>> we report, you decide, is the alligator a real deal or not? >> there is no herky-jerky, that is either the best anime tronics or it's real. >> a lot of folks in florida telling us it's real. >> we will go down and broadcast and you can see them. >> see you tomorrow, have a great day, everybody. ♪ >> we've got more on the gator ahead, but the inauguration is kind of a big deal, too, just days away now, and president-elect trump taking to twitter on a host of topics, good morning to you, i'm jon scott. >> jenna: hi everybody, i'm generally, as the trumps transition team said in a conference call, a series of new tweets from the soon to be commander-in-chief, as mr. trump highlights what he says he has already accomplished so far. well, not backing away from the controversy involving his presidency, his upcoming inauguration, and civil rights icon congressman john lewis. peter? >> jenna, as the president-elect

donald trump prepares to move out of midtown manhattan and move out of trump tower he is trying to draw attention to some of the things he has done here during the transition, so he tweeted a little while ago this. "with all of the jobs i am bringing back into the u.s. (even before taking office), with all of the new auto plants coming back into our..... country and with the massive cost reductions i have negotiated on military purchases and more, i believe the people are seeing "big stuff."" and just before that tweet, gm announced they are going to stop doing some work on axles for full-size pickup trucks in mexico and start doing it in michigan. remember a few weeks ago, the president-elect had called general motors out for selling some chevy hatchbacks in the u.s. that were made in mexico and this doesn't address that issue, but the carmaker said in a statement, "as a u.s. manufacturing base increases its competitiveness, we are able to further increase our investment, resulting in more jobs for america and better results for our owners." but the president-elect isn't just focusing on cars, he is continuing to push back on

democratic georgia congressman john lewis, who started this bat by saying he doesn't think president-elect trump is a legitimate election winner. so today on twitter he wrote this. "john lewis said about my inauguration, "it will be the first one that i've missed." wrong (or lie)! he boycotted bush 43 also because he... "thought it would be hypocritical to attend bush's swearing-in ... he doesn't believe bush is the true elected president." sound familiar! wp" we did get some more details about the swearing in today, the president-elect will take the oath of office using two bibles, one that he got as a gift at his sunday school graduation in 1955, and another that has been used to swear in both abraham lincoln and barack obama, and we do understand that in trump tower on and off, the president-elect has been practicing his inaugural address with a teleprompter and a podium. >> jenna: peter, thank you. >> jon: mr. trump also tweeting back at some brand-new polling that shows him with some

of the worst favorability numbers, of any recent president about to take office. the abc-"washington post" poll finds only about 45% of those surveyed view mr. trump favorably, 54% do not. the cnn-orc pole with similar numbers, 40% favorable, 52% unfavorable. the president-elect reacting on twitter, as you might imagine, writing "the same people who did the phony election polls, and were so wrong, are now doing approval rating polls. they are rigged just like before." joining us now, the political editor and national journal, and the deputy online editor at the weekly standard, gentlemen, welcome. josh, to you first, it has often seemed like donald trump doesn't really care what other people think of him. are you surprised that he so concerned about what these approval numbers seem to show? >> i'm not too surprised, and

certainly using twitter twittet back against this and his political rivals is something common for him. look, he has spent a lot of his political capital during this transition period and largely by picking fights against his political rivals, his enemies, and even the intelligence community, so it shouldn't be a huge surprise. after he got elected his numbers went up, he actually had in some polls pretty decent favorability ratings, but in the last month, especially after picking fights with the cia, the fbi, his numbers have dipped down to about 40%. so it shouldn't come as a surprise. and he has done it by spending a lot of time during what normally is a political honeymoon, he has spent time picking fights with his adversaries. >> jon: hassey, chris, hurt his ability to govern even before he begins to govern through some of these tweets? >> well, i think we have to look at this and the broader context here, because of josh's point about trump recovering postelection. he was starting from behind to begin with. it was the most unpopular guy ever elected to be president,

