george michael being remembered for his chart-topping music. >> many people had profound feelings about. >> i remember loving human being with so much talent. ♪ don't let the sun go down on me ♪ >> announcer: this is "new day" with chris cuomo and alisyn camerota. welcome to "new day. alisyn and chris are off this week. poppy harlow joins me. i can't believe this happened. so young. 53 years old. the world mourning the death of george michael. he died at his home outside london on christmas day. >> stunning all of us. many stunned celebrities and fans around the globe paying tribute to the british star this morning. he is being remembered for his unforgettable voice and his chart-topping hits. ian lee is outside his home in north london. what is the reaction been? i'm sure people poring there to

pay their respects. >> good morning, poppy. you can see people behind me coming in and paying their respects and leaving tributes. there are heartfelt messages as well as flowers, candles. i was able to talk to one family that showed up. a man brought his two sons, huey and ethan. 9 and 11 years old and i asked the two boys, obviously, george michael was well before their time, about what their favorite song is and they said, it's "last christmas." they were listening to it yesterday. and i said what about george michael do they like. they said, you know, his voice is just something special that you don't get with musicians these days. quite profound for two children. but they were big fans and they learned it from george michael and, really, the world is mourning the loss of this great singer. take a look. ♪ wake me up before you go-go

>> reporter: global super star george michael launched into pop culture history in 1984 as half of the british duo wham. singing "careless whisper." ♪ time can never mend the careless whisper ♪ >> reporter: by 1986, michael launched an incredible solo career. his number one album "faith" raising eyebrows with the first single. the risque lyrics and provocative video drawing sharp criticism of those wanting to bring awareness to the growing aids epidemic and the need for safe sex. ♪ i gotta have faith "faith" producing four number one singles. including "father figure." ♪ i will be your father figure >> reporter: "one more try." ♪ you

>> reporter: and "monkey." ♪ why can't you set your monkey free ♪ >> reporter: by the '90s, michael became a more serious artist. celebrating his dependence from the pop machine. ♪ freedom, freedom >> reporter: refusing to appear in the video which featured cameos from top models syncing his lyrics. but the late '90s were rough for the pop icon, he was arrested by an undercover police officer and charged with engaging in a lewd act in a park in beverly hills. leading him to an interview with cnn saying he was gay in 1988. >> i don't feel any shame and neither do i think i should. >> reporter: in later years drug-related arrests and a nasty car accident in 2010. he served a month in jail for driving under the influence of marijuana. but his career continued to flourish thanks to his powerful

vocals. at nearly 50, michael once again found critical success with his sixth and final album "symphonica." a creative master piece backed by a full orchestra. ♪ first time ever i saw your face ♪ >> i've been so lucky. amazing, amazing life. ♪ i will be the one who loves you until the end of time ♪ >> poppy, it was announced just earlier this month that george michael was going to go back into the studio with naughty boy to produce a new album. unfortunately, it doesn't look like that is going to happen. but, you know, people here are just coming together, talking about what a great man he was. just for this community. he was well loved here. and elton john had this statement to say. saying, i'm in deep shock. i have lost a beloved friend.

the kindest, most generous soul and a brilliant artist. my heart knows out to his family and all of his fans. of course, he was known for his music, but he was also known for his advocacy for the lgbt community as well as aids awareness. poppy, don. >> ian lee, thank you so much. obviously, his music, but his advocacy. he came out later in life and did a lot for the gay community. >> do you remember wham? >> because i was 2. >> in the last hour i said i think like "father figure" i meant "careless whisper." >> i didn't know he messed up because i was 2. >> "father figure" was later. what an amazing musical artist and he will be -- >> forever remembered. >> we'll continue to follow that. we have to move on now and talk about some politics and specifically israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu

