it's painful. >>> donald trump on the second leg of his thank you tour formally picking general james mattisalmost daring congress to try to block the waiver that mattis needs. details ahead on "early start." >>> oh, if he didn't get that waiver, there would be a lot of angry people. >> the president-elect of the united states warning congress that he wants that waiver for his nominee to run the defense department or there will be angry people he says. >>> plans for the new air force one jet, up in the air. >> the president of the united states the national security address as commander in chief, messages seemingly meant for donald trump without ever mentioning him by name. good morning, welcome back to "early start." i'm george howell. >> i'm alison kosik. it's 30 minutes past the hour. president-elect donald trump is warning congress about blocking his pick for secretary of state. trump introduced his nominee for defense secretary, and he noted that retired general james mattis, he's going to need a special waiver to take office. and almost dared congress not to give it to him. cnn's sunle

he met with retired general james mattis last month in new jersey. >> he is the real deal. s the real deal. >> reporter: mattis retired as a four-star general three years ago, after four decades as a marine. he headed u.s. central command until 2013, in charge of operations in iraq and afghanistan. he would need a special congressional waiver, because federal law says a defense secretary has be out of uniform for at least seven years. in cincinnati, mr. trump pledged to ease still simmering post- election tensions. >> we're going to bring our country together. all of our country. we're going to find common ground and we will get the job done properly. >> reporter: but at harvard university, top officials of his campaign clashed with clinton campaign managers at a normally civil, post-election review. clinton aides said the trump campaign fueled racism. >> i would rather lose than win the way you guys did. >> do you think i ran a campaign where white supremacists had a platform? you're going to look me in the face and tell me that? >> it did, kellyanne; it did. >> really? and

outside of this room. >> reporter: trump announcing that he is selected retired marine general james mattis as his secretary of defense. >> mad dog mattis. they say he's the closest thing to general george patton that we have. >> reporter: while defending the other cabinet picks he made so far. >> he knows how to make money. i've been honest. i said i am going to be putting on the greatest killers you've ever seen. >> reporter: the raucous rally coming on the heels of trump's victory lap at the carrier plant in indiana. >> companies are not going to leave the united states any more without consequences. not going to happen. >> reporter: the president-elect touting the deal. spear headed by his running mate, current governor of indiana, to keep nearly 1,000 jobs in the state. >> carrier chose to stay in indiana because america chose to make donald trump the next president of the united states. >> reporter: and, alisyn, an interesting wrinkle to keep an eye on. on that defense secretary nomination. james mattis has only been retired since 2013. he needs to be retired for more than seven years

he also picked general james mattis as his secretary of defense. temperatures could likely get below zero next week in north dakota and pipeline protesters are refusing to leave. north dakota's governor says the state won't force them out. ainsworth elementary school in washington county may have to shut down you're watching kcrg-tv9. now, from your 24 hour news source, this is kcrg-tv9 news morning news. first, meteorologis t kaj o'mara has your first alert forecast, kaj... day. like yesterday, there is little chance of seeing sun, with steady temperatures into the 30s. in fact, there's very little chance of seeing sun through the next week. our next area of low pressure arrives this weekend with sunday still being the day to watch for some snow, primarily in the morning. slick roads are possible sunday morning with this first minor accumulation of the season. moving into next week, the monstrously over-hyped-social-media- induced storm will primarily just drop temperatures and increase wind speeds cold. no record snow. while snow will probably ac

james mattis is his choice for secretary of defense. now it's up to congress to give him a waiver to serve in that position. >>> and tracie potts is live on capitol hill for us. republicans included the waiver language in a must-pass spending what does that say? and are the democrats going to fight it? >> reporter: they are trying to get this done fast. it's language that was fast-tracked. james mattis being able to move on to confirmation hearing. he has to cross extra hurdles because he's only been retired from the military for three years, seven is the required. so they have thrown language in to only apply to james mattis. and that could appease democrats who don't want to see the requirement changed. yesterday threatened to cancel boeing's order for a new air force one plane yesterday. he cited the costs in that statement. how are boeing and lawmakers on capitol hill reacting to that? >> reporter: first of all they are talking about the money. he said $4 billion in his tweet. the government accountability office says it is just ove

