lynn sweet is a journalist for the chicago sun times.t the bottom line here is that donald trump does not give any of his own money to the foundation. he has not given any of his own money between 2009 and 2014, so at the heart of this is a foundation that goes to other people to ask for money. then there is another set of controversies and this is what the attorney general in new york is looking at, is whether or not there is self dealing. you're not supposed to use

lynn sweet is a journalist for the chicago sun times.

mr trump released a statement saying: lynn sweet is a journalist for the chicago sun times, based in washington. i asked her about the foundation and why the president—elect has decided to close its. this has been a big controversy triggered by stories in the washington post —— it. the bottomline is that donald trump does not give any of his own money to the foundation. he has done so between 2009- 2014. so he foundation. he has done so between 2009— 2014. so he goes to other people to ask for money for the foundation. then, there is another set of controversies, which is what the attorney general in new york is looking at. and that is whether they are self dealing, you're not to use are self dealing, you're not to use a not—for—profit foundation to make political contributions or to help your business. how will it work? he says he is closing it down, the attorney general says he cannot do that while they are investigating? they can both be right. donald trump has said he is not going to raise any more money and is failing paperwork to close it down, but that doesn't wipe the slate c

this man is featured in the chicago sun times. mary mitchell authored the series and joins us now.thank you very much for joining us. this is some great reporting. let's start with the story of jesse webster, recently released from prison after serving more than 21 years. what got him there in the first place? >> well, what got him there was drug dealing. he admits that, he was selling drugs. he got into the drug business as a young boy. not even in high school. he came from a poor family, and a distressed neighborhood. and to make ends meet, he went out and shoveled snow, washed cars, carried groceries, and sold drugs on the corner. >> but then how did he end up with such a harsh sentence? what did he do? >> okay, so the problem here was that it wasn't the fact he was just selling drugs. because he admits that. but it was a prosecution in chicago where prosecutors were looking to get something on the gangster disciples and basically larry hoover. they found out, through sources, thse webster was selling drugs, was a middle person in drug deals involving the gangster disciples. the

lynn sweet is a journalist for the chicago sun times.t the bottom line here is that donald trump does not give any of his own money to the foundation. he has not given any of his own money between 2009 and 2014, so at the heart of this is a foundation that goes to other people to ask for money. then there is another set of controversies and this is what the attorney general in new york is looking at, is whether or not there is self dealing. you're not supposed to use a non—profit foundation in the united states to make political contributions, or to help your business. thousands of people are being urged to leave their homes in the philippines as a super typhoon roars towards the country's east coast. typhoon nok—ten is expected to hit today, bringing winds of nearly 160 mph. dozens of ports have been closed, as officials warn of potentially deadly two—metre waves. the israeli prime minister, benjamin netanyahu, has cut some of his country's funding to united nations agencies. he's responding to friday night's un security council resolut

lynn sweet is a political commentator with the chicago sun—times.dation. he has not given any of his own money between 2009 and 201a, so at the heart of this is a foundation that goes to other people to ask for money. then there is another set of controversies, and this is what the attorney general in new york is looking at, is whether or not there is self—dealing. you're not supposed to use a non—profit foundation in the united states to make political contributions, or to help your business. that's at the heart of it. ahead of the weather, an update on the earthquake in chile. it is reported that the quake with a preliminary magnitude of 7.7 struck chile, southern chile. this is according to the united states geological survey. a tsunami warning was issued for the area and the chilean navy issued a warning guarding a tsunami. the depth of the quake was supposed to be nine miles. chile has a long history of deadly quakes including an 8.8 magnitude quakes including an 8.8 magnitude quakein quakes including an 8.8 magnitude quake in 2010. that was th

mr trump released a statement saying: lynn sweet is a journalist for the chicago sun times, based inngton. i spoke to her a short while ago about the foundation and why the president—elect has decided to close it. it has been a big controversy triggered by stories in the washington post and the bottom line here is that donald trump does not give any of his own money to the foundation. he has not given any of his own money, between 2009 and 2014. so at the heart of this is a foundation that goes to other people to ask for money. then there is another set of controversies, and this is what the attorney—general in new york is looking at, and that is weather or not there is self dealing. you are not supposed to use a non—profit foundation in the united states to make vidigal contributions or to help your business. that is at the heart of it. how was it going to work? he says he is closing down, but the attorney—general says that he cannot while they still investigating. both can be right. donald trump can say he is not going to raise any more money. he can say that he is finding the pape