lashing out at the obama administration for refusing to veto a u.n. resolution condemning settlements on the west bank. cnn correspondent orin live in jerusalem with the latest on this. >> hi, don. if you want an idea on how angry prime minister netanyahu is think about this. on christmas eve here in jerusalem, here in the holy land summoned the ambassadors. of the ten countries. it was the u.s. ambassador in particular who met with netanyahu. netanyahu expressing his anger one more time directed at president barack obama and at secretary of state john kerry about this resolution. here's what netanyahu had to say at the cabinet meeting. >> over decades, american administrations and israeli governments have disagreed about settlements. but we agreed that the security council was not the place to

resolve this issue. as i told john kerry on thursday, friends don't take friends to the security council. >> netanyahu has made it very clear he's done working with president barack obama. he's looking very much forward to working trump. in the last month that president obama has in office, israel fears another security resolution, one that would try to set conditions for peace negotiations between israelis and palestinians. let's bring in two experts on the u.s./israeli relationship. a distinguished scholar at the woodrow wilson international center. and with me in new york, peter a cnn commentator and contributor to "the atlantic." gentlemen, thank you for being with us. let me begin with you. look a lot is being made of the time of this. benjamin netanyahu not mincing his words when he saw this clearly as a shot at him, as a

shot at the long-standing israeli relationship. you don't see this as personal from the president to benjamin netanyahu. as many people believe it is. why? >> i mean, i think it's a combination, poppy, of personality differences. but more so profound policy differences. and i think this was inevitable. you had a soap opera literally playing out for the last eight years. the most dysfunctional, unproductive relationship between an israeli prime minister and the u.s. president. in my experience of working this issue for the last 25 years. and it's appropriate that it would have ended with more. the israelis didn't get the memo on settlement expansion and the obama administration was determined, finally, to signal

its frustration and its resentment over the netanyahu's intentions. so, i think this is a bad outcome. and it's going to be harmful to a peace process that's already coma tosed. >> although benjamin netanyahu said in his remarks, the second part of them. i look forward to working with president-elect trump. peter binard, to you. i should note you have been very vocally opposed to these settlements and when you look at sort of historically what aaron brings up. you know, back in 2011, the united states came in asked the united nations security council and vetoed a draft and the hope was that the settlements would not accelerate. they have accelerated since then. this is the first time in eight years that the obama administration has allowed a resolution critical of israel to

pass. other republican administrations have allowed many more. >> i think it's important to take on this myth that only barack obama has allowed a u.s. resolution that israel didn't like to pass. in fact, every american president going back decades has done that. the bush administration didn't veto a resolution calling for a cease-fire and gaza made the israelis very, very unhappy. voted for resolution condemning israel when it attacked iraq. this president has been saying to israel since literally even before he got elected that in his view, settlement growth was not only terrible for the palestinians because it further entrenches their civil rights but leading israel off a cliff by denying a two-state solution. israel needs to be a democratic state and top security officials have said virtually the same thing. for eight years been trying to get that message to netanyahu and for eight years israel has

been subsidizing massive settlement growth. >> know these settlements just to be clear for our viewers. part of the settlements of this address are in places like east jerusalem are in different place than say the 2011 resolution. >> east jerusalem has a different status, yes. that's true. but settlement, settlement growth in east jerusalem also seriously undermines the two-state solution. certain parts of it because if you can't have a palestinian capital in east jerusalem. you can't have a viable palestinian state. >> when it comes to the two-state solution. this is something that prime minister benjamin netanyahu has been vocally continue to be supportive of, whether his actions are different than some of his words. his critics would say on that, let's pull up what he said recently. in may he said i remain committed to making peace with the palestinians and with all of our neighbors. we're willing to negotiate with the arab states. so that it reflects the dramatic

changes in our regions since 20 2002, but maintains the agreed goal of two states for two people. you say this is a bad outcome. what happens now to the prospects of a two-state solution? >> i think one of the reasons the prime minister is so angry is because he tried to mobilize the president-elect on one hand. he tried to mobilize the president of egypt in the other and he didn't succeed. the other realities, i think he knows what's coming. he is going to inherent an administration that is very pro-israeli and very likely to provide the israelis with more discretion and more margin on many different issues. iran peace process. the reality is he is going to be caught between an international community that is going to continue to hammer him, even though the u.s. will defend him and his own right wing that will use the onset of the trump administration to argue that you see the americans really don't care about settlements. they have appointed an ambassadamba ambassador that is clearly vocal in this regard.

