thanks for joining us as we kick off this week in american history. thanks for watching "out front." we will see you same time, same place. now it's time for ac360 with anderson cooper. thanks very much. good evening from washington. thanks for joining us. in four days, donald trump will take the oath of office and become the 45th president of the united states. tonight fallout from his final days as citizen trump and there's a lot of it in the last couple days. he promised health insurance for everyone and sent mixed messages on nato. he will trust angela merkel and vladimir putin equally to begin with. he led his feud with a civil rights pioneer continue. he is facing low job approval ratings, as low as 37%. two new challenges breaking tonight, his labor secretary reportedly having second thoughts about taking the job.

serious ethical questions surrounding his pick for health and human services, tom price. that's where we begin tonight. we broke the story. what have you learned? >> reporter: anderson, congress price purchased $15,000 in stock in one major medical device maker. that company would have been hurt by a federal medicare rule affecting hip and knee implant manufacturers. those account for a majority of the revenue for them. less than a week after purchasing those shares, price offered legislation that would have directly helped zimmerb biomed by delaying that until 2018. they donated to his campaign. ethics experts are alarmed by this, especially since congress passed legislation into 2012 to stop law makers from trading based on any sort of inside information they may have gleaned through the legislative process. in a new statement tonight,

price's spokesman says it's false to connect these -- this bill to a campaign contribution. an aide said price did not know about the stock purchase because it was done through a broker. before this story published, price's office declined to respond to questions initially about whether those stocks were indeed purchased through a broker. >> is this the first time the congressman has raised eyebrows after trading stock in the health care firm? >> reporter: actually, anderson, price has been under scrutiny on this for the past month after the wall street journal reported he traded more than $300,000 worth of stock. since then democrats have been calling for an investigation. that's something that senator chuck schumer, the democratic leader, once again called for tonight in the wake of our latest report. but democrats don't have the votes to stop price from getting confirmed as health and human services secretary at the moment. they want this issue of potential insider trading to be

a major focal point in the confirmation hearings. they hope it will put republicans in an uncomfortable stop, as trump has called for draining the swamp in washington. anderson? >> appreciate that reporting. we will have more. let's bring in the panel which we are super sizing all week. john king, kirsten powers and glor glor gloria borger and dana bash and jeffrey lord, angela rye and matt lewis. you heard the reporting. how big a deal is this? >> it depends how it shakes out. i was texting with the transition source who said that from what they have found, this was a broker directed account. meaning, he tried to shield

himself by telling his broker, do what you want to do. >> just a coincidence they are saying? >> correct. but this is the tip of the iceberg or this is the beginning of the reporting. you can be sure that the committee that is going to be in charge of his confirmation, particularly the democrats, are going to ask for and demand more information to be sure of that. >> if it turns -- >> it's possible. if it turns out that is true that he didn't want to have information, here, mr. broker, do with it what you want. i don't want to know if it's going to help or not, there shouldn't be a problem. >> wouldn't there be any ground rules where you say to your broker, wait a minute, i deal with health care matters all the time? therefore, stay away from this segment of investment? >> you would think. >> even the appearance of a conflict could be bad for me. wouldn't you think he would do that? >> that's what it is, the appearance. i think this is a guy -- his net worth is $13 million. this is bad, the timing is horrible. it looks bad.

but it could be $1,000 to $15,000. the notion that he would jeopardize his career -- >> that seems insane to me. >> it would be another thing if it were the only instance. there was another instance that he talked about and we have seen of upwards of $300,000. i think that the real issue for me as a democrat watching this is what a difference a transition makes. i remember senator daschle having to take his name out of the running because of potential issues with his taxes and because of the appearance of -- >> they said he didn't pay taxes. >> arranging back payment. the other issue is, he also was perceived as lobbying. we are talking about the narrative of draining the swamp which is similar. obama didn't use the same terminology. it was the same. this is not just the stock trading but it's also the regulation -- the deregulation of the industry of this particular company and the contribution. >> havei have to say, i'm not a of the way washington does

business. this is one of the ways they do business. you have a policy disagreement with nominee x. what you do instead of talking about the policy difference, you find something like this exactly to get them all hung up to disgrace them to do whatever to get them out. to be candid, this applies to both parties. i'm not thrilled with doing that. the second thing, one of the things that's going to happen with donald trump is we're going to have a lot of discussions in this town. things will be turned upside do down. one thing we will talk about is what about political conflicts of interest? what about when you are president of the united states and your re-election depends on your home state of illinois and you personally leave the oval office to get on a plane to chicago, to go pump for the olympics to come to your hometown? there's a conflict of interest. but it's political. nobody takes it seriously. that happens in this town 1,000 times a da y in both parties.

