat at this point. so there could be a number of reasons for why he's meeting with her. but i think at this point we just have to say what kellyanne conway said, not everyone who's coming through these doors is a leading contender.

>> what about this meeting with mitt romney? how serious is this consideration of him for secretary of state? >> reporter: i think it's very serious. considering the past problems these two men have had with each other, as you pointed out at one point, romney calling trump a fraud. and trump striking back, basically saying that he choked when he ran for president. but, look, in politics you'd be surprised how many times people who have been add odds suddenly come together for whatever reason. you heard trump and saw that trump even tweeted about his meeting with romney. so i think that one is a serious meeting, but once again you know, there were thoughts whether or not we'd hear an announcement over the weekend or perhaps even today, or this week. but the campaign, or the transition team seems to be in no hurry to name even some of the top spots at this point. >> all right. jason carroll, keeping us updated. appreciate it. former defense secretary

william co-ing know it's what it's like to be vetted for a key position. also a republican serving in the cabinet of a democratic president, bill clinton. secretary cohen joining us now here in washington. so thank you so much for being generous with your time here. i wonder what you think about his leading contender for defense secretary? this is retired general james mattis. he has pretty good word of mouth. what do you think? >> i am very impressed with him. known him a long time. she a great warrior and also a great scholar. so the combination of being in an intellectual and a soldier's soldier or marine's marine, jim mattis fits the bill. you have to remember that sect secretary of defense is number two. directly secretary of defense, directly to the president. the only three people in the chain. not the chairman of the joint chiefs, not the vice president, secretary of defense. so the president would have to have obviously very strong

confidence in his secretary of defense, and general mattis would obviously have the support of the military, and the challenge there would be, would he be seen as being too subservient to the military, since he served 44 years in the military? or be able to be the civilian boss of the military in that position? reporting directly to the president? >> an issue of normally there has to be a seven-year lag time between when you're in uniform and the secretary of defense nap would need to be waived. >> it would. >> how would that work? >> there's nothing -- i guess it's biblical, in seven years, but i think george maershall, became secretary of state and then secretary of defense by the time he left the military. nothing magical in the seven years. enough time to say, are you separated enough from the military ethic and culture and part of the community to be the

civilian boss? the secretary of defense in civilian rules sboshennates the military to civilian control, reporting directly to the president. so there are a number of issues involved since he is a warrior. the question becomes, if the president were to give him an order that he felt violated the conventions on war, the geneva conventions, if he gave him an instruction to commit an act, which he deemed to be illegal, would he follow it? >> for instance, we heard the vice president-elect did not rule out waterboarding, for instance. there's been talk of that. would that go on? >> well, that's an issue. in the past during the george bush presidency, we had waterboarding and the attorney general gave opinions suggesting that was legal. you had people like senator john mccain and others saying, wait a minute. we don't engage in that. as a matter of policy, it might become important on any one given issue. we had someone who was so important that you felt terrorist action was about to

take place you can do that, but a policy -- >> he would have to make that call and can he reorient himself away from the military to do that? >> i have confidence he would and could and would be a strong voice to the president-elect with no real background in military affairs and certainly not in the middle east and elsewhere. >> so as a republican who served under a democratic president, let's talk about, you know, some of the potential options or even not necessarily -- not necessarily being a republican, but being a different type of republican, serving under donald trump. i mean, some of his biggest critics were republicans. how do -- when you saw some challenges you experienced, i imagine that you would think that could happen, even with like a mitt romney being secretary of state. very different views, for instance, on russia. how do you navigate that? what are the difficulties? >> what you have to say is, look if i'm going to sign on as your vice president, as your

secretary of defense, we have to have an understanding. i am on your team. i will do everything in my power to make you successful. i will follow every single directive you give to me, unless i feel it contravenes the basic ethics and ideals that i share that would make it impossible for me to carry out the duties. so i would resign. under those exceptional circumstances, but for the most part, you sign up and say i'm willing to serve you. you serve at the president's pleasure, and try to make him as successful as possible. >> obviously some on the, maybe, lower level? something not to reside over, questions you have to answer, difficult questions. so -- >> there were many issues i voted against president clinton on when i was a senator, and found myself during the stateoff the union setting next to secretary rubin, gee i voted against these and now a34r5ppl d

applauding. >> very unique. secretary cohen, thank you so much. appreciate you being with us today. coming up, president obama praising nancy pelosi as her future comes under question. her fight to maintain leadership. and a gun naman that shot a police officer. one of four shootings occurred in less than 24 hours. details ahead. whether it's bringing cutting-edge wifi to 35,000 fans...

