we're wishing you a good morning on this sunday morning. i don't know if we've told you lately how grateful we are that you are with us in the morning but we are. i'm christi paul. >> i'm martin savidge in for victor blackwell. it is wonderful to be with all of you. let's go to some big political news developing overnight. green party candidate jill stein says she is escalating her recount efforts in pennsylvania. she dropped her lawsuit after a court demanded $1 million to keep the recount going. now they say they will file for emergency relief in federal court. that will happen on monday demanding that a statewide recount be done on constitutional grounds. >> in the meantime, as top democrats gather there's one challenger who says, i'm out. howard dean dropping his bid for a second stint as dnc chair. now there's controversy for leading contender keith ellison

with renewed focus this week on his past ties to the nation of islam and his defense of its leader. we're going to talk about that straight ahead. then president-elect donald trump narrowing in on his choice for top u.s. diplomat. could this be the week that we will learn who will be trump's secretary of state? we'll take a look at the final four candidates. we are going to get into the political arena here shortly. we want to talk about the nine people who died and still this morning more than two dozen who are missing after this wild fire started during a party in an oakland warehouse. just massive. officials feared dozens more people may have been killed here and firefighters say they just can't search that entire building yet because it's not safe to enter. a facebook page originally started for the event turns into a desperate search forum now for family members and friends. cnn's dan simon with us. >> he is. dan, what can you tell us about the latest here?

>> reporter: hey, good morning, guys. well, crews have been working around the clock to recover the bodies. it is going to be a very difficult day here at the fire scene. authorities have brought in very large equipment, including excavators and cranes to get to some of the tricky spots in the building. all of this as anxious family members await any word about their loved ones. authorities worked through the night vowing to search as long as it takes to recover all the victims of friday night's massive warehouse fire in oak la oakland. >> we have recovered nine victims at this point. we are rushing their fingerprints to identify them and notify family members as we get those identifications. >> bob was inside the studio when the fire broke out. before he could leave he heard a friend, a man he calls pete, crying out for help. >> he's like, i broke my ankle.

i need you to pull me out. i need you to pull me out. >> the flames burned mule as he tried to rescue his friend. soon the fire forced him to flee. >> the fire was just getting too hot and the smoke was just getting too bad and i had to -- i had to -- i had to leave him there and i wasn't able to get him out. i really -- i really don't think pete made it. >> reporter: even when the fire was out, the building was too unsafe for emergency responders to enter. the roof collapsed and debris littered the area in what was called a live/work art space. this morning the community of oakland is remembering the victims. the golden state warriors held a moment of silence for the victims before the start of their nba game while several dozen people feared to be victims of the fire were found safe by authorities, more than two dozen more are still missing and police expect the death toll to rise. >> we know there are bodies that are in there that we can't get

to that have been seen but not recovered. >> i'm just happy to be alive. >> reporter: well, authorities say it could take 24 to 48 hours to recover all of the bodies. they are asking folks here to have patience. obviously it's going to take some time to sort through all of this. it's going to take a while, of course, to figure out the cause and also to gain an understanding as to why so many people could not get out. as you can imagine, there is a huge outpouring of support here in the community. people are being very generous. the oakland professional sports teams, including the raiders, the a's and the golden state warriors are being very generous. they have collectively pledged to give more than $100,000 to the families of the victims. back to you guys. >> dan, real quick before you go, you mentioned cause. do we have any idea how this fire started? >> reporter: i'm sorry, i couldn't hear your audio there. can you try it one more time? >> have we any idea how this

fire started? >> reporter: at this point we don't know how this fire started, marty. we asked the crews about that. we were wondering, for instance, if there was a pyrotechnics show that may have caused something to ignite, but at this point they're offering no theories. we don't know, you know, for instance, if there was a cigarette or anything of that nature. they say it's just going to take a long time to sort through. >> right. dan simon, thanks very much for the update. let's talk about this and some of the problems that they're having here trying to get into that building. the investigation that is to come with joel baker, fire chief for the city of atlanta fire rescue department. chief baker, thank you so much for being with us. >> thank you very much for having me. >> i want to just give you a little bit of background on what we know for this buildin. the mayor, the first thing she said yesterday was this morning a terrible tragedy took place in a space in a building that is permitted as a warehouse.

