hello. i'm wolf blitzer. 1:00 p.m. here in washington. wherever you're watching from around the world, thanks very much for joining us. up first -- inflammatory words about islam from donald trump's choice to be his white house national security adviser. during a speech back in august, retired lieutenant general michael flynn compared islamism to cancer. listen to this. >> islam is a political ideology. it is a political ideology. it definitely hides behind this, this notion of it being a religion. it's like cancer. i've gone through cancer in my own life. so it's like cancer and it's like a malignant cancer, though in this case that has metastasized. >> talking about flynn's comments with a representative from the trump campaign in a few moments. meanwhile, other news. trump supporters chanted "lock her up" during the campaign, but

he apparently decided to leave her alone. donald trump does not plan to pursue an investigation of hillary clinton's private e-mail server or the clinton foundation. that according to adviser former campaign manager kellyanne conway, and an msnbc, earlier this morning, conway said, trump's decision should send a message to other republicans. >> i think when the president-elect who's also the head of your party now, joe, tells you before he's even inaugurated he doesn't wish to pursue these charges, it sends a very strong message, tone and content to the members, and i think hillary clinton still has to face the fact that a majority if americans don't find her to be honest or trustworthy, but if donald trump can help her heal, perhaps that's a good thing. look, i think he's thinking of many different things as he prepares to become the president of the united states, and things that sound like the campaign aren't among them. >> trump's decision is a reversal of a major campaign

promise. a look back at some of the things he said he would do during his first 100 days. take steps to withdraw from the trans-pacific trade deal, known at tpp. protect the country's infrastructure from cyber attacks, cancel regulations on shale and clean coal, and investigate abuses of federal worker visa programs. president-elect trump is holding more meetings today before heading to florida, his resort in marge largo mar-a-lago for the thanksgiving holiday. get the latest on the transition process. our correspondent jessica snyder joins us from outside trump tower on fifth avenue in new york city. gess jessica, dr. generben cars name resurfaced. right. touting ben carnes over trump's favorite media, twitter, tweeting out, i am seriously

considering dr. wen carson as head of hud. housing and urban development. gotten to know him well. a greatly talented person who loves people. now, interestingly, this tweet coming just about one week after a close adviser to dr. carson told cnn that dr. ben carson had actually turned down an opportunity to become secretary of health and human services. that close adviser to dr. carson saying that carson just didn't feel comfortable with it. had never led an agency. it wasn't his strength. how, dr. ben cars han ban close surrogate to donald trump throughout this campaign and by his side throughout the election. so could he now be changing his tune and could he, in fact, be considered as donald trump has said for head of hud? wolf? >> we know he's announced key national security choices. what about his economic team, jessica? what do you hear than? >> reporter: we understand that donald trump is hammering out the final details, and coulding announcing his economic team soon. in fact, multiple sources tell

cnn that there are a few people in the running for both treasury and commerce secretary, as it pertains to treasury secretary, the two names leading talks of this, steve mnuchin. he is, of course, a former investment banker for goldman sachs as well as jonathan gray, the head of global real estate for blackstone group, and at the leading candidater at this point, we understand, for commerce secretary is wilbur ross, the billionaire investor. so two names that popped. of course, we've waited for days to hear key announcement whether pertaining to personnel or cabinet. getting closer to the thanksgiving holiday, donald trump will be leaving new york city later today to head to his palm beach estate mar-a-lago. definitely waiting for what could be more key announcements. >> jessica, thanks, in new york for us. bring in boris epstein, director of communications for donald

trump's inaugural committee. thanks for joining us. >> thanks for having me. >> congratulations on your new title. >> concentrating on the inauguration and messaging, themes, making sure all americans and everyone around the world nows we're here to unite and lead the country as well as all those ironaround th world. >> the k file, come up with, retired lieutenant general michael flynn, who's going to be the president's national security adviser. strong words speaking of islamism, a vicious cancer that has ex-siciexcised. facing imperialism, this is islamism, a vicious cancer inside the body of 1.7 billion people on this planet and it has to be excised.

