>> trump also embracing former adversary paul ryan telling supporters he's come to appreciate the house speaker like a fine wine. the president-elect meets today with the tech titans of silicon valley. only 37 days until the inauguration. we've got every angle covered. let's start with sunlen serfaty in washington. >> good morning, chris. there has been a firestorm of criticism from democrats and those within donald trump's own party, slamming his pick for secretary of state, so the president-elect is now responding by using the campaign-style rallies to push publicly for his nominee, bracing for the battle ahead. >> a great diplomat, a strong man, a tough man. >> reporter: in wisconsin, donald trump defending his choice for secretary of state, rex tillerson. >> rex will be a fierce advocate for america's interests around the world. >> reporter: trump talking up the exxon ceo after facing backlash from both sides of the aisle over tillerson's ties to russia, especially now in the wake of the cia's finding that

moscow meddled in the election. >> rex is friendly with many of the leaders in the world that we don't get along with. some people don't like that. they don't want him to be friendly. >> reporter: the president-elect now filling most major positions for his administration. >> i believe we're in the process of putting together one of the great cabinets. certainly a cabinet with the highest iq. >> reporter: trump tapping freshman republican congressman ryan zinke as interior secretary and one-time rival former texas governor rick perry for energy secretary. perry now set to run the energy department after trying to suggest eliminating it altogether. but for getting to name the department during this 2011 presidential debate. >> the third agency of government i would do away with the education -- the commerce -- let's see. i can't. the third one, i can't.

sorry. oops. >> reporter: if confirmed the top four picks of trump's administration will be led by white males, a first for any administration since 1989. as sources say some trump loyalists are expressing frustration over being shutout after supporting trump's campaign from its early days. but the president-elect giving conditional praise to his one-time antagonist house speaker paul ryan during their first joined appearance. >> he's like a fine wine. every day goes by i get to appreciate his genius more and more. now, if he ever goes against me, i'm not going to say that, okay. >> reporter: the relationship warming up since trump's victory. >> i want to thank donald trump. i want to thank mike pence for helping wisconsin, michigan, pennsylvania, the midwest finally see the light of day and put a republican back in the white house. >> reporter: trump, though, continuing to attack the media. >> they're very dishonest

people. >> reporter: but happy to pose for cameras when meeting briefly with rapper kanye west at trump tower in new york city. >> i just want to take a picture right now. >> reporter: today another interesting round of meetings at trump tower. the president-elect is convening a big meeting with executives from the tech industry like tim cook, sheryl sandberg, elon musk and jeff bezos who was very notably outspoken against donald trump during the campaign. >> let's bring in republican congressman chris collins of new york, a member of the president-elect's transition team executive committee. good morning, congressman. >> good morning. good morning, alisyn. >> let's start with a couple of the cabinet picks. rex tillerson. are you comfortable that you know all you need to know about mr. tillerson's relationship with vladimir putin and russia? >> oh, i am just thrilled with rex tillerson. as a side note he's an eagle scout and president of the boy scouts. i chair the scout caucus in washington and i'm an eagle scout and so is my son. so when i talk about character,

that's all i need to know about rex tillerson. but truly his business interests around the world are very get it done kind of guy. exactly the type of individual that will serve this president, and no procrastination. he'll be putting america first. i'm very pleased with rex tillerson. as you know, i was never a romney guy. so yes, i'm smiling. >> okay. do you think feel that he will be able to hold vladimir putin's feet to the fire or have an adversarial relationship with him if necessary? >> oh, there's no question. anyone that's been the ceo of a company such as exxonmobil nose what it is to negotiate. you study the strengths, the weaknesses, of someone you're negotiating with, whether it's a customer, or a vendor. you strategize on how you're going to ultimately end up succeeding in what you're attempting to do. and in this case, putting america's interests first.