>> i happen to like tom price. he has come up with obamacare replacement ideas. he is one of the few members of congress had that substance behind the ideas during the time when republicans dozens of times voted to repeal obamacare. he actually has substantive replacement ideas. when you are a member of congress, you have to file a financial disclosure every year where you have to list your investments, you have to list any potential conflicts of interest. it seeps seems to me it would be silly to do something as blatant as this knowing he has to report this. maybe he did. it wouldn't be the first time. that's what the financial disclosures are for. that's what nomination processes are for and confirmation hearings. he will have to explain this. i think he is behind the curve on this. if the trump transition team had vetted him properly, they should have known ahead of time this was a potential conflict of interest a month ago when he was nominated. then they would have an answer and it wouldn't be breaking news the week of the inauguration. >> john, you have been reporting

on another nominee, potentially -- what have you learned? >> andy puzner is saying he is looking forward to the hearing. the trump transition, pushing back aggressively. i got communication from several senior trump transition officials, some of whom don't return my messages, suddenly very happy to be speaking with me. they are pushing back aggressively. here is what i'm told. coming into the weekend, he started to raise questions, is this worth it? he has been under aggressive attack from democrats. his company is the ceo of handy's and carl's junior. they been attacking him. some have been saying at the hearings they might raise domestic abuse allegations by an ex-wife. his ethic and legal and financial disclosure paperwork has not been filed. that's a sign you are going back and forth with the office trying to figure out what you have to

divest, what do you need to disclose. i'm told he was like, is this worth it? is it worth the fight? which is not unusual for something from the private sector. let's be fair. >> why is that? that's the problem. >> well, part of it is you want to serve in the cabinet. it's a tough town. part of it is, tensions are raw right now. >> part of it also -- >> tonight i'm told that he says, i want my hearing. his hearing is not scheduled because his paperwork is not done. it was supposed to be tomorrow. because they pushed it to let the education secretary take the slot. let's see how it plays out. i know for a fact he was asking questions about this. i'm told very high level at trump tower, they reassured him, we want you in the team. >> when you are a business person, you don't -- you are used to doing everything on your own terms. you don't have anybody holding awe cou you accountable. for example, donald trump. >> that's what's so fascinating.

for everybody who wants donald trump to succeed and some at this table who don't want some of his policies to succeed, how he adapts or how washington adapts to him. >> and he wants to be the chairman of the board, not just the ceo. he has all these ceos that he has appointed who are going to report to him. and they expect people to come to them and salute. okay, this is the way you want it, this is the way it's going to get done. that doesn't happen in washington. start with extreme vetting. >> you also have monica crowley stepping away from taking a position in the trump white house. >> she did the transition a favor in the sense that -- >> after cnn's file reported on the book in 2012, plagiarism, then other instances of plagiarism. i'm told people said -- she was hanging in there. she stepped aside today, which is the right thing to do. if she can clean this up, that's another issue. when you have a new president who will be inaugurated in four

days, if this happens, it's best to step aside. >> we will take a break. when we come back, the battle on this holiday with the congressman who nearly lost his life with martin luther king. who will have the most influence on him as president? it's the big question in washington. new reporting on that tonight.