and i think that they're going to be a lot of things moving forward that donald trump is going to be the most unpopular elected president to do x. it is just a natural outcome of the hole that he's dug himself into throughout the entire campaign season. so a lot of this stuff predates what is going on right now. i think what we have to look out for with respect to particular issues is that donald trump only gets 50% marks on whether or not he is going to be able to address the needs of the middle class well. if you look at exit polling, the middle class, that 50,000-ton $99,000 a year income bracket, was one of the few that he actually won and helped carry him to victory in some of those critical midwestern states that he would need four years down the road if he is planning to make a two-term presidency. >> jon: but amplifying on what chris just said, josh, let's just imagine that hillary clinton had won the electoral college. she had some pretty bad unfavorable numbers, too. so you could see a scenario where coming into office she might be at a 40% popularity

rate. >> yeah, we were a very polarized country, and it is a most hard to compare past presidencies, because we are at a different point in our country, just the degree of polarization is immense. the reality is, donald trump also comes in with a republican congress, and he needs his party to be united. if you can keep the republican party united and actually a couple of the legislation that he has talked about, the numbers will go up. and his favorability numbers will depend on his achievements. look, he is a polarizing figure, a polarizing electorate, but ultimately the first 100 days in the new administration will tell a lot about how he does. >> jon: i was reading charlie cook this morning, chris, and i should have pulled the quote for this segment, but essentially he said look, democrats ought to be about the business of uniting the country and not boycotting the arrival, the inauguration of a president that they disagree with or do not like. what do you think about that?

>> it's definitely of the moment. if you look at some of the things that elevated donald trump to the presidency to begin with, i think there is some sort of post-partisan cry that a lot of the country is been sounding for the last several months because look again, donald trump is not your conventional republican. he is not in the paul ryan mould, wasn't even in the mitt romney mold. some of his priorities run askew of the republican orthodoxy. if you look at some of the infrastructure stuff like you are talking about with reaching out to a broader coalition of americans, democrats certainly have an opportunity to do that kind of stuff because look, the political interest of them is there and the policy interest of them is there. if they can't get behind the potential $1 trillion infrastructure project, like chuck schumer, the minority leader in the senate has artie said he'd be willing to do, then i'm not sure what they are going to get together with him on at some point. so the opportunities will be there and there is some political as well as policy interest that they have to work with. >> jon: there is the saying that elections have consequences, josh.

and some in the opposition party seem not to have realized that. >> yeah, this is pretty unprecedented, and it's not just about what democrats think about donald trump, it's about the process, the transition of power. what is interesting is a lot of the democrats, almost all of them who have decided to boycott the inauguration, are in very heavily democratic districts, they don't have to worry about reelection each and every year. so the members, the democrats that are in competitive seats, their constituents don't want them to boycott, they want them to show up. you see that by the names of who has decided not to show up. to >> jon: what about those democrats who are boycotting? and say that they are going to stand with john lewis? are they making an effective statement for the country? >> they are making an effective statement for themselves, for certain. i think again, going back to the term "broader context," talking about this being a moment in american history where personal

profile and politics trumps all. while you are naturally going to see some of this type of stuff. i don't want to draw too close of a connection here, but how many sit-ins have democratic lawmakers staged in the house at this point? it is all a larger part of making a statement about whatever the issue of the day is. one of the statements from one of those lawmakers that come my attention was from representative lou, california representative, is that look, i have a choice to either stand with john lewis or donald trump. what is interesting is that certain republican lawmakers like ben sass, he said that's a false choice. you can actually look at that as a peaceful transfer of power from one administration to another, same we have done for 200 years now, so this is the same type of thing that we would ask us to exercise any for years to begin with. so i think that at some of the inherent tension, and that seems to be more palatable message i think to a broader swath. >> jon: there were a lot of legislators upset about the election of abraham lincoln. there are historic comparisons.

