but obama stood his ground.the american public was as weary of war as he was. >> if one were to look at your statements on syria from the start, the red line, and then your decision at the very last minute not to use military force, wouldn't it be fair for critics to say this shows inconsistency, perhaps it shows your own ambivalence, and yet you have seen it as one of your best moments. >> ambivalence, absolutely, because it's hard. with respect to my red line, we in fact positioned our military to be able to strike assad if he did not give up his chemical weapons. the fact is, he got rid of his chemical weapons in an unprecedented way. >> the world will now expect the assad regime to live up to its public commitments. >> assad's allies in the kremlin helped broker a deal that forced him to give up his chemical weapons stockpile. within a year, syria's declared materials were removed without a shot being fired. but the syrian civil war continued. and extremists gained the upper hand. >> when you have these ungo

no more obama!o len anymoinism coming t on a silver platter. >> i have a right for the government not to control my health care. >> across the country, a grass-roots rebellion gets ugly. the target, barack obama. >> why don't have i'm frofreedo? because we elected somebody to take our freedom? >> enraged by bailout, the right went ballistic by health care. >> why don't they take the health care being forced down our throat. >> the president was undeterred. >> i am not the first president to take up this cause but i am determined to be the last. we used a lot of political capital on health care and the reason is simple, we're the only advanced nation on earth that didn't make sure every person had affordable health care. >> when you consider presidents have been trying since teddy roosevelt to get health care passed, fdr was hoping to do it, jfk. >> no matter how hard the road, what history will record is that obama got it done. >> we are done. >> but that achievement that seven presidents attempted

was that obama's failure?s equally likely that the currents were stronger than one person could shift. in recent years, america has gone through enormous economic, technological, political and cultural changes and some parts of the country, there has been a backlash to that change and to an african-american president. it remains unclear whether the country was ready for obama's vision. the most dramatic bet he made was health care. he spent the first few years of his presidency and all his political capital on passing it, and i would argue even if trump finds a way to repeal and replace it, remains a historic achievement. obama did what seven presidents failed to do. he made health care a fundamental right. it is the signature achievement of a consequential president. but presidential legacies also exist above and beyond laws and policies. we remember john f. kennedy for energy, vitality, elegance and intelligence he brought to the white house. obama has left an indelible mark. he ran an administration that wa

obama's response. critics worry the diplomatic fallout could have ramifications all over the world. >> this is what i would expect from a dictatorship that just became a democracy and can't make the democratic process work. >> it's clear it cannot be business as usual. this was a serious attack against our democratic system. they are trying to evaluate it to see what impact it will have on russia. we can do more. >> white house officials are warning against straying too far from convention. >> if the next administration wants to lift sanctions against senior russian intelligence units to keep them from interfering with our elections, you can go ahead and do that, but i don't think it makes much sense. reporter: the p.r. battle continues internationally with vladimir putin playing the game very, very well. he said it's regrettable the obama administration would end in such a manner. nonetheless, he extended new year greeting to the obama and trump families. tom: donald trump responding to putin's decisi

for the obama administration. >> did obama in some way kind of paint trump in a corner here, bob, with this -- with these decisions that he has made? >> i think so. but, i mean, obama is still the president. you can only have one president at a time and he's going to be president until trump is sworn in on the 20th. and a lot of democrats and editorial boards, including the "new york times" have said obama should have acted quicker while praising the actions. democrats definitely think that obama could have been and should have been tougher during the campaign on russia than he was. >> francessca, do you think there were political motivations behind this, that obama was looking to perhaps push trump's hand in the early days of his administration? >> well, again, it's clear that these are not actions that donald trump would have necessarily taken. if he were president. and once he becomes president, he said that he doesn't think that the russians necessarily did do the hacking. and so obama is trying to push him in that direction. and, again, take these actions that officials are saying

