devastated by a tsunami just five years ago. building a cabinet. president-elect trump holds multiple meetings with potential picks for top positions in his administration. long-time loyalists, former rivals, sharp critics, even a democrat all sitting down with trump. is he about to announce some top announceme announcements? growing concerns about trump's businesses and his role as america's chief executive. his team is already answering questions whether he's mingling them. did he press a one-world leader for a business favor during a congratulatory call? and targeting police. four police officers were ambushed in three dates in just 4 hours. one officer killed while writing a tick net a squad car. is there any connection between the attacks? we want to welcome our

viewers in the united states and around the world. i'm wolf blitzer. you're in "the situation room." >> we're following breaking news. japan bracing for a tsunami of up to ten feet after a powerful earthquake. japanese media are reporting a wave has been spotted off the coast of fukushima, the same area that was hit by a tsunami in 2011 that killed more than 20,000 people. also tonight, with donald trump now just two months away from assuming the presidency, there are new questions about a sprawling business empire and potential conflicts of interest. the president-elect's team is denying trump discussed business in meetings with the japanese prime minister and in a phone call with argentina's president. trump has been venting his anger in a series of tweets. trump lashed out at the cast of

the broadway hit "hamilton" for reading a message to vice president-elect mike pence who was in the audience. and trump slams "saturday night live" calling the show one sided, biased, and not funny. we're following a series of attacks on police officers, one of them deadly. four officers were attacked in three different states, putting police across the country on alert. investigators are trying to figure out if the attacks are related. we're covering all that and much more this area with our guest, including the head of the naacp cornell william brooks and our correspondents and analysts are standing by. let's begin with the breaking news. let's go to cnn's bill ripley. he's monitoring the tsunami warning after the 6.9 earthquake off japan. what's the latest, will? >> reporter: we know that a three-foot tsunami had been detected at the fukushima

daiichi nuclear power play, the plant that melted down in march of 2011 causing a catastrophic area that that area is still struggling to recover from more than five years later. so far, even though we see these pictures of ominous looking waves, they've detected no abnormalities at the fukushima plant. it does not appear that the size of the waves is going to breach the protective sea wall in place. but if you look at these images, you can see these large waves and very close to those waves are these above ground temporary water to your knowledge tanks where they're putting in all of the radioactive water being used to cool the crippled reactors. engineers haven't figured out what to do with this increasingly high volume of radioactive water that is sitting close to the japanese coast. so if these tsunami waves problem to be larger, that would

be a potentially dangerous situation. but no abnormalities a t the nuclear plant right now. but at a separate plant, we have just learned that the cooling operation, one of the reactors, has stopped. when the cooling pumps stop due to loss of power or what not, that is the type of scenario that led to the meltdown in 2011. but tepco says they do not believe there's an immediate danger, because the storage tanks can keep the nuclear r0ds for up to seven days without power and they're confident they can get the pumps back within operation well within that time frame. but for the people living in this area trying to rebuild their lives a of the disaster in 2011, the tsunami waves that killed 22,000 people and caused hundreds of billions in damage,

this is a very am noominous tim. >> will, thank you. let's check in with our meteorologist jennifer gray. jennifer, what are the forecasters saying? >> well, wolf, we are going to get more aftershocks. we've had a 5.3, a 5.4 and they're continuing as we go through the minutes and hours. but the strongest shakes of this 6.9 was 30 miles offshore, but it did trigger that tsunami warning. and the highest wave that we've seen has been on the coast in o soma, right and three feet. luckily the waves we've seen along the coast, none have been higher than three feet. but keep in mind, you could see more than one wave, and they could be at various heights. so that's why it's so important for the people along the coast to get to higher ground, get inland immediately.

but we'll continue to see the aftershocks and we go through the next several days and weeks. of course, there's your tsunami warning right there. the advisories have ex-tended. so for the next couple of hours, we'll see waves approaching the area along the coast of japan. as far as the map does, you saw that shaking earlier, 49 million people experienperienced light g and 305 people strong shaking. the strongest shaking will be along the coast. as we continue to get the after shots, any wooden structures were compromised during the earlier quakes, we could see more damage as far as that goes. but a lot to be learned in the next few hours. wolf? >> we'll continue to monitor the earthquake and the tsunami warning. jennifer, thank you.