what he said in a speech last august. those are, you know, certainly enflame a lot of people when they hear that. >> you have to ask general flynn about those words, but i have gotten to no general flynn, obviously, a great patriot, served the country bravely and never afraid to speak truth to power. we're talking about somebody who's a pate tris, will serve the country extremely well and make sure we're protected. again, these sort of -- this sort of information, from my perspective, goes to divide the country further rather than unite the country. what we're focusing on now with the inaugural committee and beyond. >> it's one thing i think you'll agray, to say radical islam, islamic terrorists is a cancer to be excised but lump all muslims, most are hard working people try doing the best they can. to lump all into them is so, so

derogatory. >> i'm nothing going to concentrate on one comment probably taken out of context. i'm here to talk about what we are as a country. past the political stage. this is campaigning, right? from the folk whose used, buzzfeed, i believe, the k-file folks always anti-donald trump, anti-republican. >> looked at the whole speech. spoke nearly an our hour. the video is right there. let me play another clip and you're hear retired general michael flynn. watch this. >> we are facing another ism, imperialism, communism, this is islamism, and it is a vicious cancer inside the body of 1.7 billion people on this planet, and it has to be excised. so -- and we should not, again, we should not fear this idea. we should define it clearly and we should go after it.

>> you agree with him? you've stupd ed this closely. that this cancer existed inside the body of 1.7 million muslims living here in the united states and around the world? >> wolf, that was actually the same clip. >> i know. i wanted to play it for you to give you the context. >> my response is the same but taken out of context. we're not talking about the whole speech. general flynn serveds they country greatly and will continue to do so and, again, this is the kind of rhetoric that's not helpful. >> when you say the kind of rett rim from general flynn? >> no. talking about these stories coming out in, taking comments out of context and trying to attack somebody who's going to be a really great servient for america. >> not trying to attack general flynn and he had a distinguished military background of service, rising to the ranks of three-star general, director of defense intelligence agency. we're certainly not ridiculing him. taking his words and analyzing what he actually said. not that long ago in august. he's going to be the president's top national security adviser, working in the white house.

i think you agree, it's fair for journalists and others to review what he has publicly said? >> general flynn, president-elect trump, the trump campaign, the inaugural committee as well as the transition are here, again to unite all american opinions noz those americans and folks who want to cause us harm. we are here to push forward unity, make american great, not just a slogan. something we're going to do and why president-elect trump was chosen. exactly what we're doing. >> talk about the other big story, the decision by donald trump, according to his top adviser, kellyanne conway, to say he's not going to go ahead and try to prosecute hillary clinton for alleged crimes she may have committed while secretary of state. it's over. it's time to move on. what's your reaction? >> this goes back to a similar point. the time of politics is over. now it is time to govern. it is time to move forward as a country and make sure that this country is protected, that the folks in this country are

employed. all of those parts of the 100-day plan that president-elect trump laid out yesterday, and talking about making sure tpp is not in place, talking about making sure that americans are safe from attacks, cyber takes and other attacks. making sure that illegal imsgrags put to an end and re-review the status of visas of those here illegally. what donald trump, governor pence, president-elect trump will concentrate on and what our whole team is working on. >> some of this most ardent supporter, reacting negatively to word from kellyanne conway that he doesn't want to pursue criminal charges against hillary clint clinton. you remember what was said during the campaign? lock her up, and remember what trump used to say. >> sure. >> if i win, i am going to instruct my attorney general to get a special prosecutor to look into your situation. >> special prosecutor, here we come. right?

if i win, we're going to appoint the special prosecutor. >> she deleted the e-mails. she has to go to jail. >> that's what he said then. but now you're saying it's time to move on, because he has been elected president of the united states. she was defeated, forget about all of that? >> i'm saying, it's about priorities. what do americans care about this this country? in michigan, pennsylvania, florida, they care about jobs. right? they care we don't have job-killing regulations and those are the priorities mr. trump is putting first and foremost, and everything else has to go to the other side of the spectrum, because right now you have to focus on making sure the country is protected, making sure we have 3% gdp growth in the country and doing so in a way that united states the country. >> tell incoming attorney general assuming he's confirmed, senator sessions, to you know what? drop the whole hillary clinton -- >> i'm not here to talk about

that. again, you have to ask president-elect trump what he'll ask. what is clear, president-elect trump is setting very distinct priorities. the exact priorities he campaigned on. making muir americans are protected, safe in their jobs and homes. >> have a happy thanksgiving to you and your family. >> you, too. >> thanks for coming in. the new director of communications for the presidential inaugural committee. first ofn, then off, now on again. president-elect donald trump's meeting with the "new york times." we'll check in on that. and a sobering message out of japan. why the u.s. ally is calling the whole deal meaningless without america. stay with us.

