joins me. chris and alisyn are off. >> what a year. >> tributes are pouring in for carrie fisher from celebrities and fans around the world. the "star wars" actress best known for her iconic role as princess leia died just >> she is being remembered this morning as hollywood royalty. she was incredibly witty, an amazingly brilliant writer, candid about her personal struggles and someone who really broke down barriers for those suffering from mental health issues. our paul vercammen has a look back at her life and legacy. >> i should expect you -- >> reporter: carrie fisher best known as princess leia in "star wars" has died. she had a heart attack on the final 15 minutes of a flight

from london to los angeles. she was on a ventilator the entire time she was hospitalized, never regaining consciousness. she's seen here in audition tape with soon to be co-star harrison ford. >> safely delivered to my forces. ♪ >> reporter: critics pointed to the strong chemistry between fisher and ford and with good reason. fisher recently revealed that she and ford were off-screen lovers. >> 40 years, is that right? >> 40 years i thought i'd wait. >> you revealed that you were having an affair with harrison ford. >> i was. >> well, you say it. >> yes, i did. >> so, how did that stay a secret for 40 years? >> i was good at that, wasn't i? >> reporter: fisher was born in beverly hills, mother debbie reynolds and father singer eddie fisher. fisher poked fun at the absurdities of show biz life and including taking pills to control her emotions.

>> any mood stabilizer is a weight gainer. whether you feel better, but then you're fat. so what you gain is a loss. it's not a good situation. >> reporter: fisher spoke about being bipolar and often turned pain into humor also writing "wishful drinking" and shot shop hp a shopaholic." she gave birth from her relationship with brian lorde. she debuted in the acclaimed film "shampoo." in between the "star wars" movies she had meaty roles. and as meg ryan's wise-cracking friend in "when harry met sally." but nuothing could or would loo larger than fisher in "star wars." >> do you like the prince sns. >> i have her over sometimes.

she's a little -- >> reporter: carrie fisher was 60. >> love her candor. >> loved it. a brilliant woman. broke down a lot of barriers. especially for women in hollywood. >> you forget everyone thinks of princess leia. she was such a great character actress. i loved her in "harry met sally" and "soap dish." pardon me, though, she wrote a lot of. she was a writer. and she was a script doctor. >> i had heard made more money doctoring these scripts. big movies like "empire strikes back," "hook," "sister act." let's read some of the statements coming in to us. mark hammel had this to say. she had such a crucial role in my professional and personal life and both would have been far emptier without her. i am grateful for the laughter, the wisdom and kindness and even

the bratty self-indulgent crap my beloved space twin gave me. >> george lucas also reacting and saying she is extremely smart, talented actress, writer and comedian with a very colorful personality that everyone loved. in "star wars" a great and powerful princess. feisty, wise and full of hope in a role that was more difficult than most people might think. >> obviously, we're going to talk a lot about her and her legacy and what she leaves behind. her daughter, billy, also an actress. we'll also speak with two of her "star wars" co-stars. both men live with us in our 8:00 a.m. hour. >> i can't wait for that conversation. president-elect donald trump tapping a former bush aide as a

top counterterrorism and reignited the battle of who will. let's turn now to senior washington correspondent live at mar-a-largo estate with more. good morning, jeff. >> good morning, don. as donald trump is rounding out his cabinet, only two positions left to fill which could come later this week. he is also looking ahead to his presidency now just 23 days away. as he does that, she is till tu -- among an extraordinary back and forth with staff membere about the cost of security at trump tower. donald trump is filling a critical west wing position. tapping thomas bossert a deputy homeland security adviser in george w. bush's white house to be his chief adviser on homeland security and cybersecurity. >> the government in the united

states at a federal level needs to do something to address the threat. >> reporter: he will work alongside retired lieutenant general michael flynn who trump picked at national security adviser. he will be on equal footing with flynn. bossert's appointment has some breathing a sigh of relief because flynn's appointment stirred controversy. yet, an interesting selection for trump, who became a sharp critic of the iraq war after initially supporting it. >> look at the war in iraq and the mess we're in. i would never have handled it that way. >> reporter: bossert was a proponent of the iraq war. trump is set to hold more meetings today at his mar-a-largo resort. the trump tower in new york was briefly evacuated last night while the president-elect was in florida. a suspicious package that turned out to be a bag of toys caused a security scare.