this is what we know. there was a single wooden staircase in there. there were only two exits located in the building according to the deputy chief there. there was no evidence of sprinklers. no permits for this building to be utilized. no permits for the party. no permits for construction of the property. this was designated as a warehouse. so when you get there and you assess that much, what is your biggest obstacle trying to get to people who are inside? >> well, first of all, offer my condolences to all of the families in this tragedy. >> absolutely. >> some of the obstacles, my understanding, there's a lot of furniture, debris, and trash throughout the building that's made it very difficult for the firefighters in oakland to maneuver inside to provide the life safety techniques they need to do to get those fire victims out. so with so much furniture and other debris and trash in the way, it made it hard for the firefighters to get inside, as well as for the people to get outside of the building.

>> if it's a warehouse, would it be normal for there to only be two exits in a warehouse? >> well, also, depending on the size of the warehouse. >> okay. >> so the warehouse must be permitted. so depending on the size of the warehouse, you have two exits, you need 20 exits. i'm sure once the investigation is done oakland will make the determination of how many exit doors they should have had. >> the fire chief was talking about the fact that the party was on the second floor. the ceiling collapsed. the roof collapsed and then the second floor, part of that collapsed onto the first floor. and they knew that there were -- and still this morning, sadly, know that there are bodies in there that they can't get to. they also saw walls moving and that's why they had to step back and wait for that to be secured. at this point, now 24 hours later, would you suspect they had been able to secure that building in full yet? >> secure as far as safety --

>> for their safety to go in and get the rest of the people. >> it's hard to determine without being on the scene itself. it's possibly not likely they can go inside fully right at this time until they get some structural engineers out there to determine how safe it is for the firefighters to go inside. the community needs to understand, the firefighters in oakland, the officials want to get inside as quickly as possible to find out how many fire victims are left but they want to make sure the firefighters are safe. you mentioned the collapse of the roof and collapse of the floor. there's possibility there could be more collapses. >> sure. it could happen as they were there. >> talking to ray kelly there real quickly, he made a point of saying this is a very difficult situation, not only for the community but for our first responders. what resources are available for first responders? because they see things and we always give them credit. they see things i don't think the average of us could really bear. >> fortunately here we have a

very good emergency -- i mean employee assistance program so in oakland i'm sure they have an employees assistance program. when folks respond to some type of tragedy like this, even during this thing and after this thing. some of the same members who have experienced this type of tragedy, they can counsel the younger firefighters. we get counseling for our members who go through something like this. >> it's good to hear that because you can tell the weight of the -- the emotional weight this is taking on those who are in charge there. chief baker, thank you so much. >> thank you very much for having me. >> thank you for sharing your thoughts. we appreciate it. martin? she is donald trump's super woman. campaign manager kellyanne conway dressing the part last night. the story behind the photo. that's next. just got this.e ooh boy. but, you've got hum. so you can set this. and if she drives like this, you can tell her to drive more like

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last night, donald trump attended a costume party at the home of one of his wealthiest donors. there he is. it was a heroes and villains party theme. he went as himself. notice that the woman -- there she is. dressed in that red cape following him inside. h'm. who could that be? >> well, i'll tell you. i'll end the suspense. it was campaign manager kellyanne conway, she dressed as super woman. it's an appropriate costume. she took over the campaign in august and led to an upset win almost a month ago. it's not just that subject but let's bring in tom lovianco and ron brownstein. good morning to you both. let's talk about the cabinet now that still has to be finished off, as it were, and the prime position of secretary of state. we're down to, i guess, the final four, and, ron, let me