mother in-law with a glad bag, full of trash. what happens next? nothing. only glad has febreze to neutralize odors for 5 days. guaranteed. even the most perceptive noses won't notice the trash. be happy. it's glad. won't replace the full value of your totaled new car. the guy says you picked the wrong insurance plan. no, i picked the wrong insurance company. with liberty mutual new car replacement™, you won't have to worry about replacing your car because you'll get the full value back including depreciation. and if you have more than one liberty mutual policy, you qualify for a multi-policy discount, saving you money on your car and home coverage. call for a free quote today. liberty stands with you™.

liberty mutual insurance.

welcome back. the president-elect of the united states donald trump laying out more clearly his agenda for the immediate first 100 days that he'll have in office releasing a video on youtube saying he'll withdraw the united states from the tpp, the trans-pacific partnership trade deal, move to protect america's infrastructure from cyber attacks. he says he also wants to cancel

domestic shale and clean coal energy restrictions, put in place by the obama administration. he wants to investigate possible abuses of visa programs among other things. bring in our political panel to assess. susan page, washington bureau cheap for "usa today." jess mason, and associate ed and columnist at real clear politics is with us. what did you think of this list? it was very limited. stuff he could basically do by signing an executive order, does not need to go through congress. >> first, talk about not just what he said but how he said it. didn't come out with a news conference. what we would expect a president-elect to do and take a couple questions. put it out on youtube. went around the news media to mick this announcement and none. things surprising or at odds with what was said during the campaign but did indicate his early priorities, for instance, pulling out the tpp right out of the gate. and in that way it was interesting and i think also

interested in projecting that he had some order, control of this transition. it wasn't in chaos, that he has a plan. >> you know, because it was very specific, and he didn't get into some of the other major issues, like building a wall along the u.s./mexico borders. controversial issues like that, because he needs appropriations bills, funding, if these going to do that. >> yes. absolutely. he really i think started with things he knew he could get done. withdrawing from tpp is certainly one of them. the timing of that announcement also interesting coming just a couple bays after president obama was in peru meeting with other countries that are part of the tpp. you can just imagine how they felt when they saw that. as susan said, not a surprise. something that countries must have been preparing for. >> and environmentalists don't like the ideas reversing, for example, clean coal issue, shale issue, in place during the obama administration? >> yes. you can see kwai why he wants t

something right way, doesn't have to fight with congress over spending and the bottom line, like his costly infrastructure plan which is going to meet resistance among republicans, but he's also going to meet resistance not only in rolling back regulations like you mentioned, environmental one, but also to the tpp. i mean, the meeting in peru, the feeling is that these countries are moving on without us. china is increasingly aggressive militarily right now in the south china seas. they benefit the most if we're not in that agreement, and so i think in the days and weeks to come there will be resistance even from republicans in congress to his move to do that on day one. >> he makes good points, you know, jeff. the markets, the dow jones industrials first time ever opened at 19,000. clearly investors, at least in the stock market, they're liking, like what they hear. >> they do. interesting that that's happening, given all of the projections ahead of the election that if hillary clinton

lost, the market would tank. which didn't end up happening right afterwards and i think they're also seeing perhaps the ability of a republican president to work with a republican congress, and actually get a few things done. >> what they like is that he said they're going to lower taxes, eliminate regulations. what investors like to hear. stuff like that. but on the trade issue, some concern, if there's a trade war that could hurt. >> true. his position on trade seems very well set. one of the signature issues of his campaign. it's not just investors who like what they're hearing. a new cnn poll shows almost two-thirds of americans think the economy will be strong a year from now. a very high number and very high expectations in the survey he will succeed on the economic front, even among american whose don't like other things. >> a.b., sharing more numbers from the brand new cnn/orc poll just came out. 53% surveyed think donald trump will make a very good or fairly good president. there you see the number.

