gathered his thoughts and on social media put out quite a tribute to his co-star from "star wars" remembering about her and the laughter and so much that she gave to him. and hamill, as she said, had been quiet. at first he said i have no words, i'm devastated. but he said that he was grateful for her wisdom and he talked about her bratty, self-indulgent self on screen and you can see what he says there. hamill, of course, and fisher glued together, joined at the hip as they started down the road towards "star wars" and he said thanks, i love you. let's reflect on the life and times of carrie fisher. >> i should have expected to find you holding the leash. >> reporter: carrie fisher best known as princess leia in "star wars" has died. fisher had a heart attack friday during 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. >> when r2 has been 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. >> i was primarily raised by my mother, but i saw my father. >> reporter: fisher poked fun at the absurdities of show biz life and all manner of self-medication, including 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 shockaholic. she was briefly married to paul simon in the 1980s. years later she gave birth to a daughter from her relationship with agent brian lorde. she debuted in the acclaimed film "shampoo." in between the "star wars" movies fisher landed a number of meaty soles. in "soap dish". and as meg ryan's wise-cracking friend in "when harry met sally." >> someone's staring at you in personal growth. >> reporter: but nothing could or would loom larger than fisher in "star wars." >> transported you. >> it was extraordinary entertainment film making. >> do you like the princess? >> i have her over sometimes. she's a little pitchy, you know. >> carrie fisher was 60. >> and another great one-liner from carrie fisher. she also told ellen degeneres

about this romantic affair with harrison ford that no one thought it was happening and at the time she didn't think that he did, either. don, poppy? >> you had to love her. >> you know what's funny during that -- thank you, paul, appreciate it. during that ellen interview when she said she would go back and reprieve whenever they would do the update on the role, she said they would make her lose weight because they only wanted to hire part of her. >> her humor was so self-deprecating, so witty, so brilliant, and -- and her memory lives on obviously on screen but also through her daughter who is also an actress. >> but you know what? speaking of that, she was a daughter of debbie reynolds. and eddie fisher. and a lot of people, you know, when they sort of live in the shadow of their famous parents, she didn't. right? she embraced the role of princess leah. she embraced being debbie reynolds daughter. she, you know, played with her in different tv shows and in plays or whatever.

so she enjoyed all of it. she lived life to the fullest. >> she always looked like herself. >> i love that. >> she's beautiful and 60 is young. she let herself age. i mean in the day when everyone, you know, hollywood, everyone, doesn't look like themselves at their age. >> naturally and graceful. >> inside and out. >> 2016 we lost way too many. >> i agree. >> coming up in just minutes. we are going to speak with two of her "star wars" co-stars, anthony daniels played c3po. and chewbacca. >> before we get to that we have to discuss some politics. the president-elect donald trump tapping a former bush aide as a top counterterrorism adviser but a security scare at trump tower in new york is re-igniting the battle over who will pay to protect the president-elect when he is in the big apple. cnn's senior washington correspondent mr. jeff zeleny is at trump's mar-a-lago estate in palm beach with more. i almost said trump tower i'm so

used to saying it. good morning to you, jeff. >> good morning. this is the trump tower of palm beach, you can see mar-a-lago behind me this morning. but as donald trump is about to finish filling his cabinet the final two appointments could come this week. he's looking ahead of course to his presidency which is coming in some 23 days. as he does that he's also looking back at the presidential campaign and taking aim one more time at president obama on twitter. 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. trump aides tell cnn bossert will be on equal footing with flynn, whose portfolio is

primarily international threats. boss ert's appointment has some establishment republicans and trump critics 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-lago 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. eric philips, a spokesman for new york mayor 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. but about that bill, work on it with us? that wasn't the only attack on twitter. twum once again touting his victory over clinton, while taking a knock at the man ee will success. president obama campaigned hard and personally in the very important swing states and lost. the voters wanted to make america great again. now the cost of security also an issue here in palm beach county. last week at a county commissioner's meeting they talked about asking the federal government for more money to pay for law enforcement protection here as well. one estimate over the thanksgiving weekend that it cost a quarter of a million dollars. now, that is typical, of course, for all presidents.