start off. who do you think it's going to be? >> i don't think we know. it has become kind of the symbolic flashpoint of this cabinet selection process by donald trump, which has mixed appointments that no one else would have made, particularly in the white house with general mike flynn as national security advisor and steve bannon as a senior advisor. hard to imagine any other republican making those choices with a number of other choices. you can imagine nikki haley in other republican cabinets. here you have that kind of tension really being brought on the one hand rudy giuliani who was as loyal and as active of a supporter as donald trump would have. he would face a lot of questioning and a series of other choices. mitt romney, general petraeus, bob corker perhaps in the senate with the broadest support of all who would help build a bridge between donald trump and the republican foreign policy establishment that was so

critical of him during the campaign. it is a hugely consequential choice. i can't pretend that on sunday here we really know which way the president-elect is going to go. >> yeah, no, i agree with you on that. donald trump wants general mattis as his secretary of defense. one democrat says she will not vote to aid this rule into law. no military person can serve unless they've been out of office for seven years. are the democrats going to stand in the way based on that simple reasoning? >> kirsten gillibrand in new york who got hillary clinton's old seat i believe years ago who's talking about that. wants to stand in the way or attempt to stand in the way. and, you know, look, the democrats are a minority in the senate but a substantial minority, right? 48 seats as it stands depending upon the outcome of that louisiana race we have yet to see. so, you know -- >> doesn't that automatically

then make the democrats look like, here we go. the obstructionists. >> sure. right. are they the new party of no? it's possible, right? if you look at it, right, so for six years the republicans were, quote, unquote, the party of no. maybe that's what the democrats do. you know, who knows? the flip side of that is that the republicans controlled one chamber and eventually two chambers of congress during obama's administration so you have to have some leverage there. it's not enough to be the minority with some limited filibuster power inside the senate. that's kind of the key question. do you go along -- you know what's so funny with this cabinet intrigue that's going along now. we hear some trump folks floating names like they had this meeting with heidi heightcamp. vulnerable democrat of a red state up in two years. you hear them floating joe manchin for energy secretary.

it's funny. they're trolling democrats who they would need to bring over to their side anyway. you know, these are people who are, you know, have targets painted on their back by the republicans that are incredibly vulnerable coming up in the next cycle. >> let's talk about the leadership of the democratic party, ron. this weekend howard dean dropped out of the race for the next dnc chair. now there's controversy for the leading contender, minnesota congressman keith ellison. there's renewed talk this weekend. should the democrats be concerned about who's going to lead the party? i imagine they are. >> well, historically the choice of the party chair doesn't have a long-term impact on the way the public views a party. but particularly after you lose the white house it becomes a big, symbolic task of which direction the party is going to go. the democrats feel the way back to power to double down on appealing to the -- really the obama coalition centered on

minorities, millennials, college educated social and liberal whites. or is the way back to try to improve their performance among the white working class voters? in politics the answer is always yes, both. both and. but when you get to a position like this, it kind of assumes an outsized importance about a signal about which way they're going to go. representative ellison has a lot of support, those democrats who worry that he will be seen too insular, speaking to those who are already part of the fire are real. i think it will generate more turbulence for him and in this process before it's finally resolved. >> tom, one last question. where's this recount thing going? jill stein is holding a conference about it tomorrow. it seems like it started off really strong. now i'm not sure where it is. >> well, you know, it was never really clear that it would change any results. you know, there's just two -- the margins are far too wide in

wisconsin, michigan, pennsylvania to, you know, expect that it would flip anything, but it's a fight that's continuing. she's firing up the liberal base. you know, pennsylvania's going back and forth. seems like now she's going to ask the federal court to intervene to force the state recount. in wisconsin you have -- >> i'm wondering if she's giving people false hope here, they think there is going to be a change and as you just said, there's little chance of that. why keep fighting that? >> well, politically it's an easy call. practically, you know, why not fight at this point? i mean, the election's over. you don't lose anything by fighting. you have everything to gain if you're her. you know, if you're the democrats, you look at the clinton campaign counsel, the way he's going to frame this. we'll help out in any effort but we're not going to be really active. we don't expect anything to change. i think that's kind of the right frame to think of this. it's really not going to change the outcome. >> politics and practicality.

