resolutions, through other efforts to try to encourage people to make peace. but there's an old saying, you know, you can lead a horse to water, you can't make it drink. and we've done a lot of leading and a lot of getting to the water. but people were not in a mood to drink. >> that's all the time we have. thanks very much for watching. erin burnett "out front" starts right now. "out front" next, donald trump's son-in-law gets a new title. the trump team says nepotism laws don't apply. plus a painting depicting police as pigs in the capitol. why some lawmakers are fighting to keep it on display. and why a reality tv star is not seeing-eye to eye with his fellow celebrities. that's go "out front." good evening, i'm erin burnett. "out front" tonight, breaking

news, a family affair. we have new details tonight here at cnn about how donald trump can legally name his son-in-law jared kushner a senior white house adviser without breaking any laws against especially nep. kushner's attorney says the president has unfetterred and sweeping ability to select his advisors. he's married to ivanka trump. he's a new york real estate developer and newspaper editor. in his new job kushner's editor says he won't take a salary. kushner will resign from his companies including "the new york observer." ivanka trump's title likely to be first daughter. in just a few hours the senate will begin hearings into trump's cabinet picks, at least none of them scheduled to testify this

week. i want to begin with sara murray, out front with the breaking news. sara, the trump team says jared kushner is ethically cleared to work in the white house. >> reporter: erin, the lingering question for a while now was would jared kushner get a formal title. they were clear, not only is he getting a formal title, a big one, senior adviser to the president, and while he's not taking a salary, they feel they're on solid legal ground not because of that but because they don't believe the white house is a federal agency. they believe donald trump has the ability to pick who he wants to be on his staff in the white house without running afoul of these antinepotism laws. but it is worth noting of course that jared kushner is a businessman just like donald trump is. he runs into many of the same conflicts, potential conflicts that donald trump does. and his lawyer was very clear that he's going to move, has already moved to divest himself from many of these. he's selling off, divesting a substantial number of assets,

all of his foreign investments. now, he's not fully divesting from the kushner companies of which he is the ceo. but he's resigning from that role as well as from his role at "the new york observer." jared kushner, ivanka trump, a package deal here, of course they are married. they are both moving to washington. the other thing made clear today is at least for now ivanka trump will not be taking a formal title in the white house. we know they're both coming to washington. but for now she is going to focus on moving their family here, getting their children settled here. but of course she's still going to have her father's ear. we know she's already been advising him and advising his transition on a number of issues she's interested in, for instance paid leave. and so she's also divesting from a number of her assets, stepping back. she will not play a management role in the trump organization or her fashion brand. >> all right, thank you very much. obviously people are aware she

does have that fashion brand. let's go to david chalian in washington. david, jared kushner is going farther than his father-in-law here. ivanka trump also, but it's unclear the full extent in either case. they're trying to get around the fact that there are laws against doing this, against nepotism here. >> that's true, erin. as sara just noted, the trump transition team is completely confident that those laws do not apply, those antinepotism laws, to this scenario, on two different grounds. one, that the president has a wide ability to appoint white house staff irrespective of those antinepotism laws that congress actually enacted a law dealing with this, and secondly, that the white house is not a federal agency, and so therefore they think on both of those grounds, they're on solid ground here. but you are right to note, jared kushner is going a lot farther than donald trump suggested he

would. we haven't heard how donald trump is going to deal with this business the way we've heard about jared kushner, which is divesting from a ton of stuff, erin, if not entirely. conflict of interest, this is going to be question number one out of the gate at the wednesday press conference. as you know, donald trump told "the new york times" right after the election he doesn't think conflict of interest applies to the president. and he actually may have the law on his side even if he doesn't have the ethics watch dogs on his side. >> do we read anything into what's happened? and they haven't made clear what assets are being told, what titles are being lost for either jared or ivanka. however, so far much more detail than donald trump has gone himself. is that going to force him to go further or an indication that he will go further? >> the only indication so far is donald trump doesn't think he has to do a think at althing at.

but if his son-in-law needs to rid himself of all these business interests, then why don't you, even if the law doesn't require it? i think they'll have to come up with an answer to that question. >> there's a letter and spirit and intent of the law, often not the same thing, and you want the spirit observed. thank you very much, david chalian. the trump team is jamming confirmation hearings in next week. manu raju is out front. >> reporter: president-elect donald trump, confident the senate will approve his cabinet picks, even as democrats vow to stop them. this week alone senators will question nine nominees including senator jeff sessions to be attorney general. general james mattis to lead the defense department. and former exxonmobil ceo rex tillerson as secretary of state.