we're also following the trump transition. sara, trump held another fleury of meetings today, certainly over the weekend, as well. what are you hearing? >> reporter: that's right. while we don't have any other major cabinet announcements at this point, sources are kelling us that wilbur ross appears to be a leading candidate for commerce secretary, although we're told no offers have been made and i'm also told that congresswoman gabbard is under consideration for a national security coast. all of this happening in a bizarrely public audition process. >> wouldn't you like to know? >> reporter: the president-elect convening another spree of sitdowns and job interviews today.

meeting with congresswoman and combat veteran telsey gabbard. >> tremendous talent, we're seeing tremendous talent. people that, as i say, would make america great again. these are really great people and really talented people. >> reporter: aiming to build suspense about who might make up his cabinet. and teasing major announcements that never quite materialized over the weekend. meanwhile, one of trump's first white house hires, steve bannon, is batting back critic's charges that he's helped elevate the views of white supremists, telling the "wall street journal," i'm an economic nationalist, an america first

guy, but saying he rejects racist views. it's clear that the white nationalists aren't rejecting trump. in fact, they bashed the media this weekend at a meeting in washington. >> those of us in the alt-right always took president-elect donald trump and his chances seriously. the main stream media, or perhaps we should refer to them in the original german, luganpress, they never did. >> reporter: and aside from one rebuke in an interview, the former reality tv star served up plenty of criticism of the entertainment industry this weekend. after "saturday night live" brought back alec baldwin as trump. trump hit back, calling snl a

one sided biased show, nothing funny at all and continuing to hammer the musical "hamilton," tweeting the cast and producers of "hamilton" should immediately apologize to mike pence. that's after the vice president-elect faced some boos, and the cast addressed him from the stage with a plea for tolerance. >> and to work on behalf of all of us. >> reporter: an uncomfortable moment that at least pence appears to be taking in stride. >> i wasn't offended by what was said. >> reporter: donald trump rolled out a video that rolls through some top priorities, among the list is expressing the u.s. intent to withdraw from the tpp, as well as looking at the visa program, to look at any of those programs undermining american workers. one common thread, these are things that donald trump could

do through executive action. gives you an indication that he wants to show up in the white house and exhibit some signs of progress initially before he goes to congress asking for help. wolf? >> sara, thank you very much. let's get some more on all of this. joining us now, the president and ceo of the naacp cornell william brooks. thank you very much for joining us. >> good to be here, wolf. >> since winning the election, has donald trump or any senior advisers reached out to you or to the naacp? >> they have not. we have not heard from them at this point during the transition process. we did not hear from them during the campaign itself. but given the number of civil rights issues before the president-elect, namely the voter suppression that was a part of this campaign, given the police misconduct, the issues that have divided the republicans, all of the hate

crimes that we have seen since election day, at least 701 hate crimes since election day, i hope and look forward to hearing from the white house and certainly them engaging substantively the issues that the naacp and so many others represent. >> we're showing our viewers live pictures of newt gingrich, the former speaker of the house, his wife calista. they are leaving trump tower right now. cornell, would you like to talk to donald trump? do you think you can work with him and his incoming administration? >> certainly we're most interested in having the president-elect speak to the issues before the country. and so this is not a matter of a personal conversation, but rather a conversation with the country about the issues we're

concerned about. so voter suppression from one end of the country to the other, where we saw 950 people lose their lives a t the hands of the police last year. hundreds and hundreds of thousands of young people in the streets are protesting against racial injustice, and since the president-elect was elected, people out in the streets are questioning his commitment to civil rights. and where we have seen appointees and nominees that do not speak to the highest values of the country, the president-elect should engage on those issues. >> cornell, would it be appropriate for you to reach out to donald trump, his senior advisers, and say there's a lot we've got to talk about, let's get together? >> there's a lot we have to talk about. certainly we want to engage this administration. we are open and willing and desirous of talking to anyone anywhere.