the false alarm highlighting a battle over who will pay to protect trump and his family in new york city, which the mayor estimates to be around $35 million since he was elected. trump's incoming white house press secretary sean spicer tweeting shortly after the incident, back to work here at trump tower after a false alarm. thanks nypd. er eric philips, a spokesman for bill de blasio tweeting, no problem. we'll send you the bill. trump's social media director weighing in that philips is an embarrassment to the new york mayor's office and amazing nypd. philips firing back, that's not very nice, dan. what about that bill. that wasn't the only attack on twitter. trump touting his victory over clinton while taking a knock at the man he will succeed. president obama campaigned hard and personally in the very important swing states and lost. the voters wanted to make america great again. trump also taking credit on twitter for strong economic

news. take a look at this tweet that he sent out last night. he said that the u.s. consumer confidence index is at its highest point in more than 15 years. thanks, donald. perhaps there wasn't room to also say, thanks, obama. don and poppy, because he's inheriting, of course, president obama's economy. but it is true that economists are saying because that donald trump is coming into office, consumer confidence is at a record high, at least in the last 15 years. >> jeff, thank you so much. remember the people who said the market would tank 20% if he got elected. didn't happen yet. >> a lot of people said he wasn't going to be president. not correct, as well. let's discuss with senior political analyst and senior editor at "the atlantic" ron brownstein and jackie kucinich. let's talk about this war of words that is playing out over trump tower. don't know if it is happening

where they are tweeting from. trump tower was preefly evacuated. sean spicer tweeted this thanking the nypd saying there was a problem at trump tower. thank you, nypd. >> back to work here after a false alarm. thanks nypd. >> and then other folks jumping in, including dan scavino and dan philips and on and on and on and it all played out on twitter. this is a bigger problem than most people realize because of the money and maybe we're, you know, it's showing just how big it is that it is spilling out to social media. >> how many times can we use the word unprecedented. the amount of time that donald trump envisions, seems to envision spending in new york is unprecedented, i think, for a president to be kind of a dual resident toth the extent and th to have the dual residency be in one of the busiest commercial streets in the world just creates a unique set of security

challenges that are very expensive and you have, in new york city, in manhattan a place where he lost 90% of the vote. you know, the tension is obvious. >> palpable. >> then at the end they're saying -- the mayor's person saying, why don't you help us out with this bill. >> the mayor is asking for $35 million. >> that's costing the city a lot of money. >> that's a lot of money. you know, i think there has to be a discussion, again, because there has not been a situation like this of how much of that falls on the cities the secret service and the responsibility to protect the president. >> jackie, we know that congress will cover about $7 million of that cost in a spending bill. but that leaves you with $28 million to go from what de blasio is asking here in new york. what do you think? should trump foot the bill? will he? should he help? >> i feel like every time

there's a new president, there is a discussion about how much things cost. how much things cost to protect them. whether it costs a lot to take all these secret service folks on vacation with the president. there's always this discussion. the bottom line is, you have to protect the president and his family. whether now -- as ron said, whether there needs to be a discussion of how much the federal government should end up picking up the bill, maybe they should. this situation is unprecedented. but there's -- there's no way around this. you can't cut corners on security with the president of the united states and his family. >> when it comes from the federal government, how taxpayers in my home state of minnesota, our money, federal tax dollars is going into that, as well. >> who do you think is going to pay for that? >> i think new yorkcitywill pay for it and everyone will fight about it. >> the federal government may more than they are now. but new york city is going to have to pay some bills. >> let's move on to some really fascinating news that our jim sciutto broke here on the air

last night with senator lindsey graham talking about russia. what happens with russia and retaliation, which we know is coming. >> and john mccain, as well. >> and yawn mccain on the hacking. lindsey graham essentially saying that 99% of us, i think we have the sound. let's play it. >> there are 100 united states senators and amy is on this trip with us and a democrat from minnesota. i would say that 99 of us believe the russians did this and we're going to do something about it. along with senator mccain after this trip's over. we're going to have the hearings and we're going to put sanctions together that hit putin as an individual and inner circle for interfering in our election. they're doing it all over the world, not just in the united states. >> so, the "washington post" this morning, as you guys know, is reporting that the goal here from the obama administration is not to implement those sanctions and other measures but do them in a way that is very difficult

for the next president to walk back. ron brown streen, what would that look like and how bad would it look for the president-elect if one of the first things he does when he comes into office to try to roll back tough measures against russia? >> that is the real defense for any action that obama takes. they are trying to create a kind of facts on the ground that would make it difficult for president trump as one of his first actions in office to come in and roll back sanctions that were imposed on russia for intervening in an election that the cia says and the fbi now has done to benefit him. that is not an easy position to be in. we don't know how difficult it would be to reverse. certainly many things that president obama has done in a second term, but, politically, this is kind of laying a trip wire, especially with what you hear from lindsay grey graham. >> what is interesting to me, jackie, maybe not as smooth sailing as they thought with a majority in washington.

