i mean, market manipulation worries me. >> rana, bill, thank you very much. we're following a lot of news and we will speak to that union leader chuck jones in just moments. let's get right to it. >> buy american and hire american. >> what you, mr. trump, would like is for nobody to criticize you. >> i didn't attack him. i just called him out on where i felt he misled the people. >> companies are not going to leave the united states any more. >> if you have this kind of thin skinneddictivevindictiveness, w very deep trouble and so are you. >> it's the success they had. >> trump adding another general to his cabinet. >> scott pruitt. >> democrats and environmentalists are sounding the pick about trump's pick to head the epa. >> announcer: this is "new day" with chris cuomo and alisyn

camerota. >> we say hello to you and welcome to your new day. president-elect donald trump announcing new appointments to his cabinet 30 days after claiming victory. trump picking another general. this is his third. this time to lead homeland security. he also tapped a climate change skeptic to head up the epa. >> this as the president-elect takes to twitter to target a union boss who called him a liar for getting the facts of the carrier deal wrong. we will speak to that union chief in just moments. we are 43 days away from mr. trump's inauguration. so, let's begin our coverage with cnn national correspondent sunlen serfaty. >> there has been a flurry of announcements in the last 24 hours coming from the trump transition team. the president-elect making some big picks for key roles in his administration, but trump is also spending his time taking to twitter. getting into a war of words with a local union leader who has been critical of trump's claims over jobs actually saved at carrier.

>> reporter: president-elect donald trump naming two more hardliners to his cabinet. elevating climate change denier and fierce epa critic oklahoma attorney general scott pruitt to run the agency. >> there were a number of qualified candidates that the president-elect interviewed and he settled on attorney general pruitt. >> reporter: intent on reversing president obama's move to curb climate change. trump also tapping another general to his cabinet. retired general john kelly to head the department of homeland security. raising questions about the militarization of his administration. kelly a decorated four-star marine general retired earlier this year as commander of the u.s. southern command. he is also a gold star father whose son was killed in afghanistan in 2010. tonight, trump will introduce iowa governor terry branstad at ambassador to china at his third

stop on his thank you tour in des moines. t that the president-elect is interested in maintaining its relationship with beijing. trump also mixing business and entertainment. nominating former wrestling executive linda mcmahon to head the small business administration. all this as trump is readying to announce his choice for secretary of state, which could come next week. trump insisting former adversary mitt romney still has a chance at the post. >> it's not about revenge, it's about what's good for the country. >> reporter: trump's administration moves are being overshadowed by another feud. the president-elect lashing out again on twitter against the carrier union leader chuck jones after he called into question trump's math over how many jobs the deal he brokered with carrier actually saved. jones appearing on cnn last night. >> 550 are still going to lose their jobs. >> reporter: trump tweeting minutes later that jones did a

terrible job on blaming job losses on jones. if united steel workers 1999 was any good, they would have kept those jobs in indiana. jones then calling into "anderson cooper 360" to respond to trump's attack. >> because of corporate greed and unfair trade they want to move these jobs out of the country. if he wants to blame me, so be it. i look at him how many billions of dollars he spent on his hotels and casinos trying to keep labor unions out. >> reporter: today at trump tower the president-elect will be meeting with one potential secretary of state contender, former nato commander james stavridis and then he'll travel to columbus, ohio, to meet with victims and first responders from the ohio state attack. next stop of the victory tour. another one of these campaign-style rallies he's been having. >> thank you. democrats and environmentalists are fired up

about oklahoma attorney general scott pruitt's nomination. john jones joins us now with more. why are they so fired up? >> scott pruitt calls himself a leading advocate against what he says is the epa's activist agenda and now donald trump wants to put him in control of the agency. it created a storm of outrage on the left. one former top aide to the obama administration calling pruitt "an existential threat to the planet." >> reporter: scott pruitt, donald trump's for environmental protection agency administrator is a staunch climate change denier. giving democrats an environmental groups whip lash. after trump's highly publicized meetings with prominent climate change activists. >> attorney general pruitt has a strong conservative record as a state prosecutor and has demonstrated a familiarity with