this is a growing process as donald trump becomes president-elect here. but one more thing this morning. he also tweeted about the economy, taking credit for the strong economy. take a look at this tweet. he said that the u.s. consumer confidence index is at its highest point in 15 years. thanks, donald. of course the president-elect there talking in third person. he apparently didn't have room to also say, thanks, president obama, whose economy donald trump is soon to inherit. don? >> thanks, jeffrey. i appreciate it. so, so much to discuss. so let's bring in congressman chris collins from new york. he is a trump transition team congressional liaison. thank you so much for joining us. since you're our congressman from new york, can we just talk about the bill that new york city is footing a big part of. >> sure. >> because of the security here at traur. who should be paying for this? >> well, i have gone on the record that this is a bill the federal government should pick

up. this is an extraordinary expense. it's not like a president's flying in for a speech in a community, and they have to turn out some extra police to, you know, for security. the cost on fifth avenue for trump tower is just astronomical and it's much like, you know, if we have an unusual expense, it could be a hurricane, or something along those lines, the federal government steps in to local taxpayers are not burdened. and in this case it would be a tremendous burden on the local taxpayers, and i do think it's an appropriate expense for the federal government. >> so the federal government should pick up -- >> i've spoken with mayor de blasio -- >> new york and florida, as well? >> yeah. both cases, you know, we have an extraordinary president who has two extraordinary places that he and his family live, and it -- it should not be a burden on the local taxpayers. >> thank you for addressing that congressman. let's talk about this battle that is brewing in trump's own party. i want to play parts of what

republican senator lindsey graham told us concerning russia hacking of our election. >> there are 100 united states senators, amy globe char is on this trip with us. i would say 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 put sanctions together that hit putin as an individual, and his inner circle, far interfering in tour election. and they're doing it all over the world. not just in the united states. >> so congressman, it looks like he's -- the way he's putting it is trump versus the entire senate. is that going to be a problem? >> well, i don't think that's quite the case. as you're seeing donald trump put together an extraordinary cabinet that's going to focus on cybersecurity, cyber hacking, there's no question all of us, including president-elect trump, would say cyber hacking is unacceptable, whether that's from russia, china, north korea, or iran.

we will take the necessary steps. so i have no qualms at all to think that president-elect trump would not be taking some serious steps to make sure that he deals with cyber hacking regardless of the country they come from. and that we would stand united on that. >> all right, let's move on, congressman, and talk about the economy and something that jeff zeleny just mentioned in his report. donald trump took another shot at the current president. he also thanked himself in the third person, which by any measure, you know, obama's economy here. it's been all over twitter. so tell us why do you think donald trump is still tweeting about this? >> well, obama's economy was the weakest recovery ever. we never even hit 2% gdp growth. and truly, the optimism coupled with lower tax rates, and issues on trade, fair trade, the stock market has soared. the confidence in america has soared, and certainly as donald

trump has put the best cabinet ever assembled, people are now understanding what a presidency -- >> congressman, with all due respect all of that was -- all of that was under the president -- the current president president obama 3.5% gdp that was a growth last quarter and then this is unemployment is at an all-time low. an all-time low in nine years. >> well, the underemployment is what's not spoken of. all the people that have left the workforce during obama's eight years and he never did hit 2% gdp growth year over year. eight straight years of very anemic growth. the public now realizes that president trump and the fair trade, making sure that china and mexico are no longer stealing our jobs, and just his own optimism have caused the stock market just to -- because that's on expectations. the stock market usually refers to the expectation of future earnings, and we've never seen such a robust spurt in the

dow -- >> so the good economy and the low job numbers that we have had over the last year is because of president-elect donald trump? >> no. i'm saying the anemic economy under obama. all the people who left the workforce because of obama's weak economy. no one can call this a strong economy. now all of a sudden that pessimism has turned into optimism because people know that donald trump going to bring jobs back. the kind of jobs we need, and he's going to have lower taxes, which means better earnings for corporations, and again, more jobs and higher wages. you know, this is an optimism boost in the stock market. based on the expectation of future earnings there was certainly for eight years an anemic recovery from the last, you know, recession. the worst since the great depression. >> i want to move on and talk about you being the unofficial gatekeeper for administration jobs.