but let us know this, where you have elevated the architect of the alt-right as your chief strategist, where you have nominated for the highest law enforcement position in the country a senator with a bad record as a prosecutor with respect to civil rights, and a worse record as a legislator in terms of civil rights, certainly there's much to talk about, but there's much to do, and there's much the president-elect can do in this transition period. because this is a very, very rocky start. as we said, the country is divided in terms of race and ethnicity. hate crimes are way up and the president-elect has not spoke on the these issues and may have exacerbated them with these nominees. >> do you think you can work with senator sessions if he's confirmed as attorney of the united states? >> we're quite willing to work

with anyone in that position. but the issue is being -- the attorney general being accountable. the attorney general -- first of all, becoming the attorney general. that is not a given. the fact is, his record has to be scrutinized, senator sessions' record has to be scrutinized. he has to go before the senate and make the case. but we note this -- where you've seen literally 701 hate crimes since election day, hate crimes are up by 7%, nearly 7% from last year, where we've seen a 67% increase in hate crimes against muslim-americans, the rate is up for african-americans. and where this country is so divided, the attorney general has to have a demonstrated commitment to civil rights. so we're not taking it as a given that senator sessions is owed that office or that set of responsibilities, because the

work is more important than any individual. so we look forward to hearing from him. we look forward to scrutinizing his record and holding him accountable. whether it be as a nominee or attorney general. >> as you know, cornell, some white nationalists groups are cheering this incoming trump administration, calling it a victory from their perspective. should more be said publicly by the president-elect to denounce these specific groups? >> absolutely. where we have people using nazi rhetoric, where we have white nationalists convening in a conference well suited, well fed as the country is divided by white nationalism, this is absolutely shameful. and the president-elect can take this opportunity, this occasion to not only call them out, but also cast out his new chief strategist, mr. bannon. the fact of the matter is, one

of the best ways to denormalize these white nationalists is by setting a standard in the white house in terms of who you have representing you, who you have representing america's values from the white house. and mr. bannon, as far as we can see, as much as we've heard, does not represent those values at all. >> as you know, some white nationalists have called steve bannon's appointment, they've said it was an excellent appointment. but in an interview, bannon told "the wall street journal" he has never been a supporter of what he called ethno nationalism, that the black works and hispanic middle class, just like whites vshgs been hurt by policies of globalism. do you agree with that? >> well, here's what we would note, and any number of economists will talk about the fact that there are many americans, african-americans,

latino, apeople from different economic back grounds have experienced decreased likelihood there children will do as well as they have done. so these are serious concerns, but not by dividing us by race or ethnicity. the fact that mr. bannon seems to be distancing him from the folks who supported his platform, namely breitbart news, is interesting. but it doesn't erase the record. it does not erase the fact that he made money, that he profited from the very people that seem to be a source of embarrassment for him now and should be an embarrassment for the president-elect. so we draw no comfort from that. the fact of the matter is, his digital platform served as a stage for the alt-right, or more

properly translated white nationalism. make no mistake, we should not treat white nationalism and this anti-semitism as a kind of impolite, idiosyncracy to be ignored. we know that when we respond with weakness or indifference in terms of racism and anti-semitism and bigotry, we as a country have suffered for it. we as a station at this point have no intention of doing so. certainly not the naacp. so we're calling it out. >> cornell, stay with us. there's more to discuss. four police officers have been shot over the past 24 hours alone. we'll discuss that and other developments right after a quick break. asked a group of young pe when they thought they should start saving for retirement.

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we're back with the president and ceo of the naacp cornell william brooks. we want to talk to him about a series of attacks on police officers that have let one dead, three injured in just the past 24 hours. first, let's get the latest. >> reporter: police are on high alert. >> we have pulled out all the stops. >> reporter: the search now under way for the man who ambushed a police officer. >> we consider this subject to be dangerous to the police and the public. >> reporter: it started sunday in san antonio, texas. officers say this man walked into police headquarters and

asked a question. the man later pulled up to a police car, shot the officer in the head, and then reached in the window and shot him again. police believe he was targeted not as an individual but a symbol. >> i think the uniform was the target, and the first person who happened along was the person he targeted. >> reporter: in st. louis, missouri, a 46-year-old police sergeant was waiting in traffic around 7:30 p.m. the suspect pulled up and opened fire, shooting him twice in the face. the officer is in critical condition. >> it looks like he's going to survive, but this is traumatic. >> reporter: police believe the suspect was a wanted criminal. >> when he saw the officer, he believed he would be recognized and fired on the officer. >> reporter: the suspect was killed later with police.