m >> james mattis. >> reporter: he's jam a legend -- yeah, he's a legenden among the u.s. marines.ines go to our facebook page called the marines of helmet they virtually worship general mattis. it is interesting to see his conftereirmation process.ir there is only one general whoalo has taken on the job of did he i first secretary who comes ascre close to active duty military service. going to need a waiver fromee the u.s. senate here to allowen mattis to take that job. j but if you talk to anybody any about mattis' record, it is clear at this point that although there are concernson about civilian control of the very high opinions of general gn james mattis and it is likely lk he will be confirmed for that job. >> all right. allight thanks so much tom fitzgerald.zl >> thank you guys.>> t we'll be fly just a minute. in the meantime tweet us.t >> yes, please. did you know slow internet can actually hold your business back? say goodbye to slow downloads, slow backups, slow everything. comcast business offers blazing fast and reliable internet that's 10 times faster than slow

but the big announcement came as he announced james mattis as his pick for of defense secretary. >> we are going to appoint "mad dog" mattis as our secretary of defense. [cheers and applause] they say he's the closest thing to general george patton that we have, and it's about time. it's about time. >> reporter: trump made that announcement despite the fact that his own transition spokesman jason miller announced on twitter that no decision had been made on defense secretary. he has more stops on his thank you tour next week. >> now that general james mattis is the nominee for defense secretary, he's going to need a special clearance from congress to assume that post. a decades-old statute requires a retired military person to be retired for at least seven years. in favor of civilian control of the military. the president-elect does not expect the problem with getting congress to waive the requirement. >> it happened in is 1950, one or time actually. this trump thank you tour might be more accurately described as a victory lap. he made a stop at that carrier plant in indianapolis, the

jon: let's talk about james mattis to be defense secretary, morgan. actually disagreed with donald trump, suggest that had -- suggested that donald trump wants to tear up the iran deal. general mattis saying it's kind of a done deal and you can't do it. how does he go about taking the job and handling iran? >> first let me say that i would march behind general mattis anywhere. he was a pick that made both sides of the aisle and specially united, the republican foreign establishment because he's such an impressive pick and distinguished background. i think it's important to note that general mattis is no dove on iran. this is a guy basically let go by the administration because he refuse today -- refused to tow a line on iran. the most important thing is not specifically what he does with the deal but does he enforce the deal, does he enforce sanctions. congress just snap back sanctions. there's no enforcement that we let iranticipate -- iran get away with everything. i think that that's not what you will see in a new trump administration, that's not th

trump will nominate marine corps general, james mattis to lead the defense department. trump referred to mattis by his nickname "mad dog" ... describing him as "a true general's general." mattis retired in 2013 after serving as the commander of the u-s central command.. trump made the announcement during his rally in ohio. it's his post election "thank you" tour. the stop is expected to be one that trump won on election night. in his speech, trump thanked his ohio supporters.. boasted about his victory.. and returned to familiar campaign themes... we are going to bring our common ground and we will get the job done properly, we'll get it done properly." earlier yesterday trump visited the carrier plant in indianapolis -- where he announced he struck a deal with the company to keep a thousand manufacturi j the u-s.. but -- not everyone in the company received good news. a united technologies plant -- the parent company of carrier, will shut down -- and as many as 700 jobs will be lost. those jobs will be going to mexico. the plant is in huntington, indiana - about 100 mil

trump and james mattis appearing together tonight at a rally in north carolina. 66-year-old mattis whoserved four decades in the marine corps saying he looks forward to leading the military, general mattis will require a congressional waiver for the position since he's been retired for less than the required seven years. >> veterans are heading to pearl harbor as tomorrow marks 75 years since the attack. 2000 americans died when japanese fighter planes bombed a naval base there. the attack brought the u.s. into world war ii. japan's prime minister said he'll visit with president obama during a trip to hawaii at the end of the month, making him the first sitting leader of his country to visit the site of the 1941 attack. president obama made a trip in may to the historic trip to hiroshima where the u.s. dropped a nuclear bomb in 1945. that attack ended the war with japan. now back to "hannity". for headlines log on to foxnews.com. you're watching the most powerful name in news, fox news channel. nes. logon to foxnews.com. >> i believe we're in the process of putting together one of the

