there is more real news ahead, including former secretary of state james baker. why he recommended rex tillerson for his old post and what challenges the tmp first, here's a look at today's "eye opener" at 8:00. >>> the syrian regime is now in control of aleppo. the city is a strategic prize. >> mr. trump called rex tillerson one of the greatest global business leaders of our time. >>> the question now is will he approach high stakes foreign policy challenges as a deal-maker or a diplomat? >> what are you hearing from republicans in the senate about assuming all democrats vote against tillerson's nomination it only takes three republicans to sink his nomination. >> many americans face dangerous cold as arctic air blankets the northern half of the country. today's high will only reach 8 degrees here in minneapolis. >> alan thicke was a memorable tv actor, but also a singer and a composer and, above all else, he was america's dad. >> i can still sing the theme song to "growing pains." ? as long as we got each other we have the world in our hands ? >> a new lawsuit

i think james baker was a very able statesman, actually. sort of smart, and very keen to protect american interests. george h.w. bush will probably be more highly respected as the years go on. you know, in basketball you know , how sometimes the commentator will say "good no foul on the official part," that it was smart the official did not call foul. there was a sense in which george h.w. bush did things that prevented catastrophe that might have happened at the end of the cold war, so in a sense, these were negative achievements, dogs that did not bark, and i think he will go down as better than we now think of him. host: our guest is mark danner, a professor at uc berkeley and bard, written all of his life grew up in utica, new york. , harvard graduate. we thank you. your book is called "spiral: trapped in the forever war." thank you very much for joining us. guest: my pleasure. glad to be here. [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2016] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for it

former secretary of state james baker tells us why he likes the choice. >>> re we are alan thicke.om "growing pains" who died suddenly of a heart attack. he was just 69. we begin this morning with a look at today's "eye opener." your world in 90 seconds.

it was actually james baker, condoleezza rice and robert gates, obviously three kind of pillars in the gop foreign policy establishment community, who recommended that trump sit down with tillerson. they sat down. they meshed very well. they became comfortable with one another. the world views largely aligned i'm told. and he became the pick, not mitt romney, not david petraeus, not any of the 15 other people it seemed like we were going to go through at one point. rice and gates did do business with exxon through their firm. but their recommendations and their endorsements were crucial to putting him in position to get this position. obviously there's going to be a lot of deep looks into the more than 50 countries where exxon did business. most notably russia. for the moment, it looks like people are generally accepting of this pick. i can tell you trump transition officials very happy with this direction that this went for good reason. this is the type of pick the president-elect said he was going to make, unorthodox, somebody with deep business ties, somebody who can come in and try

sources say tillerson was recommended by former republican secretaries of state, including james baker and condoleezza rice. tillerson chosen after trump's very public vetting of a string of high-profile candidates. sources say trump called the 2012 gop nominee mitt romney personally last night to say it wasn't all a game. tillerson's nomination already generating controversy with no formal foreign policy experience. the business titan instead forming many close relationships by forming massive oil deals, including with vladimir putin, sparking criticism from both sides of the aisle. >> anybody who's a friend of vladimir putin must disregard the fact that vladimir putin is a murderer, a thug, a kgb agent. >> reporter: this has trump and his top advisers continue to attack the cia over their findings that russia meddled in the election. >> it smells like politics, plain and simple. >> reporter: trump's camp offering no proof of their claims, as a bipartisan group of senators calls for a congressional inquiry. >> i think we ought to approach all of these issues on the assumption that the

the difference with reagan is he had james baker. he had a group of people around him.ng had happened over the weekend in december of 1980 where ronald reagan had said something or confronted the cia, it would have been cleaned up four hours later by james baker calling members of the press and leaking and then putting out a clarifying statement. there's just not that infrastructure here. >> there is. it's emerging and we don't know about it. >> there's donald trump and there's nobody that -- >> he's not president yet. >> there's nobody in the james baker role. >> i think understand what jeremy is saying. we may differ or not differ. mika said her father and brother overseas this weekend in commenting on tillerson and russia. those are the norms in politics. you have the grandfathers and godfathers of the party in a foreign policy making those comments. we forget the core substance here. there's a question of whether or not a foreign nation interfered in our election system. our election system is indispensable to whom we are. regardless of your party, you should want a