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as we said at the top of the broadcast, president-elect trump was making headlines for statements on health care, russia, nato and more. as he prepares for his swearing in. he fired attack tweets at john lewis. congressman lewis said he did not consider mr. trump to be a legitimately elected president. a war of words between the two played out throughout the weekend. there's no end in site. more on that from jim acosta. >> reporter: on this mlk day, donald trump met behind closed doors with martin luther king, iii. >> certainly, he said that, that he is going to represent america. he said that over and over again. >> reporter: it was a brief reprieve from the controversy swirling around his inauguration. the incoming 45th president is slamming angela merkel for allowing syrian refugees into

her country. >> i have great respect for her. i felt she was a great leader. i think she made one very catastrophic mistake. that was taking all of these illegals -- taking all of the -- from wherever they come from. nobody knows where they come from. >> reporter: that drew a sharp response from john kerry. >> i thought, frankly, it was inappropriate for a president-elect of the united states to be stepping into the politics of other countries in a direct manner. he will have to speak to that as of friday. he is responsible for that relationship. >> reporter: trump appears to be placing merkel in the same category as russian president vladimir putin. >> start off trusting both. see how long that lasts. may not last long at all. >> reporter: trump is signaling a new softer policy on russia, hinting in a published interview

he wants to work out a deal with putin. russia is hurting badly because of sanctions. i think something can happen that a lot of people are going to benefit. trump sounds like he is not sold on the nato alliance. >> i said a long time ago that nato had problems. it was obsolete because it was designed many years ago. number two, the countries weren't paying what they are supposed to pay. >> reporter: the president-elect is fuming over the disclosure that u.s. intelligence officials briefed him on unsubstantiated allegations that russian operatives claimed to have compromising information on him. trump is slapping back at john brennan who said the incoming president should treat russia with caution. trump tweeted, really? couldn't do much worse. look at syria, red line, crimea, ukraine and the buildup of russian nukes. not good. was this the leaker of fake news? >> it was john brennan, someone who the president-elect is supposed to be trusting that came out and attacked him on his

breadth and depth of understanding of russia. >> reporter: trump is raising questions about how he will repeal and replace obamacare. the transition is offering few details. >> president-elect made it clear to the leadership in the congress that he wants to do repeal and simultaneously. we're working do that. >> reporter: despite the firestorms whipped up by his twitter tirades, he is vowing to keep tweed iting. >> i would rather let it build up. the tweeting i thought i would do less. but i'm covered so dishonestly by the press, so dishonestly. >> jim acosta joins us from trump tower. the feud he has been having with john lewis, has that sim emered down at all? >> reporter: it has not. there are democratic congressmen coming out of the woodwork announcing they are not going to be attending donald trump's inauguration on friday.

we're up to more than two dozen democratic members of congress showing their solidarity to congressman john lewis. we should point out, most of the members come from the more progressive wing of the democratic party. nevertheless, it does in the minds of democrats and republicans contribute to this cycle of incivility we have been seeing over the last two terms of obama's presidency. things aren't changing on that front. for all of the americans out there wondering, is donald trump going to change his ways, as you heard, he is planning to keep right on tweeting as president of the united states when he is no longer the president-elect. he will hang on to that real donald trump twitter handle and do exactly what he has been doing all along. >> jim acosta, thanks very much. back now with the panel. john king, obviously, when congressman lewis says something a lot of people listen and when donald trump says something, a lot of people listen. both knew -- congressman lewis knew that it was going to make

headlines. donald trump obviously knew that when he pufnched back it would make headlines. >> congressman lewis is a historic figure. he is revered in the african-american community. a hero of the civil rights movement. let's be honest here, heading into inauguration week he close this moment to use a word he knew would infuriate donald trump, ill get mi ill legitimat. that was not an accident. he is setting a litmus test for other democrats. some democrats might regret down the road. he has decided to do this. he didn't say it again today on martin luther king day. ef he did not add fuel to the fire. i would say president-elect trump backed -- tried to turn the temperature down a little bit today. he didn't back off. the trump campaign think lewis owes the president-elect an apology. in the lewis campaign says, do you remember delegitimized obama, the birther movement? lewis says this is about -- the more he learned about the russia hacking, the more he can't view

