of course, donald trump is still considering mitt romney for secretary of state. have these campaign enemies actually hashed out their differences? cnn has also learned who trump will name to his top posts on his economic team. and the president-elect scored a live in washington, good morning, sara. >> good morning. we are expecting the trump transition team to make it official later this morning. donald trump naming two folks who will play a pivotal role in steering a u.s. economy in a donald trump white house, but on the big question of secretary of state, still no news on which direction donald trump is leaning after another bizarrely public audition to fill the role of the nation's top diplomat. donald trump and mitt romney putting their past differences aside, at least for dinner. the two talking foreign policy, alongside trump's chief of

staff, reince priebus at a high-end restaurant inside trump's international hotel in new york. >> president-elect, looking at the next secretary of state right here? >> we'll see what happens. >> reporter: romney showering praise on trump and the transition. >> we had another discussion of affairs throughout the world and these discussions i've had with him have been enlightening and interesting and engaging. i've enjoyed them very, very much. >> reporter: and lotting the president-elect's accomplishments to a nod where he fell short in 2012. >> it's not easy winning. i know that myself. he did something i tried to do and was unsuccessful in accomplishing. he won the general election. and he continues with a message of inclusion and bringing people together. >> reporter: romney's remarks a sharp contrast to their bitter rivalry on the campaign trail. >> donald trump is a phony, a fraud. >> mitt was a disaster as a candidate. >> reporter: the ongoing secretary of state search coming

as sources tell cnn trump is expected to roll out his economic team today. former goldman sachs banker steve mu nugz as treasury secretary, but sure to face, heading up a firm that made big money off of foreclosures. trump's pledge to drain the swamp. and goldman sachs alumnist who preyed on homeowners struggling during the recession. wilbur ross to lead the commerce department. >> commerce secretary, sir? >> time will tell. >> reporter: meanwhile, carrier announcing they have struck a deal with the trump organization. but so far the details of the deal haven't been announced. now, we know donald trump was planning to, of course, kick off his thank you tour on thursday. you can add another stop to that. he and mike pence will make a visit to indiana to stop by the

carrier plant and, of course, tout their chants to make good on one of donald trump's campaign promises. of course, the key question since we don't know the terms of the deal, what is carrier getting in exchange for this? >> that is the big question. you're right. we will explore that, sara, thanks so much. let's discuss all of this with mark preston and cnn political analyst david gregory. gentlemen, great to have you. mitt romney. so they went to this fabulous dinner last night here in new york. very high end restaurant and they did not bring their wives, they brought reince priebus. what is going on here? >> who paid? did we pay? did the government pay? >> i would suspect that it is on the house. >> that's not allowed. >> it is allowed because he is not yet president of the united states. >> so romney came out and he had words of praise. >> right. >> donald trump has clearly impressed him. i think we can assume from this.

so, where are we with this dance that's being done so publicly? >> couple things and i spoke to people last night about this after the dinner to try to get a feel for it. first of all, for those inside the room, you know, they did it in a very public setting, of course. you know, which a lot of people say conjures up images of "the apprentice" he is actually auditioning people. my understanding from the dinner it went swimmingly well, better than anyone could have expected. they got along very well and they were trading stories and romney is very much on the top of the list. we always thought he was. there was some question whether trump was trying to lead him on and then cut him off at the end. >> that's what we thought. when kellyanne and newt gingrich came out but it seems like something have turned the tables again. >> if you really listen and look at the words that mitt romney said last night, there have been a lot of talk in the trump campaign that mitt romney needed

to publicly apologize because he had been so against donald trump and so strongly critical of him. well, if you really look at those words, kind of close to an apology. >> let's listen to them. here's what he had to say. >> i happen to think that america's best days are ahead of us. i think you're going to see america continue to lead the world in this scentury. what i've seen through these discussions with president-elect trump and his speech at the victory, as well as the people he selected as part of this transition. all of those things combined give me increasing hope that president-elect trump is the very man that can lead us to that better future. thank you. >> so, david gregory, the word i hear from inside the trump camp is, boy, does romney want it. he really wants it. now that he's been around trump more, he understands this guy can get it done and he was wrong and he'll say what we tell him to say so that he can get this