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now in 2016 obama is packing up. at his last white house correspondents dinner he literally dropped the mike. >> with that i just have two more towards say. "obama out." [ cheers and applause ] >> part of him maybe wants to get away from the mike for a while so how did administration approach thorny questions about media access and transparency? i sat down with outgoing press secretary josh earnest in the white house briefing room and heard his advise for his successor. check this out. thinking about 2009, the beginning of president obama's time in this building to now, what are the biggest changes in the media landscape that have affected your job and the way the this white house communicates with the public? >> we've seen it change dramatically. that means there are news outlets people had never heard of that didn't exist that are now influential in our -- in the way people get news, including political news. there are now outlets or media platforms that were in their infancy in 2009 that now are prominent parts of

he beat obama's party. i don't know what else he wants at this point, what good it is doing other than, you know, pure intrigue and maybe some entertainment or in playing to his base which he continues to do regardless of the fact that, you know, he has to be the president for the whole country. >> that's right. i think part of this is saving face with his supporters because obama went and said in an interview that he thought he could have beat donald trump in this election if he had been given that opportunity. and so, for donald trump -- >> was that the turning point, do you think? that comment? >> i think it certainly set donald trump off. as he has said in the past, when someone punches at him he punches back. i think he took it as a direct affront. that doesn't mean they can't work on the transition. they'll still always be at odds politically and personally. i don't think you could find two more different people. >> we've seen that. i had a conversation with republican congressman duffy. he referenced

have they outmaneuvered obama again?> look, i don't like to praise a former kgb colonel on the most popular cable channel in america, but it was a master stroke. i mean really. he played the game as the ambassador said very, very smoothly, with lavrov, and then with tweets coming out of the russian embassy in london with photographs of a duckling as a lame duck obama and then this, oh, we'll invite you to an orthodox christmas celebration. he has basically said to the world, president obama, you are completely irrelevant. and the truth is he is. this is a new age after november the 8th. the idea that he plays golf for eight years and now he decides to do something about russia, it is incredible. it is truly incredible. why now? after the invasion of the ukraine, this is when he waits to do something? because of an alleged hack of the dnc? he has made a laughing stock out of the white house. >> all right. let's talk about what president-elect donald trump should do now in the aftermath of this when he assumes office on th

obama's advisers have taken to the air in the u.s. and here to defend the decision and explain it. >> by definition, it is not an ambush when president obama and secretary kerry have been saying in hundreds of conversations and public comments that israeli settlement activity pushing into the west bank to make the t two-state solution unachievable. >> reporter: netanyahu made it clear he is done working with president obama since the security council resolution vote. he made it clear he is looking forward to working with donald trump. >> oren, we know the resolution is more recommendation than real action, but are we seeing netanyahu really ramp up his anger because there is concern about other moves that can be made at the united nations against israel in the next few weeks? >> reporter: part of netanyahu's anger may be to show trump how eager he is to work with him. he is also playing to his voters here. to say netanyahu voters are not big fans of obama. he is playing to them as it unfolds. as for what happens next, israel is concer

but, with obama leaving, we get a new president, they can say well, this is just obama. this doesn't affect us. in any serious way. if the russian conclude that, they will be correct. >> tell me i'm crazy, i have a theory, this is with israel, the united nations and russia, donald trump has full plate with domestic policies, he has a lot to fix in our federal government, is this pay attention over throw the foreign affairs into a mess, so he won't have time to focus on fixing the u.s.? >> well, there are a lot of people, politicians in america, and media that don't have his best interest at heart, that is for sure. i think that donald trump can keep a number of balls in the air effectively, because he has a good idea what he wants to do in middle east with israel, and russia, the domestic stuff is a lot, there is obamacare attack plan. and all -- tax plan, it will be difficult, but this is why you have a cabinet. they have a 100 day plan, they have a 200 day plan. >> that is a really good point, as a businessman he is a huge delegator. >> a great trait to have in a leade

especially president obama. he'll mark that as one of his greatest achievement, i think where he failed was in his ability to sell it to a broader part of the country. he and his advisors always believed that as it became implemented, embedded in the fabric of the health care system that people would accept and it embrace it and come to say this was a very good idea. that never happened and that's why we have a situation now as he goes out of office, republicans are champing at the bit to be able to repeal and replace it. i think the presidency is also easier said than done that the republicans will find out complicated and difficult it is going to be. but i think he has no question that this was the right thing to do. he went against his advice to scale back at the moment it looked too tough to get through. that to him is a proud piece of his legacy. susan: let's shift now to national securement and foreign policy. the perspective gave the order that took out osama bin laden and he made good on his campaign pro