never do seem to go hand in hand. thank you very much for joining us this morning. >> wise words from the voice over here. so true. all right. first brexit, then donald trump's election. today italy and austria are voting for change there. they're going to ride the anti-establishment wave as well? we'll talk about it and the impact it could have on the u.s. the first person to survive alzheimer's disease is out there. and the alzheimer's association is going to make it happen by funding scientific breakthroughs, advancing public policy, and providing local support to those living with the disease and their caregivers. but we won't get there without you. visit alz.org to join the fight.

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i don't know if you know, but in europe they vote often on weekends. at this hour italy and austria are voting for change. europeans are watching these

outcomes very, very closely to see if they become the latest casualties of what appears to be an anti-establishment wave. italy is voting on proposed changes to its constitution. that would streamline the government. austria is holding its presidential elections again after the results of last summer's vote were overturned due to irregularities in the count. >> it's a face-off between the leader. far right freedom party and a former green party head. cnn's international diplomatic reporter nic robertson is joining us now. nic, help us understand how these elections we're watching today could impact the u.s. on an economic or political basis? >> reporter: they could impact politically because you'll get more turmoil in europe and then that has a knock on effect economically. if you get the election of this right wing candidate in austria, that would be the first right wing leader in europe since the second world war.

if you see renzi lose in italy, you could get a run on the banks. you're more likely to have a much stronger message inside europe that the european union needs to break up a bit. >> you know, a lot of people are looking at this and they're starting to count it on their hand. you have brexit, you have the u.s. elections which surprised a lot of people. now the possibility of a far right leader. is there a gauge, nic, how expansive an anti-establishment trend may be? >> sure. look at holland, for example. the right wing populus there is doing better in elections than he was five years ago. if you look in france, the french nationalist there, marie le pen is doing better in elections than she was a few years ago. there's a sense that on the issues of globalization, migration, the economy, the current politicians are tone deaf and for a number of

different parties, a number of different populus parties, that's working for them. >> austria's far right party you were just talking about, that leader is also campaigning on an anti-abortion platform. how -- is there a sense of how expansive the anti-immigration feelings are and what that might do to an issue that still at the end of the day needs to be handled? >> reporter: sure. austria feels that it's been on part of the front line on the migration issue. it's part of what the nationalists do well on traditional issues. abortion is one of those. but in austria there are about 8 million people. they had more than a million migrants pass through the country last year coming out of syria, the middle east, north africa. that's a huge number. compare that to the united states, that ought to be like 30, 40 million people, migrants passing through the country. so for nationalists it's a very easy message to say, we're being

overrun. they can push other agenda issues. >> all right. nic robertson, thank you so much for breaking it down for us. good to see you. we continue this morning to follow the horrific events of this fire that took place in an oakland warehouse during a dance party killing at least nine people. ahead, why officials fear there could be dozens more dead. ♪ tomorrow's the day we'll play something besides video games. every day is a gift especially for people with heart failure. but today there's entresto®- a breakthrough medicine that can help make more tomorrows possible. tomorrow, i want to see teddy bait his first hook. in the largest heart failure study ever, entresto® was proven to help more people stay alive and out of the hospital than a leading heart failure medicine. women who are pregnant must not take entresto®. it can cause harm or death to an unborn baby. don't take entresto® with an ace inhibitor or or aliskiren. if you've had angioedema

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it is sunday, 7:30. hope the morning has been good to you so far. i'm christi paul. >> i'm martin savidge sitting in for victor blackwell. at least nine people have died and more than two dozen are

missing. imagine the anguishing wait for their families after a massive fire started during a party at an oakland warehouse. >> now we know at least 100 people were inside as this fire consumed the second story of that building. those people scrambling to get out before a make shift stairwell collapsed along with the roof of the building. >> i busted through my door and saw this black smoke. i couldn't breathe. i was with my phone and like the lights went out. dropped my phone and like -- i had to like scream and get to the front. >> this is a devastating scene. this is complicated and it is going to take us time to do the methodical, thorough, and professional investigation that these families deserve. >> officials fear dozens more people may have been killed here. firefighters cannot -- say that they cannot search that entire building until they make certain that it's safe. >> there was a facebook page that was actually originally being used to promote the party.