so, as a skilled negotiator, someone from the private sector spending a lifetime traveling the world, and dealing in other parts of the world, i think rex tillerson's just a great pick. >> congressman, do you doubt that russia meddled in the u.s. elections? >> i suppose we'll never know. but we want to stipulate that they did as far as hacking, and releasing e-mails, if you want to stipulate that, that's fine. i don't think we should continue investigations, because at the end, what do we really accomplish? we need to unite the country. people who are calling on mr. trump, the electoral college president, that's insulting to our democracy -- >> yeah, but, but congressman this is different. i mean you're saying that, well, if russia meddled, and they hacked into the dnc, well so be it. we'll never know and i guess that we'll just move on and that's okay. >> well there's nothing we can do to change it. the truth came out. i should say the people that are

aghast at what happened it was really the lies, deceit of the dnc, and the going on relative to the dnc's favorite hillary over bernie. who knows, you know, if we gshs if that hadn't come out, the truth, so those who are upset are saying we're upset by the truth, and when americans sue the truth that may have had an impact on elections -- >> not exactly, congressman. i mean those who are upset are saying that russia, one of our often enemies, meddled in the u.s. election and could have subverted democracy. that's what they're upset about. >> well because the truth came out. but again, let's say they did. it's not going to change the results of the election. and again, it was the truth that came out. so, you know, we need to move on and unite behind president trump, so -- >> yes. >> again, this -- what would you

do? so it comes out and it is determined they did. what's the action you take? well there is no action you can take -- >> but you don't do anything. i'm -- i want your point on this. >> what could we do? what could we do? >> you don't think that our president should retaliate somehow? should make our great displeasure known somehow? should say that that's unacceptable somehow? i mean it sounds like you're saying we just accept it and move on. well i'm suggesting that you know, pretty much every country in the world, including the united states, is hacking and using cyber technologies to gain an advantage. i'm suspecting the u.s. is doing it, as well. also you don't do this kind of thing in the public eye. you do it behind the scenes. if you're going to take some steps and send a strong message, i don't think you do it on a newscast. you do it, you let the other side know it's happened, what the repercussions are, and at some point i think there's a place to get it done but not

necessarily holding a press conference on it. >> well, sure, i mean and in fact the obama administration says that they were quietly dealing with this for months before the election. trying to figure out what to do about it because they didn't want to broadcast it. but just so that i'm clear, do you doubt the intelligence agencies that they say definitively that russia did interfere? >> oh, i'm not going to doubt the intelligence agencies that said that -- would say russia was hacking. wikileaks did what they did. as i understand it the hacked e-mails were turned over to wikileaks who then decided what they would release and not release. we're never going to know whether wikileaks decided to release some and not others. >> mm-hmm. >> i don't think anyone's suggesting that russia was the one that was actually releasing these. it came through wikileaks, and i guess -- >> yep. >> again there's a question we may never know the answer to. >> but, but if russia releases

incriminating republican or rnc e-mails, you'll -- you'll still feel as sanguine as you do now of, hey, that's, that's how it goes, occupational hazard? >> it is on occupational hazard. but i'm a little tongue in cheek sure that there was nothing that would have been harmful with republican e-mails. >> oh, boy. congressman, oh, boy. >> a little tongue in cheek. >> okay. we shall see. and if anything ever is revealed on that front. congressman, thanks so much. we appreciate you being on "new day." >> okay, alisyn. good to be with you. >> you too, chris. >> all right we're following breaking news in syria. deadly air assaults on rebel-held neighborhoods in eastern aleppo. are going on right now. that is a violation of the supposed cease-fire turkey was said to have helped negotiate that deal. they blame the syrian regime for breaking it. at least two dozen people are

dead. dozens more are hurt. buses have been brought in earlier today to help transport injured civilians as part of an evacuation plan but at last check those buses are empty. the u.n. estimates there are still 50,000 residents trapped inside a war zone. >> the controversial president of the philippines admitting that he used to personally kill suspected criminals. in a speech late last night, president rodrigo duterte said when he was mayor of davao city he drove around on a motorcycle both looking for trouble to set an example for hesitant police officers. the obama administration has expressed concern about human rights violations under duterte's populist authoritarian government. breaking overnight hollywood in mourning at the loss of alan thicke. canadian-born star whose resume spanned five decades. he was best known, of course, as america's dad jason seaver in the hit '80s sitcom "growing