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with more vitamins. and less saturated fat. only eggland's best. better taste. better nutrition. better eggs. shoe. now, we are waiting on word of any new cabinet announcements, as president-elect donald trump holds in our round of marathon meetings with potential candidates, bringing in the panel to talk it over. jim sciutto, cnn's chief national security correspondent. matteo gold a national political reporter at the "washington post" and annie lowry, contributing editor at "new york" magazine. talk about the secretary of defense possibility we're hearing a lot about nap is retired marine corps general james mattis. what is the word on the street and how would this be received? >> clearly considered very closely for this job. he's popular with the soldiers. right? this is a soldier's commander. so he has that support, and also

support from both parties. you've seen a good reception of him from both republicans and democrats in the national security space. that's good. but you would have to have congress vote on waiver to allow a uniformed general who has not been retired seven years to run the pentagon. why is this important? back in 1950, actually '47, passing a law because as a nation, important to have civilian control of the military in the wake of world war ii enacted a law. interestingly enough, immediately enacts add waiver for george marshall to the defense secretary, but it was since then, there hasn't been an exception. held to that rule. you would need to allow, have to have congress vote. of course, he has a majority, the president has a majority to go his way, but to make this exception. it is an important rule in the way our system works. >> make a law. create a waiver. are more things change, the more they stay the same. talk about the economy. jpmorgan, chief jamie dimon, a

possibility for treasury. annie, you've reported on this. maybe wilbur ross for commerce. what does that tell you about where he's looking to have his economic advisors be? >> no small amount of irony that he would turn to a major banking executive after hammering hillary clinton on her ties to wall street. i do think that the financial district would love it if dimond accepted. very skeptical of the idea he would. seems more likely stephen mnuchin, in the lead for that. something the trump transition team answered questions about. lobbyists are continuing play. >> and talking about someone in the finance industry. right? what are your expectations whether it is these names looking at for treasury or

commerce but what these names floated signals? >> we've seen trump has pulled in a really wide pool and sometime as strange pool of candidates for these positions, but tended to go with people to who he's already been close. i think both jamie dimon and steve mnuchin are calming to wall street. well-known people, user known. a feeling there will be financial dereg gratiulation on or another, eager to pull back pro zivision of dodd/frank. not people upsetting wall street and surprising if trump went with dimond, simply because he's shown he's tended to want people in his cabinet he's been personally close to before. >> i'm sure you guys heard what the president said in lima, peru. asked about, you know, basically what he was talking about, what kind of former president he's going to be? which is always so fascinating. and he indicated when it came to

governing, legislative objectives, he's not going to weigh in and say that's a bad idea. this is a good idea. but he said he would speak out if the new administration reaches certain values, or ideals. what do you make of that? is that him sort of warning, or is that him answering democrats who want limbhim to be more active in a sort bench of people who can be a mouthpiece? >> a little of both. definitely i heard grumblings from democrats he was incredibly gracious and spent so much time with trump. clearly, that's his job, his role to be. very odd dynamic. the former president here in washington while his youngest daughter finishes school while his successor right down the street. going to be a very strange environment. >> a big departure, too, for george w. bush. basically disappeared from the scene. different seks in that president obama is leaving office, a fairly popular president. right? 55% approval rating and listen, the country is pretty divided in

2008 as we remember, but this is a particular divided time, and here's a president who while he clearly respects the process, as we saw with that support. the meeting with trumpet s et cetera, very concerned of some of the trump appointments. >> and did a very good job, he described, on the transition, making it go smoothly and also on this, right? >> one thing we know about donald trump, he is not swayed by strong argument with the other side. you get adversarial with him he digs his heels in harder. one thing president obama has indicated a willingness to do, be the guy 0 to call up and sweet talk him a little bit. right? not many democrats will be willing to do that with donald trump. and bizarrely enough, president obama might be the one that can. and i think that you've started to hear a lot of folks start to think about that. right? getting on this guy's side, is that the key to getting any

policies, changing his mind about? >> very supportive. some said more hopeful than optimistic, certainly his language notable. thank you all so much. coming up, as democrats try to find postelection footing, nancy pelosi is challenged by a congressman who says change is needed at the top. >> how many seats do we have to lose before we make a change? i'm pulling the fire alarm here. next, nancy pelosi's fight to retain power in the house. oh, that's lovely... so graceful. the corkscrew spin, flawless... ...his signature move, the flying dutchman. poetry in motion. and there it is, the "baby bird". breathtaking. a sumo wrestler figure skating? surprising. what's not surprising?