tillerson's ties to president vladimir putin have become a flash point for republicans, who want to take a tough line on russia. but the senate of the foreign relations committee tells cnn that tillerson is privately reassuring the gop hardliners that his views on russia are mainstream. >> one of the reasons that, you know, tillerson's going to have so many questions on russia no doubt is going to be because the president-elect has expressed some views that have been somewhat out of the mainstream here. my guess is that tillerson is going to express a much harder line on russia than we've seen coming from the president-elect. my guess is over time, i hope so, anyway, that the president-elect will evolve some in that regard too. >> reporter: trump officials say the nominees have spent more than 70 hours in mock hearings answering more than 2600 questions, all to help republican leaders accomplish their goal, to confirm at least a half dozen nominees by the

time trump is sworn into office on january 20th. republicans say they gave president obama's nominees a similar courtesy in 2009. >> everybody will be properly vetted as they have been in the past. and i'm hopeful we'll get up to six or seven, in particular a national security team, in place on day one. >> reporter: but democrats say trump's cabinet is filled with multimillionaires and billionaires and several have yet to complete the process to be clear of potential conflicts of interest. on the senate floor monday, democratic leader chuck schumer said republicans held obama's nominees to a similar standard. >> there's a big difference between 2009 and today. president obama's nominees met all the standards laid out in then minority leader mcconnell's letter. president-elect trump's nominees have not. >> reporter: erin, democrats

can't stop trump's nominees because they changed senate rules in 2013 making it a lot easier to overcome a filibuster, just 51 votes are needed. when 52 republicans control the chamber, that means they'll need republican defections siding with them, and there's no sign that's going to happen on a widespread basis. but that could change if they trip up in these confirmation hearings, which is why these hearings are so significant. >> manu, thank you. out front now, ben ferguson and keith boykin. the head of the congressional black caucus said it may be tough but they're going to do mat to try to stop the confirmation of jeff sessions. this is one they care deeply about. today condoleeza rice, the first black woman secretary of state, said she endorses sessions and says, quote, senator sessions and i were born not too many

years apart in the state of alabama. our state was a place of prejudice and injustice. she is now endorsing him. what's your response? >> the trump transition team has a group of african-americans they would to roll out to show that sessions is not a racist, which is the charge against him. the reality is he has a racist history. it doesn't matter what a few african-americans in the republican party say. you have to look at his opposition of the voting rights act, his support for the ku klux klan, for god's sake, the idea that he prosecuted african-americans who tried to register people to vote in the south. this is a troubling history of a man who shows little regard for the rights of african-americans. to have him succeed the first and second african-americans to be attorney general but to then reverse the policies of the current administration, i think will be a devastating blow for

civil rights. >> when you refer to the history, senator sessions was denied a federal judgeship. this was 30 years ago. because of testimony where colleagues said, black colleagues said he referred to them as "boy" and made jokes about the ku klux klan. that's part of what we're talking about here. >> yeah. let's also be very clear that that individual had a huge beef with this individual. the second issue is he did not support the ku klux klan. this is part of the play that the democrats are trying to do which is anyone that they don't like who is going to be up for confirmation, they're going to try to turn into some racist or bigot because that they only play they have left in the playbook and they'll use it against sessions, roll it out in full force. the congressional black caucus, i think it's embarrassing they're spending this much time going after someone who has a very long history in washington of actually supporting issues on civil rights. but they forget and negate all of those instances. >> i want to show you, you

mentioned the congressional black caucus. i want people to understand condie rice referring to some of those things. she said he spearheaded the effort to award a congressional gold medal to rosa parks, other things she says are pro-civil-rights. let me show you, the congressional black caucus is going to have a big event tomorrow morning, i don't know if you guys know about this, they'll be hanging this picture on the walls of congress. it had been removed by congressman duncan hunter. he pulled it out of the wall because he said law enforcement was complaining about it. if you look carefully you will see a police officer, this is ferguson, missouri portrayed, with a pig head, a boar, shooting at a protester on the other side of the car. so when you look at that, keith, what do you say? should this picture be hanging or not hanging? they're going to re-hang it tomorrow morning against law enforcement wishes. >> this is the first time i've