but would you support retired marine corps general james mattis as defense secretary, is that a good idea even though he's only been out of active duty for three years? >> yeah, i love mad dog mattis. a great general. the thing about good leaders is what his people say about him, and you see people that have worked for james mattis and they said they would follow this guy into hell because he would do the same for them. that's the kind of leader the defense department needs. there's an advantage to having somebody that was a general in this position, because they know in essence where the skeletons are buried. in many cases there's problems with defense acquisitions and the way the defense department works that needs reformed. if you're on the inside as a general, when you come out you know where that is and make changes. so i think he's a great pick and could love it if he's it. >> you appreciate the tradition of civilian leadership at the department of defense? >> yeah, you do. i think it's essential. and i think the big key to understand is, he's been out for three years. i don't k

general james mattis. he does face one legal hurdle. marine general james mattis has only been retired for three years. congress will have to waive a law requiring military officers to have been retired for seven years before they can take power of the pentagon. there has been a similar exemptions when george c. marshall was secretary of defense in 1950. kirsten gillibrand of the senate armed services committee is vowing to oppose the waiver saying civilian control of the military is a fundamental principle of american democracy. i will not vote for an exception to the rule. ben carden is the top democrat on the foreign relations committee. thank you very much. thanks for being with us. first of all your initial reaction to general mattis's nomination and to what senator gillibrand said. >> andrea, good to be with you. as you pointed out, general mattis is well respected for his military service. i think that's shared by both democrats and republicans. this is a very important law about the civilian control of the military. it's not gra

-nats- ...but became fired up when he unveiled yet another cabinet pick -- retired general james mattis: (trump) we are going to appoint mad dog mattis as our secretary of defense. in the past...mattis has 'political islam' is a major security issue facing the country. he's expected to face a tough challenge in getting senate confirmationsince he retired only three years ago...not seven...as the law requires. roxana saberi cbs news. ((kirsten joyce)) >> during the ohio rally, the president-elect also pledged, once again, to build a wall mexico. earlier in the day...he traveled to indiana...to officially announce a deal he helped reach this week -- that will keep hundreds carrier air conditioning jobs from moving to the country./// ((kirsten joyce)) >>> meanwhile... new york city is fining anthony weiner 65-thousand dollars. the city's campaign finance board says weiner paid for personal expenses with campaign cash during his run for mayor in 20-13. the board says weiner used the money to cover costs for a personal phone and dry cleaning, for mayor campaign declined to comment on the fin

don't let it outside of this room. >> reporter: trump announcing he's selected retyre general james mattis. >> mad dog mattis, they say he's the closest thing to general george patton that we have, and it's about time. >> while defending the other wealthy cab ned picks he's made so far. >> he knows how to make money. i've been honest. i said i'm going to be putting on the greatest killers you have ever seen. >> the raucous rallies coming on the heels of the victory lap at carrier in inink. >> companies will not leave the united states anymore without consequences. >> reporter: the president-elect touting the deal spearheaded by his running mate, current governor of indiana, to keep nearly 1,000 jobs in the united states. >> carrier chose to stay in indiana, because america chose to make donald trump the next president of the united states. >> reporter: now, carol, you raised an interesting element about that looming announcement that james mattis will be the pick. he's technically not eligible for that position. he retired from the military in 2013. you need tube removed from the military

secretary leon panetta just hours before president-elect trump announced that retired marine general james mattis was his pick to head the pentagon. in order for mattis to serve, congress must change a law that states military officials must be out of the service for seven years prior to taking control of the pentagon. mattis, who headed up central command, retired three and a explain for people why the civilian control of the military is a tradition and why having a general is a good or a bad thing or just what kinds of things people should be thinking about. >> well, you know, it goes back to george washington. there is a great portrait up at the capital of george washington giving up his commission in the military in order to become president of the united states, which i think was a r to have civilian leadership and civilian perspective when it comes to those issues. it doesn't mean you can't have a military background. that is important to have that background, but at the same time, in those jobs, you have to exercise the ability to understand political issues, to involve your capability the