the us journalist lynn sweet is a political commentator with the chicago sun—times. line here is that donald trump does not give any of his own money to the foundation. he has not given any of his own money between 2009 and 2014, so at the heart of this is a foundation that goes to other people to ask for money. then there is another set of controversies, and this is what the attorney general in new york is looking at, is whether or not there is self dealing. you're not supposed to use a non—profit foundation in the united states to make political contributions, or to help your business. that's at the heart of it. thousands of people are being urged to leave their homes in the philippines as a super—typhoon roars towards the country's east coast. typhoon nok—ten is expected to hit today, bringing winds of nearly 160 miles an hour. dozens of ports have been closed, as officials warn of potentially the israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu has cut some of his country's funding to united nations agencies. he's responding to friday night's un security council resolut

we have a journalist for the chicago sun times, based in washington.y general says that donald trump can't close his foundation while the investigation is ongoing. explain how this is going to work. well, this has been a big controversy triggered by stories in the washington post that at the bottom line here donald trump does not give any of his own money to the foundation. he hasn't given any of his own money between 2009 and 2014, sell at the heart of this is a foundation that goes to other people to ask for money. then there is another side of controversy, and this is what the attorney general in new york is looking at, is whether 01’ new york is looking at, is whether or not there's self dealing. you're not supposed to use a non—profit foundation in the united states to make political contributions or to help your business. that's at the. so how is it going to work? —— at the heart of it. the attorney general says they can't close it down while still investigating. both can be right. donald trump can say he won't raise any more money, he can say th

the us journalist lynn sweet is a political commentator with the chicago sun—times.p does not give any of his own money to the foundation. he has not given any of his own money between 2009 and 2014, so at the heart of this is a foundation that goes to other people to ask for money. then there is another set of controversies, and this is what the attorney general in new york is looking at, is whether or not there is self dealing. you're not supposed to use a non—profit foundation in the united states to make political contributions, or to help your business. that's at the heart of it. the headlines on bbc news. the queen will miss the traditional christmas day service at sandringham, as she is recovering from a heavy cold. the duke of edinburgh and other members of the royal family are on their way to church on the norfolk estate. in her pre—recorded christmas message later today, the queen will pay tribute to "ordinary people doing extraordinary things", like volunteers and carers. president putin orders an inquiry after a russian military plane bound for syria cras

lynn sweet is a political commentator with the chicago sun—times.ey to the foundation. he has not given any of his own money between 2009 and 2014, so at the heart of this is a foundation that goes to other people to ask for money. then there is another set of controversies, and this is what the attorney general in new york is looking at, is whether or not there is self—dealing. you're not supposed to use a non—profit foundation in the united states to make political contributions, or to help your business. that's at the heart of it. for all of you passionate skiers out there, here is a tale which will fill you with dread. more than 100 skiers have been rescued after being trapped in cable cars above the mountains in italy. one of the ski lifts failed in high winds, leaving people swinging 30 metres in the air as they headed back to the valley after a day on the slopes. caroline davies reports. lowered back to firm ground after hours stuck hanging above it. these skiers in italy were rescued and winched to safety after strong winds stopped their cab

let's talk about it with our media panel today lynn sweet, washington bureau chief of chicago sun timesth miller, fox news contributor and bill, mainstream columnist for the wall street journal and formal editorial, speech writing for george w. bush. bill, we don't have you on the panel often so i want to start with you. have you ever seen anything like this, thank you tour from a president elect in. >> no, this was spiking the ball in the end zone. he must have a lot of fun. the crowds that are watching him are having fun too. jon: well he won cheers with the reference of dishonest media again. he did that a lot during the campaign but brought it up again last night. it seems like we are in for perhaps four years of division from the incoming administration? >> we will have a different -- yes, yes, and yes. it only goes so far. at some point he will have to govern and if he wants to continue, he's entitled. nothing has changed his view but he needs the media because he likes to be on. he still uses it so all we are -- it's big unchartered territory. jon: he was talking about a newscast

senior washington correspondent jeff zeleny, lynn suite, the washington bureau chief for the chicago "sun-times" and cnn national security analyst juliette kay m kayyem. we'll talk about this and other trump-related topics but juliette, let's start with this breaking news. the nomination of retired marine general john kelly to be homeland security secretary. you have said long time employees of homeland security department are relieved over this pick. why? >> this is a relief. there is the issue that this is another general, another marine, another white male but putting that aside, the other names that were being floated were terrifying senior career members of the department of homeland security, whether it was giuliani, kris kobach, those were men coming in without a clear understanding of what the department does and for sort of ideological reasons. the department does a lot of different things and so i think having a general who understands the border, who he also understands disaster management because of southern command is something that is important to the career staff so there is a --