laws and regulations impacting a large energy resource state. >> reporter: an ally of the fossil fuel industry, the oklahoma attorney general is a fierce critic of the agency he may soon lead. filing lawsuits against the epa over its regulations of power plants, including obama's effort to significantly reduce their emissions. >> when you look at the epa and the role that it's played over the last several years, there's going to be substantial change in that agency. there's going to be a regulatory roll back. >> reporter: critics blasting trump's nominee the league of conservation voters scott pruitt is like the fox guarding the hen house. he has fought to pad the profits of big polluters at the expense of public health. as for climate change, pruitt wrote in the national review just a few months ago that the link between global warming and human activity is far from settled. incoming senate minority leader chuck schumer saying pruitt's reluctance to accept the facts or science on climate change couldn't make him any more out

of touch with the american people and with reality. the decision to name scott pruitt came just a short time after the president-elect gave environmentalists a glimmer of hope for middle ground by meeting with al gore who has been a leading voice on the issue of climate change. alisyn. >> joe, thanks so much. chris collins, currently the co-chair of president-elect trump's house leadership committee and services. he also serves on the house energy and commerce committee. good morning, congressman. >> yes, good morning, alisyn. >> let's talk about scott pruitt. how is it going to work when a fierce critic of the epa is put in charge of the epa? >> well, as a fellow fierce critic of the epa, i know he's going to roll back the regulations that have been an overreach. the epa has gone to extreme measures whether it was a couple years ago or last year. the waters of the u.s. trying to

regulate and call mud puddles in a pasture navigable waters. the overreach of the epa as the republicans have said have hurt our economy, have hurt our farmers. certainly hurt our energy production and doing so driven up the cost of energy. so, i look at attorney general pruitt as someone who understands balance. the epa is out of balance. they've gone to the extreme. >> yeah. >> he will bring it back in balance and we all want clean water and we all want clean air. but there is an extreme where you start driving up the costs of living and doing business in america, overregulation and then the federal government stomping on states rights. he will correct that overreach. >> now, during the primary, donald trump said that he actually vowed to abolish the

epa. is that really what's happening here? >> no, it's not abolishing the epa but bringing them back and understanding the importance of states rights and be energy independent and we need a policy which includes fossil fuels. it won't be abolishing the epa but rolling back hundreds, if not thousands of regulations that was simply an overreach. let's bring them back into the common sense world where we all live and not have the extremists. >> congressman, does scott pruitt believe in climate change? >> i think all of us, including scott pruitt would say that human activity certainly has an impact on the environment. whether you want to use the word climate and climate and the environment. but, again, the extreme that the epa has gone to in the past that's impacted our basically standard of living in this country that has to be rolled back. you've just said you have to put

things first. don't go to the extremes. we all know human activity has an impact on the environment and hence on climate. but it's not the top priority of the united states. we have less than 4% of the population of the world even live in our country and we don't control the other 96%. if we want to talk about the real issues it's china and it's india and it's mexico and others. >> sure. >> that are polluting the environment. it's not the united states of america. >> but what about the treaties? the paris treaties. the accords. where the united states is part of a global community, international community vowing to do whatever they can do to keep manmade emissions down so as not to enhance global warming. where is scott pruitt on those? >> well, i can't say where our next epa head is on those. if we look, the united states is so far ahead of most of the world, especially, you know, where 80% of the people live. and that's the problem.

we're starting from a different point. if you look at our air and our water and compare that to what you see in china and some other, you know, countries that are, in fact, causing problems around the world, that's the real issue. it was not that we're starting from the same place. but driving up our costs would put more and more workers in the united states out of work. and we're all about bringing the jobs back. >> there it is. that's exactly the crux of the argument. because environmentalists and people who are certain, they say, of the science of global warming feel that scott pruitt's loyalties lie with the fossil fuel industry. and not with the environment. >> they lie with the workers of the united states who need to bring some jobs back, some manufacturing jobs. at some point i suppose if nobody goes to work we won't have to worry about much more pollution.