it's hard to imagine somebody who would be received more enthusiastically by the military than james mattis. the marines who served for him love him and speak highly of him. he's done so much reading and arguably in the u.s. military has done more reading than mattis has. he has a famous letter he wrote about the importance of reading before you head into battle. it went viral. it's been a big deal. you described the potential obstacle of the exemption in the correct terms. it's not really an obstacle. if it's a hurdle, it's a one-foot high hurdle. john mccain has indicated he's willing to do. they're looking at language that would do the exemption. i'm told they are not looking at it because they've been instructed to do so by the trump campaign, but everybody understands this is in effect donald trump's choice. >> one of the reasons we think that maybe the transition is very quiet on all of this is because they love the story of the carrier story today which we're going to talk about in the next panel, but what does this choice say about president elect donald trump in your mind? >> the t

he announced that james mattis is the retired general is going to be his secretary of defense.t do you think of mattis and what do you think about the issue of civilian control of the military? because is he going to be the first general since george marshall back in 1950 to run the pentagon. >> that is right. and the pentagon is rife and ready for reforms. we all know that and in james mattis you're going to find someone who is going to listen to the commanders in the field and to the troops and what they need. i have talked to marines who have served under his command and, chris, i have got to tell you, they are really excited to know that mad dog mattis is the one who is going to be overseeing what is happening with the active duty military. they are really -- they trust him. they like him. he has been out in the field with so some of these guys. he will sleep in a pup tent. he will eat rations. he will stay with them. >> congresswoman blackburn, thank you so much. thank you for your time this evening. >> good to be with you. thank you. >> always a pleasure. next on the rund

president-elect donald trump is nominating former marine corps general james mattis to head up the defense department. mattis retired in 2013 after serving as as the commander of the u.s. central command. >>> it will be days before the town of gatlinburg, tennessee, reopens from the devastating wildfires. residents will go back into town and see damage to their homes and businesses firsthand. on twitter as fidel castro's remains head to cuba. the ser roney is this weekend. >>> starting tonight at 10:00 metro work will cause the orange, silver and blue lines to operate every 24 minutes. tomorrow the red line trains from shady grieve to dupont circle will operate every 30 minutes. >> southbound new hampshire avenue after the beltway slowing things as chopper pans to >>> good morning. he's back. president-elect trump switches into campaign mode during the first stop of his thank you tour. >> we did have a lot of fun fighting hillary, didn't we? >>> wh forum, things get ugly between top aides for trump and hillary clinton. >> i would rather lose than win the way you guys did. >> no, you wouldn

general james mattis. even with democrats and republicans praising him, it might take a constitutional amendment to get him in that post. we'll talk about that. >>> plus why trump is still going after hillary clinton. >> we did have a lot of fun fighting hillary, didn't we? >>> and more signs of tension a month after this election. the raw exchange at harvard between the clinton campaigns jennifer palmieri and trump campaign manager kellyanne conway. >> campaign where white supremacist had a platform and you're going look me in the face and tell me that? really? >> it did. >> back and forth between the two teams. >>> and breaking this morning, man who shot and killed a former nfl player has been released with no charges. at this point. very latest on what happened and what police described as an extreme case of road rage. we'll have the very latest on that for you. >>> and a live report as the veterans head to the dakota pipeline protest who help out what they say will be a human shield surrounding those p

trump has chosen retired marine general james mattis for secretary of defense. that's a big deal. secretary of defense, this is one of the biggies, this is huge news. or maybe not. after the washington post published that scoop tonight, the trump folks took it back, the trump transition spokesman tweeted out quickly, no, no, a decision has not been made with regard to the secretary of defense. okay. so the article is wrong, the choice has not been made, that big news would step over everything else they would try to convey today. then it was back on. then donald trump's son, who is involved in the transition at the highest levels, he tweeted, mattis would be the choice. okay -- then he deleted the choice. okay, maybe it's not. the message of the day is vik i victory lap and then we have a second of defense they took it back, maybe we do and don't, tonight in cincinnati turns out we do have a secretary of defense after all. >> i don't want to tell you this because i want save the suspense for next week, so i will not tell you -- i refuse -- don't let it outside out of this room, yo

