president-elect will be meeting with one potential secretary of state contender, former nato commander james stavridis and then he'll travel to columbus, ohio, to meet with victims and first responders

today, the president-elect will sit down with retired four-star admiral james stavridis, a man who by the way was actually vetted as a possible vice presidential pick for hillary clinton. >> but already this morning, donald trump has announced another cabinet post filled. oklahoma attorney general scott pruitt is trump's pick to head the environmental protection agency. democrats and progressive groups already signaling a fight over his nomination, not that they can do much with republicans in control of the senate. pruitt is an outspoken critic of a lot of the science behind climate change and currently has a case pending against the very agency he wants to now lead. while all of that is going on, so is this. donald trump in a fight over the very deal that he claimed as a big win just last week. the president-elect attacking a carrier union leader after he called trump a liar for fudging the numbers on how many jobs were actually saved at that indiana plant. listen. >> what they're doing, they're counting in 350 some odd more that were never leaving this country at all. if you're dea

navy admiral james stavridis.ato commander who's now a dean at fletcher school and nbc news and msnbc analyst. thanks for joining us. maybe it should. know anyone we might get that could be the secretary of this new cabinet level position? you ready? >> well, here's just an idea and it's not me. here's an idea would be to take the position of dni, director of national intelligence, which is supposed to bring together all the intelligence agencies and make that individual director of national intelligence and cyber security. the functions are kind of similar. there's a lot of overlap in the activity. and that idea of interagency cooperation is key to protecting us in the cyber realm. >> it keeps happening and for some reason i think we haven't seen the real damage. and we're still not -- haven't been shaken out of the complacency. something really serious whether it's financial or the power grid, i don't think we've really seen as bad as this could be. if we don't address it now. i mean, writing should be on the wa

. >>> james stavridis met with the president elect last week. >> i think it is a legitimate question and i think given the stakes at the national level, the question deserves an answer. >> reporter: nbc's andrea mitchell pushed hard to get that answer from the white house. >> i think it was a powerful thing to have the intelligence community in that statement verify russian meddling in our elections approved by the highest levels of our government. >> reporter: the statement he is referring to was a one-page release on october 7th which outlined the intelligence assessment that russia's senior most officials were interfering in the u.s. election. no direct mention of putin, though a month earlier the g20 summit in china president obama privately confronted putin the white house confirmed today. so should the administration have come out bolder and sooner with the hard intelligence they possessed as donald trump suggested, should they have pushed congress to enact sanctions against the russians making the public understand this was serious? >> in retrospect it certainly seems as thoug

. >> reporter: retired admiral james stavridis, the former commander of nato met with the president-elect last week. >> i think it is a legitimate question. and i think given the stakes at the national level, the question deserves an answer. >> reporter: nbc's andrea mitchell pushed hard to get that [000:02:58;00] >> i think it was a powerful thing to have the intelligence community in that statement, verify russian mettling in our election, approved by the highest levels of their government. >> reporter: the statement he's referring to was a one-page release on october 7th, which outlined the intelligence assessment that russia's senior most officials were interfering in the u.s. election. no direct mention of putin. though a month earlier at the g20 summit in china, president obama privately confronted putin, the white house confirmed today. so should the administration have come out bolder and sooner with the hard intelligence they possessed, as donald trump suggested today? should they have pushed congress to enact sanctions against the russians, making the public understand, this was

retired four-star admiral james stavridis and we break down the top ten stories in the most exhaustings year in our lifetime. 2016. i'm looking forward to 2017. we'll show you which one takes the top spot straight ahead on "morning joe." ♪ feeling your heart beat with mine ♪ ♪ softly you whisper you're so sincere ♪ they are the natural born enemy of the way things are. yes, ideas are scary, and messy and fragile. but under the proper care, they become something beautiful. afoot and light-hearted i take to the open road. healthy, free, the world before me, the long brown path before me leading wherever i choose. the east and the west are mine. the north and the south are mine. all seems beautiful to me. my lineage was the vecchios and zuccolis. through ancestry, through dna i found out that i was only 16% italian. he was 34% eastern european. so i went onto ancestry, soon learned that one of our ancestors we thought was italian was eastern european. this is my ancestor who i didn't know about. he looks a little bit like me, yes. ancestry has many paths to discovering your story. get sta

one person we did see is the former admiral james stavridis, the supreme allied commander and a name floated as possible running mate, not for donald trump but hillary clinton during the campaign. as for being on the short list for a job here? well, watch this. >> when i first heard there was a short list, i thought they were referring to a list of short people. you see i would definitely be on that list, in terms of any job, i would say, why don't you talk to the folks upstairs. >> reporter: hey, self-deprecating general as well. not exactly taking himself out of the running for any job either, and we do know one job that is filled, that is andy puzder, the restaurant industry ceo, runs cke restaurants, he'll be the pick to be labor secretary. you're right, trish, big business leaders coming into meet with the businessman, president-elect leaving here shortly to meet with ohio state victims of the attack of last week and hold a rally in des moines, iowa this evening. we'll look forward to all of that and see if we get official announcements later today. back to you. >> connell mcsha