44% disagree. 46% say they approve of the way he's handling his transition so far. so should those numbers be encouraging to the incoming president? >> definitely. had a good transition. except for beinging leader of the free world and running that business. that said, looking like he's conducting a wide-ranging search for cabinet picks. he's open to talk to friend or foe. people in both parties, that he's series an substantive, and enjoying a honeymoon for that and needs to maximize that. honeymoons don't last. it's hard to be a popular president, especially after an election like this one, he's won the popular vote and he has been a controversial figure. he needs to really spend the 60 days of the transition and the first 100 days in office maximizing on that honeymoon and to do as much as he can to keep

momentum going. >> meeting now, jeff, with editors, columnists, reporters from the "new york times" and on the record meeting and answering questions. in addition to being reuters correspondent, the president of the white house correspondents. trump on alt right is a spoesup. if they aren't energize i'd want to look into and it find out why. reaction? >> received criticism for not coming out more forcefully and disconnecting himself from that during his campaign, not right away disavowing david duke's support. i think this is clearly a response to the fact he has gotten some heat so far for that connection, and for the video that came out this week showing people at a meeting of white sue premmis supremacists supporting

donald trump. >> trump says no when asked if taking investigations off the table for the clintons but adds he doesn't want to "hurt" the clintons. >> what does that mean? investigating might hurt her. >> yes. >> and a clear signal from kellyanne conway even though he's not saying you shouldn't investigate her. saying he's got other priorities. other things he ought to do first. this may be one of those campaign promises he doesn't deliver on, and for some of his supporters, the people who chanted lock her up at rallies, might well be a disappointment. >> and the signal kellyanne gave this morning, muddied it a little. >> it does. asked if taking investigations off the table for the clintons. she seemed to say earlier on msnbc, it's off the table, at least for now. p.a.b., another tweet from maggie haberman. live tweets coming in. i'd rather do the popular vote, trump says. i think we'd do as well or better, says he was never a fan of the electoral college.

won the electoral college. why he'll be the president of the united states. he's losing the pom popular vote by about a million and a half popular, argument has been i would have won the popular vote if i'd have gone to california, gone to new york. where so many people live. gone to texas. i never campaigned there, and as a result, the popular vote is not that important. >> well, he can say that. he is going to probably lose by projections by 2 million vote, popular vote loss and he won this election by 107,000 in three states. she literally lost by jill stein's margin alone. more a story of her epic defeat than really of him having a resounding victory. he won with 47% of the country in a four-way race, told by democrats he doesn't have a mandate and feeling defensive. yes, true, he could have campaigned for the popular vote. but the truth remains that he lost the popular vote and democrats will treat it like it

isn't a mandate for years to come. >> a question for years to come because you're president of the white house association. there has been progress between the incoming trump administration and the white house correspondents, tight, travel pools, the traditional coverage that all presidents since the '60s have allowed the news media? >> definitely progress but not all the way there. they have made erriarrangements the pool to travel for his thanksgiving to florida but not in all the motorcades. still working on that and something we have to keep pushing for, but they've assured us he will respect the traditions of the white house bhool they get tolt white house. i'm optimistic caution about that. >> and we like those. >> news conferences. those, too. >> all right. thanks very much. happy thanksgiving. >> you, too. >> you, that. coming up, donald trump gives unsolicited advice to the uk on replacing its ambassador

to the united states and britain immediately rejects that advice. going to london for the story when we come back.

live pictures coming in. details from an extraordinary meeting taking place in new york city now between donald trump and the "new york times." keeps calling the "new york times" the failing "new york times" but giving them an extensive interview today. highlights on that interview coming in, for example, on his alleged business conflicts as president-elect of the united states. these are tweets coming in from maggie hab haberman of the "new york times."