in florida, a quiet beach community, a suspect is in custody for shooting a police officer who was conducting a routine traffic stop. the officer was injured but released from the hospital. and around 10:30 p.m. in missouri, nine miles north of kansas city, an officer and a suspect were both shot at a traffic stop. it's unclear if the officer was targeted in this attack. there's no known connection between any of these four attacks. >> it is certainly a coincidence, but we're not going to say it's connected. >> we're back with cornell william brooks, president and ceo of the naacp. react to these string of police ambushes, san antonio police said the attacker who ambushed that one police officer was -- what attracted him was the

uniform. has enough been done to bridge this divide? because it looks really awful when these police officers are simply targeted, shot, and one police officer killed. >> well, wolf, let's just start with what is fundamentally true. a gold badge should never be a bull's-eye. police officers who are charged with the responsibility of safeguarding our lives, our communities, and property are to be honored for the work that they do. so the fact that they would be targeted is unconscionable. it is morally reprehensible. and we have to condemn it in the strongest possible terms. the chasm of distrust is not a license to kill. what i would note here is the people in the streets who were

often demonstrating against police misconduct are also demonstrating and protesting for reforms that ensure that police officers are safer and the communities in which they serve are, in fact, safer. this violence is in a category unto itself. it is a stand alone. it has nothing to do with protesting, demonstrating against police misconduct. it has everything to do with the very violence that we're standing against. >> the justice department has been looking into local police departments believed to have some institutional racism, bias. what direction do you think senator sessions, if confirmed as the new attorney general of the united states, could take the department of justice in? >> well, i would hope if senator sessions is confirmed as attorney general, i would hope that he would follow the lead of the international chiefs of police, that he would follow the lead of leading police departments, i hope he would follow the lead of the data, the

research, and the case that is being made by young demonstrators and older demonstrators across the country that suggest that examining and working to eliminate implicit bias is key. the use of technology in terms of body cameras, gun cameras and dash cams is key. changing the model of policing such that police officers are, in fact, guardians and not warriors. working to use the most thoughtful techniques to bridge and bring together the community and the police again. that makes police officers in the communities to which they serve safer. so we would hope that he would continue a tradition, certainly embodied by attorney general lynch and attorney general eric holder and certainly what police officers and the naacp have called for around the country. there's a body of evidence and looming bodies, minds, and

hearts that have been put on the line to advance policing in a way that ensures that people are, in fact, safe and that they trust the police because the police have, in fact, earned their trust. so we would hope that he would exemplify that level of law enforcement and that stand of law enforcement. >> cornell, thank you very much. cornell william brooks of the naacp joining us. appreciate it very much. we have some breaking news coming in to "the situation room" from chattanooga. officials say there are multiple fatalities after a school bus crash. we'll have the details right after this. her new business: i o go. jeanette was excellent at marrying people. but had trouble getting paid. not a good time, jeanette. even worse. now i'm uncomfortable. but here's the good news, jeanette got quickbooks. send that invoice, jeanette. looks like they viewed it. and, ta-da! paid twice as fast. oh, she's an efficient officiant. way to grow, jeanette.

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there's breaking news out of chattanooga, tennessee. there are multiple fatalities after a school bus crash. at least 35 elementary schoolchildren were on the bus. kinder gardners through fifth trade. at least 23 victims have been transported to the hospital. a reporter cells cnn a local blood bank is staying open late and the line of donors stretches around the block. we'll stay on top of that story for you. there's more breaking news. president elect donald trump has released a video outlining his policy plan for his first 100 days in office, including jobs, trade, and energy. >> my agenda will be based on a

simple core principle, putting america first. whether it's producing steel, building cars, or curing disease, i want the next generation of production and innovation to happen right here on our great homeland, america, creating wealth and jobs for american workers. as part of this plan, i've asked my transition team to develop a list of executive actions we can take on day one to restore our laws and bring back our jobs. it's about time. these include the following -- on trade, i am going to issue a notification of intent to withdraw from the transpacific partnership, a potential disaster for our country. instead, we will negotiate fair bilateral trade deals that bring jobs and industry back to american shores. on energy, i will cancel job-killing restrictions on the production of american energy, including shale energy and clean

coal, creating millions of high-paying jobs. that's what we want and have been waiting for. on regulation, i will formulate a rule that says for every one new regulation, two old regulations must be eliminated. so important. >> so let's get some reaction from our political experts and our correspondents. sara murray, you didn't hear donald trump mention deportations or the border wall with mexico, didn't mention at least in this particular statement obamacare, the affordable care act. were you surprised by that? >> reporter: not particularly, wolf. i think what donald trump wanted to lay out in this video is what you would callow-hanging fruit, the things he can do of his own accord to show that he wants to be productive and can make end roads before he goes to congress to work on some of the bigger things. a lot of the things you heard in

