suzanne malveaux tonight keeping him honest. >> reporter: donald trump is spreading false claims aboution he won. the president-elect tweeting "in addition to winning the electoral college in a landslide, i won the popular vote if you deduct the millions of people who voted illegally." trump who now trails hillary clinton by more than 2 million votes in the latest national count, offering no evidence to back up his statement about millions of illegal ballots. >> unbelievable. >> reporter: echoing themes from his campaign. >> it is a rigged system, and be careful with the voting. be careful with everything. >> reporter: trump is raising unfounded allegations of voter fraud in three states he lost. tweeting, "serious voter fraud in virginia, new hampshire and california. so why isn't the media reporting on this? serious bias. big problem." leaders in all three states pushed back saying their elections were fair. some trump allies are urging him to let it go. >> he is the president-elect. it is time to move forward. >> reporter: it comes as a recount moves forward in wisconsin where offic

i am joined by suzanne malveaux and ryan nobles.n, you had just gotten reaction from the trump team what do they say? >> reporter: i think the statement shows that the trump campaign is taking this recount seriously. they are not just ignoring it as donald trump, the president-elect himself releasing a statement. it says, the people have spoken. the elec is ovetion is over. she said, quote, we must accept this result and look to the future. then, trump goes on to really draw most of his criticism at green party candidate, jill stein, hoiwh who is the person this effort. she formally filed the paperwork to make it a reality. >> in recount is just a way for jill stein who received less than 1% of the vote and wasn't on the ballot in many states, to fill her coffers with money. all three states were won by large numbers of voters, specially pennsylvania, which was won by more than 70,000 votes. this is a scam by the green party for an election that has already been conceded and the results of this election should be respected instead o

suzanne malveaux is in washington with more of this. so suzanne, president obama of course wants that legacy of how he helped thaw relations between the u.s. and cuba to remain. but there also is expressed worry from that white house as to whether that will continue. >> reporter: that's right. there is a concern about it. and i have to say that the president's administration is measured in their response. you're not hearing some of the fiery language coming from members of congress. we're told the president is not going to speak about this on camera, but rather we twot this written statement from earlier today really talking about that history will be the judge of fidel castro. i will read a part of it, saying for nearly six decades, the relationship between the united states and cuba was marked by discord and profound political disagreements. during mied presidency, we've worked hard to put the past behind us pursuing a future which the relationship between our two countries defined not the by our differences but by the many things that

suzanne malveaux, vnn, raleigh, north carolina. >> thanks for that.but is it too soon to joke about the election? well, if you're jimmy fallon absolutely not. a couple of late night sinkers coming up ahead. okay, google, show me korean restaurants in boulder. (google assistant) i found a few places. (vo) the new pixel, phone by google. exclusively at verizon. the only next gen network that lets you get the most out of it. how is this possible? (vo) because verizon lte advanced delivers 50% faster peak speeds in 450 cities, coast to coast. buy a pixel and get up to $400 back. and get 20 gigs of data with no surprise overages, and 4 lines for only $40 each. why settle when you can have it all on verizon? >>> okay. in case you missed it, here is jimmy fallon's take on where things stand more than a week after the election. listen to this -- >> remember that donald trump is now planning a victory tour. he's going to visit all the places that helped him get elected. so i guess that means ohio, pennsylvania, florida and russia. new poll that donald trump's

suzanne malveaux reporting. let's get a top democrat's reaction, senator chris coons. senator, thank you very much for joining us. >> thank you, wolf. >> do you support this idea of a recount in those states? >> let's be clear, what jill stein, the presidential candidate from the green party is pursuing, and what donald trump, the president-elect has said in his tweets, are not the same thing. jill stein's taking advantage of existing state laws that allow you to request a recount within a certain period and pay for the costs. i think she has her reasons for doing it. the clinton campaign is going to have an observer participating. but i don't think it's going to change the outcome of the election. on the other hand, president-elect trump is undermining the whole confidence that the american people have in the election by tweeting that there are millions of illegal votes that have been cast, something for which there's no credible evidence. and state and county elected officials, folks of both parties, administer our electoral system. >> do you believe the presidential