last night on channel two news, president obama deputy said president obama and secretary of state kerry have made no secret about their concerns about israel settlement policies, but, again, israeli officials continue to take a hard line approach as he mentioned u.s. secretary of state kerry is scheduled to talk tomorrow. his vision for the next step. suffice to say this will be a speech and remarks that israeli officials will be closely watching. david thank you for joining us tonight. >> thank you for having me. >> what is it exactly that the prime minster is accusing the obama administration obama administration of doing here. we know there was deep resolution in order to push this united nation security counsel resolution forward. that is deeply disappointing because his torquically america has protected israel. i just came from the western wall about an hour ago and touchdown the stones the juiews have touched and prayed towards for thousands of years. the idea this security counsel resolution which was allowed to pass and pushed strongly by the obama administration the fact it cal

i think president obama is acting unhinged.a lot of policy he tried to push during past 8 years did not work, now he is doing a last-ditch effort to throw everyone in the kitchen sink to appease the liberal -- he has tried so hard to suck up to, i think he knows that upcoming president donald trump is going to you know undo a lot of regulations that opressed taxation that obama pushed for, as a daughter of a small the business owner, i know do obama administration his policy specifically obamacare did put a damper on a lot of job creation, my family had to hire fewer people as a direct result of that. donald trump values capitalism and profits and small businesses. >> this business about russia, and maybe sanctions tomorrow, some kind of announcement tomorrow. and the israeli vote. in the u.n. is this -- is there a silver lining around this where donald trump gets to come in on january 20, and kind of with the white hat save the day, and put everything back in to good relationship? >> in short-term yes, there is no doubt that t

finally met obama. and guess what, he kind of liked him. but, if you thought there was a chance that they might become bipartisan besties, no. cnn correspondent sun len slen y is live in palm beach. making it clear he is not happy about some of president obama's recent comments but he is trying to move forward with his transition plans. >> reporter: that's right. transition officials tell us the president-elect will be making an economic message of some sort later this afternoon, potentially within this hour. but even as he tries and works hard to stay on message and focus on his own transition, he at the same time is really diving deeper into this public feud that he is having with president obama. earlier in the day taking to twitter to basically allege that president obama is to blame for this transition not going as smoothly as he would have liked. but then moments ago trump coming out and telling reporters here at mar-a-lago that that's not true, that he really backing off the charge, saying that a

so when he reads an account of david axelrod interviewing president obama and president obama suggestingald trump in the election, that feels wounding to him. he responded aggressively in a tweet making fun of the fact that president obama had campaigned and not been able to pull hillary clinton across the finish line. then he reacts to the israel resolution at the united nations and then sends out those tweets this morning. then, when he actually talks to president obama, he then comes out and says, oh, it's fine. you know, people have said that one of the idiosyncrasies of donald trump is that the last person who is with him who speaks to him has a lot of influence. there's an example of that. >> are you saying he has poor impulse control and is malleable? >> i don't think i would be the first person to say that. donald trump has not restrained himself from lashing out against people during the campaign in ways that was counterproductive, that his staff wishes he didn't do. and you know, in the way this played out today on the transition, sean spicer was on a transition conference call

president obama is not sure that president obama would be willing to do this and given the relationship with putin and the russians and that he needed to do it to take the pressure off of president trump to do it. that's why i said earlier, i think president-elect trump should be grateful that president obama -- i wish that president obama would have done this earlier. i would have liked him to do it prior to the election. i know he felt like he was playing politics with it. but, he made that call, i respect that call. i respect the motivation for that decision. but, it was a appropriate that he do it now right before president-elect trump takes office so that again, it can be kind of a bad cop and good cop situation and president obama mayed t played the bad cop and president-elect trump can see what the benefits of the country he can go with the country. >> i want to turn to peter alexander now is joining us from the state department. what are you hearing fromour po there? >> jacob, live in your washington, d.c. burreau right now. all communicating together to the country what these n