we need to get people back to work in this country. we need affordable energy and energy independent and just the overreach. what's happened the last eight years under president obama. some of these agencies have just gone rogue on the american public and we just need to bring them back to the center. >> speaking of jobs and certainly american-made products, why is it that the house republicans -- there was a water bill, as i'm sure you know. and inserted into it was a provision that for the future infrastructure projects to only use american made iron and steal products. yet, house republican tried to spike that provision and they ended up in a place where it will only last for a year. why? why would house republicans not want it to just be american made steel? >> well, there's a balance here. and the balance is how far do our dollars go. we're going to have to not put a

straitjacket on ourselves. and while everyone wants to do what they can in this country, there is always the cost factor and i think there's the balance that a mandate like that would put us in a straitjacket. i think there's no question. everyone wants to buy u.s. made products. we need to bring our manufacturing back to this country to put people to work. >> why not have that provision? do you agree -- do you believe that american made steel should be the first priority and that is what we should use for our infrastructure projects? >> i'm somebody who believes in a competitive free market and, you know, encouraging the minute you put something like that in place i think costs may actually go up because competition has been restricted. i'm somebody who just believes in competition. believes in the best value for taxpayers. >> okay. >> to get the most work we can done for the least amount of dollars. >> did you disagree with the carrier deal that the

president-elect just struck to keep jobs here even though it will be more expensive for carrier? >> well, carrier made that decision and i applaud them on that decision. the federal government is not throwing money into that deal. >> well, they're getting state incentives. they're getting -- trump did, obviously, apply public pressure. so, did you approve of that? >> oh, yes. good for president-elect trump to stand up and do what he can to try to keep jobs here. and i applaud him on that and a private company makes their own decisions. carrier made the decision to stay. governor pence very, very small amount of money given. i only wish new york could get jobs or save jobs at that same dollar level. we have a couple zeros after ours. no, i thought it was a reasonable move and i think somewhat surprising. but, boy, we were all glad. certainly those 1,000 or so families that are going to be having a merry christmas.

>> congressman chris collins, thanks for being on "new day." president-elect donald trump slamming a union boss who called him a liar over the carrier jobs deal. we get chuck jones' side of the story when he joins us live next. good morning, mr. jones. i take . healthy, free, the world before me, the long brown path before me leading wherever i choose. the east and the west are mine. the north and the south are mine. all seems beautiful to me.

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president-elect donald trump firing back at a local union leader in indiana who called him a liar over the terms of the carrier jobs deal. the union chief says trump's numbers do not add up. here's what trump said in his announcement last week in indiana. >> the united technologies and carrier stepped it up and now they're keeping actually the numbers over 1,100 people. which is so great. which is so great. >> are they keeping jobs? yes. but it's hundreds of jobs. 800, not the number that the president-elect put out. the extra 300 administrative engineering jobs that make up the total were never going to mexico. despite the incentives to keep jobs in indiana, carrier will

still shift 550 jobs to mexico next year and there may be more to come. we have the man at the center of this very public feud with the president-elect chuck jones. he is the president of the united steel workers 1999 union there. good to have you, mr. jones. >> thank you very much. appreciate it. >> so, if i had to hazard to guess it was you saying that the president-elect lied his blank off that got him to go after you on twitter. do you regret saying that? >> no, i do not. maybe, you know, the choice of words weren't the best, but the message was the same. he didn't tell the truth. he inflated the numbers and i called him out on it. >> that means that you believe that the president-elect knew that the real number wasn't 1,100 and said that anyway. how do you know that? >> i do not know that to be a fact. but, you hear all the time how much of a skilled negotiator