let's get more from cnn's suzanne malveaux live in washington. hi, suzanne. >> hey, carol.the president's schedule is really pretty light. no public events on his schedule today. tomorrow he's going to be honoring the recipients, the honor of the medal of freedom recipients, some 21 or so and then pardoning the thanksgiving turkey later in the week. make no mistake about this, carol, the president very much invests in shoring up his legacy, whether or not it's saving obamacare, as much of it as he can, the iran nuclear deal, the paris climate agreement as well as shoring up our friendships and relationships with our allies, particularly those in nato. what we saw from the president overseas and what we're seeing here now is that he is really playing the role of comforter in chief, trying to address some of the concerns that people have under a trump administration, worried that there might be a erosion of our democracy and civil rights and even religious freedom. here's what he said. >> the president-elect now has to put together a team, and put forward specifics of about h

suzanne malveaux is in washington, d.c. what more is the president saying about his hopes for the continuation of u.s. and cuban relations? >> this is a critical time for u.s. cuban relations. it's a major signature achievement, foreign policy achievement for president obama. it is something he would like to see move forward in the years to come. they are not that optimistic. butita they are hoping a normalization with cuba will exist. i'm going to read part of a statement in which the president releases within the hour. for nearly six decades the relationship between the united states and cuba was marked by discord and profound political disagreements. during my presidency we worked hard to put the past behind us, pursuing a future in which the relationship between our two countries is defined not by our differences, but by the many things we share as neighbors and friends. bonds of family, culture, commerce and common humanity. one of the things that the president very much believes here is if you have people to people co

more, now, from suzanne malveaux. >> thank you very much.nd me. to our young son barron. and to our hole family. >> reporter: since the trumps descended from the escalator june 2015. their son baron is her top priority. >> i'm a full-time mother to our son, baron. an incredible boy. as his father travels around the country, running for president. i'm with our son. we talk a little bit about politics and a lot about life, homework and sports. >> reporter: melania decided early on, to rarely campaign by her husband's side. >> they will have me on the trail all the time. they wish to have me there. i made the decision i will be a parent to our boy, to our child. no matter who you are -- >> reporter: the soon-to-be first lady could not shield her son from the scandals that emerged. namely, the tape of her husband from 2005 bragging about groping women. >> sometimes i said, i have two boys at home, i have my young son and i have my husband. >> reporter: melania tried to use the controversy as a teachable moment for their son. >> he's in that age,

suzanne malveaux in ohio.for you today and everyone to get out and vote. >>> on wall street, what a rally. dow and nasdaq and s&p. it was the comey bounce, the decision to clear hillary clinton send the market swiftly higher monday. climbed throughout the session. the dow was up 371 points. that's 2%. the nasdaq and s&p up 2%. wall street is not in love with hillary clinton. investors hate uncertainty. one person put it as the devil we know. and donald trump's trade and immigration policies would hurt wall street in the long run. dow futures are flat right now. everyone i talked to in the markets want to know what happens in the senate and balance of power. that is how work gets done no matter who is the president. if the senate flips, then maybe and it is a hillary clinton presidency, it is not optimistic. >>> "early start" continues right now. >> let's make history together. thank you and god bless you. >> at

. >> cnn's suzanne malveaux is live for us.ou covered that time period when janet reno was attorney general. your thoughts? >> reporter: she was quite a presence. it was a tumultuous time under here reign and there were high profile cases that she handled as attorney general. she was the first female attorney general under president clinton. it was baird who was nominated before her. she was not the first choice of president clinton. both had problems with illegal immigrants with nannies. she was the first nominated and confirmed by the senate for the position. one of the cases i covered very extensively was the case of elian gonzalez out of florida. that case was the cuban boy whose mother and stepfather were lost at sea to travel here to get to the country. it was a controversy when elian was pulled from his miami relatives and sent to his father in cuba. janet reno had the conviction and courage to move forward in some of the cases. you mentioned waco as well we covered at the time with the branch davidians and loss of life.

. >> we see the picture, we will take a quick break, suzanne malveaux, you're phenomenal. quick break, we'll be right back to watch the presidential medal of freedom ceremony from the east room. >> here we go, we'll take you to the east room of the white house and you'll see this one after another outstanding recipient of of the presidential medal of freedom. >> accepting on behalf of louis covel. [ applause ] ellen degeneres. [ applause ] robert de niro. [ applause ] richard berwyn. bill and melinda gates. [ applause ] frank gary. [ applause ] margaret helmeton. [ applause ] tom hanks. [ applause ] debra marie accepting on behalf of grace hopper. [ applause [ applause ] michael jackson. [ applause ] maya lin. [ applause ] lorne michaels. [ applause [ applause ] newt minot. eduardo padron. robert redford. [ applause ] diana ross. [ applause ] vin scully. [ applause ] bruce springsteen. [ applause ] cecily tyson. [ applause ] ladies and gentlemen, the vice president of the united states. >> ladies and gentlemen the president of the united states. and mrs. michelle obama. [