by president obama. part of the punishment for russian hacking. >> the obama administration is expelling these diplomats because of things that the russian government did. >> reporter: at consulates in san francisco and washington, d.c., russian staffers scrambled to get out quickly. the state department also took control of sprawling compounds in maryland and long island, new york, that many neighbors had not known were russian hideaways for diplomatic families, recreation and secure meetings. >> there's always been a bit of mystery surrounding the property. >> reporter: the president-elect has not said if he intends to keep or reverse the obama sanctions against russia. earlier this week, trump said he and president obama continue to speak about the transition. >> i did. i did. he phoned me. we had a very nice conversation. >> reporter: trump's team is buying time to weigh options by saying the president-elect needs more information on russia's hacking, expected in a high level intelligence briefing tu

according to a top obama policy aide.istration official the already spoken about the situation openly criticizing israel for settlement building. >> when we see laws that aim to legalize outposts, when we secret rick that suggests this is the most pro-settlement israeli government in history, and when we see the facts on the ground, deep into the west bank, beyond the separation barrier, we feel compelled to speak up against those actions. reporter: though the administration criticized palestinians for incitement of violence, glorification of terrorists and violent extremism, saying saying that is prospects for peace. patti ann. patti ann: rich edson live in washington, thank you. eric: israel says it will pull funding from some u.n. programs. there are calls in our country for the united states to do the same as a result of the security council vote. for more on this, steve hayes editor-in-chief of "the weekly standard" and a fox news contributor. steve, should the united nations be punished if you do not agree with a se

barack obama had a plan. and that was to increase the role of iran, increase the role of moscow, in balancing out the middle east. u.s. had a foreign policy that was predicated on the saudis in the gulf states, and the israels. that's how we did the middle east in the bush era, and prior to that. obama wanted a rebalancing. well, he got it. but i don't think people are very happy with it. and i don't think he's happy with the way it turned out. hillary clinton could hardly come in having served as secretary of state, this guy was all wet t wouldn't work. >> i want to bring it back home to wrap up our conversation and i want to play a sound byte for you. so much of president obama's presidency was based on executive actions, and some, not necessarily laws, but regulations with the stroke of a pen. i want to get your reaction. take a listen. >> whenever i can take steps without legislation, to expand opportunity for more american families, i will. i've got a pen, and i've got a phone. a pen to take executive ac

one is named obama. is one is named hillary clinton since it is people still trying to fight over her election. they could shut this down. >> she right? >> of course she's not right. i a lot a words to describe that but i won't use any of them on tvgts. let me just say this. president obama had so sit through five years in the oval office while donald trump accused him of not being el visib eligible to be president of the united states. i think he now as president elect has an opportunity to take the high road. >> shouldn't he say yes i trust the intelligence communities instead of saying yes i illegitimately won. >> there are people trying to do that. when you listen to president obama and hillary clinton in this speech where she said well, putin doesn't like her. the factor of the matter is those people in that hall last night didn't vote for donald trump because of some russian hack. the state of michigan, wisconsin, pennsylvania, ohio, florida did not vote for donald trump because of some dumb hack.

obama said he could have won the election against mr. trump. trump tweeting no way that would have happened. barack obama says he does not think the election outcome means his message of hope and change was a fantasy. >> what i would argue is that the culture actually did shift, that the majority does buy in to the notion of a one america that is tolerant and diverse and open and full of energy and the problem is it doesn't always manifest itself in politics, right. >> let's bring back our panel. his approval numbers were in the mid 50s -- are in the mid 50s as he wraps up his second term. could he have beaten donald trump? >> well, i think there's a lot of hiypothesis there. there were simarities in the sense of the strength of their two personalities to clear fields and break barriers and do things no one else has done. with see that with obama and we saw that this year with donald trump. it was an unusual election cycle we saw him go through. a lot had to do with a cult of personality around the two. they're very collhar riss matti and that'