bottom line, poppy, is this. the settlement resolution and the expansion of settlements basically miss the point. this peace process lacks the leadership, it lacks the ownership, it lacks enough congruence on the two sides in order to be ready for primetime. that is essentially the problem. without leaders on both sides, not just the israeli side, on the palestinian side and without effective u.s. mediation and i suspect you're not going to have either in the period ahead. we're going to remain stuck and i suspect the situation is going to get worse before it gets worse. >> peter, do you agree with that you have donald trump, if he can get david friedman through congress, you know, this is a very controversial pick for ambassador. someone who is supportive of war settlements and who wants to move the embassy to jerusalem and also who basically said, i don't believe in a two-state solution. where netanyahu says he does believe in a two-state solution.

>> netanyahu -- let's be honest. benjamin netanyahu has never supported the kind of two-state solution that had been seriously negotiated in the past. he never accepted the idea of a palestinian state near the 1967 lines, which is the only parameters for a palestinian state that have ever been seriously considered by the united states government or an israeli/palestinian negotiation. no peace process to destroy. yes, the politicians haalestini and divided and flawed leadership. i totally agree. we have an israeli prime minister who never accepted the basic parameters for a palestinian state -- >> where do these next two administrations move together? >> what will likely happen is that israsrael will move perman israeli control over the west bank and as aaron rightly says, the world, not the united states. the united states will be isolated but the rest of the world. the europeans and others will increasely move to put pressure on israel and not be good for israel. but this is netanyahu's bed that

he has made. >> guys, i have to leave it there. >> aaron, peter, we appreciate it. we have a lot ahead on "new day" and we'll speak with the israeli ambassador to the united states ron dermer. he will resolve his charitable foundation, but it's not that easy. how will he do it and can it happen before he takes his oath in 25 days? that's next. in your bed?

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call today. comcast business. built for business. the president-elect announcing this week, he says that he's going to dissolve his charitable foundation to avoid any conflicts of interest, but it is unclear how he will do that before taking the oath of office come january 20th. cnn ryan nobles live for us in washington with more. good morning, ryan. >> don, good morning to you. trump, himself, has not personally donated to this foundation since 2008 and currently has no employees and hasn't actively raised funds in some time but in a statement the president-elect said he has instructed his attorneys to dissolve the charity. avoiding the appearance of any

conflict with my role as president. i decided to pursue my interest in philanthropies in other ways. a spokesperson for new york attorney general erictia niderman who was a hillary clinton supporter and launched an investigation during the campaign said the foundation cannot legally dissolve until their investigation is complete. now, schneiderman has been investigating how trump used the foundation to settle personal business dealings. now, speaking of those personal business dealings, trump has also said that he's going to remove himself from his global business empire, but he's yet to explain how. and all of this news comes at a time as there is a bit of a staff shakeup for trump's incoming administration and his incoming administration said he decided not to take that job because it would be too demanding for his young family. don? >> ryan, i appreciate that. let's discuss now with "new york times" eric lipton.

you have been writing about this. good morning. thank you for joining us on "new day." hope you had a great holiday. donald trump said he would dissolve his personal foundation, "to avoid even the appearance of any conflict with my role as president." are you surprised at all by his decision? >> no, not very surprised. i think that the problem is that you're going to be oout solicut soliciting money and then you take that money and give it to other causes which in some situations donald trump has done. of course, david has documented not many times but if you're out there soliciting money, then people are going to give it to you because you're president of the united states. they could be trying to impress you, influence you by writing big checks. makes it very hard for someone who is in a public position to solic it money for a charity or their children. he reached the conclusion that he needs to shut this foundation down. >> in the meantime, speaking of