that he is. you know, he says about himself. so, i've been in a lot of negotiations as a union representative. so, i would have to assume that he knew the world knew the precise numbers or should have. >> he said the reality is youed the be thanking him because you failed to keep the jobs there because you're not being effective as a union leader. fair criticism? >> well, you know, he's not listing everything i said. any time i've talked to the media, one of the first things i've said is i thank him very much for getting involved in help save the 800 jobs that are going to remain here in indianapolis. the people we are very grateful for what he did. so, he's not listening to that. >> so, what is the reality for

the workers at carrier? we had one of your workers, one of your union members on one of our shows last night and it seems that the concern is that people see this as a good thing, obviously, that more people will get to have paychecks for the holidays for their families. but that it belies the reality of how the jobs are being lost and how the wages are coming down at carrier and industries like it. what is the reality? >> well, the reality is we're grateful, once again, to have 730 of our members still have a job. and it's due to president-elect trump getting involved. my problem is when they put out earlier in the week that 1,100 and some odd jobs were going to be saved, a lot of the people thought at that point in time that they were going to have a job during the conference that pence and trump were at at

carrier, they talked about over 1,100 jobs. they did not mention anything about 550 jobs in indianapolis going to mexico. a lot of people throughout that crowd and that plant thought, at that point in time, were going to have a job only to find out when we told them the next day that 550 of them were going to lose their job to monterey, mexico. >> you're saying the politicians went for the big number for the quick score and a lot of people wound up with dashed hopes because they're going to lose their jobs anyway? >> i don't know the reason they did it. i know a lot of people had dashed hopes and they were not willing to give us any information until last thursday when mr. trump and pence came in the facility. we didn't know what the numbers were until noon that day. and, so, that's when we found out 730 people were going to retain their jobs. when he got out there and told

people 1,100 jobs have been retained, people in the crowd and throughout the plant thought they were going to have a livelihood. >> i get it. i get the frustration in that. but, again, you do also recognize that it was a good thing that you get to keep jobs at all. what do you think of carrier being gifted tax incentives by the state and getting the attention from the administration as a way to get them to keep jobs in the u.s.? do you like those tactics? >> no. if i may, anybody that believes that the 7 million that the state of indiana has anted up over a ten-year period had a big impact on them staying here. they better look at the numbers. carrier, according to their own numbers, were saving $65 million a year by moving the whole plant with the exception of the rnd lab people, 350 to monterey,

mexico. they have got $5 billion with a b in contracts. nobody will ever say. my position is the military contracts was a big part of those negotiations between the utc and mr. trump. it wasn't $7 million over ten years anted up by the taxpayers in indiana and go a little further, i'm glad that jobs were saved, once again. but the taxpayers are paying their tax dollars to a very profitable company in order to retain 730 jobs. >> but even if it was a combination, even if it was the tax incentives and someone from the administration. again, we don't know. just to follow through on your thinking. they said, hey, your parent company gets a lot of money from this government, that could change if you don't do the right thing by workers. shouldn't you like that kind of strong arm? >> sure. that's exactly what i would have done if i had been involved with

the negotiations. i would have brought up the military contracts if the government awards them and try to use that as some leverage. and if he did that, i had no problem with that. but, you know, everybody thinks that because the state of indiana offered up $7 million over ten years that was a game changer. i don't buy that. >> so, what has it been like being in the crosshairs of the president-elect of the united states. there's reporting out there that you had people making some ugly calls to you. i'm sure that's not completely new for a union leader but a different order of magnitude than you're used to. >> you're exactly right. i have been doing this job for 30 years and i've had a lot more serious threats than what people are making right now. you know, i've got a little more thicker skin maybe than i did many years ago. everybody's got a right to their opinion. and sometimes we disagree on things, but i'm not overly upset about any of it. he overreacted, president-elect