that video are things that donald trump can do by executive order. so he can say in his first 100 days look what i've done before he has to go to congress. >> rebecca, he said on immigration, i will direct the department of commerce to investigate all abuses of the visa program that undercut the american worker. >> it's sort of as sara was suggesting, laying out something that donald trump can do on his own without having to go through congress. something that he can feasibly accomplish in the first 100 days of his presidency and acknowledging the reality of how difficult immigration reform is going to be when you're looking at a more comprehensive package, and the fact that this is not necessarily going to be a quick and easy process to accomplish this campaign promise that was obviously a corner stone of his presidential campaign. so a sense of acknowledging some

reality from donald trump as he transitions to the presidency. >> phil mudd, it's interesting, on national security, the only thing he said in this statement what he's going to do in his first 100 days, i'll ask the department of defense to develop a comprehensive plan to protect america's infrastructure from cyber attacks and all other forms of attacks. there was a limited statement on national security. your reaction to that? >> i think when you look at the conversation on the campaign trail, wolf, and contrast it to what we just heard, in my world, there's a simple reason you're hearing so little. when you look at the hot spots around the world, that is if you look at syria, iraq, if you look at mr. trump's engagement with russia and the allegations about what russia was doing on hacking e-mails during the campaign, when you look at the difficulty of engaging china not only in trade but in terms of their military adventures in the south china sea, there are no easy answers and every time you try to get to an answer, you realize

how complex it is. so in some cases, the answers are just too tough to capture in a quick tv segment. >> and david, on ethics and government, he said this, on ethics reform, we will impose a five-year ban on executive officials becoming lobbyists after they leave the administration and a lifetime ban on executive officials lobbying lobb lobbying on behalf of a foreign government. those are specific examples of what he's going the do to drain the swamp. >> i think it reflects on what he campaigned on, this idea that he was coming in, he knew the system was corrupt and knew where the cracks were and he was the best one to root out corruption. what he described as corruption any way, in the form of lobbyists and the form of pay-to-play. the problem is that reality has set in and i think the incoming

administration has realized that some of the stuff they promised is easier said than done. if they're able to be more successful than the obama administration which also promised to keep lobbyists at arm's length, they'll find they won't have the same level of expertise to deal with people on issues of policy, to staff their administration. but we'll see if this winds up being a successful policy for them and if they're able to make it stick. >> he outlined his initial plans for his first 100 days in this video statement. phil, last week when the kansas state secretary of state suggested a muslim registry of sorts, the trump team denied he was part of the transition. but in a photo of his feeting with donald trump, he was carrying a proposal to track jail yens from high-risk areas and vet people on aspects of

islam. we saw a similar approach years ago. we saw those pictures he was carrying some files which showed his papers and the headlines there. there you see it right there. what was your reaction to all of this? >> not very positive. the reason is simple, i'm not talking about this from the perspective of human rights but from a practical perspective. the counterterrorism business is difficult to think about, difficult to execute. but let me give you a simple concept. you chase the guys at the core of isis in syria and determine how they're trying to communicate with recruits in the united states. you look at social media in the united states, things like facebook, twitter, and determine which american kid is self-recruiting himself into isis. my one question to close, if you gave me a list of muslims in the united states, whether they were born here or immigrate here, my question is, what the heck do

you want me to do with it? i don't understand the political debate. >> david, what about a constitutionality of that type of a plan? i assume it would encounter some fierce resistance from congress. >> well, it does put you on a slippery slope toward profiling particular groups. one program they had trapping by immigration enforcement of people legally admitted to the united states or legally living in the united states, from 25 countries, all but one of them were muslim majority countries. so it's hard to describe this as a program that targets everybody versus targeting, you know, a program that targets specifically people from muslim majority countries. but in terms of whether congress will challenge it, i see no indication that the republican led congress, the new congress coming in, is going to challenge president-elect trump vigorously on something like this.