condoleezza rice, james baker and robert gates.uals with extensive government experience. the two did not have a relationship before this process started. now he will be the president-elect's top diplomat. that doesn't mean he will have clear sailing through the nomination process. democrats have raised concerns about his potential nomination. republicans as well because of tillerson's ties to russia. exxon has done deals with russia. and tillerson has a relationship with vladimir putin. that relationship has drawn scrutiny from john mccain and lindsey graham and marco rubio. that could make his nomination difficult where the republicans hold a four-seat advantage. what does this mean for the people who cycled through the last couple weeks? they didn't get the job, but mitt romney taking to facebook saying he was honored to have been considered for the position and saying he has high hopes for the trump administration. this is a long way from when he called the president-elect a phony and fake throughout the general election proces

james baker. both said this is the guy.think his ties to russia are going to be so controversial given this other story about whether russia interfered to help trump win, you know, no one is alleging that trump knew that. do you think that's going to defeat him and ruin his chances? what we already know is number one, that this whole story about russia is even in dispute within the intelligence community where the dni and cia are in disagreement. it's being deflated. >> they don't say they disagree. they don't feel it's been proven. they can't get there. >> yes. it is unproven in length that the cia has made to get to that story. are rather tenuous. so that story is going away. what rex tillerson did is exactly what he's supposed to do as ceo of global energy company. cut deals for benefit of shareholder dealers, customers and employees that enable company to be very, very successful and did that with people like putin. and i have no doubt that he has the background and the backbone to stand up to putin if he's our next sec

former secretary of state james baker joins me ahead. ♪ i want a hippopotamus for christmas ♪ ♪ onlyamus will do at the united states postal service, we deliver more online purchases to homes than anyone else in the country. and more hippopotamuses, too. ♪ so whatever your holiday priority, our priority is you. our progressive direct rate... great deals for reals! ...and our competitors' rates side-by-side, so you know you're getting a great deal. saving the moolah. [ chuckles ] y can see, sometimes progressive isn't the lowest. not always the lowest! jamie. what are you doing? -i'm being your hype man. not right now. you said i was gonna be the hype man. no, we said we wouldn't do it. i'm sorry, we were talking about savings. i liked his way. cha-ching! talking about getting that moneeeey! talking about getting that moneeeey! savings worth the hype. now that's progressive. >> here in west virginia for a special edition of "mtp daily" a special interview tonight later on msnbc. we sit down with the cast of hidden figures. a new film that tells the untold story of three african-americ

james baker, former secretary of state just put out an announcement today. he said "rex tillerson who is a friend of mine is an excellent choice to head the state department and has an opportunity to be a very effective secretary of state." former vice president dick cheney said that tillerson was "an inspired choice" and went on to say "he has the vast experience, ability and judgment to deal with the very dangerous world we find confronting us. his extension knowledge of the global situation will be an asset in representing our nation." and just before we went on the air i'm turning to twitter, former secretary of defense donald rumsfeld just tweeted "with the addition of tillerson, a talented exec and skillful negotiator, donald trump seems to be assembling an accomplished and able cabinet." you know, for those who are concerned about rex tillerson's relationship with russia we'll hear over and over again "friend of putin, friend of putin." these five people are not soft on russia or vladimir putin when you have condi rice, bob gates, donald rumsfeld, dic