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right now democrats are looking ahead to the path forward, to the future that could mean a major change at the top. a major battle is brewing for the house minority position, nancy pelosi challenged the first time since 2010. ohio congressman tim ryan making a a play to unseat her when that vote happens next wednesday. i spoke with congressman ryan short time ago. >> i want to ask the question to my colleagues. how many seats do we have to lose before we make a change? we've lost 68 seats since 2010. is it 80 seats? 90 seats? what's the number that forces us to do things differently, and so i'm pulling the fire alarm here. >> i want to talk more about this now with new york congressman gregory meeks, also the chairman of the house congressional black caucus pac. i should say. you just heard congressman ryan. i think he seems weak of the

fact he has an uphill climb on this but has to be this discussion. that the democratic bench is so shallow. what do you think about that point he makes? >> it's good. to say democrat was not disappointed coming out of the november 8th elections, we were. therefore, anytime you have a disappointing election, there's nothing to celebrate. you've got to sit down, talk, strategize and got to plan. you can't act like you're just going to do the same thing or there's going to be you know, what the game plan, if it's the same, figure it out, talk, be more inclusive. i think the dialogue and conversation we're having among ourselves as a family is tremendously important so we can move forward, because 2018 will be a very important election time. both for us on the, in the house democratic side, as far as the house side is concerned and the

dp dnc, two different subjects and coverses. >> you have not publicly taken a position who you're supporting. put that out there. talk about president obama, because he has all been endorsed nancy pelosi. let's listen. >> i cannot speak highly enough of nancy pelosi. she combines strong, progressive values with just extraordinary political skill. >> so, i mean, it's basically endorsing nancy pelosi. her challenger is making this point that the discussion needs to happen. you agree with that. you say that is important. president obama arguably while popular is someone who contributed to what is a shallow democratic bench. he wasn't a party person. that wasn't as much as priority. some people may wonder if he looks back and wishes that he had paid a little more attention to it. so with him, with that in mind,

he's weighing in on that. you know what do you think about this, and about the attention that needs to be paid to building that democratic bench? >> yes. i think he's absolutely right. there's no harder worker. no smarter person. no person that knows how to plan better than nancy pelosi. she has been fantastic in that regard. the fact of the matter is, we had a presidential election that influenced all of the elections throughout, the house and senate, and we've got to have a dialogue and conversation about that. you know, and so i think it's important, and the reason why i just haven't come out, i think we need have dialogue and we want every member of the caucus to talk. those who may favor her, those who may not. i'm one of the all-inclusive about that, but ultimately i think we'll be united with one leader to take us to the next step. and i think -- i think president obama's statement was absolutely the right statement to make. now, when you look at the dnc, i think it's different for us, when you are in the dnc, when

you have someone who is the president, and when you have someone who's not the president. so, for example, what am i saying? on the house side, if we were to take back the majority, then we have to win seats that are, in marginal districts. win blue dog seats. win u dem seats, not progressive seats. we don't lose progressive seats in a regular election. may lose them and what we've got to do on a presidential election is a different problem. the dnc on the other has to make sure we have a high turnout from progressive seats to win state-wide elections, and we have 18 gubernatorial offices open in 2018 we have to win and stage legislators we have to win to be prepared for 2020 when redistricting happens to level a playing field to ultimately win back the house in comfortable numbers. >> one of the broader points of tim ryan is that when you have people who are in these battleground districts, because there's just so few of them, you