i'm wondering if you're going to get one and also he has yet to appoint an agriculture secretary, director of veterans affairs, and director of national intelligence. are you going to get one of those jobs? and might we seen see a democrat in one of those positions? >> no, don. i explained to the president-elect on the morning of the election that i was staying in congress. i serve on energy and commerce, health and telecommunications subcommittee. a lot of legislative work to do to put bills on his desk to be kind. at this stage of my life i'm staying put in congress. he honored me by making me the congressional liaison to the transition team and i'm helping put forth names. i'm not filling -- >> any democratic names? might there be bipartisan appointments? >> well, there are. i've actually put four democrat names on the table myself. and so we're looking for the best and brightest. and that doesn't necessarily -- >> who are those four democrats? >> well i'm not really in a position, i wouldn't want to let anyone know that in case they

don't get a job, i wouldn't want them answering for that. but, yes, i can see democrats entering the administration at the undersecretary level. you know, who knows. even at a secretary level. but certainly as the deputy or somewhere as an undersecretary, there's very good -- i have a lot of good friends who are democrats. we just agree to disagree on national policies. >> some of your best friends are democrats, right? thank you, congressman chris collins. >> they truly are. >> i appreciate that. >> okay, don, you, too. >> all right. secretary of state john kerry today set to lay out the obama administration's vision for middle east peace this amid the context of rising tension between the united states and israel up next, former senator george mitchell who served as the u.s. special envoy to the middle east under president obama will join us with his thoughts.

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the city of jerusalem canceling a vote today to approve the construction of hundreds of homes in the battle over settlements intensifies.

the delay comes as secretary of states john kerry gets set to deliver a big speech laying out the obama administration's vision for peace in the middle east. let's go to cnn's oren liebermann live in jerusalem with the very latest. hi, orrin. >> hi, don. the jerusalem city council has made their position on this very clear. they see this as the needs for a growing city. a growing city needs more housing. but they also say they didn't want to get into a political controversy so they canceled the vote set for just hours before secretary of state john kerry's speech laying out what he sees as the middle east peace process. they also say they canceled the vote at the request of prime minister benjamin netanyahu who had shortly after the security council resolution sworn not to abide by it. so what was netanyahu thinking? that part is a bit more difficult to understand. he may have been trying to get a bit of goodwill here with secretary kerry right before his speech or perhaps he was responding to criticism, some from within his own party, that he mishandled this diplomatically and perhaps lashed out a bit too much at the u.s. and diplomatic actions

against other countries. poppy, one of the big worries at this point for the israelis is that kerry's speech and the parameters he les out for negotiations will be taken by the international community and turned into another security council resolution even if it's once again nonbinding that's still a big blow to israel. >> oren liebermann live for us in jerusalem. thank you for that reporting. as we await the secretary of state's remarks later today, let's discuss all of this with former u.s. senator george mitchell he also served as u.s. special envoy to the middle east under president obama. thank you for being with me, sir, and congratulations on the new book. a path to peace. a brief history of israeli palestinian negotiations and a way forward in the middle east. nice to have you on the program. >> thanks very much for having me. >> who better to talk to about a way forward today, the day that the secretary of state will plot out and tell us what this administration sees as the way forward. i wonder what you make of this in the context of the heightened

tensions between the united states and israel, the timing on this, why give this these 23 days before the end of this administration. and also, what he will say? i mean will he essentially admit failure? >> well, i don't know what secretary kerry will say and, there's some past precedent for statements made toward the end of terms. president clinton made one just before he left office. president bush, george w. bush, pushed hard on his road map to peace in the last year of his presidency and made a statement in jerusalem during that year so we have to wait and see what secretary kerry says. my own view is that i think both sides, palestinians and israelis, have taken the wrong course of action following the vote on the u.n. security council resolution. >> by the way, you think that the obama administration, you're critical of what they did.