trump did. and i would expect that if he was going to tweet something, he should come out and try to justify his numbers and try to justify when i called him out out on that when he said he did not make any direct mention to carrier keeping jobs in this country even though he said it numerous times during his campaign. >> so, where does it go from here? we keep hearing that there are concerns that carrier may sweat more jobs in the near future and more needs to be done and they may be being framed as doing the right thing when ultimately their plan is to do the wrong thing by workers in indiana? >> i don't know what their long-term plans are. the plans are to invest $16 million in the facility within the next two years. that's going to be some automation andgregory hayes

mentioned in an interview, automation means less people. with that being said, i think we'll have a reduction of workforce at some point in time once they get all the automation in and off and running and go from there. >> automation -- automation didn't get a lot of attention in the campaign, but as you know, it is a major reason for reduction in human labor. as we move forward with this discussion of how we keep jobs in america, mr. jones, please come back on the show so we can talk about putting meat on the bones of ideas like retraining and how to make america more competitive place for production. we want to make sure that we get the perspective of labor leaders like yourself on that, as well. thank you very much for joining us, mr. jones. >> thank you. >> be well. alisyn? president-elect trump adding another general to his administration. should the heavy military influence in his cabinet raise any red flags? what does it mean? we discuss all that, next.

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president-elect donald trump has chosen retired general john kelly to head the department of homeland security.

a senior transition official says that to cnn. that's the basis of the reporting. trump now has three retired generals that could potentially serve on trump's administration. is he hiring too many generals? let's bring in cnn military analyst and retiring general and seventh army mart hertling and counterterrorism and counterterrorism official phil mudd. general, let's first start with the irony here. which is that during the campaign one of trump's power lines was, i know more about isis than the generals and it kind of met with some controversy and also some kind of pushback against what the establishment knows versus an insurgent like then trump. now he's putting them around him. is there is a hypocrisy in that? >> i was probably the only general that he was talking about that he knew more about. but i think he's hiring generals for a very good reason. i'll steal a page out of phil

mudd's book -- >> there are only like two pages. >> there's four things. he knows these guys are smart in the ways of the world. he knows they have been educated and that they have gone around the world and dealt with other countries and they understand security and they understand the military. number two, they are all patriots. they will perform their duty according to the constitution. they will be loyal to him. number three, they're admired. the military has a very high admiration rate by the american public. it's in the 80%. congress is at about 13%. congress is lower than how the americans feel about president putin. number four, they get things done. there is a reason. i was hired by a hospital after i retired and it wasn't because i could do brain surgery. they wanted me to do other things that provided action for an organization. that's why he's hiring these guys. >> military leaders are often politically savvy and, just to be clear, all somebody has to do is google your name, general, and they'll know you deserve respect. phil, you have a different perspective on this that could be helpful.

you worked in the government and you did a lot of military-type operations, but you were on the civilian side and there has been a feelingn civilian affairs and agencies, how do you feel about it? what is the plus/minus? >> i think we're talking about people who have terrific judgment with the exception of the national security adviser general flynn who i think is not regarded as someone who is capable for the position. if you're looking at the secretary of defense and secretary of homeland security, both people who have superb credentials. i think the overall question i would look at, chris, especially if we get a general over the department of state, which i would not expect. but that the president when he's in the national security council and in the situation room has a variety of powers he can use. diplomatic, intelligence, commercial, u.s. business overseas, usa. you're getting potentially too many people around the table who

do not have enough experience with the variety of leaders the president has to use. so, that's the question i think we should ask. not the credentials of the individuals. their credentials are terrific. >> the plus side is the strength, the orgizational and the narrow tool box that these gentlemen would have served in service. >> i went around in a minor role in europe dealing with other governments, i understood as i went into embassies and talked with other governments and agencies i understood the trade and the commerce and the other issues of society as you get from that country team. guys like john kelly who commanded south comm, i know him well. he was literally leading a lot of initiatives not only from a military perspective, but a governmental and an economic perspective in south america when he was the south comm commander. they do know a lot more than just the military tools. but i take phil's point that