trump on business conflict, loss totally on my side. the president can't have a conflict of interest. another tweet she just posted on not prosecuting hillary clinton. it would be very divisive for the country and on global warms some connectivity between humans and climate change. some connectivity, he says right there. the president elects certainly hasn't assumed office just bet it already causing diplomatic waves. the uk prime minister teresa may rejected a twitter suggestion from trump on who should serve as the british ambassador to the united states. and the israeli prime minister, benjamin netanyahu, forbid his ministers from directly contacting trump advisers. japanese prime minister shinzo abe says the trans-pacific partnership would be meaningless without the united states, that after trump promised yesterday to pull out of the deal. that was a campaign commitment he made throughout. the article -- argentine

president said trump's daughter ivanka was on a phone call when he was speaking to the new president-elect. and a clarissa ward joins us from london. how did donald trump upset the british prime minister with that one tweet? >> reporter: well, wolf, it's a storm's in a teacup as they say here in the united kingdom essentially president-elect donald trump tweeted that "many people would like to see nigel faraj represent great britain as their ambassador to the united states. he would do a great job. worth taki taking into account controversial figure somewhat here in the uk. he is one of the main faces of the leave europe or brexit campaign. this tweet by president-elect trump was rebutted almost instantaneously by number ten with a number tart response

saying that, in fact, the uk appoints its own ambassadors, and that there was "no vacancy" because, of course, the post is currently occupied by sir kim derek, and then nigel faraj responses with yet another tweet. playing out on non-traditional new media, social media. anyway, nigel faraj tweets that downing streept needs to accept the world is changing and he is in "a good position with the pl president-elect support to help." needless to say, wolf, unprecedented or extremely rare to have the coming leader of one country telling another leader who it should appoint as its ambassador, but i think given the depth and history and closeness and importance of the relationship between the u.s. and the uk, it's particularly egregious and puts prime minister theresa may in a is likely awkward position, given this is coming on the heels of nigel faraj traveling to new

york to meet with donald trump, the first british politician, toe sow speak, to actually sit down with the future president of the u.s., and more broadly speaking, it really alludes to what is making so many international leaders just a little nervous, which is that there is a sort of unknown quantity when it comes to donald trump. nobody yet knows exactly what kind of a president he's going to be, exactly what his policy will look like, but they do know he is going to dispense with the traditional ruleback and that has them grap bpling to find thr footwork, and to publicly announce who the, the president of the united states to announce who he would like to be the foreign ambassador coming to washington. clarissa, why did the israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu forbid his cabinet ministers from talking to the trump team? >> reporter: this comes after meetings that took place between trump advisers and some israeli mince xiis including the education minister, nasta lee

bennett. several issues are in the background here. of course, we've seen the public sort of spat if you will between prime minister netanyahu after denouncing president-elect donald trump's comments about the potential muslim ban and donald trump saying he would not go and visit israel. also you have a very crucial time here between the u.s. and israel. there could be potential changes to the iran deal. there could be potential developments on the u.s. position on settlements. it's a crucial time. you also have chief strategist, donald trump's chief strat tryst steve bannon, labeled and anti-semite by many. the core issue, speaks to what i just talked about before, that donald trump is doing business and carrying out politics in unusual ways. meetings on the sidelines with advisers. essentially recalibrating or formulating the u.s./israeli relationship by not going through the traditional structures. by not going through the central

avenues of power, perhaps prime minister netanyahu wants to try to contain that, have ownership of this relationship, be in control of the messages and i think would like to see it happening in a more traditional way. >> thanks very much, clarissa ward and congratulations. honored last week here in washington by the international center for journalists for her very courageous reporting from inside syria. well deserved honor indeed. clarissa, on behalf of all of us, thanks for what you do. appreciate it very much. >> reporter: thank you. and donald trump has also had a rather contentious relationship we a yll know, wit mexico. proposals related to immigration. watch this. >> i've asked my transition team to develop a list of executive actions we can take on day one to restore our laws and bring back our jobs. it's about time. on immigration, i will direct the department of labor to investigate all abuses of visa