we are also looking at james stavridis, retired james admiral. he met with president-elect donald trump earlier today. there had been some buzz about the fact he was being looked at for secretary of state. he got asked about that today. he stopped to talk to reporters. take a listen to what he had to say. >> i would -- well, when i first heard there was a short list, i thought they were referring to a list of short people, because, as you see, i would definitely be on that list. >> reporter: so, having a little bit of fun with the fact that at one point there was buzz he might be on the short list for secretary of state. he was also someone, hallie, at one point who was under consideration to serve as secretary clinton's vice presidential nominee. that never came about. but he was one of the people who secretary clinton did get advice and counsel from during her campaign. the trump transition team has been very insistent, though. this position of secretary of state is one of the most important decisions that the president-elect will make, so he i

president-elect will be meeting with one potential secretary of state contender, former nato commander james stavridis and then he'll travel to columbus, ohio, to meet with victims and first responders from the ohio state attack. next stop of the victory tour. another one of these campaign-style rallies he's been having. >> all right, sunlen serfaty reporting live for us. thanks so much. the war of words between the president future of the united states and a local union guy ain't over yet. chuck jones was on "new day" this morning. >> a lot of people in that crowd and throughout the plant thought they were, at that point in time, were going to have a job, only to find out, when we told them the next day, that 550 of them were going to lose their job to monterrey, mexico. a lot of people had dashed hopes. and they were -- not willing to give us any information until last thursday. when mr. trump and pence came into the facility. we didn't know what the numbers were until noon that day. and so, that's when we found out 730 people were going to retain their jobs. and then when he got up there, and told

joe manchin jon huntsman a former ambassador chain nan even retired admiral james stavridis.he new names join tennessee senator corker general david petraeus and rudy giuliani along with mitt romney. today we're also told that three other possible contenders joined this list of nine making it up to a list of 12. we're told that we should know donald trump's final choice by the end of the week so we'll keep our eyes opened for that sharrie. >> more than a few to consider. >>> the push for presidential respect count is focused today on the state of pennsylvania. green party presidential candidate jill stein has filed on 11th hour lawsuit in federal court to force a retally of the votes in the keystone state. the recount would be of the paper ballots and an examination of the electronic voting machines. stein is hinging the lawsuit on constitutional arguments including a claim that the state's voting process is unfair. president-elect donald trump has called stein's efforts a "scam." >> the today began for many of us with rain but gave way to afternoon sunshine as we get a first

john bolton, retired admiral james stavridis, and democratic senator joe manchin of west virginia. other finalists are said to include exxonmobil ceo rex tillerson former massachusetts , governor mitt romney, former new york city mayor rudy giuliani, and senator bob corker of tennessee. michigan has become the second state to conduct a recount of the presidential election. early this morning a federal , judge ordered officials to being recounting ballots today at noon. the order was made following a request by green party presidential candidate jill stein. donald trump won michigan by under 10,000 votes out of 5.5 million cast. a recount is already underway in wisconsin. meanwhile, dr. stein's efforts to force a recount in pennsylvania were dealt a setback when a judge ordered petitioners to post a $1 million bond. stein is holding a press conference outside trump tower today at 10:00 a.m. to discuss next steps on the recount. in oakland, california, at least 33 people have died after a fire ripped through a converted warehouse hosting an electronic music concert on friday. the dea

. >> reporter: trump meeting with the former ceo of ford as well as retired admiral james stavridis. he was once vetted as a possible running mate for hillary clinton. >> we had a wonderful meeting with the president-elect. we talked about the world, we talked about defense. we talked about the state of our military. we talked a lot about cyber security. ♪ defend her still today >> reporter: all of this as the billionaire businessman continues to revisit the battleground states that delivered him the presidency, making a somber stop in ohio to meet with first responders and victims of the attack at ohio state university before heading to iowa for a victory rally. even as trump turns his gaze to the white house, questions linger about how far he is willing to go in separating himself from his business. so far there is little indication trump will fully divest from his company. a source tells cnn trump may add an additional person to the leadership structure, someone outside his family a move not only to bat back conflict of interest concerns but also to protect his children. now, when

today, the president-elect will sit down with retired four-star admiral james stavridis, a man who byas actually vetted as a possible vice presidential pick for hillary clinton. >> but already this morning, donald trump has announced another cabinet post filled. oklahoma attorney general scott pruitt is trump's pick to head the environmental protection agency. democrats and progressive groups already signaling a fight over his nomination, not that