security should be subordinant to the larger purpose of the government. i mean, mr. trump kind of came down hard on the play "hamilt "hamilton." in the papers talked about where the military's proper place was. we are not talking about that. these are not uniformed service commanders any more. >> what do you say to that, phil. the baseline suspicion is the this militarization of our government? >> i don't agree with that overall in terms of concerns about where the government is headed over the course of years. i do think if you look at american foreign policy in the last 15 years, like it or not on the intelligence size the cia is more militarized and it has been deployed for longer than i can remember in my lifetime and longer in the vietnam campaign. i think you're looking at the overall character and american foreign policy over the last 15 years is the reason why these people might be put in place.

we are engaged in afghanistan. we're engaged in iraq and syria. all these are military engagements where diplomacy and intelligence sometimes are secondary. i think this is a broader issue about where america is headed overseas and how it deploys power. >> general, there is an assumption being made when it comes to someone like general mattis there will be a loyalty to trump as kind of an extension of chain of command. but what happens with gentlemen like this in your knowledge. if trump wants something, hey, they just did something horrible to us overseas. torture is back and bigger and better than ever. doesn't general mattis have the back bone to stand up to the commander in chief in that regard or would he just respect the word from above automatically? >> i don't believe that's the case, phil. i think a lot of americans have a mispersonification of the military on that that we just obey orders robotically. when they put their hands on the bible and swear their oath when

they eventually become cabinet members first to the constitution and then to the legal authority of the president. they will stand up for the constitution. and all of these gentlemen who have gone through the military training and education process will know that personal courage is paramount in these kind of conditions and they need to stand up when they see something wrong or something that is contrary to what they know is the best aspects of the american government. >> general, thank you for your perspective. i hate that you called me phil. phil mudd, thank you very much. alisyn? >> it never ends with those two. donald trump says that he's getting some guidance for some of his cabinet picks from president obama. what is president obama telling mr. trump exactly? that's next.

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>> we have a really good chemistry together. we talk. i really like him as a person. president-elect donald trump revealing that he has consulted with president obama on some of the cabinet picks. so, what are these two talking about together exactly? joining us now is cnn political analyst and "usa today" columnist kersin powers and douglas brinkley. great to see both of you this morning. president-elect went on a different morning show yesterday and talked about how he is relying on president obama and looking for some of his input. let's play a little bit more of that. >> i have asked him what he would think of this one and that one.

i've asked him what he thinks are the biggest problems of the country. what are some of the greatest assets going forward and we have a very good dialogue and i must tell you, you know, i never met him before this and i never spoke to him before this. i really, i do like him. i love getting his ideas. i would say that, yes, i take his recommendations very seriously and there are some people that i will be appointing and in one case have appointed where he thought very highly of that person. >> i wonder who that person is, kirsten. any evidence of president obama's preferences in donald trump's cabinet picks? >> not really. i don't know, the thing about donald trump is i think he's open t talking to a lot of different people. he's even open to talking to people who disagree with him and i think we saw that even before the election. the question is whether or not it's really going to influence him. i think if you look at the fact that he met with al gore and

then who he chose as his epa pick, it would suggest there probably wasn't a lot -- >> al gore an environmentalist. >> maybe al gore needs more time with him. but the point is, he couldn't have picked somebody that al gore would have disliked more than the person that he chose. so, the question is over the long term, could president obama talking to him move him incrementally on certain issues? we don't really know. >> what does history suggest, professor. theinter play between former and successor presidents? >> you know, it it varies. when franklin roosevelt won in 1932, he didn't even want to see a mug shot of herbert hoover. he wanted nothing to do with herbert hoover. fdr said you have to strip the name hoover dam off the dam and called call it bolder dam. and that's after he just beat him. so, you know, sometimes it's mean like that. other times, like when jimmy carter beat gerald ford. they became absolute best of