seen the image. it's an interesting image. i'm from st. louis, missouri, so i see the arch in the background. the city of ferguson, which is next door to st. louis, blew up in flames because of the issue of police brutality. i think it's a legitimate concern for people in the congressional black caucus to have artistic expression of the african-american angst on that issue, this art may reflect it. i haven't seen the art up close so i don't know every detail, there might be something in it that might be different, but from what i can tell, if this is just an expression of art, i don't think it's terribly troubling to have it hanging as it hung before in the congress. >> it has been hung but. and then there's free speech. >> it also should have been taken down, because the men and women that protect us, protect these congress men, that put their lives on the line, should not be treated by anyone like this in congress.

congress's job is to have the back of the men and women who have their lives on the line every day. this is a potent point that people should be looking at. this is what the congressional black caucus has become, they've become antagonistic, they've become extremists, they're fighting to put up a picture of a police officer. also let's not forget, based on a lie of hands up, don't shoot, which never happened in ferguson. this is the same one that also implied that he was shot in the back of the head and he was not. >> you're getting ahead of yourself. the people brutalized by police are also citizens and the congresses has a duty to protect them too. >> they're demonizing cops. >> you said people in congress have a duty to protect police officers and law enforcement, which i agree with. but it police have a duty to protect everyone, we're all citizens. police are held to the same standards as every other citizen. not to be elevated above other people. >> let's pause there for a

moment. next, president obama's goodbye speech, his last huge moment as president of the united states. why do some people from his hometown feel let down? montel williams is my guest. and a strong man summit, donald trump and vladimir putin are going to meet. and donald trump fires back after meryl streep said this. >> hollywood is crawling with outsiders and foreigners. and if you kick 'em all out, you'll have nothing to watch about football and mixed martial arts which are not the arts. when you're close to the people you love, does psoriasis ever get in the way of a touching moment? if you have moderate to severe psoriasis, you can embrace the chance of completely clear skin with taltz. taltz is proven to give you a chance at completely clear skin.

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but president obama also wants to talk about the progress he's made over the last eight years. that may not resonate in his hometown of chicago. rosa flores is out front. >> because of what we did in this defining moment, change has come to america. >> reporter: eight years after his victory speech from chicago's grant park, president obama is returning to his hometown. but some are giving him a cold welcome, saying his promise of hope and change never came. >> we're not going to be saying thank you for the eight years of work that he didn't do in the black communities. >> reporter: activist and former obama support jamal green referring to the surge of violence in chicago. last year, 752 people murdered, nearly 4,000 people killed on

the streets of chicago during obama's eight years in the white house. one flash point, the 2014 deadly shooting of black teenager laquan mcdonald by police. which launched the largest investigation of a police department by the u.s. department of justice. >> i would be embarrassed as the president to note that i've done really not much for the people that put me there. >> i sat in grant park when i was declared the winner of the presidency. but this wasn't a task for one year or one term or one president. >> reporter: some of his faithful supporters don't believe it's fair to blame the president for the city's violence. >> obama tried his best. he's only the president. he is not a dictator. he can't do what he wants to do. >> the people who criticize him don't know better. we have a black president who

served two terms and with everything that he did for us, it's just a blessing. it is a blessing. >> i can't send the marines in to chicago. but it is heartbreaking. chicago is the one big city where you've seen a big spike in the murder rate. >> reporter: which is why jamal green wishes the president would have done more. >> he has neglected to talk about communities. he's neglected to talk about the violence. he's neglected to talk about the lack of investment into urban communities. he's neglected to talk about policing issues all over the country. we felt like he could do more and could have possibly saved some lives. >> i talked to some people here in chicago who believe that perhaps president obama can do more for his hometown as a former president. they say that he's already doing

more, for example bringing the presidential library to the south side, which will pump money and also jobs to that area. and erin, other people i talked to say they're hoping for the president to speak bluntly about some of the issues plaguing the black community. >> thank you very much, rosa. you just heard that report, and that young man who -- an activist in chicago who feels neglected, was the word he used. montel williams, what do you say to people in chicago? this is his hometown, this should be his heart and soul, and he's let us down. >> it's strange that we hold him responsible for the city of his lineage. president bush was born in new hav haven, connecticut, not necessarily one of the booming met rropolis metropolises in the country.