chris and josh, thank you both. >> in the meantime, confirmation hearings for president-elect trumps cabinet nominees continues today in washington, montana congressman ryan zinke, the interior secretary nominee, and becky divorce for education secretary both testifying before separate committees this afternoon. mike? >> jenna, good morning, eight of president-elect trumps nominees will face confirmation hearings this week, two will face questions today. first up is montana republican congressman ryan zinke, he spent went to three years as a navy seal and is mr. trump's nominee for secretary of the interior. zinke is expected to tell senators, "i am humbled because of the great responsibility the position holds to be the steward of majestic public lands, the champion of our great indian nations, and the manager and voice of our diverse wildlife." also today, betsy devos, mr. trumps pit for education second, will face questioning, she is a target of the left.

with massachusetts senator elizabeth warren writing a 16 page letter critical of her, saying "there is no precedent for an education department secretary nominee with your lack of experience in public education." she will tell senators, "i share president-elect's view that it is time to shift the debate from what the system thinks is back best for kids to what moms and dads want, expect, and deserve. in an education reformer predics if confirmed, devos will make quite an impact. >> day one, when she gets through this hearing today, that opportunity includes trying to put the president's vision of giving every child in america who doesn't have access to a great education that access, not by creating more federal programs come about by devolving the power to the states of local authorities where belongs. >> devos makes teachers unions nervous for her support of school vouchers and school choice, expect her to face quite a grilling today. >> jenna: we will talk more

about that, thank you very much, mike. in just a few minutes, the education second under former president reagan tells us what he think about president-elect's nomination of betsy devos. and we will have the other side and our next power of "happening now." >> jon: several big companies making big promises for 2017, automakers and retail giants say they are bringing money and thousands of jobs back to the u.s. is the president-elect responsible? les, the widow of the orlando nightclub shooter makes her first appearance in federal court. what prosecutors say she did that should send her to jail.

>> jon: as we mentioned earlier, general motors apparently is responding to import tax threats from president-elect donald trump, announcing a $1 billion investment in u.s. factories, moving some production from mexico. the move expected to create or keep about 1,000 jobs in this country, and now similar moves from other conch companies.

hyundai announcing it will invest $3 billion in the u.s. over the next five years, keeping paint plants in alabama and georgia and, perhaps, building a new one. walmart, already the largest retailer and private employer in the u.s., says it will create about 10,000 more u.s. jobs. and german chemical giant bayer ag saying it will spend billions on research and some 3,000 new jobs in the u.s. if its planned merger with u.s. agriculture and chemical giant, monsanto, is improved. that offer, after days of talks with the president-elect, most recently it last week at trump tower, a trumps postman adding that bare of vows to keep all 9,000 jobs of its u.s. jobs here. >> jenna: breaking right now, the widow of the orlando nightclub shooter, omar mateen, expected to make her first court appearance today. they arrested noor salman in california, where she moved after the massacre left 49 people dead at the pulse

nightclub in june. she is charged with aiding and abetting her husbands material support support to isis, and obstructing the investigation. claudia's live in oakland, california, with more. >> and jenna, the six page indictment was just unsealed, it basically says that noor salman knew of her husbands murderous plans and did nothing to stop it, and that she hindered the investigation by lying to fbi agents. as you mentioned, she was arrested at her childhood home yesterday morning outside of sanford cisco, where she had been living with her young son since moving back from orlando, and she has been under close scrutiny ever since her husband husband's deadly rampage seven month ago. in november, she told "the new york times" she knew nothing about her husband's murderous plans, but then she also told authorities she tried to talk him out of it. sources say she drove with him as he cased the pulse nightclub prior to the attack, and that she was with him at a walmart when he bought ammunition. sources also say during that massacre of the two of them