i talked with former secretary of state james baker, a friend of the texas oilman's, about whether thate a conflict of interest for tillerson as the country's top diplomat. welcome, mr. secretary. thank you for joining us. rex tillerson has spent his entire life at exxonmobil. doesn't he have a lot of potential conflicts of interest taking over the state department? >> well, i don't think he'll have conflicts of interest if he's required by the government ethics office to divest all of his interest in exxon. i wopt think there would be any conflicts there. the mere fact that someone knows something about foreign countries or foreign leaders shouldot disqualify them from being secretary of state. in fact, it's an advantage and a benefit provided that person is going to put the interest of the united states first in formulating and implementing foreign policy. and i'm quite convinced that rex tillerson is the type of person who will do that. >> well, one of his issues has been opposing the sanctions on russia because of ukraine. >> right. >> one of his earliest decisions may be to decide

supporting rex tillerson, former vice president dick cheney and bush 41's own secretary of state james baker. but tillerson still faces a potential capitol hill showdown because of his ties specifically to russian president vladimir putin. so for that, let me first go to cnn national politics reporter mj lee. tell me first about these key senators and specifically republicans who are criticizing this pick? >> yeah, well, brooke, i can tell you this is the nomination that is turning a lot of heads on capitol hill for several reasons. tillerson is a controversial pick. the first reason is he has no prior government experience, much like president-elect donald trump and the other reason, of course, is the one that you mentioned, his close ties, businesses the, i should say, to russia and russian president vladimir putin. of course, the backdrop for these concerns about tillerson's ties to russia is the concern that russia may have interfered with the u.s. elections and this is, of course, an issue that many republicans are now saying they want to look into further. already we are seeing some re

> a man who has earned growing praise from our nation's top leaders including condoleezza rice, james baker, dick cheney, majority leader mcitch mcconnel and so many more, and people are looking at this resume and, honestly, they've never seen a resume like this before. >> president-elect there heaping praise on his nominee for the state department. nbc's peter alexander outside trump tower for us covering the transition. so looking at the headlines this morning, sir, they don't paint this road to confirmation as being a smooth one. what's the team there at trump tower, what are they doing to try to soothe worries? >> it may not be a smooth one. right now at least since the 24 hours since that announcement, the team is feeling good. they've benefited by what's been a well choreographed campaign of seals of approval. the latest one coming from the former secretary of state james baker who said today he views the tillerson pick as an excellent choice. he said he was one of the first corporate leaders in the world to acknowledge the impact of climate change. he said he wasn't concerned about t

those endorsements, former secretaries of state condoleezza rice and james baker and bob gates. we're covering it all for you. jason carroll is live outside of trump tower. cnn political reporter manu raju live in washington. jason, let's start with you. good morning. >> reporter: good morning, carol. a number of gop leaders are weighing in. people like paul ryan and newt gingrich. trump tweeting this morning saying, quote, i have chosen one of the truly great business leaders of the world. though you also have senators like marco rubio weighing in saying, he has serious concerns. this morning president-elect donald trump picking exxonmobile ceo rex tillerson for secretary of state. sources say tillerson was recommended by former republican secretaries of state including james baker and condoleezza rice. tillerson chosen after trump's vetting of a string of high profile candidates including an unlikely courtship with one-time rival mitt romney. trump called the 2012 gop nominee personally last night to say it wasn't all a game. tillerson's nomination already generating controver

. >>> well coming up on "cbs this morning," we will ask secretary of state james baker why he recommended rex tillerson for the job. >>> a dangerous cold arctic air mass has blasted the upper midwest is moving east today and the same system is bringing snow from the great lakes to the northeast. a 12-year-old boy who was sledding in upstate new york died after being trapped in a snow bank. overnight, there were blizzard-like whiteout conditions in parts of michigan. the real deep freeze in the northeast begins tonight. windchills of 30 below zero made a cargo ship look like an ice sculpture as it made its way from lake superior to duluth, minnesota, yesterday. chief meteorologist eric fisher of our boston station wbz has forecast. >> reporter: we continue to track another area of very cold area moving down across the northern tier of the united states and this is the coldest so far and really the only one that will feature a better chance of record low temperatures and arriving today across the upper midwest and thursday and friday across the great lakes and northeast but then a rapid shi