he made an attempt to be responsible for all americans. you said i'm a big supporter of president obama, i was never a big supporter. i've literally been a supporter of the united states of america. and i've backed programs and things that have been -- >> that he's done, but you would see not an overall supporter. >> i've never been on one side or the other. right now we're looking at chicago, and we're going to hold him accountable when not recognize that the congress had said from his first day that he was going to fail. >> the plight of young black men in america is something that he has said he will take on personally. will he be able to do more after he got out of office? some will say he ran away from that issue. >> he ran into leading the nation. he stood up before the country and said i do solemnly swear and affirm that i will support the

constitution of the united states against all enemies, foreign and domestics, not just chicago, not just black americans. anyone who would have expected something else, donald trump will clearly do all he can do for billionaires, people who supported him. if that's what we're asking obama to do, that's not fair. >> talking about violence in chicago, there is horrible video. >> that's what we should be talking about, not just chicago but america. >> let me just play, i know everyone has seen it, but we're talking about this horrible video where this young white man with special needs was attacked in a horrific and terrifying way. president obama called it a hate crime. let me play the clip. >> [ bleep ]. >> damn, you cut. >> [ bleep ] donald trump. >> you said before people charged in this should get life in prison, no parole. >> yes.

>> why? >> because what we're not thinking about here is, this is a group of people who decided to pick on what would be what we consider one of the least of us, a person who suffers from mental illness. this has been growing in america. a year ago, a young white teenager, a football player, took a young black male into a locker room, hugged him, while another kid should have had a hanger in his rear end and kicked it multiple times. that was not even considered a hate crime then either. and it should have been, against the mentally ill. this is the point i'm trying to make. we want to turn this into just black and white. but right now, when we in society will allow people to attack the sickest of us, the most ill of us, and won't ask for the most severe punishment? i have we have a problem here. >> the suspects did say "f. white people." >> america can only see black and white. we've got to stop and look

beyond black and white. i saw a white kid do this to a black people, but they were both differently able to d. this young man was a schizophrenic. when we in society can look beyond race, to say we have people who will attack the least of us, we have a problem. we should talk about that as a problem, not just the race. when the conversation ends at race, we've not even done the issue a service. >> it's a powerful example you give that makes a point to a lot of people. montel, thank you. >> thank you so much, erin, for having me. we'll be live in chicago tomorrow night ahead of the president's speech in chicago. don't miss the town hall with bernie sanders at 9:00. next, a friend of the suspected gunman in ft. lauderdale is out front tonight. she pinpoints the moment when she says everything changed.

and meryl streep takes on trump. trump firing back, coming up. if you're gonna make an entrance... [car driving upon the water] ♪

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welcome back. now playing on twitter, donald trump versus meryl streep. the president-elect going on an at which time twitter tirade. did the hollywood legend go too far or should trump be the one to let this go? brian stelter is out front. >> take your broken heart and make it into art. >> reporter: meryl streep never mentioned donald trump by name. she didn't have to. >> there was one performance this year that stunned me. it sank its hooks in my heart. this instinct to humiliate when it's modelled by someone in the public platform, by someone powerful, it filters down into everybody's life because it kind of gives permission for other people to do the same thing. >> reporter: streep, accepting a lifetime achievement award, slams the president-elect for mocking a reporter with a disability during the campaign. trump responding today, calling her "one of the most overrated

actresses in hollywood." >> now, the poor guy, you've got to see this guy, i don't know what i said, i don't remember. >> someone he outranked in privilege, power, and the capacity to fight back. it kind of broke my heart when i saw it. >> reporter: on twitter, trump insisted he never mocked the reporter. quote, i simply showed him groveling when he totally changed a 16-year-old story. the reporter, however, did not change his story. it's trump versus the media and hollywood, stoking outrage on the right. >> when you tune into the golden globes awards show, is it always appropriate to talk politics? they can say what they want but then they have to be held to account. >> reporter: trump labeled streep a hillary flunky, recalling her fiery speech at the democratic national convention. >> what does it take to be the first female anything?

it takes grit and it takes grace. >> reporter: clinton had almost all the celeb star power in the world. but trump's star eclipsed it all. now the president-elect is embracing battles with "snl." >> google? what is isis? >> reporter: signaling to voters he's on their side versus the so-called liberal elites like alec baldwin. contrast sunday's standing ovations for clinton at "the color purple" on broadway with the boos for vice president-elect mike pence during a november visit to "hamilton." trump said the cast was rude for addressing pence. >> we are the diverse america who are alarmed and anxious that your new administration will not protect us. >> reporter: alarmed and anxious is still what much of liberal america is feeling. and streep's message was meant for them.