obama vs. trump. president obama campaigned campn vigorously for hillary clinton in the 2016 election telling supporters, quote, my name may not be on the ballot but our progress is on the ballot, unquote. despite clinton's defeat he thinks he would have beaten donald trump in a head-to-head matchup as he told his former advisor david axelrod in a podcast yesterday. >> i'm confident that if i had run again, and are a articulated it i think i could have mobilized a majority of the american people to rally behind it i know in conversations i have had with people around the country, even some people who disagreed with me they would say the vision, the direction that you point towards is the right one. >> axelrod was later asked if obama's comments were a thinly veiled wipe at hillary clinton. >> is this kind of a harsh judgment of hillary clinton he would have been able to do what she could not? >> well, he said this until service of a larger point which is he doesn't accept that the election was a verdi

obama: pretty good.ant to begin by once again thanking everybody who makes this wonderful evening possible, including dave rubenstein, the kennedy center trustees -- i'm getting a big echo back there -- and the kennedy center president. give them a big round of applause. [applause] pres. obama: we have some outstanding members of congress here tonight, and we are honored also to have vicki kennedy and three of her grandchildren with us here. [applause] pres. obama: the arts have always been part of life at the white house, because the arts are always central to american life. that's why for the past 80 years, michelle and i have invited the best writers, musicians, actors, dancers to share their gifts with the american people and help tell the story of who we are, and to inspire what is best in all of us. along the way, we have enjoyed some unbelievable performances. this is one of the perks of the job that i will miss. thanks to michelle's efforts, we have brought the arts to more young people, hosting

obama and u.s. intelligence officials have implied that russian president vladimir putin was directly involved in the hacks. in part, to hurt hillary clinton's campaign. obama warning, "all americans should be alarmed by russia's actions." the stiff sanctions joining bipartisan praise. >> we cannot allow a foreign power to impact our elections. >> we're the united states of america and you will not mess around with our election system. >> reporter: speaker of the house paul ryan calling the sanctions overdue as they vow to hit russia harder calling for even stronger sanctions. >> need to name putin as an individual of this inner circle because nothing happens in russia without his knowledge or approval. >> reporter: meanwhile, the white house looking to take covert retaliation, as well. saying, "these actions are not the sum total of our response. the u.s. says it is ready for any response from russia." >> we can anticipate a response of some kind. but the truth is that we enjoy the greatest capabil

start off by talking about what president obama is dismantling. >> well, president obama is dismantling program that really had been an example of racial and religious profiling in this country. and the fact he is dismantling it is a huge indication for human rights, a vindication for muslims, salvation, and middle eastern groups that are in working for this moment for quite a long time but also import to recognize that this was a program that was controversial from the start under the bush and administration. people have been looking to scrap it within dhs since 2006, and had been abandoned by the obama administration. it was obsolete. it was not a value add to national security at all. it had achieved fear mongering, scaring people in these communities, driving families apart, deportations. it was ineffective and counterproductive. juan: what would dismantling it mean at this point? it hasn't been used for several years. >> what it means is for the trump administration to come in, it will be that much harder for them to start a new muslim registry program. what we have basically, the

obama's fading power.oday he was even dissed by the british with whom we are said to have a special relationship diplomatically. now apparently not so special. british prime minister theresa may unexpectedly scolded secretary of state john kerry saying it was inappropriate to spend so many time attacking israel earlier this week. that was widely seen as a sign that even the british are done with the obama years and waiting for the trump administration to get going. major developments to chew over though tonight we will get you ready for new year's eve. several live reports and make time for other intriguing stories. maybe it's not surprising that another singer tonight is saying she will not perform the donald trump's inauguration. but you can believe that she went so far as to say it's because she could never, quote: throw roses to hitler? oh. did i mention that this flame-floor is not a hollywood liberal? she a performer for the mormon tabernacle choir. and we will also check in on lindsay lohan's latest

ambassador to iraq, that was during the obama administration. he also served in the bush administration as well. george w. bush. mr. ambassador, good to see you sir, thanks for being with me. what are we likely to hear from the outgoing secretary of state here next hour? >> we will hear almost nothing of substance. just a reiteration of what has been standing u.s. policy over the past 20 years. this speech is an exercise in ego, nothing more. what is significant is the u.n. vote because that represents a dramatic and problematic change in u.s. policy towards the israeli/palestinian problem. >> let's talk about that. because that continues to be a major point of contention. the white house insisting that this is not a sharp departure from previous policy. but many, including yourself, say it obviously is. explain how it is. >> certainly. there's no doubt that u.s. policy has long been that the israeli settlements in palestinian territories and in jerusalem are not helpful for the peace process. in various ways, we've indicated that in security co