you think they should have vetoed it? >> yes, i do. not because the policy was wrong. on the policy, there have been nine american presidents, since settlements began. five republicans and four democrats, and all of them, every single one, johnson, nixon, down through george w. bush and obama, have opposed israel's policy with respect to settlements. that's been american policy for 50 years. and that's what's expressed in the resolution. i think the timing was wrong, and it -- the result is that the parties are moving away from negotiations rather than toward them. and i think both are engaging in self-destructive policy. if i might, on the palestinian side their leaders have taken hard from this and say they're going to pursue with even more vigor their effort to achieve a state through international institution as opposed to negotiating with the israelis. i don't think it will happen. they can get a nominal state, but a real state on the ground requires the participation of

israel in a negotiation and an agreement. on the israeli side, israel's already isolated in the muslim world, which is about a fifth of the world's population now, in a few decades, it will be a third, and now the tactic followed by the prime minister of criticizing and doing something to the relationship with countries like britain and france and spain and new zealand risk undermining israel throughout the world. if i could just say, poppy, to my knowledge, i may be wrong, but i haven't heard of a single country in the world of the nearly 200 countries in the world, that have come out in support of israel's position on this settlements resolution. for israel, it's not a winning issue worldwide. they should be trying to broaden the base of their support rather than narrowing it outside the united states. >> so, as you have heard throughout the week, spokes people for netanyahu's

administration, also the ambassadors who have come on "new day" with us have said we have concrete evidence, we have proof it was the obama administration basically colluding with these other countries to, you know, to push this forward against israel and we have evidence but we're not going to show it to the american people, or to the obama administration, we're going to wait for president trump to be the next president. what do you make of that? and how the president-elect tweeting about all of this, saying things will be different under him at the u.n., is really rewriting the plaib when it comes to this? >> well, i have no idea what they're saying or what evidence they may or may not have. and i guess all of us will have to wait and make a judgment when the time comes. with respect to the incoming administration president-elect trump will pursue whatever policy he wants. but i hope very much first that he will not reverse the policy of 50 years, nine american presidents, republican and

democrat, in opposition to israeli settlement policy. because they are not conducive to peace. they're not -- >> doesn't all the evidence show us that he will? i mean especially who he tapped david friedman as the ambassador? >> well, mr. friedman made -- mr. friedman made many statements as a private citizen. that doesn't mean that president-elect trump is obligated to pursue those for example mr. friedman went much further than settlement expansion talking about the possibility of israel annexing the west bank which would be a truly dramatic act, a reversal of prior policy. >> let me get your take because you know the mind of the man you were the u.s. envoy to the middle east under president obama for multiple years. how much of this if any do you believe is personal animus on behalf of both the president towards netanyahu and netanyahu towards the president? >> i don't think that's the driving factor on either side. the reality is, popsy, american presidents and israeli prime ministers in the past have had

differences of opinion. much more sharply than have obama and netanyahu. hasn't altered the basic relationship between the two countries, which is very strong. eisenhower and ben-gurion didn't get along. eisenhower wouldn't even talk to ben-gurion at the time of the crisis. so it's a factor, but i don't think it's a driving factor on either side. i think each is upheld by what he believes to be the right way to achieve a successful outcome in the region. they just disagree on how to do that. >> senator mitchell nice to have you on the program. again congrats on the book "a path to peace." i think everyone is hoping for peace. >> here's a question that's been swirling around from the current president and the president-elect. what would have happened if president-elect donald trump ran against president obama? question sparking a feud between both men after obama's comments in a podcast interview our david axelrod joins us next to talk about his interview. it was his interview with the

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president-elect donald trump has 23 days before he takes office. trump is feuding with the man he will succeed after president obama said he would have defeated him if he could have run for a third term. >> in the wake of the election and trump winning, a lot of people have -- have suggested that somehow it really was a fantasy. i -- 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 a majority of the american people to rally behind it. >> well donald trump, of course, says no way. so let's get the bottom line now from the man who interviewed the president, cnn's senior political analyst mr. david axelrod. it was a fascinating interview. thank you for joining us this morning. you know, this is being build as a feud between the two men.