>> when the powerful use their position to bully others, we all use. >> reporter: and speaking of anxious liberal america, today at the white house, outgoing press secretary josh earnest was asked about this controversy. he said he thought streep's message was thoughtful and it's what the first amendment is all about. now as a reality tv veteran prepares to move into the white house, the culture wars continue, erin. >> brian, thank you very much. jeffrey lord, keith boykin are with me. the white house coming out and saying meryl streep's speech was thoughtful and carefully considered. do you agree? >> no. i don't agree. you know, the thing is, erin, we've been at this now for decades. hollywood personality a, b, or c stands up and says this kind of thing. no one out here in the real world takes them seriously. let me give you an example. if they really meant what they said, years ago, years and years ago, i wrote a column that appeared in "the los angeles times."

the oscars gives out what they call a humanitarian award to various people who -- movie stars who have done this, that, or the other thing. it's honorary oscar. i wanted to know why former actor ronald reagan had not gotten an oscar for ending the cold war. i mean, they weren't going to give it to him because of course he was a conservative. this is their bent. this is what they do. and from a purely political context, i would add, all this does is help donald trump. >> keith, i want to just play something though that meryl streep said, as you respond to jeffrey. towards the end of her speech she said something that really stood out to me. here it is. >> hollywood is crawling with outsiders and foreigners. and if we kick 'em all out, you'll have nothing to watch but football and mixed martial arts, which are not the arts. >> does that just make jeffrey's point? a lot of people in this country

respect mixed martial arts, which requires a lot of fan. >> as a football fan and a mixed martial arts fan myself, i don't think her comment reflects on every single person in hollywood. she has a right to free speech and her opinion. there are people in the middle america states who jeffrey talks about who do like the arts, who do like meryl streep. and -- >> i do. i think she's good actress. >> that's my point, the american citizenry is diverse. the president of the united states should represent all of us. he shouldn't be a divisive bully trying to separate us. he should be a person who lifts us and embraces all of the different people. listen to this, jeffrey. we have a president who not only did he mock a disabled reporter, but he went -- let me just finish what i have to say before you tell me what you think is not true. he also went out there and attacked john mccain, said he wasn't a war hero because he was captured. he accused ted cruz, his father of being involved in the assassination of jfk. this is a guy who is somehow

unstable enough that he's engaged in pathological lying behavior because he's willing to say whatever he wants and whatever his fragile ego is somehow hurt, he wants to lash out at other people. that's not healthy behavior for an american president. >> he lashed out this morning, he came out against meryl streep. she did what she did. patrick healy from "the new york times" said he was getting red in the face, angrier by the second. he tweeted that meryl streep was overrated. for the record, jeffrey, she has won three oscars, eight golden globes, and three prime time emmys. let's put that out there. why does he do this? >> erin, erin, i honestly think the shoe is on the other foot here. she lashed out at him. she's the one -- >> why is he responding? >> she attacks him. >> look, we're in a new era here. and one of the things, as i think i've said before, the bush

43 administration, at least karl rove regretted, not responding to the bush lied routine, he certainly made a mistake on wmd but it wasn't a lie. if you don't respond, these things settle in. like this business of mocking the reporter, he also mocked ted cruz, he mocked a general this way, that's on videotape, yet this morning i read twice in "the washington post" that the video doesn't exist, it didn't happen. that's not true. >> jeffrey, can you find the video of the muslims in new jersey who were cheering on the day when 9/11 happened, that donald trump said were out there that didn't exist? donald trump is a serial pathological liar and you need to stop defending his behavior and start questioning him and challenging him. how is it that you and the republican leadership and mitch mcconnell and paul ryan are so much more interested in defending this person who was widely criticized even within your party last year, and you aren't standing up to him when he's engaged in crooked

corruption and incivility on every institution. >> keith, did you stand up to hillary clinton when she lied? repeatedly? >> clinton is not the president-elect of the united states. how many times do i have to tell you this? donald trump is about to become president. why doesn't he start acting like it, stop getting on twitter every day and attacking everybody? >> we will leave it there. >> grow up. whether you're a hollywood celebrity or not. >> thank you both. next, donald trump and vladimir putin, a strong man summit. they'll immediate face-to-face. and the suspect in the airport shooting told the fbi he was hearing voices and having terroristic thoughts. then they gave him back his gun. how could it have happened? t ti, dead battery, need a tow or lock your keys in the car, geico's emergency roadside assistance is there 24/7. oh dear, i got a flat tire. hmmm. uh... yeah, can you find a take where it's a bit more dramatic on that last line, yeah?