pains." here's a reminder. >> ben, what are you doing? >> watching carol flirt with some guy and he's not bobby. >> well, that's none of your -- what guy? >> i think he's a little weird. >> why? >> he's interested in carol. wait until i tell bobby. >> ben. >> yeah, yeah, yeah. >> thicke leaves behind a wife, three kids, one of them of course is singer robin thicke. in an instagram his father was quote the best man he ever knew and the best friend he ever had. alan thicke reportedly died of a heart attack. he was only 69 years old. he was supposedly playing hockey. >> oh, my gosh. >> with one of his other kids. he was very vital. so young, especially in this day and age, to be gone. >> gosh. i am not ashamed to say i liked "growing pains." that was a funny -- you could see the comedic timing of everybody in that. i liked that --

>> it's controversial to like "growing pains." >> he was very likable. all right i guess i'll find out on twitter if they're controversial or not. >> well that is not the measure that's for sure. president-elect trump says democrats are urging him to -- urging to undermine him. that's what this russian meddling story is about. we're going to ask congressman keith ellison if there should be such an uproar over this and would it be the same if hillary had won the race.

rex is friendly with many of the leaders in the world that we don't get along with. and some people don't like that. they don't want him to be friendly. that's why i'm doing the deal with rex. because i like what this is all about. and we're going to have somebody that's going to be very special. >> all right. donald trump defending his pick for secretary of state, exxonmobil ceo rex tillerson, who is facing criticism from both sides of the aisle over his business ties to russia, paving the way for a big confirmation battle, maybe. joining us now to discuss is the democratic congressman keith ellison. mr. keelson is also running to be chair of the democratic national committee. we'll talk to you about your political fate. let's talk about the state of play here. how do you feel about tillerson, the president-elect has said some people don't like that tillerson is friends with world leaders. i don't think that's the issue. what do you think?

>> i don't think it's the issue, either. i think the issue is, what are the material connections which may undermine, compromise american national security. if you are the secretary of state or the president of the united states, for that matter, we need to know that there is nothing, absolutely nothing you're thinking about other than the best interests of the united states. not your company. not your business dealings. not what money you may have on the line. i mean, the fact of the matter is, that this is a very troublesome situation, because if you expand this to the whole hacking situation, which our intelligence agencies have said that perhaps russia has favored president trump, elect trump, then we have to say what if they turn against him? what if suddenly they don't like him? will they expose things about him that they know that we don't know? will he be able to be full 100% for us? this is a real concern. >> the why behind the russia hacking has confused the

question of whether they hakd. and that's dangerous because the first part, whether or not russia hacked, the intel community seems to have consensus that they did according to clapper on october 7th he put out that statement not a new revelation, that's a cybersecurity existential national security issue. whether or not they did it to help trump is a political concern and when those get confused you get reactions like the president-elect's who's saying the idea that russia hacked at all is ridiculous, which, of course, is basically him saying the intel community doesn't know what it's doing. but let me ask you something about accountability on this issue. the white house was told at least in july, decided reportedly to do nothing because, one reason was they didn't want to compromise ongoing negotiations on syria with russia. the political concern reportedly was they didn't want to give donald trump, ironically, something to carp about if he lost.