. >> robin, what do you make of the kind of the anti-iran you know, if you look at james mattis, he's pretty anti-iran. if you look at mike flynn, is there -- you know, it feels like there's a very strong orientation that believes that these forces in the middle east are very dangerous, out to get us. you know, do you see a common theme there? does it worry you? >> yes, i think there's are all iran haters basically. the important part of the iran nuclear deal is it not just prevents iran for the next 20, 25 years from getting a nuclear weapon but it sets a precedent, the most important nonproliferation ingredient if the world anywhere in the world in the last quarter century and sets us on a difference course. in the same way we came to terms a kind of day at that time with the soviet union, with china with, vietnam, this was trying at the end of 40 years of tensions to try to figure out a way that we could instead of confronting each other figure out common cause, try to defuse tensions whether it's iran, saudi arabia. so the iran initiative was

donald trump and james "mad dog" mattis about to appear on stage together for the first time. moments away. the first cabinet pick trump has announce where had a that side by side experience. and there is going to be plenty of people there. live pictures right now fayetteville, north carolina. awaiting trump who is on his way in his motor cade. trump won the state by more than 3 1/2 percentage points over hillary clinton. fayetteville also home to fort bragg. a symbolic setting for transfer's former announcement of the retired marine general james mattis. it comes as --. he said it is going to create more than 50,000 jobs and as the deal that trump says would not have happened without him. >> this is -- of soft bank from japan. and he's just agreed to invest $50 billion in the united states and 50,000 jobs. >> a great headline do. the specifics add up to anything even close. my panel will be us with throughout the hour. i want to begin with sun hin surfati in fayetteville. people are awaiting donald trump and what you do expect tonight? >> reporter: we expect a big show coming

jennifer griffin has that tonight. >> reporter: when asked what he thought of general james mattis, donald trump's pick to help the pentagon, former defense secretary robert gates gave a thumbs up as he boarded the elevator in trump tower to see the president-elect. >> we are going to appoint mad dog mattis as our secretary of defense. >> reporter: the top u.s. commander in afghanistan, an army four star, welcomed the choice. >> he is a soldier's soldier, a marine's marine. >> reporter: joe plenzler served under mattis and knows the pentagon bureaucracy he will face. >> his biggest challenge is inertia. people get set in their ways. most people don't like change. i served with him, when he goes t to a unit, he brings change. >> reporter: most agree mattis will need a good chief operating officer as i hhis deputy. >> the best choice would be a technocrat, someone who is good with the intricacies of the defense budget. >> reporter: donald rumsfeld was a former navy pilot but ran two fortune 500 companies. robert mcnamara was the president of ford. some say what general mattis brings after 15

. >>> and trump has chosen james mattis for defense secretary. he's highly decorated and well-known. why will congress have to pass special legislation in order to get him confirmed? >>> and state of the putin. russian president vladimir putin gives his state of the nation speech to lawmakers and signals he's ready to cooperate with donald trump on what putin calls an equal and mutually beneficial basis. is putin being sign sencere or trying to manipulate the president-elect? i'm wolf blitzer and you're in "the situation room." we're following breaking news. president-elect donald trump is on the road tonight about to hold his first large scale event since winning the white house. trump will be speaking soon to supporters at a rally in cincinnati. first of what he's dubbed a thank you tour. and it looks like he may be seeing the classic -- all of us may be seeing the classic unscripted trump whose raucous rallies upended the presidential campaign. just a short while ago, the president-elect was speaking off the cuff at a carrier plant in indianap