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new tonight, russia says plans are in the works for donald trump to meet with vladimir putin. russia now firing back tonight at the u.s. intelligence report. that report of course says putin himself ordered the hacking of the u.s. presidential election. the kremlin calls it a full scale witch hunt.

jim sciutto is out front. >> reporter: tonight president-elect donald trump ignoring reporters' questions about the briefing he received from the intelligence community on russian hacking of u.s. political groups. >> we'll talk to you about that at another time. >> reporter: this as a spokesman at the kremlin says plans are in the works for a meeting between trump and russian president vladimir putin, the man who intelligence leaders say ordered the hacks. over the weekend, trump reiterated his intention to seek warmer relations with moscow, tweeting, quote, having a good relationship with russia is a good thing, not a bad thing. only stupid people or fools would think that is bad. congressional democrats today calling for an independent commission to investigate the hacking which u.s. intelligence says it believes was designed to help trump and weaken democratic rival hillary clinton. >> our intelligence agencies are warning us. and they are screaming, trying to tell us that if we do not

respond now, the russians will attack us again. >> reporter: the trump team meanwhile trying to turn the page on the issue, pointing to a series of other high profile hacks by china and north korea, and arguing that the democratic national committee's lax cyber protections made them an easy target for the russians. >> granted we have bad actors around the world. and cyber attacks have been happening for years. but we also have an entity that's allowed, through a wide open door, a foreign government into their system. >> reporter: other trump advisers claiming that congressional outrage is politically motivated. >> you just think there's been selective outrage about russia only because some people want to conflate that with the election results. >> reporter: outgoing cia director john brennan says any unwillingness by trump to stand with the intelligence community puts the nation at, quote, great risk and peril." >> i expect that the president of the united states will recognize that the cia and the

intelligence community were established by statute for a very important reason. >> reporter: the kremlin spokesman said that this meet between trump and putin will happen. he offered no timeline. but erin, picture this, that if it happens in the next weeks and months, it could happen as congress is either voting on, considering, or perhaps enforcing new tougher sanctions on russia for interfering in the u.s. election. >> all right, thank you very much, jim. next, stunning surveillance video of the florida airport shooting, the actual moment the gunman pulls out his gun and opens fire. a close high school friend is my guest. and on a much lighter note, jeanne moos on mike pence and his menagerie today, including a rabbit. and open up on time. then i found aleve pm. the only one to combine a safe sleep aid plus the 12 hour pain relieving strength of aleve. now i'm back. aleve pm for a better am.

tonight, the suspect in the ft. lauderdale airport shooting could face the death penalty. he had his first court appearance today. two of the three charges are

punishable by death. authorities say he opened fire at the airport friday killing five. dan simon is "out front." >> reporter: the video is disturbing. the moment estaban santiago pulls a handgun from his waistband and begins shooting. thatconfiscated months early, after he told fbi agents he had terroristic thoughts. >> in november of 2016, mr. santiago walked into the anchorage fbi office to report that his mind was being controlled by u.s. intelligence agency. during the interview, he appeared agitated, and made disjointed statements. >> reporter: it led to a brief psychiatric evaluation. law enforcement hasn't shared what doctors determined. but his family says he didn't get the help he needed. >> translator: they had him

hospitalized for four days and let him go. how are you going to let someone leave a psychological center after four days when he says he's hearing voices? >> reporter: a month later, police gave him back his weapon. >> i think law enforcement acted within the laws that they have. we're a country of laws and they operate within them. >> reporter: to lose his gun rights, santiago would have needed to have been declared mentally defective by a judge and that never happened. cnn has learned that he had been staying at this anchorage motel. this is the exact room, more like a pod. investigators gathered evidence from it and each took away a dumpster. >> just real quiet. the owner met him, too. and he said he was just real quiet, never caused any real problems or anything like that, you know? so i didn't see any weapons, nothing. >> reporter: family members say he went on a downward spiral