i think james baker was a very able statesman, actually.isorder smart and very keen to protect american interests -- sort of smart, and very keen to protect american interests. in basketball, you know how sometimes the commentator will say "good no foul on the official part," that it was smart the official did not call foul. there was a sense in which george h.w. bush did things that prevented catastrophe that might have happened at the end of the cold war, so in a sense, these were negative achievements, dogs that did not bark, and i think he will go down as better than we now think of him. host: our guest is mark danner, a professor at uc berkeley and d, grew up in utica, new york. harvard graduate. we thank you. your book is called "spiral: trapped in the forever war." thank you very much for joining us. guest: my pleasure. glad to be here. [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2016] >> for free transcripts or to give us your comments, visit us at q&a.org. they are also available as c-span podcasts. announcer: if you enjoyed

endorsed by ex-defense secretary robert gates and former secretaries of state condoleezza rice and james baker morning support for tell r tillerson, dick cheney expected to back him as well. >> and that's not the only texan joining the trump administration. sources tell nbc news that former texas governor rick perry is going to be nominated to become the secretary of -- energy, that's it. that's one of the departments perry said he wanted to eliminate as a presidential candidate, except that when asked about it, he couldn't remember it in a debate. yesterday trump announced a tightened up wall street, gary d.kohn, president of that company, will serve as director of national economic council. in a statement trump said kohn will be "my top economic adviser and help craft economic policies that will grow wages for our workers, stop the exodus of jobs overseas, and create many great new opportunities for americans who have been struggling trump also met with former hewlett-packard ceo carly fiorina as mentioned. a fierce critic of trump during the presidential primaries being considered for direc

i think james baker is a very able statesman, actually. sort of smart and very keen to protect american interests. and i think george h.w. bush will probably be more highly respected as the gears go on. you know in basketball how sometimes the commentator will say good, no foul. good no foul on the initial part, that it was smart that the official didn't call that foul. there's a sense in which george h.w. bush did a lot of things that prevented catastrophes that might have happened at the end of the cold war. so in a sense these were negative achievements. these were dogs that didn't bark. and i think he will go down as better than we now think of him. brian: our guest has been mark danner, professor at u.c. berkeley and also at bard, written all of his life, grew up in utica, new york, harvard graduate. and we thank you. your book is called "spiral, trapped in the forever war." thank you very much for joining us. mark: my pleasure. it's good to be here. ♪ [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright nationa

continuedy rice, former secretary of state james baker but i'm wondering how the hill is going to respond to this sit for sure he'll be confirmed? >> i think he has a pretty good shot. i think there was a lot of rumbling coming from some republican senators that gave democrats perhaps some hope that they have a chance to block him. some concerns vocation -- voiced about his connections to russia. but i think they can be convinced to go along with it. especially with the vote of confident from folks like condoleezza rice and bill gates. >> you know the upside of rex tillerson is nobody has dealt with more people around the world, no leaders around the world in that group that president-elect trump was interviewing except maybe david petraeus. and nobody has dealt with more dictators. it turns out that when there's a lot of oil under the ground, there's usually a dictator sitting on top of it above ground. not always but a high prenches. i think the question about rex tillerson is if you have spent more than 40 years cutting deals on behalf of your share holders. in some cases, a deal that

potential conflicts, but in tillerson's corner, former secretaries of state, condoleezza rice and james baker and gates who represent exxon. back at trump tower, the president-elect refused to discuss any of it. the outspoken west, tight-lined as well. >> no comment about the president-elect of the united states, nothing to say? >> just take a picture right now. >> reporter: as they said ethei good-byes, west tweeting, he was there to, quote, discuss multicultural issues. tom llamas, a beibc news, new y. >> trump held meetings with other black celebrities, sitting down with apprentice contestant, director of african-american outreach in the campaign, and also former linebacker, ray louis, and nfl great jim brown. in the meantime, bill gates had a wide ranging conversation on innovation with the president-elect, and today, trump meets with other tech leaders including apple's ceo, >>> a long bloody battle for aleppo appears to be over agreeing to a cease fire. they are expected to start evacuating the city today. u.n. officials are concerned about mass atrocities including reports of excuse-st