mentioned now, because of redistricting, that those are the folks who need to have a seat at table for the discussion. because if they don't, you end up in a situation like this, where democrats have, you know, a pretty small minority compared to what you had in the past. is that something on a wider scale that needs to be looked at by the party? >> i think that's what we're talking about. within the democratic structure. >> how do you do that? what do you want to see done so that, for instance, you know -- i mean, nancy pelosi being from northern california that is not a bastion of, you know -- not a lot -- that's not a blue dog democrat or something like that. how do you create that conversation in a tangible way? >> well i think that what happens, and i think there's too much stress on nancy pelosi, because the folks that i'm talking about, they're talking about the leadership overall. nancy pelosi, it's steny hoyer. it's jim clyburn. it had been javier, chairman of

the caucus. anybody talking among ourselves and we have ways to create opportunities for individuals in different areas so they have the kind of support that they need to move forward, and in targeted their particular districts. i'm one who believes that no member, when you talk about a house seat, knows his or her district better than they do. and so, therefore, it's working on the ground with the issues that are important on those local elections, that becomes important. especially in a 2018 when there's not necessarily a national message that has to go through. it's all about politics on a local basis. and nancy pelosi has been you know it is difficult when you are the conductor, and she has been a conductor of what i believe is a good thing. of a diverse caucus. the most diverse caucus we've ever had in our life. when you have that you have to try to make sure that you balance the sides, and but you also have to make sure that

individuals have an opportunity have die lock and conversation. and the conductor listens to what that is, and i think that's what we're doing now, and as i've witnessed in the meetings we've had, nancy has been listening. >> all right. we will see what happens next week. congressman meeks, thank you for being with us. and next, four police officers shot across three states in less than 24 hours. what we know about the shooters and the active manhunt under way and the active manhunt under way in texas, after the break. celebration ed lod nothing says "treat yourself" like any of these indulgent new dishes. so try the new grand seafood feast with tender shrimp, a decadent crab cake, and a lobster tail topped with white wine butter. or the new wild-caught lobster & shrimp trio crispy and garlic grilled red shrimp, and a lobster tail with creamy lobster mac-and-cheese? you wanted a feast, you got it. feasts like these make the holidays the holidays, so come try one before it ends.

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it was a devastating weekend for law enforcement across the u.s. four officers shot in three states. three different states in less than 24 hours. two of the attacks happened in missouri. first in st. louis and then another shooting in the town of

gladstone. a third officer shot in sana belle, florida, and in texas, police are hunting for this man. they suspect, they say, he is a suspect in what was an ambush-style shooting of a police officer in san antonio. 50-year-old benjamin marconi, 20-year veteran sitting in his police car outside of headquarters when fatally shot in the head. in san antonio, our reporter and police released two videos. what do they show? >> reporter: brianna, appears to be a brazen move by this alleged killer investigators say he walked into a san antonio headquarters the morning of the shooting hours before he would allegedly shoot and kill detective ben marconi. interesting here, brianna, we're not quite sure what he was doing here to begin with. investigators say that he was buzzed into the facility itself, approached the clerk, had a brief exchange with the clerk. the clerk then offered to help him with some sort of issue and

20 seconds later basically turned around, left the station pap couple hours later then he would allegedly pull up behind detective marconi's car, walk up to the driver's side, shoot not once but two times in the head. now the search is or for this individual. they haven't identified him yet ux hoping someone can recognize him by putting out this video. we question who could potentially been involved, the other, a possible motive. hearing from the police chief, why they believe their police officer was shot and killed. >> i think that the uniform was the target, and anyone who happened, the first person who happened along was the person that he targeted. >> reporter: police chief now pleading with the public asking for any help. they had high hopes of identifying this man and being able to track him down very soon. they say he's a risk not only to other police officers but also the general public as well.

what seems to be fueling this manhunt, brianna, is interesting. for office, this is painful and also personal. think about it. these office are walking in and out of this facility and seeing this. seeing this makeshift memorial and obviously hoping to bring closure to this, and especially for the family of the detective marconi. >> so stunning that it happened right there outside of the h.q. thank you so much in san antonio. back to politics afternoon the break. donald trump meets with potential cabinet picks, his team looks to solve potential conflicts of interest. up next, talking about the president-elect's vast global business ties and how he separates that from his official business as president.