job. it does seem this way with this kind of about face that romney is having. >> the about face and the fact that now it's so very public that they got together again. the second dinner. the cameras capturing the scene. i think it would be difficult to walk away, certainly on either end of it now. but i think there's no question as i talk to romney people, as well, that he wants to be part of this. he doesn't want to be left out and feels like he could have a real influence. i do think as mark was saying, there's no question that everything we know about donald trump is that he would love to see someone of mitt romney come out in a contrite way and say, you know, i was wrong about this guy. he can actually get things done. if it's just that. i suspect that trump has something going on here, too. which is that he doesn't mind if there's public discord about this. he doesn't mind if top members of his team disagree with him and thinks this would be a betrayal to his top supporters.

he wants to have a strong inside game and wants to be accepted by the republican establishment and by washington and he thinks that mitt romney can help him. and can balance his views around the world. i think those are positive points for donald trump, as we look at how he's building a team. >> let's talk about some other cabinet posts. we know steve mnucian. >> finance chair for donald trump's campaign. so in many way he's rewarding those who are loyal to him, although we've seen some people that were loyal to him that he wasn't so loyal back. chris christie being one of those. but mnuchin is a strange character. someone who was a goldman sachs executive for many years and ran a hedge fund and ran into a little bit of trouble. he was, allegations that he or his company would not allow minorities or wouldn't give mortgages out to minorities.

in addition to that, they did c acknowledge some kind of fraud. wilbur ross whose job now is a commerce to really try to broker trade deals for donald trump. >> but both of them, david, represents something that is a tough sell for donald trump. of course, they have the votes so they could make it happen. but ross and mnuchin not known as blue collar heroes. we'll remember ross is a takeover guy and made money in steel businesses and had that huge catastrophe with the mine and all the safety issues that went down. mnuchin led what was called as a foreclosure machine. tough sells for the people. >> cue up elizabeth warren and bernie sanders and others and said i thought you were draining the swamp and wanting to help

middle class folks. that is a big piece of this. donald trump and the business community, his friends who are in business, these are folks that he's bringing into the government. people that he has known. people that he respects. people who have similar views about trade and regulation and about taxes. it's his social group, too. i mean, wilbur ross spends time, a big part of his year down in palm beach, as does donald trump. yeah, the idea of draining the swamp and the kind of blue collar heroes. donald trump was never going to be hanging out with blue collar folks in america. that's not the point. he has an agenda that people can sign on to. that's the difference. again, this is going to be a focus on redoing trade deals and ending certain regulation, cutting taxes, infrastructure, all those things where i think trump wants to spend a lot of his time. >> let's talk about what looks like a big coup for the president-elect and that is, mark, that he has struck some sort of deal, we don't know the terms w the air conditioning company carrier, in indiana. mike pence's home state. where they were going to be

moving 2,000 jobs to mexico to save money. they were going to get much cheaper labor there and he announced yesterday and carrier sent out an announcement that they are keeping 1,000 jobs in indiana. that is a huge feather in his cap so soon. >> no doubt. it was carrier who announced it before donald trump officially came out and said he was going to do it and we'll see thursday him being donald trump, as well as mike pence, going to indianapolis and doing a victory lap when it comes to, you know, this big coup for him. we should note carrier owned by united technologies has $5.6 billion worth of business. >> there is some sort of deal there -- >> well, there's definitely a deal. >> we don't know what it was. >> we kind of do know. they used the words incentives to keep the business here. that means give backs to business and the concern becomes if you are sweetening the pot for carrier to stay and keep jobs, because they keep floating this number, we were going to

save $65 million in labor costs. why do they keep putting that number out there? may encourage other businesses to say, if you want me to say, i need to be paid to stay, also. lack of specifics matter here. >> remember when republicans said we didn't pick winners and losers in the economy, there might be a new trend here. >> okay. we have more to talk to you guys about. >> that was only like six seconds. three weeks after his big win, donald trump wants to thank america. he is going to take a victory lap in several swing states. will we see candidate trump at these rallies or someone with a different tone? our political panel weighs inonn that, next.