but standing in tillerson's corner today, former secretaries of state condoleeza rice and james baker and former defense secretary bob gates. all three work for law firms who represent exxon. back at trump tower, the president-elect refusing to tis cuss any of it. the outspoken west, tight-lipped, as well. kanye, no comment? nothing to say? >> i just want to take a picture right now. >> reporter: and as they said their good-byes -- >> you take care of yourself. i'll see you soon. >> reporter: west later tweeting that he was there to, quote, discuss multicultural issues. >> and tom llamas with us live tonight. tom, we saw president-elect trump and kanye west in the lobby today, many still waiting iffer that press conference. in november, the president-elect declaring in a tweet, quote, i will be holding a major news conference in new york city with my children on december 15th to discuss the fact i will be leaving my great business to fully focus on running the country. what's the trump team telling you now? when will that happen, this press conference, and what's their explanation for

rice, along with fellow former secretary of state james baker and former defense secretary robert gates strongly recommended tillerson for the post. after his second face-to-face meeting with mr. trump on saturday, tillerson emerged as the president-elect's choice, beating out candidates such as mitt romney, rudy giuliani, and balk corker. >> and to me, a great advantage, is he knows many of the players and he knows them well. he does massive deals with russia. >> reporter: those deals with russia may be tillerson's biggest hurdle to confirmation. he's grown so close to president vladimir putin, he was ordered russia's order of friendship in 2013. >> certainly it should be a matter of concern. >> reporter: republican senators like arizona's john mccain have expressed concern about the tillerson pick. >> maybe those ties are strictly commercial and got to do with his business in the oil business, fine. we'll give him a fair hearing. >> reporter: but mccain's fellow senator from arizona jeff flake tweeted support of g.o.p. establishment figures "carries considerable weight." president-ele

[laughter] james a. bakeris way of comforting her. president reagan left the hospital convinced that god had spared him for a special purpose, and the first lady left with a fierce determination to protect him in every way that she possibly could. ronald and nancy reagan were defined by their love for each other. they were as close to being one person as it is possible for any two people to be. when the president made his slow exit from the stage, she dedicated herself to his memory, and to his place in history. now she, too, has exited the stage, to join her beloved ronnie in eternity. i can just imagine how st. peter might let the president know that she had arrived. a beautiful lady is at the gate asking for you, he said, with a jar of jelly beans. [laughter] james a. baker iii: a shopping bag full of letters, and a suitcase filled with hand-knitted socks. we love you, nancy. we miss you, but we will see you on the other side. tom brokaw: this is a very emotional and evocative time for me. i arrived in los

the president-elect's pick has the support of condoleezza rice and james baker two form republican secretaries of state as well as former secretary of defense robert gates. but republican senators john mccain and marco rubio have expressed about his ties to russia setting a confirmation fight. >> reporter: rick perry is nominated for secretary of energy even though he once vowed to eliminate the agency. microsoft founder bill gates stopped by trump tower. >> we had a good conversation about innovation, how it can help in health, education. >> reporter: and football hall of famer jim brown and former about the ravens linebacker ray lewis took part in a meeting about job creation in urban communities. kenneth craig, cbs news, new york. >>> and today unlikely meeting today with the president-elect, rapper kanye west stopped by trump tower this morning. >> he is a good man. he is doing well. we have been friends for a long time. >> as you heard there the president elected said they are long-time friends. he said they discussed life this morning. west added, he just wanted to get his picture taken

former secretary of state james baker tells us why he likes the choice. >>> re we are alan thicke. the beloved tv dad from "growing pains" who died suddenly of a heart attack. he was just 69.