now it has turned into a desperate search forum for family members and friends and more than $100,000 has been donated to the victims. all right. to politics we go together here. this morning green party candidate jill stein says she's now taking her recount efforts in pennsylvania to federal court. she dropped a lawsuit yesterday after a court demanded a million dollars to keep that recount going. >> now stein's attorneys say that they will file for emergency relief in federal court on monday demanding a statewide recount on constitutional grounds. >> so let's talk about this with a. scott bolden, former chair of the washington democratic party and ben ferguson. thanks for being here. >> good morning. >> good morning to you. i want to ask you a quick question about jill stein, scott. so everybody's hearing that the judge is saying you need $1 million to continue this. she's saying they don't have the

money. the first thought in a lot of people's heads are, what about the $7 million you raised? is there some reason that that cannot be used for this purpose? >> that's an excellent question and maybe we'll hear what she has to say on monday. when you got a tro or you're asking for emergency relief in any court, federal or state, you usually have to put up a bond. here in all three of these states bonds are probably necessary because you can get a recount, but as everyone knows and the law requires, that recount, somebody's got to pay for it. here the judge in pennsylvania is just following the law. in federal court they'll argue that it's unconstitutional based on unaffordability but she has to explain what happened to that 7 million or why she won't spend 1 million of that 7 million in pennsylvania. >> there's been no credible evidence thus far of any election tampering, ben, even clinton's campaign has said their investigations have shown nothing. so how -- how much credence do

you give this idea that the federal government is going to give money for this? >> i don't think the federal government should give her the money for this at all. i also think this is basically a fraud based on the idea that somehow somebody at bare minimum lawyers around jill stein are going to get very rich off this. i liken this to someone opening a go fund me page asking for medical care expenses in desperation after stubbing their toe and buying a single band aid. she is asking millions of dollars, for people to send in millions. she has 7 million, at least that's what we know, and she's not even willing to spend the 1 million. the other thing is this, if you're going to raise money for recount, you would know how that works. you would know that you have to put up a bond for this. you would be prepared for this if your true intention was to get the vote recounted. i don't think jill stein's true intention here or anyone around here is to actually recount the votes. i think this is about raising their profile and unfortunately taking money for people that

truly she believes in, somebody's getting rich. they need to look into this. these people that are sending in money, they're being taken advantage of. >> we don't know that for one. i understand what you're saying, your opinion. we also know that she may have put some money into wisconsin already. maybe that's where some of that money went. >> 7 million -- >> the recount is underway in wisconsin. >> right. no doubt about it. >> a lot of money is unspoken for. >> the law allows her to do a recount, chris. it allows her to do this. so when you talk about the result isn't going to change when you talk about looking into the money, i got that part and monday we'll find out more from her and we're going to find out when the court does a count. a tro is a high bar. i agree with ben that there's some explaining to do here. >> a lot. >> she has a right to and the integrity of the election process is at issue here.

i take her at her word. let's just see what happens here. >> you're right, she does have a right to do exactly what she's doing. >> exactly. >> let me pivot here because i want to play some sound from clinton campaign manager robby mook, he and kellyanne conway met with jake tapper and talked about the fake news and the impact on the election. let's listen here. >> steve bannon ran breitbart news which was notorious for peddling stories like this. i'm not attacking him personally, but they peddled a lot of stories on that website that are false, just not true and that reinforced sexist, racist, anti-semitic notions in people, headlines that make -- that, you know, are shocking and insulting. >> kellyanne? >> i think the biggest piece of fake news in this election was donald trump couldn't win. there was that. that was peddled for weeks and