president-elect donald trump has a message for his supporters. thank you. and he is planning to deliver that message in person with a victory dour, a thank you tour through some of the swing states that put him in the white house. now, what will this look like? what is the goal? what might be the impact? let's bring back our panel, mark

preston, david gregory. this is new. this is not something that we see as common practice, but kind of an intriguing idea. it's always good to be able to circle back to the people who brought you there. >> look, this is a president-elect who has achieved and wants more of direct contact with his supporters. and he, obviously, likes all of the imagery around being at a big rally and having people yelling and screaming for him as a contrast to the kind of scrutiny he's going to get on the cable news and newspapers and else where. he can create it and this is what got him here. and i think it allows him to work his material, too. to work a populous, economic message and to campaign directly. it's kind of old-fashioned in that sense and the permanent campaign that trump tends to wage, as well. >> not only the imagery, david and mark, he does like the

personal touch. he likes the roar of the crowd and he likes the one on one with people. what do you think his tone will be? marx, back to campaign donald trump or kinder, gentler? >> when have we seen that? he is pretty much one mode. >> the only time we saw that is when he gave his speech on the next morning when he won, right? no, i think to david's point, he is like a plug. he needs to be plugged back into the wall to get energized and he goes out and gets the big crowds and they hang on every word that he says and that's where, you know, drove him through the campaign. >> you can pot down the inflammatory. a lot of that during the campaign, obviously, was lock her up and the crowd would chant that. that is gone. >> just look at the last few days here. it doesn't seem to be, you know, he's not capable of doing so. he's already claimed voter

fraud, which is false. and then, of course, what he did yesterday, as well, with flag burning, as well. he is not the candidate that we're -- >> you don't want to mistake not having a direct opponent for a change in tone. he's just coming at the media right now as an opponent, specifically us, because he doesn't have a clinton standing right in front of them. but the man does like a pageant. david, look at what is going on with secretary of state. is it that big of deal who becomes secretary of state and yet he makes it into a pageant and all the dramas follows. >> well, i think in this particular case, if he reaches out to someone who was so pointed and personal and cutting in his condemnation of him that speaks to reaching out beyond the campaign. that's a positive. the other piece of it, it's a pageant. it's very public. he doesn't mind airing all these grievances and there is this

compartmentalization of trump that is difficult to get your head around and has been for a year. the fact that he can be tweeting false claims about voter fraud and that he can be talking about criminalizing the first amendment. these are very worrisome signs about the incoming president-elect and they can happen alongside more establishment, more main stream moves that he's making in terms of filling out the government or moves he'd make on the economy. these things are disturbing and i don't know who around him is going to get him to stop just shooting off at the hip like that. >> newt gingrich has a suggestion about that. he publicly is talk about how to get him to stop from making these tweets. let's listen to the former speaker. >> i think the worst thing he did was tweet the other night about illegal votes. i mean, presidents of the united states can't randomly tweet without having somebody check it out. it makes you wonder about

whatever else he's doing. >> that's exactly right. and that's from a huge supporter of his. >> one of the top transition team. >> you want to cherry pick everything that comes out of him? yeah. because he's president-elect. mark, when you say something as president-elect it does refer to your state of mind and what competency you have on other things. his own friend saying, stop it. it makes you look foolish. >> words matter. when you're the president and president of the united states, leader of the free world, a word matters. you can change markets. you can influence foreign policy decisions. you can go to war. so, that's why he needs to be very careful and donald trump doing these rallies and donald trump using twitter. you know what he's doing, he's cutting out the media. he's going directly with his own message on his own terms trying to sell his own vision. >> is nancy pelosi going to keep his leadership today? >> it appears that she will. but it also seems like this is a proxy fight for the future of the democratic party which has a lot of work to do.

its own populous strain and real questions with how it lost touch with working class voters and all of this is on display here. >> for her to be challenged in this way is unique. you'll see a lot of bad things happen in the midterm. >> thanks, guys. news of these raging wildfires in tennessee. they're still going and now they've turned deadly. wait until you see the trail of destruction. thousands are being forced to flee their homes. others are missing. we're at the zone, next.