donald trump is saying, there is no evidence. where is your evidence that the russians intervened and the election or influenced the election and now these senators are saying, you know, yes, he did. >> the senators are saying the intelligence community is saying this. all of them. so, that -- trump is going to run up to a very cold civics reality that there are co-equal branches of government and to run and democrats and republicans are on the other side of his argument. so, does he really want to start a fight with congress, all of congress at the get go? i don't know if he wants to. maybe he will. but this is something that is very tricky, though. >> especially -- >> i'm sorry. i was just going to say because it's hacking into the, it's dealing with elections and dealing with foundational american principles here. i don't know how he wins this, frankly. >> especially as he tries to

get -- >> democrats have said this is a bipartisan issue and now republicans are appear to be saying it's the same thing. prime minister benjamin netanyahu delaying a vote on israeli settlements in the west banks and comes as john kerry gets ready to talk mideast peace ahead. a live report ahead.

you can't predict the market. but through good times and bad... ...at t. rowe price... ...we've helped our investors stay confident for over 75 years. call us or your advisor. t. rowe price. invest with confidence.

the city of jerusalem this morning canceling a vote today. a vote that would have approved the construction of hundreds of homes in this settlement region as the battle over settlements intensifies. this delay comes as secretary of state john kerry gets set to deliver a big speech laying out the obama administration's vision for peace in the middle east. oren lieberman is in jerusalem with the latest. it's interesting. it seems like this is sort of a nod to the bama administration and do your speech and we won't do a defiant vote the same day. is that how you read it? >> i think two different perspectives here. one from the city of jerusalem. we spoke with the city council member. a growing city needs to build and they'll build wherever they feel they need to. but the city council member also

said they don't want to vote on it hours before kerry's speech. so, they'll cancel the vote for now. prime minister benjamin netanyahu here is much more difficult to read. is he trying to read a bit of good will before kerry's speech or responding to criticism even from within his own party that his statements against president barack obama, his criticism there has gone just a bit too far and his diplomatic actions against countries that voted for this security council resolution has gone too far and backing off just a little bit before the speech. don, what israel's concerned about is follow-up action perhaps not from kerry or the u.s. itself, but from the international community based on what kerry said. not only the israelis, but the palestinians also waiting to see what comes out of kerry's speech. >> oren, thank you very much. president barack obama and japan's prime minister come together to remember the lives lost 75 years ago but something that president obama said had some wondering if he was talking

about president-elect donald trump. let's head out to athena jones with more on what both leaders had to say. athena, good morning to you. >> good morning, don. that's right, it was a historic day. a day 75 years in the making. the u.s. president and japanese prime minister together for the first time at the "uss arizona." both leaders delivering moving speeches and talking about the people who never made it home. both also stressing the power of reconciliation and the importance of tolerance. here's more of what the president had to say. >> it is here that we remember that even when hatred burns hottest, even when the tug of tribalism is at its most primal, we must resist the urge to turn inward. we must resist the urge to demonize those who are

different. >> to many, that statement sounded like a challenge to some of the divisive rhetoric heard from president-elect trump on the campaign trail. now, prime minister abe called the partnership between the u.s. and japan an alliance of hope and said his visit to the "uss arizona" left him speechless. poppy, don. >> all right, thank you, athena. let's bring back in our panel. ron brownstein and jackie cucinich. let's talk about the president in honolulu. was that a swipe at donald trump when he said we have to not turn to anger? >> it sure sounded like it. it sounded like the way we're going to hear from president obama after the election. it's hard to believe that the personal detente can survive after the inaugural. so much what -- there is a collision. but i think that inevitable.