chicago sun times washington bureau chief lynn sweet, and niles stanch. good to see both of you.ynn, you have been covering this president for a very long time. what did you make of his comments surrounding the idea that i could have won? >> well, this was in the context of a very long nostalgic interview that went back to his beginning days in politics in chicago with david axelrod, and chris, i think he said that because he took, intended or not, a swipe at hillary clinton's campaign in which he talked about, and his belief that if he could have been entitled or eligible for a third term, he could have made it work. who is not not surprised that donald trump wouldn't resist taking a swipe back at it? >> let's go back to this idea that it isn't really a great thing for hillary clinton. in fact, a minute after donald trump's tweet, she tweeted, quote, the holidays are a time to be thankful for our blessings. let's rejoice in this season and look forward with renewed hope and determination. i know we're talking about what's going on between the president and the president-elect, b

lynn sweet, washington bureau chief for the chicago sun-times joining us and paul singer, washingtoncorrespondent for "usa today" . good morning to both of you. >> good morning. >> so lynn, i want to start with you. is this idea of a smooth transition now out the door? >> well, things can change. i take president-elect trump's twitter at its face value. he doesn't think it's going well. maybe tomorrow will bring a new day and he will change his mind. what is different here and unprecedented to use the name of a cnn book, is that there is an unusual amount of reaction from president-elect trump to the last weeks of the obama administration. that's unusual but what hasn't been unusual in this whole election cycle, so today, president-elect trump says things aren't going well. maybe some things will happen in the next few days where he will judge, you know, judge what's going on in a different light. the other thing is i believe he's commenting at the very most public parts of the transition. there are still landing teams that his team has at the different obama agencies. there's a lot

lynn sweet is with us once again, the veteran bureau chief at the chicago sun times who goes back tothe president. what did you see of note? it's how he wanted to remind people that russia is a bad actor. no matter what you think of trump, he tied this so much to the brutal murdering going on in syria. when he lamented sadly on how he could not transfer his popularity and bring his coalition with him for a mid-term victory. it's a pretty interesting and significant take away as he himself looks at his own presidency. >> among his domestic regrets, it was clear from his tone and tenor and how he clearly has processed it thus far. the democratic party has been crushed at the local and state level and congressional. the senate and presidency. he leads the democratic party. what was interesting today is that he did say that he believes in the ideals that he talked about in that famous 2004 speech that vaulted him into the white house where he talked about there is no red state or blue state. he said that's still true. in a sense he is playing a longer game. he doesn't want to antagonize

lynn sweet is a political commentator with the chicago sun—times.d trump does not give any of his own money to the foundation. he has not given any of his own money between 2009 and 2014, so at the heart of this is a foundation that goes to other people to ask for money. then there is another set of controversies, and this is what the attorney general in new york is looking at, is whether or not there is self—dealing. you're not supposed to use a non—profit foundation in the united states to make political contributions, or to help your business. that's at the heart of it. let's take a look at some of the other stories making the news this afternoon. a 19—year—old man has died after being stabbed at a working men's club northumberland. the victim was taken to hospital but died from his injuries. a 35—year—old man and a 36—year—old woman have been arrested on suspicion of murder. the israeli prime minister, benjamin netanyahu, has cut some of his country's funding to united nations agencies. he's responding to friday night's un security council resol

in the room, watching it all unfold, chicago sun times washington pure row chief, lynn sweet.ou wrote this morning that the election is over, but not for the top trump and clinton advisors. talk to us about the mood in the room last night. >> well, it was electric. this is usually a very stayed academic for history type of conference where i've been going to these things after '04, this quadrennial post mortem, this was the rawest exchange just here's the picture, craig. you're in a big room with tables set up in a big square so people are facing each other and all four sides. and this conference started at the institute of politics on wednesday, and you had the campaign people -- some of who got into the exchange spoke at earlier sessions and ammicable, there was some gripe complaints about maybe who did what. there is a long running stream of how media didn't cover the campaigns properly, but then, there is a question about steve bannon being brought on to the trump campaign that raised the question of the alt-right, nationalism and the exchange. >> i want to flay clip. this

the former governor who tried to get early release from his prison sentence, a story from the chicago sun-timesad speculated whether he could grant a pardon to the former governor who was charged with trying to sell barack obama's senate seat in 2008. guest: keycode. the governor was convicted in federal court for that conduct, so it is a federal offense. the president, notwithstanding any rules, has the unfettered authority to either pardon or commute the sentence if he chooses to do it. frankly, i do not have inside information, but i am assuming his lawyers are trying to press the white house to do that thing. ist: if that assumption true, what do they tell you and what is the case to the president? guest: for mr. blue going to him, it is a plea for mercy. they could argue, and i have not looked at the case, but his sentence was disproportionate perhaps to other political figures convicted of similar crimes. something like that. that would be the approach. host: for other individuals that come to your office looking for a pardon, the family members say my husband or wife has suffered enough,