was that a swipe, do you think, at the president-elect? or was it just you having a conversation with someone you know very well? >> or was it criticizing hillary clinton a bit? >> well, right. >> you know, honestly, i don't think it was -- it was either. it was really a service of a larger point which he was saying that the things that he ran on, and the basic progressive vision of open, inclusive country, that he stood for, were not overturned in the election, because, "a," a majority of americans didn't vote for mr. trump, and then he said, and i think if i had run i could have -- i could have prevailed with this. in terms of hillary, he was very, very effusive in his praise of her in this interview said she had run a wonderful campaign under tough circumstances and said she was treated unfairly by the news media. so he was careful to set those

principles forth before he made his point. so i don't think he was trying to engage mr. trump, nor was he trying to malign secretary clinton. i think he was trying to make a larger point about the direction of the country. but, the interesting thing about it in the aftermath was just how reactive donald trump was to it. and maybe it's not surprising, but it's concerning that he chases every rabbit down the hole, and when you're president of the united states, you can't allow every -- every small provocation to drive you into a -- into a rage. >> we learned a few interesting things about you, mr. axelrod, in this interview. namely, you're not very organized, he doesn't want your help packing up the white house. or moving into his new residence. but, but -- >> you would think, poppy, just looking at me you could have discerned that. but anyway. >> your tie is on straight, but, but, listen, on a more serious note i learned something that in

that is you were skeptical just by being a huge supporter of his early on in his career that a black man named barack hussein obama could actually become the next president of the united states. when was that moment for you david when you realized this is happening? >> david, can i talk about that before, because we both knew him from chicago and i knew you from chicago. >> yes. >> right? >> yes. >> and remember when he ran for senate, it was interesting to see the -- what led up to that because he didn't stand a chance to win as senator. >> right. >> in illinois. >> exactly. >> and basically sort of the same thing played out nationally for him to become president. >> you know my skepticism was really about the senate race more than the -- more than the presidential race. and there were a lot of reasons for that skepticism. one was his name was barack hussein obama. you started looking at this one year after the attack on the

world trade center. he -- there had been one african-american senator elected from illinois in the modern era. it was a very tough thing to do. he had no money. and just lost a congressional race by 30 points. there were a lot of reasons to doubt, and that campaign, don, as you'll remember, was kind of a revelation because he took the state by storm. he won in places that not only an african-american but democrats often didn't win. and it became clear that he had some special gifts that could take him a long way -- >> by surprise and then they brought -- at the very end. >> but the thing that in that race that was really interesting was he was in a field of seven. there was a well-funded candidate much better known candidates, and he ended up getting 53% of a vote in a seven-person field and winning places that were very unexpected. the northwest side of chicago. white ethnic enclaves there.

so he showed an ability to cross lines that hadn't been crossed before. but in terms of presidential race it was really when he won the iowa caucuses that i felt that this was going to go. i saw glimpses of the possibility earlier. certainly his speech at the convention in 2004 was a harbinger of something. but it was really when he won the iowa caucuses in the state that was 98% white that it -- that -- that looked to me like the country was -- was ready. >> after he takes this long, as he calls it, very nice vacation, with his better half, what do you think is the single most important thing to him to accomplish in his post-presidency? and for whom? >> you know, he addressed that poppy at the end of the podcast and he said that he saw his role now as trying to lift up, shine

a light on, inspire, and support young leaders around the world and in this country 20-year-olds, 30-year-olds, who were doing important things pointing in the right direction. he -- he feels that his best purpose is to give support to those people. in other words, his view is that in his term has come and gone and now his best role is to encourage others to pick up the torch, and run with it. and not necessarily on a partisan basis. but in terms of dealing with problems in a progressive way and innovative way and entrepreneurial way and that's where i think he's going with his -- his foundation and his presidential center. >> before we get to the break i have to ask you a question. people, someone said that we will never see another, you know, black president or president of color in our lifetime. do you think we'll see another black president, hispanic president, a woman president in our lifetime?