trump there, you we heard him referring to mad dog mattis, he was talking about a marine general james mattis. >> and just as trump zeroed in on defense, he is widening his ropes for secretary of state t. lewandowski saying while mitt romney and rudy guiliani are leading for the job the decision is far from done. last night the cincinnati crowds bursting in a chant of no romney. the trump and vice president-elect mike pence doubled down on building the border wall and repealing obamacare and lowering tacks. pence swung through indiana with carrier executives to keep over a thousand manufacturing jobs in the united states. >> the company are not going to leave the united states anymore without consequences. it's not going to happen. >> the carrier deal gives the heating and air-conditioning company $ million in tax breaks over ten years, that's inexchange for carrier investing $16 million into i however, another 1,300 jobs are slated to go to mexico. >>> former usc standout and jet joe mcknight was shot and killed outside new orleans. they tell us it was a possible road rage incident. ems acte

marine corps general james mattis to be the defense secretary. to be confirmed first congress will have to grant the general a waiver. marley hall is outside trump tower in new york with more. >> don't let it outside of this room. >> reporter: president-elect donald trump leaked a secret during a victory tour rally in cincinnati thursday night. we are going to dog matis as our secretary of defense. >> reporter: james mattis, the 66-year-old retired marine corps general served 41 years in the military and lead expeditionary forces in iraq and afghanistan. madis, who retired in 2013 will need a waiver from congress to take up the role. federal law says the pentagon chief must be out of uniform seven years. president-elect donald trump he has been interviewing candidates here at trump tower. sources say there are four top contenders for the position including former new york mayor rudy giuliani, former general david petraeus, senator bob corker of tennessee and former presidential nominee mitt romney. general matis told president- elect donald trump

-nats-...but became fired up when he unveiled yet another cabinet pick -- retired general james mattis:(sot trump 20:16.13) we are going to mattis as our secretary of defense.in the past...mattis has said that responding to 'political islam' is a major security issue facing the country.he's expected to face a tough challenge in getting senate confirmationsince he retired only three years ago...not seven...as the law requires.roxana saberi cbs news. during the ohio rally, the president-elect pledged, once traveled to indiana...to officially announce a deal he helped reach this week -- that will keep hundreds carrier air conditioning jobs from moving to the country. 3 supporters of the standing rock sioux tribe rallied in downtown milwaukee last night... protesting the dakota access pipeline. 19:05:24-28 we can't drink oil, keep it in the soil soil they don't beleive the north dakota pipeline should go through sacred native american lands.. and say tready rights should be honored.one man says he recently returned from a trip to visit the protest site in north dakot 10:00:26-36 it was an

formally making the announcement official of general james mattis for secretary of defense and certainly donald trump likes to kind of drop his nickname as he did many times tonight from the podium, mad dog mattis and the crowd responded. at one point he came out and spoke from the podium. here's what he had to say. >> thank you, president-elect for the confidence that you have shown in me. thank you for the opportunity. i'm grateful for the opportunity to return to our troops, their families, the civilians of the department of defense, because i know how committed they are, and devoted they are to the defense of our country, the defense of our constitution, and with our allies strengthened, with our country strengthened, i look forward to being the civilian leader so long as the congress gives me the waiver and the senate votes to consent. >> you'll get that waiver, right? you're going to get that. oh, if he didn't get that waiver, there will be a lot of angry people. >> reporter: two things there. mattis emphasizing he looks forward to taking over civilian control there of the pentagon

president-elect donald trump's pick for defense, james mattis.e joined him at the rally in north carolina earlier tonight. kerm oliver north is here with reaction and also tonight -- >> president-elect trump is many things. to his voters he's a beloved figure. one of the things he is is a conspiracy theorist. >> corey's old friends at cnn and the mainstream media once again attacking donald trump, fake news when their fake news and they were perfectly happy spreading all the lies told by the obama administration. we'll give you the examples and more. the reverend scott straight ahead. >> you'll see such a change, such a change like you've never seen before. we're going to protect and help our veterans. you can't predict the market. but through good times and bad... ...at t. rowe price... ...we've helped our investors stay confident for over 75 years. call us or your advisor. t. rowe price. invest with confidence. we were in a german dance group. i wore lederhosen. so i just started poking around on ancestry. then, i decided to have my dna tested