exchanged text messages saying they loved each other. though after omar mateen died in a shoot-out, salman said he was abusive and controlling and that will be her strategy in defense. >> i absolutely believe they will bring in experts on the defense side to say that she was a victim, not a co-conspirator or a better and, and they will paint her as a woman that was stuck in a horrible situation with a horrible man. >> the government says, though, that it has proof salman was complicit in the rampage, and orlando police chief expressed "some relief in knowing that someone will be held accountable for that horrific crime." the case was filed in florida, and jenna, noor salman will be eventually transported back there to faces federal charges of obstruction and aiding and abetting a terrorist organization, charges that could put her away for the rest of her life if she is convicted. >> jenna: we will watch for that court appearance, claudia, thank you. >> jon: sad news from south of the border, authorities confirm

an american teenager died in the attack on a mexican nightclub early monday. what police say happened just before the gunman opened fire. plus, education secretary nominee, betsy devos, going before the senate later today. jenna will talk with a man who held the job about why he thinks she is the right choice. and dramatic video showing the moments when four children are rescued from a burning house. your insurance company

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for a free quote today. liberty stands with you™. liberty mutual insurance. >> jon: police say a colorado teenager was among the dead and yesterday shooting at a mexican nightclub. five people were killed at the club early monday morning in a caribbean resort town south of cancun. 18-year-old alejandro v and the way vo was one of them, but she wasn't shocked, she was trampled to death as people tried to

escape the club. officials say the shooting was not related to terrorism. they say a man denied admission because he had a gun, open fire on security personnel. >> jenna: education secretary nominee betsy devos going before a senate committee later today, as her confirmation hearing begins. opponents have criticized the school choice advocate for her work to expand charter schools and voucher programs across the country. but former education secretary bill bennett takes a very different view, writing "a respected education advocate and reformer, devos has devoted her nearly 30-year career for fighting for greater parental control and choice." she rejects putting special interest ahead of student interest. that is kind of leadership the country's school system needs. bill bennett, who served as former president ronald reagan's education secretary, joins us now. secretary bennett, nice to have you on a program on a day like today. >> thank you, jenna, great to be here. >> jenna: why do you think this is the right choice for

american children? >> because it's time we took a major turn in american education. we've had the same old, same old for the last eight years, and more federal government, more rules, more regulations, and that has been a mistake. betsy devos represents a change. she is experienced in the field. she has worked with children all over the country in michigan and indiana and arizona. she understands what problems and education are, and she will go right at what i call 30 years ago, the wobble, the mess of interest that clogged up the american education system. she knows just what to do. >> jenna: her critics, of course, disagree with that, they call her reckless and extreme, the fact that as part of a very strong statement that came from one of the largest teachers unions in the country. they say this. "in nominating devos, trump makes it loud and clear that his education policy will focus on privatizing, defunding, and

destroying public education in america. devos has no meaningful experience in the classroom or in our schools. the sum total of her involvement has been spending her family's wealth. in an effort to dismantle public education and mexican." that is strong, what is your response? >> well, it sounds very, very familiar to me, that they recycled it from when i was there. i engage the nea a lot on these issues. what people have to remember is that you can't take politics out of politics, and the teachers unions are the backbone of the democratic party. that is why she's going to have a rough time today. the people who the unions want to defend are all the teachers, whether the teachers are good or bad. most are good and confident, but a lot of teachers don't deserve to be in the classroom, and the nea will defend them. also there are schools that do not perform. there is a school in baltimore i recall were no student in the third grade was reading at grade level. you can call it a school, but it's really a warehouse. betsy devos believes that

children in that school should be allowed to go to another school, usually a charter school, where she has put an awful lot of her energies. so i expect the heat to come, and consider the committee, jenna. goodness gracious. elizabeth warren, bernie sander bernie sanders, al franken. they will not go easy on her. >> jenna: let's talk a little bit about that, because it is confusing at times when you start to read deeper into education and ideas for reform and you hear a term like charter schools or for-profit school companies. and sometimes everything gets lumped together. what do you think is the biggest misunderstanding about our nation's current school system, and how does that add to the inability to solve the challenges? >> ulrich, the two big misunderstandings or this. one is the canard, the slogan that the nea uses, which is public money for public schools.