that, this is from the dnc, a statement on that. he said the trump foundation also has a pitiful record of service and, instead, has service as a slush fund for trump to bribe elected officials, attack his political enemies and buy portraits of himself. do you agree with that assessment? >> i wouldn't go that far, but it has been well documented both by the "washington post" and "new york times" and other news organizations that the trump foundation was used to serve the interest of the trump organization and donald trump himself in addition to making some charitable contributions. and there was a fair amount of criticism of how this money was used during the campaign and, so, it also has been under suspension by the new york state attorney general prohibited from raising money because it was not appropriate appropriately in the state of new york. this is a troubled charity/foundation already. again, for those reasons, not

surprising, that he's interested now in liquidating it. >> again, as ryan reported and as you just mentioned the new york attorney general's office is saying, not so fast. the foundation is still under investigation. he cannot shut this foundation down while it's under investigation. >> that's right. it's a subject of an investigation by the attorney general. it's presumably a civil review to determine if it broke any laws. there could potentially be a penalty. so, you wouldn't want an organization to be liquidated. so, it had no money to pay a fine, if that were to be the determined. it's not surprising that they would be negotiating presumably with the state attorney general's office to determine as part of the desire to liquidate it if there needs to be some type of an agreement which includes, potentially, some type of settlements. >> republicans have said that this investigation is partisan. is that so? >> i mean, if you are not registered to be soliciting money in new york state and you're collecting donations on

behalf of the foundation, i mean, that's something that the attorney general, which has jurisdiction over charities is going to look into. so, we'll see. >> i want to talk about his sons because his business is going to be run by his sons don jr., eric. they're on his transition team. short of liquidating the company, can trump really be free of conflicts of interest? >> i mean, there are both democrats and republicans and the office of government ethics, which each have said that they think the only appropriate way for him to be president without questions about potential conflicts is for him to liquidate his holding, sell them and put the proceeds into treasury bonds or mutual funds and let someone else handle the management of that money. that's really the only way for him to be president -- >> he has said that his businesses are so complicated because of what he does, that it might be virtually impossible for him to do that. does he have a point? >> that would be very difficult to accomplish. and almost impossible, in fact,

to accomplish before he is sworn in. and, so, there are others who suggest that maybe the appropriate transitional step is for him to have a "trustee" who would help oversee the business and make sure that there is not inappropriate communication between his sons and the administration and then perhaps also in the trustee would help oversee some of the sale of some of the assets while he's in office to get rid of the ones that prevent the most serious conflicts. my guess is that is where we are headed. no way he would be able to liquidate everything by ina inauguration day and something he said he doesn't want to do. we are likely headed towards some sort of outside party that would help the sons and other family members oversee the company as he serves as president. whether or not that's sufficient is an open question. >> as we have seen throughout the campaign, his supporters don't seem to care. he didn't release his tax returns. what does this mean going forward? what kind of presidency will we see with this?

>> i think unless he does liquidate, he's going to consistently be faced with questions of potential conflicts because whether or not it's a labor issue that he's deciding on as president and then there's a labor dispute perhaps at one of his hotels. i mean, there's so many -- or he's involved some branded property overseas at the same time he is trying to do foreign policy with a particular country. there's going to be questions and it's going to dog him. i think that's why it's in his interest to address these. >> eric upton from "new york times." thank you very much. i appreciate it. >> thank you. holiday travelers looking to extend their stay at grandma's house, listen up. you may be in luck. snow, ice and freezing rain making your trek home pretty tough. we'll check on the winter storm and how it will impact your trav travel, next.