what do you think of that decision to not have said anything about russia's role in the hacks on the e-mails and the election? >> here's what i'll say about it. cyber attacks and cybersecurity have got to be top shelf issues for american national security. and we have got to get to the bottom of this issue, investigate it thoroughly, find out exactly what happened, congress has a critical role to play in every american official and citizen needs to be focused on what the outcome of such an investigation will be. now, i will tell you that there's a lot of considerations here but one thing we should not be confused about is getting to the bottom of this, investigating thoroughly, and holding everyone accountable, including russia or even some people in the united states for these cyber attacks. >> clapper says they already do know. that there is no need for an investigation. they know, from their signature issues, from work they did on the ground here and abroad, that russia and different agents of the kremlin were active in this

hacking. they already know. why russia did it, i guess you could hold hearings on that but i don't know that it would bear fruit. what's the bottom line here? >> well i still think that in a democracy like ours congress has a certain role to play to just go over the evidence, look at it, review it, and then issue its own findings on it. i mean the congress is the -- the -- represents the people of the country and we need to have our intelligence committees look at it. and you know, where things are not classified, we should be as open and transparent as possible without -- with due respect to classified information. this is an issue of serious public concern. it's only going to get more serious as technological sophistication advances. and people need to know that a cyber attack can shut down our grid. can change our water system. can change all types of infrastructure in our society. this is nothing to go light. and we need to be very serious

about it. and my opinion, there's got to be some accountability for it. and so i'm all in favor of that bipartisan group that includes several senators on both sides of the aisle who are going to -- who are committed to getting to the bottom of it. >> all right. let's talk about you. for a second. and whether or not you'll be the next head of the dnc. you have said, yeah, if i got that job i would step down from congress, it's a full-time job. you were deliberating about that. the man knock that i hear most often about you is questions about your political ideology when it -- not that you are muslim, it's about the anti-semitism isn't because you're a muslim as far as i can glean your opinion is wanted on that of course, but you gave a speech in 2010 where you said that u.s. foreign policy in the middle east is governed by what's good or bad for a country of 7 million people which people take to mean israel. and that this was seen as you having a hostility toward the u.s. relationship with israel, and that you were turning a

blind eye to the value of that relationship, and you were favoring the arabs essentially over the jews. >> no, absolutely not. as a matter of fact, i was talking to a group of people who asked me how they could look at the jewish community as a model for political empower plnt. in fact, i've been to israel seven times, voted for bilateral aid to israel to the tune of $27 billion. and i have supported israel's u.s. joint defense pact over time and i'll tell you this, there's a lot of people around the world and around our country who look to the jewish community as a community that has used this democratic system in order to offer its policy ideas, and that's the question that was posed to me. but -- >> what does that mean? because who doesn't use the system to advance its own agenda. that's what people do, that's what constituencies are. >> well, chris, of course. but, some people in our country, they might be immigrant groups,

they might be new americans, they don't know how to use the system as well and want to learn how to use it. want to learn how to be effective in lobbying, and in working with our u.s. system. there's nothing wrong with any group of americans using our democratic system in order to advance their policy views. and if some groups like you know -- there's various groups that are effective. this is something that this is a skill that should be developed, and strengthened, and people who are more successful should be looked to -- towards as models. this, this statement that i made had absolutely nothing to do with what you're suggesting, actually it was more about saying, how do people who want to know, how to work with congress, how to work with members of congress, how do they learn to do that better. that's what that was all about. >> the criticism is out there. i'm giving you the opportunity to respond to it. that's the job and i appreciate

you tack ig the opportunity to do so. congressman ellison. >> thank you, chris. >> alisyn? >> all right the deadly assaults in syria are erasing a possible cease-fire and evacuation plan in aleppo. what if anything can be done for the civilians caught in the middle. we explore that next.

a cease-fire in eastern aleppo is over. deadly shelling resuming overnight leaving hopes for evac uxs and escapes literally on life support. let's bring in cnn's senior international correspondent frederik pleitgen live for us from beirut. what's the situation, fred? >> yeah, you know, alisyn you're absolutely right. that cease-fire that's supposed to be in place there in aleppo and is also supposed to call for the evacuation of those remaining fighters and civilians from that last little enclave that the rebels have in aleppo that appears to have all about fallen apart. the first fighters were supposed to get evacuated from that enclave very early this morning. that didn't happen. there were buses standing by. and all of a sudden shooting started once again. and, as is always the case in cases like this, both sides are