it should be public money for the education of the public, wherever the public happens to be. we use tons of public money to educate people in public universities, there is pell grant, a guaranteed student loan, and we should use that same money to educate students wherever they are. and it's more important to have choice. and autonomy at the elementary and secondary level. the second biggest misunderstanding is this. charter schools are public schools, charter schools are public schools, please remember that. this has been a big thrust of betsy devos is very impressive career. no, people talk about her being a billionaire. remember the old movie with goldie hahn, "overboard," remember goldie hunt sitting on the yacht and her sunglasses? well betsy devos could be doing that. instead, for 30 years she has none of the cities of america aiming her efforts at poor children. as any member of that committee

that's going to interrogate her put as much effort or energy or half of it or one-tenth of it that she has in the education of our children? i don't think so. >> jenna: let me ask one final question, because randi weingarten will join us during the next hour of "happening now" and will give us the other side. what question what will you asr about betsy devos how she offers her way forward in american education? >> ask her why is it so hard to fire an incompetent teacher, and are they still have the rubber rooms in new york, where they pay teachers full-time who have been removed from the classroom for reasons that are substantial. wh to get rid of a good teacher? the other question i would ask is democrats don't think bankers should run banks, but they do think that outside influences in american education, that is people who are not in the teachers unions, should have no say. well, they need to get their lines straight.

if you cannot trust the education associations to deliver quality education, which the evidence is clear you can't, then let's bring in somebody who's got some serious reform ideas and a lot of experience. i hope they go toe-to-toe on knowledge, she will hold a very well. >> jenna: we will watch that hearing later today. secretary bennett, thank you very much. >> my pleasure, thank you. >> jenna: we will take a fair and balanced look as we mentioned with the nomination of betsy devos. it affects everybody, american children everywhere, as we just mentioned, randy weingarten, the president of the american federation of teachers, joins us for the 1:00 p.m. hour of happening now. we will post those questions to her and others about the nominee. >> jon: fascinating discussion. a break in the case of a deadly new year's shooting in istanbul, the accused gunman now locked up. what he is telling police. and a senator who strongly opposed president-elect trump's secretary of state nominee, rex tillerson, now appears to be leaning toward voting for him.

>> jenna: the gunman accused of carrying out the deadly attack at an istanbul nightclub on new year's day is now behind bars. authorities arresting this man following a raid at a housing complex, where the national uzebekistan national was staying with a friend. the suspect reportedly confessing to the attack as he was taking in and for questioning, and investigators say he now has ties to afghanistan, explain all of this, connor joins us now live with more.

>> yeah, jenna, for more than two weeks, of turkish authorities have mounted a nationwide search for the man at the center of those nightclub attacks on new year's eve. now this morning turkish officials arrested abulkadir masharipov, just 25 miles from the spot where he launch that attack on new year's eve. four other people, including an iraqi man and three women, were also arrested with him. it sounds like they resisted the arrest and it did not go easy for police. there was some type of battle to arrest them. officials describe masharipov as a well educated terrorist who spoke for different linkages, he has dual uzebekistan and tajikistan citizenship. he also is believed to have spent time training in afghanistan and pakistan. among the items found with him, two pistols, two aerial drones, and several mobile phone cards, and thousands of dollars worth of cash on him as well. isis has claimed responsibility for this attack, and while

masharipov has reportedly admitted to carrying out the attack, it's not clear what type of ties he actually has with isis. he clearly trained with people in afghanistan and pakistan, but whether or not he trained with isis and other places is not clear yet. >> jenna: connor, thank you. >> jon: the u.s. senate set to reconvene for another round of confirmation hearings this afternoon with president-elect donald trump's choice to run the department of interior emma montana congressman ryan zinke front and center to. he is expected to face tough question on climate change and public lands from both sides of the aisle. joining us now to talk about the prospect he faces, the chairman of gopac, and donnie fowler, who served in the clinton administration as liaison to congress. welcome gentlemen. donnie, do you expect democrats will try to derail ryan zinke's nomination? >> well, ryan zinke is being introduced by the democratic