donald trump as legitimate. it's giving other democrats the courage or cover, pick your word, to say i'm not coming to the inauguration either. it creates a toxic tone in a week where every -- if you don't like the president, you let him have a celebration. >> we talked about the cycle of incivility. that's what this is. you are right, they set a trap. it was bait. donald trump fell for it. it's bad politics. but i think what the congressman is doing bad for america. i criticized donald trump not that long ago when he was sort of preemptively questioning whether or not this election would be legitimate. we have enough problems right now with people not trusting institutions, not trusting the media, not trusting politicians, not trusting elections. for a congressman as revered as he is to question the legitimacy of this election, i think he is very irresponsible. >> i asked this question on -- i guess it was on friday on the broadca broadcast, which is, had hillary clinton won and a republican

congressman done this, said she's not legitimate, democrats would be up in arms. >> and i think we saw what happened when donald trump questioned the legitimacy of obama's even citizenship, forget the election. so for me, you know, the one thing that i have to say about congressman lewis that's so important is he talks often about this concept called gd troub good trouble. he believes that i'm standing up for what i believe is right. this is where the conscience of many americans are, including the overwhelming amount who did not vote for donald trump. this is an issue where we're talking about someone who from his -- the very beginning -- i'm not talking about the beginning of him running for president. the very beginning of his professional career is riddled with challenges with race relations in this country. so i think whether we're talking about the central park five or him trivializing all of at lan atlanta. >> is this good trouble?

>> i don't think so. i respect john lewis. everybody does. i think to matt's point, you can have all of those grievances. i agree with what angela said concerning donald trump's past. when you start delegitimizing institutions, that's where you run into problems. it almost gives the russians a win. that's what they are trying to do. it's part of the control strategy to get us to bicker amongst each other about the legitimacy of our election process. something similar happened in 2001 where representative lewis decided that george bush wasn't a legitimate president. he was boycotting the inauguration. >> and he did. >> that's correct. he went after john mccain unfairly in 2008. i think we would agree john mccain is an american hero who suffered -- >> he said he was like george wallace. where was the outrage there? with all due respect to representative lewis, he has a

t tendency to be hyperbolic. he thinks he is beyond reproach. >> i don't know -- >> let me just -- >> he is not beyond reproach. he deserves to be criticized. >> let me pick up. rush said something today. president reagan was shot in the chest and almost killed with an attempted assassination. when he came back from this, everybody cheered him and went on. for the rest of his term -- there were people who wanted to impeach him. the eiran contra attack. john lewis had an enormously historical role in the early 1960s. this is -- for which i admire him. this has long since gone by. we have to get back to the notion that just because you have done something way back in your history or you were -- >> i don't think -- >> that you are -- that this carries throughout. it certainly didn't carry out for president reagan. it shouldn't carry out for congressman lewis. >> i'm sorry. it would be one thing if mr.

lewis continued to just tweet out pictures of himself crossing the bridge nearly dieing for us to vote in the 1960s. we're talking about a man who still very much is committed to ensuring parity and equality in the country. >> that's fine. that's a legit argument. >> we're not just reflecting on the has beens. we are reflecting on what he continues to do. congressman cummings in a conversation with me today talked about him being mortified and not -- and in his 35 years of public service, in the congress, having been so shocked by what he learned in the classified briefings that the least that people could do in some instances is boycotting. this is something that a lot of the cbc members are wrestling with. they want to do the right thing. they want to continue to be known as the conscience -- >> we have to go. >> i don't think this is a disagreement. there's no question congressman lewis is a revered figure. if you want to fire back at him, fine. let's have a political debate. what did he mean? why is he boycotting? how many other democrats who might have -- >> attacking all --

>> well, i'm not saying donald trump chose the right words fighting back. >> donald trump's reaction -- >> we will have more with the panel ahead as you heard in jim ak acosta's report, do the details support an assessment? we will get into that next. i need to promote my new busi can make that happen.et. business cards? business cards, brochures, banners... pens? pens, magnets, luggage tags, bumper stickers. how about foam fingers?