friends and talked all the time. when gerald ford died it was jimmy carter who gave the pri e principal eulogy. the fact that he said barack obama wasn't born in the united states. the fact that he can seem to get along with barack obama now takes some insights and policy wisdom ideas from him. probably helps donald trump settle in a little bit and president obama has a legacy he needs to protect and he might be able to talk donald trump down on a few things. a useful friendship. >> let's talk about that. president obama is trying to help donald trump, despite that terrible bad blood for the years before the election about the birther stuff. but he's also trying to protect his legacy. is there any evidence that president obama will be able to protect his legacy because everything that we've seen is completely opposed to that legacy. >> at this point.

like i said, i think over the lo long term of that relationship and donald trump is sticking with the people who brought him to the dance. he is not going to suddenly shift to people who were calling him a fake and a phony and we'll see what he does with the secretary of state pick. we don't know what he is going to do. he is meeting with these people. is he actually going to put them in his cabinet? we don't know. i still think it's good for obama to be having these conversations. he is going to have to repeal obama care. >> repeal is optics, right? because you can just write that is a new law. it's the replacing part that by all indications or growing indications that there is going to be less and less dramatic change than that which was talked about during the election. >> maybe he has been able to move him on some of the key components that are popular and there is a fight going on with him right now. some people say let's get rid of it right away and more people are saying, no. we need to do this slowly and

have a replacement and maybe three years to transition. so, you know, maybe on that. but he is still going to repeal it. there's just no getting around it. it's one of his core promises. >> doug, what does history teach us about whether presidents protect their predecessor's legacy or destroy it? >> i think president obama was looking forward to writing his memoir and spending time in hawaii and getting his daughters raised and now suddenly he might be in spring fights. nobody has put more into the climate change issue than barack obama. it means a lot to him. i know for a fact in his post-presidency he wants to be a climate leader along with pope francis. and here you get, you know, scott "toxing air" pruitt picked as head of the epa. someone who thinks climate change is essentially a hoax. there's no way president obama is going to be able to fall into a comfort zone with that pick. and i think you'll see the

president telling chuck schumer and others that is the position we have to stop and fight. there is going to be a battle over the epa. >> look, he hasn't said that climate change is a hoax. we just talked to chris collins who says, yeah, basically what they're saying is yeah, sure, sh science is out there. but we think that fossil fuel industry is more important. that's basically what they're saying. they're prioritizing the fossil fuel industry. >> the problem is he is really a lackey -- "the new york times" reported on how his office took a letter from an oil company and put it on letterhead of the state. >> alisyn and i were having fun with it earlier what is a denier versus someone who is an outright opponent to it. at the end of the day, it is not about the science it is about protecting the industry or doing what he thinks is most important which is what people are going to have to debate. >> thank you. actress sofia

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modern family star sofia vergara is facing an unusual twist in the battle over her frozen embryos. a right to live lawsuit has been filed against her by those two embryos. vergara's former fiance nick lobe dropped his original lawsuit against her in which he tried to get custody of the embryos that the two of them had created when they were a couple. he says he has nothing to do with this new lawsuit. let's discuss this with cnn senior legal analyst jeffrey toobin and cnn legal analyst laura coates. jeffrey, how do two embryos file a lawsuit? >> they don't. i think this lawsuit is going to be thrown out. because they -- i don't think there is any way that a court would find embryos to have standing. under the law, at the moment, embryos are property. they are not people. this is all tied up with abortion politics and this is an

attempt to try to elevate embryos into something they are not under the law. but at the moment at least this lawsuit is going to be thrown out. >> laura, nick loeb has told cnn this is not his lawsuit so how do these two embryos, how did this even happen? who's acting on their behalf? >> well the thing is in louisiana has the only state in the union that has some laws to give some right to embryos, preimplanted embryos. so it's a trustee who is acting on behalf of these two embryos saying that, listen, sofia vergara is denying them the right to have access to an inheritance in the form of a trust. and so, there's an economic harnl they're going to say if they are not implanted and get to see life as we find it in the law. so, it's a strategic decision to go to louisiana and hope that because of their very, very pro-embryo right legislation that they will have some leg to stand on. but ultimately as jeff says i