meaning the next 20 or 30 years? >> oh, absolutely. i think -- i think that -- that -- that has the remarkability of that has been punctured by the obama election and now i think you will see that. and you see a country that is becoming more diverse so i think you'll see candidates emerge, black, hispanic, women, who will compete for the presidency, and some will win. and i think one of the things that happened this last election was that because barack obama had won, the idea of a woman as president seemed less remarkable than it would have previous to that. so i think that's a good thing for the country if it becomes a less noteworthy that someone is of a given race, or gender, but is judged more on the basis of what they have to offer the country. >> david, thanks so much. it was a fascinating interview. if you haven't heard it -- >> thanks, poppy. >> tributes are pouring in for hollywood legend carrie fisher. two of her "star wars" co-stars

reflect on her life and her legacy, next.

♪ ♪

some movies are timeless. that's one of them. "star wars." >> absolutely. >> carrie fisher. obviously the legend, the actress, princess leia, remembered for her iconic role in that hollywood block buster franchise "star wars." two of her co-stars joining us to reflect on her life and legacy. anthony daniels starred as sc3p. thank you for being with us. as you were talking in the break -- >> it's kind of a pleasure to share -- share the memories and share the sadness, because you don't have to feel bad alone. >> yeah. oh, no you have the world with you. you have the world with you. and period mayhew is with us, as well. he played chewbacca.

such a pleasure to have you both. anthony, as you reflect on the woman you knew offscreen, the kind of woman she was. what's your fondest memory of her? >> well, hanging about on the set, you know, filmmaking is all about sitting in chairs, drinking coffee, or cola or whatever and waiting to do the take. discussing how ridiculous the lines are, and whether or not you can remember them, and hoping you can. and, just generally being good company, and she always was. the day started slowly before she had the first coffee or whatever. as we all trudge onto the seat, the walk through, discussing placements and lines and so on and then as time went on she would reappear in the full costume or whatever it is, with her beautiful princess in a white frock or a very, very gutsy general later on. >> peter, i want to bring you in, because your friendship with her spanned decades, really, and

you've appeared with her in several "star wars" movies, including the latest one. what was -- what was it like to have a reunion with her in these films? >> well, absolutely wonderful. you you know, carrie was a person that i'd known for, as you say, for a long time, and we just -- the relationship was there. i think it was probably -- you get security from someone that's a lot bigger than you are. i'm quite a bit bigger than carrie is, so we do. it was nice to be able to just have someone on the set that you could look up to, and be able -- being a stranger, you know, she

was -- she was there, and she was available to make things happen. >> anthony, she's also been described by some as sort of an accidental feminist. what she's done for women in hollywood, not only in that role but sort of throughout generations, spanning generations, so much of her talent was not only on-screen it was offscreen in script writing. >> oh, yes. and she may have been an accidental feminist but i don't think the word feminist ever came up. she just was who she was in so many different directions. >> yes. >> go ahead, peter. >> that is true. yes, i agree, everything he said has been, you know, carrie was carrie. end of story. she was a unique character. and a unique person. >> she was so funny, and so witty. i'm interested, anthony, in what you think she would, as she

watches down on, you know, the world mourning her and remembering her and celebrating her life, what would she -- what would be the witty line she would write about herself? >> oh, for ef heaven sake i would be carrie fisher myself if i knew those lines. she always sort of left the field. >> yep. >> she was -- oh, i think she would be -- i think she would be saying to people who maybe are getting a little overemotional, she'd say you know, wow, buck up, have a coffee, have a coke, whatever. and she would very much know that life is going on without her. >> it's interesting that you say that, because recently, i don't have the direct quote here i just remember her being asked in an interview was she afraid to die. >> right. >> and she said she wasn't afraid to die but she said i've been there when a number of people died it didn't look very fun -- >> not afraid of death, dying but not afraid of death. >> when someone was passing over if they wanted anyone to be there with them it was her you

