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. through the martin luther king holiday. 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, congressman 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 zimmer biomed by delaying that until rule until 2018. the company also donated repeated lie to price's 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. but 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 -- in a health care firm? >> reporter: actually, anderson, price has been under scrutiny on this for the past month after the "wall street journal" reported price 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

spot, especially as trump has called for draining the swamp in washington. anderson? >> thank you, let's bring in the panel. let's bring in the panel which we are super sizing all week. john king, kirsten powers and 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, here's this pile of money, do with it what you want. i don't want to know if it's going it 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 because even the appearance of a conflict would be bad for me? wouldn't you think he would do that? >> you would think. >> even the appearance of a conflict could be bad for me. >> 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. >> no, but he was 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. but it was the same. this, i think, is not just the stock trading, but it's also the regulation -- the deregulation of the industry of this particular company and the contribution. >> i have to say, i'm not a fan 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 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 plump for the olympics to come to your hometown? there's a political benefit to that. there's a conflict of interest. but it's political. nobody takes it seriously. that happens in this town 1,000 times a day in both parties. >> here's why this is problematic and i happen to like tom price. he has come up with obamacare replacement ideas. he is one of the few members of congress that had some substance behind the ideas during the time when republicans dozens of times

voted to repeal obamacare. he actually has substantive replacement ideas. but 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. so it seems to me that it would be silly of him, to do something as blatant as this, knowing he has to report this every year. 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. >> i want to bring in john king. you have been reporting on another nominee, potentially -- what have you learned? >> andy puzder is the nominee for labor secretary.

he tweeted he was 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. so this is a good thing. they are pushing back aggressively. here is what i'm told. from a close business associate and two republicans who are plugged into the transition. coming into the weekend, he started to raise questions, is this worth it? andy puzder has been under aggressive attack from democrats. his company is the ceo of hardee's and carl's junior. they been attacking him. for minimum wage issues, women in bikinis advertising. 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 somebody from the private sector. let's be fair, you come from the

private sector into the swamp, that's the problem. >> 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. stay in the fight. >> kirsten? >> 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 you accountable. making you explain things. >> for example, donald trump. >> for example donald trump, right. >> 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 as ceos, they expect people to come to them and salute and say, okay, this is the way you want it, boss? this is the way it's going to get done. well, that doesn't happen in washington. and start with extreme vetting that goes on. >> you also have monica crowley stepping away from taking a position in the trump white house. >> she finally did the transition a favor in the sense that -- >> right, she did. >> 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 wants to serve at a later date and she can clean all 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 marched with dr.

king, nearly lost his life doing so. and later, who will have the most influence on donald trump as president? it's the big question in washington. new reporting on that tonight. here... or here. today, there's another option. drug-free aleve direct therapy. a tens device with high intensity power that uses technology once only available in doctors' offices. its wireless remote lets you control the intensity, and helps you get back to things like this... this... or this. and back to being yourself. aleve direct therapy. find yours in the pain relief aisle.

yet up 90% fall short in getting key nutrients from food alone. let's do more. add one a day women's complete with key nutrients we may need. plus it supports bone health with calcium and vitamin d. one a day women's in gummies and tablets.

there's a more enjoyable way to get your fiber. hey, it's the phillips' lady! try these delicious phillips' fiber gogummies ,

a good source of fiber to help support regularity. mmm...these are great! my work here is done. phillips', the tasty side of fiber. as we said at the top of the broadcast, president-elect trump was making headlines for

statements on health care, russia, nato and more. all of this as he prepares for his swearing in on friday. back home over the weekend, he fired a string of attack tweets at georgia democratic congressman 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. today, four days before the inauguration, there's no end in sight. more on all of that now from our jim acosta. >> reporter: on this mlk day, donald trump met behind closed doors with martin luther king, iii. the son of the civil rights icon. >> 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 german chancellor 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 -- people from wherever they come from, and nobody really knows where they come from. you'll find out. >> reporter: that drew a sharp response from secretary of state john kerry to cnn's christiane amanpour. >> 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. >> well, i start off trusting both. but let's see how long that lasts. it 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, outgoing cia director, 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. which is unbelievable. >> reporter: trump is raising questions about how he will repeal and replace obamacare. telling "the washington post," his plan is insurance for everybody. but the transition is offering

few details. >> president-elect made it clear there's a leadership in the congress that he wants to do repeal and replace simultaneously. and we're working ernestly to do that. >> reporter: despite the firestorms whipped up by his twitter tirades, he is vowing to keep tweeting. >> i would rather let it 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. >> jim acosta joins us from trump tower. the feud he has been having with john lewis, has that simmered down at all? >> reporter: it has not. as a matter of fact, 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 in that comment there at the end of the piece, he is planning to keep right on tweeting as president of the united states, when he's 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 when he said this, that it was going to make headlines. donald trump obviously knew that when he punched back it would make headlines. >> certainly did. congressman lewis is an historic figure in america. he is revered in the african-american community. a hero of the civil rights movement.