this is just an executive order by president obama. he will walk out the door on january 2, '02, he can change it anyway he wants and that is what the russians are hoping for. here is his spokesman saying, quote, we think such steps by the us administration that has three weeks to work, to further harm russian-american ties, we are at a low point as it is and deal a blow to the foreign-policy plans of the incoming administration of the president-elect. >> the foreign ministry recommended they expel us diplomats from russia so going the opposite direction. what is the next step? >> the state department told russia there are two compounds off-limits for them. there was a compound in long island and one in maryland. us officials believe that was used for intelligencegathering, the trump administration does not see a problem with the actions. >> unprecedented for us to expel that many operatives over such a short time but at the same time, operatives don't travel here or keep their assets here. one wonders what the key to the sanctions rea

obama. making it look as if mr. obama is trying to take a swipe at him.ut if you're asking what more informed opinion believes, then i think many people in israel recognize that this is the failure of mr. netanyahu's policy. the policy itself and the loose talk in the last few months on the part of the prime minister and some of his ministers, especially since the elections indicating now that mr. trump is coming into office, the american policy will change and israel can do what it wants. to a certain extent, i would say this is self-inflicted damage, as severe as it is for israel. >> that begs the question, what's next? we saw what the prime minister did. he was very prompt in his response to the u.n. vote. he cut off aid to some countries, he called in the u.s. ambassador for a talking to. then he said israel does not turn the other cheek. so what do you think benjamin netanyahu is prepared to do next? >> i would imagine not very much. talk is cheap. and in practice, there isn't too much israel can do here. mr. netanyahu's policy managed to unite the e

he'll blame president obama. he'll take credit for the economy and the bailout and all the things that led to the economy improving. he'll take credit for it. the problem for democrats is they need to fight back. they can't let his messages and what he says go out and not push back against these messages. i'm saying trump supporters, yes, they'll believe whatever trump saysmost oth. >> part of the problem the it strikes me or has been the problem so far is the fact that this economy on a macro level looks much better than it was. then you zoom in and there's huge pockets of the country that aren't doing well and all sort of distributional problems which is a position the democrats got caught in a little bit, this year being like telling people it's okay. >> right. just a quick, look at the economy bill clinton gave george w. bush. >> very good. >> democrats are very good at handing off robust economies and we cross our fingers. the last one was kind of driven into the ditch. you get the sense he's been surrounded

president obama's our president.s vowed to keep our country safe and advance our national security interests from now until then. and that's what he's doing today. if the next administration wants to lift sanctions against senior russian intelligence units to make it easier for them to interfere in our elections, they can go ahead and do that. we just don't think that makes much sense. >> reporter: as you know, a big week ahead in washington as the president returns from here in hawaii. he's going to have a huge confab with democratic leaders on the hill. he's trying to figure out a way to preserve his legacy and the affordable care act in particular, obamacare, that and the new reality for democratic leaders, that's dealing with the gop in control of congress and the white house. gregg? >> kevin corke live in honolulu. kevin, thank you. >>> and for more on this now, let's brick in captain ben collins, a u.s. army special forces veteran and a green beret, who served three tours of duty in afghanistan. captain collins

in his press conference he called them sore losers and took a shot at own barack obama -- obama made statement about ronald reagan rolling over in his grave and he said, no, actually fdr would be rolling over in his grave gunned how barack obama has divided the country. there's no love lost between putin and obama help took a couple of shots at him on hi his way out to the door. donald trump is offers his first comment at the controversial vote at the u.n. it condemns israeli settlements in palestinian territory and trump wrote, as though u.n., things will be different after january 20th. i guess clearly a trump administration would not have abstained from a veto -- would not have abstained to vote and might have vetoed it. >> reporter: absolutely. donald trump took the step of trying to pressure obama. releasing a letter asking them to reto the resolution and managed to get egypt to postpone the vote but it was put back on the table by other members of the security council and then the obama administration again abstained and so -- which i is a break from the past eight year at leas