suzanne malveaux is at the white house.g forward to seeing sasha and malia and the eye roll at their dad but this year they're like "see you later." >> we get used to seeing their giggles and smirks for the last seven years or so. they've had some cute replacements. but it was funny, you look at these turkeys and we've gotten so much more information than they did before because they have their own twitter account that we've been following since turkey. they went from iowa. they were raised on a family farm. they traveled from the white house from iowa to the white house, a familiar pattern as you can imagine and we saw actually they go through something called podium practice where they stand on a little platform so they don't go flapping away. i remember under bill clinton that he had a turkey that escaped on the south lawn and the secret service were chasing after him to get him back so they practice for this big day. but this is really a special time, a fun time, it's a tradition they've had that they've shared over man

suzanne malveaux is live at the white house with more. what's the answer? >> the two top officials first of all, the secretary of defense ash carter as well the director of national intelligence james clapper both of them over the weekend the news breaking that they about a month ago represented to the president that mike rogers head of the nsa be fired. and sources are telling us the main reason here is that he has failed to involve a restructuring that involves the agency here to attack cyber threats. that there's been embarrassing breaches of security that the morale is terrible, and that he really has not done his job properly. separately, chris, is what has happened on thursday. he is being considered by team trump, possible intelligence position for that administration, and he quietly went off to a secret meeting with trump at trump tower in new york, without telling his supervisors, and that raised some eyebrows. but it should be noted, too, that supporters of rogers say that this is all a political move here to make him damaged goods in case he is c

suzanne malveaux is out fror"ou at the white house. >> reporter: one thing to talk about your kids. safe territory. a good ice breaker. that is exactly what michelle obama as well as melania trump did. you might recall, sasha and malia were quite young. and it is melania trump whose concerned. very protective of her 10-year-old son baron. so that is something they share. this is very different than what their husbands experienced today. no cameras not. press. we have one photo from the white house press office. all smiles. we are told that it started off with a tour of the residence. and went to the truman balcony. that as you know erin the place where the first lady and barack obama, the president, spending a lot of quality time there. so it is a special place for them. they took them there. and also melania was shown taken to the state floor in the white house to meet with the curator of the white house. that is bill almond. and he really is a human encyclopedia for all things inside of the building. and so she got a tour and she also got a lot of ideas about the white house looks

but i bet you've never seen it at 1:40 in the morning, right, suzanne malveaux, who joins us live from columbus. >> i just couldn't sleep, poppy. i think that was it. >> i know. i know. >> two and a half hours until early voting starts. it's going to be the light of day. >> we're getting towards the end of early voting, right, there? >> absolutely. we are getting towards the end of it. it's going to start at 8:00 in the morning. it will go until two income the afternoon. so far we've seen 1.5 million people who have actually voted out of the seven million in ohio. so this is really good news for both sides. but potentially really tightening this race even tighter, potentially working for hillary clinton. she is really counting on those votes in cleveland, the millennials, the african americans, as well as women. she has been working very hard in the cleveland area. we've been seeing record turnout in terms of early voting there. in terms of donald trump, he really needs southern ohio, cincinnati. there have been big numbers out of cincinnati for early voters there. people who have lost

here to share their personal reflections on gwen ifill are dana bash, nia malika henderson and suzanne malveauxt's great to have all of you here to talk about gwen ifill. i want to start with you, nya malika. she is the person you wanted to be when you grew up and so much so you kept a little photo of her on your computer at all times. tell us about that. >> i did. i did. when i was a cub reporter at the "baltimore sun", of course, gwen ifill had worked at the "baltimore sun", she worked at the washington post, "the new york times." eventually had a tv career. i wanted to be her. i went to my computer and printed out a little black and white photo of her that i found on the web and i taped it to my computer because i literally wanted to look at her and aspire to be her and that was my daily vision, gwen ifill and her career and her success. i later told her about this. >> and what did she say? >> she said, dear, that's really sweet, but it's also a little creepy. and that is who gwen was. she was very funny, very warm and smart, but she also had this sort of biting sense of humor that we all we