after returning from iraq in 2011. but whether that has anything to do with him purchasing a one-way ticket to ft. lauderdale and shooting 11 people is still under investigation. santiago's history here in alaska includes a domestic violence case where he was charged with assault and criminal mischief. but those charges were set to be dismissed if he stayed out of trouble. in florida court, santiago said he could not afford an attorney and had just $5 or $10 to his name. erin? >> thank you very much, dan. "outfront now," a high school friend of the gunman. rose marie, thank you very much for being with us. i know this is a hard time for you. you've known estaban for a long time. you spoke to him after he came back from iraq. you say he had changed. what did you notice? >> he had -- he's always been this smart, bright, intelligent

boy when we went to school together. once he came back from iraq, we met. we saw each other at the local walgreen's where we live and he was just so different. we enlisted together, so it was, you know, common for me to ask my battle buddies you their mission went or how their experience was. once i asked him, he was the -- the only answer he had for me was, you know, you would just go to anywhere, go to africa, go to kosovo, but don't ever go to iraq, just don't go, it's horrible. >> he convinced you to join the national guard, to enter the service, right? >> during our senior year of high school, i found out that he was enlisting in the national guard, and i asked him about it. i'm like, it's so weird you're not going straight to college. he said no, you know, i think it's a better option for me. i really like the army and i want to join. why don't you try it out?

i'm like, i don't think i'm material for the army. he's like, you should try it out. so i took the exam. once i passed, he helped me persevere and want to join. he actually presented me and helped me meet the recruiter that recruited us. >> what did you think when you heard that he was the gunman in this horrible attack in ft. lauderdale? >> i couldn't even believe it. i mean, i was looking through my phone and i saw this news and it said, you know, active shooter, i think it was, in florida airport. and once i clicked on the news article, i'm like, it says -- i read his full name and i was just so baffled about it. i was like, this can't be the same person. so i called home and i'm like, you know, mom, i think this is estaban. she's like no, it can't be, it's probably just a coincidence. so during the night, i kept

refreshing my google. once his picture came out i couldn't believe it was the same person. >> rose marie, thank you for talking to me. >> thank you, guys. up next, jeanne moos with the pence family, making pet names great again. they have arrived in d.c. for good. ♪ looking for clear answers for your retirement plan? start here. or here. even here. and definitely here. at fidelity, we're available 24/7 to make retirement planning simpler. we let you know where you stand, so when it comes to your retirement plan, you'll always be absolutely...clear. ♪ time to think of your future it's your retirement. know where you stand.

they are about to become the most powerful pets in the world, because donald trump doesn't have a pet. among them, a rabbit named marlin bundo. here's jeanne moos. >> reporter: mean the vp-p. the vice presidential pets. the pence's bunny got to deplane before the vice president. this is marlin bunldo. one political strategist tweeted, okay, i've been a pence skeptic, but the fact that he has a rabbit called marlin bundo has softened me. the family's two cats, oreo and pickle, were carried out by the vice president-elect's wife and daughter. pickle got air sick aboard the plane, but at least the cat didn't nip anyone. >> how are you doing? >> oh, did he get you? >> totally got me. >> oh, my god. >> reporter: president george w. bush's scottish terrier, barney,

nailed a reuter's reporter. and bill clinton's cat's socks had a turf war. >> i did better with the palestinians. >> reporter: franklin roosevelt was so close to his dog, they're together forever. and lbj got flak for picking up his beagle by the ears. and president bush once accidently dropped barney. you never know with presidential pets who's going to take whom for a walk. but we know where bo wasn't sleeping. but why stop at dogs and cats? woodrow wilson used sheep to mow the white house lawn during world war ii. and grace coolidge is seen her with her pet raccoon, rebecca. and teddy roosevelt had a virtual zoo at the white house. the pences also have a pet

snake. we didn't see any snakes on the plane. but for pickle and oreo and marlin bundo, this was their first vpp motorcade. jeanne moos, cnn, new york. >> thank you so much for joining us. anderson starts right now. good evening. thanks for joining us. a big night tonight and a big peek for president-elect trump. an hour from now, a cnn town hall with bernie sanders. the audience just now arriving. the incoming trump administration certain to be a topic. and there's a lot of news from those corners tonight. the transition today making it official, naming jared kushner a senior adviser to the president and seeking to deflect any questions of nepotism. the president-elect also called an actress with three oscars overrated. more on all of that in the hour ahead. we beg