senator from montana, his home state, jon tester. so i don't think that ryan zinke will have as much trouble as many of the other trump nominees going through the senate. >> jon: david, would republicans give him any time of trouble? republicans have been openly skeptical of some of the other nominees, we will get to that in may. >> there will be questions at some of the western state senators have about control over federal land and what role states should have in that. but few agencies will benefit more from the under new management banner than the interior department. the talk to states who have much better forestry and land management bureaus than federal government, and they say the biggest challenges the federal government. congressman zinke has made it very clear he wants to talk about that, he wants to put new management in place, better management in place, that while the federal lands will stay

federal, 20% of u.s. and land is federal land, he does see a more active role for states, thus he will get republican votes, he will be our next interior secretary. >> jon: -- >> david sees under new management as something where we throw away america's public parks, and we have returned public lands to oil and gas, and that is not with the american people want. that is what states want, whose land management systems are owned by oil and gas. i don't think that david you are represent and what the american people want when it comes to our public parts and public land in this country. ryan zinke, however, has made it very clear that he supports public lands like teddy roosevelt and supports our national parks like teddy roosevelt, so it seems to me that you defending state farm barrows and state land management companies is just pandering to the oil and gas company.

that is not what ryan zinke is doing and that is not what donald trump is doing, so that meant the management is not what the american people want and it's not what ryan zinke is bringing. >> jon: we have one more topic to get to but i will give you a chance to answer, david. >> quickly, donnie is making my point, ryan zinke is not going to allow harm to be done to our federal land, but there is a good balance that can occur that allows responsible job creation to occur while protecting our natural land. and you want a teddy roosevelt republican, which is what we will get from ryan zinke, which is why republicans and democrats will vote for him. >> david, you are really misleading people. your view on the right ring conservative u.s. turnover public land and shutdown public parts and hand them parks and hand them to the oil and gas committee. that is not what ryan zinke wants, that is what you want, and you are not on the same page. >> jon: we thought this was going to be one of the less controversial nominees, but we will see what happens in the senate. another nominee who is being

closely watched his secretary of state designate rex tillerson. senator john mccain now showing him a little support as our potential top diplomat, here is john mccain on the first 100 days last night with martha maccallum. >> after your conversation with rex tillerson would you say you are leaning toward supporting him? >> barely, yes. i am. i think he's a good man, and i think he's aware, certainly, of vladimir putin. but i still don't understand taking an award from that thug. >> jon: the former exxonmobil ceo, tillerson faced another a number of questions about his relationship with russian russn president vladimir putin during his confirmation hearing. his performance leaving many senators senator still on the fence about whether to support him. so let's talk about that, david. it's rex tillerson going to be confirmed? >> yes, with republicans and

democratic votes. we already have joe of west virginia whose head is going to vote for him. in fact, chuck schumer is doing a disservice to his caucus if he makes rex tillerson the one that he wants every democrat to vote against. as far as senator mccain, the best insights are the comments he has made about every president deserves their nominees that they believe they should have, short of extenuating circumstances. and, that he is leaning toward tillerson because he has answered many of the questions that mccain has, which in senate speak means he's going to vote for tillerson, which probably means lindsay graham will, and we will see what senator rubio was going to do. other than that, there are no republicans expressing that they are not going to vote for tillerson. >> jon: donnie, what about that point? donald trump won the election, why should he not be given wide latitude to choose the people he wants to stack his cabinet? >> a new president should be get it given wide latitude to choose reasonable americans to serve in cabinet secretaries.