blaming each other. the regime is blaming the rebels. the rebels are saying that it was the regime fighters who fired first. the fighting is very intense. there's some people on the ground who counted some 100 artillery shells falling on eastern aleppo, also airstrikes reported as well. so certainly right now, it really looks as though that cease-fire not holding out very much. the russians and the turkss who brokered this thing in the first place are trying to get it back on track but of course with every second that passes and every bomb that falls, that's going to get more dive cult. and in the end, once again, the civilians there in aleppo who are suffering, there's already reports of several people killed, several people being wounded. and of course to begin with, these are people who are very weak, who haven't had food in a very long time and who thought they were finally going to be brought to safety, alisyn and chris. >> fred, thank you very much for bringing us up to date. let's bring in cnn global affairs analyst and vice president for the new initiatives at the woodrow wilson international center aaron david miller he's also

advised democratic and republican secretaries of state. so let's get your thoughts of course on rex tillerson as the head of foggy bottom. but, with what's going on in syria, to the american audience, who has been told a lot during this campaign about why the u.s. may want to stay out of the situation, what do you want people to think about? >> you know, syria is a moral, strategic and humanitarian disaster for the united states. without question. largest single refugee flow since the end of the second world war. by conservative estimates anywhere from 300,000 to 500,000 people killed. a nation traumatized, and likely never, never again will be put back together in the way it was once constituted. the reality, though, for the obama administration, and most likely for the next administration, is that i suspect there is very little readiness in congress among the public for a risk ready policy. that is to say in the wake of

iraq and afghanistan to deploy thousands of american ground forces to pay the cost of reconstruction. literally to put american arms around this moral, humanitarian, strategic disaster and try to make it better. and i suspect that policy is likely to continue in the next administration, too. >> aaron, help us understand how pivotal this week is in aleppo and syria as a whole. if assad's forces do win back aleppo what does that mean for syria? >> i mean, i think there are two major consequences. number one, essential syria, which is what the russians and iranians are trying to help mr. assad put back together, the coast, largely populated areas, aleppo, homs, damascus, will remain under syrian control. second i think the fall of aleppo symbolically and practically will represent a huge psychological and material loss for the opposition. they simply now have no realistic path to challenge the assad regime.

isis, of course, will retreat into the desert, they'll continue to launch their insurgencies, and they still control a third of the country. so the fall of aleppo will not end the war. but it is likely to change the war in a pretty dramatic and decisive fashion. >> quick, one more beat on this. for americans who say, look, i care about isis. i can't -- the united states can't be the world's policeman, we can't fix syria, there are 100 guys like assad out there. i only care about isis. what do you say to them? >> i mean, if we really do care about isis, and there's a contradiction, syria and iraq are like giant petri dishes in which bad governance, empty spaces, sectarian rivalry, create perfect circumstances for the emergence and growth of this kind of insurgency. and the reality is, and this is the conundrum, chris, without addressing the assad problem, how then in essence do you deal with the broader challenge of the islamic state?

they're on their heels. i suspect in both raqqah and mosul eventually they will be denied the caliphate but they will continue to project their terror and violence both in the region and beyond. just one additional point, this is not just an obama problem. we have to understand in the face of mass killing and mass slaughter for 70 years, the united states under republican and democratic administrations, whether it was the nazi holocaust, or cambodia, or congo or darfur, or rwanda, with the exception of perhaps bosnia and kosovo, america's track record on humanitarian interventions is pretty poor. so, it's not a defense of the obama policy. it's just a sobering piece of perspective on how hard this is, and how unwilling the u.s. has been to intercede. >> and of course, this is about more than just assad. there's about russia's influence. that leads us to rex tillerson,