raging wildfires in eastern tennessee killing three people. and several families this morn rg still looking for missing loved ones. the wildfires consuming 15,000 acres, destroying hundreds of homes and businesses. cnn meteorologist jennifer grey is live in gatlinburg with the latest. how is it going there, jennifer? >> well, we are getting a nice little round of rain. unfortunately, along with that we are getting strong winds, as well as lightning.

firefighters still fighting those blazes as people here in this evacuation center say they are living a horror movie. >> this is crazy. >> reporter: search and rescue efforts under way this morning in fire-ravaged eastern tennessee. >> this is the largest fire in the last 100 years in the state of tennessee. >> reporter: firefighters continuing to put out flames and bracing for the possibility of spot fires after a terrifying 24 hours that left at least 250 homes and businesses destroyed. and forced more than 14,000 residents and tourists to flee to nearby shelters. >> you just don't know what to do. i mean, you sit there and you're expecting to come on a vacation and, again, find out that you can't get back to your family. >> reporter: drivers capturing terrifying video as they scrambled to escape the fires monday night. at least three people have died since the flames spread with little warning. officials now say the fire is human caused. denise and her fiance, mark,

were asleep when the inferno reached their doorsteps. police rescuing them just in time. >> flames were just everywhere. on both sides of the road. crossing the road. embers flying everywhere. it was a nightmare. >> reporter: like many others, they are unsure when they can return home or what they'll find. >> that's the hard part. you just don't know if it's still going to be there or not. we may go back to absolutely nothing. but we have each other. and that's all that matters. we made it out with our lives. >> reporter: others praying their loved ones are safe. michael reid has not heard from his wife or two daughters since monday night as they tried to escape. >> called the other shelters here and they said she isn't there. just hoping for a miracle. >> and, chris, the vibe here at the evacuation center is unbelievably positive. everyone trying to uplift each other, but also a sense of pure

desperation because there is no word on when they will be able to get back to their homes or what they'll find. chris. >> it's hard there because like a communication black out right there. but for those people in waiting, boy, is that torture. jennifer, thank you for keeping us on top of the progress. three people lost their lives from a tornado that tore through jackson county overnight. several others are hurt, as well. thousands are without power after these storms damaged homes in neighboring mississippi, as well. closing arguments expected today in the former south carolina police officer michael slager. he is charged with murder of walter scott who was running away unarmed. slager testified in his own defense and boris has been following this. what have you learned, boris? >> some very emotional and uncomfortable moments in court as michael slager took the stand

in his own defense. the prosecution grilling him and showing that infamous video with walter scott. the prosecution going frame by frame second by second in excruciating detail asking michael slager about where he was looking at certain points in the video and how he was moving his feet and shifting his weight and then repeatedly asking him how walter scott could have been a threat to his life if he was so far away, trying to run away. here's a bit of that exchange between slager and the prosecution. >> you've seen the video. >> i have. >> and you heard that he was 18 feet away. would you agree that he was not a threat to you with that taser without a cartridge from that distance? >> no. >> okay. so you're going to stick to that? >> yes, the reason is, from 18 feet, he could have turned around and attacked me again. >> that led to another awkward and tense moment where the

prosecution literally handed michael slager a tape measure and hold it. the prosecutor moving across the courtroom 18 feet. the distance between them and turned around ask asked, again, how walter scott could have been a threat to his life from that distance. they also showed the moment in the video where walter scott was actually shot and killed all with his family in the courtroom. scott's or rather slager's testimony wrapped up yesterday and we're expecting closing arguments today. >> the only thing you can do if someone has a gun on you from 18 feet away is obey command. that's a tough case for slager. very controversial that he decided to go to trial. thank you very much. the trump pick for health secretary is in and this is going to have important implications. congressman tom price is not new to the obama care fight, he's put out lots of plans.

there's been controversy with him. some of his ideas have been seen as extreme. we're going to give you the information you need to know, next. "why are you checking your credit score?"