recommended by condoleezza rice and former defense secretary robert gates and former secretary james baker. shouldn't that carry a lot of weight quacks. >> yes ma'am, it certainly does. he has represented his company as a diplomat. i had known him for only about five years but i have followed his career since he was elected president of exxon mobil in 2004. he is a very good choice for this job. i said before mr. trump was elected that he has a passion into the courage in the commitment to bring in the most competent people in the united states of america. he certainly has a mandate to do so and i believe he is doing so with the appointment of mr. mr. tiller send to the position secretary of state. liz: most americans are used to seeing micro handle really dirty jobs a mortgage company used this. it shows that mike and his just covered glory and example of what not to wear. is mike happy about that, he is here to respond about that coming up. n use your data worrye and even carry over the data you don't use. n use your data worrye and right now get four lines and 20 gigs for only $40 per l

former secretary of state james baker tells us why he likes the choice. >>> and we remember alan thicke. the beloved tv dad from "growing pains" who died suddenly of a heart attack. he was just 69. >> we begin this morning with a look at today's "eye opener." your world in 90 seconds. >> it looks like this arctic air just simply won't back down. >> very cold air moving down across the northern tier of the u.s. this one is the coldest so far. >> freezing cold temperatures blanket millions. >> the big arctic blast heading through areas of the great lakes and northeast. >> it's 9 in detroit right now. 9. german for what we were thinking to moving to detroit? >> rex is one of the greatest and most skid global business leaders of our time. >> president-elect trump on his thank you tour praising rex tillerson, his pick for secretary of state. >> he was a very different thing to be negotiating a deal for an oil and gas company than it is to be standing up for american interests. >>> the new information said massacres have been carried out in eastern aleppo and there's been a complete meltdown

we saw james baker. what does all that tell you? >> well, it tells you that he did not just show up on the trump tower security list and wander inside to see what this new president-elect actually looks and sounds like. it sounds like some very important people from the foreign policy establishment, my old colleagues, secretary gates and secretary rice, thought that this would sort of check both boxes, be somebody responsible would sort of fit trump's mold, which is someone from outside of politics. >> the ties to russia and vladimir putin, kellyanne conway was on the program yesterday saying don't mistake this, it is not like they're pounding putin and tillerson are pounding down vodka. but someone like john mccain says it concerns him. but the criticism goes on to say, putin is a thug and a murderer. are we going to see an awkward moment during a confirmation forced to sit up there and say, yes, i agree with you, he is a thug and a murderer? >> this is where we are on russia. this came up in your interviews with donald trump. this

robert gates and condoleezza rice, very big supporter's tillerson and he is friends with james baker. one thing that donald trump likes with tillerson he is a dealmaker and has crafted some very complicated deals in in of the most difficult plays in word, here's what trump said about tillerson. >> much more than a business executive. he is a world class player. and to me a great advantage is he knows many of the players. he knows them well. the does massive deals in russia, for the company. not for himself. >> reporter: but it's possible that tillerson could run into head winds in congress because even republicans are said to be very concerned about just how close his ties are to vladimir putin. the head of exxonmobil he has a lot of deals going in the oil patch there in russia,s' some members of congress, including senator john mccain want to know just how deep the ties really run. >> another of the president-elect's formers a sir varies visited trump tower today. >> this one was really interesting because you will remember the nasty comments between donald trump and carly fiorina, r

endorsements and growing praise from the nation's top leaders, including condoleezza rice, bob gates, james baker, dick cheney, majority leader mitch mcconnell and so many more. people are looking at the resume and never have seen a resume like this before. >> trump taking time to talk about someone with whom he had a very acrimonious relationship with and someone who will loom large in the next four years. house speaker paul ryan. the mention of his name in ryan's home state drew a reaction from the trump-friendly crowd. >> he has been terrific. honestly, he is like a fine wine. every day i get to appreciate his genius more and more. if he goes against me, i'm not going to say that. >> you didn't see at the beginning when he mentioned paul ryan's name, there was booing. looking almost complete as of today. the latest is that he will select ryan zinke. with the transition near complete. the chief strategist and top adviser in the transition. actually let me start on the graphic. the trump cabinet and administration taking shape the last few weeks. most of the posts there we can attache name too.