the president-elect's pick for secretary of state. where are you on rex tillerson? >> you know, i worked for half a dozen rs and ds, this isn't a political comment. but how consequential and effective the secretary of state is depends on three things and i think in large part the analysts have missed this in the current debate. one is the relationship with the president. you don't have a relationship with the president, he doesn't have your back in washington, and when you're negotiating abroad, you might as well hang a closed for the season sign. second is the world itself. are there crises that can be defused? are there agreements that can be reached? these are the two factors that will determine tillerson's success or failure. the third pact factor, his persona. whether he has the right temperament, the right experience and the right background is important, but i would argue in the end, it's not decisive. exxon is not a company. it's a country. it's got intelligence

organization. they report. this guy's been around for a long time. he knows a lot of the world leaders. the question for mr. tillerson, again, is can he create the kind of relationship with the president to influence the president's policy, and essentially to carry out what the trump administration policy is going to be in the middle east and elsewhere. and there's a lot of unanswered questions on all of that. >> hmm. aaron david miller. appreciate it. >> thank you, chris. >> thank you. >> and alisyn. >> thank you. well team trump is asking a tall order of rick perry. is the former governor of texas the right pick to lead a department he wanted to abolish. when he can remember it. we discuss all that into the bottom line. we live in a pick and choose world.

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charades? yeah, let me check my score too. try credit karma. it's free. check out credit karma today. credit karma. give yourself some credit. time now for the five things to know for your "new day." number one, donald trump defending exxon chief rex tillerson, predicting his secretary of state pick will be a quote great diplomat. today the president-elect meets with the ceos of the top silicon valley tech giants. the deadly air assaults are back on in syria. violating the supposed cease-fire in place for aleppo. efforts to transport the wounded to medical care from eastern aleppo appear to have stalled. the u.n. estimate there are 50,000 civilians are still trapped in rebel-held neighborhoods. ohio governor john kasich vetoing the so-called heartbeat abortion bill which would have

banned any abortion once a fetal heartbeat is detected. he did sign a bill restricting abortion after 20 weeks. >> bill cosby expected back in court today after fireworks erupt in the sex crimes case. cosby himself yelling out a couple of times as did lawyers for both sides. a judge is making a decision. can 13 other accusers testify against cosby at this trial next year. alan thicke, best known as america's dad for his role in the hit '80s sitcom "growing pains" has died. his resume spanned five decades and includes credits as a singer, composer and producer. thicke reportedly died of a heart attack he was just 69 years old. for more on the five things to know go to new day cnn.com for the latest. a young woman thought her life was over when she started to lose her eyesight. but a ski trip with her dad changed everything. here's this week's "turning point."

>> ski racing is an individual sport. but for me i ski down a mountain with a guide in front of me, calling the commands. >> up, up. >> my name is danielle, i'm a visual usually impaired u.s. paralympic alpine ski racer. i was diagnosed at the age of 13 with a disease called rettonitis pigmentosa and that's a retinal degenerative disease. as i got older my sight was getting worse and it seemed like my life was just crumbling day by day and my father called me up on the phone and he says, we're going to go skiing. and we went down the mountain, and my life changed from that moment forward. >> i'm danielle's husband and guide when we ski. my job is to be her eyes. i'm basically thinking out loud and telling her what's happening. >> coming out of the 2010 paralympic games, rob and i were

super excited winning two bronze medals. in october of 2010, found out i had multiple sclerosis. i had to learn how to walk again. i was super determined to get back on snow. and the 2014 winter paralympic games, we won a bronze medal. i didn't start living my life until i started sports. and sport has given me the life that i love and enjoy. >> do you ski? >> yes. >> do you -- amazing. amazing what she has overcome. >> it's -- her perseverance, with her various physical challenges. i mean, it's scary to ski down a mountain. imagine being visually impaired. >> and then having to deal with ms and retrain her body how to move. the power of the human spirit beats everything. >> what a great story. >> so we're talking politics this morning. democrats having objections over donald trump's nom nil for secretary of state.