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as we have been discussing, four days until the inauguration. controversy is swirling around the incoming administration, some from comments he made this weekend. the rhetoric on obamacare is burned into the minds of anyone who followed the campaign. the details of the replace part were harder to come by, which hasn't changed with the inauguration just days away. trump told "the washington post," the replacement plan will give insurance for everyone. what that will look like is an open question. back with the panel. when president-elect trump promises insurance for everybody, how does that square with longstanding republican opposition to universal health care measures? >> it doesn't. >> sure it does. when you say insurance for

everybody, you are talking about access to affordable health care. you are not saying -- this is the translation that goes on in this town all the time. this means -- >> you are not saying insurance for everybody. you are saying chance of insurance. >> the chance of insurance for everybody. what you hear in this town is, that means the government is going to give it to everybody. not so. that's not what he is saying. >> he said the government will pay for it. that's what donald trump said. >> what's going to happen here is as we move through this debate, which we all acknowledge is complex, we're going to get into these debates endlessly as he says, a, and some congressional subcommittee is dealing with subsection c. >> that knows what's going on and corrects him. >> the goal is affordable access for everybody. >> they don't have the time. donald trump has said -- i think rightly so, actually -- that you can't just repeal without replacing. >> paul ryan wants some of the stuff in the bill that -- the

repeal bill. >> maybe pre-existing conditions. but you have 20 million people who depend on obamacare. if you are going to replace it quickly so those people don't fall through the cracks and so provisions don't fall through the cracks, the question is, how do you do that? people are going to quibble over access to care or getting their care. >> there seems to not be the care when there were a verse when 16 million people lost the plans they had because we were shifting to obamacare and they were upset. >> this is going to be the first test of whether what president-elect trump said that he wanted during the campaign and still is saying today that he wants, which is -- he was in interviewed, i'm not going to let people go out there in the streets and die in the streets. i'm going to be criticized by republicans, but i'm not going to let that happen. i think he does want to do what

he said. he wants to get everybody -- but doing that versus the republicans who run this place behind us who maybe want that but can't do that with the legislation that they support. that's going to be a clash. >> he expressed support for a single -- >> that's true. >> i think he is not an orthodox republican. when he thinks about this -- the idea that when he says insurance for all, the government will pay for, that isn't universal health care. that is universal health care. he said at one point, we're not going to have people dieing on the streets. he is alluding to a time when we didn't have a social safety net. there's disconnect. >> the problem is -- >> maybe he doesn't understand what is happening on the hill and exactly -- >> the difference is that he is intelle intelle intellectually incurious about the policies. everybody says he is a big picture guy. that's great if you are consistent philosophically where republicans are and what the american people who voted you

into office have said they wan.s they don't want government in their health care. businesses have explained how obamacare hurt them. >> if you get rid -- >> right. >> it's not just people who don't have access. people may opt not to get it. then also if there's no pre-existing condition, people could wait until they get sick and then decide to get it. all of a sudden could yyou coula system that doesn't sustain itself. >> republicans have a -- they have had a plan. i brought it up earlier. tom price's plan, he has ways to address that with grants to states to make up for the subsidy in high risk pools, looking to keep people -- he comes from a medical background. republicans aren't looking to kick people off insurance. but donald trump has to be -- >> you will end up -- >> he can't sit there and say, well, you will find out later. that's where he will run into problems when it comes time to

govern. >> don't you have to subsidize the insurance companies. that's not going to be politically popular. let me go out on a limb and say that. what do you do if insurance companies start pulling out? >> which is what they're doing right now. >> even more so -- even more so because they can't sustain it. then does the federal government come in and say, we're going to pay you to be a part of this? >> god forbid washington actually had a policy debate. >> right. exactly. >> in which both -- >> excellent point. >> there are eight or 12 plans because there's so muany disagreements. other people say, for some people the government should get in and help. let's have the debate. the question in this debate is will the democrats participate? will we have a fully open debate? or will the democrats say, sorry, you weren't with us in obamacare, it's all yours. >> if they follow the mode of what the president said in interview after interview at this point is if you have a better plan, i will help you

push it. if the bottom line is that americans need access to healthcare, not just when they are sick but period and tp neits to be affordable, we should push for a plan that works and it should be bipartisan. that's what it was created to do. for some reason, we continue -- >> that shows you how barack did achieve a big legacy. the very fact that now we are assuming that government is somehow responsible for obamacare -- for health care, whether it's donald trump -- that's a paradigm shift. >> they did that without the support of any republican. they did that completely down a party line and changed the entire health care system -- >> you haven't been able to figure out -- >> republicans wanted to get out from under that. their president-elect boxed them? >> take a break. more with the panel in a moment. to tweet or not to tweet, that is the question. mr. trump said he would dial back his twitter habit when and if he were elected. he was -- he is rethinking that talk of pulling back on twitter. we will look at why and what