russian order of friendship in 2013 the president-elect's pick has the support of condoleeza rice and james baker, two former republican secretaries of defense secretary robert gates. but reblican senators john mccain and marco rubio have both expressed oncern over tillerson's close ties to russia, setting up a possible confirmation fightmister trump has also settledrick perry for energy sectary.. even though the former texas governor once vowed to eliminate the agency.he's a good manthe president-elect didn'taddress his cabinet picks during a photo op with kayne west tuesdamorning. microsoft founder bill gates also tower.we had a good conversation about innovation, how it can help in health, educationand football hall of famer jim brown and former baltimore ravens linebacker ray lewis took part in a meeting about job creation in urban communities. kenneth craig, cbs news, new york. 3 the white house is stepping into the dispute between donald trump and china over the "one china" policy. that inseparae part of china. china says accepting that policy is a requirement to have any diplomatic relatio

it comes down to condoleezza rice and james baker and robert gates. three individuals with government experience and three individuals who all recommended rex tillerson to the president-elect. the two did not have a relationship before this proc s processprocess started. now he will be the top diplomat. it doesn't mean he will have clear sailing. democrats have already raised concerns about his potential nomination. not just democrats. republicans have as

he's a terrific guy for the job and a close friend of the former secretary, james baker but likely could run into head winds in congress because close ties to russia and crafting oil deals with russia. here is what senator john mccain said earlier today in america's news room. >> i am concerned about his relationship with vladimir putin, vladimir putin is a thug, a murderer, kgb guy who only wants to restore the russian empire who has killed murdered, leader of opposition and shadow of kremlin, his equipment shot down an airliner, russian planes are pinpointing and bombing hospitals in aleppo, so, of course, i am concerned but we should give him a fair hearing. >> now, that announcement could come as early as wednesday, perhaps not until the end of the day. busy day here at trump tower already. carly fiorina walked in. remember, she said a lot of nasty things about donald trump in the election campaign. granted, he said a lot of nasty thing about her as well. she's possibly being considered as director of national intelligence, senator from west virginia will be here today. candidate for

praised from former secretaries of state, condoleezza rice and james baker. but tillerson cut oil deals with russia, accepted the order of friendship from vladimir putin and opposed u.s. sanctions when russia invaded ukraine, worrying john mccain and other republicans. democrats, upset that russia hacked into our election. >> totally unacceptable. and it must be investigated. >> vow a hard look at tillerson. >> we're going to have to drill down during the confirmation hearings to understand his relationship with mr. putin. >> reporter: but talking to putin is the new white house policy. >> president-elect trump said throughout the entire campaign in debates at the most critic times, yeah, i 'm going to talk to people. >> vladimir putin told japanese tv we're going to work with the u.s. fighting terrorism. former texas governor rick perry is the pick for energy secretary. bill gaits talked about innovation and trump appeared with kanye west. they discussed length, trump said. >>> meanwhile, mitt romney goes back to his life, he famously called trump a fraud an

this morning it was reported that former secretaries of state condoleezza rice and james baker and roberte voiced their support for tillerson as trump's pick. that could insulate him against rebel yon from republican senators. i want to bring in cnbc's steve leesman who knows about rex tillerson and his role at exxon-mobil. if donald trump is going to turn to him, what kind of secretary of state would he be? >> this is a really interesting pick or idea. maybe it's a balloon being floated. we haven't had somebody who is not really coming from the foreign policy wing of the establishment in washington in quite a while. what these guys do, what exxon has been famous for doing is making deals. they have refineries and upstream production. he is a company man that began with exxon in 1975, i believe it was. he already is going to have that experience of making deals. the question for me is can you separate that from potential conflicts of interest. almost anywhere he goes in the world, there will be something to do with exxon-mobil in and or near that country or region. >> cnbc's steve leesman