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donald trump's pick to lead the health and human services department is congressman tom price. he has been one of the biggest critics of obama care. so, what does the price plan do and what will happen to the millions who are relying on obama care for care? cnn chief business correspondent christine romans has more. >> an orthopedic surgeon who hates obama care. we have a blue print of what he would like to do. congressman tom price introduced the most recent legislation the empowering patients first act to get rid of obama care and replace it with this. let's talk about this. tax credits. refundable tax credits to those who buy policies on the individual market. credited adjusted by age. but in some cases, the obama care subsidies offer bigger savings. another big difference, there is no substitute in this plan for

the medicaid expansion, which helps some of the poorest americans get insurance. that's troubling to health care economists and progressives. another piece here. price does want to expand health savings accounts. those allow those with high deductible plans and provide a $1,000 one-time tax credit for contributions and increase the amount people can sock away in savings. however, hcas are used by wealthier americans who have funds to set aside. a health savings fund. you have to have expendable money to set aside. some people think that is a risk for the poor people. people with less money. another change from obama care. high-risk pools for the sick. cover those with pre-existing conditions as long as they maintain their coverage. add in billion dollars to fund this. high-risk pools were shut down with obama care launched. prior to that, some states lost a lot of money. half of their operating cost husband to be subsidized.

conservatives say, look, this used conservative principle, something like this. progressives and health care economists say they are afraid that the state expansion isn't there and they're worried about tax credits. people who don't have money in the first place, how are they going to pay their premiums? >> thank you so much for breaking all that down for us. right now we want to bring in congressman michael burgess, subcommittee on health and obgyn before going to congress. good morning, congressman. >> good morning. thanks for having me on. tell us about your colleague, congressman price, and how you think he will set about trying to change obama care. as you just heard christine say, he hates. >> well, let's first off, tom price the individual that i've known now for over ten years during our co-tenure in congress there has been no person on either side who has spoken out more eloquently in favor of the patient that we have to keep the

patient at the center of whatever decisions are made. it's not about the doctor, it's not about the hospital and not about the federal agency or the insurance company. ultimately, it's about the patient and their family who are seeking care and seeking to have a problem either maintained or solved. so, a lot of the stuff you talked about in the lead-in, actually, that does not happen at the level of the federal agency. we still do have article one and article two of the constitution. the legislative changes that occur will occur in the house of representatives and the committees with jurisdiction and the committees of jurisdiction over in the senate. a lot of work yet to be done. some budgetary items that will occur at the onset of the trump administration will deal with reconciliation and putting an end date on some of the policies of the affordable care act and all of that is not up to the agency, but up to the legisla legislative branch. a lot of us here with a lot of ideas, both democrats and republicans. ample time to hear those ideas,

vet those ideas and for people to scrutinize those ideas before they become law unlike what happened with the affordable care act that dr. price correctly identified as a problem as it was coming down the pipe. >> so, let's talk about what this means for real people out there who are worried about their insurance. some of the things that mr. trump said that he liked and wanted to preserve in obama care and we know from polls that these are very important to people are keeping the coverage of preconditions. people can still be eligible, you can still get insurance if they have preconditions and keeping children 26 years old and under on their parents' plan. if you take away the mandate whereby everybody has to buy in, how do you pay for those things? >> wait, those are all separate and need to be considered individually. kids on the parents plan until age 26. if you remember back until age 2012 when we thought the supreme

court was going to pull the rug out from under obama care until they didn't but the insurance companies stepped up and said, you know, this is a good marketing strategy and it will not go away if the supreme court repeals or that the supreme court says obama care is unconstitutional. the mandate, there is nothing more ownerous in my opinion and i'm speaking for myself and not for the administration. and a free society you should not have the government requiring you to buy something and then saying we're going to regulate what we required you to buy under the commerce clause. that stuff is nuts. here's the other thing and i hear this everywhere we go when people find out i'm a physician and i'm a member of congress. the next thing that they say is i simply can't afford this any more. and bill clinton, bill clinton of all people identified that this is a crazy system and paying twice as much in premiums and getting half the coverage. no sane person believes we can leave this alone and say, there, there obama care is settled law and requires no change.