months before the campaign, definitely in the closing days. >> scott, your reaction? >> yeah. well, it could be both, you know? we know breitbart stands on its own. now kellyanne really didn't answer that question and it really wasn't fake news because this was based on facts and polling and the facts in the polling, we just got it wrong, quite frankly, the pundants did. breitbart is a whole nother story because this alt right is an alt story. what they believe is facts are what you make the people believe yet they drive that narrative. that's a dangerous narrative to live by. >> ben? >> look, i think there's two things here. one, i think you're listening to someone that obviously is having a hard time getting over the fact that they lost when they thought they were entitled to this election, they thought they won this election, they thought donald trump and everyone is deplorable. you're hearing him use all the adjectives that describe deplorable that hillary clinton used. gay, anti-gay, lesbian,

transgender, bigots, racist. -- >> that's breitbart. >> no. no, the trump camp -- you just heard the clinton campaign talking about those individuals and the fact is hillary clinton and her campaign treated 50% of the country like they were deplorables and it bit them in the rear end and they lost the election. >> ben ferguson, a. scott bolden, we've run out of time. i think there are catch phrases that will never die. don't you think? always good to have you with us. thank you so much. >> thank you. catch much more from jake tapper's conversation airing on "state of the union" right here on cnn. meanwhile, cubans are laying to rest their former leader, fidel castro today. thousands gathered to bid him farewell at a funeral mass in santiago de cuba. details ahead. that'd be devastating. i took warfarin for over 15 years

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at this hour cuba is laying to rest their leader, fidel castro in the city of santiago de cuba. thousands of cubans gathered to pay their last respects at a memorial. that happened publicly last night. >> if you were wondering, the white house did not send an official delegation but national security advisor ben rhodes did play a leading role in the relations with cuba is there. so is patrick hoffman. what's the mood of people there? >> reporter: it's very somber. we just saw the final leg of fidel castro's final journey. the military motorcade that has

taken him across this island retracing his tour after the cuban revolution brought him to power. and just behind us a few minutes ago that same military motorcade took fidel castro to the cemetery. we expect -- it is closed to the press. we expect that funeral services are underway now. his family is there. we are told they do not, as is their custom, want to be seen on cuban television. they have kept private all years. most cubans don't even know what they look like. so for a very public man at the end a very private sendoff. >> and, patrick, we know there is no official u.s. delegation attending this funeral. i'm wondering, does the cuban government have a reaction to that? >> reporter: yes. so the u.s. ambassador in havana, he had attended the havana memorial service and

deputy national security advisor ben rhodes who has been the lead negotiator with the cuban government for now years also was there but of course it was a very small delegation. that's not a surprise because, of course, even with restored diplomatic relations fidel castro is a controversial figure in the united states. you saw that with the protests and celebrations in miami over his death. perhaps most surprising was there wasn't a high level russian delegation and you can read any number of things into that. other world leaders, particularly from latin america, did come here and did celebrate this man's life and there was a good turnout from the people you would expect, other socialist countries and of course they say they'll continue on with his revolutionary ideals. >> patrick oppman, thank you very much for your reporting. much appreciated. this is a picture of donald trump's top aide in a way we've never seen before. there she is.

donning a super girl outfit. what is this all about? and donald trump tweeting this morning. more on the other side of the break. says it won't let up for a while. the cadillac xt5... what should we do? ...tailored to you. wait it out. equipped with apple carplay compatibility. ♪ now during season's best, get this low mileage lease on this cadillac xt5 from around $429 per month, or purchase with 0% apr financing. enepeople want power.hallenge. and power plants account for more than a third of energy-related carbon emissions. the challenge is to capture the emissions before they're released into the atmosphere. exxonmobil is a leader in carbon capture. our team is working to make this technology better, more affordable so it can reduce emissions around the world.