programs that undercut the american worker. >> let's discuss u.s./mexico relations with mexico's ambassador to the united states. thanks for joining us. >> nice to be here. >> how is your government's relationship with the incoming president right now? >> i would say, wolf, that with any administration, throughout so many of decades we forged a very solid relationship with the united states, whether rb republicans or democrats. it's the samtd. building bridges with the administration of the soon to be president of the united states. >> are you talking to people inside of the trump transition team right now? >> yes. >> have you had a conversation, for example, with donald trump himself? >> well, not with him directly. with some of his people, yes. >> who from the mexican government? has the president contacted mr. trump? >> the person, yes, contacted mr. trump. he gave a call. the very same day that he was elected, next day, and we will continue with this context

throughout different areas of the administration. >> we know they met a few months ago. all of us remember that meeting. pretty extraordinary. >> yes. >> are you convinced that donald trump, his new administration, willings and build this wall along the u.s./mexico border? >> as you know, we do not like walls. we like to build bridges and that's why mexico is nowadays one of the most open economies in the world. that's what we're aiming at. a very close relationship with the new administration, with president-elect trump to continue to strengthen the relationship with mexico and the united states. you know, wolf, a good, prosperous secure mexico is in the best national interests of the united states. that's what we are doing. >> he keeps saying, the u.s. will build a wall, if these president, and he will now be president of the united states, and mexico will pay for that wall. you say -- >> we say that we are not going to pay for the wall, and that we would like the wall to be there. we would like -- >> how can you stop it? >> we cannot stop it, but i

think can send messages that have the relationship working so well, so many years and as you know, we are neighbor, friends. more importantly so, partners, and very important strategic ally of the united states. that is a conception that we want to develop. >> and has the mexican government officially informed donald trump, the president-elect of the united states, that mexico will not pay for that wall? >> actually, if you recall that time that mr. trump went to mexico, president of mexico said, we are not going to pay for the wall. >> remained the same? >> same position, keep repeating, the mexico will not pay for the wall. >> and president-elect trump said he would with draw nafta. is that okay with you? >> actually, it was said we are ready to modernize nafta, a better deal for everybody. it's benefiting both the united

states and mexico. it's given up a lot of competitiveness against the rest of the worlds. mexicans are not the enemy, partners and fighting against other blocs in the world. not the one that is within our region. >> in that "60 minutes" interview, he granted shortly after he won the election, he says he's going to start deporting 2 million or 3 million undocumented people here in the united states, immigrants in the united states, immediately. the criminals. those with records. start sending them back. are you, the mexican government, ready to start accepting hundreds of thousands, millions of deportees from the united states into mexico? >> well, i'm glad you asked that, because it important to know the figures. people say there is 12 million undocumented people in the united states. but only half of them are from mexico. >> say there are 6 million undocumented immigrants from mexico. >> yes. >> and say he immediately wants to send back a million of them. are you ready to accept those million people? >> i do not want to anticipate what will happen but i can tell

you we are ready to go to the different cases of people deeg deported, no whom they are. if they are from mexico. throughout the years the situation has been very collaborative between the two nations. we have a very close relationship with security, people that handle that, and handle it case by case. it is important for everybody to understand that we are here to help, to protect the interests of the mexicans and to apply the different pros calls that exist in national security. >> i assume all mexicans deported in a trump administration will be welcomed back? some say we don't want these people, you have to keep them. >> we've always accepted mexicans. always accepted because they are mexican nationality. we have to make sure they are of mexican descent. >> how worry are you about all this? >> working with differ administration in different periods and ready to face whatever that comes. i think that throughout the next days we are going to be learning

more in detail what is going to happen. >> carlos sada, mexico's ambassador to the -- tough job, mr. ambassador. thanks very much for coming in. >> we are friends. thanks soech. >> the u.s. and mexico are indeed good friends. the u.s. and canada good friends tooshs. the united states is blessed with good friends to the south and to the north. >> exactly my point. appreciate it. a quick break and back with much more news. attention: are you eligible for medicare?