now, the trump administration to their credit has tasked the house and the senate saying, get us something to put a date certain by which something new is going to be in place. and then it will be up to the legislative branch to write that law. >> i want to quickly ask you about another thing where the president-elect and congressman price may have some difference and that's medicare. congressman price wants to change it, what democrats say is that he wants to "privatize" it. donald trump on "60 minutes" after he was elected said you can't get rid of medicare, "it works." how is that going to work? >> well, obviously, there's going to be some discussions that go on at the level of the administration. again, i go back to the concept, nothing is actually -- well, under president obama we had -- but, again, these changes would be legislative changes. they're not going to occur as a

feought fr fet from the white house. and i hear about this every day not just from doctors, but patients, as well, home health care providers and nurses and they're fast and furious to coin a phrase. that's what's going to stop. that's the difference that people are going to see immediately with tom price as the secretary of health and human services. i will just say this, it is going to be a new day in america and people are going to welcome it. >> thank you for your perspective and previewing all of this with us. >> thank you. >> always nice when people use the name of the show in their comment. always good. who is in and who is out? we're talking about the college football playoff picture. the final rankings before selection sunday. we got them in the bleacher report. i have asthma...

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actually, checking your credit score with credit karma doesn't affect it at all. are you sure? positive. so i guess i can just check my credit score then? oooh "check out credit karma today. credit karma. give yourself some credit." sorry about that. the new college football playoff rankings are out. who's in the top four and who is on the outside looking in. coy wire has more in this morning's bleacher report. tell it. >> chris, your yale bulldogs didn't make it, but they did beat harvard. and that's part of the fun, right. well, let's check it out. after their double overtime loss to rival ohio state, michigan currently out of the playoff. knocked down to number five. and undefeated bama still holding that top spot. ohio state stays in at number two and clemson number 12 and the pac-12 making an appearance.

washington huskies at number four. can they stay there, though, that's the question after conference championship games this weekend. they will play number eight, colorado. michigan, wisconsin and penn state all still with a chance. the final rankings will be released sunday at noon. big stuff coming. and we all know tom brady is one of the greatest passers of all time, but his blocking skills just so so, like a se seamstrist. check out this video he posted making fun of his fierce blocking skills. ♪ here i go again on my own ♪ going down the only road i've ever known ♪ ♪ i've made up my mind >> now, alisyn, if tom brady

running like a drunken cuomo towards chris cuomo's jets, get your morning started, i don't know what will. >> i thought he was just gisele's husband. enlightening for me. >> let me see the face coy wire would make if tom brady was running on him on the field for a block? >> that's the thing i don't understand, chris. the jets didn't even touch him. when a quarterback is coming at you, you're taught, go get him. >> that's why the jets are where they are in the sewer. thanks, again. >> coy, thank you for that fun this morning. >> you're welcome. so, president-elect trump's tweet about flag burning raised concerned about where he stands on constitutional rights and freedom of speech. that's next.

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the truth behind the tweets.

president-elect donald trump calling for punishment for flag burners, stripping them of u.s. citiz citizenship, jailtime. of course, it's unconstitutional, but it's about what trump wants. >> it's constitutional. >> it's unconstitutional to punish someone for burning the flag. free speech is often protecting what you don't like, or it was. let's discuss what the implications are from what we see the president-elect wanting to do in this area with former federal prosecutor jeffrey toobin and and bill carter. the law clear when it comes to flag burning, just because we don't like it. 69, 89, it's been ratified many times in the supreme court. but it goes to the window of what trump sees the first amendment as in terms of what to protect and not to protect. how so? >> well, the, i mean, you know,

if you went to donald trump rally one of the highlights was always when he would point to the media and say they're scum. they're dishonest. they're horrible. and the way i interpret that is he thinks the media is scum and dishonest and horrible. i think there is genuine distaste. now, the question is, is that just his opinion, which, of course, he is free to have. or will that have implications in how the law is administered in this country? i don't think we know the answer to that at this point. certainly in terms of press access, he does appear to be heading towards cutting back on press pools and, you know, sort of the white house operation. >> hasn't given a press conference since he won. hasn't done news interviews with any regularity. >> that is certainly within his rights as president and, you know, he's riding a height of popularity now as all presidents