i wish the republicans had this view when barack obama made nominations. but let's talk about rex tillerson. john mccain is absolutely right, david and i agree. rex tillerson is an american with great gravitas, but he accepted one of the top awards that the russian government and vladimir putin have to offer. no can we do better than having someone be our secretary of state who has gotten a high level award from vladimir putin? the thug, as john mccain said? and if we can do better. >> wait a second, we can't let that go unanswered. donnie, what cabinet officials did president obama not get because republicans voted against him or her? >> republicans were nonstop opponents to every single time that president barack obama breeds. >> hooted obama not get in his cabinet because republicans voted against him? >> you remember, david, that the democrats had the majority in the senate, so it wasn't that

they denied him a cabinet cabinet secretary, it is that they opposed everything obama did, and no republicans say, oh, my gosh, the democrats are opponents and i hate america! no, we just don't think the secretary of state should have received award and award from vladimir putin and russia. >> the exact reason why president trump will get all of his cabinet nominees. >> jon: all right, gentlemen, interesting discussion. we will maybe convene again after the whole process is over and talk about it later. david and donnie, thank you bot both. >> jenna: this just in, some dramatic fire rescues, four times over, as crews make it to four children trapped inside this burning home in los angeles trade but smoke and fire pouring out of the house, and the firefighters at the scene, and security bars at the window complicated the rescue.

the four children range in age from 2-7 years old, they had passed out and suffered severe burns, but they had survived. they are now listed in critical condition. >> jon: concern from european allies, after president-elect trump calls nato obsolete. we will talk with a former special forces officer about how the rest of the world is reacting to the new administration. it's not an anti-aging face cream. it's realizing beauty doesn't stop at my chin. roc®'s formula adapts to delicate skin areas. my fine lines here? visibly reduced in 4 weeks.

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eu is headed for a breakup and nato is obsolete. let's bring in a former special forces officer and fox news contribute or, it is great to have you, lieutenant colonel. i want to read a little bit about what donald trump said in the times of london interview, because i think it matters. he said this, i set a long time ago that nato had problems. number one, it was obsolete because it was designed many years ago. number two, the countries weren't paying what they are supposed to pay. he has said this time and time again. do you think america is being taken for granted? >> well i agree with his secretary of defense nominee in the broad sense that nato has been critical to european stability, global stability, since world war ii, and standing up to the soviet union. that said, i think the president-elect is voicing concerns that many of us who have worked with nato have said privately, in that they do need to step up and pay for their own defense.

and i was on the ground with our nato allies in afghanistan, and much of their equipment was obsolete, and they have too many rules and restrictions on what their forces could do. so what i would like to see is kind of a nato 2.0, so to speak, in that nato needs some serious reforms, and i think he is voicing those publicly. >> jenna: so is the anxiety that we hear and is being reported on, in your opinion, is that a good thing that may add to the reform and actually add to the strengthening of nato, rather than its destruction? >> well, i think shaking some things up within nato and within our european partners is a good thing. i do have some concerns, frankly, about doing it so publicly, because i fear that it sends the wrong message to both terrorist groups and to the russians. i could see the russians thinking right now, and putin in particular, thinking through estonia, latvia, lithuania, the other countries that they may

have their eyes on, and whether the united states would really stand up and support its nato allies. so i would like to see it a little more private. but i do think it's a good thing that we are shaking the tree, so to speak. speak to someone else was making public statements, that is general mattis, the nominee nor secretary of defense but he actually was the supreme allied commander of transformation for nato for a few years, and here's what he said just last week. >> nato, from my perspective, having served once as the supreme allied commander, is the most successful military alliance probably in modern world history, maybe ever. >> jenna: so you say you are concerned about what vladimir putin might hear from donald trump, what do you think vladimir putin's hearing from general mattis? >> i think he is hearing the united states is going to stand strong, and approach the relationship from a renewed position of strength. it is one thing to have probably the most powerful military force in the world, but i think putin has believed in the last eight years, at least, that we aren't going to use it.