thursday night. >> we are going to appoint mad dog mattis as our secretary of defense. >> reporter: james mattis, the 66-year-old retired marine corps general served 41 years expeditionary forces in iraq and afghanistan. mattis, who retired in 2013, will need a waiver from congress to take up the roll. federal law says the pentagon chief must be out of uniform for seven years. president-elect trump still has yet to make a choice on who will be secretary of state. he has been interviewing candidates here at trump tower. sources say there are four top contenders for the position, including former new york mayor rudy giuliani, former general david petr, corker of tennessee, and former presidential nominee mitt romney. general mattis told president- elect trump he prefers to work with petraeus. >> we know who makes the ultimate decision. it matters to him to take the counsel of the people he trusts to be in his cabinet. >> reporter: general petraeus interviewed with president- elect trump in his tower on monday. marlie hall, cbs news new york. tragic story out of south america that killed a soccer t

trump has chosen retired marine general james mattis for secretary of defense. leaked by the people, quote, familiar with the decision. that's a big deal. secretary of defense. this is one of the biggies. this is huge news. or maybe not. after "the washington post" published that scoop tonight, the trump folks took it back. the trump transition spokesman tweeted out quickly, no, no, a decision has not been made with regard to the secretary of defense. okay, right? so the article is wrong, the choice has not been made, at least not yet. good thing because that big news would step all over everything else they were so carefully trying to convey today. but then it was back on. then donald trump's son who is involved in the transition alt the highest levels, then he tweeted a link to the article that said mattis would be the choice. then trump's son deleted that tweet. so the message of the day is victory lap and for a minute it was also we have a secretary of defense and then they took it back and said no, we do not have a secretary of defense, then maybe we do, ma

/mexico border, but the biggest news came when he announced three would pick james mattis for defensetary. >> we are going to appoint "mad dog" mattis as our secretary of defense. [cheers and applause] they say he's the closest thing to general george patton that we have, and it's about time! it's about time. >> reporter: trump made that announcement despite the fact that his own transition spokesman jason miller announced that no decision had been made on defense secretary. trump has more stops on the thank you tour planned for next week. >> and now that we know that retired jim mattis is the nominee, he's going to need special congress approval to command the post. the decades a-statute requires military person to be retired for seven years, he has been retired three years. a trump transition official tells cnn the president-elect does not expect a problem getting congress to waive this requirement. congress did grant a similar exception once before in 1950. >> is this a wrinkle? the process? >> seems like he's not going to have a hard time. >>> much like he did on the campaign trai

but again a new name there announced retired general james mattis for defense secretary. thank you for joining us tonight. "tmz" is next. see you back here at 9:00 and announcer: today on "tmz" -- >> there was a race war on tv last night of sports. tomi lahren was on trevor noah's show. >> for somebody who is not racist, do you have to spend a lot of time saying i'm not race snift >> she canceled an appearance on "the breakfast club." charlamagne said he can get to the bottom by one question -- >> so whether or not you're not racist? >> it's a good way though. >> whether or not she likes dark meat. >> it's a good way though! >> the victoria's secret show is wednesday night. kendall jenner, gigi hadid, bella hadid is, and after they all went out and pigged out. >> what do you mean? >> harvey, they never eat but there's going to be explosive diarrhea if they do this.

. >>> and president-elect donald trump formally nominated retired general james mattis for secretary of defense. mattis has been retired for only three years and needs a congressional waiver to lead the pentagon. in a dramatic protest. this is new video of people coming together against a white nationalist. protesters crowded the protest before the speech was made last night. >> i knew that we needed to have a new starting point. and i also new that we needed to -- this wasn't a matter just this is really a new beginning of a new starting point for conservatism. >> in addition to the protests outside, some people in the audience heckled and criticized spencer as well. texas a&m administrators wouldn't let anyone define what the school stands for. >>> we have new video into the rocked indonesia. this quake has killed 97 people so far. given the northern part of the country, you can see there's essex tensive damage, extensive damage. 12 mosques have been damaged or destroyed. we just heard from disaster and native officials who also say they do expect the death toll to continue to rise