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donald trump vows to separate his business empire and the presidency, but there's much conserve over the hundreds of potential business conflict that may make their way into the swous including a recent meeting with three indian business partners building a luxury apartment complex south of

mumbai. just last week his daughter ivanka, expected to take over parts of his business empire sat in on the president-elect the meeting with japan's prime minister. from incoming chief of staff, reince priebus now responding. >> donald trump has been very clear from the very beginning that his family is very important to him, and i think that while it's unique, it's certainly compliant with the law and obviously we will comply with all of those laws, and we will have our white house counsel review all of these things and we will have every -- every i dotted and every t crossed and i assure the american people there wouldn't be any wrongdoing, or any sort of undo influence over any decision-making. >> cnn money correspondent cristina alesci and cnn investigative reporter drew griven bogriv griffin looking at this. this is the issue.

trump's business ties. >> uncharted territory for a president-elect for sure. connected to more than 100 companies with business dealings abroad. condos, golf courses. one trump tower building in india. the first trump brand in india. owners of the building were in new york last week and happened to meet with donald trump. we don't know what they talked ashes but there was that photo you showed right there on social media including eric trump and ivanka trump. that's been taken down. trump's vice president of marketing said, no business of any sort was conducted but it's raised alarm bells, brianna, about a business naan with worldwide business ties heading into the white house and what to do about it. many of these businesses ties just like india, licensing deals, companies pay donald trump. put trump logo on their building and licensing his brand. getting advice of trump's children on everything from design, price and marketing. while they buy the brand name, they are also buying the trump expertise, which allows many of these projects to get upwards of

30% more for the condos or totals han competitors. of course, the trumps want to be involved making sure the quality of the bland is upheld. why you've seen donald trump talking about passing the business to his kids rather than ideas about liquidating the business because the business is trump. from a conversation i had with trump's attorney way back in january, the organization then was already trying to plan for a postdonald trump, trump organization. >> as things get closer, and as he continues to lead, these issues have to be bedealt with. i can't get into details. real issues that have to be addressed. obviously, there's a lot of intelligent people working on these issues. >> how far they've gotten since then i tried to reach them about this several times now that trump is president-elect. haven't heard back, but the trump brand only exists with trumps involved. may have the president-elect separating from the business. based on my recording, i don't

think you can cut the trump kids out of -- this brand is the trumps. what they're selling. >> yes. and clearly going to have counsel from his children. there you see the overlap. cristi cristina, a constitutional clause trump could violate. some bringing this up. what can you tell us? >> ethics experts are calling it constitutional crisis. here's why. raising questions, serious concerns, about what's calmed the amoemolument clause. the section bars government officials from accepting without the consent of congress payment or gifts of any kind whatever from any king, prince of foreign state, and this, i should say, is regardless whether the u.s. official, like a president, return as favor in exchange for the gift. look, in trump's case, we're talking about business deals. not gifts. but the question is, can any of the terms of these specific deals drew was talking about, can they constitute a gift? and the answer really depends on

whether trump's companies are getting a special term when they're negotiating the deals. for example, which he gets a loan, come with a lower interest rate or a special sweeten like a bonus? this as drew said is really uncharted territory, and the clause hasn't been 2etested in e president's office. most sources say trump isn't an immediate risk of investigation because republicans control congress and unlikely to launch one day one. so government officials are waiting to see how he handles this conflict, but you know, the plan to turn tove to his children, turn his business over to his children doesn't seem to protect him in this case. he would eventually -- would essentially have to sell his holdings completely in order to shield himself from the kind of scrutiny he's already getting, brianna. we're all over this. >> hard to see him doing that. word of the day emoll umentes.

aleppo, the death toll rises over 300, not a single hospital operating at full capacity. that's next.

it is the scene of sheer horror and tragically it's the scene of everyday life for residents of aleppo, syria. they're short of food. roads are full of rubble. hospitals are destroyed after days of devastating attack. one resident described the city as, quote, a holocaust. will ripley is covering this story from istanbul for us. will, in more than one week 300 people have been killed by syrian regime air strikes. so many have asked the question, why don't people leave? i know that's something you have posed to folks there.