i think there is another piece that we have to think about as well, in that we have to be careful that we don't regress to kind of pre-world war ii, where all of these european allies were cutting their own deals, whether with the russians are now with the chinese, or with each other. that we have an entire block that we can deal with, and that has been valuable to general mattis' point. and the other pieces syria, we have to be careful. it sounds easy, work with russians against the terrorists, we all hate the terrorists. but all of those countries are calling different groups "terrorists," and we have to remember that russia is aligned with iran and has bilotta in syria, and we certainly don't want to be aligned with them, it particularly as we take on iran with the iran deal. >> jenna: interesting, we will have to examine that, america's role in the world, which seems to be the larger theme here. lieutenant colonel, great to have you back. >> thanks so much. >> jon: key court action and

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>> jon: it's time to see what's ahead on "outnumbered" at the top of the hour, what do you have, meghan and harris? >> it's going to be a good show, no more than 40 democratic lawmakers who say they will snub the president-elect's inauguration, that is 22% of out democrats. what this says about respect for our institutions and working together. >> to get them to go vote on some thing with that kind of percentage, right? and as we await the final press briefing of the obama administration, a former press secretary says that after more than eight years of loving softball question, the media is suddenly about to get tough. is he right? >> all of that, plus our #oneluckyguy. "outnumbered" at the top of the hour. >> jenna: breaking now in

florida, court action just wrapping up for esteban santiago, accused of gunning down five people and wounding six others during the shooting rampage at the fort lauderdale airport. bilking is live at the courthouse with more. bill? >> santiago facing out life in prison, it is not if not a death sentence, the u.s. magistrate order he continued to be held in federal custody without bond, saying estevan santiago clearly is a flight risk. today's hearing lasted just about 30 minutes, and most of it dealt with santiago's mental health and mental stability, not only on the day of the airport shootings, but also back in anchorage, alaska, when in november he told the fbi there he was under government mind control. at santiago's first appearance in court last week he appeared jittery, tense, and nervous, looking down most of the time. today he appeared much more calm. an fbi agent today also testifying on the sand, santiago claimed in interviews to have visited some gee g hottie chats that could have been inspired by

the shooting of the airport, by isis or at isis-minded people. tmz showed the gunmen in baggage claim pulling out a handgun and firing shots, emptying two clips of bullets, ultimately killing five and wounding six. the incident triggered absolute terror, panic, and chaos at the airport for hours, and totally shut down the fort lauderdale-hollywood international airport for a total of 15 hours. and two patients release from brower health medical for their injuries suffered during the airport shooting, that leaves just one patient hospitalized, a gunshot victim in serious condition. santiago will be arraigned here in two weeks, and that is when he would be back here at the u.s. courthouse in downtown fort lauderdale. >> jenna: a story we will continue to watch, thank you very much and we will be right back with more "happening now" " our heart healthy idaho potatoes, america's favorite potatoes,

and donating to local charities along the way. but now it's finally back home where it belongs. aw man. hey, wait up. where you goin'? here we go again.

>> in our second hour we have a big update on the big gator, you showed us the big gator yesterday. >> say it's fate, not the real

thing, but we will investigate. to speak will we will find out why did they get across the road? and we will see you back here in an hour. >> "outnumbered" starts right now. >> harris: we begin with a fox news alert on the final white house press briefing under the obama administration, press secretary josh earnest is expected to speak to reporters any minute now, as he does each day, he will walk up to that lectern, and the timing sets up the final time president obama will hold a news conference as commander-in-chief. that is tomorrow. we are watching it all and will bring you updates as it they hn happen. >> fox news alert, the no-shows keep on coming. at this time, friday, 72 hours from now donald trump will be sworn in as america's 45th president, but the number of democrats planning to skip the inauguration nearly doubling from yesterday, and we could see more. this is "outnumbered," i meghan mccain, here today is harris faulkner,