the former governor who tried to get early release from his prison sentence, a story from the chicago sun-times had speculated whether he could grant a pardon to the former governor who was charged with trying to sell barack obama's senate seat in 2008. guest: keycode. the governor was convicted in federal court for that conduct, so it is a federal offense. the president, notwithstanding any rules, has the unfettered authority to either pardon or commute the sentence if he chooses to do it. frankly, i do not have inside information, but i am assuming his lawyers are trying to press the white house to do that thing. ist: if that assumption true, what do they tell you and what is the case to the president? guest: for mr. blue going to him, it is a plea for mercy. they could argue, and i have not looked at the case, but his sentence was disproportionate perhaps to other political figures convicted of similar crimes. something like that. that would be the approach. host: for other individuals that come to your office looking for a pardon, the family members say my husband or wife has suffered enoug

chicago sun teams. good to have you with us. each timee hear a nominee brought up, we immediately hear well this is what the case will be against them when we go to the senate confirmation hearings. the last time that a pick was rejected, a cabinet pick was rejected was 1989, the democrats cannot fight every single nomination. so the chances of any of these nominees not making it through? >> there is always that possibility. the one you are referring to is john tore who was brought down for secretary of defense and all kinds of scandals came up. it is very difficult, especially when you have a republican congress that is not going to be eager to make problems for the administration. so we know some of the story line in terms of where the attacks will come. there will be other stories to emerge from rumors, scandals, issues that come up. it's difficult. one or two would be susceptible. >> who would they be in your mind? >> tillerson, on the one hand on paper he is very strong and there is many attributes that president-elect trump can talk

chicago this year. a huge increase over last year, as much as 50 percent, and a sobering statistic, the "sun times" publishedic that arrests are down by their estimation of upwards of 28 pittsburgh drop in arrest from one year to the next. we not the city of chicago has -- they're going to try to target some of the harder-hit areas in town. the west side of chicago, the south side of chicago, but the numbers were waking up to today, as we end this holiday weekend. we'll have much more of that tonight on "nbc nightly news" for now back to you are, hallie. >> we'll be watching for that report. ron mott, thank you very much. >>> donald trump weighing in on big foreign policy issues while president obama still has a few weeks left in the oval office, a preview of what we can expect in the trump white house, after the break. ♪ everything your family touches sticks with them. make sure the germs they bring home don't stick around. use clorox disinfecting products. because no one kills germs better than clorox. >>> washington congressman jim mcdermott who's retiring has been in congress for 28 years, and he says we

chicago are as cold as we will all soon be. the windy city received an arctic blast earlier this weekend and now our area is bracing for the same system. >> reporter: by the time the sun goes down this time tomorrow night, we're going to be a whole lot more bundled up. we found people outside today enjoying a little bit of this mild winter weather to prepare for it all. >> reporter: avid runner olivia is thankful. they're grateful for the mild temperatures and sunshine in december. but come tomorrow, when the frigid air arrives. >> i will go into rest, and we have to go back to training, if it's very cold, we go to the treadmill and feel like a hamster. >> they're training for an ultramarathon next month. with training that h reaches 20 miles a day, layers and layers of cold weather gear are for the taking. >> they should be coming now to get the best selection. >> reporter: this is where gabby mellow of camden got everything she needed to keep warm and drier for the cold snap. and for a price point that matches her budget. goodwill says despite full racks now, biting winds and major drop in temperature will clear their stocks quickly. >> this is the best selection, t

chicago. >> they lost to one team two times but only lost. >> you could heat them up that way. negative 17 windchill. doesn't look like it's that bad because when the sunjust very cold. it will look similar against the packers at the game but the fan to be concerned with. now the cold air into the east and a snow squall in areas of new england and 11 in boston. 14 in new york. it will get worse tonight but we have repeat blasts of arctic air and the first located in the great lakes to areas of eastern canada. this is the first round. the coldest in new england is tomorrow morning with the windchill and the winds are going to howl too. people are sleeping tonight, gust up to 60 miles per hour. hear it out your window. noon on friday. zero, but boston, negative 16 and that cold air as ron was mentioning comes into the plains throughout the weekend. negative 34 in chicago on sunday. we have that snowstorm to deal with as we move across the country and looks like a 6 to 12 inch snowstorm with wisconsin, minnesota, great lakes and western new york. so yeah. it's winter. it's here. >> bad, but it is a hard one already. thank you very much, bill. >>> and deve