what about the gop side? there's also a little bit of dissension there when it comes to rex tillerson. we're going to discuss that next in the bottom line. millions of you are online right now, searching one topic. that will generate over 600 million results. and if you've been diagnosed with cancer, searching for answers like where to treat, can feel even more overwhelming. so start your search with a specialist at cancer treatment centers of america. start with teams of cancer treatment experts under one roof. start where specialists use advanced genomic testing to guide precision cancer treatment... ...that may lead to targeted therapies and more treatment options. start where there's a commitment to analyzing the latest research and conducting clinical trials-to help each patient get the

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donald trump trying to drive up support for his state department pick. but objections to rex tillerson not just coming from democrats. for today's bottom line let's bring in david chalian. hi, david. >> good morning. >> so, are there enough objections or reservations in the senate to rex tillerson that it could block his nomination? >> there's certainly enough to make it a bumpy confirmation process. there's no doubt about that. we already have heard from four republican senators that have questions and concerns, mostly based on tillerson's relationship with putin. and remember, before it even gets to the floor, where it needs 51 votes, before it gets there, in committee, because of how closely the senate is

divided, 52-48 republican advantage the new senate, there's not an overwhelming number of republicans versus democrats in committee. probably just one more republican on the foreign relations committee than democrats so if they lose one in committee it could get trouble for tillerson getting to the floor. that being said, guys, it would be an enormous blow to the president if his own party somehow blocked his choice for secretary of state just coming out of the gate. it may be bumpy but i don't think we -- we don't know yet because we heard mitch mcconnell the republican leader fully get on board. so there's a split inside the party itself. >> bottom line, how much of the drama surrounding tillerson is actually being fed by trump's resistance to the reality that russia motivated hacks during the election? >> probably some, chris. i mean i think that if, indeed, right now trump is on an island on that issue. you can't find anyone else. intelligence community -- forget the conclusion -- >> his people come on all the

time david and either tap dance like sammy davis jr. or ignore it all together. >> but nobody else is saying what he's saying about well it could just as easily be a kid in his basement. nobody who's looked at this in an intelligence agency or members of congress necessarily believe that. so i do think that could help if he were to say that. but listen, donald trump last night in wisconsin, guys, he said this himself that the reason he, as he called it, making the deal with rex, because everything is a deal to donald trump, but the reason he is tapping tillerson here, one of the reasons is, because he gets along with the leaders that america doesn't get along with. namely putin. so, it is actually part of the restated reason from the president-elect as to why he's tapping tillerson. >> we also know that the president-elect has, i think, an incredible power to persuade. even his previous political enemies, and so we've seen that with paul ryan. not that they were enemies but certainly paul ryan was not on team trump and then last night

donald trump compared paul ryan to a fine wine that has basically, you know, aged graszfully and grown on him. so, what's -- what are we to make of this budding bromance with donald trump and paul ryan? and could it fray if donald trump, say, wanted too much money for infrastructure? >> it could certainly fray. it is tenuous. you are -- there's no doubt about that. just listen to donald trump's crowd last night when he brought up paul ryan's name. it was full of boos. in paul ryan's home state of wisconsin. so clearly there is some dissonance between the core of trump support and an establishment guy like ryan but donald trump is obviously no dummy at all and he knows he's going to need paul ryan to get his agenda through so you hear him starting to warm to him. but, he also made clear right after that wine statement alisyn that the moment paul ryan goes against him he's not going to say nice things about him like that. >> yeah i know and that's an aside but that's probably one of

the truest things we heard in that. also there's a disconnect between political life and personal life. and personal life, amity precedes unity. you like somebody and then you're with them in unified purpose. politics is the opposite. you get on the team side, the gop side and then you figure out whether you like somebody or not. unity comes first. that's what we're seeing there. but, maybe we need a bottom line on the divisions that are being sunk in. we had one of the trump transition officials on this morning, and he seemed insistent on saying about the department of energy. one, we just want the names of people who worked on global warming because we're intellectually curious, and two, we can't say that we accept the sign on man's impact on global warming, because it's open to debate. why are they driving this line? who does this gain approval from? >> well, it, as you heard from lots of republican candidates throughout the primary process, they were sort of all over the map on this, and it does appeal to a segment of the republican