and i think that president obama's language yesterday may give you the preview or today will give you the language you might hear raising it to a higher level and talking about fundamental american valus and not only personally criticizing the president, but affirming the values that he saw in contradictions. >> it started out well. they were kornlguacordial. the president said we'll do whatever it takes to help with the transition. >> but a lot of policy disagreement coming. >> jackie, even on the policy that perhaps trump and those who support him hate the most, obama care. trump came out of that meeting and seemed oepen to keeping some facets of obama care. president obama campaigned hard and personally in the very important swing states and lost. the voters wanted to make america great, again. i asked this of trump surrogates and supporters often to what end. and they say he's a winner. he likes to win, but he's won. so this confounds a lot of

people. >> two days later, why is he still tweeting about this? >> why does trump tweet anything? he can't let things go. we've seen this over and over again. sometimes obama does seem to like to get under his skin in terms of what he said the other day with saying that he could have defeated trump. i mean, why would you say that? other than to sort of tweak donald trump. this will be very intereting to see how obama handles talking about donald trump, as ron said, once he leaves office. there is a tradition among former presidents to not criticize the current person in the office because it is a unique experience that only, you know, how many people at this point that are walking the this earth have experienced. so, they know the uniquely know the pressures that that person is under. we'll have to see how this is handled. moving on to israel and the

speech that secretary of state john kerry will give today. he was, frankly, more successful at one point than others before him in terms of getting the two sides of the table. he got the two sides of the table for two months in 2013. obviously, they did not get the outcome that the united states was hoping and there has been a lack of progress and then this. what do you think he'll say, ron, in his speech today and the timing. 23 days out from the end of this administration. >> you know, the timing. like so many other things that president obama has done since the election. this is about laying down markers and creating a kind of frame of that donald trump will then have to navigate through. >> bill clinton did it very late, too, as well. in terms of laying down parameters. look, i think what he will do is reaffirm their belief that the long-time viability for israel is in a real two-state solution to the relations with the palestinians and the continue d settlement building undermines the possibility of that.

that is how they view what the netanyahu government been doing. the idea that this was cooked up somewhere in the west wing of the white house, it kind of belies the reality of the vote. look at the countries that voted for this resolution. it was france and great britain and russia and china who don't usually take, you know, dictates from the american white house and japan and spain and a wide variety of countries around the world. the question that you're raising in the conversation in israel is this further isolating israel. not much hope that john kerry's prescriptions will have a lot of hope with donald trump. >> let's talk about jerusalem canceling that vote today to approve construction. 492 new homes in eastern jerusalem. did they do it because of the speech, jackie? do you think they did it because it would appear that they were doing exactly what the resolution is saying that they should not be doing. >> i think it could go either

way. but i wanted to respond to something ron said about there was this consensus with a lot of the other members. well, here at home, kerry needs to sort of do a little bit of fixing because he -- the american public is trending towards israel on this new administration is trending behind israel. look at the reaction that kerry got from people in his own party. chuck schumer condemned the action. steny hoyer issued a press release. the democrat from maryland that was very critical of the speech that kerry is going to give. a lot of political tension at home with what they did and they are looking to probably smooth that over. >> we're going to have the former u.s. envoy to the middle east under george mitchell under obama on and he had actually said publicly that he thinks the obama administration should have vetoed this. >> i don't think kerry is going to go too far in the other

direction of backing away because the resolution reflects for better oor worr worse. it's hard to argue given obama and netanyahu that this has produced a lot of progress. the open question is whether donald trump comes in and signal and all sorts of ways that he will be more deferential to netanyahu. accept his definition of what the best path to long-term security is. that will lead to a more productive path. >> so much more to talk about and we'll do it later in this broadcast. jackie mentioned the politics in the united states and also the politics in israel, as well. and also this resolution is -- there have been stronger resolutions against israel. the question is it perception or reality and what is the truth behind it? >> we have to leave it there, thank you. coming up, one airline making sure that unruly passengers like don stay in line. the surprising way they say they could stop a dangerous situation onboard.

that's next on "new day." removing stains into a science. now pre-treat with clorox 2! watch stains disappear right before your eyes. remove 4 times more stains than detergent alone. choose. choose. choose. but at bedtime... ...why settle for this? enter sleep number and the lowest prices of the season. sleepiq technology tells you how well you slept and what adjustments you can make. she likes the bed soft. he's more hardcore. so your sleep goes from good to great to wow! only at a sleep number store, right now, save $600 on our best selling i8 mattress, plus 24 month special financing. learn more at sleepnumber.com know better sleep with sleep number.