president-elect will be meeting with one potential secretary of state contender, former nato commander james stavridis and then he'll travel to columbus, ohio, to meet with victims and first responders from the ohio state attack. next stop of the victory tour. another one of these campaign-style rallies he's been having. >> thank you. >>> democrats and environmentalists are fired up about oklahoma attorney general scott pruitt's nomination. john jones joins us now with more. why are they so fired up? >> scott pruitt calls himself a leading advocate against what he says is the epa's activist agenda and now donald trump wants to put him in control of the agency. it created a storm of outrage on the left. one former top aide to the obama administration calling pruitt "an existential threat to the planet." >> reporter: scott pruitt, donald trump's for environmental protection agency administrator is a staunch climate change denier. giving democrats an environmental groups whip lash. after trump's highly publicized meetings with prominent climate change activists. >> attorney general pruitt has a strong co

well, new candidates for the job include exxonmobil ceo tex tillerson, james stavridis, and jon huntsmany newton small and jeremy peters, a political reporter with "the new york times." speak with authority. who's got the best shot to be secretary of state at this hour? >> the best shot, it changes hour to hour. the trump camp is very much a camp divided at this point. there are the lines that have been drawn for the last couple of weeks, where -- >> you mean the factions? >> there are those who are pro-romney. those who think, give it to rudy, he's been a loyal supporter all along and adored by the grassroots. some want to see a military figure like a general, like general kelly in there, or the huntsman thing was curious to me today. because that to me showed that there is real division in the ranks. that didn't leak intentionally. that leaked accidentally. >> is that just to tick off huntsman -- tick off romney, because they hate each other. >> it's true. that would be the ultimate way to needle romney for not supporting him. i assume this circle is widening because trump is not sold

retire add miller james stavridis, joe manchin, he is a senator and he is a democrat. he is also reportedly under consideration along with dana rohrabacher, a congressman from california who says he has been in talks with the trump folks as well. huntsman appeared here on the fox business network earlier today, spoke with maria bartiromo, and he was very complimentary of the president-elect. listen. >> it says something about the president-elect that he's taking this job very seriously, he's reviewing the candidates, he's looking at the issues, he's bringing in different voices who maybe look -- see differently america's role in the world, and that's a good thing. this is not a position that should be forced on anybody. >> reporter: as for tiller orson, neil, he will be here at trump tower tomorrow meeting with the president-elect. and you might ask what does the ceo of exxonmobil have anything to do with being the next potential secretary of state? well, some who might back him would point to the fact that his companies has dealings with 50-plus countries all over the

and james stavridis, who was on hillary clinton's short list for vp. >> we have a president here that wants to look at the best and brightest of america, regardless job will have to deal with the growing tension with china. after trump took a call from the president of taiwan. for four decades, u.s. presidents have respected that by avoiding direct contact with the taiwanese president. >> president a obama can reach out to a murdering dictator in cuba in the last year and be hailed for doing it. and president-elect takings a courtesy call from a democratically elected leader in taiwan and it's a controversy. >> reporter: trump tweeted, did china ask us if it was okay to devalue their currency, making it hard for our companies to compete? trump used twitter over the tweengd lash out at companies who moved jobs out of the country. and to lam "saturday night live" as unwatchable. >> reporter: and paul ryan said the president-elect's twitter tirades don't bother him at all. >> who cares what he tweeted on some thursday night if we fix the country's big problems? that's the way i look at i

the former ambassador to china, appointed by president obama, and even retired admiral james stavridis who was on hillary clinton's short list for vp. >> we have a president here that wants to look at the best and brightest of america, regardless of history or past disputes. >> reporter: whoever gets the job will have to deal with the growing controversy with china over president-elect trump's decision to take a phone call from the president of taiwan. taiwan is officially a part of china, and not an independent country. and for four decades, u.s. presidents have respected that by avoiding direct contact with the taiwanese president. >> president obama can reach out to a murdering dictator in cuba in the last year and be hailed as a hero for doing it, and president-elect donald trump takes a courtesy call from a democratically elected leader in taiwan, and it's become -- it's become something of a controversy. >> reporter: but trump continued to go after china on twitter over the weekend. trump tweeted, did china ask us if it was okay to devalue their currency, making it hard for our c

congressman from california, exxon ceo john till lot ton and former governor jon huntsman and ad mir james stavridisk about prime minister abe visiting pearl harbor? she's next. stuart: this news broke this morning. japan's prime minister, shinzo abe announced he will visit pearl harbor with president obama later this month. joining us, monica crowley, "washington times" online opinion editor. what is going on with this? that is announced this morning. we've never seen a japanese leader visit pearl harbor before? >> just like we've never had american president or president-elect take a call from a taiwanese president in about four decades. this is the donald trump effect. we all understand the united states has one president at a time. donald trump is not trying to usurp president obama's power but this is a direct effect of the new president coming in. donald trump did not run on reinforcing the status quo. donald trump won on promise of smashing it, challenging conventional ways of doing things. that is what he intends to do. stuart: are we getting closer to asia's other great power, japan. we're