know to help to hold their hand. >> you know, to hold the hand, and maybe say this happens. and don't be afraid of it. and the extraordinary thing about, you know, the entertainment industry, the -- the web, the internet, the ether, is that her memory stays now, her image stays as fresh and anybody who's seen "rogue one" and i don't want to give any spoilers, but there it is, she is as fresh as indeed she literally was back in 1976 when we fichld it. and thoseismages will stay, her voice will stay as george lucas' amazing creation "star wars" will stay forever and ever, way beyond my lifetime, beyond yours. beyond everybody who's watching today. that will go on into the ether forever. >> and peter, one of the things we've heard so much is that she lived her full self. she was her full self. especially talking about very difficult things. like mental health issues.

she was diagnosed with bipolar disorder, battling with that, battling with drugs. >> yes. she had a full lifestyle and i think if you accepted that what she was that you have got a lot more out of her than being oh, you're an actress. but she wasn't. she was the actress of the '70s because of leia and the way it moved along on all three of the original movies. >> hmm. i think it's interesting. i think it's fair to say that she would say to all of us, don't take yourself so seriously. >> right. >> yeah. >> thank you, peter mayhew. >> -- she couldn't take herself seriously in any of this because of the ridiculous hairstyles. she was often snickering.

>> cinnamon bun. >> draped her in that strange bikini outside in episode six. that's right. and she really found that difficult. and of course that -- that, if not before that costume she became the young man's crush from all around the world. >> of course. gentlemen we have to leave it there. i'm so sorry. but thank you for bringing her to life a bit with beautiful memories today. peter thank you so much. anthony. >> may the force be with both of you. the good stuff, next.

this has got to be the cutest story ever. you can understand why it went viral. that is michael brown excited that he was adopted after 832

days in foster care after two years he is pumping his fist in the air and joining us now is that adorable 3-year-old michael brown and his mom tara montgomery and he's being a 3-year-old. >> hi, guys. >> hi. >> hi. how excited are you, mom? >> super excited. >> you know, obviously the -- what was written along here with the instagram post that went so viral more than 57,000 retweets on twitter forever family. when did you know that your beautiful -- this beautiful little boy was supposed to be permanent fixture of your family? >> as soon as the case plan changed from severance to adopt we knew that we were going to adopt. >> what is it like? >> i'm sorry. >> what has he added to your life other than a ton of smiles? >> just pure happiness. i mean, his -- so much fun. okay, go ahead.

it's so much fun having him around and the joy of that is great. >> you know -- that's what my daughter was doing last night trying to go to bed like i've got to go to bed, mom. >> but that's what she signed up for. so it's completely okay. >> this is the biggest christmas present you probably could have gotten. we're -- we were in the break, and i -- he said for christmas besides getting a family, what did he get? >> i'm sorry? >> what did he get for -- oh. >> hey, hey. what did you get for christmas? >> yeah. >> he got a family. >> trains, he got tons of train stuff, and yes, it was so much fun. >> and he got a family and he know he wakes up in the morning and says to you, mom, i'm so happy. >> he does. and he goes around to the girls' room and asks, are you so happy? and it's so much fun.

>> so very quickly for families considering adoption, considering being foster parents, what do you say to them? >> you know, anybody can do it. i'm a single mom. and i really got into foster care to help kids. and it just turned into adoption. and i really hope a lot of people look into foster care and it's so rewarding and to be able to help out, kids in transition is so rewarding. >> congratulations, tara. and tell michael we said bye-bye. i know he's under the desk being a 3-year-old. >> thank you so much. >> happy holidays to you. >> thank you. >> "newsroom" will begin right after this break.

good morning to you, i'm victor blackwell in for carol costello this morning. thank you for being with me. after days of tension and some sharp exchanges between the u.s. and israel, secretary of state john kerry will map out the administration's plan for peace in the middle east this morning. the speech is set to begin in just a couple of hours, and it comes after the u.s. refused to veto a u.n. resolution condemning israeli settlements in east jerusalem and the west bank. well that touched off days of diplomatic fallout and accusations of back room dealings. secretary kerry is expected to touch on all of that.