also a partisan democratic politician. let's be honest here, heading into inauguration week he close this moment to use a word he knew would infuriate donald trump -- illegitimate. that was not an accident. he is setting a litmus test for other democrats. that 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. everyone was watching to see if he would add fuel to the fire. he did not. 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, do you remember 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 everybody, even if you don't like the president, you just turn it off and 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 is 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 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 -- good trouble. this is one of those instances where 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 atlanta, which isn't just a slap in the face to john lewis, it's a slap in the face to -- >> 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 their reflexive 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 in the -- >> he said he was like george wallace. >> he compared him to george wallace. where was the outrage there? with all due respect to representative lewis, he has a tendency to be hyperbolic. sometimes. he thinks because he's an icon, he's beyond reproach. >> wow, wow. [ all speak at once ] >> i don't know -- >> let me just -- >> he is not beyond reproach. he deserves to be criticized. >> let me pick up.

rush limbaugh said something today that particularly resonated with me. 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. ed i-- the whole iran contra thing. 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 brinl, nearly dying 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. but he did this as a partisan democrat, not as a civil rights lawyer. 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 -- [ all speak at once ] >> 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

acosta's report, president-elect trump's plan for health care is for everybody. do the details support an assessment? we will get into that next. because you'll never forget them. the new marriott portfolio of hotels now has 30 brands in over 110 countries. so no matter where you go, you are here. join or link accounts today. it has long been called storm of tiny bubbles, the champagne of beers. ♪ if you've got the time welcome to the high life. ♪ we've got the beer ♪ miller beer bounty is more absorbent,mom" per roll so the roll can last 50% longer than the leading ordinary brand. so you get more "life" per roll. bounty, the quicker picker upper

wonly new alka-seltzer plus st want powerful relief. free of artificial dyes and preservatives liquid gels delivers the powerful cold symptom relief you need without the unnecessary additives you don't. loudspeaker: clean up, aisle 4. alka-seltzer plus liquid gels. don't pay hundreds more for taxes and fees. introducing t-mobile one. now with taxes and fees included. 4 lines. 40 buck each. all unlimited. all in. switch your family today and get 600 bucks. learn more at a t-mobile store.

my lineage was the vecchios and zuccolis. through ancestry, through dna i found out that i was only 16% italian. he was 34% eastern european. so i went onto ancestry, soon learned that one of our ancestors we thought was italian was eastern european. this is my ancestor who i didn't know about. he looks a little bit like me, yes. ancestry has many paths to discovering your story. get started for free at ancestry.com

anything with a screen is a tv. stream 130 live channels, plus 40,000 on demand tv shows and movies, all on the go. you can even download from your x1 dvr and watch it offline. only xfinity gives you more to stream to any screen. download the xfinity tv app today.

as we have been discussing, four days until the inauguration. controversy is swirling around mr. trump's incoming administration. some from comments he made this weekend. the rhetoric on obamacare is burned into the minds of anyone who followed the campaign. repeal and replace. repeal and replace. the details though 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. >> but the goal is to get 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. quickly. >> paul ryan wants some of the stuff in the bill that -- the repeal bill. >> maybe pre-existing conditions. et cetera. 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. they're not gonna want to -- >> 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. [ all speak at once ] >> 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 interviewed in july of 2015, i think he said this to you one of the early interviews. i'm not just going to let people go out there 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. [ all speak at once ] 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 payer system. >> sure. >> 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 -- dying on the streets. he is alluding to a time when we didn't have a social safety net. there's some sort of disconnect. >> the problem is -- >> maybe he doesn't understand what is happening on the hill and exactly -- >> the disconnect is that he's intellectually incurious about the policies. everybody says he is a big picture guy. that's great if you are big picture guy and you're consistent philosophically where republicans are and what the american people who voted you into office have said that they want. they don't want government in their health care. businesses have explained how obamacare hurt them. >> if you get rid of the