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welcome to winter. winter storm could make your holiday travels pretty treacherous. snow, ice and freezing rain closing down highways in the dakotas and creating dozens of delays and cancellations that nation's airports. ryan young is live at chicago

o'hare airport where it is easy breezy this morning, my friend. >> yeah, absolutely. you know, it's been very busy this morning. it's 6:30 here. if you look over here, there have been lines that have been pretty long for this early in the morning. a 15-minute delay of some sort. a security delay. in fact, all the traffic here was shut down for quite some time and we have people now coming our direction. you see this is happening live as they're bringing the line back this way. the reason why this long line is happening is somebody walked up to us and said there was a security breach and they actually shut traffic down here for about 15 minutes. we'll walk down this way. they're doing that line now because the lines have gotten so long. they hadn't had these lines all morning and something happened where they shut down security and everybody was asking us what was going on. we now know the security lines have been opened back up but, obviously, the day after christmas with all these travelers, 25 million people traveling in the air. if you understand why people here would be upset as the guy just walked by us and started saying, terrible, terrible,

terrible. you can under infrustand the frustrations, don. >> no one bought you a neck tie for christmas, brian? >> wait, say that again. >> apparently, no one bought you a neck tie for christmas. should i pitch in to get you one? >> why a neck tie? >> is that your pajamas. did you just jump out of bed -- >> oh, my goodness. now you want to start trouble already. is that how that works. >> all right. >> you really want to start? that's how it works. >> next time i see you, i want to see a neck tie. thank you, ryan young. happy boxing day. we're going to have a fight on boxing day. >> no doubt. the winter storm is already impacting the upper midwest and heading east. our meteorologist chad myers has our forecast and he is wearing a tie, appropriately dressed for morning television. good morning to you. >> i have so many ties. i think i have more ties than

most people have shirts. anyway, don, i digress. the big problem upper midwest. everything else in pretty good shape. now there may be, may be some possible freezing upstate new york. and you get into those area wheres the cold air is going to sit here for a while and icy conditions upstate new york today. the blizzard is out west. this is where the roads are impassable. the gusts are 35 miles per hour and the wind chill is 16 to 20 degrees below zero. the only really bad spot. some rain in chicago today, that may slow down the airport a little bit, but i think those long tsa lines may be slowing things down anyway. you're going to get on time. we are above normal for a lot of the country. today new york city will probably be in the 50s, even atlanta all the way to around 70 degrees. new york city 47, 57. that's above where we should be this time of year. enjoy the decent travel on the east coast, if you can.

poppy. >> i don't like it. it feels like summer outside and i want the snow. that's how i feel about this. thank you, chad. a huge holiday for retailers. americans spending hundreds of billions of dollars on gifts and now after the big after-christmas sales are coming and, of course, those returns. those things you don't like are getting under way. cnn business correspondent alison kosik has the details. you're going to make the returns easy on pus. >> americans unloaded hundreds of billions of dollars on gifts. the national retail federation a 3.6% jump. an incredible $655 billion. americans have actually planned to spend an average of $935 on gifts, second only to last year. so, you got to it poppy. some things you may want to return. let's start with gift cards. if you got a gift card, there are a couple ways you can kind of turn them in. personal finance site nerdwallet

has some suggestions. giftcardgranny and cardpool. they let you sell your gift cards for around 90% of their value. you can buy gift cards from other stores on the site. coinstar and many target locations will actually make you an offer on your gift cards from other retailers. as for those presents you can live without, consider returning them sooner rather than later. that way you won't have to deal with the expiring return dates. if you go to the stores today to return everything, which is the suggestion, you're going to be battling those lines. poppy? >> it's don. but that's okay. you know what, i have gift cards from like 1975. i never use those darn gift cards. >> maybe buy ryan that tie. >> i'll have to use it. i'm just joking with ryan. turn to some serious news now. a deadly plane crash killing some of russia's top musicians.

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that's over 6 times faster than slow internet from the phone company. say hello to internet speeds up to 250 mbps. and add phone and tv for only $34.90 more a month. call today. comcast business. built for business. welcome back to "new day." don lemon with me. good morning. you awake? >> almost. i'll be awake around 10:00 and the show will be over then. >> i'll be sleeping. president barack obama sitting down for a fascinating interview with his former senior adviser and cnn senior political director and cnn commentator david axelrod. they talked, of course, about the 2016 election and what the