the medicare enrollment deadline is just a few weeks away. changes to medicare plans could impact your healthcare costs. are you getting all the benefits available to you? call healthmarkets and we'll help you find the medicare plan that's right for you. hi, i'm doctor martin gizzi. it's a new medicare year. that means more changes ... and more confusion. the key question is: what can you do now, to ensure you get the care you need in the coming year? call healthmarkets today. we have access to thousands of medicare options from leading insurance companies nationwide. plans that may... cost less... cover more ... with more choices... like dental and vision care ... and freedom to choose your own doctors.

all at a price you can afford. we help find the right plan for you. and we do it at no cost. make sure you have what you need to get the care that's right for you. if you miss the deadline, you may have to wait another year before enrolling. call this number now!

that just tastes better. with more vitamins. and less saturated fat. only eggland's best. better taste. better nutrition. better eggs. new details emerging from the investigation into that horrific bus crash in chattanooga, tennessee. at least five children killed when the school bus ran off the road and hit a tree. police arrested the bus driver charges him with vehicular homicide. cnn's martin savidge joining us

now from chattanooga a city in mourning. dispatch tapes released. what are we learning? >> reporter: they're begun to give you a sense of horrific imagery they found when they came across the scene. of course, they knew it was a school bus accident but you don't know how bad in you're there. listen to what they found. >> i have an mvc with a school bus. the bus is flipped over, occupied with children. it's going to be an mbc involving a scoot bus flipped over with children. they believe there are ejections. >> i can see an arm moving but i don't know if anybody can get to it. >> reporter: so you hear the description of ejections, children being thrown from the bus and then that last call where you hear the description of an arm waving out of the bus and authorities aren't sure how they'll get to them. it took firefighters hours to eventually free all the children from inside the wreckage. the shock in this community is

twofold. one, of course, the deaths of five children. and now you have 12 that are still trying to recover in hospital here. and the real question is what was the bus driver doing? why did this happen? high rate of speed appears to be the culprit. those who saw it and actually meshrd the marks of that bus getting across the ground. a clear indication this driver was exceeding at least in the minds of authorities well beyond the 30 mile-per-hour posted limit. why? that's still to be determined. locally and federal authorities now aiding in that investigation. wolf? >> hoa horrific story. thank you, martin savidge. and moments ago, the president-elect telling the "times," according to a tweet, paul ryan right now loves me. mitch mcconnell loves me, trump says. and then he says, "i've liked

chuck schumer" incoming democrat in the senate, "for a long time." more after a quick break.

we're continuing to get headlines coming out of donald trump's extraordinary meeting under way right now with the "new york times" thanks to maggie haberman, a reporter there. when asked about steve bannon, he said this "if i thought he was a racist or alt-right or any of those things, the terms we could use, i wouldn't even think about hiring him." the president-elect also said he won't go ahead and prosecute hillary clinton, explaining "i think it would be a very divisive for the country." let's talk more about this with former democratic congressman steve israel. congressman, first of all your reaction from these tweets coming in from maggie haberman from the "new york times," the latest thoughts from the president-elect. >> well, i think we're going to

be looking at a bipolar presidency. donald trump's challenge is if he doubles down on his craziness on talking about building walls and excluding muslims and bombing syria, he loses more moderate voters. if he cuts to the center, he loses his base, which is why you see tweets that contradict themselves and policies that contradict themselves and we're looking at more of that in the days, weeks, months ahead. >> but you're happy when he says he has no plans to go ahead and prosecute hillary clinton despite the chanting going on during the campaign "lock her up, lock her up." i assume that's welcome news to you. >> well, of course it's welcome news. it's welcome news to the country. we want a president and congress focusing on building infrastructure, strengthening paychecks, reducing college costs and not having oversight hearings and criminal investigations of everybody that donald trump may not like. so, yes, it's welcome news. but it comes with a cost to donald trump. when he begins to cut back not towards the center but to

sanity, he loses that portion of his base that thought that he was going to, as his first order of business on inauguration day, announce the prosecution of hillary clinton. >> another headline with the meeting from the "new york times," trump saying he thinks there is some connectivity between humans and climate change. that's a significant statement from the part of donald trump because during the campaign he seemed to ridicule climate change. >> it is, wolf, it is significant that he's joining 99.9% of scientists who recognize that there is some human connectivity to climate change. but, you know, policy cannot just be postulated in a tweet. it's got to be postulated by who you appoint to the epa, who you appoint as secretary of energy, by what your policy priorities are. and so while it is welcoming that he now has a tweet that says, well, there may be a connection, the real test is who is he appointing and what will his policies be and we will see