are when they win. the question is, when he gets in the white house and every white house is embattle to a certain extent. will he reach out and try to get in front of the public more or close the doors even further? >> that's what we're trying to figure out. any one tweet. his supporters say that we take this stuff way too literally and there's all this human cry about one flag burning tweet that's apropos of very little and we all, you know, gallop off to freak out about it. but if you look at the sum total of what he has said -- >> this is consistent message. >> and it's worrisome. >> it is. >> let me remind people of what he said about libel laws. during the campaign when he didn't like some of the coverage of him, here's what he threatened. listen to this. >> one of the things i'm going to do, if i win, and i hope i do, is i'm going to open up our

libel laws so when they write purposely negative and horrible and false articles, we can sue them and win lots of money. >> so, hard to know now what he will do in the white house. but that was certainly a shot across. >> a lot of this is about, you know, completely getting rid of decent. and a lot of the tweets that he sends out are an instant reaction to some criticism about him. that's what this broad purpose is. he doesn't like people setting fire to the flag because they don't want them protesting him. that's equally protected speech, but equally despicable and he isn't going after that because it's not criticizing him. i think it's basically his nature to be thin skinned and he reacts and, frankly, the president, when he's the president, everything he says has an impact. you can't tweet out something as a president and say, i'm just kidding around about it. >> words matter.

>> his words matter. >> also works against him, also, because an as insurgent and as a private citizen, you can attack the laws as the other, the system. now he is going to be the steward of it. not only is it wrong to say i'm going to redo the libel laws because the president doesn't do that or can he have kellyanne conway threaten to sue his critics. be careful what you say because they don't understand the president of the united states has open and unlimited access for critics. you can come at him all day and not be sued for defamation. he doesn't understand the law and he doesn't understand that he's a steward of how you do things in america to keep it open and free. that's the concern. >> that is the concern. but i also think, you know, he is tapping into feelings that a lot of people share in this country. that, you know, the media is a juicy target for him because, you know, we think of ourselves as steward of, you know, the constitution. we think of ourselves as the

representatives of the public. a lot of the public doesn't see us that way. they see us as an insulated elite. when he attacks the press and when he attacks the cast of "hamilton" or the people who are protesting in portland, he is tapping into feelings that a lot of people share. >> right. to think that, okay, so, get rid of the media. get rid of the free press. then our problems will be solved. but then -- >> yours will go a long way in the right direction. >> we have to remember we are the watch dogs of government at our best when we do it right and if you have a straight filter from the white house to the people, that's called north korea. >> that's true. and, you know, i think we are a long way from north korea at this point. >> i understand. >> and we will remain and i think we're likely to remain that way. but the question i have is, you know, his opinions are, you

know, he's perfectly entitled to his hostile opinions. the question is, once he becomes president, what can he do to really impact --he clearly can't do anything about libel. >> he can't change the constitution to make it a crime and he can't. >> he can't appoint judges who are less interested. and one of the things that even this polarized supreme court is pretty unified about is protections for the first amendment. you know the westboro baptist church that protested at funerals, their rights were protected in an 8-1 decision. i mean, it's really bipartisan first amendment rule in this country. >> they always talk about originalists and protect the constitution and this sounds like something that undermines the constitution. >> remember, one of the big reasons for the first amendment in this and all of the discussion about it in the

amendments was descent against government because they were trying to seal opinion. gentlemen, thank you very much. we appreciate it. following a lot of news this morning. some important weather information to get you. let's get right to it. >> the people he selected are solid and effective, capable people. >> he has a choice to make as to who he feels most comfortable with. >> washington republicans plotting a war on seepier iseni. democrats will not let them win. >> a president-elect to save 1,000 manufacturing jobs in indiana. >> if he does it, kudos to him. >> i will believe it when i see it. smoke was so thick we couldn't breathe. >> flames were just everywhere. >> this is the largest fire in the last 100 years in the state of tennessee. >> dear god. >> announcer: this is "new day" wi