president plans to do after january 20th. >> i have to be quiet for a while, i don't mean politically, i mean internally. i have to still myself. that doesn't mean that if a year from now or a year and a half from now or two years from now there is an issue of such moment such import, that isn't just a debate about a particular tax bill or a particular policy but goes to some foundalational issues about our democracy that i might not weigh in. >> let's bring in douglas brinkley. good morning to you. merry, merry. i hope you had a good holiday. >> i did. >> good. i love your take on that because, yes, he said he's going to take michelle, the first lady, for a nice, long vacation. they all deserve it. but he's absolutely leaving the

door open. is this clearly not going to be like george w. bush? he is saying there are things i fundamentally disagree with, you're going to hear from me. >> that's right, poppy. he gave it a two-year framework where he might intervene. in the meantime, he has to fund-raise and build his obama library in chicago that is a huge enterprise. he's also going to write a memoir and get about $20 million for writing a book. i once spoke to the president about his memoir we're talking about. ulysses s. grant that did the great book and that was grant in the civil war and he felt no president had done the kind of memoir that he wants to write. a book like "the creation" or kind of a pulitzer prize winning look. i think he'll do that and spend some time golfing and reconnect with hawaii and, as he said, find himself. it's hard to detox to come down,

really, after eight years of having to live in a kind of hour-by-hour crisis mode. >> he spoke about -- he's going to golf in hawaii. he said that to our troops. listen as the first african-american president, tolerance is really important for this president. he's confident of his vision of america. one of tolerance and diversity. of course, diversity important, as well. he suggested, which i thought was interesting, david, that if he ran again, he could win. listen to this. >> in the wake of the election and trump winning, a lot of people have suggested that somehow it really was a fantasy. what i would argue is that the culture actually did shift. that the majority does buy in to the notion of a one america that is tolerant and diverse.

i am confident in this vision because i'm confident that if i, if i had run again and articulated it, i think i could have mobilized. >> he thinks that mostly america speaks with one voice and that is one of tolerance and diversity and that the culture did shift. do you agree? >> to a degree i do. but, look, basically what he just said is saying hillary clinton ran a bad campaign. if i was in there, i could have won. look, he was amazing at the close of the campaign. we were using that big word unprecedented yet again. that barack obama coming in there and giving speeches in north carolina and michigan and getting behind hillary clinton. so, very likely he could have beaten donald trump in the midwest. he had won two previous times.

so, i think he just feels that very strongly and recognizes that a lot of white americans voted for an african-american two times and they would have voted a third, if they could. a third time if they could have. >> you know, one thing that we're certainly seeing now is questions about where trisone preside president at a time. george w. bush and then president-elect said this. we have one president and we'll have one president and the current president is president clinton and our nation must speak with one voice. then you had president obama abiding by that, as well, in 2008. before he took over when asked about things like the ben gawar. that has been turned on its head with president-elect trump. with calls from the taiwanese president and what he fwetweete about the united nations and netanyahu. not to mention the china drone. what does this mean for sort of

this practice moving forward and does it confuse our allies and our adversaries? >> i think it's very confusing and i think it's very wrong minded of donald trump to be doing this. look, there are different strategies of transition, but when you don't want to do is big mouthing and big footing a sitting president. basically saying ignore anything america does or says for the next month because i'm coming in, new man agement in town and don't listen to president obama. if he didn't get re-elected or even eight years would appreciate somebody coming in and acting that way. but we've seen this is donald trump's style. he does things differently. i find it troubling, but i'm not going to be able to stop him from doing it. >> sean spicer his incoming white house press secretary said this is a man who does not hold back and he is getting things done. that was his take. douglas brinkley, nice to have you on.

thank you. >> thank you. it has been quite a year, right? >> to say the least. >> it's been a year like no other. we are taking a look back at all of it all week. up next, we will bring you the top ten stories in the political world over 2016. >> to say the least.