mandate -- as he says he wants to -- 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 you could have a 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 at ways to keep people -- because he comes from a medical background. republicans aren't looking to kick people off insurance. and let people die in the streets. that's a misnomer. 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. >> here's the question. if you get rid of the risk pools, don't you end up having to subsidize the insurance companies? if you do that, that's not going to be politically popular. let me go out on a limb and say that right now. 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. >> and there are eight or ten or 12 different republican plans because there's so many 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? with their ideas? 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 it needs 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 -- to forget that. >> that shows you how barack did achieve a big legacy. no matter what happens to obamacare. 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 -- [ all speak at once ] >> you haven't been able to figure out -- >> republicans wanted to get out from under that. their president-elect boxed them in. >> 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 that may mean. that's next. i'll have that goat cheese garden salad. that gentleman got the last one. sir, you give me that salad and i will pay for your movie

and one snack box. can i keep the walnuts? sold. but i get to pick your movie. can i pick the genre? yes, but it has to be a comedy. a little cash back on the side. with the blue cash everyday card from american express, you get cash back on purchases with no annual fee. throw. it's more than cash back. it's backed by the service and security of american express. it's morhe's happy.t's with him? your family's finally eating vegetables thanks to our birds eye voila skillet meals. and they only take 15 minutes to make. ahh! birds eye voila so veggie good

♪...nausea, heartburn,♪ indigestion, upset stomach, diarrhea!♪ ♪nausea, heartburn, indigestion, upset stomach, diarrhea!♪ here's pepto bismol! ah. ♪nausea, heartburn, indigestion, upset stomach, diarrhea!♪

throughout the campaign, bashing the so-called dishonest media was a rallying cry for the now president-elect. as we reported earlier, 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. >> trump's warned the press is nothing new. now 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. from a reporter in esquire magazine which did not name the official. 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 cnn presidential historian douglas brinkley. john, you were a white house correspondent for a number of years, covering two different administrations. how critical is it to have the press in close proximity to the president? >> i think the access to not

just the president because you don't get to walk in and talk to the president, but to the president's senior staff is critical. i covered bill clinton and george w.'s administration. in the clinton administration, you if the secret service knew you, you could walk past the oval office. sometimes he would yell out your name and scream about something you had 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. and to change it. access is critical. especially in this age of instant information. i would say this, i covered the white house 9 1/2 years. they should fight -- the white house correspondents association should fight for access. what they should not do is 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 the american people. it 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 have -- see around the corner to the oval office. you could get 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 -- [ all speak at once ] >> 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 treating them as not legitimate.

if they want to open up press conferences to more people, that's fine. but this idea that we're to believe that's why they're doing it, i'm sorry, i'm not buying it. >> 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. by the time jfk knot there, his father put up this lovely murl af the caribbean and peaceful sail boats, it's richard nixon of all 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 not only is he going to twitter, but we're giving the first six seats in here to rush limbaugh, sean hannity, laura ingraham, and the next five to various bloggers, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. 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 -- tweet? >> 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. trump is to me the ghost of richard nixon, except he's acting like spiro agnew. [ laughter ] he's going to kill the press. [ all speak at once ] >> but he has made the press his enemy. i think he wants to divide and concur. now with twitter, he has fox new, he's got the "new york post," he's got talk radio, and then it's just to brow beat the so-called liberal media. >> 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. what's new, we live in the world of social media. technology has advanced. this has happened before. donald trump won the republican nomination because he loved the

media. he was on tv all the time. all his rivals campaigned, you couldn't get him off television. i remember when bill clinton would talk to us all the time, and when he was mad at uts, he would disfare. 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. so be it. just do our job. it will be okay. >> thank everybody. new insight on the people in donald trump's inner circle. that's a big question in washington. who has donald trump's ear, who will he lean on most. we'll look at that ahead. reward, i can embrace a world full of surprising moments. the new marriott portfolio of hotels now has 30 brands in over 110 countries. so no matter where you go, you are here. join or link accounts today.

yet up 90% fall short in getting key nutrients from food alone. let's do more. add one a day 50+ a complete multi-vitamin with 100% daily value of more than 15 key nutrients. one a day 50+.

what twisted ankle?ask what muscle strain? advil makes pain a distant memory nothing works faster stronger or longer what pain? advil.

as we mentioned on friday, donald trump becomes the 45th president of the united states. since election day, he's been building his team, his cabinet and key staffers. there are a select few who have ear on a daily basis that he will listen to for advice. dana bash is naming names. donald trump's inner circle is so small it, pretty much fit on his election night stage.