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media was a rallying cry for the now president-elect. donald trump says he is going to keep on tweeting because he does not like the way he is being covered. >> i would rather just let that build up and just keep it at real donald trump. the tweeting i thought i would do less of it. but i'm covered so dishonestly by the press, so dishonestly. >> a senior official says the media, quote, they are the opposition party. i want them out of the building. we are taking back the press room. that's a quote. the report says that three other senior officials on the transition team say a plan is under consideration to evict the president corps from the white house. trump's press secretary says they are looking for space with more room to accommodate talk radio, bloggers and others. back with the panel, joining us dougl douglas brinkley.

how critical is it to have the press in close proximity to the president? >> the access to not -- you don't walk in and talk to the president but to the senior staff is critical. i covered bill clinton and george w.'s administration. if you secret service knew you, you could walk past the oval office. sometimes he would yell out your name and scream about something had you written or said on television. it happens. that's gone. that's gone. it's nice to be -- it's important. to the american people, it's important, whether you trust us or you don't trust us to be able to when something happens walk up to the press secretary's office, to walk to the chief of staff's office or make an appointment to go up the hall. security is different. every administration has the right do it their way. access is critical. i would say this, i covered the white house 9 1/2 years. the correspondents association should fight for access. they should not whine.

people in america when they hear them say they will take away this, we sound like self-important, self-righteous jerks. this is about getting access to public officials so we can ask them legitimate questions. >> can i say to somebody who covered capitol hill, both of us and the white house, people might not realize is that to john's point, in the white house, you know, when i was covering it, you could walk through the briefing room and into the press office and you can even go into what's called the upper press office and could you have -- see around the corner to the oval office. you got a sense of what was happening. that's invaluable. the difference between that and covering capitol hill, you can walk around the halls and talk to members of congress. you have total access here. that is amazing to have. it does help our reporting which helps -- >> but the press is supposed to be the fourth estate. they're supposed to -- there is this idea that donald trump

doesn't seem to like that there is a really serious role for the media to play. it's symbolic to be attacking the media the way he is and tweeting them ing treating them as not legitimate. if they want to open up people to more people, that's fine. this idea that that's why they are -- >> sometimes it serves the administration's purpose to have you there. they want to run out and announce something or they want to bring somebody in because they have something that they want to get out. >> now donald trump has twitter. jeffrey lord made this point numerous times. he is able to reach his people very fast and directly for better or worse. the negative side, the side that he comes under criticism for is, whatever thoughts pop into his head or emotion, it's an immediate outlet. >> i wrote a piece this weekend about the history of the white house press room. it used to be for those in our audience who don't know, franklin roosevelt's swimming pool.

it's richard nixon of all who people who thought we need to modernize this. then reagan, the actor who said make it like a theater and put in the theater-style seats. it's progressed today where i think a lot of members of the press are perceived as thinking this is ours. what happens, for instance, if sean spicer comes out and says we're giving the first six seats to laura ingram and the next five to various bloggers. my point is that i think these people are thinking that technology has changed, donald trump has the views that he does and this is going to change and we're going to change it. >> as a presidential historian, what is the impact of twitter on donald trump's presidency and having a president who does -- >> it changed everything. there's no donald trump presidency without twitter. he is using that technology.

he will continue to use it. i don't believe the esquire story that they're going to shut down the press corps. i think what they will do is expand it. they will find ways to have a lot more breitbart news type reporters, bloggers and all. they will blow it up and not call on people he doesn't like. it will be very nixonian. he is acting like spiro agnew. >> go to -- >> but he has made the press his enemy. i think he wants to divide and concur. now with twitter, he has fox news, he has the new york post, talk radio. then it's just to brow beat the -- >> there's nothing new. i have to say, listening to the clip we heard, he said that to me personally in that office three years ago, before he was running for president. he said almost exactly that same thing which i have on tape. >> he became president of the united states.