general james mattis. what do we know about that process. what do we know about kind of retchati reputation this guy has, the military? >> marines love this guy. he has wide bipartisan support at least on capitol hill, and that's why the second question may be relevant. in the senate at least, this is going to be a 60 vote process. we've already heard from gillibrand, she's the one that's said she's not going to vote for this waiver. remember, this stems from a 1947 law, there used to be a ten-year wait period, they amended it, now it's a seven year wait period. he's worn three inform years ago. he would clearly need a waiver and we'll see, the house looks like a straight vote, simple majority. tactically, craig, if democrats want to wound president-elect donald trump, this could be a potential place where they have a strategic advantage. they just need 60 votes there. the republicans rather need 60 votes so they could have a blocking minority of 40. >> hans, why do they call him mad dog. >> charge on bagh

. >> reporter: but became fired up when he unveiled another cabinet pick, retired general james mattis. >> we are going to appoint mad dog mattis as our secretary of defense. >> reporter: in the past, mattis political islam is a major security issue facing the country. he is expected to face a tough challenge in getting senate confirmation since he retired only three years ago, not seven, as the law requires. mr. trump also warned yesterday companies are not going to leave the u.s. any more without what he referred to as consequences. he says companies leaving will be taxed very heavily at the u.s. border. he was speaking at an indiana factory where he says he helped the carrier air-conditioning company prevent hundreds of jobs from moving to mexico. >>> in order to get carrier to keep those jobs in indiana, the state offered $7 million in tax incentives. a bill that will be footed by indiana taxpayers. vice president-elect mike pence told scott pelley the trump administration is ready to use a carrot or a stick to keep jobs in this country. >> the president-elect made it very clear th

trump formally tapped retired man general james mattis as his defense secretary, even though he would need a congressional waiver to accept the post. >> he'll get that waiver, right? he's going to get that. oh, if he didn't get that waiver, there would be a lot of angry people. >> reporter: unlike mattis, trump's pick for national security adviser retired lieutenant general michael flynn would not require senate confirmation. yesterday, the president-elect fired his son for using twitter to spread a fake news story about hillary clinton. the so-called pizza-gate theory led to unarmed confrontation in washington, d.c. over the weekend. >> mr. trump will continue his thank you tour in iowa and michigan. >>> mr. trump's demand that the government cancel an order for new presidential planes is not sitting well with boeing employees. mr. trump says the price tag is, quote, ridiculous. he tweeted, boeing is building a brand-new 747 air force one, more than $4 billion. cancel order! john gillham has worked at boeing for 30 years. >> the way he is talking about bringing back jobs, now he is t

james mattis is his pick for secretary of defense. a tough-talking former marine general, and now a battle is brewing over a waiving a law that as currently written bars him from running the pentagon. nbc's hans nichols explains. >> reporter: for president-elect trump, a sneak announcement. >> we are going to appoint "mad dog" mattis as our secretary of defense. >> reporter: 41 years as a marine, retired general james mattis served tours in iraq and afghanistan, earning four stars and a reputation for blunt talk. winning the adoration of his marines with battlefield bravado and lines like, be polite, be professional, but have a plan to kill everybody you meet. like the new national security adviser michael flynn, mattis another general forced out by the obama administration. in his case, for his hawkish views on iran. but he's opposed to shredding the iran nuclear deal, at odds with trump. >> there's no going back, absent a real violation. >> reporter: never married, he's also known as the warrior monk, with books in his bag and weapo

whatever you do, don't tell anyone, the retired marine general james mattis is the president-elect's secretary. it is a secret until monday. don't take our word for it. here's the president-elect himself. >> we are going to appoint mad dog mattis as our secretary of defense but we're not announcing it til monday so don't tell anybody. mad dog. >> i love that moment. that was donald trump just last night at his victory rally in cincinnati, ohio. >> clearly what happened in cincinnati isn't staying in cincinnati. the preside