>> we have got tremendously talented people up here. >> reporter: now a handful of senior advisors will follow him into the west wing helping make daily decisions, large and maul. chief of staff reince priebus. >> reince is really a star. and he is the hardest working guy. >> reporter: the former rnc chair will be door keeper to the oval office and conductor keeping white house trains running though his biggest job is trying to keep trump on track. his partner in that is steve bannon, his chief strategist, the former head of breitbart news. sources familiar with the relationship is, say trump respects him as an equal. he will focus on the big picture. >> he has 0 hold people accountable. the deplorables had a great run in '16. everybody mocked him and ridiculed him. now they've spoken. 2017 is going to be a very

exciting year. >> reporter: then there's trump's son-in-law jared kushner who get an official tishlths white house senior advisor so he can continue the integral role he played through the campaign. organizing, advising and now sources say, playing conduit to trump's cabinet. >> i'd love to have jerryd helping us on deals with other nations and see if we can do peace in the middle east and other things. >> he's not on tv ever like you are. but he's really making a lot of things happen. >> anytime you see me on tv, thanks, jerryd. >> the face of kellyanne conway still has a considerable amount of influence with him as does it goes without saying trump's daughter ivanka whose official role is to be determined. the small group is most similar to the big three ronald reagan began his presidency with, ed mooes, james baker and michael defer. they worked together but

infighting ended that. george w. bush took office with a large team of campaign advisors, but only a few really had sway. when karen hughes, to dick cheney to famous bush strategist karl rove. regardless of who was advising is a president, a key question is how he makes decisions. david urban worked closely with trump running his campaign in pennsylvania, the first time a republican twlon since 1988. >> president-elect trump was very involved on a gran knew lar level. he would call frequently and ask how it was going in pennsylvania. >> reporter: how would you describe how he makes decisions? >> i think the president-elect takes advice from a wide range of individuals both on a formal and informal basis. collects lots of data from different a wide range of people. >> reporter: sources familiar with how trump operates say on issues he's comfortable with, he makes quick, competent decisions. when he's unsure like about mitt romney for secretary of state,

he can be sway add by the last person he talked to. on issues he knows little about like picks for top intelligence jobs, he turns to those who do know like mike pence. >> he is not going to sit around and wait for things to happen as a doer. >> i'm so fascinated how presidents make decisions and donald trump in particular. beyond the people you talked about, there are quite a few other people whose counsel he seeks. >> reporter: absolutely. there are a number of people he's known for a very long time, a couple of people in the real estate construction business in new york who have made a lot of money he seeks their counsel. also people who are now going into the white house like anthony scaramucci. he has a bigger role and 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. when she does, he listens.

so and the other interesting thing is that he's got some numbers that he memorizes on i an cell phone. those are the people he tends to call. >> thanks very much. trump's daughter ivan can has no official role right now but still expected to make a big impact. in a few minutes, don't miss the special report first daughter ivanka trump. . trump just tweeted about the special report. what he said next. n leads here. today there's drug-free aleve direct therapy. a high intensity tens device that uses technology once only in doctors' offices. for deep penetrating relief at the source. aleve direct therapy. i realize that ah, that $100k is notwell, a 103fortune. yeah, 103. well, let me ask you guys. how long did it take you two to save that? a long time. then it's a fortune. well, i'm sure you talk to people all the time who think $100k is just pocket change. right now we're just talking to you. i told you we had a fortune. yes, you did.

getting closer to your investment goals starts with a conversation. schedule a complimentary goal planning session today. youthat's why you drink ensure. sidelined. with 9 grams of protein and 26 vitamins and minerals. for the strength and energy to get back to doing... ...what you love. ensure. always be you.

donald trump has just tweeted about our upcoming special report, first daughter ivanka trump. cnn is doing a special report on my daughter ivanka, he tweeted. can't imagine it will be great. we beg to differ. see for yourself. starts now. >> the following is a cnn special report. she is one of donald trump's closest confidantes. >> she has a great wave being able to talk to him. he trusted 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. >> reporter: and an influential advisor. >> the moments that she speaks, he really listens. >> what do you think your father values the most about her? >> loyalty. >> she's an ambitious entrepreneur, a mother, and master of her brand.