russian officials now say pilot error or technical issue could be to blame for a military plane crash that killed 92 people, all 92 people on board. they've ruled out terrorism as a possible cause. today, russia is observing a national day of mourning, remembering those victims. our matthew chance is live in moscow with the latest. what have we learned so far? >> poppy, we've not learned that much yet because we're still really at the start of the investigation. we understand in the past few hours, russian divers, 139 divers from the russian military, who have been deployed around the clock to try and search for remains and for wreckage have located some large pieces of the aircraft. the crash on sunday morning, on christmas day, as it was taking off from sochi, after it was taking off from sochi in southern russia on board it has members of the russian official

army choir which was going to syria to the air base there to play a new year's concert for the russian troops who were stationed. 64 of those performers were killed. journalists, as well. nine journalists, from russian media, that have been taken along by the defense ministry, to cover those proceedings, and that musical concert. the investigation, as you mentioned, russian officials saying they're emphasizing pilot error or mechanical failure at this point. but no one completely ruling out the possibility of terrorism at this stage. they're saying it's unlikely. but, until the black box flight recorders are found, until the investigation is complete, we're not putting that completely to one side. >> all right. matthew chance live for us in moscow. thank you for that. as everyone knows, 2016 has been a pretty unforgettable year. all week we're going to bring you the biggest stories of the year. let's start, of course, with what else, the biggest ten stories in politics.

jake tapper has the stories you will not soon forget. ♪ >> this year everything we thought we knew about politics was turned on its head. political attacks, e-mail hacks, and several cracks in the glass ceiling made for an unparalleled race between the first female major party nominee and a billionaire political outsider. president-elect trump will soon take office, but first, let's look back at our top ten political stories of 2016. number ten. conservative supreme court justice antonin scalia died suddenly in february. >> everything is on the line. >> and in an unprecedented move, republicans vowed to block any high court appointments until after the presidential election. >> simply to turn your back before the president even names a nominee is not an option the constitution leaves open.

>> judge merrick garland was nominated in march, but never even had a hearing. number nine -- >> you want to give me a big send-off? go vote. >> in their final presidential year the obamas hit the campaign trail. >> when they go low, we go high. >> reporter: with more catch phrases. >> come on, man. >> reporter: and less restrapt. >> donald trump is uniquely unqualified to be president. >> reporter: but a different tone after the democratic defeat. number eight -- >> i beat everybody. i beat the hell out of them. >> reporter: donald trump won the republican nomination but struggled to win over the party. republican leaders distanced themselves. >> will you support him? >> i'm just not ready to do that. >> reporter: but will the party now unify around president trump? >> we're going to hit the ground running. >> reporter: number seven, trump's unvarnished campaign attracted extremist support. >> i don't know anything about what you're even talking about with white supremacy.

>> reporter: he was slow to denounce white supremacists. >> david duke endorsed me? i disavow. okay. >> reporter: and his controversial rhetoric on race continued. >> this judge is of mexican heritage. i'm building a wall. >> reporter: even targeting the judge in his university fraud case. >> if you are saying he can't do his job because of his race, is that not the definition of racism? >> no. i don't think so at all. >> reporter: number six, the conventions. >> the first time that a major party has nominated a woman for president. >> reporter: hillary clinton made history in philadelphia. and a gold star family made trump an offer. >> have you even read the united states constitution? i will gladly lend you my copy. >> reporter: in cleveland, melania trump's speech was familiar. >> you work hard for what you want in life. >> that you work hard for what you want in life. >> reporter: and senator ted cruz refused to endorse the nominee.

>> vote your conscience. >> reporter: number five, trump's past went public. there was a former miss universe feud. >> he called her miss piggy. >> reporter: he responded with a link to her past. >> you sent out a series of tweets including one that told people to check out a sex tape. >> reporter: then a crude video of trump. >> grab them by the [ bleep ] >> reporter: he brushed it aside. >> this was locker room talk. >> reporter: but nearly a dozen assault accusers said it went further than words. >> his hands started going towards my knee and up my skirt. >> reporter: trump denied the allegations and said he would sue. number four, senator bernie sanders built a huge movement. >> we are actually listening to the american people, not the one%. >> reporter: but was the system rigged against outsiders? >> secretary clinton received about 450 superdelegates before anybody else was in the race. >> reporter: bernie or bust