so we're just like the obamas, but we're not." so there's this way that as wonderful as it is-- this acceptance of the obama girls, this acceptance of michelle-- it still has the impact of marginalizing, for example, the fact that a majority of african-american children are being raised by... in households like mine, where you may have intergenerational women, but where you don't have a present father. it is still true that, for example, gay and lesbian families don't have the same kind of social recognition. so if you're a michelle obama but you're in a lesbian household, does the acceptance of the kind of heteronormative, you know, traditional picture of the obamas, does that, you know, kind of continue on and lead to a broader acceptance? i don't know. and i'm certainly, you know, a little distressed that at the same time that we have michelle obama, we have precious. >> hinojosa: and you're concerned about it because... i mean, that movie-- i haven't seen the movie, i read the book when it came out a long time ago-- is so incr

then trump talks to obama and everything's fine. i do think that we were talking about this earlier, phillip. we're seeing something about trump's style here. he doesn't like something, he airs it on twitter. today it looks like he got the president's attention and he got what he wanted, at least today. >> donald trump everything is either the absolute worst or the absolute best. this morning it was the worst, speaks to obama and now it's the best. important for all of us to keep in mind there's very little middle ground between the extremes and it can change quickly. >> you have to have four years of donald trump on twitter doing this and how to interpret this stuff when it happens nlt the state of the transition depends on who you're talking to and most people are not paying attention to the state of the transition. this is not something people care about. this starts to get old fast and he needs to focus on things that people really do care about, because at this point it's pretty much the press that focuses on his every word on

going after the u.n., media and president obama. we'll tell you why. >>> and a historic moment on tap today in hawaii. japanese's prime minister set to visit the site of the attack on pearl harbor. we'll have a preview from honolulu. good morning. welcome to "early start." i'm joe jones. >> i'm alison kosik. it is tuesday, december 27th. 5:00 a.m. in the east. john and christine are off. up first, despite the administration having less than april mon a month left on the job, secretary of state john kerry is delivering the speech looking to outline the obama administration vision for peace in the middle east. this comes as relations appear more strained than ever with israeli officials claiming there is proof obama pushed for the resoluti resolution. in the meantime, prime minister benjamin netanyahu ordering a limit on all working ties with 12 nations that backed the u.n. vote. we have oren liebermann live in jerusalem. good morning, oren. >> reporter: good morning, alison. the story moving in a lot of directions. first, secretary o

not necessarily giving president obama his due as well. certainly a very bullish market right now as a result of this election. although i would caution there is still a great deal of uncertainty, especially when it comes to donald trump on foreign policy and that also factors into the market as well usually. >> sure. and, josh, trump also went after the u.n., writing, quote, the united nations has such great potential but right now it's just a club for people to get together, talk and have a good time. so sad. we've heard of previous administrations really, you know, saying, okay, the u.n., nato, eu, some of these other international bodies are not -- don't really have the teeth that are necessary to get things done. do you think trump's statement here, reconsidering our position with the united nations and nato, do we take it seriously? >> i take it very seriously. i've been watching the u.n. security council. doesn't seem like they're having that good a time actually. tough issues. it gets pretty contentious. setting that to one side, i

president obama is doing his job.ach and every day and he's going to continue to do it, knowing president obama. probably until about 11:59 on january 20th. this is what happens during the course of a transition. there is only one t president at a time. that is barack obama. and he's going to continue to do what he thinks is right for the country. it is clear based on what what was said earlier. and we've seen this before. donald trump is so desperate more attention that he picks these fights in the morning, hopes that something will happen. obviously some other folks talked in the course of the day and he needsed to be able to say oh president obama called me and now everything is okay.d to be oh president obama called me and now everything is okay. stab he's going continue to hide behind twitter and say what he wants o and hopes that the press will take these tweets. >> is there theater involved here? >> it a pierce thappears that w. whether they are using twitter or making an interview with david ax rad or. >> i'm