(vo) what'scorn? dog food's first ingredient? wheat? in purina one true instinct grain free, real chicken is always #1. no corn, wheat or soy. support your active dog's whole body health

with purina one.

a member of the afghan parliament and four others injured today when an explosive device hit their vehicle in kabul. police say it's not clear if the attacker targeted the parliament member or not. this bomb was placed under a bridge. there has not been any claim of responsibility yet. arkansas police, this is, hoping amazon's echo device can help solve a murder mystery. obtain recordings from james andrew baits home.

police say the cause of death was strangulation with drowning as a secondary cause. baits has been charged in collins' murder but is out on bail. apparently, it records everything you say in your house. all right. so if you act out on a certain airline, you could get tased. green airlines revising its guidelines allowing our flight crew members to use tailors to deal with mid-air disturbances. backlash of the airline's handling of an incident. stepped in last week to help restrain an unruly passenger. when i was teasing that story, i did not know it was tasers and i did not know don should get tased. >> you want me to get tased. >> only some days. not today. remembering carrie fisher. the "star wars" iconic star is dead at 60. we look back at her life and legacy, that's next.

(vo) it's that time of year again. when you realize you still didn't get quite what you wanted. that's why verizon has the best deals of the year on the best network. like a free smartphone when you add a line or switch. no trade-in required. choose from the samsung galaxy j3, the lg k8 or stylo, or the the motoz play. all free. and as if you needed another reason, switch to verizon now and get up to $650 to cover your costs. there's still time to get exactly what you want at verizon.

what a beautiful woman inside and out. tributes are pouring in for carrie fisher. the actress best known for her iconic role in "star wars." but her greatest legacy is probably off screen. breaking down barriers when it comes to discussing mental health. let's discuss with cnn entertainment most nischelle turner and the handsome -- thank you, guys, for being here. we know her for her on-screen work and she was this brilliant worker, script doctor, don said.

she also did a lot for us ladies, didn't she? >> and for us gentleman. helping us understand you ladies, right? >> right. kind of like browbeating you into submission sometimes because she was very in your face about who she was and the type of woman she was. it was a -- this is who i am. see me, love me or don't type of person that she was. and i think, you know, someone said about her yesterday and it really kind of stuck with me. they said she lived out loud. she really kind of put herself out there good, bad, ugly, indifferent and just wanted to be who she was. there was an interview that she did with "rolling stone" that she did recently. the roles in hollywood are hard to come by after you are 27 and i refuse to sit and wait by the phone. i'm just not going to do it. which speaks to the conversation that women in hollywood are having right now. wage inequality and age

inequality. when we saw princess leia on the screen i kind of puffed up a little bit because this was a woman who was right there with all of the men kicking behind just like them. you know, not shrinking in the background of the movies. just really being in the forefront and she was young. you know, she was still a kid when she got this role. so, she was kind of an accidental feminist, i think i called her yesterday because she fell into it and just played the role of who she was. and, so, i'm not sure that they wanted princess leia to be so in your face and be so tough in this movie. but carrie fisher couldn't have played this role any other way. that's who she was. >> you know, she appeared with our larry king. she did a number of interviews at cnn -- >> yes, she did. great ones, too. >> she talked about drug abuse. i believe this is back in 1990. >> i didn't like illegal drugs, i liked legal drugs. i liked medicine because i liked

the philosophy of it. you are going to feel better when you take two or eight of these. and i always wanted to feel better. and one of the side effects of percodan is euphoria. i thought that was a side effect that i could live with. palpations, heart attack and death. >> that was pretty bold. not many people, especially stars, were talking about drug issues back in the '90s. >> not at all. she played princess leia and some people who would have a role like that would be consumed by it or obliterated by it. she chose to use it. she knew at a certain point in time that she was always going to be princess leia. she embraced it and fought against it and she knew when she was playing other roles that the audience watching her knew that she had been princess leia. they call it metta now. and then to wrap her personal life and private live around that. we haven't mentioned, of course,

that she was the child of two huge hollywood stars and not speaking about your private life was what you did. >> can i just speak to what you were saying because we see so many actress and actresses for one major role when it is in television or film and then they resent it. she embraced it and probably got more roles. she may have had a tough time but not as tough a time as many because she embraced what that role did for her. >> we would do tributes of michael jackson orwhomever. half the story was read about what their life was like and the other half is about where the reader was at that time. nischelle said when she saw "star wars." it was about her to some degree, but also about you, the viewer, and how you viewed princess