>> reporter: people don't trust the humanitarian corridors because they say snipers on both sides, the rebel side and government side, would open fire on people who try to leave through those hue mmanitarian corridor. they said during this three-week humanitarian pause before this latest onslaught, russian and syrian troops did not allow one single parcel of food or medicine into that city to help those people during those three weeks when those air strikes weren't happening. she's continuing to call on syria and syrian president bashar al assad and russian president vladimir putin to stop these activities. it's not just eastern aleppo being bombed and starved out, it's happening across syria, russian and syrian planes dropping bombs and not allowing food and supplies into people. about a million people living under siege right now in syria. >> you've spoken to many of them. they are responding to the

election in the u.s. how do they feel about the result? >> reporter: well, they're afraid because of comments syrian president bashar al assad gave to a portuguese television station where he believes he and donald trump could be natural allies in the fight against terrorism. his definition of terrorist targets has included in the last week many of the city's hospitals, many of which are not fully functioning to service a quarter million of people and a large number of trauma patients after these bombings. his targets of terrorist activities include schools with children inside and apparently include people's homes as well because that's what's being bombed, that's what's being destroyed. >> will ripley, thank you for that report. we're going to continue with you to keep an eye on the situation there in aleppo. on the campaign trail, president-elect trump frequently slammed china's economic policy accusing them of currency manipulation. as cnn's matt rivers shows us, if trump's talk becomes policy,

many wonder where that will leave the relationship between u.s. and china. >> reporter: scenes of cooperation in southwest china as u.s. and chinese soldiers work together to free a victim trapped in rubble or to treat an injured person or build a bridge to rescue people trapped on the other side of a river. it's a joint disaster relief exercise overseen by top u.s. and china commanders. this is the fourth such disaster relief tril since 2013. and it is a show of good will from both sides. the friendly atmosphere going on here is a strak contrast going on where u.s. and chinese navies are locked in a tense standoff in the south china sea. since 2012 china have seized territory. in response the u.s. has sailed more ships and flown planes nearby. the delicate stalemate is part of a complicated relationship between the world's two largest militaries that the new u.s. commander in chief will have to

manage. but what will u.s. president-elect trump's policy toward china look like? in short it's hard to tell. trump largely avoided the issue on the campaign trail, driving home an anti-china economic message instead. >> we can't continue to allow china to rape our can country. that's what they're doing. >> reporter: some analysts have speculated trump could give china more of a free pass in the south china sea. instead, focusing on other issues like trade. but others point to who might join trump's administration and say a tough on china policy could be in the work. >> very conservative people who really embrace very anti-china rhetoric. >> reporter: trump's pick for national security adviser, retired general mike flynn says, quote, china should be viewed as an enemy of the united states. retired james machlt attis said

to continue the counterbalance if china continues the bully in south china sea. back at the disaster relief exercise, cnn asked another expert, four-star general robert brown, commander of the u.s. army pacific what advice he would give to the trump administration on china if asked? >> the more you can build relationships, it leads to trust. when you have trust, you can have differences. >> reporter: those differences were put aside at this joint training. but it will be up to dthd truon trump and his administration if any more group photos will be taken in years to come. >> matt rivers joining us now from beijing. matt, you had the chinese president saying that this relationship between the u.s. and china is now at a hinge moment. i wonder, as we've seen this -- you know, there was so much talk about the transpacific partnership and trade was such an issue in the election here. that pact is now gone. that was a pact that allowed the u.s. and many asia-pacific

nations to join together as a counter to china. so, now how does china, in light of, that in light of donald trump being in the white house, see its role in the region? >> reporter: its role in the region is perhaps one where china's leaders see a bit of optimism now that donald trump will take office in january. china has long tried to bring asian nations into its economic sphere. if the united states kind of moves out of the picture more, if that ttp deal is dead in the water, as it does appear to be, then china could maybe pick up the slack and other countries looking for that big, economic power to side with would go with china. i'll add, its not just the economics of all of this, it's also the military side of this, if donald trump focuses more on domestic issues, perhaps then the u.s. military won't have as big a presence, a deterrent presence in the south china sea allowing china to try and go towards its own path a little more easier, expand in the south china sea like it wants to.

both on the economic side and geopolitical side, perhaps an opportunity for china with the election of donald trump. >> matt rivers, thank you for that report from beijing. that's it for me. "newsroom" with pamela brown starts right now. hello, i'm pamela brown in for brooke baldwin on this monday as president-elect trump builds his team while he's showing he's willing to knock down barriers with former foes after meeting with mitt romney, contender for secretary of state, there's now word trump is considering a democrat for another high-level spot. gabbert is in the running for positions at defense or state departments or at the united nations. now, one of a match of meetings trump is holding today as he looks toward his first day in office, now exactly 60 days away. let's get to the ground