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we're learning new information tonight about donald trump's possible pick for defense secretary, a retired

u.s. marine whose past remarks have caused some controversy. jim sciutto is joining us. jim, general james mattis appears to be the top contender right now to lead the pentagon. what are you learning? >> reporter: that's right. he's very popular inside the military, both soldiers and commanders, he's been described as a soldier's soldier. he's also popular on the hill with republicans and democrats. but oddly enough it may not be politics that stands in the way but the law. >> all i can say is, he is the real deal. >> reporter: president-elect donald trump is "extremely impressed with retired marine general james mattis" following their meeting with weekend. sources say that mattis is now the leading candidate for secretary of defense. >> the u.s. military is quite capable of giving their enemies their longest and worst day if ordered to do so. >> reporter: he's a seasoned combat commander with 44 years of service in the marine corps and key commands in afghanistan and iraq.

he won praise for the deadly 2004 battle of fallujah, earning him the nickname, bad dog. reaction so far has been positive. >> jim mattis understands how the military can influence and is influenced by other elements of power. he's very much a strategic thinker. >> reporter: his career has not been without controversy. in 2005, he came under fire for remarks he made in a panel discussion which seemed to make light of killed in combat. in 2013, mattis compared israeli settlement expansion to apartheid. >> if i'm jerusalem, and i put 500 jewish settlers out here somewhere to the east and there's 10,000 arab settlers in here, if we draw the border to include them, either it ceases to be a jewish state or you say the arabs don't get to vote, apartheid. >> reporter: mattis' nomination

would have an immediate legislative hurdle. requires that the pentagon be led by a civilian. mattis has only retired for three years so congress would have to vote to give him a waiver. congress has only used it once in history in 1950. allowing president harry truman to appoint general george marshall to the position of defense secretary. the law is rooted in a longstanding american principle of civilian command. of the military. >> there's nothing magical in the seven years. they want to have enough time to say are you separate enough from the military ethic and culture to be the civilian boss? >> donald trump, of course, has the advantage of republican majorities in both houses of congress, the senate and the house, but also this, wolf, i've spoken to democratic lawmakers, they have enormous respect for general mattis and say this is

not one they would necessarily fight if the president were to choose him as his defense secretary. >> presumably, if he were to select him, the congress would go ahead and pass that waiver, right? >> that's what i hear. of course, you have the advantage of the republican majorities, but also is this one that the democrats would dig their heels in and fight? at least from folks i've spoken with, it's not likely to be, wolf. >> all right, jim sciutto reporting for us. thanks very much. there's breaking news ahead. president-elect trump outlines his policy plans for his first 100 days in office and he does it in a video. what makes this simple salad the best simple salad ever?

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hundreds of people have been killed in days of intense bombing of syria's second largest city by government forces. cnn's will ripley is monitoring developments for us. wome will, you've spoken to people inside aleppo. the situation sounds very, very grim. what are you hearing? >> reporter: it's only getting worse, wolf. people who have lived through more than four years of bombing in east aleppo say this is unprecedented. the worst they have ever experienced. and they're afraid it will only get worse. the explosions are like clockwork in rebel-held east aleppo. all day. every day. >> they don't know how to wake up normally without sound of

bombing, without anything. >> reporter: ismael takes cover in his basement. during our 14-minute conversation, i count at least 17 blasts. and there's another one. each getting louder. closer. i'm listening to these explosions heres and it seems like it doesn't even faze you, i mean, you're so used to it. >> it's normal for us. we're not human beings anymore because of this. >> reporter: this is a normal day in east aleppo. first responders racing from one site to the next. "this is our country, our country", says this man. refusing to let even destruction like this force him from his home. why do you stay? >> why do i stay? we stay because it's our city.

it's because -- because they have no place to go. >> reporter: he says the more than quarter million people who remain in east aleppo don't trust the so-called humanitarian corridors. he says snipers on both sides shoot and kilpeople who try to leave. >> i'm not going to leave. we're not -- we are going to die. >> reporter: he lost three friends in three days. he says many feel tired, hopeless, abandoned by the world. >> yeah, i think there -- >> reporter: that was close. that one was close. >> okay. i'm going to go. >> reporter: okay. be safe. be safe. despite nearly five years of pleading for help, relentless bombing of east aleppo continues. in the last week, more than 300 people have died, we have seen all of the major hospitals in east aleppo knock eed out of

service. school and homes have been targeted. children have been morning the casualties, wolf. the syrian regime and russia have not stopped this. a warning from the united nations, there will be mass starvation in this city if food, water supplies and water are not allowed in very soon. >> will ripley reporting for us. thanks very much. that's it for me. "erin burnett outfront" starts right now. "outfront," the breaking news, president-elect trump at this hour laying out his promises for day one. you will hear him. plus, trump's controversial chief strategist steve bannon speaking out and saying, "i'm not a racist." trump meeting with america's first self-made black billionaire. he's a democrat. how did that conversation go? he's my guest tonight. let's go "outfront." good evening, i'm