leia. why reject that? and then reveal yourself through that prism. >> nischelle, celebrities are always held to this higher standard of setting an example and being role models. perhaps one of the most important ways they can do that is to talk about their own personal struggles and how they have overcome them or how they live with them and battle them. let's listen to what she said in 2008 to matt lauer on "today" show. >> if you're manic depressed and you're living with it, it takes balls or the female equivalent and, you know, it's people make fun of it or don't want anyone to know. man, i don't care. it's like a war story. >> that's where the power is, right? when you have that sort of platform, nischelle. >> go ahead, larry. >> what makes her so interesting is that she is hollywood royalty. yet when she speaks about things like that, she's just like anybody else. makes it that much more

powerful. >> that's exactly what i was going to say. she was being herself, an authentic. and she made it okay to be flawed. she made it okay for all of us to feel like, well, darn it. if carrie fisher has these struggles, i got them, too. it's kind of okay. we're all in this thing together. she did make it okay. she just kind of put it out there. and, you know, you won't really see that today because everybody's got handlers and everybody's got talking points in hollywood. but she just -- >> so on messgage. >> i have seen so many people, you know, since she pased yesterday just saying thank you. thank you for making it okay for us to not be perfect. >> also, thank you for the halloween costumes with the cinnamon buns. >> i had it. i had it. >> i'm sure -- >> we have not seen the last of those. >> thank you, guys. >> remembering an icon. that's for sure. college's best team getting

ready for the biggest weekend and now some of the players are making one contest personal. details ahead in our bleacher report. no matter how the markets change... at t. rowe price... our disciplined approach remains. global markets may be uncertain... but you can feel confident in our investment experience around the world. call us or your advisor... t. rowe price. invest with confidence.

we are three days away from the college football playoffs and clemson not holding back when talking about its matchup against ohio state. andy sholes has more in this

morning's bleacher report. >> last thing any of these coaches ever want is for their opponent to give. clemson safety johnson was asked a question about buckeyes quarterback j.t. barrett. he said he's not impressed from what he's seen from barrett on tape. >> we've played better quarterbacks from him. i'm not taking anything away from him. i don't think he's a bad player. he's definitely a good player. just doesn't stand out as one of the best quarterbacks we have played this year. >> get his chance to impress johnson on saturday. alabama and washington getting things started at 3:00 eastern in the peach bowl. you can add the buffalo bills to the teams in the market for a new head coach. firing rex ryan after a disappointing 8-7 season thus

far. they also fired his twin brother, rob, who was on the team's staff. ryan went 13-16 in his two years in buffalo. if we don't see rex on the sidelines coaching next year, i am guessing he won't have too hard of a job finding a tv job with his personality that he is always using and talking in the media with. how worried should the u.s. be about the nuclear program? some clues on kim jung-un's program. we discuss, next. it's your last chance to save during the final days of the ford year end event. hurry in for the best deals of the season on ford, america's most awarded brand. with the most 5-star ratings...

and the highest owner loyalty... giving drivers what matters most. that's how you become america's best-selling brand. just announced, get $1500 total cash on select models, on top of the best offers of the season. hurry, the final days of the ford year end event end january third.

with sleep number, there's an adjustment for that. make it firm. make it soft. adjusts to any duo. does your bed do that? come into a sleep number store where the c2 mattress is now $699.99. it's a no brainer. (vo) what'scorn? dog food's first ingredient? wheat? in purina one true instinct grain free, real chicken is always #1. no corn, wheat or soy. support your active dog's whole body health with purina one.

a high-profile north korean diplomat that says the reclusive regime is racing ahead with big nuclear plant. how will president-elect donald trump react. strategic and international studies. good morning to you. thank you for joining us. scary news out of north korea. we are hearing from a high level north korean diplomat that just defected that kim jong un wants nuclear weapons to end by 2017 at all costs. do you buy that? >> i certainly do, don. i think this regime has made its singular purpose to perfect the long-range nuclear missile that can reach the west coast of the united states. that and the survival of the regime are simply the two things that this leadership cares about

and nothing else, really. >> do you think that this could be saber rattling? he is known to do that. >> yes, it could be. but at the same time we have seen under his leadership something like 65 missile tests and nuclear tests in the past eight years. whereas his father only did about 17 prior to that. so, there seems to be a real uptempo in the provocations and a military program that is designed to develop nuclear weapons. >> even though most of the recent missile tests have been unsuccessful, how concerned should we be? >> i think we should be fairly concerned. a lot of them have been unsuccessful but a couple of the recent ones cross technical thresholds that we didn't expect. the ability to put a pay load vehicle into orbit is something we didn't expect them to do and