base to not sort of settle of the science on it. but, listen, with rick perry in there, i do think that their energy policy is likely to be looking at texas' record going to be a lot more sort of economically focused than i think an overall battle of the science. >> well, also, a construction, right? i mean, he doesn't like the energy department. when he can remember the name of the energy department he didn't like the energy department. and so, doesn't that mean he will try to shrink the energy dapt? it very well may, and the club for growth a real conservative interest group here in washington their first message out of the gate when perry was name was we really hope that perry is the right energy secretary to close the energy department. so, there's no doubt that the energy department has a big target on its back as one of the bureaucratic institutions that many on the trump side would like to see eliminated or, as you said, just shrunken. >> one of the underplayed stories of the day is the trump

administration asking for the names of people who researched global warming at the energy department and the department of energy saying no they won't -- >> shame on us. we need to do that more tomorrow and figure out what that is all about. david, thank you. >> thanks, guys. >> what's your take on all of this? you can tweet us @newday or post your comments on facebook.com/newday. >> i want to hear your comments. >> the good stuff, next. we need to be ready for whatever weather may come our way.

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the good stuff is is brought to you by ancestry dna. a gift as unique as they are. all right. the good stuff, larry peters owns several mcdonald's restaurants in michigan. he wanted to do something special for some very important people in his community. >> we have a lot of respect for what they do in the communities. you know, they put their lives on the line every day that they go to work. >> who's that? any police officer, that's who. anyone who visits one of his locations is offered a free meal of their choice. larry says it's his way of thanking them for protecting the community. >> the last year or so, with everything going on, we thought it was real important to show our support for our local officers. >> and not just for the holiday season. larry says he's going to be offering this to police officer, period. >> that's awesome. >> right? >> that is a great --

>> got a small business. he's making a stand. ordinary guy doing something extraordinary. >> that's a great story. all right. late night comics taking on mr. trump's cabinet picks, and of course his meeting with kanye west. here are your late night laughs. >> donald trump's pick for secretary of state, rex tillerson. rex tillerson. yeah, there's a name that lights up a room, rex tillerson. did you know this, rex tillerson was once the president of the boy scouts of america. yeah. of course, as donald trump calls that government experience. >> former vice president kick cheney today praised donald trump's secretary of state pick rex tillerson calling him an inspired choice. so tillerson has the support of kick cheney, vladimir putin and donald trump. that only leaves one person. >> excellent. >> it's unanimous. >> tillerson is an interesting pick. for one thing, he's an oil man who believes in climate change. he believes in it, he's from exxon. he invented it. >> kanye west actually showed up

to meet with donald trump at trump tower. people were shocked. they didn't expect the two to meet until the first presidential debate in 2020. >> that's right. kanye west met with donald trump at trump tower today. no word on what they interrupted each other about. >> they do have a lot in common. they're both fashion designers. they both go on twitter rants. they both use all caps. they both have very high self-esteem. they're both married to models. they both do reality shows with their families. they both like to interrupt people. and they're both people of color. in donald's case, orange. >> he makes a good point. i didn't realize how much kanye west and donald trump had in common. >> i hope that thaetd a very, very short list for all of our sakes. going forward. you like scouting? >> you mean like girl scouts? >> yeah. do you guys do scouting? i want my kids to do scouting. >> i definitely wanted my

daughter to do it and then i had to become a scout leader like i had to be a mom who was volunteering to do it, and that was a deal breaker for me because i don't have time. >> tillerson wasn't just the head of scouting. he was part of the force to open up scouting to gay scout leaders and scouts -- >> good to know. >> unknown fact. >> time for newsroom with carol costello where you will learn more tidbits. >> -- for setting fires. >> i was kicked out of the brownies, but not for setting fires. >> why were you kicked out? >> i said a bad word. i was mad. >> uh-oh. >> i was 9. >> are my gosh -- >> "newsroom" starts now. good morning. i'm carol costello. the slaughter of civilians, women and children goes on in aleppo, syria, despite calls