>> and he became president in spite of it. >> there's nothing new about this dynamic. we live in the world of social media. technology has advanced. this has happened before. donald trump won the republican r nomination because he loved the public. you couldn't get him off television. when bill clinton would talk to us and when he was mad at us, he would disappear. people say republicans deny access. this ebbs and flows as you go. donald trump is a pretty traditional politician. sometimes he loves us. sometimes he hates us. just do our job. it will be okay. >> thank everybody. new insight on the people in donald trump's inner circle. who has donald trump's ear? who will he lean on most? we will look at that ahead. when you're close to the people you love, does psoriasis ever get in the way of a touching moment?

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basis. dana bash tonight is naming names. >> reporter: donald trump's inner circle is so small, it pretty much fit on his election night stage. now a handful of senior advisers will follow him into the west wing, helping him make daily decisions, large and small. chief of staff, reince priebus. >> rience is really a star, and he is the hardest-working guy. >> reporter: the former rnc chair will now be both doorkeeper to the oval office and conductor, keeping white house trains running, but the biggest task is keeping trump himself on track. steve bannon. sources familiar with the relationship say trump respects the businessman as an equal. bannon will focus on the big picture. >> he has to hold people

accountable. the deplorables had a good run. everybody mocked him and ridiculed them. >> reporter: then there's trump's son-in-law, jared kushner who will get an official title, white house senior adviser, so he can ten the integral role he played through trump's campaign, organizing, advising and now playing conduit to trump's cabinet. >> i'd love to have jared helping us on deals with other nations and see if we can do peace in the middle east and other things. >> but he's really making a lot of things happen. >> anytime anybody on tv sends me, thanks, jared. >> reporter: the face of team trump, kellyanne conway, still has a considerable amount of influence with him as does, it goes without saying, trump's daughter ivanka, hose official role is to be determined. the small group is similar to

the big three ronald reagan began his presidency with, ed please, james meese and michael dever. george w. bush took office with a large group of campaign advisers, but view had sway, from dick cheney to karl rove. a key question is how he makes decisions. david urban worked closely with trump running his campaign in pennsylvania, the first time a republican won there since 1988. >> he was involved in a granular level. he would call and ask how it was going in pennsylvania. >> reporter: how would you describe how he was. >> i think he takes advice from a wide range of individuals, both on an informal and formal basis, collects a wide range of

data. >> reporter: sources familiar with how trump operates say on issues he's confident with, he makes quick decisions, when he's unsure, like mitt romney for secretary of state, he can be swayed by the last person he's talked to. on items he knows little about, he turns to those he does know, like mike pence. >> he's not going to sit around and wait for things to happen. he's a doer. >> i'm so fascinated you how presidents make decisions. there are quite a few other people whose counsel he seeks. >> there are a couple people in the real estate, construction business in new york who've maefd a lot of mondmade a lot of money like he has, he seeks their counsel. anthony scare muchy has a bigger role and is more plugged in with trump than people realize. and his wife melania.

people might not know this, and perhaps, i'm told she doesn't speak up regularly, but when she does, he listens. he's got some numbers that he memborizes in his cell phone, those are the numbers he tends to call. >> ivanka has no official role in the white house right now, but is expected to make a big impact. at the top of the hour, don't miss the special report, first daughter, ivanka trump. what he said about the report, next. without a scratch.ked away maybe it was the day your baby came home. or maybe the day you realized your baby was not a baby anymore. every subaru is built to earn your trust. because we know what you're trusting us with. subaru. kelley blue book's most trusted brand. and best overall brand. love. it's what makes a subaru, a subaru.

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-- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com donald trump has just tweeted about our upcoming report on vivanka. he said considering it is cnn, can't imagine it will be great. we beg to differ, starts now. the following is a cnn special report. >> she is one of donald trump's closest confidantes. >> she has a great way of being able to talk to him. he trusts her. >> my father -- >> his most powerful protector. >> there's no way i could be the person i am today if my father was a sexist. >> and an influential adviser. >> the moment she speaks he really listens. >> what do you think your father va