they've done that successfully. now they claim they have a missile warhead. a nuclear warhead they can attach to an icbm. these are big steps that they have made or claim to have made that should make us very concerned. >> victor, james clapper who is the head of national intelligence says that getting north korea to throw down nuclear weapons is a lost cause. what do we do about north korea and nuclear weapons then? >> well, i can certainly understand his frustration having negotiated previous agreements here. i think the number one priority for the united states is to stop north korea from perfecting a long-range missile that can reach the united states. reach the homeland of the united states. this is the number one objective because once they have that missile, once they perfect that capability, they could threaten with it and they could also sell it to the other countries and nonstate actors. >> i want to give you a quote,

victor. from the incoming president donald trump, let there be an arms race. he also said we need to look at our nuclear capabilities and enhance them. vladimir putin is saying the same thing about that country's nuclear forces. donald trump said it wouldn't be such a bad thing if south korea and japan had nukes, as well. what is going on here? >> well, i think there certainly are concerns about an arms race building in asia that is sparked by north korea's reckless behavior, as well as china's behavior in the south china sea and lining the taiwan straits with missiles. there are concerns about an arms race. but i don't think that's the answer. the answer from the u.s. perspective we can't allow the country that is the worst abusing human rights to have a weapon of that caliber that can reach the united states. >> speaking of that, japan's prime minister also called for revising the constitution so it could have a beefed up military. what is at play here?

>> so, i think in that case there is a desire on the part of japan to be more of a player. an international player that can commit to peacekeeping operations and other things that national coalitions might do. i don't think in japan's case it is a desire to shed the nuclear and produce nuclear weapons. i don't think that is in the cards for them. but i am concerned about largely sparked by actions by the north ckoreans and by the chinese. >> the president-elect said he will receive kim jong un here on soil. do you think that is such a good idea given him wanting to ramp up north korea's nuclear capabilities? >> it's hard to really understand what that statement meant. i mean, i think it was a statement that allowed for diplomacy in this relationship. we've done it in the past. the two previous presidents that have reached two agreements.

but i think at this point there is very little that the north koreans can be convinced of doing through diplomacy. they're on a track to develop these capabilities and we have to find a way to stop them. >> victor cha, thank you for joining us this morning on "new day." appreciate it. >> my pleasure, don. we're following a lot of news this morning, including hollywood remembering carrie fisher. let's get right to it. donald trump firing off one more tweet at president obama reminding him he lost. >> we must resist the urge to turn inward. >> thomas bossert added to the top white house staff. >> these are the kind of hires that trump makes that is very reassuring. >> netanyahu delaying a vote on israeli settlement as secretary of state john kerry gets ready to talk middle east peace. >> trying our best to make peace in every possible way. >> it really depends on the palestinians. carrie fisher has died. >> do you like the princess?

>> i have her over sometimes. >> leia lives in everybody's heart and everybody's soul. >> i guess you don't know everything about women yet. >> announcer: this is "new day" with chris cuomo and alisyn camerota. i'm poppy harlow here with don lemon. chris and alisyn are off. celebrities and fans are paying tribute to carrie fisher. her pioneering role as princess leia in the "star wars" franchise died four days after suffering a heart attack. >> being remembered as hollywood royalty but her legacy transcends that beloved clarkt. she was incredibly witty and frank about her personal struggles and credited with breaking down barriers for people living with mental health issues. our coverage begins this morning with paul vercammen live in los angeles. sad story to have to report, paul. >> it is sad, but, don, let's

get right to some of the joy that people expressed in remembering her including luke skywalker himself. at first he was almost speechless and then a very thoughtful bit of social media last night. he talked about everything that she did. i'm grateful for the laughter, the wisdom, the kindness. even the bratty self-indulging crap that my beloved space twin gave me through the years. let's reflect on the life and times of carrie fisher. >> i should expect you -- >> reporter: carrie fisher best known as princess leia in "star wars" has died. fisher had a heart attack friday on the final 15 minutes of a flight from london to los angeles. according to tmz, fisher was on a ventilator the entire time she was hospitalized, never regaining consciousness. she's seen here in audition tape with soon to be co-star harrison ford. >> safely delivered to my forces. ♪ >> reporter: critics pointed to