protesters crowded the convention. >> you're being ridiculous. >> reporter: and refused to vote for clinton. number three, democrats were hacked. >> they're under attack. >> reporter: stolen e-mails from the dnc revealed bias against sanders, forcing the party chair to resign. >> no question to my mind, the dnc was in opposition to our campaign. >> reporter: u.s. intelligence points to russian cyber attacks. >> our goal continues to be to send a clear message to russia, or others, not to do this to us. because we can do stuff to you. >> reporter: number two -- >> there is evidence that they were extremely careless in their handling of very sensitive, highly classified information. >> reporter: the fbi recommended no charges for clinton's use of a private e-mail server. still, the issue was gold for republicans. >> she's guilty as hell. >> lock her up! >> reporter: she tried to quell concerns -- >> my e-mails are so boring. >> reporter: but the fbi announced they discovered new ones just before election day. >> it's imperative that the

bureau explain this issue. >> reporter: the probe contained nothing new, but the damage was done. number one. >> hillary clinton has called donald trump to concede the race. >> reporter: donald trump won the white house! >> the campaign unlike anything we've seen in our lifetime. >> i love this country. >> reporter: as protesters took to the streets, secretary clinton bowed out. >> we have seen that our nation is more deeply divided than we thought. >> reporter: now a cabinet of billionaires, outsiders and military men will join trump for an era of who knows what. those were our top ten political stories of this year. the question is who and what will top the list next year. jake tapper, cnn, washington. >> that seems like more than one year. >> seems like more than one year. >> looking back, going my goodness, did that all happen this year? >> i think it was the year of no

sleep. >> yeah. >> for all of us. >> for work, for life, for everything. >> and for americans, too, who were paying really close attention to the politics. very important election. >> yeah, i mean i think, you know, whether you like the year in politics or not, it was a year when americans were really engaged. >> and we lost so many people this year. >> so many, especially obviously the latest george michael. >> yep. and speaking of that, we're following a lot of news including the shocking death of george michael. let's get to it. >> friends don't take friends to the security council. >> i've got to lead the charge to sustain funding the united nations. >> disthe two-state solution and you should be happy and celebrating. >> i look forward to working with the new administration when it takes office. >> trump foundation -- >> donald trump announcing he will dissolve his charitable foundation to avoid any conflicts of interest. >> the money goes 100% goes to different charities. >> just shutting the foundation down may not be enough. >> the world mourning the death

of legendary pop singer george michael. >> i'm really upset. i just love him. >> somebody who made a very big impact and who was just a terrific singer. ♪ gotta have faith i gotta have faith ♪ ♪ gotta have faith faith faith ♪ i gotta have faith faith faith ♪ >> this is "new day" with chris cuomo and alisyn camerota. >> good morning, everyone. happy "new day." i'm poppy harlow in for alisyn. and chris, you're off -- >> no, i'm chris. >> oh, no. >> that is your favorite song by george michael? >> okay, yeah. >> very nice. >> love it. >> we do begin with that heartbreaking news pop legend george michael has died. 53 years old. so young. a true superstar passing away at his home just outside of london on christmas day. >> and celebrities and fans were around the world mourning the british superstar's sudden death. this morning george michael is being remembered for his

indelible voice and his chart topping hits. cnn's ian lee live outside michael's home in north london for us this morning. looks like folks are gathering there, ian. good morning to you. >> good morning. yeah, that's right. you can just look behind me. people have been coming in all day. there's been a steady stream of fans, really, in shock about the death of the 53-year-old. we're hearing from his manager that they believe it was heart failure that was the cause of his death. but they're still looking into that. it really is quite a sad time for the music world, as well, as george michael had over 100 million albums sold. this is someone who's won two grammys, and fans here, we're talking to, people in this community, are just giving us these personal stories about when they met and how nice he was. a lot of times you hear about celebrities, and then people saying when they meet them they turn out to be different people. well george michael wasn't