about that in the course of the near future. >> senator bernie sanders holding the president-elect accountable. he's calling the infrastructure plan put forward, and i'm quoting him now, he says "it's a scam." do you think the democrats -- and i know you're leaving the house of representatives -- will find some common ground with the new president? >> this is one area of common ground that i believe we can reach. there are democrats and republicans and may i add a critical mass of democrats and republicans in the house who want to find a way not only to build infrastructure but to finance it. and i think the american people want to see some progress on at least one issue. this is an issue where we can agree. we cannot agree with donald trump and paul ryan's ideological obsession to privatize medicare. so we'll fight them on privatizing medicare but if we can join them in some sensible investments in infrastructure, i think we should. >> congressman steve israel, thanks very much for joining us and happy thanksgiving. >> thank you, wolf. thanksgiving, by the way, just two days away. many families are still split

over a deep political divide. ellen degeneres has one very brilliant idea on keeping the post-election peace at your holiday dinner table. watch this. >> i really love that people come together for the holidays but i know there's a lot of tension out there right now. so if you're planning a family get together there's a new service i think you should know about. check it out. >> the 2016 presidential race was one of the most divisive in history. and there's one more big political clash still to come -- your holiday dinner. instead of coming together, your family gathering is sure to explode into a bitter shouting match that ruins the season for everyone. luckily, mobile moderator is here to help. using your phone, you can order a professional moderator to manage your meal, choose from seasoned pros like anderson cooper, megyn kelly and wolf blitzer. >> of course he should build the wall. they're coming across like a million. >> it's nowhere near a million.

>> hillary should be in president. >> we won the popular vote. >> mrs. douglas, if he could just please get back to the original question. could someone please pass the salt? [ laughter ] >> your moderator will restore civility to the conversation. >> this broccoli casserole is so good. >> i think it's -- >> wrong. >> lucas, don't interrupt your sister. >> it's bet than the sweet potatoes you helped make -- >> wrong! >> leslie is speaking. >> and he'll make sure everyone gets an equal opportunity to talk. >> my feet were so sore. they were swollen and red. you should have seen them. they looked like beets. >> you have five seconds. >> i thought it was because my purse was so heavy. >> aunt pearl, that's enough. that's enough, aunt pearl. you're out of time. aunt pearl, you're out of time. [ laughter ] but they also help be the odor. did i tell you about the odor? >> aunt pearl, you're out of time. >> plus, your moderator can

serve as a fact checker. >> i heard that barack hussein obama made it legal to steal things. >> that is completely false. >> then who stole my glasses. >> your glasses are on your forehead. >> order your mobile moderator today. >> why don't you tell everybody who you voted for in the election. >> i voted for gary johnson. >> oh, god! >> all right, everybody, everybody, quiet. >> i'm still with her. >> excuse me. excuse me, everybody quiet. quiet. i'm wolf blitzer. [ laughter and applause ] >> i have a feeling i'm going to be very busy. much more, by the way, on the ellen degeneres show which airs this afternoon on nbc. and a happy thanksgiving to all of our viewers out there. thanks very much for watching. i'll be back 5:00 p.m. east american the situation room.

until then, the news continues right here on cnn. here we go, top of the hour. you're watching cnn, i'm brooke baldwin. thank you for being with me. a big day for america's president-elect because moments ago mr. trump made news on a variety of topics. everything from hillary clinton to climate change and the white supremacists seen in a new video cheering him on. let's get straight to brian stelter, host of "reliable sources" and david chalian, cnn political director. brian, let me again with you here. the backdrop of this meeting, donald trump at the "new york times," what's the back story? >> trump often says he detests the media. he complains about the media every chance he get bus he cares deeply about the press, he cares about the "new york times," he cares about what cnn says about him. so he requested this meeting at the "new york times" today then he canceled it