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>> she tweeted this. honoring the ultimate hero at the mercer heroes and villains party. crowd is thrilled with the surprise. >> let's bring in our senior media correspondent brian stelter. all right. so what have you learned about what happened at this party? >> reporter: well, yeah, this is an annual costume party held by the mercer family. robert mercer, the 70-year-old hedge fund billionaire and his daughter rebecca who has donated many millions of dollars to conservative causes and to trump's campaign and to allies of trump's campaign. so trump visiting with his friends last night out on long island bringing kellyanne conway and steve bannon, his chief strategist along with him. bannon did not dress up, neither did trump. trump told the press he was going as himself, not as a hero, as a villain but himself.

we saw kellyanne conway saying trump was the ultimate hero. >> the beauty is you can interpret, depending on whether you voted for trump or not, if he actually went dressed up as a hero or villain. >> there you go.>> mocking his countries. this feud just keeps going and rolling and donald trump must know that every time he pushes back that just gets "snl" even more determined to hit him again. >> you have to wonder if he was in on the joke. the opening sketch was all about donald trump impulsively tweeting, not able to resist and retweeting strange characters. trump weighed in and said he tried to watch "snl" but found it unwatchable. he described it as totally biased he said.

he said the baldwin impersonation just can't get any worse and with his trademark explai explanation. sad. baldwin, a famous liberal comedian responded to trump and said i will stop and give it up if you release your tax returns. here's what actually went down on "snl". you can check it out. >> mr. trump, please, let's get to work, okay? this is an extremely dangerous world. pakistan is increasingly unstable. >> should i call them? >> north korea is still doing nuclear tests. >> should i text them? >> no. >> should i have ivanka send them some shoes. >> maybe. >> this is insane. your inauguration is just seven weeks away. >> ah! sorry, i just hadn't heard that put in weeks before. >> one-sided, definitely one-sided.

unfunny? you can decide that. it's interesting that trump does keep tuning in to "snl". even though he says it's unwatchable and hates seeing it, he does pay attention for better or for worse. >> mitt romney and steve bannon i understand also making an appearance so to speak in their own way. let's take a look. >> yes, let's look at bannon. this is interesting. >> sir, we need to get moving because you have that dinner with mitt romney tonight. >> do i have to? >> yes. >> can we at least have a picture together where he looks like a little bitch? okay. i'm ready to start this briefing. wait, where is my chief strategist, steve bannon? i can't start without steve bannon. >> he's walking in right now. >> sorry i'm late.

>> oh. >> i thought it was a little too on the nose, guys. bannon is made out to be this darth vader or skeleton invader. he's actually embraced it. he said darkness is good because it means you have power. it's interesting observation from a guy who avoids the press and allows "snl" to make fun of him. >> could be interpreted as mr. death. brian, thank you for joining us. remember, you can catch brian today at 11:00 eastern right here on cnn. >> college football champions, andy has the highlights. also, the 2016 hero of the year, this is one of this year's top ten heros.

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the nittany lions rallied in this one to come back to beat the badgers 38-31 to win that big ten championship. it's a remarkable turnaround for penn state five years after they were decimated after the jerry sandusky scandal. if they don't head to the playoffs, they're probably heading to the rose bowl. deshaun watson threw for three touchdowns and ran for two more. watson definitely going to be in that heisman trophy conversation this week. virginia tech made a game of this one late. they were driving in the final minutes to tie it up but jerod evans gets picked off. clemson wins 4 2-35. the tide rolling over alabama. ended up winning this game easily 54-16.

guys, this is what the playoff picture looked like coming into this weekend. all of those teams would win other than ohio state that didn't even play. i would imagine it's going to stay the same today when they make the official announcement. >> look at you, thanks so much. we hope you make great memories this weekend. >> inside politics with john king right now. the president-elect fills his new team and takes a victory lap. >> you promise, raise your hand, promise. so i will not tell you that one of our great, great generals we are going to appoint mad dog mattis. >> plus, china is mad that president-elect trump talked to taiwan's leader. >> he's the busiest guy on the planet but aspect is fully engaged. >> a holiday gift from the