think this is not a case that will see much light. but for the fact that you've got competing interests in the viability argument when it comes to pro-life and pro-choice arguments. >> we know actually a little bit more about these embryos. they are apparently both female embryos. they have names. in this lawsuit. emma and isabella. they have requested that nick loeb, their biological father get custody of them and let them live. he would like custody of them. he had been fighting for a couple of years to get custody of them. something sofia vergara did not want. she does not want them to be born. he does want them to be born. so forget this nutty case for a moment, who does when embryos exist, who does have custody? >> this is one of the areas where the law is trying to catch up with technology. and frankly the rules are -- are in flux at the moment. but i mean i think the lesson to people who may be listening is

that when an embryo is created, it is important for the mother and father, the people who created the embryo, to agree in advance and in writing how the embryos are going to be handled. >> if they break up. >> if they break up. if something happens -- >> somebody dies. that it's very important to des ignite how these are going to be handled. because once you don't designate it, it can wind up in the court and frankly, this is an area in terms of ownership of embryos that is very unsettled under the law. >> laura, there's another wrinkle to this case. and that is a couple of weeks ago, sofia vergara, and the judge in this custody case, wanted nick loeb to produce the names, and contact information of two other, i believe, of his exes. ex-girlfriends, who have had abortions.

they were trying to prove that he wasn't always right-to-life and that this was some sort of publicity maneuver. but that is -- i mean what does that mean that -- that publicly to produce these names of anonymous women where they would have been sort of shamed in public or had to reveal to their spouse -- their now spouses or employers, i mean that's a whole other wrinkle in terms of right to privacy. where's the law on that? >> well, absolutely. someone's not having to be outed in terms of having received an abortion in the past even if it's for a civil lawsuit. what's happening in that case is essentially this, the judge was trying to figure out and grapple with how do i decide the property interest? how do i decide the balance of interests here? and you've got a contract that doesn't say anything about what happens if they break up. only if they die. so the court in california says listen i'm going to do a balancing act here and figure out is there any alternative reason or any reasonable way for

this man and if there's not i'm going to have to figure out if it's publicity or not. you have sofia vergara's attorneys requesting that information, is it the intent of deposing them to figure out two things. one, whether in fact he always had this right-to-live feelings and standpoint. but also to figure out, is this somebody who has an alternative means of getting a biological child and has thwarted those attempts in the past, and how does that guide the court now? this is a very, very unsettled thing and really alisyn it comes down to an argument over whether or not an embryo as jeffrey says is a property, or is a human that has vested interests. and i think the courts are grappling with this. >> these are just two people who can't stand each other anymore. >> that's the bottom line. >> keep that in mind. they're trying to use the courts to work out their very, very angry feelings. >> jeffrey toobin, laura coates, thank you very much. we're following a lot of news this morning. let's get right to it. >> scott pruitt has actually been involved in lawsuits

against the epa. the very agency that he has nominated to head. >> -- has great qualifications. >> donald trump adding another general to his cabinet. >> saying, well, this person isn't qualified. >> we're saving the jobs at the carrier plant. >> he misled the people on the actual numbers of jobs he claimed was saved. >> there's no heramerit and valo attack a union leader for disagreeing. >> mr. trump you are looking and acting as if you are mean, and vindictive. stop this. >> this is "new day" with chris cuomo and alisyn camerota. >> good morning, everyone. welcome to your "new day." up first, president-elect donald trump announcing a series of new appointments to his cabinet 30 days after claiming victory mr. trump picking a skemtic of climate change to head the epa and another military general to lead homeland security. >> trump making the latest